…Anything that is, except stretch his tiny hoofies as far out as he can reach to give his mother a loving huggie. The warmest, softest, most loving huggie Cherry had ever felt in her entire life. She stares down at her tiny Foal, watching in awe as his tiny horn-nub softly glows while his head rests lovingly against her chest. The soft thumping of her heart now lulling him into a deep sleep as Cherry gently wraps her arms back around him to return the embrace.
prrr…mm…coo
Cherry’s foal makes a few quiet, but comforting noises as he squeezes his mothers mass. Cherry returns the hug for a few forevers before finally looking back down at her pride and joy.
”Mummah… Wuv hew’ wittew-huggie babbeh… Tank ou’ babbeh… Mummah’ nee’ gif babbeh namsies! Nu’ can be babbeh fowebah…”
Cherry begins the process of licking her foal clean as she whispers gently to keep him calm. The taste was absolutely horrid, but Cherry was no stranger to horrible tastes at this point.
”Mummah’ hewe a wowdie fwum’ a humin’ one bwite-time, wots of bwite-times befow’ wittew babbeh was eben’ a tummeh-babbeh…”
”That was my favorite mug too. Guess I better call grams up to make a new one after I clean up this one…”
Aaron’s thoughts echo loudly to no-one but himself as he quickly jiggles the (slightly-broken) handle to open his shed.
Working fast to get out of the rain, he opts instead to brute force his way in rather than be further soaked to the bone. He takes a deep breath, then forces the door open rather than deal with the broken latching mechanism.
The metal door makes a loud scraping noise followed quickly by an even louder metallic snapping noise that echoes through the valley as he swings the now-broken door wide open.
”-EEP!!”
Aaron, not expecting the outlandish noise to suddenly spring at him from the confines of his once locked shed, quickly grabs his chest and jumps back in surprise.
”Ay dios mio! What the hell?”
His focus turns downward as light floods the shed, revealing a small weeping red mass of dripping neon-red fluff violently shivering on the floor within.
”P-P-Pwease! huuhuu N-n-nu’ huwt-t-t-ties!! Huuhuu Ch-ch-chewwy jus’ n-n-nee’ pwace t-t-tu’ hidies fwom’ m-m-meanie s-s-sky-wawas… N-n-nu’ wan hous-s-sie ow’ n-n-nummies’ ow d-d-daddeh… Jus’ w-w-wan’ saf-f-fie hid-d-dee pwace’ unt-t-tiw sky-wawas g-g-gu’w-w-way…”
Aaron stares down at the dripping creature before him. He’d only read about fluffies online. Seen a few photos online, found a few videos of random stranger’s ways of “Taking Care” of their fluffies. This, however, was his first time actually encountering one face-to-face.
Cherry’s entire body is wracked with some of the worst shivering Aaron had ever seen from an animal. Clearly brought on by prolonged exposure to the last few days of this god-awful storm. But how did it get inside the shed if the only entrance…was…
Aaron ignores Cherry for a brief moment as he slowly leans his head into the shed, scanning everything floor-to-ceiling. His eyes carefully scan over the empty space until they finally come to rest over…
…Yep, the gravel foundation the shed was resting on had come loose with all the extra rain acting as a quick method of urban erosion. The wood flooring had rotted away enough for a small hole to form, giving just enough leeway for something to work it’s way inside. In this case, a bright red fluffy aptly named…
”Cherry… Chica, you said your name is Cherry?"
Aaron carefully squats down in the doorway of the shed, making sure to move slowly to show he meant no harm. He also did this to meet the soggy fluffy on her eye level. Aaron had read that fluffies had the mental capacity of a child. Meeting them on their level is a good method to disarm a situation to open the door for conversation.
It worked for his little cousins when he wanted to calm them down, so why not creatures that are essentially children?
Cherry shivers and watches as the human that had found her hiding place slowly bends down in front of her. She was powerless to stop it, her body trembling too much from the cold to allow her to move properly.
She noticed, however, that the human seemed to become much smaller as he did this. His once imposing-stature now shrunk down to a smaller, more easily visible shape.
”Y-y-yus mist-t-tuh… N-n-namsies-s-s am’ Ch-ch-chewwy… P-p-pwease nu’ huwt-t-ties…”
Aaron, not being bothered much by the chilly petrichor scented air, now realizes that talking outside too long would not turn out well for Cherry. Without a word, he quickly strips his pullover and gently drapes it over the shivering creature.
Cherry peeps at first, but is stricken too numb from the cold to do anything as Aaron carefully wraps her up in the shirt before picking her up and walking quickly inside his house. The broken mug would need to wait. Cherry needed warmth, and she needed it NOW.
TWO HOURS LATER
Aaron sips his tea as he watches Cherry resting comfortably beneath a mound of old moving blankets that had been stored in his closet since he moved in. The olden wood-burning stove that was built into the house was now being used as a makeshift space heater to warm and comfort the sleeping red fluffy resting before it.
