Leila couldn’t believe it. After three years of being together, her boyfriend had just broken up with her. As she drove home, tears streaming down her face, she couldn’t help but replay all the good times they had shared together in her mind. She remembered the way he looked at her with such tenderness, the way his touch made her feel, and the laughter they had shared. It was all gone now, replaced by the ache in her heart that made it hard to breathe.
But as she drove, her sadness turned to anger. How could he do this to her? How could he just throw away everything they had built together? The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. And then she remembered the little purple fluffy pegasus foal that was waiting for her back home. This was his silly Valentine’s day gift to her, something along the lines of it being meant as “a tutorial for both of us of caring for our future baby”. Back then she found it really sweet and adorable of him, but now this memory made her even more furious.
When she arrived home, she went to her bedroom. Toysies were strewn across the floor, and there was a faint odor coming from the litterbox. The fluffy foal lying on a soft bed raised his little head hearing footsteps, and as Leila entered the room, he started happily chirping and cooing.
“Peep! Hewwo mummah!” babbeh said happily. “Bestest mummah gif sketties?” Leila stared blankly at him, and only now he noticed the kitchen knife in her hand. And just like that, his smile vanished from his dumb face.
Babbeh crawled up to Leila and hugged her leg. “Am onwy widdew babbeh! Pwease nu be meanie!” He started sobbing as Leila sat down and grabbed one of the “huggy weggies” tight. “EEK!! Nu wan be piwwow fwuffy! Chirp! Nu! Nu wan! Nu be big meanie pwease mummah! Cheep! W-Wuv 'ou! Peep! Pwease nu take off weggies! Cheep!! Chirp! PWEASE!”
Babbeh looked up at mummah, shrieking. She now had a smile on her face. “Pwease nu be meanie! Pwease! Chirp! Peep! Wuv 'ou! Mummah! Babbeh wuv 'ou! Peep!” He kept bawling at the sight of the knife inching closer. “PWEASE NU BE MEANIE! GIB HUGGIES! HUGGIES PWEASE MUMMAH! Cheep! Peep! P-Pwease!” As the knife touched the fluff, babbeh started full-on wailing. “PWEASE GIB HUGGIES MUMMAH! Mummah pwetty! Am sowwy! AM SOWWY-Y-Y-Y!!!”
Leila made an effort to stop herself. Yes, she wanted fluffy to hurt, but doing it this way suddenly seemed so barbaric and trite. Cutting off legs, hearing some screaming for a while as the fluffy bleeds out and then either dies or hits the wan die loop… It was more fitting of an edgy child playng with a herd of ferals he found in a backyard. Or - and she shuddered at the thought - more like what her ex would have done in this situation. No. She was above it.
She let go of the “weggie” and dropped the knife to the side. The foal gasped, still crying but making no attempt to flee, hoping all the “sowwy” worked, and mummah is not angry anymore. Looking up, however, he still didn’t see mummah smile.
“Mummah hate Babbeh? Why mummah? Chirp! Peep! Am onwy widdwe babbeh an wan huggies.” He reaches out with huggie weggies and speaks very quickly. “Babbeh sowwy am nu gud baby!” He is sobbing, his snout quivering. “Wuv 'ou mummah. Am sowwy am nu gud fwuffy. Am sowwy am dummie babbeh. Please nu be meanie. Pwease nu hewt Babbeh.”
Babbeh stares up at mummah, his see-pwaces red, with tears streaming down his fluffy face. “Mummah, p-pwease nu take off weggies! S-Sowwy, Babbeh am dummie babbeh. Am nu gud fwuffy. Am dummie babbeh. Am sowwy. Am sowwy.”
Suddenly, babbeh feels a gentle pat and shudders. He slowly raises his head and mutters in a barely audible voice. “M-Mummah wuv babbeh?”
“Of course mummah wub you!”
Tears, but this time tears of untold happiness. “Peep! W-Weawwy? Fank yoo! Chirp! Am gud babbeh? Cheep!” He looks up at mummah.
Leila smiles. To babbeh this smile seems genuine, and he is beaming now. “Mummah really really wants to give Babbeh bestest huggies and wub!” Coos and peeps all around. Leila smiles wider and adds with the most sickly-sweet, baby-like voice she can muster, “But babbeh needs to become bestest babbeh first.”
Babbeh’s see-pwaces go wide with excitement. He smiles, tears in his eyes. His ears perk up. “W-Wut babbeh du fow bestest? Wut babbeh du Mummah? Am su 'cited fow bestest huggies!”
Leila’s voice is like bestest singy songs for babbeh’s heaw-pwaces. “Babbeh needs to do one thing for mummah, and mummah will give Babbeh bestest huggies and wub eva! Do babbeh promise to do a thing for Mummah?” Leila is brimming with anticipation, her trap about to snap shut. These biotoys are so trusting, it is almost unfair how easy it is.
“Babbeh pwomis anyfing fow mummah! Cheep! Peep! Anyfing fow mummah! W-Wut Babbeh nee du? W-Wut Babbeh nee du fow mummah?” He bounces in place, utterly unable to contain himself. “Pwease teww Babbeh! Pwease!”
There it is. The drop of poison in the honey. “Babbeh needs to gnaw off its own special wumps and num them.”
