This story is an entry to the Fluffyhugbox Discord’s server ‘ear worm’ contest. The contest involves being randomly being provided a song and using it as a prompt.
This is the song I was given.
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Zippy nosed through some trash to find his next meal, though other more able bodied fluffies had gotten the best stuff before he could manage. He was a fluffy with fur that had formerly been bright blue and soft, though now it was dull with several patches missing. His yellow mane and tail were both patchy too as a result of being bullied or being bitten by insects. Only one of his see-places still worked, the other having gotten a boo-boo and never gotten better. The fluffy had to get along with a hopping gait as the result of having one of his front legs crushed, the limb still intact but curled in uselessly and flopping around as he moved.
“Nu pwetty nummies. Huuu…” The only thing waiting for him was an apple pip that was completely brown, but he squeezed his eyes shut and gobbled it down anyways because that’s the only thing there was. It was easiest to just imagine he was eating some of daddeh’s skettis, which he always made special just for Zippy. Not that he’d had any for a very long time. One day Zippy had been playing out in the yard when a few other in the fluffy’s in the neighborhood had passed by, excitedly giggling and goofing around. This is why he was out here now. Being a very bad boy he’d wriggled under the fence keeping him in and followed them out to play. The only problem? On average a fluffy would have even a difficult time remembering the layout of their own house. After a long day of playing around with new friends, he found that he couldn’t get home.
That had been very long ago. So long he could barely even remember. Two years. Two whole years he’d been apart from his daddeh, but he still hoped that he would find him one day. So that he could say sorry for being a bad boy. There was a thought in his head that his owner wouldn’t love him anymore. Other fluffies said he wasn’t pretty. That he was basically a munstah now. He didn’t feel like a munstah. Mostly he just felt…alone and hungry.
“Jus wan sweepies. Pwease tummeh, nu mowe huwties.” Curling up on a sheaf of cardboard that did nothing to keep away the cold of the asphalt under him, the stallion tucked his head in against one hoof and cried. Suckled on one hoof like a little babbeh. It’s not like there were any other fluffies around to make fun of him for it. He wasn’t allowed to be by them anymore.
Time passed and he did get to sleep. At least when he was sleeping, the huwties weren’t as bad. Yet that reprieve was cut short when he was suddenly lifted up from the ground. One functional eye flicking open, he kicked his back legs and struggled around.
“Nu bad uppsies! Nuuu! Hewp Zippeh!” Looking helplessly, he found that a human had him up in one gloved hand. He looked like a scary man. The other fluffies said that these were bad people because they took fluffies away, and not for good housies either.
“Calm down.” The meanie daddeh told him, carrying the stallion over to a big vroomy with lots of sorry-boxes in the back. Zippy got a good look at the row of boxes with sad looking occupants staring out and struggled around a bit more.
“Pwease nu! Zippeh am be gud boy! Pwease!” Yet it didn’t stop the human from gently tucking the stallion’s head down and fitting him into one of the sorry-boxes. Staring at, Zippy rattled the bars of the kennel with his front hoof and whimpered.
Watching other fluffies fill the kennels beside him, it would take awhile for the process to finally be over with. After much waiting and pleading to be let out, the vroomy would finally start up and begin moving along.
Zippy was brought out kennel and all into a brightly lit building with lots of other fluffies. The place smelled strongly of cleaning chemicals, poopies, and sadness. Being processed was a matter of being checked for diseases, being given a bath, and assigned a new housie here. While Zip was sitting shivering on a pile of towels after being bathed, a big mummah who had been quite nice to him ran a beepy-thing over his fur. It beeped super hard after being passed over his neck. She didn’t say anything to him but had quite a large smile, giving him a pat. Was it good? Was the beeping good?
Providing the fluffies didn’t present with any signs of aggression or illness they were placed into same-gendered pairs. Zippy found himself shown to a tiny little box of a saferoom built into a long room where there was already an occupant. A little orange and and red colt that was curled up against a blanket, sniffling and crying. The first thing that Zippy did was stuff his face with some kibble because of course he did. There was lots of food and he was a hungry guy. Face all covered with kibble dust he finally went over to the crying fluffy. Bending down he snugged the babbeh up with his one good weggy.
“Pwease nu saddies, gud babbeh. Huggies an wub.” This is why there was a partner system in place at the shelter aside from space concerns. Fluffies were naturally sympathetic toward one another and wanted to help.
“Chiwi wan mummah. Wan daddeh.” The colt sniffled a bit, feeling a little better to have someone hugging him. “Wan w-w-wub ‘n pwaysies…an h-housie.”
Chili hadn’t even commented on Zippy being a munstah. Maybe he was too little to know. The stallion gave a weak smile.
“Zippeh am be yew nyu fwend.”
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So they would become quick friends. Chili was still young and didn’t know very much. Zippy told him all that he knew about from both lives he had spent: From being in a house to being feral. Chili was feral too so all he wanted to hear about was having a house, of course. He always sat there wide-eyed as Zip recounted that life.
“Dewe am toysies, an skettis, Fwuff Teebee, nu scawdies…an’ daddeh! Daddeh am bestest daddeh! Daddeh am hab wots ob wub! Bigges’ stwongest bestest daddeh!” Zippy told his young companion, the colt giving a few wistful shakes of his tail.
“W-Wewe am yew daddeh?” He asked curiously, looking around. If he was so great, why wasn’t he here? Looking down to the floor, the stallion pinned his ears down a bit.
