FIlling the Space Pt. 22 [By MuffinMantis]

Part Twenty-One

Sunbeam sobbed in the sorry-box, where she’d been kept who two days now. She was coated in a layer of waste, since she hadn’t been allowed out of the sorry-box to use the litterbox, and although she’d had some food, she was still desperately hungry. Sunbeam am bad fwuffy! Sunbeam maek mummah angwy! Bu’ Sunbeam nee’ babbehs! and other variations ran threw her mind, devoid of any distractions in the dark box.

Victor was in one of the other rooms, separated from the other fluffies, so Sam could have a talk with him. He quivered in fear, terrified of what was going to happen; he knew he was going to lose his lumps, but he didn’t know what that entailed, and his imagination conjured up horrific images, stitched together from the half-forgotten memory of when he’d lost his leg and original family.

Victor, you knew you weren’t supposed to have babbehs, so why did you?”

“Victow an’ Sunbeam nee’ babbehs! Babbehs am bestest ting in da whowe wowd!”

“But I told you not to. I didn’t even ask you to never have babbehs, I only asked you to wait until I said you could.”

“Nu coud wait! Nee’ babbehs nao!”

“Well, now you’re going to lose your lumps and your babbehs. You’ll never have babbehs, ever again, because you broke the rules.”

“Nuuuuu! Pwease, nu taek babbehs an’ wumps!”

“You knew the rules. I have to. I can’t take care of the babbehs and I can’t trust you to not give Sunbeam more tummeh babbehs before I say you can, so now you will never have babbehs.”

“Mummah, Victow nu wan much, onwy wan babbehs and tu keep wumps. Pwease.”

“Arguing isn’t going to change anything. This is going to happen. I wanted to talk to you because I wanted you to understand why. But I’ll give you a choice, because I care about you.”

“Babbehs! Victow onwy wan babbehs! Nu cawe 'bout wumps!”

“That wasn’t the choice. The choice was whether you want me to take your lumps myself, or have the vet do it.”

“NUUUUU! DUMMEH MUNSTAH MUMMAH! VICTOW HATCHU! WAN WUMPS! WAN BABBEHS! SCREEEEEE”

Sam waited for his outburst to die down, seething. After all she’d done for them, this was how they treated her. Memories of satisfaction in sadism tempted her, but she fought them. She wasn’t going to become that, no matter what. But they made it so damn hard to resist!

“Make the damn choice already! The sooner this is done the sooner I can try to figure out how to deal with your mess.”

“VICTOW HATCHU! NU NEE’ MUMMAH! ONWY NEE’ BABBEHS AN’ WUMPS AN’ SUNBEAM!”

That was it. She was done trying. What had happened to the fluffies she’d rescued? The simple gratefulness to be safe, warm, and fed? The reciprocation of her love? Why was she less important to them than the need to have foals right now? Where had she gone wrong?

But she knew the answer to that. Deep down, she’d always known. Her overcompensation for her initial mistreatment of the pair, her unwillingness to put her foot down and do what needed to be done, the way she’d let the line slip again and again. Her fear of crossing the line, of maybe being a little too strict, wandering a little too close to abuse, had poisoned them.

“Bad upsies!” Victor cried as she grabbed him roughly by the scruff, carrying him out of the room. On the way to the saferoom she paused to grab Sunbeam the same way, heedless of the filth dripping onto the floor. She dumped the pair, none too gently, onto the saferoom floor, where the others quickly came running.

“Listen up. I’ve decided you need to see something, so we’re going on a car trip as soon as I get Sunbeam and her mess cleaned up. Be ready to go, because if you aren’t I’m going to be angry.”

“Wewe fwuffies goin’?”

“Somewhere very important.”



The fluffies were hungry, thirsty, and miserable. They’d been in the car for so, so long! Why was mummah being mean to them? They hadn’t done anything wrong! She was just being a meanie, a munstah mummah who took babbehs away! This was all her fault!

“We’re here,” she said, after what seemed like many forevers. She opened the door and the fluffies wandered down the fluffy-ramp to the ground, wincing at the feeling of the hard asphalt on their hooves, made tender by so long walking on soft floors. They followed her, barely keeping up with her fast walk, until they were gasping for breath.

“This is the place,” she said, and they collapsed gratefully. Looking around, they were confused. It was just an alleyway, empty except for a few trash cans and some random boxes lying here and there, made damp by the drizzle of rain. How was this place important?

“Wewe am dis? Wai mummah taek fwuffies hewe?”

“It’s a very important place. The most important place ever.”

