(Sorry if this is dogshit, this is my first time ever actually posting fanfic)
Marina Rosewood was an exhausted young woman, trying to make a living between part time job after part time job. At first, she had just shrugged it off as a temporary situation, but at this point, the work was starting to get to her. Waking up early to rush to her shift at Moonbucks, scarfing down a quick bite to eat on her way to her shift at a local dry cleaners, and finally returning home with just enough time to nap before leaving to go work the night shirt at a hotel downtown. She wasn’t scheduled at every job on every day, but there was enough overlap to wring her sanity out with each passing week. She needed money. Preferably sooner rather than later.
The idea came slowly. It first arose as she scrolled through her socials and saw a growing trend. All over, there seemed to be a cultural desire for neutrals. Farmhouse style, prairie decor, cottagecore stuff, nature was in. And while that did interest her, she didn’t think any more about it then. But the thought came back to her as she walked home from the train station and her eyes passed over an alleyway. Inside lay a brown fluffy mare covered in dirt and bruises. She was heavily pregnant, and she lay on her side as if it was hard for her to move. Truth be told, Marina had never been particularly interested in fluffies. She had found them cute, in the way she found rats and pigeons cute. But she had learned a little bit about fluffy society, and from what she knew, fluffies with more muted colors were generally known as undesirables. So naturally there wasn’t much of a market value for them. But if the market was shifting towards neutrals, then…
The young woman walked towards the fluffy mare, kneeling down and speaking in a soft, gentle voice.
“Hello, little one!”
The fluffy jumped, as much as it could considering its heavily pregnant body. It looked at Marina with fear, as if it expected the worst.
“H-hewwo, hooman… pwease don’ gib poopie fwuffy owwies, am soon mummah… must keep tummy babbehs safe…”
While the fluffy seemed frightened, it wasn’t trying to run away. That was good. Maybe she could get it to trust her.
“Would you like a nice home?”
“Home…?”
“So your babbehs can be nice and warm, safe from the cold and rain, and you can have all the spaghetti you want!”
The second she said this, the mare’s eyes lit up.
“SKETTIES?! No haf sketties befow… fwuffy am bad fwuffy, an’ bad fwuffies no get sketties. Bad fwuffies num on poopies…”
The mare looked down, her expression solemn. Tears brimmed in its eyes. After a moment of thinking, Marina spoke again.
“I don’t think you’re a bad fluffy.”
The little creature’s head turned, tears running down its face. Its voice was shaky as it spoke.
“Weawwy…? Poopie fwuffy no a bad fwuffy?”
“Yeah, you’re not a bad fluffy. How about I take you home with me? Is that okay?”
If the mare could have jumped for joy, she would have done so.
“Yay!! Fank yu, fank yu, fank yu! Wuv yu, new mummah!”
“I love you too. Now let’s get you home.”
Marina gently scooped up the dirty fluffy, trying not to retch at the smell. Holding it in her arms, she walked home, occasionally responding whenever it asked her a question. To tell the truth, she had absolutely no idea how to take care of this thing. What to feed it that isn’t spaghetti, where it’s supposed to sleep, how to keep it entertained, all of that was foreign to her. But she had owned a cat in the past, so perhaps she could work with that knowledge.
After entering her apartment, Marina set the fluffy down on the table and set down her things. She sighed, trying to think of what to do next. Meanwhile, the fluffy looked around the room, taking it all in.
“Am dis new housie?”
“Yup, it is. Though I still have to get everything ready, so we’ll figure it out together, okay?”
“Otay!”
The young woman sat down at the table, petting the fluffy with one hand and using the other to do research on her phone. She looked across blogs and news articles, pet stores and fluffy themed influencers. She started to do research on fluffy breeding and selling. But once she came up with a game plan, she set her phone down and scooped the fluffy back up into her arms.
The first step was to bathe it. The mare was absolutely filthy, her fur matted and caked in feces. Bits of trash clung to her, stuck within her heavily tangled mane. Marina couldn’t even tell what color she was besides brown. So she gently carried the fluffy over and set her near the sink before turning the warm water on. Almost immediately, she had to pin it down, the fluffy trying to run away.