Aaron takes another sip from his plastic mug as the story that Cherry had told him leading up to finding her in his shed played through his deeply worried head.
It was nothing special or too out of the ordinary. (At least in his opinion, anyway.)
Cherry was born somewhere in one of the forests surrounding the mountain-locked city. Apparently her mother and father had given her up to a group of other fluffy ponies called a “herd” in exchange for some kind of food that she kept calling “purple-roundie-nummies”. Then a few “bright-times” and “forevers” passed before the leader of the herd, something called a “smarty”, decided he wanted to mate with her. When she refused, she was shunned by the herd at the threat of “worstest hoofies” and “forever sleepies”.
Apparently this was right before the start of this rather-long series of rain storms hitting this part of the state, because it was only two days ago that Cherry had found her way into his now-breached shed.
Aaron closed his eyes, letting her story play-back in his head for the 20th time. He just couldn’t believe a species of creature possessing this level of innocence would trade their offspring away for a few grapes. Then being shunned by her colony for refusing to mate with the leader and threatened with death if she didn’t leave… The thought almost sickens him.
Aaron didn’t want to care for Cherry. Not that he couldn’t; He just didn’t want to. Pets make a mess and ruin the furniture. What he could do, however, was watch over her until the storms subside enough to allow her safe passage back out into the wilderness.
A few uneventful rainy days pass. Aaron feeds and waters Cherry. Cherry thanks him, eats, drinks, then goes back to her resting place in front of the stove. The times that she complained about having to relieve herself, Aaron simply set her on top of his compost bin resting beneath an awning in his backyard.
Finally, after a solid week of continuous showers, the storm clouds part and allow the glimmering golden rays of the sun to kiss the earth for the first time in what feels like an eternity. The moist morning air is a feeling of comforting nostalgia for Aaron, but also one of immense relief.
The time had finally come to release Cherry back outdoors.
This morning he had chosen to make a special breakfast for Cherry consisting of warm oatmeal with various freshly cut fruit chunks mixed in for added filling. This was accompanied by a bowl of steaming white-chocolate flavored hot chocolate, which Cherry nearly choked on in her excitement to drink as much of the “best warmy milkies” as she could fill her tiny cheeks with.
Aaron sat on the top step of his porch, taking a long pull from his cigarette as he watched the morning sunlight slowly fill the valley his tiny home resided in. Cherry finishes the last few bites of fruity-oatmeal and laps up the remaining drops of the hot coco as Aaron releases the puff of smoke into the cool, moisture-filled mountain air.
His gaze never leaves the horizon as he whistles and calls out for Cherry.
”Hey, Cherry!” -whistle- ”Ven Amiga, siéntate; Sit with me for a moment.”
Cherry’s ears perk up as the whistle and the nice human Aaron’s voice ring over the sound of her coos of content. She quickly jumps to her hooves and trots over to where Aaron now sits, gently folding her legs beneath herself to keep them warm as she perches down next to him.
Aaron sits in silence, taking another long drag and exhaling another cloud of smoke into the brisk morning air. Cherry sits comfortably next to him, watching the sunlight streak over the landscape before her.
After another moment or two of silence, Aaron is the first to speak.
”So… Looks like today’s the day, huh girl?”
Another puff, another cloud of smoke. Aaron put’s the smoldering filter out on a pile of filters that had been accumulating in his ash-tray since he got outside with Cherry this morning. He flips open a metal case, pulls another cigarette from within, and lights it.
Cherry takes a deep breath. She knew that she would be setting back out into the world today. As per their prior agreement, Aaron would take care of and allow Cherry to stay with him in his home until the rain finally stopped. Once it did, Cherry would take her leave of his residence.
She wasn’t afraid though. She knew exactly what would happen when the rain stopped. She knew she would need to leave sooner or later. Aaron had nursed her back to health, and helped prepare her to head back out into the world when the time came.
”Wooks’ wike it mistah’ Awon. Dah pwetty bwite-time sky-baww am’ chasin’way dah’ meanie sky-wawas! Makin’ ewbytin’ wawmies’gain!”
Aaron lets out a light chuckle at Cherry’s description of the sun coming out of the storm clouds. Her perspective on things had really helped him do a lot of thinking and contemplating this last week.
He quietly takes another pull of his cigarette before Cherry breaks the momentary silence.
”Mistah’ Awon… Chewy jus wan’ tank ou’ fow’ wettin’ Chewy stay en’ wawmie housie su’ many fowebahs. Tank ou’ fow dah bestes-nummies, an’ dah wawm nestie, an’ takin’ cawe of Chewwy su’ wong. Chewy’ am gun’ miss ou’ mistah’ Awon! Ou’ am Chewy’s bestes-fwen!”
Tears now begin to build. Not in Cherry’s bright eyes though.