“Wai am dat?”

“Because I’m done. I’ve done everything for you. I fed you, kept you warm and safe, and cleaned up your messes. I’ve shown you nothing but love and affection and you’ve spat in my face too many times. So this is it. This is your new home.”

She dumped a small container of kibble onto the ground, where it mixed with the rainwater and dirt of the alleyway. “Make this last, because it’s all you’re getting.”

The fluffies were stunned. This didn’t make any sense! Smokey, however, with his more recent memories of being feral, recovered more quickly than the others. “NUUUUUUUUU! NU WAN BE POOPIE FWUFFY ‘GAIN! NU WAN TUMMEH-HUWTIES AN’ COWD-OWWIES! PWEASE, MUMMAH, NU WEABE SMOKEY!”

“Tough shit. I’m done. Goodbye, fucking shitrats. Go leach someone else for a change.”

She walked away, even faster than before, and they tried to give chase, but they were too exhausted. After only a few blocks they gave up, slowing to a halt. Sobbing, they huddled together, the light drizzle of rain damping their fluff as the tears dampened their faces.

Knight was the first one to pull himself together enough to move. “Fwuffies nee’ gu back to awwey, taek kibbwe befowe odda fwuffies fin’ it.”

“Victow wan kibble. Hab tummeh-owwies.”

“Nu can num kibbwe.”

“Wai nu?”

Sunbeam’s tummeh babbehs nee’ nummies. Nee’ sabe kibbwe fow dem, an fow’ miwkies fow wen dey am hewe.”

“Bu’ hab tummeh-huwties!”

“Nu-housie fwuffies awways hab tummeh-huwties. Nee’ sabe nummies, nee’ wotsa nummies fow miwkies.”

“Wut happen if nu fin’ 'nuff nummies fow miwkies?”

“Babbehs hab tummeh-huwties ow gu forebah-sweepies.”

“NUUUUUU! SCREEEEEEE! MUMMAH SABE SUNBEAM! SABE BABBEHS! Sunbeam nu cawe if mummah taek babbehs ‘way, jus’ gib babbehs miwkies an’ nummies!”

“Mummah nu am comin’ back.”

“WAI?”

“Fwuffies wewe wowstest fwuffies. Mummah gib toysies an’ nummies an’ housie an’ nesties, bu’ fwuffies onwy wan moaw.” Knight remembered when they’d met Sam. How she’d saved them, and given them more than they’d ever imagined having. How had they become so selfish? “Mummah hab wowstest heawt-huwties an’ thinkie-pwace-sickies, bu’ fwuffies nu cawe, onwy wan babbehs, onwy wan’ moaw.” He began sobbing. “FWUFFIES NU DESEWBE MUMMAH! NU DESEWBE HOUSIES OW NUMMIES! ONWY DESERBE HUWTIES AN’ FOREBAH-SWEEPIES!” he wailed.

“Bu’ Sunbeam am gud fwuffy…”

“NU! SUNBEAM AM WOWSTEST FWUFFY EBAH! ONWY CAWE 'BOUT BABBEHS! NU CAWE 'BOUT MUMMAH! AWW FWUFFIES AM WOWSTEST FWUFFIES.”

“Huuhuuhuu! Hope am wowstest mummah ebah! Hab wowstest babbehs! Gib mummah heart-huwties! Wan die!”

“Bu’ fwuffies nee’ mummah!” Bu’ Victow sae he nu nee’ mummah. Dis am Victow’s fauwt. Victow’s babbehs gon’ hab tummeh-owwies an’ forebah-sweepies 'cuz of Victow.

“Pwease, mummah…Smokey nu wan be poopie fwuffy 'gain! Nu can wibe wike dat 'gain! Nu can! NU CAN! WAN DIE!”

They were back in the alleyway. Knight slowly gathered up the soggy kibble, moving as if in a daze. The others found a mostly-intact box and huddled in the back, out of the rain, crying and hugging each other for the small comfort it gave. Slowly, they drifted off the sleep as Knight stood watch.

“SCREEEEEE!”

“CHIRP! CHEEP! CHEEP!”

They were startled awake by the sounds of a desperate fluffy and a terrified chirpy foal. Peeking out of the alley, they saw a mawe desperately pawing at the leg of a man who was standing there, a little ball of green fluff in his hand. The pleading and desperate chirps continued.

“Pwease, nice mustuh! Gib babbeh back! Am wastest babbeh! Nee’ mummah! Nu huwt!”

“So you let the rest die, huh? Figures. Shitrats have foals when they have no idea what it takes to raise them, then act all sad when they die.”

