Blake watched as the wheel turned, a smile crept onto his face as it slowed. Again, Ghoul’s color came up.
Blake looked down at Lemon. “Ghoul again. Whaddaya say?” He shook the empty bottle in front of her. She seemed uneasy by its presence. She looked to Ghoul then looked away from it.
“Nu wan…” She muttered quietly. (L6)
“Wuh?” Ghoul said from his cage. Blake moved his head closer.
“Sorry, I didn’t hear that sweetheart. What did you say? Say it loud enough so everyone can hear you.” He cupped his hand to his ear and bent down.
She glanced over to Ghoul before looking back to Blake. “Mummah can nu dwink nu mowe wawa.” She said in louder voice. Blake expected to see a shred of guilt on her face but there was nothing.
That wasn’t all that shocking in hindsight. She was in pain now and with the removal of Willow, Ghoul seemed to be her least favorite. Though, that reminded Blake to ask a particular question.
“You’re a terrible family. What was your special friend’s name?” Lemon looked like he’d slapped her in the face.
She puffed her cheeks, opened her mouth, and paused. “Nu wemembah…” She said dumbfounded. “Why nu wemembah speciaw fwen- He dummeh anyway, nu cawe ‘bout mummah an’ babbehs.” The confidence came back to her face.
Blake grinned and rapped his fingers on the table. “What color was he?”
“Pwettie wed fwuffie!” So at the very least it wasn’t Bubbles who’d mated with her. It seemed the color of her smarty didn’t affect her perception of how her kids ranked. Blake turned his attention back to the jar.
“Well well. Sorry Ghoul, you’re boned.” Blake dumped another serving of water in. The foal scrambled and tumbled trying to avoid the water. When Blake had finished the water was up to Ghoul’s chest.
“Huu huu… Gowl nu wike wawa!” He kept his head up.
Blake moved in close. “Wanna buy a block?”
“Wuh?” The foal asked him.
Blake pulled out a wood block big enough for a fluffy to stand on. It was perfectly sized to put a foal just above 2 doses of water accounting for displacement. “If you want this it’ll cost you 2 thumbtacks.”
The foal shivered and stared at Blake.
He shook his head. “Nu wan meanie pointy munstah.”
“Oh, these won’t go into you. They’ll go into Lemon if you take the block.” He pointed them toward Lemon. She backed away almost tumbling into the roulette in the process. Blake snickered and turned his head back to Ghoul. “Your mother’s in deep shi-poopie anyway. That and… I mean she clearly doesn’t love you as much as your brother and sister. Why risk your own life?”
“Nu wan.” the foal repeated (G20)
“You sure? Your mother just kind of left you to drown.” Blake glanced at Lemon who refused to look at either of them. Ghoul kept his eyes on Blake.
“Gowl nu wan’ mummah get pointie munstah!” That got her attention. She looked back at Ghoul. Only now the guilt was showing.
“Whatever floats your boat.” Blake turned to return to the roulette. “Your baby’s a better fluffy than you are Lemon.” Lemon still couldn’t meet Blake’s gaze.
“Dun wowwy mummah. Custawd know ‘ou am bestest mummah. Nu wissen tu dummeh hoomin.” Blake watched her to see if she’d rebound. Her head rose a bit but her expression remained guilt ridden.
She returned to the wheel. Blake returned to his position.
The wheel turned. To their fortune it stopped on black. (6)
Blake poured out another cup and Lemon breathed a sigh of relief. Blake prompted her to spin again. She obeyed.
It landed on blue once again. (3)
“Ghoul again.” Blake said simply.
“Huu huu. Dummeh hoovsies spin wheew bad!” Lemon was shaking her head. Unlike Comet she didn’t seem to understand that even though she was participating this wasn’t really her fault. Blake saw no reason to fix that particular misunderstanding. Oddly enough, Comet didn’t seem interested in fixing it either.
“Wiww dwink…” Lemon said weakly. Blake transferred the water.
Cautiously she began sucking down the water. She was much slower than the last few times and it seemed to be paying off. She managed to get it all down. Her stomach bloated a little by the end.(L12) She looked to be uncomfortable.
“Hey good job, you saved your baby like a proper mother this time.” She gave Blake a tired smile as she rested on the ground. Her tail swished back and forth.
“Am gud mummah.” She said in a quiet voice. She seemed happy enough to say it, but she didn’t look confident. Hell, her face was bordering on forlorn.