His eyes go wide, and his ears fall down. These words register slowly in his little brain as all joy he was drowning in just a moment ago seeps out. “Bu-bu… B-Babbeh n-nu wan gnaw off Babbeh own speciaw wumps an num dem…” He repeats almost mechanically.
“Babbeh am only bestest when eats own special wumps! Everybody knows that.” Like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. Nonchalantly, as if it’s just a little inconvenience. In babbeh’s eyes she sees the words take hold, almost as if she was adding an element to a chemical reaction.
“Bu… muh spechuw wumps…” He looks up at Mummah, pleading." D-Do Babbeh nee num muh speciaw wumps fow be bestest? W-Wut if Babbeh say nu?"
Leila was half-expecting the babbeh to just start doing it immediately, given all the prior ecstatic excitement the foal felt. This was going even better. She went on with the most convincing disbelief in her tone. “Why do babbeh even need special wumps? Are they worth not being bestest and not getting bestest huggies and wub eva?”
Horrified, babbeh starts stuttering. “Bu-bu… muh speciaw wumps awe my speciaw wumps? P-P-Pwease Mummah, nu make Babbeh get wid of speciaw wumps! P-Pwease?” He looks up at Mummah, pleading. “P-Pwease Mummah, nu make Babbeh get wid of muh speciaw wumps…” He is sobbing again at this point. “Mummah hate Babbeh if Babbeh keep speciaw wumps? Mummah… Nu wike Babbeh?”
This defiance, wow. Even though a small foal, it already can resist the preconditioned “bestest wub and huggies” drivel somewhat. This will be fun. Time to apply a little pressure. “It’s babbeh’s choice, only babbeh decides what to be. Bestest babbeh or dummie piwwow babbeh?”
“P-Pwease nu make Babbeh choose! Mummah wiww hate Babbeh if Babbeh nu choose?” He drops his head. “P-Pwease nu. Pwease nu hate Babbeh if nu choose.”
“Choose.”
Sniff. Peep. “If… If Babbeh can onwy be one ow the otha… Den…” Mummah looks at him, her eyes have something in them, something babbeh can’t comprehend. “Den Babbeh wan be… wan be Bestest Babbeh!”
Showtime. “Mummah am glad. Bestest babbeh eva.”
“Babbeh am bestest babbeh… Cheep! Chirp!” It is as if the word “bestest” alone applied to him forces the foal’s brain to be happy. For a moment. “But if Babbeh am bestest babbeh… Den-.” Babbeh looks down. Tears well in Babbeh’s eyes. “N-nee du it now, wight?” He looks back up at mummah.
“Yes. Do not disappoint mummah.”
“Babbeh am gud Babbeh!” Sniff. “Babbeh nee gnaw off Babbeh speciaw wumps now… Y-Y-Yes… Otay… O-Otay… C-can du it…” He takes a deep breath and stares down at his special wumps. He starts to sob. “C-can… Can du it! Mummah nee Babbeh du it… an Babbeh wan du it!”
What was that now? He said he “wants” to do it? Interesting. Leila was so glad she stopped herself now. This was proving to be much more therapeutic by the second. Her mind raced with ideas now, one more twisted than the other.
“Mummah am bestest mummah… So Babbeh am bestest babbeh and Babbeh mus’ do it!” Another deep breath. “C-can du it! W-w-wiww du it!”
He starts biting on his special wumps.
A muffled wail. “WOWSTEST HUWTIEEESSS!!!” The wings thrash and slap against his back loudly. He cries and pisses himself as he chews. There is a small pool of pee, with some red slowly dripping in it. Leila doesn’t care about the mess, the room was due for cleaning anyway. She is watching everything unfold, unable and utterly unwilling to look away.
After a few fowevahs, Babbeh has finished eating his… special wumps. He raises his head, fluff soaked with blood, piss and tears. Gag. Sniff. “B-b-babbeh did it! B-babbeh gnawed them off!!! Gnawed off my speciaw wumps, wike 'ou said, Mummah! Am Babbeh… Peep! Am bestest babbeh now? Cheep!” He wants approval so much Leila can taste it.
“Yes, Babbeh am. Mummah am so happy.”
Gasp. “Babbeh am bestest babbeh? Mummah am pwoud of BABBEH? Yes! Hooway! Peep! Chirp! Am bestest babbeh!” For a moment it seems like the biotoy forgot about the pain it was in. But after a moment it comes crashing back. Babbeh’s special place still bleeds.
“Oh… Oh nu… Am babbeh huwting? Mummah, Babbeh feews owwwies in Babbehs’ speciaw pwace! It huuwts! Cheep! Mummah, why? Why am Babbeh’s speciaw pwace huwting? Babbeh gnawed dem speciaw wumps off wike 'ou said!” Babbeh looks confused and afraid. The floor is stained with blood. “Mummy? Why am dere booboo juice? Am babbeh’s speciaw place suppos’ be huwty? Am dis pawt of wuh Mummah wan Babbeh do? Was suppos’ huwt mysewf wike this?”
Surprisingly poignant, Leila muses. Let’s see how the foal appreciates some honesty, then. “Yes.”
