Josef had just gotten comfortable, his body had found the perfect spot in the couch to sink into, his beer was still fizzing and icy cold in his glass, his grilled cheese was still steaming hot and his TV had the words ‘A New Hope’ emblazed in yellow across a black screen.
And then the doorbell went.
Josef clenched. He was tempted to ignore it, but he knew whoever was at his door would be able to see his TV through the window. Figuring it was likely just a salesman or some bullshit, Josef reluctantly got up and went for the door, he gripped the handle ready for a fight…
Only to open it and see a little girl standing on the other side, a little girl with a frown on her face and a Fluffy in her arms. More importantly, a little girl that Josef knew.
“Sorry to bother you Mister Joseph.” The girl, Katie, basically whispered, her voice choked with tears. “But I really need your help.”
“Katie? What are you doing here, do your parents know?”
Katie sniffed back tears. “Mummy does, she says you’re the only one who can help me, please Mister Joseph, it’s my Fluffy Archie.”
As if to try and persuade him Katie held up the Fluffy in her arms. Josef gave it a once over, it was a stallion, a Pegasus, purple Fluff with a yellow mane. In terms of ownership, this stallion would’ve been classed as ‘girly’ colours and dealt with accordingly, but Josef knew Katie’s father and he suspected that he hadn’t picked Archie up at the local Fluff-mart.
Katie’s father was Pete Langford, a man who found a niche market for Fluffy Fighting pits and spent his days training up ferals to beat each other to death. It was a fringe activity, not because Fluffy Fighting was illegal but because of the underground gambling element it produced, Pete made a fair amount of money but he had to be careful how he spent it.
But Josef looked over Archie once more, and he could tell this was no fighting Fluffy, he was too weak, too flimsy, and most obviously, too depressed to be one of Pete’s rejects. Even cuddled up in Katie’s arms Archie looked absolutely crestfallen.
“What’s wrong with him?” Josef asked after a moment, trying to remain as neutral as possible.”
“I’m not sure Mister Joseph. Daddy brought Archie home last week and said that he was a present because he knew how much I love purple. I loved him and tried to show him around his new home but Archie kept talking about his ‘special-friend’, I thought he just missed his friends from outside but then he started crying about ‘babbehs’ and ‘wumps’ and how much he missed them. I’m don’t know what those are Mister Joseph, but I was hoping you could tell me so I could get them for Archie and help him feel better.
“Huu, Awchee miss speciaw-fwiend, wan see babbehs gain, wan wumps bak. Wai wittew mummah nu take Awchee bak to famiwy.”
Josef instantly knew what had happened, Pete was a brilliant trainer and a pretty decent father, but he could be utterly clueless at times. Pete had clearly found this random feral, a perfect colour for his daughter, plus a stallion so a quick snip and no worries about random foals, and then completely ignored Archie’s protests about getting back to the family he already had, the family that needed him.
Josef grimaced, he could smell the melted, gooey, Branston Pickle slathered deliciousness of his grilled cheese wafting from the other room, cold beers and a Galaxy far, far away calling him back to his lazy day. But Katie was young, too young to deal with an idiot father and a depressed Fluffy, Josef knew he had to help her, even if it meant helping a Fluffy.
“Katie. Archie isn’t missing a friend, he’s missing his family, special-friend is what Fluffies call their mate, their partners and babbehs is Fluff-speak for babies, Archie’s mate likely has foals or is close to giving birth. Even more than that, his ‘wumps’ are his testicles, I think your father neutered him which means those babies Pete took him from are the only foals he’s ever going to have.”
Katie burst into tears, holding Archie against her chest. “Did daddy do a bad thing, is daddy mean?”
Josef bit his tongue, knowing the answer to both those question was ‘Yes, absolutely he is.’
“No, I think Pete made a mistake, he didn’t realise Archie had a family, or maybe he thought Archie would be ok with you instead. Whatever the reason, we might be able to do something about it.”
Josef grabbed some tissues from a nearby cabinet and handed them to Katie to wipe her face, through the snot and tears he saw a smile growing on her face.
“Really? You think you could find Archie’s family?”
“Nice mistah find Awchee famiwy, see speciaw-fwiend an babbehs gain.”
