Going by what he’d seen in passing, Razzleberrry’s attempts to get Lavender to pay attention to her brother was working. The fact the twins were two of the few Kennel guards at least appearing fearless around him might be factored in as well- Ryan’s suggestion that their lineage and the general investment into them after the surgery and the hand raising meant Jason was noticeably a little warmer to them was going to be ignored.
More relevantly, Mint Chip had been dealt with. He hadn’t entirely taken Cloudy and Razzleberry’s word on the matter, of course, there were cameras for a reason. But Cloudy had indeed been saying ‘Nu wan! Daddeh say nu du!” when she was bred, and it had been Mint Chip on top of her. Part of him was tempted to go remind Cloudy that he’d told them all that only the house fluffies were allowed to call him Daddeh without Sir behind it. …He’d have preferred to be called Sir entirely, but repeated attempts had taught him that going past “Daddeh!” “Call me Sir.” “…Otay, Daddeh Sir!” was a headache that needed to be repeated with every fluffy, and he really didn’t care that much. Cloudy was probably one pregnancy away from a fit, anyway.
He wasn’t sure why some of the fluffies could keep in mind that fluffies that broke pen rules were murdered in front of the others, then fed to them (and sometimes not in that order) and extrapolate that to what would happen to them if they broke the rules, and some…inevitably thought they would be the exception. The answer to alicorns usually being in the first category was not hard to figure, but the others didn’t sort themselves out in any clear pattern. Not even when you accounted for breed. The hunting friends were fractionally more likely to remember that detail, but not conclusively.
The number of fluffies at least claiming they just forgot something was a rule could also be a factor. Not one he cared about, but he’d believe it for at least some of them.
The twins had set up a double nest in one of the nooks, a nicer one they’d firmly evicted the former inhabitant of. It was set up with room for two families, now, nest space for soon-mummah or a mummah and small foals at the cozy back and a single bed set in the middle so the twins could curl up against each other and still be next to their special friends. It was precious, in a way.
It had taken a few weeks, but Lavender had given in to Cherrydazzle’s courting, and he’d trotted over just as enthusiastically as Razzleberry. Just by himself, with Lavender already sniffing around the side of the nest that would be hers if this went though. “Daddeh Siw? Can Dazza an Wavenda be speciew fwiends an hab babbehs?”
“Sure. Just remember, when the babies can walk around on their own, I need to take them to the foal pen. No exceptions, okay?” That nest would be tight for two families, but Cloudy was almost ready to burst herself, and her foals would be gone long before Lavender was swollen enough to take more space. That was their problem regardless, not his- even if this played out in the most idealized manner possible.
“Unnastood, tank’ou Daddeh siw. Dazza bewwy happies hab speciaw fwiend and babbehs fow a wittw bit.”
Jason glanced over at the nest again, even as he reached down to let Cherrydazzle nuzzle his hand in gratitude. A very round Cloudy was blissfully snuggled into all the bedding rags and spare fluff Razzleberry could bring her. Letting her special friend lick her full fluff into as pristine a state as possible, singing a tuneless little song about how much her babies were going to love her, and how good a mother she’d be, and how big and strong those babies would become. Yeah, no. That was not going to work out long enough for both families being in there at the same time.
Razzleberry was still playing devoted attendant to the more bemused than besotted Cloudy when the telltale shriek of “biggest poopies!’ rang out through the pen and yard. Jason made sure the camera’s were on, but Razzleberry clearly had things under control between her and her twin. One by one, the six little foals were cleaned off, and settled in near Cloudy’s belly awaiting turns to nurse. It might have been interesting to see how one of the alicorns who- despite having turned out in tolerable, -almost striking in her case- color patterns when their manes came in, had spent their youth being called poopie would react to one of their mates throwing a fit about bad foal color.
But the six were all silver grey to greens and pinks, without an atrocious color in there. Not a one anything like their “second mother” but Razzleberry didn’t seem to mind. She spent as much time hugging and cleaning foals as Cloudy did, only trading off any attempt to nurse them for bringing Cloudy extra food so she didn’t have to leave them.
