(This one takes place after Cherry and Switchy have met Apple and Dusk, and before they met Lucky. I’m officially calling Cherry, Apple and Dusk the “Disaster Trio” because they get into so much stupid trouble together. I decided I needed to write more of Apple and Dusk, so here we are.)
(I revised this post because I wasn’t satisfied with the last one. I had made Switchy far to bossy and bitchy, and Cherry too dumb. This one is different and better!)
Cherry sighed and rolled over onto his back in his plush pet bed, bored. “There’s nothing to do!” He thought as he lay surrounded by toys and his fellow fluffy playmates. He was sooooo bored. Brian was out at work and Gavin was in bed due to a twisted ankle. Their owners were unable to play for the day.
“Chewwy, you hab sighed wike dat fowebah times. Pwease shuddap. Dusk twying to watch teebee!” Dusk whined from his place on the couch. Cherry rolled back over onto his stomach and growled under his breath.
“Nu can hewp it! Dewe am nothin to do! Am booooowed! Pway wif Chewwy? Pwease?” Cherry begged as the red alicorn stood up from his bed and padded over to the couch.
“Nu! Smawty nu wan pway. Go bothew somefwuffy ewse.” Dusk snapped, irritated at Cherry’s pleading tone.
Cherry whined and slunk off, dejected. He approached Switchy, who was helping care for the houseplants. He was currently watering a “Bird Of Paradise” that sat by the back door in the sun. “Switchy?” Cherry asked. Switchy turned around with a “Hm?”
“Pway wif Chewwy? Pwease?” Cherry asked politely, giving Switchy his best puppy eyes. Switchy smiled and shook his head.
“Nu can do, Chewwy! Nee’ hewp daddehs wif chowes! Wooks wike yoo gotta go pway wif someone ewse today.”
Cherry “Humph”ed and trotted off. He tried to find Apple and finally found him staring up at the pantry. He booped Apple’s cheek gently, getting the other alicorn’s attention. Apple started babbling excitedly before Cherry could even say a word.
“Chewwy, wook! Dewe’s a sketti can up dewe!” Apple pointed upwards, and it was Cherry’s turn to stare in wonder at the delicious pasta that sat on the second-lowest shelf. His stomach growled. He had leftover kibble from breakfast in his bowl, but… he definitely wanted spaghetti more.
“… We gotta get dose sketties. Appwe! Yoo da smawtest fwuffy hewe, what shouwd fwuffies do?” Cherry asked, eyes wide with excitement. Apple grinned and nodded, seeming to have already made a plan.
“Fiwst, get da stwongest fwuffy an’ make dem stand hewe.” Apple motioned to the spot where Cherry was. “Den get da second-smawwest fwuffy an’ make dem cwimb on top of da stwong fwuffy! Den da smawwest fwuffy of aww cwimbs on top an’ gwabs da sketties! Just wike when we pway wif bwockies!” Apple jumped upwards with an excited kick.
Cherry purred. That was a good plan. But he realized something. Switchy was a very well-behaved fluffy, and would immediately stop them if they started trouble. “Bu’ Switchy nu can knu, Appwe.” Cherry said. “Switchy make fwuffies stop twyin’ to get da sketties!”
“Otay!” Apple responded with a wag of his tail. “Wet’s go get Dusk instead!” They both trotted into the living room.
“What do yoo two wan’?” Dusk sighed as he tapped the remote and channel-surfed.
“We found sketties in da pantwy! Switchy won’t hewp us an’ wiww get us in twoubwe if he finds out what we’we doin’, so can yoo hewp?” Apple explained. For extra encouragement, he decided to be a little shit and add some guilt. “Pweeeeease? Am so hungwy! I dun’ wanna stawve again!”
Dusk put the remote down, giving Apple an apologetic. guilty look. “Otay, Dusk hewp. Whewe am sketties?”
“In hewe!” The other 2 led the purple earthie down the hall.
Dusk licked his lips at the large can that sat on the second lowest shelf. It was just out of reach. If they had some way to climb up, they could get it, he just knew it!
“Su what we’we gonna do is stack each othew wike bwockies untiw we’we taww enough to weach da sketties!” Apple excitedly explained. Dusk perked his ears up and wagged his tail. Finally, some good food!
“Otay! Am Dusk on bottom?” The earthie asked.
“Yus! Den I cwimb on top, den Chewwy cwimbs on me!” Apple whinnied.
Dusk got into position, braced his legs and locked his joints. “Weady!”
Apple leapt onto Dusk’s back as easily as a mountain goat, and Cherry nearly fell off trying to climb up. “GOT IT!” Chewy cheered, a little too loudly.
“Ack! Chewy, get down! Am too heavy!” Dusk yelped as he started to wobble. Cherry looked down and his eyes went wide as dinner plates. He hated heights!