It’s almost like gears are grinding inside his head, struggling to process what Mummah just said. “Bu bu… Babbeh am huwt! Sniff Am bestest babbeh suppos’ huwt? Mummah, am dis pawt of being bestest babbeh?”
“Yes. Babbeh am only bestest when in lots of owies and ouchies. Mummah will get angry if babbeh no huwty. Bestest babbeh only gets bestest huggies and wub if hurties. Bestest babbeh’s purpose am to suffer for mummah.” A part of her wanted to stop, but morbid fascination took over. She wanted to see how far she could go with this, in what screwed up ways she could break him on the inside.
“Mummah wuv Babbeh? Bu- Mummah wuv Babbeh mow… if Babbeh am huwt? Huu huuu huu huuu…” He starts crying. “Huu huuu huu! Am babbeh meant fow huwties?!”
He seems utterly miserable, sobbing… slowly bringing one of his hooves to his face and…
Gnawing.
“WAA! WAAA!!”
Leila was dumbstruck as the widest smile crept on her face, bypassing thought process. The pain of heartbreak that was so strong before vanished without a trace, now her mind was laser-focused on the foal. “Tell mummah how it feels.”
“D-Dis am huwting! Babbeh has owwies in hoofie!” He starts to chew faster. “It huwts… Hate how dis feews! Bu am bestest babbeh!” Babbeh gnaws on his hoof like it was made of kibble. “It… Sniff huwts so mu-u-uch…” He raises his eyes at mummah and screams out in misery. He thought mummah was supposed to NOT let babbeh get hurt, wasn’t she? “N-nu wan dis nu mow! Mummah PWOMIS Babbeh wots of WUB! But Babbeh am HUWTY!”
To hell with it, Leila goes all in. “This IS wub, Babbeh. The wub is that Babbeh is alive. If mummah nu wub Babbeh, Babbeh take foweva sleepies.”
“Nu mummah! N-nu wan foweva sweepies! Pwease! S-S-Stop the huwting! My HOOFIE! It huuuwts!”
Mummah’s voice is so soothing and full of tenderness. “Good. Good Babbeh. Bestest babbeh. Mumma wubs Babbeh so muchies. Am babbeh happy to have so much Mummah wub?”
“Babbeh happi hab wub! Yes mummah! So happi! Hate the huwting! Bu mus’ be gud Babbeh… Cheep! MUS’ hab mummah’s wub!.. H-Hoofies huwt, Mummah! Dey huwt so much!” Babbeh starts to sob even harder. He is now gnawing so violently he’s biting his hoof to the bone, spilling blood. “Mummah… So saddies… So… HUWTS SO MUCH! Wan mummah’s WUV! Mummah, PWEASE make it stop huwting!” His hooves are now covered in blood, and it is dripping on the floor.
Leila chuckled. She thought that, in a way, this was the same thing she herself went through. She gave him her love, and it only brought her untold pain. So now she does the same thing to someone as hopeful and innocent as she was once. Love is pain, little “tutorial” foal. This is the lesson you’re about to learn. “Huwty will never stop, babbeh. Ouchies and owies am foweva. Wub am huwties, but it’s worth it, because no wuv am foweva sleepies. But don’t be scared. Mummah wub you.”
Babbeh is sobbing so hard his whole body is shaking. “Mummah, it huwts so mu-uch! Nu can take it nu mow!” He continues to bite his hoof so hard he’s drawing more blood. He is just babbling. “Wan wub so muchies! Wan huggies! But it HUWTS so much! So much! Nee… Nee the huwties STOP!”
“Do Babbeh want Mummah to not wub Babbeh no more? Do Babbeh not need it?”
He wails. “Nuuu! N-N-Nuuu! Wan be bestest babbeh! Mummah! NEEE! Mummah wuv! Nu can gu without! Neee feew 'our wuv! PWEASE nu take 'ouw wuv 'way! 'ou awe my evwyfing!” He is now biting into what’s left of his hoof with a savage ferocity that looks like he’s trying to tear the damn thing off. He screams out, shaking. “NEE 'OU!”
“Good. Keep going.” No emotion in her voice. Just cold.
Babbeh keeps gnawing away at his hoof, sobbing. “Mummah… Dis am huwting! PWEASE MAKE IT STOP!” He starts feeling lightheaded. “Mummah! Nu can gu on… Without 'ou! Mummah… Nu feew pwetty… feew… sweepy…”
Suddenly, the foal falls on its back and its eyes roll up. Leila is startled. Oh no, did it die? Oh no no no, not now, she panics, she was enjoying it too much! She worriedly puts a finger on the foal’s chest and is relieved when she feels faint pulse. Phew, it’s just knocked out. But it seems that the foal starts suffering from the blood loss.
Leila hurries to the cupboard and produces a sealed package of Hasbio “Booboo-gu-way” fast-acting cream, the medicine they would’ve been using whenever the foal hurt itself during playtime once older. She picks the foal up from the pool of piss and blood, dabs it with a wet towel and applies the cream generously to the foal’s crotch and mangled hoof. Her motions are not too gentle, so the foal slowly comes to, moaning in discomfort and kicking its little legs about. Leila is unfazed as these kicks are about as strong as reeds swaying in the field.
