The days flew by and suddenly a week had passed before Eren had even realized. He had spent much of that time caring for his little fluffies and preparing for the changes to come. Jay, Eren’s brother-in-law, had done an amazing amount of work in that time. Eren had Jay work on the barn a bit but first had him build a large, single room structure next to the backyard, well-insulated and complete with small stalls for the several nests to be made. Along the back was an extremely shallow bath for washing and an accessible hatch that could be opened to move any waste into the compost pile.
Eren himself had gotten to work on getting the garden in full repair, recruiting and teaching Jasper, Breeze, and Slater about the different types of plants and how to remove weeds. While they were hard at work clearing the garden so plants could eventually be planted, Eren would sneak off into the greenhouse and got it repaired enough to start various kinds of seedlings.
All the while, Bucky and Lillian were enjoying their new, relatively stress free lives and enjoying the honeymoon phase that any new relationship had to the point of being sickenly sweet. Eren and Linda had explained to Bucky that he would never be able to make kids of his own but that didn’t stop him from trying his damnedest every night. Thankfully, he was gentle and Lillian had been more than willing to get “gud feews” of her own, but this also meant they were no longer sleeping in Eren’s bedroom, but the saferoom instead. This was fine most nights, though Eren missed being able to cuddle his little fluffies, but knew they would eventually wear themselves out.
Finally, the morning had come and the new fluffies had been dropped off nice and early. After saying their final goodbyes to Skia and seeing him off, Eren squatted down to address the new group.
“Hello there everyone, welcome to your new home.”
Endeavor quickly stepped up, “Hewwo Jaspeh’s daddeh, am yu nyu daddeh for hewd…fwuffies?”
Nodding firmly as the others shyly gathered behind the yellow stallion, Eren said, “Yes, I’m your new daddy, if you want to call me that, and yes, you get to be a herd here.”
Eyes lighting up before quickly trying to temper his emotions, “Endevah reawwy ged tu be smawtie-fwiend fow hewd? …Wat bout Jaspeh?”
Moving to offer off a lap to any of the new fluffies, “He is here too still. You two did so well together that I was hoping you can keep teaching him how to be a good smartie-friend for his herd. Jasper is going to need help as we grow too, he can’t be available day and night so I was hoping you all could help keep things running smoothly for me at night.”
A pitch-black unicorn with a neon green mane and tail quickly takes climbs into the open lap and curls up like cat, cooing softly, “Hackeh wub dawk-time, wub nyu daddeh. Su citied tu hab nyu housie.”
Selene, an alicorn mare with dull, dark purple fluff, rests her head on Eren’s knee to get a turn at getting some head scratches, fluttering her leathery wings, “Sewene can du dat fow nyu daddeh, wan tu du sumfing fow da hewd. Wiww be bestest watchie-fwuffies!”
All the while, standing off from the others, an alicorn with a deep, dark purplish-blue coat with light spotted markings on her rump and a stripped purple tail awkwardly trying to hide herself. Her prosthetic horn glowing softly as she quietly shuffles her prosthetic front legs nervously before asking, “Nighgwo an happy fow nyu housie…but am thewe meanie stawwions hewe?”
“That must be the former breeding mare. Unfortunate, but I hope the colts can win her over and make her feel comfortable.”
Eren pats the grass next to himself as he talks to Nightglow, “Nope, no mean stallions here. I have a couple nice, playful colts, like Jasper. Actually, Endeavor will be my first adult stallion.”
Visibly calming a bit, Nightglow makes her way over to Eren’s side, “Nighgwo wike Endeavah, am nice smawtie-fwiend. Hope other cowts am nice tu Nighgwo wike Jaspeh am.”
Chuckling softly, “I’m sure they will love you all, they can be a very sweet bunch. Are you all ready to go back and meet them?”
A short playful cheer erupted before each of the fluffies lined up on their own, Endeavor taking the lead as he looked up to Eren, “Am weady.”
Leading the group around the house and into the backyard Eren excuses himself as he calls over the fence into the garden, “Boys! Daddeh has a surprise for you, some new fluffy friends.”
A small stampede of giggling force travels the link of the fence before tumbling over one another as they pass through the gate. Jasper comes to a sudden stop while Breeze and Slater continue to the new group, yelling “Nyu fwiends!”
Slater huffs and puffs as he sits before the group with a big goofy grin, “Hewwo nyu fwiends, am Swateh.”
Breeze in turn approaches each fluffy to introduce himself personally before moving on to the next before they have a chance to respond. Lastly, he stops at Nightglow before cocking his head to the side, “Hewwo, am Bweezie. Nyu fwiend okay?”
Scooting a half-step back, Nightglow responds after a moment, “Hewwo, am okay. Am Nighgwo.”
Breeze drops low and gives Nightglow’s prosthetic legs a small sniff before blurting out “Yu nu-weggie weggies am vewy pwetty, wooks jus wike Nighgwo’s fluff. Wan gu pway?”
Quickly looking up to Eren, Breeze asks “Can Bweezie hab pwaytime wit nyu fwiends?”
Giving a quick nod and a light chuckle, “Absolutely, you have all done enough for today. Go have some fun.”
And like that Breeze and Slater go running off to the nearest ball, quickly followed by Hacker and Selene and shortly after Nightglow once the ball is kicked towards her. Endeavor took to just sitting next to Eren, looking stoically between the playing group and Jasper sitting next to the gate.
