Blake had prepared for this situation after his game with Boris. He could have played the game on top of the table, but he risked an excited fluffy tumbling off. Instead, he’d taken the top of a table he’d salvaged and set it against the wall. He pulled it over setting it flat on the ground in front of him.
He also had a flatscreen mounted to the wall where all the fluffies could see but not reach. Unfortunately he couldn’t risk taking the time to grab the camera and set up the feed. The others would have to watch from where they were.
Blake grabbed the supplies setting them up on the now grounded tabletop. The smarty who had finally made it to the patio reached the lip of the concrete that served as the divide between it and the yard. The lip was about 4 inches.
With some difficulty the smarty rolled over the top and onto the concrete. The toughies looked like the wanted to follow but Blake waved a hand at them. “No, no. This is only for… what’s your name smarty?”
“Smawtie am Bubbews.”
“That’s a great name.” looked over the top of the concrete.
“Wuh dummeh hoomin name?”
“Blake”
“Dat am siwwy name.”
“Yeah, it’s kinda silly, but my mother really liked it.”
The fluffy gave him a strange look. “Whewe hoomin mummah?” It sounded apprehensive.
“She took fohebah sweepies when I was a baby.” Bubbles’s expression appeared sad to Blake.
“Bwake am otay name.”
“It’s no “Bubbles,” but I like it.” Blake grabbed a carrot from the bag he’d brought with him. “I’m gonna put this carrot under a cup, then I’m gonna move the cups real fast, like this.” He started shifting the cups around. “When I stop, you point to the cup with the carrot under it. Okay?”
“Fwuffie undahstan’, am easy.” Blake simply nodded putting the carrot under. “If fwuffie win, get skettie?” Blake twirled some pasta onto a fork.
“Not all of it, just a little at first. If you win a lot of times, you’ll have all of it.” He picked up a carrot. “You can have this too.”
“Bubbews nu cawe ‘bout dat dummeh nummie. Wan aww skettie”
Blake was about to argue but looked at the spectators thinking better of it. “If you win more times, your herd will get to see how smart you are.” He motioned behind Bubbles.
Bubbles craned his head back and scanned the crowd. An arrogant smile creeped over his face. “Otay den, fwuffie can wai’.”
Blake lifted the cup once again to show off the carrot. He shuffled the cups slowly. Like in Boris’s case the smarty did a good job keeping up with him. He moved a little faster just to be sure. He saw hints of struggle but his eyes stayed on the correct cup. Blake slowed, then stopped.
“Dis wun.” Bubbles pointed to the carrot cup. Blake lifted it revealing the carrot.
“Correct!” Blake shouted more for the sake of the spectators than anything. There was a chorus of cheers from the crowd. Even the formerly stern toughies seemed genuinely excited. Bubbles turned to the crowd and lifted his head in what appeared to be a gesture of pride and arrogance.
Blake twirled some spaghetti onto a fork and slid it off in front of the cups. Bubbles turned around and hungrily slurped it down.
Blake grabbed the carrot and threw it to the toughies who squabbled over it. The black one emerged victorious. Good that they seemed to have a competitive instinct. Blake could use that.
“Hooway! Smawtie wub bestest sketti!” It had finished and was looking at him expectantly. “Hoomin do ‘gain!” There was more excitement than force in the command.
Blake was also pleased to see he was asking for another game rather than more food. Seemed he’d hooked another. He chuckled to himself a bit.
“Oh sure, but let’s make it more interesting.” Blake grabbed two carrots this time. “If you find these two I’ll give you twice as much as the last time.” The smarty smacked it’s lips. “But…” He grabbed the pebble. “If you find the meanie rock, I get to splash you with cold water.”
The fluffy’s joy turned to scorn. “Nu wan cowd wawa!” It stomped a hoof at him puffing its cheeks.
“Yeah? That only happens if you lose, but you’re pretty good at this game so I think you’ll be okay.” He watched as the smarty eyed the pasta. “Or I could just take the bestest sketti with me and you could just num grassies.” He might of been laying it on a little thick but subtlety was wasted on fluffies.
