Perfectly clean floors, walls covered with colorful posters, rooms filled with toys. It’s not exactly what you have in mind when you think of a fluffy breeding mill but this place is impeccable. Multiple rooms containing foals of all age groups though they never need to be separated. There’s rarely a rambunctious fluffy to be found in the place. They assemble when it’s time to feed, they always share, and there’s never a problem. Mummah always keeps a watchful eye out.
This facility is a new concept, a steep investment initially though one offering a great return. A turnkey operation requiring only the bare minimum from the owner to keep running and produce a great product. Everything from cleaning to feeding is done through automation and an operator only needs to return to stock more supplies as need be.
-Press release from a fluffy trade magazine
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A soft cartoony chime and the light intensifying around Velvet got the soft red & white filly out of her bed immediately. Stretching her weggies out she would trot out to join the lines of other foals at the feeding stations. Kibble poured out from big glass tubes that came out from the walls and the fluffies would eat what they could before being asked to move by mummah. Mummah was everywhere.
There were monitors everywhere that showed her face. She was a purple & yellow mare with big fat cheeks and always had a huge smile.
“Otay babbeh! Yew am hab enuff nummies!” The mare on the screen would tell each of them as they ate. Satisfied with what they were given or not they had no choice but to shuffle away from the food. When it was Velvet’s turn to have nummies, she dove down and gobbled as quickly as she could. Just as soon as Mummah was about to tell her to stop, she broke away.
It was time to potty now. There were monitors over by the littertrays, too.If you didn’t make poopies or peepees in it, Mummah would know and she would get very upset.
“Pwease nu wook, Mummah.” Velvet told the screen every day. She got the same flat digital look from the mare, the same wide smile.
“Gud babbehs make potties in da wittabox!” Was all she got told each time. Just doing her business and trying to ignore being stared at, she hopped out of the litterbox. Soon would be playtime, after all.
There was a whimsical chiming sound just like the one that had woke them up and Mummah appeared on all of the monitors wearing a party hat and doing a silly dance.
“It am pway time! Bestest pway time ‘fo bestest babbehs! YAYYYY!” Confetti erupted around Mummah, the mare dancing around it for a moment. Even if they didn’t want to play, all of the foals here who were at the walky stage went over to a pile of toys and pulled whatever out. Some mindlessly stacked blocks on top of one of another. A few gave half-hearted dancies, Mummah noticing their efforts and piping cheesy sounding music over the speakers. Velvet decided to join a group slowly rolling a ball about. There was no running around or playing catch. Nothing that actually engaged a foal. It was the simplest playing and didn’t feel rewarding at all.
“Nuuuu! Dis am bestest toysie! Nu ‘fo yew!” A blue and red colt shouted to another fluffy trying to play with his stuffy friend. Velvet dropped to the floor reflexively with a small ‘huu’. Other fluffies who had noticed the outburst followed suit. The lighting in the room dimmed as Mummah came over every monitor, though she wasn’t so happy right now. There were angry stormclouds on the screens and she had the biggest frown ever. Blinking a bit, the colt who’d been whining over the stuffy friend finally realized what was going on.
“M-Mummah, am gud babbeh. Pwease nu, mummah? Mummah!” He was begging but it didn’t really matter. One of the many slots lining the wall opened up and big circular munstah rolled out.
“Yew am bad babbeh!” The munstah didn’t always num fluffies. In fact it almost never did. They were always coming out at night to clean up the place. The oversized Roomba style vacuum would lock onto the foal and zip right toward him. He screamed and tried to run away but it was pointless. It caught him by the tail and sucked him up against the floor.
“HEWP! HEWP FIZZEH! NU WAN BE NUMMIES!” He pleaded to all of the other foals who were purposely looking away or simply had their faces to the floor. Velvet watched with shame and horror at the fact that she couldn’t help, Fizzy’s hooves skittering along the smooth floor before he disappeared under the munstah. It simply rolled right back into the wall where it had come from and the television screens returned to the happy Mummah. Velvet didn’t want to be in here anymore.
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There was a room for the poopies and the chirpies who were kept together. Mummah really, REALLY didn’t like the color of some of the fluffies who were brought here. She said they weren’t sissies or bruddahs. They were bad poopies and didn’t deserve anything. All of the chirpies were laid out on warming mats with all the miwkies they could ever want delivered from rubber nipples attached to big vats of the stuff. Meanwhile, what poopies had somehow survived to the walky-stage were kept in a corner of the room. They were incredibly skinny and always smelled bad. The poopies didn’t even have names which always made Velvet incredibly sad. What had they done? Why were they so bad?
“Bestest babbeh am hewe tu gib WOWSTEST HUWTIES tu dummehs.” Oh. That was another thing. The Bestest Babbehs. They were all the ones with the best colors or features. Mummah always loved them the most. This was an alicorn colt with emerald green fur and a powdery blue mane and tail. Velvet watched as he marched up to one of the brown foals piled up in a corner and proceeded to stomp him. Her eyes squeezed shut. Why? Why were there so many meanie huwty things here? The poopie fluffy wasn’t even crying out as he was stomped. It’s like they had given up completely.
“Oooohhhh, su gud bestest babbeh!” Mummah cooed from a nearby monitor. A panel in the wall opened up, a vacuum whirring out to collect the now stomped on brown foal. It may have still been alive to some degree. Velvet caught it’s hurt, dazed expression right before it was sucked up.
