Almond woke up to the sound of hungry chirping and the wiggling of her babies.
She yawned and stretched and looked out the window. The sky was only slightly illuminated; it was very early in the morning.
She gently rolled up into a sitting position and carefully lifted the first baby she could to her teats.
“Dewe dewe babbeh. Nu hab tummeh owwies anymoaw. Hab miwkies.” She said quietly, being sure not to wake Arion.
Her little brown filly and lavender colt were the first to have milk; and they cooed and suckled quickly as they drank their fill, gently kneading their hooves against Almond’s teats.
The other foals were peeping a bit, but Almond had quieted some of their complaints with a nice tight hug and some gentle licking to their heads.
Once full, the two foals unlatched from her teats, and gave a healthy sounding burp. Almond giggled and gently picked them up, putting the blue filly and yellow filly on next, gently putting the just-fed foals in a little well of the blanket where they curled around each other and fell asleep again.
The brown colt that had yet to feed chirped in annoyance, wiggling as he sniffed trying to find where the delicious smell of milk was coming from.
“Sowwy babbeh, onwy hab two miwkie pwaces. Am gon’ gib yu miwkies wastest, buh Awmon’ stiww hab wots! Nex’ miwkie-time yu get miwkies fiwst.”
She smiled down at him, hugging him gently. He wiggled and curled into her chest fluff, nuzzling into the warmth and the soothing sounds of his mother’s heartbeat.
Almond was still riding the high of being a new mother. Whenever she looked at her foals her heart filled with the biggest happies she’d ever had. They were all so cute! The way they lifted their too-big heads to sniff around, the way they kneaded at her milkie-places when they drank, and the way they wiggled their way along trying to move.
She loved each of them with all her heart, and even though she was still sad about the death of Orchid, she was so happy to have five good babies that were all healthy. She’d been worried that Orchid’s sickies would get the other babies sick, but that hadn’t happened, and she was very glad.
One dead baby was already more than her heart could handle.
Deep down, she was a little disappointed, however. None of her babies were wingie-pointy babies like Arion, which she had been hoping for. She knew that it didn’t matter to Arion or daddy, but it would have been so nice for Arion to have a baby that looked like him.
Still, maybe it was for the best. She didn’t want one baby thinking it was better than the others, since that was mean, so perhaps it was a blessing in disguise. In any case, Arion didn’t care at all; he was sleeping soundly now, curled up next to her, and she knew he would be just as attentive of their children as she was.
Once the blue and yellow foals were round and full, she happily placed her last foal on her teat. He latched immediately and started to drink greedily. She observed him happily for bit before gently placing the foals that had just finished drinking into the fluff-pile with their siblings. They fell asleep almost immediately, the little yellow one stretching adorably and yawning before falling asleep as well.
Now it was just Almond and her brown colt. He was the most like her; all brown, an earthie, the only difference was he was male. She couldn’t help but feel a strange sort of connection to him, looking like her and all.
“Yu am wucky babbeh.” Almond said to him, softly. “Awmon’ nu hab bwudduh o’ sisseh wen gwow up. Was mummah wastest babbeh. Yu hab wots o’ otha babbehs tu pway wif an’ hab huggies wif. Awmon’ am su happies dat babbehs hab each otha; nu wan babbehs tu be awone. Awion was aww awone fo’ wong time. Dat nu how babbehs shud be; babbehs nee’ fwiends.”
The baby suckled and cooed as it did so. Almond was still getting used to the sensation of a baby feeding, but this one was especially gentle. He kneaded very softly and almost gave her teat a hug as he drank.
She giggled as he finished and let out a very large burb for such a small baby.
“Gud babbeh. Nao, time fo’ sweepies.” She said, lifting him into the fluff pile with his siblings and curling around the lot. She laid down, the warmth of her babies resting against her stomach and teats was so comforting and relaxing. Arion’s back was against hers, adding to the comfortable warmth and the feeling of love.
She closed her eyes, ready to fall asleep, when the rancid smell of bad poopies hit her nose.
“Oh nu!” She said, wiggling out of the pile. “Babbeh make bad poopies?” She sniffed at the pile, trying to find the culprit.
“Awmon’?” Arion said, groggy. “Wat am wong?”
“Sowwy speshuw-fwiend… babbeh make bad poopies. Nee’ tu gib wicky-cweanies.” She said, gently lifting the little lavender colt from the pile. His backside was smeared with milky-poopies, and he’d gotten it on the back of his siblings as well.
