Accept that beyond the world in Sunshine’s mind, another world exists, one which is reality.
Two humans named Albert and Cindy both wearing business casual attire, sit behind a couple of computers in a lab. Albert and Cindy had just returned from lunch and were checking the system in a routine diagnostic. They both worked in a neurobiology lab, as graduate students under their PI Dr. Zhu. They are attempting to chart the brain’s electrical activity in response to the output of pleasure inducing hormones such as dopamine and serotonin. It is their hope to be able to send an artificial electrical impulse to devise a therapy for the clinically depressed, disabled, and anyone else in need of stress relief. Fluffy neurochemistry is perfect for mapping as their nervous systems and brains are simple. Human trials can begin once enough data is gathered from disposable fluffies. As with any qualitative study a baseline of low output is necessary. In this second phase the fluffy’s stress and depression electrical output will be measured. In the first half of the trial the fluffy’s happiness, contentment, and joy were measured, and all data collected. Albert turns to Cindy looking concerned.
Cindy: Hey Albert.
Albert: Yeah?
Cindy: Looks like the storm may have caused a surge. Look at this glitch here where the happiness impulses take a sudden dive.
Albert: Oh yeah. I see a little spike for 3 minutes where the power cut out. With any luck the fluffy was asleep and didn’t notice.
Cindy: I don’t think so, it looks like the fluffy’s cortisol levels have been maintained since the incident, so all of this data is useless after the glitch.
Albert: What do we do?
Cindy: We will cut the data-points after the glitch from the study and make it a footnote about the error. Let’s start phase two ahead of schedule and inform Dr. Zhu.
Albert: Right away. Good thinking on the cortisol levels. I’ll start preping and tell Dr. Zhu.
The two scientists work at the benches as 20 feet away is a cold steel operating table. On it a yellow mare with an orange mane is strapped to the table with a belt around her back. She is a quadruple amputee with gnarly scars as an undergrad lab assistant had performed the operation. Much of her mane and tail were chopped off to make way for probes with electrical needle sensors under her scalp. The fluffy was hooked up to a number of tubes and wires, some of which leading into her brain. Her actual optic and auditory nerves had been cut in place of artificial probes. Where her eyes should have gone were two red craters with mucus membrane that looked dry and cracked.
The fluffy was “Subject 4393”; however, when her “daddy” donated her to science there was a footnote that read “Sunshine”. Subject 4393 was blind, deaf, muted, her “leggies” taken, her “pwetty” mane and tail were chopped up like a child that gives itself a haircut. Scars appear over its body along with several leading away from vacant eye sockets. No fate worse could behold any fluffy, and on the way to that fate, Subject 4393 would journey through Hell. After experiencing the “worstest hwurties” both of body, mind, and heart can “Sunshine” know the existential horrors of being in quite darkness, with no voice, and unable to move.
The lights around Subject 4393 switched from blue to red as Cindy started the stress simulation for the fluffy. The two graduate students monitor the input as seen through the fluffy’s eyes while monitoring her brain activity.
The Fluffies eyes open to her saferoom, full of toys, and playing babies, and her special friend.
Sunshine smiles and rubs noses with Rocket. As the two love on each other their foals play around them. Sunshine rubs her big tummy and says “babehs soon ou aww hab new tummeh babeh brudah an sistahs”. The foals all cheer and shout things like “yay pway!” and “I wub ou!”. Just then daddy comes into the saferoom and announces its time for “bwrekies!”. All the fluffys cheer about “bwrekies” and follow daddy to the kitchen. They sit around their fluffy table and start eating their sugary treats covered in chocolate sauces and sprinkles. As they all crunch their sugary greedily and slurp up their chocolate sauce milk, daddy makes an announcement.
Daddy: “We are going to play a game today fluffies”.
This is followed by a series of cheers “yay games” and “fluffy wub games da bestest daddeh eva!” This makes daddy have a hearty chuckle.
Daddy: “The fluffy that can stack the most blockies wins”.
Rocket: Rwocket am da bestest at bwockies ams da twallest!"
