Herman carried the stallion – he refused to call him ‘Fuckboy’ or whatever horrible thing he thought his name was – into the house, cradling him in his arm. Even just feeling the matted, shit stained Fluff and course, scabby wounds along the poor guy’s back told Herman he had had a hard life.
Still though, he seemed quite happy with Herman, whether that was a naive reaction towards humans or if he genuinely trusted the old man was hard to say, but Herman wasn’t about to question him now.
“Alright, we need to be quiet, my Fluffies are sleeping in their safe-room.”
“NYU FW…?!”
“SHHH, what did I just say?”
“Oop, sowwy nice mistah, Fukboi jus neba meet nyu Fwuffie befowe. Nu wuns dat Fukboi git be fwiends wiv.”
Herman kept an ear out, but he heard no rustling from the safe-room so he continued on towards the kitchen.
“That’s alright, you’ll the chance to meet them all but not until morning, they need to rest up, and so do you after we clean you up.”
“Cwean? Nice mistah gib Fukboi baffie-time?”
Herman flicked the light on for the kitchen. “You know what a bath is?”
The stallion trembled but nodded slowly. “Owd daddehs gib Fukboi wots of baffies, wan him wook an smeww pwetty. Fukboi nu scawed of wawa, bu am scawed of scwatchie huwties.”
Herman seethed, scratchie-hurties could only mean a rough owner, which given the state of the Alicorn seemed about right.
“Well don’t you worry, I’ll be as gentle as I can. It might still hurt a little, those hurtie-marks on your back might sting, but you just let me know and I’ll slow down.”
“Fank yu nice mistah, Fukboi nu wike nu fewwin pwetty.”
Herman placed the stallion on the countertop and ran a warm bath in the sink, a little warmer than he usually ran for Angie and Cole, but given the amount of dirt and filth caked onto the Alicorn’s Fluff he felt it necessary.
Herman sat the Alicorn upright on his butt, even despite his situation the stallion smiled happily and gently bounced his two front hoofs on the countertop in a small dance-like movement as he waited for the sink to fill.
“Alright, first things first; we need to give you a new name.”
“Bu Fukboi awweady hab…”
“I’m talking about a new name, a better name that’s not mean. You do want a name that’s nice, don’t you?”
“Fukboi wouwd wike namesie dat nu hab bad wowdsie in it. Udda Fwuffa nu wike bad wowdsie in namesie.”
Herman eyes the stallion’s coat, the silver still had a shimmer through the muck and the white mane was still damn near luminescent. Wherever he came from, he likely cost a lot of money.
“How about Steel?”
“Steaw? Wike take fings dat nu bewong tu yu? Dat nu sound wike nice namesie.”
“No, no. I mean Steel like the metal. Tough and durable, like you are.”
“Steew? Cos am tuff an duwawa…duwabu…cos am tuff. Steew wike dat namesie, Fank yu nice mistah.”
Herman chuckle at Steel’s pronunciation troubles and tickled his ear. “No worries Steel. And call me Herman.”
“Ok mistah Heh-min.”
Herman held back a cough as he reached over and turned the tap off, gently he picked the newly-named Steel off the counter and placed him into the sink, the Alicorn trembled all the while but made little noise aside from some whimpering. As the warmth of the water began to sink in and the water instantly turned brown from the dirt on his Fluff, Steel let out a contented sigh.
“Fank yu Mistah Heh-min, wawm wawa feew gud.”
“It’s not too hot, doesn’t hurt at aww.”
“Wittew bit on huwties mawks bu nu tuu mush.”
Herman reached over for some Fluff-Safe shampoo but stopped when a cough caught him offguard, it wasn’t too bad but he still felt the pressure in his skull threatening to pop open.
“Mistah Heh-min? Am yu ok?”
Herman cleared his throat and wiped the specks of blood from his mouth before looking back over at Steel. “Yeah, yeah I’m fine. Just… just something stuck in my throat. Didn’t mean to scare you like that.”
Steel remained worried for several more seconds until Herman squirted the shampoo onto his back and started massaging it into his Fluff. He cooed for a moment before a slight sting hit one of the cuts on his back and he tensed up.