“Nu! Am scawy! Nu can cwimb down!” Cherry whined. Then, Dusk lost his balance and stumbled. Every fluffy in the stack fell over, and the heavy can of spaghetti cracked Cherry on the head.
“OWWIES!” Cherry yelped. Both Dusk and Apple scrambled over to Cherry, worried looks on their faces.
“Chewwy? Awe yoo okay?” Apple asked, placing a front hoof on Cherry’s head gently.
“OWWIE! Nu touch thinkie pwace!” Cherry yowled.
Dusk gasped. “Chewwy! Yoo am huwt!” He pointed to the blood running off a wound on Cherry’s head. Dusk growled. “Dusk shouwd hab known dis was bad idea! Now yoo am huwt! Yoo nee’ go to the fwuffy doctew!”
“Hewwo?” All three stallions heard Switchy ask from nearby. Dusk and Apple zipped off around the corner, now hidden from view. They both panted once they stopped, catching their breath after running down the long hallway. They grimaced in guilt, having just left their injured friend to the wolves.
“Chewwy! Switchy see boo-boo juice!” Switchy sprinted to Cherry’s side. He saw the can of stolen spaghetti on the floor, but tending to his wounded herdmate was far more important right now.
“Switchy… Chewy nu feew gud… Fink am gonna pass out…” Cherry’s voice wavered.
Apple and Dusk watched the two talk from around the distant corner. They tried to stay out of sight. They saw Switchy jolt, tell Cherry to stay there, and zoom towards them. Apple and Dusk screeched in terror and fled, but Switchy only galloped past them without noticing them, towards Gavin’s room.
“Daddeh! Daddeh!” Switchy yelled as he screeched to a stop by Gavin’s bedside. Gavin shot up with a startled yelp, and blinked a few times. His brown eyes were bloodshot with exhaustion as he rubbed them.
“Ugh… Huh? What’s goin on?” He leaned over to gaze tiredly at his fluffy. “Switchy?”
“Switchy sowwy, Switchy knu daddeh towd Switchy nu bothew yoo…” He looked down and scuffed a front hoof on the carpet. “But Chewwy hab owwies! Nee’ go to fwuffy doctew wight nao!” Switchy stammered.
“Uh, oh.” He immediately swung his legs over the edge of the bed, yelping at the pain in his ankle. “How bad is it?” He groaned to Switchy as he stood on the floor, using the bed’s footboard as a support.
“Pwetty bad…” Switchy flinched at the fearful expression on his owner’s face and corrected himself. “Nu too bad though! Chewy gon’ be otay if doctew fixes owwies.”
Gavin sighed in relief. “Thank you for telling me, buddy. Let’s get him to the vet now.” He limped down the hall, using a stray golf club they never used as a crutch.
Gavin couldn’t help but gasp when he saw Cherry standing unsteadily in the hall, bleeding. Cherry’s unfocused eyes worried him. Was it a concussion? He limped over, scooped up Cherry and went out to the car as fast as he could. He left a note on the front door.
“Took Cherry to the vet- Head injury from trying to steal a heavy can from the pantry. Left @ 2:34 PM. All other fluffies are home and unhurt. -Gavin”
They sped off, Gavin trying to keep Cherry from falling asleep the entire time.
Once they arrived, the vet was thankfully mostly deserted. They were taken in quickly, and thankfully there was no concussion. Cherry was simply dazed from the hard hit, and was allowed to sleep it off without worry of a coma. The vet cleaned the wound and wrapped his head, and they went home.
Gavin let Cherry sleep the whole way home, and placed the little red alicorn on his fluffy bed. Brian wasn’t home yet; He must have been having a late work night. There was a call on the answering machine to prove it.
Then, Gavin and Switchy had a talk.
“Switchy, I’m sorry buddy, but I can’t punish Cherry for this right now. I’m way too worn out from the pain. Would you be okay taking care of it?” He asked, gently running his hand through the lavender alicorn’s mane.
“… Yus, Switchy can do it. Nu gon’ feew gud about it, though.” Switchy frowned at the thought of upsetting the poor little stallion.
“I know little guy, that’s how punishing someone else feels. It hurts you just as much as it does them. Now, don’t punish him until he’s fully awake, and make sure there’s no lasting effects of the injury first. If he seems iffy, don’t spank him. Okay?” Gavin asked.
“Switchy undewstan’. Gon’ make sure Chewwy nu hab huwties ow sickies fiwst!”
“Good boy. Now, I need to lay down more, okay? Good luck.”
“Fankyoo, daddeh.” Switchy trotted out of the room and sat on the couch to watch TV, waiting for Cherry to wake up.
Sketti Scheme Part 1: You are here!
Sketti Scheme Part 2: (WIP)