“CHIRP! CHEEP!”

“PWEASE! Nu huwt babbeh! Nee’ babbehs fow be mummah! Speciaw-fwiend am gu forebah-sweepies, nu can maek mowe babbehs! Pwease giv babbeh back!”

A few of the fluffies started to move to try to help, but they were stopped by Knight. “Nu can hewp. Onwy git huwties ow forebah-sweepies. Nu hewp.”

“Bu’ babbeh nee’ hewp!”

“Nu can hewp. Nu can hewp. Fwuffies nu can hewp. Hoomins too scawy.”

“Pwease, nice mistuh!”

“Fine. I’ll give your foal back, but first we’ll play a game.”

“CHEEP!”

“Babbeh am tuu smaww fow pwayin’! Am onwy fow huggies an’ miwkies!”

“Well, it’s going to play anyway. The game’s called ‘How Hard Can I Twist the Foal’s Head?’.”

"NUUUUUUUUUU!

With a crack, the chirps fell silent. The foal was dropped onto its sobbing mother with a soft thump. “NUUUUU! WASTEST BABBEH GU FOREBAH-SWEEPIES! FWUFFY AM WOWSTEST MUMMAH EBAH! WET AWW BABBEHS GU FOREBAH-SWEEPIES! WAN DIE! WAN DIE! WAN DIE!”

The fluffies approached the despondent mare, but she only grabbed the dead foal and wrapped her body around it. “NU! NU NUM WASTEST BABBEH! MUMMAH NEE’ BABBEH! BABBEH NEE’ MUMMAH!”

They backed away, Sunbeam being dragged away, crying about helping, not understanding it was too late. She and Aqua had been too sheltered, they didn’t understand what had happened. They didn’t understand how sickeningly common it was, and how little fluffies could do.

“Mummah wub babbeh, babbeh wubs mummah! Babbeh wubs mummah! BABBEH WUBS MUMMAH! MUMMAH WUBS BABBEEEEEEEEEEEEEEH!”



They made their way back to their nest, stomachs growling. As they moved to crawl back into the box, Knight stopped them. “Nu can gu sweepies nao, nee’ fin’ mowe nummies.”

“Smokey hab wowstest tummeh-owwies! Nee’ nummies!”

"Nu can hab nao, nee’ sabe fow babbehs. Fwuffies stiww nu am tuu weak, nu nee’ nummies yet.

“Bu’ tummeh huwts!”

“Tummeh awways huwts. Bad fwuffies nu desewbe tu nu hab tummeh-huwties. Nee’ find nummies fow babbehs. Babbehs nu desewbe tummeh-huwties. Aqua an’ Hope stay hewe, keep Sunbeam an’ tummeh babbehs saef.”

Aqua desperately rooted through one of the piles of garbage, gagging at the scent of decaying food. Anything would work, she just needed something to eat! Finally, she found something. A piece of food, although it was too rotten to make out what it might’ve been. “Nu taste pwetty,” she groaned as she ate. It was foul, but at least it was something. Stomach not quite so empty, she fell back asleep.

“AQUA HAB WOWSEST TUMMEH-HUWTIES!” she wailed, waking up the scavenging group that’d just managed to fall asleep again after returning, a meager harvest of half-rotten food all they’d found, added to the pitiful pile of nummies. Aqua writhed, her stomach stabbing with pain. “NU! NUMMIES NU COME BACK UP! NEE’ NUMMIES!” But the inevitable happened, and the little food she’d managed to consume splattered onto the bottom of their nest.

“NU! Aqua hab sickies! Hewp!”

“Nu can hewp. Fwuffies nu can hewp wif sickies. Can onwy gib huggies.”

“Mummah! Pwease sabe Aqua! Aqua nu wan tummeh-huwties! Nu wan sky-wawas an’ scawy hoomins! Aqua pwomise wiww be gud!”

“Mummah nu wiww sabe fwuffies. Fwuffies am tuu bad fwuffies. Nu desewbe hab mummah nu mowe.”


Sunbeam was having a nightmare. Delirious with hunger, she imagined bright lights and confusing voices. She felt like she was choking, but she couldn’t be! There was no food to choke on!

“Let’s get this done before the others wake up. Can’t have the foals dying. Not too much, she can’t be wondering why she’s not hungry. Good, good. Careful, don’t jostle the tube.”

She didn’t understand the words, and flailed half-heartedly, but soon passed once more into a dreamless sleep.