“Zippeh am bad boy ‘n weab housie. Am hab wots ob booboos ‘an nu am pwetty nu mowe.” The sadness emanating from him could be felt from even the colt. Turning away, Chili sank down to his paper-thin shelter bed and flopped down.
They spent their days as best they could. There wasn’t a lot of room to roam around in so playing was difficult. Even though Chili was big enough and should know better, he still needed Zippy to teach him how to use the potty.
“Chiwi am big boy. Make gud poopies an’ be gud boy ‘an make bestest happies.” It was a role that a mummah usually had but like he said, he didn’t have one and could barely remember her. Zippy had to use knowledge from when his own mummah had potty trained him and couldn’t sing the song right. It felt awkward coming out of his mouth, but Chili was learning anyways. He was especially happy when he’d made poopies in the littertray one day all by himself.
“Wook! Zippeh wook! Am make gud poopies!” Chili pointed a hoof down to where he had indeed done it all by himself without being led over and sang to. Giving a big smile and nodding, Zippy licked the top of his head.
“Yew su smawties! Gud wowk!” So it was, he was basically like the parent that Chili had never had. Yet one day…
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One of the humans who took care of them came over to unlock the little saferoom they were kept in. This wasn’t uncommon as they needed their litter tray changed out, kibble and water filled, sometimes a mess cleaned up. Today was different because the woman reached in and took ahold of Zippy. It wasn’t bad uppsies, she was quite gentle after all. Chili rushed over and thumped his little hooves against the glass panel after it had been shuttered up again.
“Pwease Z-Zippeh! Chiwi w-wub yew! Nu weab Chiwi! P-PWEASE!” He begged, the stallion looking down to him hopelessly. It’s not like the fluffy knew what was going on and he didn’t even have time to answer because just like that, he was being brought down the long hall that housed so many other fluffs. A host of sad eyes watched him as he was brought to a back room.
What was waiting for him back there was something he would not have expected. Something so far-fetched and alien that it might as well not exist. It was his daddeh, even though he looked slightly different that was his daddeh. Tall, broad shouldered, with an ashy blonde beard, scraggly hair. Zippy bowed his head. Why was daddeh here? He’d see Zippy and not be able to recognize him anymore. Maybe hate him too, because he was ugly and a bad boy. He’d gotten lost and was a bad boy forever.
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Michael had gotten a call that day out of the blue: A fluffy shelter had found Zippy from the microchip tag embedded in his neck. His fluffy, his best bud. Only Zippy had been gone for two years now. Due to his own incompetence he’d left a part of the fence to go without repair and Zip had gotten out. He’d had the little guy ever since he was a foal. The fluffy had helped him get over a hard break-up, the loss of a friend, and the general loneliness every day life brought. They were always full of love and expected so little back, and he hadn’t even provided the bare minimum of keeping him safe.
It had been a long time of beating himself up after that. He’d driven around for weeks looking for his missing pet, stapled up countless posters with an offered reward, posted online to have any hope of someone having seen him. Time had passed and he’d given up on it. Zippy was gone and it had been all his fault.
Yet here he was. That was undoubtedly Zip, though he had a bum leg now and one of his eyes appeared to be missing. Patchy fur too. A look of glumness permeating his features. It didn’t stop Mike from hefting up the stallion and dragging him up in a hug. His daddeh had saddies. Maybe over how ugly he was now. About what a bad boy he was. Yet Michael would say:
“I’m sorry, Zippy. I was such a bad owner. I should have taken care of you better.” The fluffy felt great heart-saddies at this. Why did daddeh think he was bad? He was the bestest daddeh. He was the bad boy, the ugly munstah.
“Yew nu am bad daddeh…Zippeh am sowwy. Wub yew daddeh. Pwease nu saddies ‘fo bad boy.”
Michael got what he was saying immediately. The fluffy was taking responsibility for leaving. He must have been doing so the entire time. Carrying around the guilt of making a poor decision. Blaming himself and only himself for every hardship suffered.
“It’s time for you to come home, bud.” Michael had already filled out all the paperwork required. Even still had all of the fluffy’s stuff still. His safe room had sat empty the entire time but he hadn’t gotten a new pet in that entire time or even thought about it. Zippy looked toward the door that led down the hall of the shelter.
“Chiwi…Chiwi ‘nee Zippeh. Nu am hab mummah.” Even if it meant not going home with daddeh, he didn’t care. Chili was his friend and he was like his daddeh since he didn’t have one.
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A few months later, Chili and his best friend Zippy played around in the spacious backyard of their new (and former) home. This time, the fence had dutifully repaired and there was no way for a mischievous fluffy to worm their way under a board.
“Yew n-nebba catch Chiwi, Zippeh!” The orange blur said as he ran around a tree. Zippy had trouble running as fast and his damaged leg had to be amputated. The booboos had hurt a lot but he’d made a speedy recovery. Chili knew that Zip wasn’t as fast as he could be and slowed down a bit so that he could be gently tackled down by the aging stallion, the two tumbling down in a patch of grass and giggling. The patio door slid open and daddeh walked out with two different dishes of skettis, the tantalizing aromas drifting out and catching the attention of the two rambunctious fluffs.
“Chiwi am n-num skettis fasteh ‘den yew!” The fluffy challenged his friend, Zippy swishing up his tail. Taking on the challenge, the two stuffed their skettiholes as fast as they could. Sauce and noodles flew all over the place, Michael shaking his head as the two made complete fools over themselves.
“You two don’t need to make a competition of everything.” He said with a smile, though he knew they did. It was Chili trying to show Zippy that he was learning and growing, able to run fast and eat skettis just as quick. He wanted his hero to see he was getting to be just like him.
ace 