“17 to go.” Blake said after a moment. The smile dropped from her face. A smile crept onto Blake’s. She knew it was a number, even if she couldn’t count it herself. She knew that number was high.
She rose up and returned to the wheel. Once again, it turned. It stopped on black.(6) Her face brightened up a little more.
Blake dumped another cup out and pointed for her to spin again. This time it landed on red (4)
“Well Comet, you’re up. How about you Lemon.”
Wearily her head turned back to Comet’s jar. “Babeh otay?” She asked, the worry clear in her voice.
Comet’s face remained neutral as he looked around. “Yes mummah, can habe too mowe wawas.” Blake quirked an eyebrow.
“Den mummah nu dwink meanie wawa dis time.” Lemon said, turning to Blake. (L4)
He considered taunting her again, but it hardly seemed necessary. She was already spent and only at the halfway mark.
Blake reached down and poured the water. Comet didn’t flinch. Blake was impressed and only a little creeped out. The implications of a slightly more intelligent fluffy opened all sorts of possibilities, but he wasn’t sure he knew how to keep him in check. There was no saying Comet wouldn’t turn into the smarty equivalent of whatever he was. Blake looked back to Lemon.
“Halfway point. No dead babies yet.” Lemon shot him an angry look. Okay, so maybe a little taunting.
Eventually she turned back to the wheel. This time it stopped on yellow.
“Custard’s turn” Lemon opened her mouth but stopped before saying anything. Instead she eyed the bottle.
“Wiw dwink.” She said definitively. Her eyes blinked as Blake grabbed the bottle and remained in a strained squint. Seemed the spray was having the desired effect. She wasn’t reacting to the wheel, she only responded when Blake reported the answer.
Blake prepared the bottle.
Lemon attempted to drink the water but gagged almost immediately. (L6) She tried again but it just wouldn’t go down.
“Nope.” Blake took the water and held it above Custard’s cage. Her head followed his hand as he pulled away but looked around frantically after the bottle got away from her.
“Dummeh hoomgraingoaing” The water poured into Custard’s open mouth. She spent the next several seconds choking on it as Lemon rushed over to try and help. Her face smacked painfully into the glass. When she recovered she found herself blocked from reaching her baby.
“Think your mom loves you enough to keep you alive?” Blake asked Custard.
Her face scrunched up as she switched between looking to Blake and her mother. She looked far less confident than usual now. Perhaps this one was still salvageable. Blake hoped not. He had something else he wanted to try.
“Next.” Blake pointed to the wheel and Lemon reluctantly obeyed the order. She wandered in the wrong direction though. Blake had to snap his fingers near it to get her to walk there. When she found the handle she turned the wheel again.
The wedge landed on Willow. Lemon moved her head close and blinked a few more times. She had a startled look on her face. After a moment she shut her eyes and hid her face.
“Wow, just when your see places recover you pick brown again. Dummeh.” Blake added a sharpness to the last word and she flinched.
Not to be caught using the same trick twice, Blake opted to wiggle one of the tacks. Lemon yelped and her eyes shot open. Blake sprayed her eyes directly again.
“Skreeeeeeee!” Her eyes slammed shut as she resumed covering her face.
“Dummeh hoomin stop hawting mummah! Babbeh gib ‘ou wostest sowwy poopies!” Custard turned but luckily she was still empty from last night’s fasting. Not lucky for Blake of course, but for her own sake. He’d of left her in the tainted water if she’d of pulled the maneuver off.
Still, the intention deserved retaliation. Blake held the bottle over jar, He adjusted the nozzle for a wider spray, allowing the liquid to disperse more. She looked up at it and he spritzed the open air of the jar.
When the spray made its way down there was an immediate reaction. Custard started coughing and blinking as tears formed in her eyes.
“Bawnie wawa hawt! Nu wike! Nu wike!” She shook her head hoping to clear it but the mist was still lingering in the air making the pain progressively worse.
“Skreeeee!” She stumbled and fell head first into the water. Between her hacking she must of inhaled some. Before long she was gagging and eventually she vomited up her half digested kibble into the water.
“Gross.” Blake said.
When the pain diminished enough and she could open her eyes she looked at the foul brown liquid that had floated around her. She backed up but that only spread it around worse. “NU! Bestest babbeh nu wan touch sickie wawa!”