He was peeing in both discomfort from the shit stuck to his rear as well as the annoyance at being awoken. Arion stretched and lifted the other foals up, who were all now also peeping in confusion.
“Nu wowwy babbehs. Daddeh am hewe.”
Almond began to lick the foal clean, smiling as he squealed in delight. The poopies tasted awful but she didn’t care; her children needed to be warm and clean.
Arion, in the meantime was licking the poopies off the foals who’d gotten dirty, as well as licking the other foals as well, just so they didn’t feel left out. Each one cooed and relaxed as they felt the warm tongue roll over their soft fluff.
Once everyone was clean again, Almond gently placed them back into the little well of blankets. Fortunately, all the errant poopies seem to have gotten on the other foals, not the blanket, so everything was still clean.
Arion repositioned himself so he was curled around Almond, nestling his snout into her shoulder. She wiggled her back into him, so she was burrowed into Arion’s chest and wrapped protectively around her foals.
They were a cute, happy little fluffy family. The room was warm, they were warm, and soon they fell asleep.
In the corner, Licorice watched from afar, silent as always. She felt a very small pang of jealousy in her heart. Not just for the amazing cuddling that the foals were clearly getting, but Almond was a mummah! Licorice had never thought of being a mummah, not at all, but when she saw Almond pregnant with foals and then when the foals came, she had never wanted something so badly.
Almond’s foals were all so beautiful. They were young, now, but she could already see what they’d grow up to be. There were the two pretty brown ones. The little filly with her wingies was already looking like Almond; her whole tiny little body was covered in the most adorable mouths. Already their fangs were coming in, burrowing their way through the skin and wringing around her head like a crown.
The little brown colt didn’t have much definition yet, being so young. His whole body was covered in flames. She hoped when his eyes opened that they would be the same empty chasms, like Arion’s – so pretty!
Then there was the unicorn! Only one, but that was quite alright seeing how his twisted and gnarled horn was already dominating his tiny head. Soon it would sprout like a great tree, breaking his skull and freeing the tiny hands that were already clawing from the small cracks.
The little yellow foal had inherited all of Arion’s wings, and while there were twenty or so tiny wingies, they would undoubtably grow into the majestic wreath that her father carried.
And then there was the little lavender foal; her favorite of the bunch. He didn’t stop singing, a light and airy note that hung in the air like a ghost. His mouth, running from his shoulder to his thigh, was a wide and gaping maw into darkness, and it had a lovely voice. She just wanted to kiss him all up!
She longed for foals like those. Not exactly like Almonds, of course, her own special babies! She had no idea, though, how to ask daddy for foals. Or a special friend. Would she get to choose? How could she, since she couldn’t speak?
Pouting, she slumped a bit into the nestie with Violet. The foal was sleeping quite peacefully, her chest rising and falling in time. Sometimes, when everyone else was asleep, she would cry. Licorice would always wake up for this, but pretended to stay asleep.
She would cry for hours, begging her legs to work and let her be a “good fluffy” instead of a “dummy two-leggie fluffy.” Licorice felt for her; it had been horribly unfair what had happened. She was very happy that daddy and Arion had killed Brick.
Now, however, everyone was quiet and asleep. Everyone except for daddy and Licorice. She knew daddy was in The Basement doing terrible things. Normally, Arion would join him, but it seemed like he wanted to spend more time with Almond and their foals instead.
She only barely remembered The Basement; she had still been a no-see chirpy baby, so she only vaguely remembered her mother. A rough collection of smells and noises; she slightly remembered her mother’s voice. Licorice did know, however, that she had come from the basement. And she knew what happened to fluffies in The Basement.
Truth be told, she wasn’t sad about it. Chestnut had been a wonderful mother. Almond had been a wonderful sister. She wanted more though; daddy had been very busy with Arion and Almond, and now that there were new babies, he would have even less time for her and Violet. It wasn’t his fault, she understood, but it still gave her heart saddies.
She wanted her own family. It would be nice to have her own babies, as well as to have an owner that doted over her like daddy doted over Arion and Almond.
The only question was how to tell daddy?
Bubblegum’s heart was beating quite fast. The initial rage had worn off, and now she was staring at the dead baby inside the jar. He hung there, limp, with his eyes open and his mouth agape as he gently bobbed at the top of the jar.
She was… excited? She didn’t know. She felt good that the baby was dead. He was a bad baby, a stupid, dummy not-special baby. Her tummy babies hadn’t moved yet, but she felt them there. Her babies were special and good. They would be the bestest babies ever!