“Hmph, ob cawse Bubbews can du.” Yeah, this thing was definitely a born sucker.
Blake shuffled the cups again. He moved a bit faster than last time but he slowed down a bit when he saw the smarty start to waver. Still, his eyes were on the right cup. Blake stopped.
Bubbles seemed hesitant but eventually pointed to the correct cup again. Blake revealed his prize.
“Correct again!” Cheering boomed from the crowd and the smarty was literally jumping and kicking its hooves in celebration. Blake tossed the two carrots to the toughies and they fought once more.
The Black earthie and red pegasus fought over one but the orange earthie grabbed the second and slunk back into the crowd. Blake watched him walk over to a very pregnant dark red pink haired unicorn.
“Dis am bestest game ebbah!” Do ‘gain! Do ‘gain!” Blake raised an eyebrow.
“What about your prize?”
The smarty paused trying to process Blake’s words. His expression went from excited, to contemplative, then back to excited. “Sketties! Wan sketties!” Matt grabbed another fork full and slid it in front of Bubbles, once he dropped it the fluffy wolfed it down. He repeated the action.
Bubbles’s tail beat back and forth as he indulged in his prize. “Tank ou nice mistuh!”
Did this smarty just thank him? That sealed it. Something about this game, or games in general had some kind of effect on these creatures.
“Hey, you earned it. Wanna go again?” Bubbles nodded eagerly. Now that the preamble was over it was time to play for real.
Blake set up the cups again. He shuffled the cups as quickly as he could and sure enough, the smarty lost track of the carrot cup. Blake intentionally let himself lose track of it too. He stopped and allowed the creature to make its choice.
When it hesitated, he spoke. “Point.”
Bubbles looked annoyed but complied. Blake lifted the cup and… carrots. (5)
The fluffy looked pleased with himself and danced happily as Blake scooped more spaghetti. The fluffies continued to cheer.
He did it again, carrots (5). And once more. Carrots (5) Each time he fed the smarty and threw the carrots to the toughies aiming more for the toughie feeding its mate. Each time it brought the carrot to the soon-to-be mother.
Blake was getting a bit annoyed with the Smarty’s ability to avoid a well deserved punishment, but he adhered to the rules. Even if he didn’t get his chance today, it would come eventually. Though, his disappointment was helped by the creature’s honest and mostly pure reaction to the victory. It was downright adorable.
“Again?” Blake offered.
“Nu, fwuffie can nu eat mow skettie, wan sumtin’ ewse.”
“We could play for skettie for the herd.” The fluffies watching the game squealed happily at the prospect.
“Fwuffies shu’ up!” They silenced immediately. Even the toughies were quiet. “Skettie onwy foh smawtie an’ smatie speshaw fwen!” The creature’s eyes lit up. “Oh, otay, gib skettie to smawtie’s speshaw fwen!” He looked back to the herd.
Blake’s eyes tried to follow all the looks and eventually he came to an only slightly inflated white unicorn with a black mane. “Speshaw fwen cum hewe!”
She looked hesitant but complied, waddling over to the patio. Just the walk seemed to be tiring her out. When she arrived at the patio she struggled to get over the lip. The toughies attempted to help but it didn’t do much good. He really should consider a retractable ramp. Actually raising the lip and building some kind of seating would really- He was getting side tracked.
She started to whine after a few attempts. The smarty looked… embarrassed? Thinking about it, it was kind of weird. This fluffy looked both passive and well, simple.
Blake reached over and helped her clear the gap. “Bad uppsies!” She said as he set her down on the concrete.
She stared warily at him and spoke. “Nice mistuh gun gib bestest sketties to Wiwy?” She asked.
Bubbles cut her off. “Nu!” She looked startled. “Smawtie am win foh speshaw fwen!”
“No way!” Blake fired back.
Bubbles looked startled, then annoyed. “Wu- Why dummeh hoomin not wet bubbews pway game ‘gain!? Ou twy tu twick Bubbews?”
Blake put his hands up defensively. “No way little buddy! I love playing this game with you, you’re so good at it!” The smarty’s face relaxed a little. “But it wouldn’t be fair to keep everyone else out of the fun. Your special friend should have a turn.”
