Chapter 15:
You are Theo.
You’re watching TV, when you feel a tug on your pants leg. It’s Chocolate, looking up at you seriously.
“Daddeh, Chocowate need to tawk to you.”
You lean down closer to him. “Sure thing bud, what do you need?” you ask him, caught off guard by him being serious.
“Chocowate no wike how munstah fwuffy huwt Seabweeze an Wistewia. Chocowate no wike that can onwy sit in metaw munsath and wook whiwe daddeh saves fwiends.”
You do wish he had not brought that up, but there was no way for him to know what you’d done to that horrible little shit. You hadn’t told anybody except Sophia, and she wasn’t about to tell anybody. You let him continue.
“Since daddeh do so many things fow mummah and sissties and Chocowate, Chocowate no wanted to ask you fow anything……but Chocowate needs hewp. Daddeh, Chocowate wanna be a toughie! Wiww you hewp chocowate be toughie?” He asks, looking at you determined.
So THIS is what it felt like to have a child ask you to learn karate? Frankly, given the fact he was brown, you were concerned he’d be bullied in the park. It hadn’t been a problem yet, but eventually……
Ah, what the hell, why not?
“Sure, Chocolate. You wanna be tough? I’ll help you get tough. Won’t be easy, you’re sure you wanna do this?”
The young colt nods. “Wanna pwotect fwiends and mummah and sissy!” He says, snorting.
“Alright then. I’ll help you out any way I can.” You tell him, petting him on the head.
Neapolitan waddles into the room, and drops the Sunday newspaper at your feet.
“….Uh, Neo, sweetie?”
She looks up at you, beaming. “Yes, daddeh?”
“How uh….how EXACTLY did you open the door to get this?”
She looks at you and tilts her head. “With doowknob.”
There’s a pause, and you’re relatively certain your IQ just dropped a standard deviation.
“Right……of course, how silly of me.” you say, lifting Neo onto your lap and petting her in the manner of a house cat as she coos happily. This is one of those situations where it’s easier to just roll with it and not ask too many questions.
Been having a lot of that lately, come to think of it.
You look at Neapolitan, now the size of a full grown Chihuahua, and Chocolate even a touch bulkier than that. They weren’t even fully grown yet. It was so surreal, just a few weeks ago, they were the size of hamsters and peeped to communicate. Now Neapolitan was opening doors, Mochi was talking to birds, and Chocolate wanted to be a toughie.
They grow up so fast. Some part of you wishes they could have stayed those little chirping balls of peach fuzz forever. But on the other hand, you’re strangely proud of them for growing the way they have. Hazel raised them right, and you’d done your part, and would keep doing it.
All things considered, this was going rather well.
— — — —
You are Mike. The Breeding operation goes smooth as glass. You’ve just delivered a batch of foals, beautiful little things, if a tad muted in color, mostly shades of grey or blue. Not that you mind, they’re quite adorable, and some people seem to like the less neon colors.
Your phone rings. “Mike’s Fluffy Husbandry, how can I help you?”
“It’s Theo, my little guy wants to be a toughie. You got anything for that?”
“Yo buddy! Yeah, I do, whatcha need?”
“Frankly? Anything. The best I current have is having him watch olympic Taekwondo.”
“That’s pathetic.”
“Least it’s not Steven Segal.”
“There’s that. I’ll send some stuff over.”
“What, you’re gonna mail me shit when we live in the same town?”
“If I meant mail, I’d have said it. Soot will be by later.”
You begin making a mental tally of what you’ll send over.
“BIGGEST POOPSIES!”
“….I gotta run, Theo, put a pin in this for me, thanks.” You say ,hanging up and rushing to the side of a heavily pregnant, Robin-egg blue dam. You grab a pair of rubber gloves on the way over and snap them on. “Easy girl! Don’t worry, Big Daddy Mike will help you.” She’s panicking, terrified. “It’s your babies, Orchid, breathe, don’t be scared, they’re coming!”
“Wewe am Spechiaw fwiend!?” She asks, looking around nervously. A muted pink stallion bolts towards her from across the enclosure. “He’s right here, see? Taffy, you come in front here and keep her calm, I’m gonna deliver the foals.” You order him. He begins to hug and talk to Orchid, doing his best to calm her down and keep her mind focused on the joy the babies would bring them both.
“SCREEEEE!”
A foal plopped out. The blind, slimy foal chirped and wriggled in your grasp. You passed it up to Orchid. “Look! See? You’re doing great!” You urge her on.
She cries, but refrains from screaming any further, licking her baby clean. Then another came. And another.
6 foals were laying before her. Squirming, peeping, velvety beanbags.
She was still laboring. “Come on….you can do it honey…” you tell her, growing worried. She couldn’t take much more of this.
A final foal slid out, accompanied by the placenta.
Your heart feels cold in your chest. It’s small, a runt, you hold it gently. A little male. “God…please don’t make this a stillbirth,I’ll give you anything you want just don’t kill this one….” you mutter, hoping somebody is listening.
The tiny, white winged foal lets out a gasping “Peep!”
You smile, and hand him gently to Orchid. “Wittwest babbeh….” She coos, licking him clean and softly singing a mummah song as she begins to pass out. You gently lower her onto her side.
“Taffy, be my helper and change out the foals as they finish feeding. Don’t wake Orchid, she needs to recover after that.” You tell him, pulling your gloves off. He nods “Wiww take bestest cawe of new babbehs!” He says, already cycling the foals. He’s put the runt on next. “Wittwest babbeh needs miwkies vewy much!” He says, looking to you for approval.
“That’s a good fluffy.” You tell him, patting his head. You leave to get Soot ready to bring Theo what he’ll need.
— — — —
You are Theo.
A knock comes at your door. You walk to it, and open it, to find Soot sitting on your doorstep, looking up at you.
“Hewwo, Theo.”
“Hi Soot. Mike sent you?”
“Yus.” He turns around and shows you a small backpack fitted to him. You open it, and take out a small……fluffy shaped punching bag?
“Uh…”
“Is a Toughie-buddie, for hittings!” He says. Also in the bag is a bottle of vitamin and protein supplements for fluffies.
“Thanks Soot, appreciate this. ….Say how did you get here?” The question occurs to you. You’re sure he hadn’t walked, but Mike sent him alone. How had he gotten here?”
Soot smirks at you, and simply stretches his wings.
“So do I pay you?”
“Yus.”
“How much?”
“Got any sketties?”
“……Don’t jerk me around, please.”
“Is Fowty Dowwaws.” he tells you.
Sighing, you go inside and return with a pair of 20’s, stuffing them into the pack. “There. All set?” you ask.
He nods, and stretches his legs, taking a run towards the road.
“Wait, Soot, don-“ Your voice dies in your throat as he takes a running leap and extends his wings, flapping heavily.
He doesn’t land. Instead, he rises into the air, each beat of his wings gaining altitude and making a loud flapping sound as he lifts his pitch black frame into the sky and catches an updraft, gliding high into the air and taking off.
You stand, mouth open. The book had never said Alicorns could FLY. You supposed his wings were much larger than those of Pegasi, and his body much more muscular. You watched Soot soar away like a great black bird.
That was enough…….everything, for today.