There was even singing. “Mummah Wazza wub’s babbehs tu, wubs dem aww, gibs wub an’ huggies. Babbehs wub mummah Wazza, get huggies tu, stay wawm unda wings. An’ wen babbehs bigga, get gu wit’ Daddeh siw, gwow aww big an’ swong. Big an’ stwong an’ come back tu mummahs ‘gain.” The joy of alicorns who remember how things should go, as extremely optimistic as her plans were. Cloudy at least wasn’t contradicting the song- she seemed more to be ignoring that, happily treating Razzleberry like a second parent who would look after whatever foals weren’t feeding and fetch more food for her.
Cloudy was even nuzzling and licking at Razzleberry more now herself, rather than just allowing the other to show her affection, which seemed to move the alicorn into vast joy. He cropped a few stills during those days, saving ones of the cotton candy and vanilla fluffy cuddled in with her mate and buried under foals. …Into the unlabeled folder that had cropped stills of her and Cherrydazzle dating back to the incubator. Sleeping in the foal pen, when they first fledged, the races and tests they’d actually shone in. They’d always been rather cute. For fluffies.
And then the babies started to open their eyes. At the first sign, Razzleberry had groomed over and hugged the biggest baby, then handed it over to the helping Cherrydazzle and returned the babies on her back to their mother. Her next step was to come looking for him. “Daddeh Siw! Babbeh opened eyesies! ….can Wazza an’ Cwoudy pwease hab dis bwite time tu say gud byes?”
“Since you asked…Okay. I won’t take the babies until tomorrow, at breakfast. The others should have their eyes open by then as well.” She gave him a cheerful wave, then trotted back to the nest like she was returning with grand news. The babies promptly crawled back over her, and she went back to grooming them- even as Cloudy just stared at her for a while, then glared out of the nest at Jason. And there was that side on their way out, just as predicted.
One by one, the still small babies were brought out to him near the bowls, Razzleberry giving each a last lick as she set them on the towel he’d brought, each sleepily murmuring things about ‘wub wazza mummah’ and ‘miwkies?’ “Daddeh siw wiww get miwkies fow babbehs. Daddeh siw gud at wook afta babbehs. Nyao…onesie gweenie babbeh, twosie gweenie babbeh, twee an’ foaw am pinkie babbehs, an’ den fibe and sixes am gway….” she sniffed at them again, recounting until she got back to the singular gray baby on the towel. “Gib wittw bit, daddeh siw?”
There was a scramble back to the nest. “Cwoudy? Am missing wastest babbeh. Nee’ aww gu wit daddeh Siw dis bwite time, ow am twouble.”
“NU! Cwoudy nu wet meanie take wastest, bestest babbeh!” there was a huff, and clear aggravation. “Wazza nu mummah, nu unnastand. Babbeh nee’ mummah! Mummah nee’ babbe-” it dissolved into an incoherent scream of rage as the alicorn snatched the last babbeh, running back to Jason with it.
“Cwoudy wiww tank Wazza fow dis wata. Daddeh Siw say gib babbehs, Cwoudy! Say am WUWE! Cwoudy knu wat happen wen wuwe am bwoken!” Razzleberry insisted as soon as she had the baby set down with the others. “An nu babbeh am bestest, dat am awso WUWE!”
“NU.” Cloudy wasn’t far behind, flailing hooves at the slightly smaller mare who was firmly ignoring her as she checked the babies, …even as her ears went flat back and her wings flared. “Wazza am bein’ dummeh! Babbehs nee’ mummah, mummah nee’ babbehs! Babbehs nee’ stay! An’ an’…an’ if daddeh say diffwent, den Daddeh am dummeh tu! Dummeh daddeh, wit’ dummeh wuwes.” The grey mare reared up again, hooves poised for a more directed slam at Razzleberries back and wing joints. “Take sowwy hoofies tiww gib babbeh back!”
Luckily for Cloudy, she had one of the fluffy breeds with at least some keratin to their hooves in her lineage, and at this point of testing was also one sturdy enough to slam all her weight down without breaking her own legs. Unluckily for her, she had also just telegraphed her intentions to her target, who was already hitting the limit of patience.
Razzleberry mulekicked back into her, knocking Cloudy back nearly a foot before she spun, wings flared out wide and horn lowered. “Nu. Nu bweak Daddeh Siw wuwes, nu caww dummeh!” Her cat sharp fangs were visible sharply through her snarling muzzle, and Cloudy flinched back despite how long she’d been training with the demonfluffs and cannibals. At that flinch, Razzleberry hesitated, her expression softening with sudden guilt as she watched her special friend. “Cwoudy…. Pwease nu du dis. ‘Ou knu wat Daddeh siw…
“Razzleberry.” the alicorn immediately look back at him, ears flicking up attentively as she looked between her mate and her human. “Break her legs. This just became a whole pen discussion.” He gave the fluffy a moment to stare at him before he amplified. “Now.”
