Cathy woke to her fluffies telling her to get up. They normally wouldn’t be so rude. They knew she didn’t like the morning and got grumpy, but it was getting late and the fluffies she had in the dinning room were out of food and asked if they could have some more.
Cathy got up and began her morning routine. She gave the fluffies kibble and herself a bowl of cereal. She checked her voicemail. Even though it was her day off, she had to go to the lab for the blood test and DNA results for her new fluffies and was hoping her friend would just call to tell her.
Cathy looked at the foals sleeping in a pile. Whatever the results, the foals fate would be the same. As soon as they open their eyes, their training would begin. Harsh discipline, and routines to make them the perfectly behaved fluffies. It seemed cruel to her, but Cathy had no choice. They had to be grade A fluffies or test subjects. She had no plans of keeping them, and wanted them to go to the best homes possible. It was the only way to guarantee most of them go to the best homes. There was no way to guarantee that some of their future owners wouldn’t turn abusive. But she could make sure they didn’t start out that way.
Beloved, Dolly, and Feather had been good parents. They treated the foals equally, and there wasn’t a peaking order. First come, first served. The girls had been sharing feeding them. Beloved did ask Cathy if they would be in trouble if they had a best baby. Beloved understood when she said they would be and she would have to kill it in front of them, best babies are the worst babies. She wouldn’t actually kill the foal, just put on a show of “killing” the foal and separate it from them, but she had to make them believe she would.
Cathy was far from a saint, but she didn’t believe in killing unnecessarily. Kill for food, research, and protection. She never had to kill a smarty, but she wasn’t above handing them to Lois to go live in what everyone began to call Fluffy Hell.
Beloved walked up to the gate near Cathy. “Cathy, Bewobed wan’ to know somethin’.”
Cathy sipped her orange juice, “What do you want to know?”
“Can Dowwy hab own speshuw fwend? Nu wan’ to gib bad speshuw huggies nu mowe.”
Cathy looked at Beloved. “You don’t have to give her special huggies anymore. However, having a special friend or not is Dolly’s and the stallion’s choice.”
Beloved nodded. He had to make sure his feeling was correct. “If Dowwy nu wan’ Iwonside ow Dewta as speshuw fwend, wiww 'ou find?”
“No, I won’t find. I will however, return her to the lady that trained her to be a nurse mare. After finding about your old mummah, she offered to take her. But she will lose her ability to have her own foals and has to raise foals belonging to another mares and get shots so she always has milk.”
Dolly spoke up. “Dowwy wan’ to hab speshuw fwend an’ famiwy.”
“We’ll see. I only keep good fluffies. And if the boys ask and you said no, then you won’t have that. Same thing if you asked them and they say no. If you they both say yes, then you have to ask me to have babies. Oopsy babies don’t get good homes.” The last part was a lie. She would found them good homes but she would do some movie magic to make them think that they went to homes of abusers. She knew it was a bad thing to make them think their babies went to bad places but she didn’t want them pumping out foals like their species was dying out. She didn’t think Delta and Ironside would give Dolly foals without her permission. Ironside was too traumatized and Delta wouldn’t disobey. The last line was for Beloved and Feather.
“We won’t hab babbehs unwess Cathy say su.” Feather said.
“Good, now, I’ll be gone for a few hours. If you behave and you’ll join the others when I get back.”
…
Cathy come back holding a folder and a bag full of groceries. She was singing. “Yo-ho-ho, and a thousand trucks Gonna take a bath with a Rubber Duck Yo ho ho, and a lots a’ luck 'Round the world with the Rubber Ducky!”
Ironside ran up to her. “Wat Cathy singin’?”
“Around The World With A Rubber Duck. It’s the song sequel to Convey.”
Ironside was confused. He didn’t know songs could have sequels. Cathy was human and humans were smarter then fluffies. They could lie, but he trusted Cathy.
Cathy place the groceries on the table. She pulled a chair in front of the pen. “Gather round. I need to talk to you all.”
The three adult fluffies put the foals in one big pile. They went to her. Beloved spoke. “Yes, Cathy.”
Cathy sighed. “Feather, please be honest. How many Special Friends have you had?”
Feather looked away. “Bewobed onwy speshuw fwend.”
Cathy tried a different way. “Did you have babies before you had babies with Beloved?”