Many, many forevers passed, and the fluffies grew weaker. There were so few good nummies, and when they ate the bad nummies all the good nummies came back up! They were so hungry, and they’d been forced to eat the small pile of kibble, desperately ignoring Sunbeam’s sobbing as they doomed her tummeh-babbehs. There was nothing they could do.

Soon, they all lay about the nest and alley, too tired and hungry to move. Occasionally Knight would struggle to stand, only to collapse. “Nee’ fin’ nummies. Nee’ fin’ nummies. Nee’ fin’ nummies,” he murmured over and over. But he didn’t have the strength.

They knew what was coming. They knew they were going to die, that there just wasn’t enough food to go around. Although they’d been horrified when he’d suggested it, they knew that Victor was right. Whoever died first would have to be nummies so the others might have the strength to find more food. They each desperately wished to be the one to die; they couldn’t bear to see the others go.

“Shit!” a voice roused them from their stupor, but none of them were strong enough to move. “Looks like a herd of ferals is in this alleyway. Stupid fucking fluffies probably made the whole place a biohazard.”

Knight struggled to move, harder than ever before, when he saw the humans. He knew what the black rubber overalls meant. He’d seem them take fluffies away, never to be seen again. He was too weak! He couldn’t move!

“Hide! Hide, famiwy! Knight wiww wet dem taek Knight ‘way! Jus’ hide!”

The others, given strength by their panic, hid in the pile of trash as best they could. Knight remained in the open, hoping they’d take him away and leave his family alone. Pwease, pwease jus’ wet famiwy wibe! Nu wan mowe!

“Hey, shitrat. Are those supposed to be hiding? If so, they’re really bad at it.” The words crushed his hope. “If they make me dig through that pile of trash to pull them out it’s going to be a lot worse for them.”

“Come out,” Knight groaned resignedly. “Pwease, jus’ nu maek famiwy huwt tuu bad. Jus’ gib forebah-sweepies.”

“Well, since you’re so cooperative, I just might. Janice, get them in the pen.”

One by one the woman placed them in a collapsible pen. It didn’t matter; they weren’t strong enough to run, and didn’t have the will to do so anyway. They only had one hope left, a desperate hope. That they’d be killed quickly without too much pain.

“Pwease, jus’ nu huwt Sunbeam. She am soon-mummah!”

His words were ignored as the man, who held something cold to their ears, each time a small “BEEP!” sound chiming out. They didn’t understand, but it was better than being hurt, better than being killed.

“Well, looks like we got a lucky family of shitrats here. You’re all chipped, so it won’t be the incinerator for you until we confirm with your owner that you aren’t wanted anymore. Let me guess, you wanted more foals and ran away? Usually how it goes.”

“Bu’ fwuffies nee’ babbehs…” Sunbeam protested half-heartedly.

“Let me show you something.” The man walked out of the alley and returned with a large transparent bin full of multi-colored blobs. The reek of dead foals roused the fluffies to flail about helplessly. “See these? Dumbass fluffies like you decide to have foals when they can’t take care of them, and this is where they end up. I didn’t even have to kill these, hunger took care of it for me. IF they were lucky enough to starve before a bad-smarty found them.”

“NUUU! NU FOREBAH-SWEEPIES FOW BABBEHS!”

“See, that’s part of the problem. You’re all too stupid to realize that what you want doesn’t matter. The real world isn’t some comfy saferoom, and huggies don’t solve anything. Now I have to deal with you, because you were too fucking stupid to realize that foals aren’t more important than living. As soon as I call your owner and confirm you aren’t wanted you’re going to go to the incinerator. That’s the burnie-room that gives bad fluffies like you burnie-hurties and forever-sleepies.”

“NUUUUU! PWEASE NU BUWNIE-HUWTIES!”

“Tell you what, since I’m a nice person, I’ll let you pick one of you to live. And don’t try to be sneaky and pick the soon-mummah, I’ll make sure the foals die so only one of you survives.”

“Pwease. Nu caww mummah. Wet fwuffies see mummah fiwst. Victow nee’ tawk tu mummah.”

“You expect me to go out of my way to take you to your owner? Are you stupid? Wait, fluffies, never mind. Of course you are. But you know what?” a twisted sadistic grin formed on his face. “I’ll make you a deal. I’ll take you to your owner, but if she doesn’t want you back I won’t just throw you all in the incinerator. I’ll take you home with me. Spike and Venom have been wanting new enfie-mares and litter-pals. That’s a no-leggie fluffy who only eats shit, if you don’t know. SHUT UP!” He roared over their cries of protest. “As for the red one, I guess I’ll take the rest of his legs and his eyes and hang him over my porch to keep the ferals away.”

