Blake set the game up. He had a small orange painted rock to substitute the carrot since it wouldn’t perish in storage. He scooped Comet out of the water and set him down on the table. Comet shook off some of the water clinging to his fluff.
Blake Grabbed the hair dryer and spent a few seconds helping Comet dry off. The fluffy seemed to enjoy the sensation. Blake was only mildly disturbed when he pointed his ass toward the device. Blake could see the jealousy coming from the two siblings. Lemon for her part was cowering at the “Scawwy munstah noises.”
Blake was hoping this would tempt the fluffy to avoid the water and make more selfish choices.
“Good luck.”
Blake shuffled the cups.
“Point”
Comet immediately pointed at the right cup. Blake flipped it revealing the rock.
“Well done.” Blake dumped the water into the puke bucket. He considered dumping all of that into the sink but it didn’t really have a smell diluted as it was and he could always use it as a threat later.
“Babeh win cuppie game!?” Lemon said with an obvious shock.
“Sure did.” Blake replied in a happy tone.
“Come’ am su smawt!” Lemon said in a weak but excited voice. “Mummah wub smawtie babbeh. Sabe mummah and uddah babbehs… Gud babeh.”
Custard was glaring at them from atop her blocks. “Custawd du tu, can win dummeh hoomin game!”
“Dis nu am dummeh game sissy.” Comet had turned to walk toward her jar. “Dis am gweat game foh smawtie. Sissy pwobabwy nu can pway weww doh.”
If she’d been angry before she was furious now. Blake could swear the fur on the back of her neck was rising. “Dummeh bwuddah nu kno’ nuttin’. Custawd am bestest, an’ smawtiess babbeh!”
Comet turned back to Blake, sighed and sat in the upsies position. He gave the jar a bitter look.
Blake reached down and scratched his ears, a gesture the foal seemed calmed by. “I’ll tell ya what. If you keep playing my game and behave yourself, I’ll let you stay out here.”
“Nu hab tu sit in wawa?” The foal leaned into Blake’s hand, but not in the way that Boris did. There ws something less… affectionate to it. Like he just wanted to feel the scratches more.
Blake obliged by applying a little more pressure. “If you keep playing? Sure. Just remember you can ask for a block instead.”
“Nu see weason foh dat.” Comet responded in a relaxed tone.
“Really? Cause we’re gonna do all 5 cups from now on.”
“Dat fine.” Still no sense of fear or worry.
Blake stared at Comet for a few moments but eventually turned back to Lemon. “Spin.”
The wheel turned again, it slowed and finally rested on Comet’s color again.
“Comet again.” Blake said. Lemon looked relieved. Seemed she was going to treat it as a free pass.
Blake was dead set on destroying that assumption.
Blake revealed the orange rock. He went all out in his switches and watched for a moment where Comet seemed unsure. Finally he had it. He’d fooled Comet with a switch, or at least it had appeared that way.
“Point.” He tried to sound a little more aggressive. Comet didn’t seem to notice.
Comet looked between 2 cups on the end taking his eyes away from the cup he’d been watching. To Blake’s surprise he’d chosen the right cup.
“Okay how the heck did you know that.” Blake asked like was demanding a magician reveal the secret behind a trick.
“Come’ see hoomin do twick befoh. Nu shaw if dis wight cup bu’ it nu dat cup.” (C7)
“Still, pretty risky. You know 2 pointie munstahs is less than 4 right? You could just ask for a block.”
“Nu weason tu du.”
“Why?”
“Fwuffie nu can say wid wowds.” Blake gave the creature an odd look but left him to think on it while returning to Lemon’s side. Comet seemed to struggle with the concept before wheel turned again.
“10 to go. Finally gettin close.” The wheel was spun and Custard’s wedge came up.
“Custard’s turn.” Blake said. He was really hoping she’d be dumb enough to do something stupid.
“Custawd wan pway cuppie game!” She yelled behind him.
“Ya sure? cause you’re well above the water. Just letting me dump it would be easier.”
“Nu cawe!” She said proudly raising her head. “Am bestest fwuffie! Nu wan be in dummeh hoomin sowwy box!”
“Okay.”
Blake scooped up Custard, set her on the table in front of the cups, revealed the carrot and shuffled all 5. Custard immediately realized her mistake. She picked at random. Of course, the odds weren’t on her side. (C11)
“Wrong.” Blake said with joy saturating his voice. “Dummeh.” He spat at her.
She didn’t back down. “Hoomin nu pway faiw!” She shouted back at him.
“Well Comet? Did I cheat?” Blake said, turning his head.