“Wuh?” The two said in unison.
“I don’t mind letting you win treats for your herd but your herd is full of good fluffies right? Good fluffies are also good at games. Only good fluffies should have bestest nummies, so they need to play too right?” He crossed his fingers. He wanted a rematch with the little bastard so he didn’t want to have to “remove” him early just to keep him from being an obstacle for playing with the herd.
“Dat… am vewwy gud point…” Bubbles relented. “Fine, speshaw fwen nu as smawt as Bubbews but am stiww gud. Wiw win nu pwobwem!” His eyes burned with determination.
The Mare, apparently named Lilly, looked less sure. She was shaking and occasionally her eyes drifted back to the herd. She also seemed reluctant to maintain eye contact with Blake. Blake gave her a big smile.
“Okay Lily, you know the rules right?” She looked to Bubbles who nodded his head.
“Ye-yes” she stammered.
Blake set the cups down, revealed the rock and the carrots and shuffled again. He went at a decent pace before remembering this new fluffy was fresh to the game. The damage had already been done though. Her head bobbed back and forth not even following one of the cups. Blake stopped.
“Alright, point.” Her head looked between the cups. Hesitantly she raised a hoof. Blake flipped the corresponding cup to reveal… nothing (3). He flipped the other two revealing the carrot and the pebble.
“Nothing, let’s try again.” He flipped the cups back over.
Bubbles took a step forward. “Speshaw fwen am tiawed. Nu am gud tu pway game tiawed."
“Now now Bubbles, it would be so sad for Lily not to get sketties foh babbehs. You want your babies to be healthy right?” Blake played up the last part and Lily’s eyes went wide. Her shaking worsened “Besides, you know I was going pretty slow before. I’ll keep it easy. Wuddya say Lily?”
“Twy ‘gain.” She said quietly. Bubbles looked upset but he didn’t try to interject again.
Blake was pretty sure he had Bubbles figured out. He’d caught Bubbles eyeing the herd nervously after the failure. He’d also heard a few less than polite murmurs from the spectators.
She was something of a weak point for him. Smarties usually picked aggressive mares for mates and bullied them into submission while simultaneously appeasing them. They wouldn’t defy the smarty but they wouldn’t take crap from the rabble. This fluffy seemed absolutely spineless.
Blake shuffled again, slowly this time. The nervous mare didn’t even follow the first switch. Apparently she just sucked at this game. Blake stopped and after a few minutes she raised her hoof again. Bubbles was about to open his mouth but Blake quickly pulled up the cup revealing the pebble.
She opened her mouth but nothing came out. Blake grinned ear to ear.
He picked up the cold water and doused the mare with it. Apparently she’d decided to suck in some air the moment he’d done it and that had resulted in her breathing in some of the liquid.
She made loud choking noises. Blake really hoped that meme about fluffies being able to drown in a light mist wasn’t accurate.
Blake was about to comment but he was beat to it by Bubbles bucking the mare and knocking her over. There was a furious look on his face.
“Why dummeh mawe nu pick gud cup!?” He reared back to stomp on her. The toughies looked like they wanted to jump in but lucky for the “soon-mummah” the lip was making this difficult.
“Nuu hawt soon mummah!” She cried curling up and covering her stomach area.
Bubbles blinked and brought his hooves down to the side. His lids fluttered and his head moved side to side like he was trying to figure out where he was. His expression looked like he’d just been shaken out of a night terror. He stared at the trembling mare and shook a bit himself before gathering himself.
The other fluffies watched him with a mixture of fear and confusion.
“D, dummeh… Nu dummeh, jus’ sweepie. Nu am bad mummah, am…” Blake wasn’t sure what he was witnessing. The creatures was sputtering, like it was trying to beat back some unseen force. “Speshaw fwen onwy need gwassie nummies.” He settled on.
“Oh, she can play again if she wants, I have plenty of water.” The smarty stood silent, a conflicted look on his face.
The mare spoke instead. “N-nu wan pway nu mowe…”
“Are you sure?”