“Maybe, I can’t promise anything. But Katie, I want to make it clear that if I can find Archie’s family then you can’t keep all of them. I know your father, he won’t allow a whole family of Fluffies living with you, that’s why he neutered Archie in the first place. You’ll have to give him up, do you understand?”
“But… I love Archie.”
“I know, but Archie loves his family even more, if I can’t find them then the two of you will have each other, and he’ll be sad but he can learn to heal with you. But if I do find them, and you keep him away from them, do you think Archie will ever love you again?”
Katie burst into tears again, her young mind too frazzled by all this information. But as she looked down at the sobbing stallion in her arms, she knew she wouldn’t make the same mistake as her father.
“I understand, Archie can go back to his family if you can find them.”
Josef smiled and wiped a tear from Katie’s face. “You’re very brave, I know this is a lot to take in but you’re doing so well with this. Ok, now Archie, what can you tell me about where you and your family used to live?”
“Um… Awchee wememba wots of hoomins, sum of dem sitties on ‘benchies’, an dem am big fing cawwed a ‘Cwock’ dat make big wingie noise when da big pointy am up.”
“The clock tower in the park, I know where he is. You sure you’re ready for this?”
Katie nodded but Josef noted that her eyes were as shut tight as her mouth when she did.
“Ok then, let’s go.”
It wasn’t a long drive to the park, Josef had been through a few times on an evening walk or two, but he wanted the car so that Katie would have a place to stay still and keep out of the way.
Parking up, Josef, Katie and Archie made their way into the park and began looking around, it was a little later in the afternoon so the lunch rush was gone but there was still a few Fluffies around the place.
“Archie, what colour is your special-friend?”
“Speciaw-fwiend an pwetty bwite gween, she hab wingies an pointy and am bestesh, mosh speciaw Fwuffy eba.”
A green Alicorn, rare enough that she should be an easy spot, but green on a place literally made of grass made things a little more difficult.
Suddenly Katie pointed to a tree on the far left corner. “There, look.”
Sure enough, Josef could see a bright green Alicorn mare huddled in the tall grass behind the tree, a good hiding spot unless you were looking for her. He could also make out three or four coloured blobs nestled between her legs and a depressed look on her face.
If he still wasn’t sure this was the right mare, Archie’s gasp confirmed it.
“Dat am speciaw-fwiend, Awchee neba fink he see hew gain, hab biggesh heawt-happies.”
Katie took a first step, ready to start sprinting towards Archie’s family, until Josef grabbed her shoulder and stopped her.
“Katie, I don’t think you should go over there.”
“What? Why not?”
“Because Archie and his mate are going to ask you to take them home with you, and you’re going to say yes because you’re kind and caring. Then your dad is going to throw them out because he can’t look after a whole family and it’s going to hurt all of you. Archie’s a feral, he’ll be ok on his own, but you have to say goodbye to him here, and I’ll take him over to his family.”
Katie was heartbroken, but she knew Josef was right, she wouldn’t be able to say no to Archie or his family, she’d want to take them all and keep them safe forever. Katie looked down at Archie and hugged him tightly.
“I’m sorry this happened to you Archie, I just wanted to love you and make you happy. I’m sorry my dad took you away from your family.”
“It ok wittew mummah, Awchee fink neba see famiwy gain, nyo git tu be daddeh coz of wittew mummah and nice mistah. Awchee neba fowgit yu.”
The Fluffy and owner held each other for a moment, before Katie reluctantly let go and handed Archie over to Josef.
“Thank you, I promise this is the best choice. You can wait in the car, I’ll be back shortly.”
Katie nodded and trudged back to the car, her body language indicating how badly she wanted things to be different. A harsh lesson for a girl so young, and from Fluffies of all things, but one she needed to learn. Once she was in the car, Josef took Archie over to his mate.
The green mare froze when she saw Josef approaching, she thought she had been so careful in her hiding spot, she thought a meanie human would never find her after one took her special-friend away. Then she saw the purple figure in his arms, the figure that she recognised.
“SPECIAW-FWIEND! BABBEHS WOOK, DADDEH AM BAK!”
