Dawn. The bright time had begun, but it was still far too cold to set out yet. Mercury the metallic-blue earth fluffy hunkered down deeper in his herd’s den. The rest of them hadn’t woken up yet, and better still, his smarty was a late riser. The time to move would have to be soon. Mercury began to limber up his legs and mentally prepared himself.
Gotta find sad fwend
Two days prior, a shrill cry had persisted through his herd’s territory for what felt like forever. Smarty Robert had told his flock that it was a monster that would eat fluffies who didn’t listen to him, or kept food from the herd. Mercury, ever the brave soul, had waited and listened to the scream longer than the others. He heard pain, distress. No, this wasn’t a monster, it was someone that was hurting, and he needed to help them.
“Hewd nee’ hewp sad fwend!” Mercury insisted that night to his smarty. The large red unicorn shook his head.
“Mewcuwy dummeh, yu gib entiwe hewd bigges’ owies wif dose tawkies! Wobewt nu hewp woud munstah!” he narrowed his eyes and jabbed his hoof into his underling’s chest fluff, “Wissen to smawty, Mewcuwy. Mewcuwy am Wobewt fwend, Wobewt nu wan’ Mewcuwy to hab foweba sweepies”.
To his credit, Mercury tried to listen to his smarty. He tried so hard, but he had heard that shrieking before, many times. In the cries of a mother when her foals came out silent, when toughies were snatched up by barkie monsters, when another herd had robbed nummies from them, he had heard that shieking before. He must help.
The sun had risen and the grass was beginning to dry; no dew would catch on his fluff and weigh him down. Mercury turned to his sleeping smarty and gave him a final lick goodbye before bolting out from the den, into the dense foliage, through the drier brush, and towards the poor, sad creature that needed him.
~~
“For the last time, you suits aren’t getting my damn reports,” Ilene barked, throwing her shovel down on the ground. A man and woman, both dressed far too well for Ilene’s lot, stood some distance from her, at the fringes of her property. The redhead herself was ankle-deep in a trench she was digging before being set upon by the gaze of corporate America. The woman swallowed the pit in her throat and spoke up.
“Ms. Barkley-,”
“Mrs. Barkley” Ilene growled.
“Right, sorry… Mrs. Barkley you spearheaded biotoy mental development and behavioral structure during your tenure with the corporation,” the woman continued, “Your achievements are nothing less than monumental pillars that future generations of biological science can build upon. The corporation needs to know how the fluffies tick for the future of-”
“Don’t tell me you maniacs are going beyond what me and Lena have already done,” Ilene clenched her fists, “You’ve already got a walking-talking plague infesting every alleyway and living room between Beijing and Buenos Aires. A plague, mind you, with a big fat Hasbio logo stamped on its asshole. What more could you worms want?” The two Hasbio agents looked at their feet, unable to find the words to continue.
Ilene sized them up. Two grads from Lena’s Hasbio Technical Institute by the looks of them. Probably snatched up this assignment thinking it would be easy to butter up a disgruntled former employee. Tight haircuts, clean business attire, immaculate features, yep, Lena’s eugenics stretched beyond the biotoys and into her own employees. Ilene spotted a mouth-sized discoloration on the woman’s collarbone.
Eugenics indeed. Classic Lena.
“Are, ahem, are you sure you won’t give our offer a second consideration?” the man dangled the briefcase before him. Ilene hocked a loogie in response.
“You can’t buy the end of the world, stud. We’re done here,” Ilene picked back up her shovel and resumed digging, her back turned to the two. Their retreating footsteps echoed across the tarmac before stopping.
“Miss Baker also had a personal message for you,” Ilene turned her head to glare at the female underling calling out to her, “She’s gone through with the Johannes renovation, at your request.”
Ilene yanked a desiccated fluffy corpse from under a patch of loose dirt and lobbed it at the two, letting out a scream and scaring them into a sprint away from her.
“I don’t give TWO SHITS about what happens to those orphans, get the FUCK off my land!” Ilene stared down the scampering duo, her breath coming heavy and hoarse. She eyed the shovel. No, too upset now for labor, she thought, retreating to her warehouse. She plopped down on her chair and dropped her head in her hands. There went the day.
~
Mercury heard fast crunching in the brush ahead. His ears twitched and snout scrunched. How many where there? Sounded like a big noise, it could be a monster! The same monster that was making his new friend sad! He puffed up his cheeks in defiance. He was here to help! He couldn’t be afraid! Barreling ahead, Mercury yelled, “Come ou’ munstah!”. Bashing through a tall patch of grass, he smacked into a large, orange flank. Mercury was knocked on his rump and rubbed at his head.