“You ok?”
Steel nodded. “Jus stingie-huwtie, nuffin tu wowwy bout.”
“You seem to be taking this quite well, judging by your appearance I’m guessing you’re a little too familiar with getting hurt.”
Steel solemnly nodded. “Yeh, owd daddeh Steew wowstesh huwties if nu du wha towd, den gib eben mowe huwties if Steew make tuu many noisies wen hab huwties. Steew weawn nu make noisies wen hab huwties.”
“What did you do before you found me, where were you staying?”
“Steew stay wiv owd daddies in dawk pwace, sumtime gu up an see bwite-baww bu moshwy am down in da dawkie-pwace. Steew towd tu hab wots of enfies wiv wots of pwetty mawes, owd daddies say it make dem vewy happy tu see Steew hab speciaw-huggies. Steew nu undastand bu was happy tu hab wots of speciaw-huggies. Bu aww da mawes weave afta, Steew neba git hab speciaw-fwiend ow see babbehs, Steew hab biggesh heawt-huwties, bu daddies say dat Steew nu git see babbehs tiww da hab ‘wots of monies’. Steew nu knyo wha monies awe, bu dey say speciaw-huggies make monies as weww as babbehs su Steew keep habben speciaw-huggies.”
Herman seethed a little, poor little guy had been in a breeding mill, a dingy basement one from the sounds of things. That would certainly explain the chafe mars around his cock and balls, likely told to fuck until he bled.
“So what happened?” Herman asked as he scooped some water and rinsed the shampoo away from Steel’s back. “How’d you end up here?”
“Steew meet nyu mawe, bu she nu jus anee mawe, she smeww wike Steew. Steew knyo dis am Steew babbeh, hab biggesh heawt-happies tu finawwy be daddeh. Babbeh hab wowstesh scawdies bu Steew pwomise babbeh nu tu wet aneefing happen tu hew. Wen owd daddeh come bak, he hab biggesh angwies dat Steew nu gib babbeh speciaw-huggies yet, Steew twy say dat mawe am Steew babbeh, nu can gib speciaw-huggies tu babbeh, bu daddeh nu wisten, jus gib Steew wowstesh huwties wiv shawp sowwy-stick an caww Steew wowfwess dummeh fukboi.”
“Jesus. Shit Steel I’m sorry you had to go through that. How did you escape, if you don’t mind me asking.”
“Owd daddeh teww Steew tu gib babbeh speciaw-huggies, wen Steew teww him nu, owd daddeh twy tu gib Steew foweba sweepies. Bu udda daddeh teww owd daddeh tu ‘du it ousside’, so nu gib scawdies tu udda Fwuffies. Owd daddeh take Steew up an ousside, bu befowe can gib foweba sweepies, Steew hab scawdie poopies, nu mean tu, bu hab wowstesh scawdies. Owd daddeh dwop Steew cos nu ek-pect poopies, Steew hab wowstesh weggie huwties bu wun way, cos nu wan foweba sweepie. Owd daddeh gib chasies, bu dewe wewe wots of sky-wawa an he wose Steew. Steew awone fow wongesh time, hab biggesh heawt-huwties dat nu sabe babbeh, eben feew wike wan-die, bu nu wan gu bak. Steew nu find aneewun tiww meet mistah Heh-min.”
Herman felt his old heart bleed for Steel, even with all the Fluffies he’d taken in and their heartbreaking tales; Hickory and Cinnamon’s feral bullying, Lazarus’ abandonment, Oracle’s disability. Somehow Steel’s tale hit him the hardest, maybe it Steel’s surprising determination, maybe it was the fact that Herman was facing his own morality and knew that this was likely the last Fluffy he was going to be able to help, but at that moment Herman felt like it was his duty to keep Steel safe.
With a smile he lifted Steel out of the sink and onto a towel. “Well you’re lucky you found me, and don’t worry, I won’t let anything happen to you while…”
Herman stopped as his lungs exploded, he let out one loud bark, loud enough to scare Steel into shitting himself, before grabbing an errant dishtowel and covering his mouth as he collapsed to the floor, only stopping from a serious injury by a quick left hand that Herman could feel sprain from the impact.