Slowly, babbeh opens his see-pwaces and looks at mummah quizzically. As he realizes what happened, he stares down at his hoof. “My hoofie am… back? Bu…” He looks down. “My… hoofie and special wumps awe heawed?” He looks at mummah again, dumbfounded. “'ou cuwed me? How? Babbeh heawed now! Babbeh nu huwt!” He bounces up and down in delight. “Mummah! 'ou cuwed my boo-boos! Did mummah du a miwacwe?”
He leaps around the room, flapping his wings rapidly. “WUB 'OU MUMMAH! WUB 'OUUU! 'ou awe the bestest mummah in the whowe wowd! Fank yoo, bestest mummah eva! Fank yoo fow heawing my booboos! Fank yoo fow making me nu huwt! Mummah, wub 'ou SOO MUCHIES! Yes mummah!” He’s sobbing again, but this time, instead of sobbing like an injured animal, he’s crying tears of joy.
But mummah is not responding, and eventually babbeh takes notice. “Mummah? Peep! Wh-why suddenwy gu quiet? Why Mummah stop tawkies aww of a sudden? Mummah mad at me? Du somefing wong?” As he asks it, he slowly remembers mummah’s words, and is mortified. “Am it… Am it because my hoofie am stiww hewe? Mummah, AM SOWWY! SO SOWWY! PWEASE NU BE MAD!”
And here we go again. Crisis averted, and Leila can go back to her fun. “Uh oh, Babbeh am not hurty anymore, and that means Babbeh am no bestest babbeh!” Leila reaches out and holds babbeh’s hoofie between fingers. “Oh well, too bad!”
“NU! Mummah, pwease! Pwease hug Babbeh!” He cries out in complete desperation and misery, hugging the fingers. He can’t bear the thought of mummah throwing him away. “It huwts so muchies! Mummah!”
Leila is a little taken aback by this last part, for all she knows she hasn’t done anything, she just holds the foal’s leg. Not squeezing, not hoisting it up. She is even worried a little bit if the toy’s pain receptors broke somehow. “Does it hurt? Really?”
“I-It feews wike- A fousand- naifs- Stabbing me aww ova- IT HUWTS SO MUCH, MUMMAH! WOWSTEST HEAWT HUWTIES!” He has to do whatever it takes so that mummah doesn’t throw him away. Her love is the only thing he needs and he’ll do anything for it. Even thinking of being abandoned hurts worse than any booboo could.
Leila is annoyed. Is this shitrat trying something here? Thinking if it convinces her that he’s hurt already, she will suddenly think he’s “bestest babbeh” again? “Really now? Just me gently holding your hoofie with my fingers hurts so much? I don’t think it does. Are you lying to me babbeh?” She chuckles, thinking to herself that this would be perfectly in line with fluffy’s way of thinking - since it’s so easily convinced, it assumes everyone is. This level of cunning is admirable for a biotoy. It is smart, actually smart, not like those “smarties” who are just the same stupid shitrats, just with a glitched ego.
“IT HUWTS! Pwease… STOP DIS!” He begins to cry more. “Mummah, if 'ou wan Babbeh be misewabwe an huwt 'gain, pwease say so. Pwease!”
Now that was an armor-piercing proposition! Leila even feels bad for a moment, wondering if she went too far. But then she shut that thought out. Now she wanted more than ever to pick apart this biotoy’s mental capacity. She felt like a child again, looking at ants crawl in genuine interest. “Yes I do. You remember the rules, Babbeh. You either hurt, or you die.”
He screams out in denial. “NU! Mummah, pwease! WIWW DU ANYFING 'OU WAN! WIWW HUWT 'GAIN, IF STIWW BE 'OUW BABBEH! Babbeh pwomis… Babbeh awways wun to 'ou… So that 'ou can PUNISH, PUNISH, PUNISH! Babbeh wiww du EVWYFING 'ou say, Mummah! Babbeh wiww be 'ouw bestest Babbeh EVERRR!” The last part is almost a growl. “Babbeh… wiww use a sowwy stick! Fow huwties! Mummah, we hab a deaw, wight?!”
Wow. This fluffy’s mind is surely buckling at all the turmoil. It is a live demonstration of a mind breaking in real time, and Leila gets to be in the nosebleeds. “Deal.”
He runs to the corner of the room, picks up a sorry stick with his teeth and whacks himself across the back with it. A feather is ripped out of his wing. He yelps, and the stick falls to the ground. “Ow owie! It huwts! WAAA! Du 'ou stiww wub Babbeh?” He whimpers in desperation, as though he won’t survive if mummah don’t wub him anymore. “DU 'OU?!”
“Mumma wub Babbeh very muchies. Babbeh am bestest babbeh again.”
Tears of joy start welling up in his eyes. “Wuh? 'ou… 'ou STIWW WAN babbeh?! 'ou… Wub Babbeh? WEAWWY? Wub 'ou too! Mummah! AM 'OUW BESTEST BABBEH!” He shouts.
“Keep! Going!” Leila snaps at him, stopping the torrent of incessant yelling of “wubs” and “mummahs”. He squeaks and grabs the sorry stick again. He hits himself as hard as he can, again and again, crying tears of pure joy all the while.
Smack. “AH!”
Smack. “OW!”