There was an audible swallow, before Razzleberry moved, snapping at the leg Cloudy swung at her before hauling her off her feet- and driving both her cloven front hooves down on the closest back leg, twice. “Skreeee! Wowsest weggie huwties… “ Cloudy fought herself to her remaining hooves, blood soaking the fluff around the spike of bone that had broken skin. “Wazza am munsta? Why nu hewp speciaw fwiend?” Razzle dropped her head, ears flicking and a single look back at Jason before she grabbed for the front leg on the same side, tossing her head like a dog with a toy until it pulled out of it’s socket, Cloudy’s screams echoing over the pen again.
“Enough. That will do, Razzleberry.” With a rush of what looked almost like gratitude, she stepped back, looking around on unsteady hooves until she found her brother. Cherrydazzle kept looking between her and Cloudy, finally hesitantly stretching a wing out to pull her closer. “Cloudy. She was right about that. I said to give me the babies when they had their eyes open. I even gave you an extra day with them when your mate asked. And this is how you repay me?”
“…Daddeh am munsta meanie tu! Mummah nee’ babbehs!” Cloudy shrieked, glaring at both of them before she tried a different tack. “Pwease? Wazza? Hewp bestest speciew fwiend Cwoudy? Hewp babbehs?” Razzle snuffled, dropping her head farther, ears drooping.
“Don’t look at her, Cloudy. She tried. I might have let you trying to keep one back slide if you’d let her bring it to me after. Pass it off as a brief mistake in judgment. As it is….” Jason reached down and picked up the last grey baby. “Was I right in hearing you call this your bestest?”
All of the older and longer term kennel guards in their pen- who had been watching this with the resigned expressions of someone who had seen this play out too many times- winced at that. Every single mare over a year old took a step back, many covering their eyes rather than look over at the babies. The younger ones still seemed confused, Lavender burrowing her face farther under Cherrydazzle’s other wing.
“Yes. Dat da pwettiest and biggest babbeh. Am bestest, most wike betta, twue mummah Cwoudy.” She was trying to get back to her hooves, flailing to get closer to the babies. “Gib babbeh back!” Some of the older mares crept forward, trying to get the younger ones to cover their eyes. “Nyao!”
“Fucking fluffies. This is why the decent sale stock isn’t allowed to breed until they’re older. Because there’s always a couple that pull this.” He shrugged, then held out the baby. “Alright. LISTEN UP. We have a bestest babbeh. And I’m sure most of you remember what happens to those.” Even the fluffies that hadn’t been cowering at the scene were now, bracing themselves as he reached out, snapping each of the baby’s legs, one at a time. “Razzleberry, come here.” She slunk forward, head still down, standing at his feet braced as if she expected a beating or a boot to come down on her. “I expect an answer, and it had best be honest. Did you know Cloudy had a bestest baby?”
Her head came up, and she stared at him with wide eyes. “Nu! Nu, Daddeh siw. Cwoudy neba caww babbeh bestest wen Wazza dewe. Nu gib babbeh mowe miwkies or wub, eida, Wazza hewp wook afta babbehs an’ wub aww dem!” Even as she stared up at him like he’d told her she’d shit on her brother, she was avoiding looking at the baby frantically peeping in his hand, tears streaking her fluffy cheeks.
“Cherrydazzle? Lavender? You were in the nest too. Did you hear either of them use that phrase before?” They hadn’t, he’d have noticed on the cameras. There was a filter checking for certain words in all the audio and flagging them…. Beyond the fact he had been paying attention to this nest in particular. But, asking was still interesting.
“Nu, Daddeh siw. Nu hewe anyting wite dat, eba.” Cherrydazzle immediately answered, and Lavender nodded in agreement, still huddled under his wing. “Wat…wai Daddeh Siw huwt babbeh?”
“Babies that get called bestest become bad babies. Babies that are bad this early aren’t even allowed to make it to the foal pen. They’re hurt to show their mother the mistake they made…and then given forever sleeps.” He set it in front of Razzleberry. “I believe you didn’t know anything about that. But these are your foals, aren’t they?” She nodded, ears flat out again. “So, this falls to you. Eat it.”
