With Maxine fast asleep in Strawberry’s bed, now was the time for revenge. Strawberry double checked to make sure the foals were asleep. Don’t need any noises spoiling the fun. Strawberry made her way to the kitchen and pushed a wheeled stool to the knife drawer. Oh what fun Strawberry’s had with these knives they thought as they pulled the drawer open with their mouth.
So many options, but which one to choose? Slicers, carvers, chef knives… maybe a boning knife? Something with a handle that Strawberry can manipulate. A paring knife is ideal here, small enough to hide in his mane if he gets spotted but with enough of a point that it should make quick work of that bitch.
The hard part was actually getting to it. The paring knife was nestled between chef knives haphazardly shoved into a drawer. Strawberry vowed to organize better after this mess was cleared up. He used his mouth to move the handles out of the way, being careful not to cut himself on the blades. It took a solid 5 minutes of grueling effort but he had it. The paring knife was held firmly in his mouth. It was time.
Or it would be if he didn’t have to make his way up the staircase. What was once an everyday act not worth noticing was now a mountain of obstacles he had to climb with his stubby little legs. He wasn’t deterred though. No, it reminded him why he was right to commit a murder. “Honestly more like self defense”, he thought. He struggled over the stairs, trying to keep his strained huffs from being too loud. It took a good deal of effort, especially carrying a knife in his mouth, but he had made it to the top.
Strawberry slinked to his room as quietly as could be. The door wasn’t shut, the careless woman clearly didn’t see him as a threat. How wrong she was. He pushed the door open with his flank and scampered onto the bed. There she was. The woman who turned his life into a nightmare. Tonight, she dies.
He crept up to her neck and positioned the knife to cut into her artery. One solid cut and this torture will be over. He reared his head back and gritted his teeth. He slammed the knife into Maxine’s throat!
The knife bounced off harmlessly without a sound. He tried again. And again. And again and again and again and the damned knife wouldn’t pierce her skin!
Strawberry’s face scrunched up in anger. Fuck! He sliced and sliced and jabbed and kept going out of anger and desperation. He recoiled to adjust his footing and slipped on the now disturbed blankets. The knife held in his mouth went down his throat as he tripped. “Gaaaaagggghhhh” he said as he choked on the paring knife caught in his throat.
Strawberry was flailing about in a blind panic, the knife rubbing against his throat as he struggled to breath. He felt his bowels evacuate as his life flashed before his eyes. Was this it? Dying as a fluffy in a preposterously stupid way? He supposed it was fitting in a fucked up sort of way. The mare was frantically kicking about, stomping Maxine hard on the shoulder.
“Ow, what the heck ar-” Maxine said as she rubbed her shoulder. “Oh hey, Strawberry’s here.” She thought, “Wonder what’s going on.”
“Gaaaaaggggghhhblblr” Strawberry wheezed as he continued to choke.
“Oh shit oh shit oh shit.” Maxine was now freaking out along with Strawberry. What the hell is she going to do? Can you even give the heimlich to a horse?
Maxine forced Strawberry’s jaw open and shoved her hand in. Groooooss. She felt around in the mare’s through, reaching down further and further until she felt something metallic. Maxine pinched it between her fingers and yanked it out of the mare’s throat.
Maxine pursed her lips as she put two and two together. While she appreciated the gumption on Strawberry’s part, being stabbed to death wasn’t on her to do list.
Strawberry coughed and sputtered as he tried to catch his breath. The knife didn’t cut up his throat but Maxine shoving her damn arm down it sure as hell did. “aaaahk” Strawberry spit out angrily.
“Yes, yes you’re welcome.” Maxine looked over Strawberry. Growing Eclair a new leg had emptied out the remainder of her reserves. She had thought that with it being night time she wouldn’t need anything but someone had to go out of their way to prove her wrong. Strawberry’s injuries didn’t appear life threatening. Finally noticing the soiled sheets and having to discourage assassinations she came up with a plan of action.
“Good fluffies don’t make bad poopies in their mommy’s bed do they?” She lifted Strawberry up and pointed the mare’s head down at the soiled sheets, “Tsk tsk young lady.”
Strawberry buried his face in his hooves. Jesus Christ, how embarrassing. He tried to talk but his throat was too janked up to say anything other than a weak gurgle.
"Such a bad example for the babies " She sighed dramatically and gathered up the soiled sheets, “Looks like I have more work tomorrow.” Feces was part of the homunculus recipe she had been taught years ago so the soiled blanket actually saved her a bit of hassle. She had about everything she needed for her Geoff body double project.
Maxine took Strawberry and the bedding downstairs. Strawberry had begun weeping. Or at least she thought he was crying, couldn’t quite tell with how badly his throat was damaged. She threw the bedding in the garage dramatically, saying how disappointed she was in her fluffy.
“You’ve been acting so well that I thought I wasted my time on this.” Maxine said to Strawberry as she carried him to the kitchen. Maxine gestured to a box on the table and opened up the lid on the top. “But somebody had to make bad poopies, so they’ve got to be punished right?” She placed Strawberry into the box and said, “You can come back out in the morning. Maybe think about what you’ve done, you poopie thing you.”
A sorries box? Yeah whatever Max. After tonight a dark box away from everything sounded like heaven. He stretched out inside the Penance Cube and settled down. His throat was killing him but at least he probably wasn’t going to die; he’s almost certain he isn’t allowed to.