The four still chirping foals giggled and blindly waved their hooves, their recognition of ‘daddeh’ and the joy in their mother’s voice told them she was happy and that made them happy. The mare placed them gently onto her back and waddled out to meet Josef and Archie.
Archie waved at his family. “Speciaw-fwiend, Awchee fink wose yu foweba, hab biggesh heawt-happies tu see yu gain.”
“Speciaw-fwiend hab namesie?”
Archie nodded. “Wittew mummah gib it tu Awchee, hew big daddeh take Awchee way, take Awchee’s wump, nu can hab babbehs nu mowe. Neba fink be daddeh eba. Bu nice mistah hewp Awchee find famiwy, nyo can be togetha gain.”
There was a momentary pause as the elated reunion was marred by a slight awkwardness.
“Um, nice mistah, can yu wet Awchee gu pwease.”
“No.”
Archie and his mate froze up, this had all been going so well, what was happening?
“Nice mistah pwease, Awchee wan gu tu famiwy nyo.”
“You can go to your family, but I want something in return.”
The mare looked around her surroundings, nothing but grass and dirt to her name. “Fwuffies nu hab aneefing tu gib nice mistah.”
“Yes you do. I want one of your foals.”
“NU! Nu, mummah wose wun babbeh tu tummeh-huwties, nu wan wose nudda wun.”
Hearing that he had already lost one child that he never got the chance to meet sent Archie over the edge and he burst into tears again.
“Huuu, pwease nice mistah, Awchee wub famiwy, nu wan wose mowe babbehs.”
“You’ll still have your family, I just want one foal as payment for helping you.”
The mare looked at the foals sleeping on her back. “Wiww… wiww nice mistah wook afta babbeh?”
“No, if anything I’ll hurt them and I’ll enjoy it.”
Archie struggled in Josef’s arms. “Yu nu am nice mistah, yu am meanie mistah.”
“You start acting up and I’ll show you how fucking mean I can get, starting with using your cunt mate to crush each and every one of your foals to death. I just want one for myself, then you’re free to go. That’s fair, right.”
Archie and his mate looked at each other, both of them knowing the only way they could be together. The mare sighed and looked up at Josef.
“Wich babbeh du mistah wan?”
“Do you have a bestesh babbeh?”
“Nu, aww babbehs am gud babbehs.”
“Of course, but which one is your prettiest babbeh?”
The mare turned and picked up one of her fillies, a soft yellow Alicorn with a green mane. “Wingie-pointy babbeh wook wike bwite-baww, gib mummah heawt-happies wen see hew.”
“Ok then, I’ll take her.”
Josef opened his hand out and waited, the mare trembled as she slowly and painfully placed her yellow daughter into Josef’s hand. But as soon as he felt Fluff touch his skin, Josef let Archie go and stood up.
“There you are, just as I promised. The two of you remember this day, never forget what you gave up for each other.”
With a final smirk, Josef turned and headed back to his car, a barely audible chirping in his hands from the filly wondering where her mother’s warm Fluff had gone.
When Josef got back to the car he saw that Katie was asleep, likely emotionally exhausted from the day’s events. He was thankful since now he didn’t have to think up a lie about why he had the filly, he would take her home in a moment, there was still the matter of her father to deal with.
Josef pulled out his phone and called Pete, predictably it went to voicemail, Pete often being too busy with his fighting Fluffies to answer calls most days.
“Pete, it’s Josef. Just wanted to let you know I had a lovely chat with Katie today, and she brought little Archie with her too. Listen, you want to give your kids random ferals, that’s your business, but next time actually fucking listen to them, if they’re going on about a wife and kids then kill the wife and kids so the shitrat hasn’t got anything to go back to. Katie’s with me for the moment, I’ll have her home shortly, but you’re the one who has to explain why you took a Fluffy away from his family, have fun with that conversation you dumb fuck.”
Josef hung up and took a deep breath before looking down at the filly in his hands. He didn’t have any plans for her, he just wanted to fuck with Archie and his family some more, remind them that even the nicest mister could be a bastard. Of course Josef also knew that he was likely trying to convince himself that taking the filly was a good counterbalance against the fact that he still did a good thing for a Fluffy.
He still felt a little iffy about it though, maybe a few experiments on his new lab-rat would help him find his abusive groove again.