There was a choked sob, before she lowered her muzzle to the foal, which tried its best to hug her with shattered legs. “Hewp…. Babbeh? Wub Wazza? Huggies?” Her tongue ran over it’s back, smoothing out the fluff, and then she took a step back, lifting a hoof above it and giving Jason a hopeful look. He shook his head, and could hear another sob before she leaned down again, nuzzling the babbeh once more. “It….it otay, babbeh. Mummah Wazza make huwties stop.” She crunched down, hard, two bites swallowed fast before it had time for anything but another tiny peep. There was a faint gagging sound, before she stood up again, head down, waiting at her human’s feet.
“Now, this brings us to the other problems. Cloudy.” The mare in question was shrieking, calling him and Razzleberry monsters, meanies, threatening him. “Do you have any idea how many rules you’ve broken? If it was just the baby, I might have let you go with a beating once this was over. But you went and called me dummy and monster. That’s a much worse rule to break. You are a very bad fluffy, Cloudy.” she immediately protested, and he ignored her. “In fact, this makes you such a bad fluffy that I can’t trust any of your babies to be good.” There was a sharp intake of breath, from right at his feet, as well as from the mid range of fluffies in the pen. The oldest Kennel guards, on the other hand…They already knew what was going to happen. “Razzleberry, I’ll give you the choice. I can give them all forever sleepies, with many hurties like I do to other bad babies in the kennels- or you can do it for me. You don’t have to eat these ones, though.”
She had nearly buried her head under her own wing, but straightened, looking between him and the towel of babies she’d helped raise, that she called her own, that… “…Yes, Daddeh siw. Wazza wiww du.” she murmured, struggling back up to her feet before going back to the towel. One by one, she nuzzled each of them as she had the bestest, grooming fluff into perfect order and letting each one hug her nose and hooves. “Am sowwy, babbehs. Wazza wub aww babbehs,” Then she stomped down, fast and hard, smashing each tiny head as they stared at her and started crying and chirping, trying to end it as fast as possible.
She’d made it two feet back towards her brother, soaked well past her fetlocks with blood and gore, when Jason spoke again. “One last problem to deal with. Kill Cloudy as well, Razzleberry.” She almost seemed to look through him, rather than at him when she turned back, but a few choked sobs later, a strangled sounding “…Unnastood, Daddeh siw,” was audible.
Her dragging, stained hooves still scuffed lines into the pen until she got to her mate…former mate… still sobbing about the lost foals. “Wazza am munsta! Babbeh kiwwa! Babbeh numma!:” Cloudy managed to get onto her side, screaming from the pain even as she flailed at the alicorn. Razzleberry just dodged the clumsy hooves, looking back up at Jason for a long moment before setting both her front hooves on Cloudy’s head. “Hatechu! Hatchu, hatchu! Wazza and Daddeh both MUNSTAS!” She was still screaming that when Razzle’s hooves slammed down, again and again until there was nothing that couldn’t be mistaken for a smashed watermelon.
She stared down at her hooves after it went silent, red and grey and fragments of bone splattered up to her neck, speckled over her wings and face. Then she bolted for her brother, fresh tearstreaks layering over her face. “Dazza!” The taupe unicorn was met with a double wingsmack hard enough to knock her back, Cherrydazzle placing himself between her and Lavender. “…Dazza?”
“Gu away! Nu wan bad babbeh-kiwwa fwuffy in nestie. Speciew fwiend am soon mummah, nee’ pwotect Wavenda!” He was shaking his head frantically, already crying himself. “Wub sissy. Bu’ nee’ pwotect babbehs. Wazza am munsta nyao, am bad fwuffy, nu can….” His head dropped much like hers had, just as tear streaked, before he turned his back, herding his mate back to the nest.
Razzle dropped back as if she’d been kicked, sitting on her haunches like a confused dog as her brother left her behind. “…Dazza?..Dazza tink Wazza munsta tu?.. Wazza am bad fwuffy… am munsta…wan di-”
Jason took his cue a few moments later than he meant to, scooping her up into his arms before she could finish the phrase. “There’s my Razzleberry Blue. Such a good fluffy, such a good girl.” She fixed her eyes on him, still sniffling, and he petted her gently. The blood would wash off, after all, and he had worn disposable clothes today for a reason. “Good girl, Razzleberry. You did everything Daddeh asked. You followed all the rules. Let’s go inside.”