“Hoomin nu chea’, Custawd jus’ dummeh.” Comet’s hoof was pointed toward a cup. Blake pulled up the cup and sure enough, there was the carrot. Custard was giving her brother an indignant look. She started over to him. Comet watched her. There was no reaction out of him. Blake wondered what would happen if he let Custard do whatever it wash she was going to do.
“Oh well.” Blake picked Custard up and put her back in the jar on top of the blocks. She bit into his finger trying to stay attached. Blake lightly yanked her scruff and she let go with a yelp.
“And bad luck for you Lemon.” Blake pulled out four of the tacks and showed them off. Lemon was shaking but the gesture was wasted. Lemon clearly couldn’t see it even though it was right in front of her face. Blake turned back to Custard.
“Custard, I want you to watch closely and remember that you did this. You’re the one hurting your mother right now. You’re the bad fluffy hurting your mother.”
Lemon opened her mouth to speak. “Custawd nu am ba-SKREEEEEEE!” Blake had put the first tack in the side of her neck. Miraculously he missed the artery. There was a normal trickle of blood but she’d cut off her sentence to scream.
“Stop hurting your mother Custard.”
Blake didn’t stop there. He jammed another into her front left leg below the leg joint. She crumpled.
The last two he jammed in at once on either side for her flank. Her screech approached ear piercing. Blake let go and let her carry on. Very unfortunately she fell on her side driving several of them deeper. She bolted up immediately but eventually fell to her stomach again.
Lemon was on the ground sobbing. She had 12 tacks in random parts of her body. Her eyes must have still been in tremendous pain.
“Wan die.” She mumbled between sobs. Blake grabbed her scruff and pulled her next to the roulette. She was wobbling terribly.
“Do you want your kids to die too?” He whispered in her ear. Weakly, she steadied her legs and spun.(L11)
It landed on yellow.
“Well Custard?” Blake said in sweet voice addressing the foal.
“Wawa…” She said bitterly. She tried glaring at Blake but her eyes continued to drift back to Lemon.
Blake dumped the water on her head. She flinched but didn’t fall off the blocks. (C15) She would have to be really unlucky to drown now, and the vomit had mostly dispersed in the water, thought there was a bit of film on the top.
“Spin.” Blake said turning back to Lemon.
Lemon spun again. It landed on her own wedge.
Blake grabbed a tack and stuck her right above the left of the tail. She collapsed on the spot sobbing lightly. (L3)
“Get up or I’ll spin it for you and I’ll give you twice the pointy munstahs for whatever I land on.
Lemon didn’t respond to him. She only muttered “Wan die…” repeatedly (L2)
“I’ll dump two waters on your babies.” With some effort Lemon stood up again. She seemed to be struggling to stay there. It seemed threatening her children was the only effective method Blake could use to motivate her. It was like she knew her own fate was sealed.
“Nu… nu hawt babehs. Mummah wub… mummah am…” She cut herself off by grabbing the wheel. She set it off with a weak push.(L17) Blake assisted and the wheel turned faster.
“Custard.” Blake said when it stopped.
“Wawa.” Custard said with some force.
“You sure? You’ve still got your sickie wawa in there.” She looked down wearily.
“Nu wet dummeh hoomin hawt mummah nu mowe. Nu cawe abou’ dummeh sickie wawa.”
“Took you long enough to grow a heart.” Blake hovered the water above Custard’s jar. Blake opted to dump it without hitting her. She looked relieved until she felt the water creep up her legs.
“Credit where it’s due. Too bad it took you so long…” Blake considered his options for a moment. “You want to protect your mummah little girl?”
“Wha hoomin mean?”
“I’ll let you out of the jar, I’ll even let you hug your mother if you tell your brothers and sisters how bad it was of Lemon to give her baby to Shadow. Call your mother bad for giving away a gud babeh.”
“H, hoomin stahp hawting mummah?”
“No. But I’ll let you see her, and you won’t have to sit in your own sickie wawa.”
“Mu… mummah nu am bad…”
“Literally the opposite of what I asked.”
“Bu’ mummah do bad ting, wetting meanie Shadow… hab wittew babeh.” She said not daring to look at Lemon.
Both foals were looking at her. Even Lemon was staring blankly at her.
“Your sister. Say you’re sorry about what happened to your sister.”
“Babeh am…” She swallowed. It was like she was fighting the urge to cry.
“Babeh am sistah. shouwd hab not wet gu…” She said the last words angrily. She didn’t believe any of it. Good, further confirmation that Blake would be doing the right thing. Some fluffies lied with difficulty. Custard being the spoiled brat that she was had the potential to pull the two-faced routine. He didn’t want the headache, but he did need a mare for his herd.
