It’s been a long time. Sorry about that. Been very busy and struggling with ideas. I’ve also got a lot of drawing projects at the moment. (Including my first legit commission!) As such, I don’t know when the next chapter will be unfortunately. But anyway I hope you enjoy this. Things are finally starting to heat up more and you can expect more action in the future.
Nico watched his two fluffies, Russet and Nightshade, playing together. Russet, the all around brown colt, had quickly noticed the inefficiency of Nightshade’s lazy eye, the dusty purple-grey and brown maned pegasus filly moved her head this way and that, compensating for the sizeable blind spot in her sight. Russet used her semi-blindness to his advantage as he teased her by staying within the gap of her vision. He was quicker on his feet too, better at moving than she, who still wobbled a bit and moved exaggeratedly with stiff limbs. It was abundantly clear at this point, a little more than 2 weeks after they’d fallen into Nico’s life, that Nightshade was stunted in growth. Thanks to Nico’s intervention though, she was growing. She was shorter statured than her two brothers and much slower in the head. Russet, ever the clever little colt, knew this too, and danced around her periphery while she looked this way and that. The third foal, Café, a deep brown - nearly black alicorn with a red-brown mane, laid in the fluffy bed and watched the two play with half closed eyes and a soft smile.
“Whewe bwuddah gu? Daddeh! Wussit gu way!” She said, running over to him in wobbly faux haste as she left a small brown spot on the floor.
Both Russet and Café looked alarmed, panicked even, at the accident. Nico was not too concerned, already resigned to clean it himself and give a small lecture. They were still young. He grabbed Nightshade with one hand over the torso and physically turned her around to face her brother who he saw now was just finishing cleaning up her mess.
“Don’t worry, girl. Your brother is right th-” Nico gagged inwardly. “Russet… you’re not supposed to do that anymore, remember?”
“Sowwy daddeh. Jus’ wan be good fwuffy fo’ sketties.” Russet replied.
“You are a good fluffy, buddy. But that’s… icky. Poop isn’t for eating, buddy.”
“Am sowwy daddeh. Sowwy am bad fwuffy.” Russet said, ears folded over and eyes downcast.
Nico sighed and rubbed his face in frustration. This was a pointless discussion. He still wasn’t sure about the details of their upbringing, but he knew he didn’t want to ask them about it and potentially bring up whatever triggering events they went through. Hopefully, in a caring home, they’d simply outgrow it. However, he knew from experience that if they have any modicum of long-term memory, this was a vainly hopeful expectation. He knew they were raised in… unsanitary conditions to say the least and they were efficiently conditioned to believe themselves inherently lesser than others of their kind. He didn’t have to guess too hard about their previous role in their group as Russet especially was prone to “cleaning up” any accidents he or the others had out of instinct. They were certainly abused, evidenced by Cafés involuntary flinch and shaking as he covered his face when Nico’s imposing figure approached Russet, only to bend down and give him some reassuring pets. He calmed Café down with some gentle words, opting to reassure him from a distance.
Nightshade’s face spelled complete incomprehension as she watched the scene of her traumatized siblings and beloved daddy. When they were sufficiently calmed, Nico approached Nightshade to give her a lecture about her accident. Her lazy eye wobbled slightly as she nodded and smiled enthusiastically at the attention. Doing little to understand, she began to make her way back to her brother to continue playing. Nico put a hand out to stop her, then scooped her up in one hand eliciting a giggle. He then carried her to his room where the litterbox laid in a corner and set her down in it.
“Whu-?”
“Go potty in the litterbox, okay Nightshade?”
“Pot…tee…” she said slowly.
sigh “Go poopies here before you go play again, okay?”
“Nighshay nu nee gu poopies.”
“You do. You just did on the floor. …Bad poopies.”
A few seconds passed before the last words bounced enough in Nightshade’s vacant head to resonate. The corners of her mouth dove, spelling upset and shame.
“Am sowwy daddeh…”
“It’s okay girl. You’re little. You’re still learning. Just… stay in here until you go poopies again and then you can play, okay?”
“Yus!” She replied. And Nico believed her.
He made his way back to the living room where he found Russet and Café together, looking worried.
“Am… am daddeh angwy?” asked Café.
Nico smiled at him, causing him to visibly relax - if only slightly.
“I’m not angry, buddy. You guys are still little and accidents-”
“Am nu wittwe! Am big fwuffies! Wif big fwuffy teefies fo sketties!”
This was somewhat true. Their teeth had completely grown in at this point and while they had been weaning off the milk with softened, stale, bulk kibble, Nico had decided to celebrate their first step in their defying the cosmic odds to survive to adulthood by relenting to their seemingly instinctive cravings for this “sketti.” With what little disposable income he had as a full time student and part time worker, he splurged a little to provide them with their ambrosia they yearned so for, which he had eventually come to realize is spaghetti, for some reason. Tonight was the night this small band of paupers ate like kings.
Nico sat cross legged a few feet away from Café, petting Russet who looked up at him, now fully relaxed but with a troubled frown.
“Am… fwuffies stiww gettin sketties?” Russet asked.
“You sure are, bud. I’ll make it in a minute.” He replied while tickling the little earthy colt, causing him to giggle and paw at his hand.
“Don’t you want some scratchies too, little guy? Why don’t you come over here?” He asked Café who was simply watching and smiling.
“Am otay. Jus wan way down.” The alicorn replied.
Nico left Russet to start cooking the jar of moderately priced spaghetti sauce as well as the noodles on the stove, setting the fire before he went back to bonding with the fluffies. He understood that Café was the oldest, or at least the most developed, and had the strongest memories of their traumatic past. As such, he patiently kept a respectable distance from the alicorn who only ever seemed to want to relax by himself. He was sure the little guy would warm up to him further in his own time.