The other foals were crying openly now. They watched with horror as their brother floated at the top of his watery coffin, his limp body slowly turning.
“Bwuddah! Wai nu move!? Pwease move bwuddah!” The teal foal said, sobbing as he hugged his sister.
The blue unicorn filly was just crying, hiccupping as she swallowed air in between sobs.
Bubblegum’s heart lurched a bit. It was hard to hear the baby crying about its dead sibling. They were a little family, and she had wanted them dead. She took a breath and steeled herself.
Good fluffies are special fluffies. Not-special fluffies no deserve love or huggies, She reminded herself.
“Well then,” Matt said, grinning at the blue filly. “Your turn.”
He reached down to the hugging foals ready to grab his victim when the teal foal lunged; biting Matt’s finger as hard as he could and positioning himself between Matt and his sister.
The bite didn’t hurt; the very weak and small teeth weren’t sharp, and his jaw wasn’t strong enough to puncture or pinch Matt’s skin.
What had stopped Matt was the sheer spirited protection. The foal knew that he couldn’t stop Matt, but he did whatever he could. It was admiral.
“That doesn’t hurt.” Matt said flatly, looking down at the foal.
He was trembling as he met Matt’s eyes.
“P-pwease nu huwt sisseh…” He begged. “Huwt babbeh! Buh nu huwt sisseh!”
“Hm, so you want me to hurt you instead?” Matt asked.
“N-nu wan huwties… bu-buh nu wan sisseh tu hab huwties! Nu gib sisseh huwties!”
“Okay, I won’t give your sister any hurties.” Matt said. “But in exchange, I get to give you the worst hurties ever.”
Some of the air fell out of the teal foal’s sails. Matt wanted to see if he could push the foal to give up his sister. Even if he didn’t, he’d get to keep his promises.
“W-wowstest huwties…?”
“That’s right.” Matt grinned. “First, I’m going to take your wingies. Then, I’m going to rip your hoofsies off.”
“N-nuu…” The foal looked down at his front hooves, horror on his small face.
“Oh yes. Then, I’m going to tear out your tongue so you can’t speak. Then, I’ll take your leggies. Then I’ll rip all your fluff off.”
The foal was shaking now, a fresh puddle of piss at his rear as he’d wet himself in terror. He was looking up at Matt with fear.
“Or,” Matt said, grinning. “You let me kill your sister, and you don’t get any hurties.”
“N…nu huwties?” The foal looked over at his sister.
She was a little under-developed compared to his siblings; she was crying softly now and sucking her hooves, laying on her side and curled around herself.
“Nu!” The foal said, looking up at Matt. “T-take wingies, an’ hoofsies, an’ tunge, an’ weggies, a-an’ aww pwetty fwuff! Jus’ nu huwt sisseh!”
“Hmm… Okay!” Matt said, quickly snatching the foal up.
He squealed as he was roughly yanked up. Matt carried him over to the workstation and tossed the foal roughly onto the countertop. He rolled and flopped, but nothing broke.
“Owwies!”
“Oh, you’re gonna get ‘owwies,’ no worries.” Matt muttered, getting his tools ready.
He grabbed some duct tape, wire cutters, pliers, his soldering iron, some nails, and his scalpel. Once he had everything he needed, he snatched the foal up again, earning another scream, and carried the lot over to Bubblegum’s pen.
“Now, Bubblegum, what do good fluffies do when daddy punishes a not-special baby?”
“Gud fwuffies wach daddeh gib stoopi babbeh wowstest huwties.” She said, smiling.
Matt grinned. It was clear she was taunting the foal, but he was pretty sure she wouldn’t be able to just watch as he really tortured a foal. It was one thing to drown a foal; horrible looking but not very visibly disturbing.
He was going to burn this in her mind forever.
“Now, as for you…” Matt said, grabbing the blue unicorn foal.
“Y-yu pwomise nu huwt sisseh!” The teal foal said, stomping his hoofs.
“And I’m going to keep my promise, idiot.” Matt said. He dropped the blue filly into one of the mason jars, this one upturned so she couldn’t get away and would have a front seat to the show. “She gets to watch.”
True to his word, Matt was going to start with the wings. However, he wanted both hands free to cause as much pain. He grabbed a spare bit of wood and, holding the foal’s front leg down, quickly nailed his leg to the wood.
“SCRRRREEEEEE!” The foal screamed a high pitch and blood-curdling scream. His sister hid her eyes behind her hooves, trembling and crying as she shat herself in fear.