Blake reached down and plucked her out. He placed her next to Lemon. Lemon seemed unaware that she was there. Lemon hugged her leg.
“Wub mummah, Custawd make aww da booboos gu ‘way.”
Lemon slumped down and hugged her child. “Tank 'ou be-Custawd. Mummah feew wittew bettah.”
“6 to go.” Blake said tapping near the wheel. Reluctantly Lemon released the hug and went to spin the wheel.
The wheel turned and stopped on brown. Blake said nothing, shooed Custard back and sprayed Lemon’s already bad eyes. She screeched but stayed on her feet, shaking her head.
Custard ran clinging to her mother. Lemon shooed her back as soon as she felt her on her leg.
“Don’ hug mummah babbeh, bawnie wawa nu am safe foh babeh.” Custard refused and clung to Lemon’s back leg instead. Lemon put on a weak smile, but her wobbling returned.
“Hey now, home stretch. If you hadn’t been such a bitch earlier, it’d be over by now.” Blake said, cutting off the touching moment.
To his surprise all 4 fluffies responded with the same words. “Nu say nu nu wowds!” Even Comet seemed upset. Blake stood in a stunned silence.
“Yeah, my bad.” He said awkwardly scratching at the back of his scalp. His face reddened immediately. ‘Did I just get publicly shamed by a bunch of shit-rats?’ His mind asked him indignantly.
He was glad they couldn’t perceive the point they’d just scored on him. Lemon said nothing and quickly spun the wheel. It stopped on red.
“Comet.” Blake told her.
“Wan pway foh it.” Comet said behind him.
“You’re really confident.” Blake waited for some sort of retort but Comet’s eyes were locked on the cups. After another awkward moment Blake started the game.
Blake began swapping the cups as before. He didn’t let up. Once again Comet seemed to track the cup well enough, even though he hesitated on a few of the fake switches. When Blake finished Comet seemed torn between two cups.
“Something wrong?” Blake asked him.
“Hoomin du weiwd ting ‘gain. Not shaw.” Comet raised a hoof to the wrong cup. (C4)
“Second pick?” Blake asked.
Comet raised a hoof to the correct cup. Blake revealed both cups. He expected some kind of big reaction but Comet simply looked irritated.
“Wha hoomin du?”
“I faked a switch. It’s my favorite trick.”
“Twick?”
“sneaky thing.”
“Ah. Babeh wan’ twy dat ‘gain.” He seemed excited at the prospect. Blake smiled before responding.
“Gotta punish your mom first.”
“Otay.” Comet said with a note of indifference.
“You aren’t sad?” Blake asked him. Custard was giving Comet a look very reminiscent of a certain daycare worker. Ghoul was looking over but seemed distracted by the water covering his body.
“Nu weawwy cawe, jus’ wan’ pway game.”
“Even though she let me stab her to save you?” Blake tried.
Comet was silent as he looked toward Lemon. His face didn’t show any signs of concern. Just a note of thought. After a heavy sigh he spoke. “Pwease nu hawt mummah?” He said. His heart didn’t really seem to be in it.
“Well, I suppose I can give you a reward for almost getting it right. I’ll only stick her with the 2.”
Blake took the first tack and stabbed Lemon’s back right heel. She yanked her foot up and kicked it hoping to get the tack out. It hadn’t worked. Blake stabbed the second in her left flank. Lemon seemed to lack the energy to scream. She fell over and sobbed. Blake was about to threaten her but she attempted to rise on her own as Custard tried to push her back up and hug her the same time. Despite the effort she just couldn’t do it. (L6)
Fresh blood was pooling around her. Custard looked down and saw it.
“Nu! Boo boo juice stay in mummah!” She looked around in desperation. Eventually her eyes fell on Blake. “H, hoomin sabe mummah! Sabe mummah, pwease!” Blake acted as though she wasn’t there. He leaned down to Lemon.
“Wan…die…” She muttered, not seeming to notice him.
“Almost made it. I’ll take it from here.” In reality he was just looking for the opportunity to finish her off. She was starting to enter the “Wan die” loop, and he had no reason to keep her around to begin with. Still, he would let the game play out. She could continue to suffer through her miserable life if she got a few lucky spins and the blood clotted.
“4 to go” Blake turned the wheel himself. Eventually it stopped on red.
“Well Comet, guess you get your wish. Game?”
“Ob cawse.”
“Nu bwuddah, bestest mummah nu nee hawties. Take wawa!” Ghoul shouted from his own jar.
“Nu.” Comet replied simply. “Mummah am sickies, wiw pwobabwy take fohebah sweepies nu maddah wha.” Lemon looked heartbroken as she craned her weary head back. She opened her mouth but no words came out.