In the other room, Nightshade was just leaving the litterbox when her hoof snagged on the edge of it. She tumbled out, landing straight on her nose causing her to squeak in pain. She tumbled forward, legs over head and landed on her back where she wobbled this way and that, trying and failing to right herself on her stiff and awkward legs. Panic welled up in her chest. She would be stuck like this forever! Or die like this!
“DADDEEEEH! HEWP!!!”
Nico jumped - literally and figuratively. He jumped to his feet after almost jumping out of his skin and ran the short distance to his room. Once there, he couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of Nightshade, awkward stiff legs wiggling in the air.
“DADDEEHEHEHHH!”
"Okay I’m coming. It’s alright, girl."
He took the filly and put her back on her hooves.
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP-
The shrill, deafening sound of an enthusiastically loud smoke alarm pierced straight through Nico’s skull, causing him to jump once again and run to the kitchen where he saw smoke billowing from the spaghetti sauce. The pot of noodles shook with the fury of the rolling boil of its contents. Nico ran over to turn off the fire and open a window before rushing to clear the alarm. He had to stand on a chair and hold the pinpoint sized button down for a solid minute before he was content it would be silenced. After that was done he came to inspect the damage. The edges of the sauce in the pot were blackened with an acrid smell he could only describe as carcinogenic. He fished out a noodle and it practically disintegrated.
He sighed and went to the living room, head still hurting, to give the fluffies the bad news. He saw Café shaking while covering his eyes and ears the best he could with his forelegs. Russet was clearly shaken up by the commotion as well as he watched his daddy with a worried expression. Nightshade was just waddling into the room where she settled herself between her brothers.
“I’m sorry, guys. We can’t have spaghettis anymore tonight. It’s… not good anymore.” Nico said, trying his best to convey it simply to them.
Silence.
“Buh… buh… NU!” Russet cried and stomped his hoof, puffing out his cheeks and glaring defiantly at Nico.
“WAI NU SKETTIES? FWUFFIES GUD! FWUFFIES DESEWB SKETTIES!”
Nico wasn’t expecting this indignant a reaction and was briefly shocked to silence…
“I’m sorry buddy, but the spaghetti is ruined. It’s burnt. Gone. There is no spaghetti now.”
“Dummeh daddeh! Nao nu sketties! Wussit onwy eat poopy poopies an poopy kibbwe! Jus wanned sketti! Dummeh poopy sissy distwact daddeh!”
Nightshade couldn’t see her brother’s hoof coming. The hoof made contact with the squishy surface of her exposed eyeball causing her to screech out in pain and alarm and fall backwards. All of a sudden, Russet was on top of her hitting her with the flat of his hoof again and again. Nico was too surprised to do anything for a few seconds, allowing Russet to pound her body as she tried to cover her face, especially her closed eye. Nico finally came to his senses and scooped Russet up and carried him to the bathroom. He left Russet in the tub, screaming indignant rage. He made sure to check quickly on Nightshade first. She cried pathetically in a heap on the floor while Café predictably covered his face, shaking uncontrollably. Nico tried briefly to calm them both to no avail. He couldn’t see any major injuries on Nightshade, just some bruises beginning to form underneath her fluff.
With no other excuses to delay him, Nico went and got what he hoped never to have to use. He opened up the drawer of the nightstand in his room and retrieved the strange small riding crop he had gotten from the pet store what seemed ages ago, and returned to the bathroom with Russet.
Russet was still in the bathtub, grumbling to himself. He was just starting another verbal tirade as Nico entered the room when his eyes were drawn to what was in Nico’s hand. While he’d never seen one before, his seemingly pre-programmed mind paled and took control of the rest of his body, causing him to freeze in place. His blood ran cold and his stomach seemed to be miles away as Nico approached the colt.
”Nu! NU! Am sowwy daddeh! Am sooowwwyyy!”
For a split second, Nico froze. The terror in Russet’s eyes was so palpable that it reflected in Nico’s gaze as he prepared to strike. He shook his head and grabbed Russet with one hand, aiming the sorry stick down towards the side of Russet’s torso.
”SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEE!! NU! N-SCREEEEEEEE!!!”
Russet was already screaming in the middle of Nico’s backswing. The scream seemed to reverberate across all corners of the room, filling the entire space. It soaked into Nico’s mind like a cloth soaking up liquid and plunged him into a different time and place. A memory he’d long since hoped he’d forgotten.
The coarse fibers of the rope dug into the thin flesh of his wrists where the bedpost held him captive. He laid sideways on the cold floor and tried in vain to shield himself with his shoulder as the cracking leather belt came down again and again. Every strike was a bludgeoning thunderclap leaving a brief prickling numbness before the explosion of pain penetrated deep into his muscles. He cried out in vain, trying to reach any sense of pity from his attacker.
”AAAAAA—SCCREEEEEE!!!”
SMACK!
The plastic sorry stick made a single loud, shrill crack as it made contact with the ceramic bathtub, inches from the colt. As quickly as it had started, it was over.
”Huuuuhuuuu… huuuu”
Russet cried pathetically in the tub. His little chest rose and fell with deep breaths interrupted by intermittent gasps of choking sobs. Nico’s head was spinning. He felt sick to his stomach. He got up to his feet in a daze and left the bathroom, simply leaving the stick in the tub. His head hurt. All of a sudden, his eyes stung. He walked out the door, past Nightshade who was being tended to by Café who had since overcome his debilitating shock and was lovingly licking his sister’s fur as she cried softly. Nico saw none of this as he made his way past them and to the bedroom where he promptly shut the door, turned off the light, and quickly fell asleep, fully clothed, on his bed. The fluffies would sleep outside that night, all wondering what had just happened.
You know the drill. Thank you so much for reading, let me know honestly what you think, and I’ll see you next time.