“Tough toenails you little moron. Shouldn’t have been a brat. Now you know what it was like for your sister.”
“Hoomin! Fwuffie sowwie. Pwease make sickie wawa gu ‘way. Du anyting!” Her reaction was exaggerated even for a regular fluffy.
Blake laughed. He turned from her and looked to Lemon. Her eyes were a very deep shade of red now. They were puffy and she was most likely near complete blindness.
“Huuu huuu. Nu can see.” She sobbed “Custawd babbeh otay? Mummah nu can see 'ou.”
Custard didn’t respond. She was too focused on keeping her distance from the vomit.
Blake grabbed her scruff and dragged Lemon to the peg.
“Spin.”
“NU! Dummeh hoomin!” Before Blake could issue a threat Lemon began pissing herself all over the table. Blake had to scramble to block off the foul liquid from reaching his roulette. He sacrificed his arm letting it fall into the foul liquid. (L20) To his dismay some leaked onto Willow’s brown wedge. Still, he managed to sop up most of it with the paper towels he’d kept near the table. His roulette was still fine.
“My my… You idiots love being defiant at the worst times.” Blake yanked her up by the scruff and tossed her into the closet closing the door. Her yells were muffled from the closet. He was sure she’d landed on one of her tacks.
Blake spent the next few minutes cleaning up the mess. He’d at least had the foresight to make the tabletop waterproof.
“Hoomin nu say mummah nu can make bad peepees.” Comet said as he finished. His voice was even but there was still a hint of smugness in it.
“No I didn’t, I only said she wasn’t allowed to throw up.” Blake tossed the rags into the waste-bin. “But I also said I’d punish her if she defied me.”
Blake finished up and grabbed 5 of the cups. He went to the sink and started to refill them…
“Wuh hoomin doin’?” Comet asked.
“Lemon’s sorry game for going against me is 5 more cups.” Blake was gritting his teeth. He tried to force himself to relax.
It was just some fluffy piss on a shirt he didn’t care about. Nothing of value lost. He breathed in deep.
“Dat nu am-“ Blake’s head whipped around to the foal.
“It is fair. I told her the rules, she screwed up and someone’s gonna pay for it.”
Comet didn’t respond. He merely turned his head back to the play area. Blake considered that he might be breeding some needless hostility between him and Comet. Damn, he really should have just taken him instead of using him for this game.
Blake finished filling the cups and brought them back to the table.
Blake retrieved Lemon setting her roughly on the table.
“Ready to behave?”
“We-wemon so-“ Blake clamped her snout shut.
“Don’t apologize, just play.” He growled at her. “19 to go.” She didn’t react to the number. Blake sighed. By throwing her in the closet he’d lost the ability to make her aware of her mistake. That took some of the fun out of it. He dragged her to the wheel and she turned it.
The wheel stopped on red. “Comet again.” (4)
“Huu huu….”
You would think that after her relieving herself that she’d have more room but no, she still couldn’t choke it down. (L4)
Blake took it away. “Well Comet?”
“Wawa.” He said again standing as tall as he could manage. Blake obliged. The water stopped at the bottom of his neck. He looked visibly uncomfortable.
“Trying to protect your mummah?” Blake asked in a mocking tone.
“Nu.” His voice betrayed no other emotion than fear.
Blake felt his own brows furrow. He considered pressing Comet but he decided against it. Wouldn’t matter what the answer was if he drowned and Ghoul was already showing fatigue from having to stand straight for so long.
“18 to go” Lemon hadn’t left the wheel. She’d spun it before Blake could assist. It didn’t even make a full rotation before stopping on Custard. Lemon seemed to have not caught it. Nor did Comet, though he seemed to be struggling with just keeping his head above water.
“Custard” (2) Blake said aloud so everyone was up to speed.
“Wawa….” Lemon said quietly. Blake silently transferred the water and put it in front of her. He looked back to Custard. She was shivering in a corner trying to hide from her own vomit.
Lemon managed to gulp down the water with some difficulty. (L13) Her stomach visibly distended. She tried to lay down afterward but Blake yanked her back to her feet.
“17 more Lemon, get to it.” He turned her back to the handle and she spun the wheel. Blake pumped the pedal properly this time. Maybe a little too much. The wheel rotated for several seconds before finally stopping.
“Ghoul” Blake said. Lemon let out a light sob. She didn’t ask for the bottle. Blake turned to Ghoul.