Aaron takes another pull of his smoke as a few small tears build on his cheeks before flowing down his face and off his chin, coming to a rest on his lap that he now leans sadly over.
”Don’t you worry about it little girl. I’m just glad I could get you back on your feet… If I’m being honest, I’m gonna miss you too. You’ll always have a place here if you need it. Hell, I’ll even get that shed fixed up so you’ll have a proper little casa.”
Aaron’s tone changes slightly to one of seriousness. He stubs out the butt of his smoke before lighting another.
”Just remember… You got a long journey ahead of you. Life is full of ups and downs. You gotta think on your feet and be able to get back up when you’re knocked down. A long journey…”
Aaron’s thought is trailed off as he uses his free hand to quickly wipe his eyes. It doesn’t do much though.
”Mistah’ Awon… Wut am’ “Jow-Nee?”
Aaron pauses for a moment before answering.
”It’s the path that lay before you on your way to your goals. We get so caught up thinking about what we’re going to do 10 years from now that we completely forget to enjoy what’s right in front of us. A journey is the feeling of what you find ON THE WAY to your dreams.”
Cherry sits in silence as Aaron’s answer plays back in her head. It was so much to internalize. So much to think about. It only helped spur her excitement to get back out into the world.
Aaron quickly bends down to fluffy-level and looks at Cherry, tears freely flowing now. His voice is comforting, but stern.
”So you better come back to visit me someday, comprende?”
Cherry returns Aaron’s gaze, tears now matching his. She quickly climbs back to her hooves, rearing up on her back legs and embracing his face with the biggest hug she can muster.
She retreats from the embrace and licks the tip of Aaron’s nose with a giggle.
”Chewy’ pwomis tu’ visi’ bestes-fwen’ Mistah’ Awon. Chewy wuv Mistah’ Awon! Nu’ saddie-wawas! Wife’ goes on.”
Aaron simply grins, snuffing out his final cigarette and rising to his feet.
He slowly turns and retreats to the front door of his home, only stopping for a moment as his foot crosses the threshold.
”Suerte, my tiny friend. Go give life something to remember.”
Cherry tearfully waves goodbye to Aaron as the front door closes, the lock latching tightly shut behind it.
She only sits and mopes for a few minutes before rising to her hoofies. The sun was out, the air was warm, her belly was full, and the world now lay before her.
The rain continues to fall outside the small fluffy den. Cherry gently places her foal on her back, a tiny peep of affirmation escaping it’s tiny maw as he hugs tightly to her back fluff. She slowly approaches the entrance of her den, climbing up the entry tunnel and out into the rainy-day above her.
Her foal holds tightly to her back, seemingly unfazed by the minor assault of tiny water-drops now streaking the world around them.
Cherry steps out into the clearing in front of the tree that hid her den, carefully plucking her foal from her back before plopping down on her haunches. The rain drops now freely fall around them. Most of them stopped by the trees, but plenty were still breaking through.
Cherry now happily goes about finishing her task of cleaning her and her foal. She gives him a tight hug before holding him out in front of her to allow the rain to dampen his wiggling form before continuing her licky-cleanies.
”Mummah’ meet hew’ bestes’ fwen, Mistah’ Awon, wots of bwite-timies ago. Su’ many fowevahs, dat’ Mummah nu’ eban hab’ tummeh-bebbehs! Bestes-fwen Mistah’ Awon teachies Mummah a speshew wowdie. Wowdie mean’ mow’ den anyting tu’ Mummah. Wowdie, am’ “Jownie”. Mummah gib’ babbeh wowdie’ fow namsies nao. Babbeh am Jownie!”
Journey wiggles in his mothers grasp. Though he was still a new-born, he seemed to comprehend what his mother was telling him.
Journey. That was his name. A beautiful name. A name that he loved, and would cherish forever.
Ch…Chirp! Chh…irp! Chh…Jhh… J…J…
Cherry’s eyes widen as she watches Journey’s tiny mouthie slowly struggle to form the shape of a different sound than before. It wasn’t a chirp. It almost sounded like…
Ch…J…Jh…J-J…Chirp!
Journey simply chirps in triumph, dropping a few tiny poopies in a pile beneath where Cherry was now holding him out. He beamed, seemingly happy with his attempt at speaking.
Cherry simply giggles about Journey’s silly chirps before quickly making good poopies and peepees, then retreating back into the safety of her Den.
She quickly finds a clean, dry plot of dirt before placing Journey on her milkie place to feed for the night.
As Journey happily feeds, Cherry gets to work licking her fluff clean. As she cleans herself, she softly sings down toward her little foal.
”Miwkies gud, an’ Mummah wuv-”
“Wittew-Jouwnie fwom’ ahbuv…”
“Jouwnie dwinkies miwkie’ nao…”
“Mummah singie songies’bout…”
“Bestes-pwace fow’ wuv en’ pway…”
“Dat’ Mummah gib tu’ hew’ babbeh…”