“NUUUU!! WAWA BAD FOW FWUFFIES! BAD FOW TUMMY BABBEHS!”
This was a headache already. The young woman sighed, keeping her voice soft despite her slight frustration.
“Shhh, it’s okay. You’re going to be okay. I just have to bathe you so you’re not covered in poop, okay? I’m not going to hurt you.”
“But, but, wawa scawy, make fwuffy go fowevew sweepies!”
“You’re not going to go forever sleepies. I’m right here, okay? I’ll keep you safe.”
Trying to think about what she could do to calm the little thing down, an idea hit her. According to what she had read, fluffies are easily distracted and respond well to rewards. So a reward might be just what she needs to calm the fluffy down enough that she can bathe it.
“I’ll tell you what. When you’re all nice and clean and dry, we can have skettis.”
“… weawwy?”
“Really. And I’ll even give you a new name. How about that?”
“N… name?”
Despite its fear, the fluffy’s eyes lit up. Clearly the offer was tempting.
“Weww… Otay, fwuffy wiww twy. Pwease keep fwuffy safe…”
“I will, I promise.”
With the creature pacified, Marina slowly lowered it into the sink, pouring water over the fur to wet it. Apparently fluffies could handle human hair products, so this would have to work until she had a chance to get proper fluffy shampoo. Let’s hope the thing wouldn’t mind smelling like apple cider. The young woman grabbed her own shampoo and started to massage it into the fur, focusing on the roots as best she could. It was hard to reach the skin with all the matting. To get it all off, she would either need to detangle the fur or give the fluffy a buzz cut. She decided on the former, at least for now. She’d try to detangle first.
She had to walk to the cabinet to grab combs and brushes, and when she came back, she saw the fluffy trying to climb out of the sink. The smooth surface provided no purchase for the hooves to grab on to, so all it was really managing to do was splash water all over.
“Hey, hey, I’ll be done as soon as I can. I have to try and get the tangles out now, okay? I’m sorry if it’s a bit painful.”
At the notion of pain, the fluffy tried even harder to get out.
“No huwt fwuffy, pwease! No huwt fwuffy!”
“I’ll try not to. I’ll do the best I can. And if we get these out, you’ll get a pretty name!”
“Huuh huuh… Otay…”
And slowly, she began to work her comb through the mats. The creature obviously didn’t like it, squirming and occasionally saying “huwties,” but it tried to stay still. To try and help the fluffy relax, Marina began to hum a song from her childhood. She hadn’t thought about it in forever, but it seemed to help. The mare looked less distressed as it listened to the melody. And slowly they were able to get its fur detangled and clean. Giving it a rinse over and squeezing the excess water out, the young woman put a towel down on the counter and placed the damp fluffy upon it. Then came the process of drying the creature off using a combination of the towel and a blow dryer. Afterwards, she could finally get a good look at it.
The fluffy mare was a warm taupe color, with a chocolate brown mane and tail. Her eyes were a rich brown. Marina hadn’t noticed it before, but the fluffy was a pegasus, her wings comically small. She had a patch of white running down the front of her face, and that same white could be seen on her legs and wings. Her pelt was on the thicker side, which combined with her pregnancy made her look like a pom pom. The little fluffy looked up at Marina expectantly.
“Nyu mummah? Fwuffy was gud in baff, can fwuffy pwease haf nyu name?”
Oh, right. She was going to name it.
“Hmmm… how about Latte?”
The fluffy’s eyes sparkled, and it smiled and tapped its hoof on the sink.
“Yay! Watte wuv nyu name!! Fank yu, nyu mummah! Fank yu so much!”
“Of course, Latte. Now, how about some skettis?”
“Yes pwease!”
And as she went to put the water on the stove, Marina looked at her excited companion and smiled to herself. This wouldn’t be easy not by a long shot, but she didn’t regret bringing Latte home. In fact, she found herself feeling excited at what the future could bring.