Feather was quiet for a long time. She was conflicted. Cathy seemed nice and wouldn’t judge her, but Beloved didn’t know and he might be mad at her. The guilt of what happened with her first litter was eating her up and had been for a long time.
Feather started crying. “Meanie stawwion gabe feathah babbehs. Fwuffy think fwuffy was meanie. Nu can wemembah. Think fwuffy was nice, buh think fwuffy meanie too. Owd mummah made Feathah be meanie to babbehs, hab heawt huwties. Wish couwd teww babbehs mummah sowwy. Su many sowwies.”
“You can tell one baby you’re sorry right now.”
Feather looked up at Cathy. “Can teww babbeh mummah sowwy?”
“Yes, you can.” Cathy looked at Dolly. “Remember when I put that stick in your mouth.”
Dolly nodded. “Dolly wemembah.”
“Well that stick took something called DNA from you. one of the things humans can do with DNA is find your family and we can tell you how you’re related. It told us that Feather is your mummah.”
“Feathah am Dowwy’s mummah?”
“Yes, she is.”
“Nu am twue, mummah mean, Feathah am nice.”
“Weren’t you listening. Your old human mummah made Feather be mean to you.”
“Nu am twue,” Feather said. “Fiwst babbehs wewe gway an’ bwown.”
“Humans can make fluffies a different color for a short time.” Cathy looked at Dolly. “Dolly, tell me what you remember before you lived with the lady that trained you to be a nurse mare.”
“Dowwy wibe in wittwe pwace wiff bwothews an’ sistews. Nu toys, nu can pway, nu mummah, cowd miwkies, nu taste gud nummies. Big fwuffy, think mummah, nu wemembah what wook wike. Towd babbehs wewe bad babbehs, hate babbehs, wish dey wewe fowebah sweepy babbehs. Said daddeh was smawty that gabe bad speshuw huggies. We wewe bad an’ goin’ to be smawty wike him, we can twy to be gud buh…”
Feather finished. “… Babbehs am ebiw. Babbeh goin’ to gib owwies tu othah fwuffies wike smawty daddeh huwtie mummah, take fowebah sweepiah to sabe wowwd.” Feather cried harder.
Dolly was in shock. It was true. Feather was her mom, but her mom was a meanie. No, it wasn’t Feather that was mean. It was Ruby. Ruby was the worse kind of human. She made good fluffies do and say bad things. For the first time in her life, she hated. She hates Ruby to her very core. She wanted, something, she didn’t know the word for it. But she wanted it. She wanted Ruby to be punished for what she had done. They were good fluffies. They all were good fluffies. No not all. Rogue was bad, but she didn’t deserve what was done to her, none of the deserved what was done to them.
Dolly hugged Feather. Angry tears rolling down her checks. “Dowwy fowgibe Feathah. Feathah nu am bad, know owd mummah made Feathah be meanie.”
It was Feather’s turn to be shocked. Dolly forgave her. She felt she didn’t deserve to be forgiven. This was more than she hope for. She hugged Dolly back and let it all out.I
Cathy turned her attention to Beloved. “How do you feel about all this, Beloved?”
Beloved kept looking at the two mares. “Bewobed am happy an’ am sad, an’ hab head huwties.”
Cathy gave him a nod. “It is a lot to take in. Do you still love Feather?”
“Feathah am speshuw fwend. Wub speshuw fwend fowebews.”
“How do you feel about Dolly?”
“Dowwy fwend an’ Feathah babbeh, wub Dowwy. Hab sickies. Owd mummah made Bewobed gib owwies tu Dowwy. Made Dowwy hab Bewobed babbehs. Hab many heawt huwties. Nu mowe. Bewobed nu wan’ to huwties Dowwy nu mowe.”
Cathy nodded. “When they girls are finished having their moment, I need to talk to you all some more.”
“Bewobed teww them.”
“No Beloved, you all need to hear this, and you need to hear this from me. I can not have you tell them.”
Cathy wanted ten minutes for the two mares to calm down enough for her to talk to them some more. She put the groceries away while she waited. She sat back down and sighed. “Tell me how Rogue lost her tongue and front legs.”
Beloved told Cathy the whole story about Rogue. He didn’t leave anything out.
“I see.” Cathy was silent for a moment. “So you know, what I’m going to tell you isn’t your fault. And thank goodness it isn’t something she can pass down. Unfortunately, when the case against your old mummah is over, she’ll have to go forever sleeps.”