“Well Ghoul?”
“Wawa.” Blake dumped it. Ghoul barely kept his head above water. It reached all the way up his chin. If he didn’t keep his posture perfect he’d be under. (G14) Blake was getting frustrated. He’d underestimated the level of loyalty these things could show. It was making him a little angry.
“Bad choice. Even if you can keep your head up, you idiots are pretty clumsy.”
“Gowl am be bwabe foh mummah…”
“Do you think this makes up for what happened with your sister?” Ghoul looked at him in shock. “She has a name now too, it’s Willow.”
Ghoul was fighting back tears.
“You will die if I dump any more water.”
Lemon kept her head toward the wheel. She was heaving a little. Blake turned back to her.
“And you’re going to sacrifice another child?” He glared at her but remembered that she wouldn’t be able to see it.
“Go again.” He growled. She obeyed.
“Custard.” Blake began pouring the drink before she even asked him to. She put her mouth on the straw. 2 gulps in and she reared back. She covered her mouth with her hooves. Blake reacted quickly and turned her away from the roulette. He pulled the bucket from below the table and put it in front of her mouth. From her mouth came a strong spray of liquid.
It was clear with only a slight green tint. She wretched several times, each time liquid shot from her throat. Blake patted her back. He wasn’t sure why he was doing it, just kind of seemed like the polite thing to do. She gagged, fell on her stomach and huffed.
“Gross.”
“Huu huu… why dummeh tummeh make sickie wawa? Mummah nu can sabe babehs nao. Moufie pwace nu taste pwettie…”
Blake gave her a few more light pats on the back. “Credit where it’s due, you made it further than I would’ve expected. Heck, if you hadn’t pissed all over my table you might have even had a real chance at this.”
Blake turned to the foals.
“How about you Custard? Water, or block?”
“Wan bwockie…” She said in a quiet voice. Lemon raised her head to look toward her. She looked hurt but eventually her expression went more neutral and she spoke.
“Dat am otay be-Custawd… mummah pwotec’ babeh fwom wawa.”
As soon as she finished Blake grabbed two tacks and swiftly jammed them in. Lemon tried to keep her mouth shut bearing the pain.
Custard ran through the rancid liquid seeming to forget her disgust, pressed up against the glass and screeched. “Nu! Nu hawt bestest mummah dummeh hoomin!” She pounded uselessly against the glass.
Blake carelessly dropped the block toward the middle of the jar. Custard yelped avoiding it as it fell, but the splash sent water into her face. She gagged.
“I didn’t hurt her. You hurt her.” Blake got close. “Dummeh Custawd hawt her bestest mummah cause she’s a little bi-… dummeh poopie fwuffie.” She sat in the water dumbfounded by Blake’s words. Blake gave her a satisfied smile and stood up.
He wanted to curse at them. He was already kind of over having to keep his speech PG. From what he understood though fluffies knew curse words, but categorized them all as the same kind of off limits. They couldn’t derive meaning from them, they would just react negatively. Screaming a slew of curse words at fluffies could make them feel bad, but it wasn’t the same as telling them something unkind. It wouldn’t leave a long lasting trauma or impact. If anything, it was a roadblock to Blake’s goals. Still didn’t make the substitution and less grating.
“15 again.” Lemon spun the wheel and Blake had to rush to assist her. He really needed to keep on that. To his delight it landed on Custard.
“Custard again.” Blake held the water over. “Want another block?”
She was about to speak but Blake shook the table causing some of the tainted water to splash on her hooves.
“Yes!” She responded giving another worried look to the liquid below. (C5) Blake was actually surprised by that. He threw his head back and let out a loud exaggerated cackle. Lemon looked crushed. Blake let her mire in it but she attempted to rebound.
“It otay…” Lemon repeated. “Am be gud mummah…” It sounded like she was trying to convince herself rather than Blake. At the very least she seemed consoled. (L18)
Blake reached down toward Custard. He didn’t grab her until she took the upsies position, which she did with reluctance. He set a second block on the first and placed her on top of it.
He pat her on the head lightly and just as before she returned the affection. Though she seemed to realize the issue and stopped after a moment.
“You idiots are so easy to manipulate.” Blake dumped the water.
Lemon was shivering. He waved his hand in front of her face and she didn’t react. Her sense of smell was probably knocked out at this point too. Blake slowly picked up the two tacks and lined up a shot on each side further up to her rib cage. He couldn’t tell where the gaps were.