Matt, however, was barely bothered. He mused that he’d almost become immune to the pained screams of fluffies as he nailed the second front leg to the board.
The hind legs were next. Instead of going for the foreleg, like he did for the front legs, Matt forced the foal’s hind legs to splay, pressing his groin flush to the wood. He put the nail through the foal’s thighs, the thicker meat bleeding a bit more than the legs and keeping the foal’s legs splayed in the uncomfortable position.
“Bwuddah’s weggies hab huwties…” The filly sobbed, peeking over her hooves.
“That’s right!” Matt said, grinning. “And soon he’ll have wingie hurites.”
The wire cutters he’d grabbed had two functions; the normal blades that cut, and a smaller bit of wire strippers that consisted of a small hole in the blade. Matt grabbed the tip of the left wing with his fingers and clamped the wire cutter on the base of it, twisting it around a bit to fully sever the skin and muscles.
The foal’s eyes were rolling in pain as his wing was pinched and sliced. The wire cutter was a bit too small to miss the bone, so the blade was digging into his wing’s humerus was grinding and shredding bone.
Matt pulled slowly, both to cause as much agony as possible and to ensure he didn’t rip the wing off outright. He wanted to strip the wings, leaving the bones as intact as he could.
Unfortunately, he was a bit overzealous with the tugging. He got about halfway up the wing, the skin awkwardly bunching and rolling up like a sock being rolled down, before the wire cutters got stuck on the joint and the wing was fully ripped from the socket.
“Ah fuck…” Matt said, watching the wing go flying as he let go accidentally.
It hit Bubblegum right in the nose, staining her fluff with blood.
“Owwies!” She said, more startled than injured.
Meanwhile, the teal foal was screaming in agony, tears pouring down its little face as the gaping wound where its wing had once been twitched and bled.
Frowning, Matt looked at the wire cutters. It was clear that they would just pull the wing off again, so if he wanted to properly skin it, he’d need to think of something else.
Back to the workbench, then. There were so many tools and goodies that he’d accumulated over his months of fluffy torture. For skinning, he had everything from precise pairing knives to potato peelers. Deliberating for a moment, he shrugged and grabbed a pair of tweezers. Them, plus the scalpel, would work well enough to rip the skin off.
He returned to the foal, who wasn’t screaming anymore, just softly sobbing in pain and staring at his mangled wing at Bubblegum’s side.
“P-pwease wingie… come back tu babbeh… nee’ fwy ‘way fwom munstah…” He whined.
“Oh nu!” Matt said, mockingly adopting the fluffy baby-speak, “Nee wingie tu fwy away?”
“Munstah!” The foal said, wiggling feebly against his impalement. “Wet gu metaw meanies! Pwease!”
“Say goodbye to your ‘wastest wingie’,” Matt said, smiling as he grabbed the scalpel.
The foal flapped his remaining wing as hard as he could, blood spurting from the open wound of the other wing as he ripped open whatever clots had quickly formed.
Matt grabbed the wing tip with the tweezers, pulling the wing straight. The foal yelped as his wing was tugged harshly, and instinctively pulled back, only over-extending his wing more. Matt drew the blade from the shoulder to the tip, splitting the skin along the bone and watching as it slipped open like a sausage casing.
The bones were visible immediately. Using his fingers to hold the tip, Matt grabbed the scalpel and began to slice the muscles and connective tissues away. Soon the skin and muscles hung off the taut limb like a sleeve cut along the seam, drooping.
The foal, meanwhile, was sobbing hysterically. Matt gently bent the wing at its joint, which moved the exposed and sensitive flesh and burned.
“Nu! Nu touch wingie! Pwease!” The foal begged.
Matt grinned, and straightened the wing out again. He pushed ever so slightly against the joint, bending the wing inward. The foal squealed in pain as his wing was bent the wrong way.
Matt grinned and pushed the rest of the way. There was an audible crack as the bones dislocated and snapped.
“SCREE! WINGIE HUWTS!” The foal yelled.
Maybe he’d cram a bunch of fetuses in her while she was asleep. For now, though, he needed to deal with these foals. Though they weren’t having the desired effect on Bubblegum, he was still enjoying himself.
The broken wing was hanging now, the shoulder joint having been broken by his pushing. Using the scalpel, he cut around the shoulder joint, freeing the skin.