After a moment Jasper makes his over to Eren and ask “Daddeh, wat am fwiends fwom otheh pwace doin’ hewe?”
Endeavor lets out a gruff, “Wittwe Jaspeh nu am happy tu see Endeavah ‘gain?” as he tugs his chewing toy out from his vest to gnaw at.
Popping up a brow in curiosity, Jasper follows up” Endeavah? Smawtie-fwiend fwiend hab namsies nao?”
Eren pipes in, “Yeah, I decided to adopt them all too. I think it is a fitting name for him.”
Sitting deep in thought before speaking, Jasper asking with hint of sadness, “Hao many pointies du Jaspeh hab tu gib fow fwuffies tu be in hewd? Nu knu if hab enough.”
Plopping down into the grass between the pair, “Well, nothing. They aren’t a part of your herd but are their own.” Endeavor quickly nods in agreement before refocusing at the chew toy held between his front legs as Eren continues, “I’m hoping that since you two worked so well together last week they having Endeavor around to help with your smarty-friend training would help. Besides, as things change and grow here you won’t be able to handle everything all day, every day. So for now, I’ll have you working to keep things safe during the day and Endeavor will help to keep things safe during the night.”
Jasper just sits in thought for several minutes as Eren pet his mane. Several times he had to catch himself from staring at Endeavor and turn away. Eren held back his grin as he watched and if Endeavor noticed, he didn’t show it.
Eren quietly watched the other fluffies playing in the yard, even noticing Bucky and Lillian happily watching from their saferoom window.
Eventually, Eren interrupted the silence between the two fluffies next to him, “Oh, and Jasper, I’m sure you will want to spend your points on something else. Both of you, come with me.”
Eren helped Endeavor tuck his chew toy back into his vest’s pocket and lead them to the newly built building, Eren noticing as they not-so-subtly kept accidentally brushing against one another along the way.
Carefully cracking open the door, Eren reaches in to flick on the switch to the room to turn on some soft lighting, “Here we are, a communal nesting area. Big enough for each of your herds and plenty of room for new members.”
Each of the two fluffies let their stoic facades drop momentarily as they went around exploring the structure. Pointing out to one another all the different stalls, the beds and blankets, the food dishes and water bottles. Each area brought a new found discovery that they had to share with one another.
Finally, the pair came back up to Eren. “Daddeh! Dis am da bestest nyu nestie for da hewds.”
Eren kneeled down in front of the two, “Endeavor, I know Mr. Skia had a point system at the foster home. We have that too, just on a larger scale. Be a good fluffy and good smarty-friend and you will earn points for you to use for yourself and your herd. This way there is no need to beg me for anything, you have a way to earn whatever you want. Understood?”
Taking a moment, Endeavor looks to Jasper a moment before nodding to Eren.
Eren continues on, “This new home is yours to start with, but beyond that you will have to work for it.” Shifting his gaze to Jasper, “And for you, Jasper, this can all be yours too, but it will cost you just about all of the points you’ve earned and saved over this past week.”
Nodding quickly, before Eren even finished speaking, “Nu cawe, Jasper wan bestest nestie fow hewd.”
Eren moves to unlatch the “doggy” door and says, “Then it is settled, the home is your’s.”
The rest of the day was spent with the fluffies all getting to know each other. Bucky and Lillian were introduced to the group as well with Lillian and Nightglow quickly becoming fast friends.
The evening ended with a bunch of exhausted fluffies, full of fresh veggie noodles with marinara sauce. They all settled into various beds and fluff-piles with the plans to switch everyone over to their new jobs and schedules over the next week or two.
Inside, Eren was scanning through various ads online looking for what he knew he would need, at Linda’s recommendation. Whether he took in foals that needed a home or some of the fluffies eventually wanted babies, he was going to need a nurse mare to give him a well-needed hand. Lillian and Bucky were already hinting at wanting to adopt a foal after all.
Finally, he found an ad that caught his attention. It wasn’t a low cost or free give-away that most had been, most of which were just trying to get rid of a recently foaled mare that their owner was just sick of. This one was a rescue from an abusive owner. She was a lovely shade of blue with a darker blue man and the ones that currently had her, Laurelien and José Hervet, just didn’t have room for her. They have her listed as an earthie who is docile, independent, intelligent, and an excellent nursing mare, but was apparently scared of hands.
“Poor thing.” Eren thought.
She was alicorn and disable foal friendly and had raised her abandoned sibling and nephew, Eren was taken by all the details and story of the fluffy now named “Clover”. In his haste to reach out to the owners to set up the purchase of such a well-trained fluffy, Eren missed a key detail on the form, one stating “Never had foal.”
In the middle of the night Jasper was awoken by an odd sensation on his ear. Slowly, he noticed that during the night he had somehow made his way into Endeavor’s nest and was now snuggled up to him. The odd feeling on his ear was Endeavor gently nibbling at his end in his sleep.
Jasper’s heart raced being this close to Endeavor, still not completely understanding why, but he couldn’t deny that in this moment he was happy and didn’t want it to end. With a groggy sigh, Jasper shifted to carefully get up and return to his bed, but before he could Endeavor reached a leg over him and pulled him close again.
Resigned to his warm and comfortable fate he decided to just snuggle in and let himself just enjoy the moment. Sleep would come quickly, but his dreams continued to feature just one thing, this moment.
<<Prev | >>First<< | [Index] | Next>>
The fluffy ad
Adoption papers are from @Moesius. Many thanks for it, can’t want to introduce her to the story.