“Mummah wub Buddeh? Buddeh wub mummah!” The colt vied for Mummah’s attention and was rewarded with it too. There was a chime and a few treats rolled down one of the feeding tubes, Buddy happily traipsing over feed his already fat face. Unlike the rest of them, the Bestest Babbehs got to eat as much kibble as they wanted. They even got skettis. The indulged fluffies weren’t allowed to hurt other fluffies with acceptable colors, but it didn’t stop them from bragging about how much better they had it. Watching as Buddy left the room, Velvet went over to the chirpies.
She loved all the widdew babbehs. They made her really happy to see! All their peeping and chirping, their chubby bodies were so cute, and just being around them made her heart happier. All of the babbehs had opened their eyes lately except for one. It sat there on it’s little swaddle of stained blankets and continued suckling milk down.
“Hewwo widdew babbeh. Dun yew wan open see-pwaces?” Velvet asked the chubby little orange pudge of fur as it drank greedily from the rubber nipple. All of the other ones were craning their heads around to see what was around them, but especially focused on monitors right at their eye level which showed Mummah in all her glory. This one’s screen was black for the moment and it gave Velvet a sharp shock when it flickered to life suddenly.
“Hewwo Vewvet. Dis babbeh am dummeh babbeh. Nu open see-pwaces…huu…bad babbeh…” Mummah acted like she was sad. There were rainy clouds on her screen. It wasn’t quite like what had just happened but Velvet could feel like something bad was about to happen.
“Buh Mummah, aw babbehs am gud babbehs?” She said, far braver than she thought she was for even questioning Mummah at all. The mare on the screen shook her head and returned to smiling. Just then the tiny platform that the chirpy was on rose just enough to cause it to slide down to the floor. It fell to the ground with a series of terrified peeps, waggling it’s weggies around frantically.
“Babbeh! Dun wowwy, Vewvet am hewe!” Getting close to the chirpy, she nuzzled it and tried to get it to calm down. Just then a panel in the wall opened up and one of the munstahs rolled out.
“Dummeh babbehs nu am gud babbehs!” Mummah declared as the vacuum glided up to the two fluffies. Velvet shook her head.
“Nu! Pwease nu! It am omwy widdew babbeh!” She protested but knew to step out of the way as the massive vacuum nudged right toward them. There was a frightened peep, a small sucking sound, and the babbeh was no more.
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For the rest of the day Velvet was good. She had to be. Talking out to Mummah was something you should never do. Mummah always knew best. So she acted like she was having fun while playing, waited patiently in line for their second feeding of the day, didn’t even talk. Talking could be dangerous too. If you were sad or mad, Mummah could hear it. Only happy fluffies were allowed.
Bed would be better. There wouldn’t be anything to worry about while she was sleeping. She had silly dreams where she’d be free to run around and play. No more worrying about meanie Mummah. Getting down onto her comfortable bed, Velvet got all cozy to go to sleep and drifted off quickly enough.
Sometime in the night she woke up, eyes flickering open. Almost immediately she realized something was different. All wrong. The lights in the room were dimmed every night so they could get to bed and stay in bed without fussing around. Tonight, though? There was a halo of light around her. Only her. Turning in her bed to stare up, she found herself face to face with Mummah. There was a monitor above all their beds after all.
“….” Her eyes were wide, teeth clenched together. She was so scared that she thought she’d make peepees right there in the bed. Mummah was simply looking at her.
“Hewwo sweepy Vewvet babbeh. Yew am nu be gud babbeh. Mummah su saddies.” The mare on the screen told her in a voice that was only a whisper though she could hear it in the stillness of the room perfectly.
“Vewvet. Vewvet am be gud babbeh.” She said, body trembling fiercely. The mare on the monitor gave a stern nod.
“Otay. Mummah bewieb yew.” There was movement around Velvet that she had just noticed. Her entire cushion bed was surrounded by all of the vacuum munstahs. Sitting there in the dim illumination of the monitor, it’s as if they’d snuck up on her and were waiting. Waiting to make her nummies just like Fizzy and the chirpy.
“Nigh’nigh, gud babbeh! Bwite times soon!” Mummah said with her trademark huge smile as the munstahs dispersed back to their places in the wall.
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The next day Velvet was a completely new fluffy. All smiles! A cheerful good attitude!
“Hewwo fwends! Wub yew an’ wub mummah tu!” She said at playtime as they all got together to roll a ball to one another peacefully. Of course when she said this, her eyes went to the nearest monitor where Mummah was watching. This seemed to be the good thing to say. The good thing to do.
“Dummeh poopies! Vewvet am haechu!” She was back in the area with all the chirpies again, a hoof falling down over and over onto one of the helpless badly colored foals all kept in their little corner. Mummah popped up on the monitor and praised her!
“Gud babbeh! Poopie babbehs nu am pwetty! Dey am bad!” There was a chime and treats rained down one of the food tubes. Velvet went over to collect it, feeling good. The vacuum that slid out from the wall to collect the beaten corpse of the brown foal she’d just stomped didn’t even give her time for pause. Good babbehs didn’t get nummed by munstahs, and she’d be the bestest for mummah. She needed to because Mummah didn’t have bad babbehs.