“Wiwy say nu!” The smarty having finally made up his mind stomped at Blake. Its cheeks inflated but Blake saw a desperation in its eyes. Blake shifted forward and the creature arched back like it was afraid of him. Some of the air even escaped its mouth.
Blake paused and smiled. “Well, that’s a shame. Anyone else?” He looked around expecting at least one of them to raise a hoof, but none did. He may have made a pretty big error here by not going easier on the mare. He could try convincing the Smarty to play again, but he was worried a failure would cement the herd’s apprehension.
Well, if anything else he had a better understanding of the herd’s dynamic and of the smarty specifically. He had all the time in the world to coax them back in. This was fine for now, he had a back up plan for later anyway.
“Daddeh!” He heard a muffled voice behind him. He turned to see Boris pushing on the glass behind him. Well… shit.
Bubbles ran up to the window and examined Boris. “New fwuffie foh hewd?”
“Su many pwettie fwuffies!” Boris responded. “Hewwo new fwe-“
Bubbles cut him off. “New fwuffie hab pwetty cowah. Nu be dummeh hoomin fwuffie. Cum wiv wid smawtie hewd!”
Boris looked conflicted. Blake took the opportunity to interject.
“How about we play for it?” Both fluffies gave him a confused look and he shooed the smarty from the window setting the cups in front of Boris allowing the glass to separate them.
“If you pick the carrot you stay inside, live with me, and I’ll give you a big bowl of sketties.” All eyes were on him now, fluffies peaked over each other trying to get a better view. “Or you can pick the rock and I’ll let you out to live with this herd.”
“Dummeh hoomin!" The smarty shouted, Blake sucked in some air. "New fwuffie get hewd and skett-“ Blake spat a luggie at the creature hitting it square in the mouth. it hacked and coughed trying to clear its airway of the foul gunk. Blake felt much better watching the creature wretch.
“I’ll put up with a lot but if you get in the way of me playing my games I will rip off your speshaw wumps and choke your speshaw fwend soon mummah to death while you watch!” Bubbles crept back still unable to form words. His defiant look was edging further into worry. “If he picks the rock, you can have him. If not, you’ll have to get over it.” He turned his head back to Boris. “Well buddy, how about it?”
Blake’s hope was rewarded with a nod from his pet. No protests, no bargaining, just acceptance. Bubbles didn’t approach but watched them carefully.
Blake set up the cups, revealed the carrot and the stone before shuffling. He moved them as fast as he could, but kept track of the empty cup. This time when Blake finished he flipped over the empty cup and removed it, leaving only the carrot and the stone. There were surprised grunts from the fluffy spectators and even from Boris.
“No do overs.” Blake’s heart thumped wildly in his chest.
His fluffy eyed both cups. He looked conflicted. Blake wasn’t sure if it was due to him not knowing what he wanted, or if he’d lost track of the cups. Blake had intentionally taken his eyes off Boris to conceal the answer from himself.
Boris raised a shaky hoof. Blake lifted the cup revealing a carrot. (4) Another smile crept onto his face.
Boris looked surprised but his tail beat back and forth rapidly. Had he intended to pick the stone? Well it didn’t really matter, the results were final and whatever the fluffy had wanted, it was clearly happy with the result. These cups were magic.
“Why dummeh fwuffie pick stupie cawwot!? Whateba, Bubbews nu wan dummeh fwuffie anyway!” Bubbles turned his ass to them and marched back to the herd, the elegance of the act only slightly marred by him tumbling off the edge. The downside of living with a perpetually upturned nose, Blake thought. He didn’t appear harmed though. Again, nothing but disappointment with this little bastard.
With that, Blake slid the door open and entered his home shutting the entrance behind him. He shifting the curtains to hide himself and Boris from the herd.
“Let’s get your skettie.”
“Skettttieeee!” Boris cheered following Blake toward the fridge. Blake caught Boris’s head turn back to the curtain for just a moment as he grabbed one of the containers. He didn’t mind. Boris would have many other chances at these fluffies. Just as soon as he was sure that Boris could dominate them.
He really hoped he wouldn’t be forced to break Boris before that happened.