“Goddamn thats a big bitch!”
Marshall exclaimed without thinking.
“Nu sae bad wordies fwon of babbehs!” the enormous unicorn mare scolded the unfamiliar human man. Her fluff was dark grey and glossy with an almost neon blue mane, and enormous brown eyes. Even as big as a damn house that was a beautiful fluffy pony. She cradled a deep blue newborn in her chubby arms with two more rich blue colored chirpy-babbehs at her teats.
“Apologize.” The small bulky woman in the large bulky sweater gestured to the porcine pony in the enclosure before them.
Marshall scoffed at Rachel, incredulous she would make such a joke. Her frown let Marshall know she was not joking.
“I’m sorry. I shouldnt have said bad words in front of your babies.”
“Big Betty, this is Marshall and he is still learning the rules around here.” Rachel pushed her heavy glasses back up her nose, turning to her companion. “Big Betty is one of our top producers. As you can see.”
Rachel moved futher down the corridor and gestured for Marshall to follow.
“Fluffy Ponies are not clever creatures, but, they have good instincts. The saying around here is ‘trust: but verify.’ Trust the mares to do the right thing, but we still weigh and inspect the newborns every day to ensure they are being cared for properly. You can tell within the first week if a mother is failing. Now, there’s two most likely ways a mare will fail. Firstly, obviously, not feeding a foal. Secondly, a mare fails when she decides she has a favorite foal and the rest of the litter suffers because of her preference. In this barn, there are no poopies or bestest. Foals are foals, and foals are money. Nobody fucks with my money, not the mares, not the stallions, and especially not the staff. Any suspicion of abuse or neglect and you are canned. understood?”
Marshall nodded, surprised by the severity in which the little portly woman spoke.
The next enclosure was not as happy as the last. The bright pink unicorn attempted to scoop up a small brown alicorn and rock it, but the fumbling just resulted in an upset pile of cheeping foals and a frightened brown runty alicorn making scaredy peepee all down her mother’s belly. Rachel and Marshall had already clearly seen what was going on.
“Bubblegum here is a failure. The alicorn filly is underweight and undersocialized. As soon as this litter is weaned and sold, she’s being sold as a pet. Her foals are pretty but she’s not worth it. bad attitudes can spread quickly.”
“Bubboogub am gud mummah!” the pink unicorn scowled up at Rachel.
Rachel snapped her fingers, causing the unicorn to flinch, “Mummahs love all their babies, or they get the sorry stick.”
Rachel scooped up the shivering brown foal and cradled her close to the dense wool of her sweater. the tiny babbeh cooed and visibly relaxed in her hands.
“Fostering foals is an easy process. You just pick up, move it, make sure the new dam accepts and document the foal’s colors and type in the log book at the office up front. So when we get back I’ll write ‘brown alicorn filly with green mane, moved from Bubblegum to Alice, day, time, my initials, you get it.”
“Awwice heaw namesie?”
“Yes you did, darling girl!” Rachel cooed down at the peachy pegaus with her sunny lemon yellow mane and pretty blue eyes and wings, “I have a little baby who needs hugs and milk and love for you!”
Alice the pegasus practically shook with joy, her tail wagging and her whole body squirming with happiness as she excitedly reached up for the little foal.
“Nyu Bwuddah o Sissy fo ‘Pollow?! Yay!” the bright blue weanling joined in the excited wriggling dance beside his mother.
“Now, Apollo, she’s still a little baby, you need to be gentle, teach her to make good poopies and follow the rules.”
Apollo’s gave Rachel the most solemn of little nods, “Pollow gun be bestest big bwudda for babbeh.”
Rachel washed her hands and jotted the notes she had talked about earlier in the log book.
“The maternity wing at night is the easiest shift. You count foals, weigh them, shovel shit, dim the lights and try to stay awake. And dont fall asleep because Big Betty will hear you snoring and she’s a total snitch. Any questions?”