Every sudden jerk, every pressurised lurch his body gave threatened to tear muscles or break bones. Even muffled by the dishtowel Herman could hear his chest straining through his scratched throat. His face burned red, near scalding against the parts where his finger touched his skin and not the towel, sweat and tears drenching his head and neck. He could taste blood, more blood than he had before, the towel grew damper and damper with each new splatter of blood being blown out of his lung.
Finally, after several agonised minutes, Herman’s red-raw throat finally relaxed and the old man crumpled completely onto the floor, wheezing for a few painful seconds as he tried to find whatever breath he had left, trying not to burst into tears over his fucked up situation.
As he lay there, eyes groggily looking up at the ceiling, he saw a worried Steel peeking over the countertop.
“Mistah Heh-min, yu nu sound gud, sound scawy wen make noisies wike dat.”
Herman, with great difficulty due to his sprained wrist and exhausted muscles, pulled himself off the ground and stood up. He went to wipe his face until he saw the violent blood stain on the towel and threw it away.
“I’m sorry Steel, I just… I’m ill Steel, I have a sickness in my lungs, my breathing place, it’s not a complete death sentence but at my age it might as well be and… I’m scared Steel. I’m not some dithering old fuck wasting away in some home with no idea who I am or what’s happening to me, I know who I am, I know where I am and I am fully aware that I’m dying and it fucking scares me because I’m not ready. I thought I was when my wife died but then I had my children to look after, and when I no longer had to look after them I felt like I was ready then but then I found Fluffies. Of all the things to keep me on this earth that little bit longer, it was Fluffies and their endearing love that kept me going. I can do so much more for them, to help them where nobody, not even my own family, will, but my body has made the decision to stop and I’m fucking helpless to stop it.”
Silence past between the two of them for a long time, Herman too emotionally exhausted to say anything, Steel not really knowing what to say. Until eventually he decided the best thing to say was nothing at all, and he wordlessly raised his arms into the huggies pose.
Herman chuckled but took the still damp Steel and lifted him into a hug, letting the little guy wrap his hoofs around the old man as tight as he could.
“Thank you Steel, I needed that.”
“It ok Mistah Heh-min, huggies make ebewyfing betta.”
“Yeah… I guess they do.”
The two held the hug for a little while longer before Herman pulled Steel back and placed him back onto the towel, softly drying the last of the water from his Fluff. Now clean, his silver Fluff and white mane shone even brighter in the kitchen light, it puffed out slightly to create a very cute poodle-like effect. Even with the patchwork of scars and scabs across his back, Steel was a good looking Fluffy.
“There you are, feel better now?”
Steel nodded. “Fank yu mistah Heh-min, Steew wike feew pwetty nyo.”
Herman gave Steel a quick scratch behind the ears before picking him up and placing him into an old Fluffy-bed in the corner, he then took out an old bowl and half-filled it with kibble.
“Here, a little something to eat and a bed for the night, if you need to poop then do it on the newspaper here and I’ll clean it up in the morning. Once everyone’s awake, I’ll introduce you all and we’ll go from there.”
“Ok, fank yu mistah Heh-min, yu am nicest mistah Steew eba meet.”
“Don’t think on it, I’m happy to help.”
Herman opened a nearby cupboard and pulled out some matches which he then used to light a candle on the kitchen table, it wasn’t the same as a night-light but it was last long enough until Steel went to sleep, hopefully if everything went well in the morning he could share the safe-room with Angie, Cole and Cinnamon.
“Goodnight Steel, I’ll see you in the morning.
“Nite Mistah Heh-min, am sowwy yu hab sickies, hope yu feew betta soon.”
Herman smiled at Steel but let out a tired sigh as he did. “Me too Steel, me too.”
Leaving the Alicorn to his midnight snack and his sleep, Herman made for his bed. With his mind no longer worried about Steel’s safety the tiredness smacked him right in the face and suddenly the idea of climbing his stairs felt like a herculean tasks.
With his vision blurring, Herman carefully climbed onto the sofa and settled into a comfortable position. He was asleep before his head even touched the cushions.
I feel Herman’s pain 