“Bu’ Sunbeam am soon-mummah! Nu can hab speciaw-hugs!”

“Oh, you can. Your foals won’t survive it, but you can. Venom especially likes enf’ing soon-mummahs. Now, let’s go. You’d better think about what you have to say to your owner.”

They were carried into the back of a large truck, where they cowered as far away from the container of dead foals as they could manage to drag themselves. They shook in absolute terror. Victor cowered from the glares of the others, wilting from their fury at his foolishness denying them the chance of a peaceful death.



By the time the long drive was finished, they were lying in pools of their own waste. Somehow, despite being starving, they’d managed to make scardy-poopies. They couldn’t care about that now, though. Terror overwhelmed any sense of revulsion.

“Come on, shitrats! Let’s find out what’s going to happen to you!”

“Pwease, nice mistuh, onwy huwt Knight. Nu huwt famiwy!”

“You’re in no position to ask for anything, shitrat. Let’s GO!”

The sight of the door to their home filled them with a sickening dread, worse than anything else they’d felt before. Desperately they wished for the old days, back in the saferoom. Back when they’d had nummies, and nesties, and toysies! Back when they’d had a mummah who loved them! Back when they’d been good fluffies.

The man knocked on the door, and for a few moments the fluffies could do nothing but marinate in their despair. Then the door opened, and their mummah was there! Never had they seen anything so beautiful! Their mummah was here! Surely she’d save them! Surely she still loved them!

“What?” she snapped. Then she saw the fluffies. “What the fuck are you doing here? I thought I made it clear that I don’t want you back.”

“Pwease, mummah! Victow am sowwy! Nyo nao dat fwuffies nee’ mummah!”

“And why should I care? I can’t believe I’d forgotten how peaceful it was without you here.”

“Pwease, mummah, taek fwuffies back! Victow nu mind if 'ou taek wumps, ow weggies, ow seeing-pwace ‘way! Nu nee’ sketties ow toysies ow nesties! PWEASE SABE FWUFFIES!”

“PWEASE, MUMMAH! Taek Sunbeam’s babbehs! Nu wet dem hab tummeh-huwties ow forebah-sweepies ow burnie-huwties ow bad-enfies! Nu hab taek Sunbeam back, jus’ sabe babbehs!”

“Miss, if you don’t want them, do you mind if I take them? I’ve been needing new litter-pals and my fluffies could use some enfie-mares, too.”

“NU! NU WAN BE ENFIE-MAWE!”

“Mummah, pwease taek fwuffies back. Knight nyo Knight bwoke pwomise, nyo fwuffies gib mummah heawt-hurwties, bu’ nu wan famiwy tu hab huwties an’ bad-enfies! Pwease, taek fwuffies back!”

Their mummah looked at them, eyes cold and full of disdain. With one word, she ended all hope.

“No.”

Part Twenty-Three

20 Likes

Well thats what you get sunbeam everything your mummah did and you all fuck up!

I was surprised Sam just left them in the alley.

That NO was the last nail in their coffin, their own stupidity ruined their safe life. Bravo shitrats bravo :clap:

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Uuuuh that “NO” I did not now that I needed this til I read it. Bravo

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I still think this is at this point an aloborated abuse/revenge plan from Sam. The dream of Sunbeam was maybe no dream but Sam with help creeping her more feed than the others.
I think if Sunbeam had been as starved as the others she would have had a miscarriage or her body would had the babies reapsorbet to get the nutrients back. My guess that all this is to teach them a lesson an abusive one maybe even deadly with them really ending as litter palls and enfie mares but Sam will get Sunbeams babies and start from a new.

3 Likes

I sure hope so. It would be way too callous, after everything they have gone through.

2 Likes

I’m very much torn, on one hand Sam is clearly not in a good place and she has every right to punish the Fluffies, but to cut all ties with the whole family is a bit harsh.

I’m wondering if there’s something else at play here, or if this being the alternate timeline there’s less need for Sam to care

3 Likes

This just feels beyond off brand for Sam. It’s like I’m not even reading the same series anymore and I don’t like that.

1 Like

Overcompensated one way, now the pendulum went the other extreme?

1 Like

What…? This needed like 5 more chapters to get to the point she just DUMPS THEM ALL into an alleyway? Even if this is psychological abuse, there has not been enough buildup from someone who was a hugboxer.
Also the pushing the line thing was never shown, only Aqua was shown being mean, so punishing them all is redundant.