“Oh well.”
Blake jammed the tacks into her chest. They both found soft flesh to bite into. She tensed, let out a loud screech and collapsed.
“Get up and spin the wheel. If you don’t I really will kill your babies.”
Lemon pulled herself to her feet. She pushed the wheel weakly. It landed on her own color.
Blake swiftly jammed another tack in. She didn’t even scream that time. She just tensed and sobbed as the tack bit into her back just next to her spine.
“Ya know. a lot of people are superstitious about the number 13. Maybe it’ll be a lucky number for you.” Wordlessly she spun the wheel.
The wheel landed on Lemon’s wedge again. Blake remained silent as well as he shoved the tack into her back thigh. Her leg gave out but she remained upright.
“Dis am su stupie.” Comet muttered from his jar.
“Well it’ll be over soon and we can play more fun games… If you live.” Comet looked positively petrified at that.
“Hoomin gib babehs fohebah sweepies aftah dummeh game!?”
“No…?” Blake gave the creature a confused look. “But you keep asking for more water, so I just kind of assumed you might drown.”
The panic washed off Comet’s face. “Oh, dat nu am pwobwem den.”
“.,Why not?”
“Cawse Come’ nu wet wawa weach moufie pwace.”
Blake looked the creature over. In the background he heard the roulette spin behind him. Coincidentally, It landed on red.
“Well that’s convenient. Comet, you’re up. Want a block?”
“Wha happen if mummah go fowebah sweepies?”
“The game ends.”
“Babbeh nu take fohebah sweepies, ow pointie munstahs?”
“That’s right.”
This got Lemon’s attention. She craned her head up to Blake. Her swollen eyes stared at nothing. “If mummah go fohebah sweepies… Hoomin sabe babehs?”
“They won’t go forebah sweepies today. I won’t lie and tell you they’re going to live long happy lives, but I won’t drown them if you die.” She shuddered at that last word. “kill” and “die” had their own special effect on the fluffy psyche. This however seemed random. Blake had intended to use “forever sleepies” but his own frustration was making him sloppy. Especially since they weren’t really punishing him for it.
A stillness came over Lemon.
“Mummah am nu wan pway… Wan die…”
Blake grimaced. “Cute, but if you give up early, I’ll drown Custard and Ghoul.”
“Why nu hawt Comeh?” The red foal asked.
“I have plans for you. I don’t care about your mother or siblings but I’d prefer to keep you around.”
“Mowe dummeh games?” Was Comet’s only response.
“You weren’t saying that before, why are you calling them “dummeh games?””
“Dis game am dummeh game.”
“Because I’m hurting your mom?” Blake tried. He suspected it wasn’t true but it was worth checking.
“Babeh nu am pway.” Again, Blake was surprised.
“You wanna pway?”
“weew am dummeh too. Come’ nu am wan pway dummeh games bu’ wan pway.”
“So is the cup game a “dummeh game?””
“Nu, wike dat game, wan’ pway.”
“Hmmmmm…. Okay.” Blake tapped his finger on his chin wondering if he could modify the game.
“Hoomin wet Come’ pway?” He needed to keep Lemon’s odds of survival low. He’d already mostly achieved that by blinding her. The rest of the herd would probably treat her as a bottom tier fluffy given the lack of options for that role. No, he was overthinking it, he could make this work.
Blake went over to the back and pulled out the cup game.
“You’re right. I’ve been awfully unfair this time.” Blake set the cups down. “We’ll make a deal. Double or nothing. If you you choose to play the 3 cup game and you win I’ll dump the water. If you lose, I’m giving your mother 4 pointy munstahs.”
“Hoomin be faiw?”
“Cheat. We call it cheating when you play a game unfairly.”
“Hoomin nu chea’?”
“I promise I won’t cheat.”
“Den babeh pway.”
“Babeh nu! Too wittew!” Lemon shouted, taking a step toward them.
“Quiet you.” Blake swatted the table in front of her. She cowered and backed off.
Blake turned back to Comet and felt a grin overtaking his face again. “You know… I see a lot of great things in your future kiddo.”
Comet stared back at Blake. His own face twisting into a grin of its own.
(It’s amazing how hard it is to juggle all the factors in simple scenarios like this. The amount of water in a jar, the number of tacks in Lemon, how many times her eyes have been sprayed, etc.)