It came off with a little effort, like removing a wet sock, and left the bones, muscles, and connective tissues exposed. The cold air in the basement was agony on the fresh wound, and the teal foal sobbed with every twitch.
The foal was no longer screaming, just sobbing, and shaking.
“Su many huwties…” He muttered. “N-nu wan moaw huwties…”
“Oh, but we’re just getting started! Next, I think I’ll take your hoofsies…” Matt said, examining the foal’s hooves.
Destroying a fluffy’s hooves was always great fun. They were so sensitive, especially at this young age, and as fluffies had a strong psychological reaction to any damage to their legs, starting at the hoof was great.
Matt grabbed the scalpel, and prodded at the front right hoof. It was soft and squishy and didn’t have the rough texture that more mature fluffies developed, like the rough paw-pads of a dog.
He squeezed them quite a bit, smiling as the soft beige skin turned red from his pinching and prodding. He jabbed the tip of the scalpel blade into them a few times, not deep enough to actually cause bleeding. Yet.
“Huu! Huwties fo’ hoofies!” The foal whined, wiggling his leg against the nail impaled through it as he tried to get his hoof away from the blade.
“That’s right! Hoofies hurties time!” Matt said.
He slashed the hoof, right down the middle, all the way to the bone. The foal’s hoof may have been young, but it was fully developed, and the long, white structures of the inside of the hoof that gave it structure were visible through the blood.
‘SCREEEEEEE!” The foal wailed anew, throwing his head about wildly as the white-hot pain in his hoof coursed through him. This was worse than his wings being hurt, and his whole right leg was on fire. The worst pain he’d ever felt in his short life.
Bubblegum, however, was watching very uncomfortably. While she didn’t care about the foals before her – or at least she told herself she didn’t care – watching anything happen to a fluffy leg gave her extreme anxiety and made her stumps hurt.
She shuddered as she remembered the loss of her legs. It was awful. Long after the pain had gone away, the realization that she would never walk, or run, or hold her babies made her very sad for a very long time.
Watching the little foal have leggie-hurties now gave her a sharp pang of sympathy. She didn’t want to feel any sympathy for these foals, though. She took a breath and steeled herself.
“Gud fwuffies wa’ch daddeh… gud fwuffies wa’ch daddeh…” She muttered to herself.
“You okay there, Bubblegum?” Matt asked.
He was quite sure of how awful he looked to her. His hands were covered in blood, his smile ever so slightly malicious, and there was a scalpel in his hand.
Bubblegum’s eyes widened in fear. She, for a moment, saw her old daddy, standing over her with his knife and the same malicious smile right before he took her leggies.
She blinked, and the image was gone, but she was shaking in full now, and had made scardy-pee-pees into her litterbox like a little filly.
“Y-yus daddeh. Am otay.” She lied.
“Alright. You let daddy know if you’re upset though, okay?” Matt said, sweetly.
It was too perfect. He’d been an idiot to not realize that she would have a visceral reaction to leg abuse. That, and her intense desire for foals of her own gave him a truly evil idea. Once the little teal idiot was dead, he’d have some work to do.
For now, though, he still had a foal to torture.
Turning back to the foal, Matt got started on the rest of the hoof. He’d decided to remove the outer casing first, and gripped one side between his thumb and pointed finger so he could cut around the wrist of the hoof.
Obviously, Matt’s rough hands digging in against the inside of the hoof and the pressure from the grip was absolute agony. The foal wanted to scream, to cry out, to beg. The pain was too great though, and instead he gargled on the spit that was filling his mouth as he drooled all down his front.
He gagged and vomited a bit as the pain wracked his stomach, the burn of the bile in his through inconsequential compared to the rest of his body.
Matt hadn’t noticed any of that as he dug the knife around where the hoof met skin, peeling it away. The hoof was still attached to the interior tissues, so Matt dug the blade against them to separate the thicker hoof skin from the softer connective tissue.
Darkness flitted at the edge of the foals’ vision, and that Matt did notice. His head was lolling, and his eyes were unfocused. He was going to pass out.
Matt sighed. There probably wasn’t anything for that. The pain he was causing was fun but slow and agonizing. There was no way to keep the foal conscious and keep digging around in his hooves.
Fortunately, in the first-aid kit Matt kept in the basement there were smelling salts.
He quickly went over to the workbench and grabbed the smelling salts and a flat chisel and hammer, both which would have their uses.
First, he went to the foal and crushed the small glass vial that had the salts in them and pushed them roughly into the foal’s snout.