“Owie, meanie waww.”
The orange fluff stirred and turned to face Mercury. A big orange earth pony puffed its cheeks at its considerably smaller attacker.
“Dummeh fwuffy, watch whewe yu goin!” he yelled, stomping on the ground and puffing his cheeks.
“S-so s-s-sowwy,” Mercury stammered out. This fluffy was mean, he was angry, and he stomped his hooves oh so terrifyingly!
“Mewwo an’ toughie fwend gonna gif dummeh fwuffy big huwties! WUTHUW! HEWP MEWWO HUWT DUMMEH!”
A shoddy-looking green pegasus emerged from a nearby sprout of dried grass, water dripping from its mouth. It snorted and stomped thunderously.
“Wuthuw hewp Mewwo! Gid oba’ hewe dummeh fwuffy!”
Now was the time for flight, Mercury deduced. He picked a direction opposite his aggressors and sprinted. Brush and dry grass smacked into his face but he did not slow. The angry yells from the two gargantuan fluffies behind him persisted, and with them certain unspeakable pain. His chest ached and his legs cried for rest, about to give out. Finally a break in the foliage! A human home! A smile splashed on his face and relief washed over him just as he tumbled into an unseen hole, half knocked-out.
“Owie…” Mercury whined softly, face in the dirt. He wiggled his legs. Nothing broken, nothing damaged. He lifted his head and blinked away the dirt. He was in a big wide hole, about as deep as two fluffies. He hunkered down, hoping it would be enough cover to hide from the mean fluffies.
~~
“The hell…?” Ilene turned her head towards the western border of her lot.
Could’ve sworn I heard something out by the trench. she thought, sitting up straight and squinting into the brush. Not a moment later two large fluffies, one orange earth and one green pegasus, stormed into her lot, making right fools of themselves and screaming such a racket. She exhaled, letting the air pass tightly through her throat. A gutteral growl, low and deep, that stopped the two invaders in their tracks. The orange plumper, sporting the most repugnant of visages, trotted up to her.
“Hoomin! Dis smawty wand nao! Teww Mewwo whewe dummeh fwuffies aw’ an’ gif skettis an’ housies!”
Territorial behavior brought on by a lack of human affection. No real floor set for greed or self-acquisition without the human element, a ‘daddeh’ or ‘mummah’. Interesting.
“Or what?” she retorted, swinging one massive leg over the other and crossing them. Mello puffed up his cheeks and his compatriot chimed in.
“Ow Wuthuw gon’ gib hoomin bigges’ owies! Wuthuw am toughie fwuffy!”
Enforcement then, not a mate. Pre-fab social structure seems to be working properly. Emergency leader protocol in effect with a good choice enforcement. I really outdid myself.
Ilene crossed her arms under her bosom, “Do you really need all the land? I’m sure I could still live here and you would have plenty of space to operate and do fluffy things.” This clear defiance sparked a tantrum of stomps and one rasperry from the toughie.
“Hoomin wiww gu’ way aftuw gib Mewwo wha’ Mewwo wan’!” Mello yelled back.
Gave you a chance, bud.
Ilene flexed her chest and shoulder muscles, puffing out her frame and spooking the intruders. She stood up from her chair and tilted her head to the side at just the right angle, a little more, [CRACK]. Oof, needed that. She took one step forward, two, three, stop. Six feet of human and ten pounds of hair towered over the two wannabe conquerors. Her size clearly had the effect she wanted. The duo’s facade began to break as green eyes gazed down on them from up on high.
Mello puffed out his cheeks again, fighting through the fear, “T-toughie fwen’ Wuthuw gib huwties tu hoomins bigguw than scawy wed wady! Ged hew, Wuthuw!”
Luthor was completely immobile with fear. He didn’t know they made humans this big. He didn’t know they made humans this scary! Why on earth did they chase that dummy in the first place?
Ilene adjusted her gaze to focus on the pegasus, “Well, Luthor? You gonna give me some owies or am I gonna start cracking skulls?” Still Luthor sat, paralyzed. Ilene sighed and beckoned, “Come on, you get the first hit. Take a crack at me.”
Luthor looked to his smarty in terror. Mello nodded fearfuly and pointed a hoof to their massive opponent. Finally the pegasus found the courage to waddle up to Ilene. His lower lip quivered when he looked up at her stern, unblinking face. He lifted a hoof and brought it down as hard as he could on her boot.
“Yeah Wuthuw! Gib hew bigges’ huwties!” Mello yelled, happy to see his side had won the first blow.
Eat shit Lena.