Smack. “OUCHIES!”
Smack. “HUWTIES!”
Smack. “OWIE!”
Smack. “HUU-HUU!”
Like a goddamn metronome. Babbeh’s sides are now inflamed and red, visible even through purple matted fluff. Feathers are everywhere, and babbeh’s wings look like two swollen pink tumors, beating slower and slower against the back. This goes for so long, Leila goes slightly bored and reaches for her phone. Babbeh doesn’t notice it for a while, too focused on its self-punishment, but when he does…
“Am… am Mummah wosing intewest in Babbeh? Mummah! PWEASE!” His desperation and fear grow as he pounds himself even harder with the sorry stick, hoping the pain would make him lovable again.
Putting her phone back, Leila watches it unfold, faking her best bored face. “Oh no! Babbeh, it’s no good! Sorry stick isn’t enough!”
Dread. Nothing but dread. Babbeh reaches into the deepest darkest corners of his little mind, trying hard to come up with something he can do to appease his bestest mummah. Something he only saw in worstest nightmares before. “Babbeh… AM CUT OFF MY HOOFIE! AM TAKE MY HOOFIE OFF! AM DU ANYFING! BE 'OUW BESTEST BABBEH 'GAIN! MUMMAH, AM DU IT!” He looks at the knife lying on the floor. He runs over and sits on the knife’s handle, turning the blade upwards. It’s so pointy and sharp. Terrified out of his mind, he looks back up in sheer desperation, his eyes silently begging mummah to stop him. “Mummah, pwease! Du ANYFING! PWEASE!” He brings his healed hoofie down, still slick with healing cream, and starts cutting.
The screams are unlike anything Leila ever heard before.
He only makes it halfway through the cut before he can’t bear the pain anymore. He collapses on the floor, clutching his bleeding hoofie. “MUMMAH, NU CAN DU IT! NU CAN! It huwts too much! IT HUWTS SO MUCH MUMMAH!” He holds his weggie over his gushing wound. “WOWSTEST HUWTIES EVA!”
“It’s okay babbeh, Mummah will help.” Leila reaches out and rips off the rest of the hoofie slowly, snapping the bone first.
“UUUIII! OW, OW, OWW!” He screams out in a mix of both agony and terror. A broken bone is sticking out of his weggie, and there is so much blood. “It huwts! IT HUWTS!”
“Now thank bestest Mummah for helping.”
A flash of rage comes across babbeh’s face as he hears these words. “NU!!! NU WAN FANK YOO!” For a brief moment he hates the hoomin. It’s not his mummah, it’s a munsta.
Ok, at first it was cute, but this level of defiance is making Leila angry. The audacity of this shitrat, to raise its voice at HER?! “I SAID THANK MUMMAH, YOU UNGRATEFUL PIECE OF FILTH! OR MUMMAH WILL NEVER WUB YOU ANYMORE!”
“FANK YOO!!! FANK YOO FOW HUWTING BABBEH!!! Mummah huwt Babbeh, so now Babbeh wub mummah! Babbeh am bestest babbeh! Babbeh wub mummah!” He screams out at the top of his lungs, in unbearable pain. “FANK YOO, MUMMAH!!!” He looks down on his mangled hoofie lying on the floor, whimpering.
Leila stares at the hoofie, and a devilish smile creeps back onto her face as she has another idea. She snatches the hoofie and holds it up to her mouth.
He stares at his hoofie in her grasp in disbelief. “Mummah, MUMMAH!” His voice was cracking, and he almost sounded like he was choking this out: “Mu… mummah wan num it?”
Leila places the hoof in her mouth and starts audibly chewing. It feels like chewing on a fingernail, something not uncommon to her. “Mmm, delicious! Babbeh, your hoofie is sooo tasty, mummah wubs it! Give me more babbeh, give mummah another hoofie!”
“Mummah, pwease…” His voice is shaking. “Nu wan nu mow huwt, Mummah! PWEASE!” He’s barely able to speak at all. “Pwease, anyfing bu dat!”
“Remember the rules. Hurties are wub.”
“I-… HUWTIES A-AWE W-WUB!!! I WUV UUU!!! I WUV HUWTIES! I AM 'OUW MUSTEST PWECIOUS BABBEH! I WUV BABBEH HUWTIES! HUWTIES AWE WUB!!!”
She chuckles, pleased with such a reaction. “You get it now. You understand.”
“YES!!! YES, MUMMAH!!! Mummah can huwt Babbeh as much as Mummah wan! Babbeh wiww wuv 'ou foweva! AM 'OUW HUWTIE SNUGGWEFWUFF!!!” His eyes are filled with pure terror as he realizes what he’s just said.
“Hoofie. Now.”
“ANYFING FOW MUMMAH!” He starts cutting, crying with excruciating pain. There was no stopping him now. Babbeh was on an adrenaline rush, having given in to his conditioning to hurt himself.
Babbeh finishes cutting his hoofie off. “PWEASE NUM DIS! PWEASEEE!” Both of his huggie weggies now have sharp bones sticking out of them.
Leila is now fully captivated by what is happening. She is not even thrilled by physical abuse that unfolds anymore, she needs to know how thoroughly this biotoy’s mind can be shattered. “Mmm, it’s just perfect, mummah wub the hoofie! Babbeh got anything more to give mummah?”