The reaction was immediate; the foal’s eyes opened quickly, and he started to hack and sneeze as the salts irritated his nose. He was alert, awake, and no longer as dazed as he was.
Which meant all the pain was new.
“HOOFSIE HAB WOWSTET HUWTI-”
Matt didn’t even let the foal finish his screaming before he made use of the chisel. Quickly placing it right where the foal’s front leg met the shoulder, he hammered it down, slicing the leg off in one clean go.
The foal gasped as he felt two horrible conflicting things; the agony he’d felt in his hoof was gone. There was no more of the fire of that arching up his leg. In fact, there was nothing he could feel from his leg anymore.
Then, the sudden pain of his leg being cut off hit him. He gasped and choked on air as he looked down in horror to see the bloody gash where his shoulder had been. The chisel hadn’t been as sharp as Matt would have liked, so it did crush some of the bones on the way down, but on the plus side it ripped the shoulder joint apart; the leg coming right out of the socket.
Matt grabbed the leg and tore it off the nail, tossing it towards the jar with the blue filly.
“SCREE! BWUDDAH WEGGIE! NU TAKE BWUDDAH WEGGIES! HUUUUU!” She squealed, sobbing horribly.
With a healthy dollop of healing gel, the wound stopped bleeding fairly quickly. The foal also relaxed a bit as the numbing agents in the gel helped ease the pain.
Matt would have preferred to use the gel without pain relievers, but he didn’t want the foal to pass out again.
Bubblegum was shaking again, staring with laser focus at the discarded leg. Her breathing was labored and ragged, and she was beginning to cry.
This was turning out to be an excellent 2-for-1 deal.
Matt was just about to dig the chisel into the foal’s other front leg when his phone began to ring. Curing the bad timing he ran over the sink to wash the blood and viscera off his hands before picking it up.
“Matt here.”
“Hey, it’s Tiff, I’m right outside.”
“Oh, shit! I’ll be right there!”
He’d completely forgotten that he’d asked Tiffany to come over to check up on Almond’s foals last night. Looking down at the time he realized it was well past 10:00 am.
Had he really been down in the basement for nearly five hours? He hoped the foals wouldn’t die before he came back, because he certainly wasn’t going to feed them.
“Bubblegum, can you watch these bad babies while I’m gone?”
The uninjured filly began to cry harder at the insinuation that she was a bad baby.
“Daddeh weavin’? Nu gon’ gib dat babbeh fowevah-sweepies?” Bubblegum asked with some anxiety in her voice.
“No not yet. Daddy has to take care of some human business. Can you be a good girl and make sure these babies don’t do anything bad while I’m gone?”
“Y-yus daddeh! Be bestest soon-mummah fo’ daddeh! Wa’ch bad babbehs an’ make suwe dey nu am du bad fing.”
“Good girl.” Matt said, smiling. He put some kibble in her bowl so she wouldn’t get hungry and put a soft blanket over her, making sure the foals could watch as he petted her head and showered her with attention.
“P-pwease gib babbeh an’ bwuddah wawm bwankies?” The blue filly asked from her jar. “Hab cowdies…”
“No.” Matt said. “I don’t give anything but hurties to bad babies like you. Do you want hurties?”
“Nu! Nu wan huwties! Am sowwy fo’ ask! Am sowwy fo’ be bad babbeh!”
“That’s better. Now, I’ll be back soon.” Matt said before heading back upstairs.
Tiffany was already at the door, arms crossed, as he let her in.
“Took your sweet time.” She said, smiling. “Now, where are the little buggers?”
Matt led her into the saferoom. Almond, Arion, and their foals were all still fast asleep. Fluffies, like cats, liked to sleep for a long time.
It was saccharine. Arion was the big spoon to Almond’s little spoon, and she in turn was wrapped around their brood. The foal’s chests were rising and falling, and they peeped occasionally in their sleep, dreaming.
“Oh, Matt. They’re so cute.” Tiffany whispered.
“I know.” Matt said, smiling. “Holding them was amazing. They’re just so small and… I love them.”
They both laughed a bit, as quietly as they could.
Almond apparently heard them though, and she sleepily lifted her head up from the fluff-pile.
“Gud bwite-time daddeh,” she said as she yawned. “Hewwo dokta Tiff’nee.” She stretched adorably.
Then there were the hungry peeps of her foals, woken up by her movement.
“Nu wowwies babbehs, mummah hewe, mummah hewe.” She said, sleepy but happy. “Yu had miwkies wast, wast time babbeh, so yu get fiwst miwkies!”