Ilene blasted her foot forward, slamming the steel-toed boot into Luthor’s ratty green snout. Blood and snot tore across the sky as the fluffy soared in an arc back across the tarmac. He let out a piercing screech that rose and fell with his body, only relenting to the uncontrollable sobs that came with his ungraceful landing.
“Mewwo! Heeeeewp! Wuthuw hab huwwwwtiiiieeess huuu huuuuu. Wan mummaaaaahhh!”
Mello stared incredulously at the bloody mess of his comrade. Luthor was the toughest fluffy he knew! Sure he hadn’t actually beaten up any humans, but there was no way he could be dispatched so easily, so effortlessly. He began to cry as gnawed fingers grabbed his scruff.
~~
Mercury watched the carnage from within the trench. He had found a shallower part towards the end and stood on his hind hooves to peek his head over the side. The giant woman had the mean Mello in her grasp. She turned him around, looking at every inch of the belligerent feral.
Why wed wady cawe abou’ his hoofsies su much? Mercury pondered. He observed the observation, puzzling why on earth the red lady was taking her time with this particular meanie when she was so quick to destroy the other one. He watched her reach up and squeeze Mello’s belly tighter and tighter with her large, powerful hand.
“Bad huggies! Wet Mewwo go me-[cough cough]-mean wady!” the fluffy in her hand yelled, batting his hooves against her forearm. His tirade continued louder and louder, devolving into screeches as the giant woman’s grip grew tighter and tighter. Mercury’s jaw dropped as the slow dribble of bad poopies from Mello’s rump turned red. His pulse quickened, heart thudding as blood began to surge to Mello’s face, causing features to bulge and eyes to swivel about aimlessly.
[POP]
“AAAAAAAAAIIIIIIEEEEEEEeeeeeurgkhch”
Meanie Mello’s eyes dangled from his skull on thin red cords, bouncing in limbo. Mercury, horrified at the display, looked at the face of the lot’s caretaker. Nothing. He saw no emotion; her face had retained an inquisitive, informal, observational stare.
Big an’ stwong mummah… he thought, half-terrified, half-amazed. The human jutted two fingers in Mello’s eye-sockets and her thumb deep down his throat. A sickening squelch sloshed across the tarmac to Mercury’s ears, and he could barely contain an instinctual fearful stream of piss when she tore the meanie Mello’s head from his shoulders.
Seemingly satisfied, she chucked the two bits of Mello some ways forward next to the other meanie’s bloody mass. She inhaled, and let out a yell.
“TERRENCE! LUNCH TIME!”
She gracefully turned on her heel and retreated into her house, a big door sliding shut behind her with a loud, mechanical whir. Mercury slumped down in the trench. He was struck with a sudden realization; that shout, the same shouting he’d heard so many days ago. This was her! This was his new friend! This was the poor creature he needed to take the sad away from! He clapped his hooves together, happy at his escape and achieved goal.
But… he thought as the sound of flapping wings drew his attention. He looked over the trench once again to see a behemoth black bird tear into the corpses of his once-assailants.
…buh maybeh Mewcuwy waid a widduw wonguh tu say ‘Hewwo’ to scawy wed wady.
~~
"June 5th, 2022. Today I observed feral behavior and investigated their exterior biology. All pre-built protocols working normally on my end. Despite all efforts to curb diversion, however, it would seem as though fluffies are adapting to the wilderness. Evidence of potential third and fourth coats for winter witnessed, as well as sturdier hooves. Fluffy strength remains unchanged, and their frail bodies are as easily decimated as ever.
Progress continues on the trench. I said I wouldn’t dig one and here I am, prepping electronics tests for supposed ‘Reset programming’ as indicated by customer reports and rumors stemming from Buenos Aires. Ilene out."
Ilene stopped recording. She looked at her face in the video preview on her computer monitor. Were her eyelashes always that long? How long had she had those dark lines under her eyes? Goodness she needed to comb her hair. Terry would always do it for he-
…
…
[click]
“June 5th, 2022. I miss you Terry. I think about you and Iris every day,” Ilene lowered her head, “Watch over her for me. I love you.”
[click]
~~
Mercury crawled under a tarp he had found covering some light machinery. He had just filled his belly with grass and found some water coming from the side of the red lady’s house to drink from. His new accommodations weren’t the prettiest or the biggest, but it was warm. He thought on the screams he had heard some days ago, how much pain was in them. He knew that this new friend of his needed help, even if he wasn’t ready to introduce himself yet. He knew that she protected him from meanies. He knew, oh how he knew, that he was safe near his big red mummah.