Beloved almost yelled. “Buh she hab tummy babbehs.”
“Beloved, her tummy babies will already be born and at their forever homes by that time. Don’t worry, they’ll live here when they’re born. If Dolly or Feather is willing to raise the fouls, that is.”
“Dowwy an’ Feathah wiww waise babbehs to be gud babbehs.” Dolly said. “Wogue am bad fwuffy, not babbehs.”
“Why Wogue hab to go fowebah sweepies?” Feather asked.
“Rogue has bad head sickies. Humans have tried to fix this head sickies, but so far, human haven’t found away to fix it. Well there is a “cure” but it isn’t a real cure.”
“Wat am cuwe? Wan’ Wogue bettew, not fowebah sweepies.”
“Feather, I only know of one human to be cured of their head sickies this way, and they did it on accident. Of course, they were trying to give themselves forever sleepies with a bang bang. That doesn’t matter, because it doesn’t really work. She could go forever sleepier anyway. At best she’ll be an overgrown forever baby.”
“Wat am cuwe?”
Cathy pointed at Feathers head. “Going into her thinky place. And taking some of it out. About. Right here. But the problem with the thinky place is we won’t know where the sickies are and take the wrong part.”
Feather thought about what Cathy told her. Humans were smart. She had to trust what Cathy was telling her. “Otay’, Cathy. Wiww miss Wogue fowebah.”
"Now that is settled. There’s more I must tell you and Beloved. After your babies go to their new home, you’re going to live somewhere else. The man that has your brown and cream baby from your first litter has offered you a place to stay."I
“Cathy nu wike Bewobed an’ Feathew?”
“It’s not that. I like you and you’re good fluffies, but I don’t think I’m the right owner for you. You want a family and many babies. It will be many many forevers before I’ll allow you to have foals again.”
“Nu wike babbehs.”
“I love babies, but … How do I explain this so you understand. You seen the shows that tell you why you shouldn’t be outside fluffies?”
Feather nodded. “Dey gib heawt huwties.”
"Then you know babies need human love as well as their parents love to grow big and strong. I work long hours normally. They won’t get the love they need from me. "You
Feather thought about it. It was true, TV said so and so did nice Mummah Cathy. “Wiww Cathy come see Feathah an’ Bewobed.”
Cathy smiled. “As often as I can.”
"Goin’ to wibe wiff Cupid?"Beloved asked.
“If that was your brown and cream foal, yes, but his daddy calls him Cadbury.”
“Cadbuwy am gud namsey.”
“Dolly have you made your choice about where you want to go?” She said she wanted to stay but she had a few hours to think about it now.
Dolly nodded. “Wan’ stay hewe.”
“Okay, what about the rest?”
“Nu know othah fwuffies. Seem nice, buh nu know.”
“I’m going to open the gate. Ironside will show you to the safe room and explain the rules to you. Their are special rules for babies. As you know, you must watch them at all times, they are not to leave the safe room, ‘only little baby’ isn’t a excuse once they open their eyes. You need to teach them to be good for good homes. They will start to be trained once their eyes open as well. I’ll give you and them what they need. No bad behavior will be forgiven. I’m not Ruby, but I do run a tight ship. If a foal starts acting like Rogue did, give me the foal. I have a friend that will help them be good babies, it may be too late for Rogue, but if we catch it young enough, we can make then good.” She lied to them again. There was no curing a smarty, but they didn’t need to know that.
The three fluffies gathered their babies and went to the safe room with Ironside. Dolly studied Ironside. He had been nice to her, talking to her through the gate. Giving them his a fruit and vegetable snacks. He seem like a good fluffy, just looked scary.I
…
Ruby and two other people sat in a lobby. Each had a police officer with them. Each handcuffed to a chair. Each looking angry and confused. They didn’t know why they were there. They were just told to come with the officer and not to speak.
The man was short and fat. Clearly bolding even though he was trying to hide it with a bad comb over, glasses too small for his face. The other was an older woman. She had tale tell signs of her bought beauty. Her stuck up attitude radiated out of her.
A man in a over size lab coat walked up to him. His messy hair looked like it was cut by a blind fluffy. Chunks where cut in odd angles and at different lengths. He looked skinny but with his loose fitting clothes, it was hard to tell. It was obvious he lost a lot of weight but never bothered to go shopping for new clothes. He hadn’t shaved in days. What unnerved Ruby was his eyes. There was something dark and insane about his eyes.
