WEEK 2
Axel lay on the ground staring up at the TV as a colorful pony babbled on about shapes and numbers, his head absentmindedly bobbing along to the melody that played in the background.
“Dis am one squawe, an dese am two twiangwes!” The green fluffy on the screen declared as it pointed from shape to shape.
“Now wet’s go back obew what we weawned!” The voice was obviously a human speaking in baby talk but no fluffy could tell the difference.
“Now what am dis?” A square popped up on to the screen next to the 2D fluffy’s hoof, the fluffy swaying and rocking back and forth ever so slightly.
“Am squawe!” Axel squealed, giggling happily as he watched the screen intently.
“Yus! Dis am a squawe! Am su happy now.” The fluffy on the screen began soundlessly clapping it’s hooves together.
“Now, what am dis!” A triangle popped up on screen and as Axel opened his mouth to shout out the answer he felt something tap against his haunches. He froze in place, mouth half open in answer and his eyes locked on the bright green shape of the triangle in front of him.
Soft breaths on his hips made him shudder in fear and grind his teeth in terrified anticipation. The fluffy behind him was slowly making their way up his body. Axel’s vision began to blur as the soft nuzzles and sniffs of his abuser climbed his body, unable to tear his vision away from the bright screen of the television as bright shapes and colors danced in front of him.
“Does speciaw enfie fwiend nee’ nummies ow wawa?” Brute’s voice was right next to his ear but it sounded miles away, almost drowned out by the faint ringing in his ears.
“Hewwow? Speciaw enfie fwiend?” Brute waved his hoof in front of Axel’s face.
“Wha?” Axel snapped out of his trance at the movement of Brute’s hoof and looked up at the big fluffy who hovered over him.
“Bwute ask if speciaw enfie fwiend nee’ nummies ow wawa? Mummah Bonnie am makin’ sketties, chu wan sum?” Brute tilted his head and his eyebrow arched in concern at the shivering fluff in front of him.
“Sketties?” Axel’s eyes widened at the mention of the mythical food. He’d always heard about it but never seen it before. He remembered hearing new fluffies demanding it from the people who came in and out of the room they were kept in.
“Axew wouwd wub hab sketties!” Axel’s tail wagged happily and his mouth watered. His paralyzing fear from only moments ago completely forgotten at the prospect of sketties, his stomach now growling in excitement.
“Otay!” Brute leaned down to lick Axel’s cheek then bounded out of the safe room to tell Bonnie.
As the sound of Brute’s hooves thumping on the hardwood faded and the buzzing excitement in Axel’s chest filled him with energy, his thoughts turned, maybe…maybe it wasn’t so bad here. After all, he got toys to play with and a cozy bed and all the food he could eat. It wasn’t the hard, hurt to chew kind of food either, it was soft round kibbles that tasted like a fresh, delicious salad.
Axel wondered if he should wiggle himself over to the food bowl right now and have a couple bites to sooth his grumbling belly. He shook head and turned his face away from where the food bowl sat, he needed to wait for sketties. If he filled up on kibble he wouldn’t be able to eat any sketty!
Time ticked by as Axel stared impatiently at the TV before him, the thoughts of what the sketty would look and smell and taste like running through his head as he tried to focus of the show on the screen. Ten foals of all different colors and types were gathered around a lilac mare who was lecturing them all on how to be good fluffies.
“Aww fwuffies am gewd fwuffies, eben if dey am bwown.” She patted the head of a small brick colored foal who giggled at the touch. Axel tilted his head in confusion, he’d always been taught that brown foals were bad and a waste of time. They were taken away from their mothers before they even got the chance to feed.
“Bwown babbehs am gewd babbehs and gewd mummah’s wub aww deiw gewd babbehs. Even wingie-pointeh babbehs!” Axel had heard that before. His old daddies had drilled it into the mares that wingie-pointies were valuable and anyone who killed one would be severely punished. Even with that rule in place, foals still perished underneath the hooves of their terrified mothers.
The only wingie-pointies he’d ever seen were the stallions and mares caged up on the work bench next to the stallion’s pen in tiny crates, barely big enough for the fluffies to turn around in. Axel always felt sorry for them, they were supposed to be special but they were kept in tiny cages and treated like dolls to bring out and play with when their owners finally remembered they were there.
“Aww babbehs am gewd babbehs! Yu say it too,” She pointed to the screen, “Aww babbehs am gewd babbehs!” Axel weakly followed along with the mare, his mind muddled with memories of the place he had spent most of his life in.
“Aww babbehs awe gewd babbehs, bwown, pink, ow yewwow, doesn’ mattew, awe babbehs am gewd!” The lilac mare began to sing in an off key tune as she rocked a white alicorn in her arms. It reminded him of his mother’s mummah songs, how she’d rock him to sleep and always called him her ‘littlest babbeh’. He sighed and his head dropped, feeling heavy from the thoughts that spun around his head.