“Y-y-yes… HAF MY TAIW! Mummah, wan nummie my taiw? Mummah, Babbeh wiww du anyfing! ANYFING!”
“Ok, tail it is!” She doesn’t need it but she needs to raise the stakes for what she’s planning.
“MUMMAH, AM DU IT! AM HUWT MYSEWF FOW 'OU! AM GIF MUMMAH MY TAIW!” He sits on the knife and starts cutting off his tail. After another few fowevahs he cuts through all the way and drops to the floor, screaming. “UI! IT HUWTS! OWOWOW!” He holds his bloody tail, sobbing. “Babbeh am 'ouw pwecious fwuff-butt! Pwease, num it! Nummie it, Mummah!”
The tail is mostly just fluff, with a tiny piece of bloody tailbone. Leila holds it in a fist and pretends to eat it by holding the fist at her mouth and making chewing sounds. “More. Give me more. Give me more tasty parts!”
“Y-y-yes…” He sobs. “HAF MY WINGS! AM GIF MUMMAH MY WINGIES!!! Mummah, dey awe vewy sweet an tasty! Mummah, pwease! NUMMIE MY WINGIES!!!” He rolls onto his back, pressing fleshy featherless lumps against the knife. “Mummah, am du it! Am cut dem off fow 'ou!”
He shuts his see-pwaces and begins to cut his wings off, writhing and screaming with agony the whole time. As soon as they are off, panting and chirping, he slowly opens his eyes.
Mummah is not in the room.
Babbeh is completely stunned.
“Mummah jus… weave? Mummah… nu cawe?”
He starts blubbering. “Nu… nu nu nu!!!” This is worse than anything that happened before. Just a couple hours ago being alone in the room was perfectly otay, but now…
Now it meant Mummah didin’t love him.
Sniff “MUMMAH!!! Sniff MUMMAAA! PWEASE COME BACK!!!”
Leila hears these wails as she is coming back from the kitchen, having disposed of the tail. Perfect timing on the foal’s part to get distracted, as Leila didn’t want it to notice the tail still in her hand. Now it’s time to see if the biotoy really learned its lesson.
She waits for a couple more minutes at the door to make sure the foal is as aware and afraid of the perspective of being alone as it can be, and barges in with the most worried look she can conjure. “Mummah is here, babbeh!.. OH GOD!!! WHAT HAPPENED TO BABBEH?! WHERE ARE YOUR HOOFIES, YOUR WINGIES, YOUR TAIL?!”
“B-babbeh cut dem off fow mama… Wha happen… WHA HAPPEN?!” Babbeh is crying and sobbing. There’s nothing in his little mind right now, except that he needs someone to love him.
“Oh God, how could this happen?! I would never hurt my little babbeh! I wub babbeh! Babbeh need huggies?”
“YES MUMMAH!!! PWEASE GIB HUGGIES! BABBEH JUS WAN BE HUGGED, MUMMAH!! BABBEH JUS WAN BE WUVED 'GAIN!!!” He cries out in desperation and pain. He hobbles up to mummah and reaches out for a hug.
Disappointing. It didn’t learn a goddamn thing. And here Leila was, praising the surprisingly self-aware smart foal. No, this biotoy is still just a hard-wired thing, almost a robot, just with a cute façade. One mention of “huggies”, and all her efforts are deleted. It’s not a baby, it’s less than an actual rat. Those at least are actually alive. And surprisingly smart.
Oh well, she thinks, let’s keep the pain train rolling. As disappointing as this is, breaking this little artificial mind is still fun enough. “Oh my poor babbeh, mumma is here, mummah will give bestest huggies to babbeh… Mummah was so worried…” Leila sits down and pats the thing, careful not to get blood on her dress.
Babbeh begins to sob in happiness and relief, he hugs mummah’s fingies so tight. Now that he has mummah’s attention again, he can safely relax. He nuzzles his face against mummah, and holds on to her for dear life, he really, really needs this. He cries happy tears, feeling a sense of bliss the entire time. “Mummah… FANK YOU SO MUCHIES! Mummah… MUMMAH! WUV 'OU!!!” He keeps his face hidden in mummah’s palm.
“Oh babbeh… Oh my sweet, silly little babbeh… Have you forgotten so easily? Mummah’s most important rule?”
Aaaaaaand the proverbial knife goes twist.
“HURTIES. ARE. WUV.”
He looks up at mummah, and he can tell what’s coming next.
“N-n-nuuu…” Squeak.
He holds on to mummah as tight as he can, as he starts shaking all over again.
This is heck.
THIS IS HECK.
Leila grabs the shitrat, gets up and throws it onto the table with a satisfying THWACK. It, predictably, goes SCREEE~ and leaves a trail of blood and shit she barely dodges.
Babbeh is desperately trying to get off the table. “Mummah… pwease! Jus wan wuv! PWEASE!!!”
“This pain IS WUV, you ingrate! Now thank mummah for the hurties!”