“Dummeh bwuddah nu say dat!” Custard shouted. “Bestess mummah jus’ nee’ hugs an’ wub!” She didn’t seem to believe it herself.
Comet ignored them and looked to Blake.
Blake responded by revealing the carrot under the cup. Blake played again and faked his switches. Once again the fluffy appeared to fall for it. (Co4)
“Two again?”
The fluffy pointed and Blake revealed the real cup. Comet pounded the ground.
“It’s okay buddy, takes some time to figure these things out. Shame about your mom though.” Blake turned giving Custard a sneer.
“Nu hawt mummah, pwease!” The Yellow foal yelled.
Blake turned to her and fiddled with a tack. “Hmmmm…. I’ll make you a deal. Wanna help your mummah? Take one pointy munstah, and I won’t give your mother any pointy munstahs this round.” Blake held up the tack. “But it’ll probably kill you since you’re still so small.”
She shrank back. (Cu6) “Am just wittew babeh…”
“I don’t really blame you.” Blake responded. He did, but this was ammo for later.
“Gowl wiww du…” A small voice choked out from the middle tank. (G19)
“Seriously?” Blake could feel the incredulity saturated in his voice.
The foal didn’t respond as it tried to maintain its head above water. Blake scooped him out and set him on the ground. After he found his bearings Blake held the tack in front of him.
“See how big it is?” Blake held the tack up to him. Fluffy skin was thin but just by virtue of size an adult’s organs were mostly out of reach to them. These foals were only about the size of a fist. The chances of this nicking something important were pretty high. Or at least, that was what Blake assumed. “Ya sure.”
Ghoul nodded.
“All right. Hey mummah! Your second least favorite baby is about to take a pointy munstah so you don’t have to!”
She wheezed and looked over to Blake. “Bwoo babeh am… foh mummah…” She looked like she wanted to say more but she was struggling to make words now. Blake decided to move things along.
Blake positioned the tack. Still unaware of what would be considered lethal or non-lethal he settled for an area just below the ribs.
“Bwuddah am dummeh tu.” Comet said with a bored expression. Blake halted.
“Gawl nu wan be bad babeh ‘gain. Nu stap meanie Shadoh. Nu sabe sissy.” He gave Blake a determined look. “Munstahs ebweewhewe. Wan be bwabe foh famiwy.”
Comet snorted. “Ou wet poopie fwuffie dwink miwkie tu. dat was stoopie. Wess foh us. Am nu weason tu hewp bad fwuffies.”
Blake watched the two not daring to interrupt. Custard had other plans.
“Ou wet dummeh poopie sissy dwink mummah miwkie!?” Custard spat. “‘Ou am dummeh! Hatchu!” She screeched. “If ‘ou jus’ wet dummeh sissy take fohebah sweepies, dummeh hoomin would hab weft mummah an babehs awone!”
Lemon gave no reaction. She was wheezing. Blake wasn’t sure she was fully conscious any more.
Ghoul didn’t say anything. He just looked to Blake and back at his mother. The understanding shone clear on his face. It was actually true after all. Ghoul closed his eyes.
“Seems I’m missing some context. Well, with any luck you’ll survive long enough to tell me.” Blake looked him over for a second. “On second thought, we’re so far into this it wouldn’t really matter. Good luck.”
Blake drove the tack in hard. He didn’t stop until it was all the way down to the plastic.
“Screeeee!” He restrained the foal as it thrashed violently in his hand. Ghoul didn’t even form words, he just screamed and screamed for the next few seconds. Only when it died down did Blake notice Lemon and Custard both sobbing.
“Don’t take that out.” Blake said as he set Ghoul back on the table. Ghoul shook on his feet. Blake didn’t put him back in the jar. Ghoul laid on his side. He kept the tack away from the ground. He closed his eyes and breathed quietly. (G8) The blood stopped and it didn’t look like he was in any immediate danger of death.
“only 3 left.”
Blake turned the wheel. The three foals looked on with a heightened interest. The wheel stopped on brown. Blake grabbed the bottle. He wasn’t really sure what he should do with it. He only had 2 spins left after this. He wanted Lemon dead. He placed the sprayer directly in front of her nose and set it to shoot a thin stream.
Lemon still seemed unaware of his presence. He waited for her to breath in, grabbed her snout, and he sprayed a stream directly into her nose.
A strangled squeak came out, her hooves tried to cover her snout but Blake jerked her head back. He could hear it. Breathing was becoming difficult. She was almost suffocating. It was only made worse when he jammed the bottle in a second time and sprayed again. He let go and she rolled on the table. Custard backed away narrowly avoiding getting crushed.