All of the fluffies try to stack their blocks higher, but Rocket’s size gives him obvious advantage. Still sitting around the round kitchen table daddy places a large spherical fish bowl, almost like a giant brandy glass, in the center of the kitchen table. Being small fluffies half the size of cats, it must have seemed huge. Rocket and the others look confused. Daddy without warning snatches Rocket by the mane which triggers a “BAD UPSIES!” by Rocket, as daddy tosses him into the fish bowl. The other fluffies react in horror as spurts of “scardie poopies” can be heard. Rocket sits up and begins to bang his hooves on the side of the glass crying and yelling “Hwelp special fwrend!! I wub ou need hwelp!!!” Sunshine puts her hooves on the other side of the glass as they both look at each other with loving sad eyes, unable to help each other. Then daddy dumps what looks like some potting soil on Rocket’s head. Then they start crawling up from the soil and Sunshine sees big red ants crawl their way onto Rocket’s fluff. As they cover his body he begins to cry sharp loud cries in agony as the fire ant venom courses through his tiny body. Sunshine bangs on the glass with her weak hooves yelling “Nuuuu buggie munstahs!!! weave swpecial fwrend awone!!!” After a full 8 minutes, of Rocket screaming in pain, Sunshine watches in horror as her spwecial fwrend stops moving, and is completely covered in ants. The foals are all covered in scardie poopies and are crying all around the table as Sunshine cries against the glass.
Daddy picks up the foals, and Sunshine and place them in a large cardboard box. Sunshine is panicking, spwecial fwrend is forever sleepies, daddy is munstah daddeh? Her fluffy mind is flooded with stress, and sadness as her serotonin and dopamine levels take a nosedive and her cortisol, and epinephrine spike. Daddy roughly picks Sunshine up and straps her to a table. Sunshine is slammed down on the table before she can utter “bad upsies!”, and daddy straps her down with a single strap over the middle of her back. Her fat body squirms as her pathetically short and fat “leggies” flail around.
Without warning daddy takes out a large cleaver and SLAM chops her front right “leggie” off, which is quickly followed by a loud “WORSTEST HURTIES!!! SCCREEE!!!”. Sunshine is panicking and seeing a white light from all of the blinding pain which instantly interrupted SLAM as the cleaver takes her left front “leggie”. Sunshine somehow feels this one less as it just adds to her previous pain, making her gasp in agony. Incoherent syllables along with gasps are all that can be heard over the wet sputter of blood being lost from her front two limbs. Daddy cauterizes the two wounds which caused a loud SIZZZZZLLEEEE HISSSSSSSSS when pressed against Sunshine’s wounds which caused a loud “SCCCCCREEEEEEEEEEE!!! CHIRRRPPPP!!!” from Sunshine. Sunshine had never been so scared and forgot her name and started referring to herself as a “Babbeh” again and began shouting “Sabe Babbeh mummah sabe babbeh!! Daddeh is munstah daddeh!! Sabe babbeh!!!” SLAM SLAM daddy lops off her hind limbs and cauterizes them, causing subsequent “SCREEESS” and scardie hurtie poopies. Gasping for breath Sunshine shivers having her limbs removed so mercilessly and quivers. What was happening, why is daddy a monster, why is this happening, special friend is forever sleepies! Why is daddy a monster!? All of these thoughts streamed through her mind as daddy picks up Firebolt her beautiful red foal.
The foal screams “bad upsies!!!” as daddy says “Hmm what to do with you…I guess I should say what to feed you to”. Daddy looks around the room and says “ah yes” and wheels Sunshine inches away from a large enclosure containing a swamp like habitat.
He places Firebolt into the enclosure. Firebolt runs to Sunshine, who is helpless to move and watches through the glass like she did with Rocket minutes earlier.
Firebolt: pounds on the glass Sabe babbeh mummah!! Sabe babbeh frum munstah daddeh!! Hwelp babbeh!! Pwease!!!
Sunshine: Mummah sowwy babbeh!! Mummah no can muv no weggies to sabe babbeh wif
Firebolt begins to cry, and continues his request to “sabe babbeh!”, to the helpless dismay of Sunshine. Out of the water two eyes pop up and the head moves in the direction of the crying foal. Very quickly a 3 foot crocodile monitor lizard walks out of the water, and positions itself behind the foal. Looking back and up Firebolt sees the crocodile monitor which cocks it’s head before lunging and grabbing the fluffy by the back leg. The lizard very quickly whips the fluffy around, as wet cracking sounds can be heard as the fluffy is slammed against the hard floor fracturing bones and causing lacerations with the teeth. The fluffy is torn in half with the fluffy’s top half flung close to Sunshine who was sobbing. The foal uttered “sabe…ba” before the croc monitor casually walked over and crunched the top half down.