“MUMMAH PWEASE! THE HUWTIE! TOO MUCHIES! PWEASE! JUS WUV BABBEH! JUST GIF HUGS!” The pain is almost unbearable. Not the table, no, the pain of all the horrors that he thought are finally over crashing back down on him full force. “Mummah am stiww huwt Babbeh! If Mummah nu huwt Babbeh, she nu wub Babbeh! Babbeh undewstands, Mummah! Jus pwease gif huwties! AM DU ANYFING!” He screams out, mummah’s words ringing in his head.
“Thank. Mummah. Or. Die.”
“FANK MUMMAH!!! FANK MUMMAH!!! FAAANK MUMMAAAH!!!” The foal is screaming as if these words are violently tearing their way out of him. “Pweeease gif huwties! GIF HUWTIES! Mummah, pwease huwt Babbeh! HUWT BABBEH! HUWT BABBEEEH!!! IT HUWTS, BU’ IT WUV!!!”
“Don’t forget it ever again, shitrat. Hurties are wub. HURTIES. ARE. WUB.”
“YES! IT HUWTS, BU’ IT WUV!!! Babbeh weawns! Babbeh wemembews! Babbeh neva fowgets wub! Mummah has such HUUUWTIE WUB!!! Fow Babbeh! Babbeh wiww nebew fowget! Huwties awe wub!!!”
“Good. Let’s check. If a nice mista offers babbeh huggies, what will babbeh say?”
“NU HUGIES!!! HUGIES DANGEW! NU HUGS! NU HUGS!!! HUGIES BAD! ONWY HUWTIES! ONWY HUWTIE WUB! IT HUWTS, BU’ IT WUV! HUUWTIE WUB! HUWTIES AWE WUV! ONWY HUWTIES AWE WUB! BABBEH NEVA FOWGET!!!”
“Good. Now, was there something tasty you had prepared for me?”
“NUM IT!!! NUMMIE BABBEH WINGIES!!! TASTES GUD!!!”
Leila looks at the two tiny bloodied stumps by the knife on the floor. Ugh. “I don’t want wingies. Wingies are yucky.”
Babbeh looks at mummah, scared and confused. “Wingies… awe… yucky?” He looks down at his wings. “Mummah…” A single tear comes from his eye. “Mummah… Nu… Nu wike babbeh wingies?”
“Nope. But babbeh has other tasty parts. Like… Your eyes.”
He is not even shocked to hear this anymore, but still he starts to sob. “Mummah… Nu… my s-see pwaces… My see-pwacies… I nu be abwe see…” He bursts into hysterical crying.
“OK, fine, just one eye then. You’ll still be able to see just fine. Deal?”
“NU!!! NU!!! HUWTIES AWE WUB!!! BABBEH WAN wose both see-pwaces! Pwease, mummah… PWEASE! WAN wose my see-pwaces! WAN 'ou huwt me! Pwease, mummah…” He begins to sob again, and his face contorts with terror. He looks desperately at mummah. “PWEASE! PWEASE MUMMAAAHHH!!!”
…hoo boy, stop the presses - she thinks - I take it back. Seems like the conditioning did indeed work. She is thoroughly disturbed by what the foal just said. It had no reason to disagree, it had every opportunity to take the better option, yet here we are. She mentally pats herself on the back for a job well done. “Good, good babbeh, you finally learned. Mummah wub babbeh.”
He reaches out to his eyes with his stumps, still crying. His “huggie weggies” are trembling. “n-n-N-N-NU WAN DO DIS! Bu Babbeh mus… Babbeh am gud babbeh… Gud babbeh mus gif see-pwacies to mummah. Babbeh mus du wha mummah wan… Babbeh mus be HUWT!!! Babbeh… babbeh am gud babbeh… Am gud babbeh…” He begins trying to pluck his eyes out with his bones. He is screeching so loud now, Leila’s ears start to ring. It takes him a while, but he finally manages to get them out. They plop out onto the table, staring at the ceiling. “My… s-see… pwaces… awe gone… AM BWIND!!!”
“Don’t worry, you can hear Mummah just fine.” Should’ve done it sooner, Leila thinks, now I don’t have to hide these away. She picks them up, wincing a little at a warm wet sensation, and throws them out the window, once again making chewing sounds. “Yum yum, your eyes taste like sweet jellos! Mummah is so happy! These eyes must have seen a lot of sweet things if they are so sweet!”
The foal raises his head, blood oosing out of empty sockets. “Mummah… Now Babbeh… now Babbeh am bwind… Babbeh wiww neva see youw face 'gain… Neva see big bwue fing… Neva see bwight wawm baww… Neva see… fwuffy teebee…” He bursts into even more tears, they mix with the blood and stain the fluff. He stares up at mummah without any eyes.
“Well don’t blame me, I only wanted one eye, but you asked me to have both. It’s on you that you went blind.”
“On… Me… NU!!! MUMMAH, 'OU TOOK MY SEE-PWACES!!! Am bwind now… Because of 'OU!!!”
Oops. That seems like what Leila said was the final straw. He is losing his marbles. Oh well, it was getting boring anyway. Time to wrap it up.
“Oh ho. How accusatory of you. Ok, it was my fault. And what will you do to me, huh? What will you do, you stupid blind hobbled shitrat?”
“…NOFING!!! Dere’s nofing… BABBEH CAN DU… TO HUWT 'OU!!! Dat… dat wiww EVA!!! EVA huwt mow!!! Dan wha 'ou have JUS… DONE TO ME!!!” He is completely broken.