Blake wondered if she was drowning in it. The way she struggled really made it look that way.
“Stahp!” Ghoul shouted struggling to his feet and moving toward them.
“Stay back.” Blake growled. Ghoul ignored the warning. (G17)
Blake responded by twisting the nozzle. He sprayed a very light mist in the air in front of Ghoul. The spray hit him like a truck. Ghoul wretched and started hacking violently. Very unfortunately he fell on the tack sticking into his body. (G1)
Blake could see it. HIs little body distended. He rolled away from it instinctively but between hacks he was now on his side as fresh crimson leaked around the wound. It seemed he’d widened the hole in his side to the point that just keeping the tack in wasn’t helping the blood loss. (G6)
“Huu huu… hack nu… hawt… cough.”
Now Blake was certain he was dying. He stayed on the ground as his chest heaved up and down.
Comet walked toward his brother. Ghoul looked up to Comet and spoke again. “Gowl… Nu feew pwettie. Feew wike dawk times. Pwease, wan be wid bwuddah an’ mummah. Wan huggies…”
Custard turned her attention to Ghoul. She rushed over at the tragically slow pace she could run.
Comet simply stared at his brother. Ghoul’s eyes looked desperate but his voice failed him. Comet sat there and watched as his brother closed his eyes and died.
Custard arrived a second after, reached down and pushed at him.
“Ge’ up! Sissy hewe! Sissy gib bestest huggies in da whole wowd!” She reached down and nuzzled him. “Pwease nu gu fohebah sweepies. Nu make mummah sad… Nu make Custawd sad….”
“Couldn’t even hug your brother?” Blake looked down on Comet.
“Nebah see fohebah sweepies befoh. Come’ wan’ kno.”
“And?”
“Scawy.” There was something chilling about the way he said it.
When Custard processed that the foal she was hugging was dead beneath her she turned her attention to Comet. “Dummeh Come’ why nu hewp mummah an’ bwuddah!?” Custard yelled as she rose from Ghoul’s body.
Comet looked at her with annoyed expression. “Why Come’ hewp dummeh fwuffies? 'Ou aww am bad.”
She looked at him with a dumb expression. She’d probably never heard that before.
“Nu am bad! Bwuddah am pwettie!” Custard yelled back.
“Was pretty. You’re brother’s dead, nuthin’ pretty about a corpse.” Blake motioned to Lemon. “And he’s not the only one.”
Lemon laid motionless on the table.
While Ghoul had died her coughing had worsened, then ceased. A pool of red sat around her. (L5)
“M-Mummah! Nuuuuuu!” Custard shouted at her lifeless body. She ran back to her.
“Ge’ up, Nu take fohebah sweepies. Nu wan mummah an’ bwuddah tu go!” Comet watched her but didn’t approach. He turned his eyes back to Blake
“Dummeh game am obah? Wha’ hoomin du wid Come’ and dummeh sissy?”
Blake looked down on Comet. He considered wearing his fake smile but Comet seemed unable to even recognize the gesture. It was something of a relief. “I’m going to let you live inside with the rest of my fluffies if you can listen to my rules.”
“Wat am wuwes?”
“Things you have to do.”
“Come’ kno dat, mean wha’ AM wuwes.” Comet emphasized the am like he was talking to a toddler.
“Oh, Poop in litter boxes. Don’t hurt the other fluffies. Don’t complain about the food…” Blake wished he’d better rehearsed the spiel. “Oh and Boris is in charge.”
“Who am Bawis?”
“House smarty.”
“He smartah dan Bubbews?”
“Probably not.” Comet let out an audible sigh.
“He meanie?”
“The others seem to like him but I don’t know.”
“Can’ be wowse dan famiwy. Otay, wiww twy new housie. Pway games nao?”
“Sorry, gotta do a few things first.” Blake looked over to Custard. She was giving him the most spiteful glare he’d seen from a fluffy yet. The silence of the communication was fitting.
(Thanks for reading. Now I throw the question to you. Blake has a very specific plan for Custard’s punishment. That part will be a secret for now, but there’s always room to sprinkle salt on a wound. So here’s my question:
What should Blake do to Custard? Blake intends to keep her with Boris’s herd and is going to do something horrible to her regardless.
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- Nothing (except what is already going to happen)
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- Leg fur is dyed brown.
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- Whole body is dyed brown.
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- Amputation
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- Shave
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- Blinded
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- Litter-pal
0 voters
I will definitely do the one with the most votes, and I may do multiple. Just kind of curious to see what people want to see. On the off chance the pole doesn’t pan out I’ll just go with my gut. But as with the rest of this series I wanted to experiment a little.)
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