She grabbed the brown colt and lifted him on one of her teats, putting the yellow filly next to him. The other foals were peeping, but Tiffany had an answer for that.
“Almond, is it okay if I take a look at your foals between feedings?”
“Otay! Pwease be cawfuw wif babbehs, am stiww chiwpy babbehs.”
“Of course, girl!” Tiffany said. She sat down on the floor cross legged, and put one of the nest blankets into her lap. “Arion, can you help me with these foals?”
“Awion hewp?” He said, cocking his head. “How hewp?”
“Can you help calm the babies? They don’t know my smell so they may get a little scared. If you’re here, they’ll be a little calmer.”
“Hewp wif babbehs, Awion.” Almond said, nudging him. “Yu am gud daddeh.”
“Otay.” He said, still unsure.
Tiffany patted her leg and Arion perched his front hooves on it. She gently lifted the four unfed foals into the blanket in her lap. They immediately started to flail and wiggle as the unknown scent carried them from the warmth and comfort of their mother.
“Shhhh babbehs,” Arion said, gently sniffing and licking at each baby as they landed in Tiffany’s lap. “Nice wady Tiff’nee am gud dokta!”
The smell of their father and the warmth of his tongue on their short fluff immediately calmed most of the foals, but the little lavender foal was a feisty little guy and wiggled frantically, his nostrils flaring as he sniffed around for Almond and her milk.
“Uh oh, looks like we have a mommy’s boy.” Tiffany said, laughing. “We’ll start with you little guy, that way you can go back to your daddy.”
She lifted the lavender colt up and began examining him. His heart was beating a little frantically, but that was normal for him being separated from his mother. His skin looked healthy and clean, and his fluff was coming in nicely. There were the soft wisps of brown hair on the back of his neck and on his little tail. While most breeders would be upset about having a brown mane on such a nice shade of lavender, but she knew Matt couldn’t care less.
The foal was healthy. His genitals were small but there and intact, his anus was clean which was a sign of good attention by Almond, his eyes were still shut but the skin looked like it would separate fine.
His ears were soft and pliable, and she was very gentle as she made sure they were clear of blockage. She opened his mouth a bit, revealing his gums and tongue.
“Nice wady Tiff’nee?” Almond called.
“What’s up girl?” Tiffany asked, placing the wiggly lavender foal down. He had become more frantic the longer he’d been away from Almond or Arion, so she put him near Arion so he could smell his dad.
“Dese babbehs am aww done wif miwkies. Can hab otha babbehs tu gib miwkies tu?”
“Oh! Sure! I’ll take those two, and here you go!”
Tiffany put the lavender foal and the brown filly into Almond’s lap and took the two full foals into hers.
They were nice and round, with chubby milk-filled bellies.
The brown colt who got milk first this time was already sleepy, happily curling into Tiffany’s warm hands. She inspected him briefly so he could rest, making sure he looked healthy and was coming along fine.
The yellow filly she inspected a little closer. The two little nubs that would eventually grow into teats were present, and again she was clean with healthy soft skin and soft pink hooves. Her little nose was adorable and sniffing constantly, but she didn’t make any peeps of distress as Tiffany prodded her.
She put the yellow filly down with Arion, who gently licked and nuzzled each foal softly.
After examining each foal and swapping them with Almond to ensure they were all fed, it was Almond’s turn for a check-up.
The foals were all fat and full of milk, and Arion was wrapped around them, looking down constantly and smiling at his children.
“Now, how is my new mummah doing!” Tiffany asked, grabbing her bag, and pulling some checkup tools out.
“Am gud! Tiwed. Babbehs am wots o’ hawd wowk an’ nu eben hab babbehs fo’ vewy wong!”
Tiffany listened to Almond babble about her babies while she did the checkup. First, she checked Almond’s vagina. She was still pretty tender in the area, wincing a bit, but otherwise looked good; no tearing.
Tiffany felt her abdomen, making sure the organs that had been displaced by pregnancy had returned to their normal position. Her teats were also inspected and were full of milk but not swollen, tender, or red.
“You’re looking really good girl! How are you feeling besides tired?”
“Awmon’ am gud! Back weggies an’ speshuw-pwace hab wittew huwties, an make wawkies am hawd, bu’ Awmon’ knu dat wiww feww bettuh in few bwite-times.”
“That’s good! You let your daddy know if those hurties don’t go away, okay? Make sure to tell him everything so he can help you.”