“It am sketty time!” Brute sang as he jumped into Axel’s view, causing the yellow unicorn to yelp and almost roll over in fright.
“Huh? Sketty time!?” Axel wiggled around to see Bonnie setting two small plates in front of the food bowl, both heaped with delicious looking noodles covered in a thick red sauce and topped with a sprinkling of parmesan cheese. The heavenly aroma of freshly cooked sauce and noodles gently wafted over to Axel, he was practically drooling as he shoved himself over with his back legs.
"Nee’ hewp? Brute was slowly trotting besides Axel as he inch wormed his way there.
“Hewp? How Bwute hewp?” Axel looked up at the stallion warily, hoping ‘help’ didn’t mean Brute humping him again.
“Bwute dwag yu.” Axel had been hoping for more details then just ‘I’ll drag you’. He glanced from Brute to the steaming heap of sketty just feet away from him.
“Suwe, Bwute hewp Axew.” The unicorn sighed, staring longingly at the sketty. Axel’s world suddenly turned as he felt teeth on his scruff and Brute quickly dragging him the last few feet.
“Dewe yu am cwosew!” Brute dropped Axel and his chin almost landed on the rim of the plate that held one of the portions of sketty, his eyes shot wide, they’d almost knocked over the plate!
Axel mumbled a soft thank you and sniffed deeply, his nose almost touching the pasta, savoring the delicious scent that filled his nose. Brute was already digging into his pasta, taking giant bites as he enjoyed it.
“Bwute don’,” He finished chewing and swallowed, “undewstand why odew fwuffies wike sketty suuuu much. It am gewd buh not THAT gewd.” Axel couldn’t understand the blasphemy coming from Brute’s mouth. He hadn’t even tasted sketty before and he already knew it was good, the best out there.
Axel shook his head and gently grabbed a single noodle between his teeth and slurped it up. His mouth lit up as the meaty sauce touched his tongue, Axel couldn’t suppress the happy giggle that escaped him as he chewed, savoring every bite he took.
Brute had already licked his plate clean by the time Axel had even begun to make a dent in his plate. He leaned over and tried to steal a bite off of Axel’s plate.
“Hey! Fot yu didn’ cawe fow sketties!” Axel tried to swat at Brute with his hoof before remembering his front legs were gone.
“Weww,” Brute’s cheeks puffed up, “Dat’s teck-nek-awy Brute’s sketties, just shawin’ wif yu.” Axel glanced down at his serving of spaghetti, it did look like a rather small amount. Had Brute really split his spaghetti with Axel? Why? All the fluffies he’d met would never have shared something like sketty with him.
“Oh, otay, Bwute can hab a few bites.” Axel murmured as he returned to his food, only flinching back when their noses met. A small smile forming of Brute’s face. Axel couldn’t tell if it was from their noses touching or amusement from him flinching.
Brute wandered off after a few minutes and left Axel to slowly finish his food in peace. He watched as Brute fiddled with a small remote that had four large buttons on it. Brute pressed one of the buttons and the scene on the TV magically changed.
Axel’s mouth dropped open as the Fluffy channel morphed into a scene of animated violence and destruction as people viciously battled, blood sprayed and bodies dropped as weapons flew threw the air. Brute cheered and his hoof pumped in the air as the screen shot up, following two characters who were battling in the air with swords.
His stomach flipped at the violence and he quickly turned back to his spaghetti, his appetite almost completely diminished from the gore and violence. Flashes of Brute brutally slaughtering his little herd made his heart jerk and tears burn his eyes. A small thought flashed through his mind and he turned back to Brute.
“Um…Bwute. Bwute!” Axel couldn’t remember seeing the little lime colt die, he ran through the memories over and over again but the colt had never been touched. Brute’s ears twitched back but his eyes never moved from the screen. He was ignoring Axel!
“Bwuuuuuuute!!” Axel continued calling for the large stallion.
“What?” Brute groaned as he turned around to face Axel.
“What happen to wittwe green cowt?” Axel was desperate to find out what had become of the last of his herd.
“Huh?” Brute tilted his head, a confused look on his face.
“Dah wittwe gween cowt Axew was wif in pawk!” Why didn’t this dumb fucking stallion understand who he was talking about!
“Oooh, uh, Bwute fink dat Mistah Wawwen hab him. Mummah Bonnie fot he was aww nice an pwetty so gabe him to Mistah Wawwen.” Brute began to turn back to his show.
“Wait! Who am Mistah Wawwen? Does he huwt fwuffies?” Axel’s heart raced in his chest, he’d much rather the little green colt have died than gone some place like this.
“Huh?” Brute was getting impatient with Axel’s questions, “Nu, Mistah Wawwen am a nice hooman. He sewws fwuffies to good housies.” He explained before turning back to his TV, for good this time.
Axel let out a relieved sigh and turned back to his spaghetti, at least one of his herd hadn’t died, he wasn’t a complete failure of a smarty.