Daddy wheels Sunshine in front of another enclosure, although much smaller. Sunshine is too busy crying to look at what is in front of her. Daddy picks up Neptune, the blue pegasus foal and tosses him inside. The foal almost immediately begins tapping on the glass with “Sabe babbeh mummah!!! Hwelp babbeh daddeh is munstah daddeh!”. Sunshine just quietly sobbed and whispers “mummah nu can hwelp babbeh”. The foal’s distress is cut short by a Gaboon viper grabbing the foal and sinking its long fangs into the twitching squealing foal. The venom starts to take effect after minutes the foals breaths become rapid and labored, its limbs start to twitch, and narcotizing venom has spread to its heart and lungs. The foal lets out some scardie poopies followed by some urine as the foals legs twitch. The foal dies with bloodshot eyes its mouth open and its limbs twitching. Daddy wheels Sunshine in front of a new enclosure.
Daddy tosses Tangerine the orange mare and the tapping on the glass to “sabe babbeh” proceeds again. Sunshine is less and less responsive to each time this happens. Her brain is flooded with so much sadness, trauma, and panic her little fluffy brain is not able to take anymore. A boa constrictor (BCI) quickly snatches up the foal, and coils it in an instant. The foal twitches and squeals for about 3 seconds until its eyes begin to bug out, and it opens its mouth to gasp for breath, but can’t. Daddy says “last one Sunshine!”, and wheels her in front of one more enclosure.
Daddy reaches into the box to get the lone foal Starburst out and places her inside a terrarium with a baby alligator snapping turtle. Instead of tapping on the glass and begging to be “sabed”, Starburst instead starts talking to the turtle.
Starburst: Hi gween munstah pwease nu hurt babeh, am gud babeh.
The alligator snapping turtle freezes over the foal still reasoning with the turtle. Remains motionless for another five or six seconds. The turtle tilts it’s head to the side, and lands a bite on the back legs of the foal who is essentially cut in half.
Starburst: SSCCCREEEE!!! WORSTEST HURTIES!!! PWWEASE NU MOR HURTIES MUNSTAH AM GUD BABEH!!!
The frantic screaming rant of the fluffy is interrupted by the turtle looking down and biting off some of the fluffy’s innards that were spilling out, as a beak shaped wedge slices into the fluffy. A couple more cause the fluffy to spit blood, before the fluffy dies in a gurgle on the floor of the terrarium. The remains are eaten up by the turtle.
Sunshine is crying at the bloody remains of her last baby in front of her. Sunshine thought, “daddeh is a munstah daddeh?”. Why did he let those mean monsters eat her babies and special friend? She now has no special friend, no babies, and daddy is a monster daddy. But at least she has “tummeh babbehs”.
Daddy picks her up and places her in a thick glass cylinder where her girth prevents her from fitting fully. Her legs dangle into the cylinder while the thickest portion of her midsection plants her firmly in the lip of the cylinder. Daddy fastens the cylinder on top of something and pushes a button. Sunshine can hear a high pitched hum as daddy turns the blades on to the blender she is wedged into. Suddenly, Sunshine feels a sharp pain and pressure and screams “BIGGEST POOPIES!!! BIGEST HURTIES IN SPECIAL PWACE!!!” Then panic strikes her “Nuuuu tummeh babbehs!!! Stay inside mummah!!! Munstah daddeh is here!! Nuuu babbehs nu come out now!!!”
The first foal falls with a wet splatter as the blades instantly turn it to paste. Sunshine screams in horror feeling the warm wet splatter of her foal splash up at her hind quarters. Three more foals are born with the same wet splatter as they are nearly instantly chopped up the instant they are born. Sunshine is sobbing when suddenly everything goes dark, there is silence, and all that can be felt is the same cold table that she felt the day the sky blinked out.
The experiment on Fluffy 4393 was over. Her mind still racing from watching her special friend, foals, and new foals all die, while her daddy turned out to be a monster daddy raced through her mind. The fluffy barely noticed being placed in a bio-hazard bag, and placed in the autoclave. As the autoclave heated up and pressure began to build, Fluffy 4393 felt nothing but heat quickly growing too much as she is steamed alive. The fluffy wiggles in the bag gasping for breath as the fluffy’s lungs implode from the pressure and a few painful twitches later, the fluffy ceased to exist.
The fluffy had lived what seemed like a lifetime in the simulator, in bliss. The happiness of the fluffy was quickly taken away, and turned to grief, horror, and betrayal. However, that suffering was short lived. Perhaps Sunshine was unlucky for losing her happiness, or perhaps she is lucky for having known happiness.