“Awmon’ knu dat! Daddeh am bestest daddeh. Aways hewp Awmon’ wif babbehs an make Awmon’ hab bigges’ heawt-happies!”
Tiffany gently stroked Almond’s mane.
“Okay Arion, let’s check up on you too.”
“Awion nee’ chek-up?”
“Just want to make sure that daddy is healthy too!” Tiffany said, taking him over to a further corner so she could talk to him without Almond hearing.
Fluffies usually didn’t do too well when constantly exposed to violence and suffering. The stress could have serious health effects and she liked the weird little alicorn, so it was good to keep an eye on him.
“Arion, I want to talk to you about the basement.” She said, very quietly.
He immediately tensed under her hands, his ears flattening.
“Nu wan tawk ‘bout dat neaw famiwy…” He said quietly.
“They can’t hear us, and I won’t talk about it much.” Tiffany said.
He looked okay; his nose was wet and soft, his eyes bright, his coat clean and thick. His hooves were thickly calloused a bit though. She’d have to recommend a moisturizer for Matt to try.
“How are you feeling? Are you okay? I know it must be confusing and scary, but I just want to make sure that your thinkie-place doesn’t have any hurties.”
Arion was quiet for a while as Tiffany examined him. He hadn’t really thought much about the basement since Almond had given birth except to ask no to go back. He still liked the idea of giving hurties. It was just that he knew it was bad.
Fluffies were for love and huggies – not for hurties. Even now, he was torn between the enjoyment he got at helping daddy give hurties to fluffies while loving Almond and his babies. It made him fear that he was becoming the monster that other fluffies thought he was.
“Awion hab… thinkie-pwace confushun. Nu wan be munstah and gib huwites.” He whispered; “Bu’ make Awion feew gud wen gib huwties. Nu wan babbehs ow Awmon’ fink Awion am munstah. Dat wouwd be wowstest ting.”
“I understand. I don’t think you’re a monster. I think you’re a very good fluffy, and I think you’re going to be the best daddy to your foals.”
“Weawwy?” Arion asked.
“Really. Don’t worry, I know your daddy doesn’t think you’re a monster either. He loves you and thinks you’re a good fluffy. If he didn’t, he’d be mad about you not wanting to go to the basement anymore.”
“Dat… am twue… Daddeh am bestest. Sabe Awion fwom outside, wet Awion hab famiwy. Nu eben get maddies wen Awion go tu base’men’ wen nu suppos’ tu.”
“He cares about you Arion. We both do. And we love your babies, and Almond, and want to make sure you’re all happy and healthy. That’s why I ask. I want to make sure you’re okay so if you’re not we can help you.”
“Fank you, Dokta Tiff’nee.” Arion said. He sighed heavily. “Awion hab wot o’ thnikie-pwace fuzzies, bu’ am feew bettuh nao.”
“I’m glad. Promise me you’ll talk to your daddy about this, though?” Tiffany said.
“Awion wiww. Daddeh am awways wisten tu Awion.”
“Now, go join your family.” Tiffany said.
Arion happily bounced up and gave Tiffany’s knee a loving hug.
“Fank yu fo’ ask how Awion am. Yu am bestest dokta.” He said before running off.
Tiffany gathered her things up and made sure that Arion and Almond were all settled with their foals. The babies were all sleeping in a little pile again; happy and warm between their parents. Arion settled down around them and licked Almond on her face.
“So, how was it?” Matt said as Tiffany walked into the kitchen.
“They’re all looking good. Almond is of course a little sore, but she’s lively and recovering nicely. The babies all look excellent, fluff coming in nicely and they’re all drinking milk and very lively. Arion is also looking good, but his hooves are little dry in some places so I’m gonna give you a recommendation for some hoof ointment.
“In the meantime, here’s some after-birth vitamins for Almond; have her take one with each meal.”
“Oh, okay.”
“And I think you should have another chat with Arion. He’s a little conflicted on his opinions in the basement, like you said.”
“I was worried about that…” Matt said, frowning. “I’d hoped he’d rejoin me but… with his family it doesn’t seem like that’s going to happen.”
“Nope.” Tiffany narrowed her gaze at him. “You’re not going to try to force him down there are you?”
“What? No! If he doesn’t want to go to the basement then he doesn’t’ have to. Especially if he’s worried about how it’ll affect his family. I’d rather he be happy and content than join me for abuse.”
“Good.”
“Speaking of the basement,” Matt said, grinning. “Do you mind helping me with something I’ve got going on down there?”