Maxine flipped a switch on the outside of the box. Bright LED lights flashed on, revealing that the inside of the box was lined with mirrors. The light forced him to open his eyes and the sight he saw was haunting. An infinite number of Strawberries reflected all around him. He stared off into the limitless expanse and collapsed onto the floor. Was this all he was now? Just some dumb fluffy bitch who shat herself and nearly choked to death? A mare who got overwhelmed by spaghetti just a few hours prior? Hell, maybe even his memories were fake. He knew she could do that, root around in something’s head and do whatever she pleased. Wouldn’t put it past her.
Then he noticed the smell. His ‘owner’ had neglected to clean him up. Wonderful.
He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. The box was clearly meant to fuck with him, but it wouldn’t work if he just refused to look. He yawned and nestled down on the ground, covering his eyes with his hooves to block out the light. Strawberry drifted off to a peaceful sleep.
“Here’s a little song I wrote” rang through the box as it began to rock up and down. The LED lights changed colors and flashed to the song. Strawberry was wide awake. “Might want to sing it note by note” “Don’t worry. Be happy.” Strawberry would soon learn that the box was set on a random timer to keep him from getting too comfortable. He had a long night ahead of him.
Cherry and Eclair slept snuggled up together in the basket that had become their home. Cherry was having a delightful rest, thinking about marinara sauce and her mummahs and her new sister. Life was good.
Eclair was trembling and sobbing. Night time was always rough for her, the memories of her miserable little life would bombard her constantly. She cried in her sleep, “huuu… no take weggies… am good babbeh…” Flashes of neglect and abuse from her mother played in her head. “Nee… need miwkies…” she whimpered “Nuh wan poopies…”
The crying had woken up Cherry. “Dummeh sissy, dis am time fo sweepies” Cherry thought to herself as her little eyes struggled to focus. Her sister was trembling in fear. She felt a twinge of remorse for thinking her sister was a dummy. Her sister had so many sads. Tiny hooves wrapped around Eclair’s torso as the chirpy baby did the only thing she could. “-Chirp-… h-hub-bees an’ wub fo… -chirp- sista.” Cherry had lived her whole life without any problems, or at least she thought, but something about her sisters plight resonated with her.
Maxine had just finished washing her arms off in the kitchen and came to check on the foals. With Strawberry locked up for the night somebody had to keep an eye on them. Whimpers, chirps, and cries were coming from the living room. Maxine ran in so fast she skidded on the floor when she stopped.
Cherry saw her human mummah slide into the room. “M-mum…ah!” the foal chirped out, “sadses!” Concerned chirps followed as she held Eclaire as tight as her little legs could manage.
Maxine look down at the pair. Cherry had placed herself on top of Eclair just like eclair did in the car. She gently nudged Eclair awake, “It’s ok. Mommy’s here.”
Eclair woke up with her fur drenched in tears. She felt her sister hugging her tightly and saw the face of the bestest mummah smiling at her. It was ok. She was ok. The hurtie times were behind her. “Mummah… huuuuuu… hads scawy worstest times in picktuwe pwace…huuu.”
Most of the time Maxine was able to follow along with fluffy speak but picture place stumped her. Years of travel to strange new worlds had taught her the solution: Smile and nod. “I’m very sorry to hear that. Are you ok now?”
Eclair nodded slowly. Her heart still hurt and she still felt scared. “…nuuuuuuh…” she admitted after a brief pause, “Ecwaire ams scawedy poopie babbeh… huuu… am sowies.”
Maxine pursed her lips. She wondered if therapy existed for fluffies. She glanced back at the sofa. “Ok. How’s about this? I had to put Strawberry in a special sorry box for bad poopies so she can’t look after you.”
“Mommy will sleep on the couch tonight, and you can sleep with her.” The foals cheered in unison. “I need to get a few things, wait just a little longer.” The kitchen was on the way to the bedroom so she might as well check up on Strawberry one more time.
Cherry and Eclair were singing the mummah song together as Maxine left the room… Eclair was excited that she got to spend the night with her favorite person ever but winced at the mention of a sorry box. She had spent many forevers in one for the same reason. Despite not having legs, she kept getting punished for bad poopies. She hoped her fluffy mummah would be alright.
“Don’t worry, be happy” was playing from the Big Mouth Billy Bass she had hooked up to the penance cube. She saw it at a pawn shop earlier today and thought it would make for a funny prank. The cube was just light enough that the fish could jiggle it a bit, maybe move it a little if the conditions were right. She snickered and made her way upstairs.
The pillows on the bed were unharmed and she found a spare blanket in the closet. Satisfied she made her way back to the living room. Maxine knelt down before the foal basket and scooped up her babies. They both cooed and giggled at the uppies.
The foals were taken to the litter box to empty out their bowels and then cleaned up with a wet wipe. “Promise me you’ll stay put until I wake up?” she asked the foals in her hands.
"Pwomise! " eclair responded firmly.
“Pwa- pwams” Cherry chirped.
Good enough for Maxine. She settled down and pulled up the blanket. The foals were snuggled up together on her chest. Hell of a first day on planet fluffy.
That’s about it for now, i hope people enjoyed reading it. Not sure where to go from here. Suggestions? things I could improve on?