“Awww, poor widdow babbeh, need mummah huggies?”
“NU!!! NU MUMMAH HUGS!!! NU MUMMAH HUGS!!! NU WAN HUG 'OU!!!” Leila can hear the complete and utter rage in his voice. He shakes with pure hate.
Her smile gets wider and wider. “Good, you still remember. I knew you were bestest babbeh.”
“ALL BABBEH CAN WEMEMBEW… AM WHA 'OU TOOK FROM ME!!! BABBEH NEVA BE THE SAME 'GAIN!!!” The terror in his voice is gone. It is as if every ounce of fear he had simply… disappeared. “Mummah… HATE… CHU!!!”
Fake gasp. “Uh oh, that’s not good, babbeh. No wub means you die. And I don’t know if I still wub you…”
“DU IT!!! DU IT DEN!!! 'OU TOOK MY SEE-PWACES!!! 'OU TOOK MY SEE-PWACES, WHY SHOUD I WIVE??? GIF FOWEBAH SWEEPIES, 'OU MUNSTA!!! KIWW ME WIKE I DESEWV!!! KIWW ME, WIKE THE WORFWESS FING I AM!!!” He is screaming and shaking even harder now, his words soaked in hatred.
“Oh well, guess I have to give you foweva sweepies for being a bad ungrateful babbeh and breaking mummah’s heart…” Leila grabs the biotoy and brings it close, squeezing it hard in the fist like a stressball. Its ribs start cracking.
“PWEASE NU!!!” He begins to kick and squirm violently, completely terrified. “NU MUMMAH! NU MUMMAH! AM GUD BABBEH! ONWY DID WHA 'OU TOLD ME TOOO!!!”
Leila laughs at how quick that one-eighty was. Survival instincts kicked in the moment the foal sensed mortal danger. “Hoo, look who’s a “good babbeh” now! What happened to “I hate you” and “kill me like the worthless thing I am” huh? Where has your fighting spirit gone, babbeh? Not so brave suddenly?”
He immediately quiets down, and is now “looking” up at where he thinks his bestest mummah is in absolute fear. “A-am s-sowwy, mummah.” He is now sobbing as hard as his little mangled body lets him. “N-nu m-mean it!” His voice is stuttering and cracking from the sobbing.
“You are lying. You meant every word. You would have hurt me even more, if you could. You. Are. Disgusting.”
He begins to kick more. “B-BABBEH WAS J-J-JUST ANGWY! N-NU WAN 'OU H-HUW-T ME! BABBEH SOWWY! BABBEH SOWWYYY!!! AM ONWY WIDDOW BABBEEEHHH!!!” At this point, he is bawling. He has fallen completely into despair.
“Angry? At what, taking your eyes? Silly babbeh, why get angry at that?”
“IT HUWT WHEN 'OU TOOK MY SEE-PWACES!!!” It is hard for him to even speak. He is completely hysterical.
“Good. Hurties are wub. You should be grateful for the wub.”
“IT WAS NU WUB!!! IT… WAS… ABUSE!!! IT!!! WAS!!! NU!!! WUB!!!” He is now screaming so loud he sounds like he’s being torn apart. He is having a complete mental breakdown. It sounds like he’s about to faint from both screaming and sobbing so hard.
“Ding-ding-ding, you finally figured it out! The name of the game! Good! But sadly, now I have decided that I don’t wub you anymore. And that means you die now.” She thinks of a way to end this foal’s life that will hurt the most. The thought is kind of disgusting, but imagining the suffering it will bring, both physical and mental, makes her hairs stand on end in sick anticipation. “You’re still tasty. Waste not want not, I guess.”
And she places the foal in her mouth, ready to swallow it alive.
As he finds himself inside Leila’s mouth, he begins to struggle violently. He kicks and squirms like a wild animal, scratching and biting. “'ou… MUNSTA!!!” It would have been a perfect time to give munsta the sorriest of poopies and peepees, but sadly, there was nothing left by this point. “NU FOWEVA SWEEPIES UNTIL MAKE 'OU FOWEVA SWEEPIES FIWST!!!” He roars, absolutely furious. He has nothing to lose anymore. If he’s going to die… He wants to make the last moments as painful as possible for his murderer. He refuses to be eaten. No one deserves to die like this. He continues to desperately flail and bite.
But his efforts are nothing to Leila, a carbonated drink could hurt her more than this.
Gulp.
Kicking with his useless tiny weggies, babbeh slides down into mummah’s stomach. The agony he is going through is beyond comprehension. His screams turn into pure, blood curdling agony, as he is slowly digested. He knows he’s about to die, and he knows nothing can save him. “N… N… Nu… Wan… Di… E… Mum… Maaahhh…”
“Uh, that babbeh was spicy! Must have been from Mexico!” Leila proclaims, standing alone in her room and giggling, immensely pleased with herself. Before she goes on to start cleaning the room of all the feathers, filthy toys, fluffy beds, litterboxes and bloody viscera, she has one thought to herself, to remember her sweet Babbeh by…
“Guess hurties were not wub in the end.”
“Also, these things are delicious”.