The man smiled, “You all came, how wonderful. Would you kindly come with me to my lab?”
The three officers escorted their prisoners to the lab. There were three chairs in front of a table with hoops on it. The three police officers looked at each other. The man explained. “It was the only table available. Dometimes I have to chain down a my subjects for their own safety.” The man laughed. “You can handcuff them to the hoops if you want.”
The offers shook their heads and hook them to the chairs.
The man shrugged. “You are most likely wondering why your here. Fear not, I will explain. I am here to offer you a chance to reduce your sentences. But first let us get to know each other. I’m Dr. Lois. I like good wine, metal, and long walks in the park. This is Peter, he got caught with an illegal fluffy fighting ring and making all kinds of fluffy porn. No kink shame, but no kink same. Mrs. King here, ran an illegal breeding mill, those poor mares were being breed to death and this stallions dicks were ticking time bomb. A few exploded. A horrible death for any male. Don’t let me go into the foals. Now this bitch, she got caught offering up a underage mare as a prized. And she slapped a very good friend of mine.”
Ruby wanted to yall at him but was stopped by the cop’s hard stares. She sunk down in her chair. She felt like a child caught in the cookie jar. She hated this. Her life was ruined and it was that girl’s fault.
“I need your help with an experiment. I will give you each very special fluffies. You will take care of them.”
“What’s the catch?” Peter asked.
“You can’t punish them using any method that will cause them physically pain. I know one of you loves using a sorry stick to the face.”
Everyone looked at Ruby.
Ruby huffed. “It’s the most effective way. Got my former breeding mare that developed bitch mare syndrome to straighten up.”
“Well you can’t do that here. Become the old Ruby, the one before your twin died.”
Ruby couldn’t hide her surprise.
“Yeah, I know everything about you three. Now, I believe everyone will eventually get the fluffy they deserve. Like you, your fluffies have history.” Dr. Lois pulled out a cage with a half grown blue filly with a purple mane. She was shaking like a leaf. She hadn’t reach sexual maturity, but she was getting close. “Peter, you get 19 here. She gave her mammah poisoned nummies because she didn’t give her the respect she thought she deserved.” He pulled out another cage. This one had a green colt with a yellow mane. “Mrs. King, you get 22, this boy can swim. He used this ability to trick and drown his herd and any other fluffy he found.” Dr. Lois pulled out the fluffy meant for Ruby. A red one. “23 was given up by his herd. He killed his own newborn siblings for his mother’s continued servitude.”
Red was angry. He found not to scream and yell, he learned better. The mean man had put something in his body that, when he pressed a button, gave him shock hurties over. Including his no-nos. He learned not to speak to the mean man or around him. He learned not to do anything in front of him. He’s words and action got him hurt.
When he first got their he was part of something the humans called a behavioral experiment with the other two. They wanted to see if they could make them obedient only to them. It worked and failed. They did what Dr. Lois said to a degree. Everything to the minimum effect to do it. This wasn’t good enough. So the project was scrapped and the three survivors put in the new project.
“They sound like hellgoblins,” Mrs. King said.
“Gold star for you. That’s exactly what they are. And if you try to train them with only using the most hands off methods of punishment. You’ll be doing probation in no time. You lay a punishing hand on them, back to jail you go to wait out your full sentence.”
“Why us?”
“Rehabilitation should be something you work for. It shouldn’t be something just handed out to you. Plus, I’m the only one here and the other departments don’t have anyone I could borrow for this experiment.” The last part was a lie. The other departments did have people they wanted to punish by sending them to his department and his friends would have given him people if he asked. But when Cathy told him what happened. He came up with the idea. Why scar interns when you can torture someone that deserved it?
“What do you say? Will you help me out?”
“Do we have a choice?”
“I told you. You could go back serve your full sentence with gen pop. It’s only what, two year per fluffy they found. Half that time, a better lunch and dinner and a cell away from the others if you help me. Might have to share with Ruby. But I’ll keep her away from sticks and stick like objects so your pretty face will stay unharmed.”
Mrs. King turned red with anger. She wasn’t sure if he was mocking her with the last line. Mocking her or not, it was better then the last year. When the other weren’t mocking the fact she had plastic surgery. They were mocking why she there. It wasn’t that cost of the license that stopped her from getting one. It was the principal. She thought they were a horrible idea. They were fluffies, not animals. Breeding them was the same was making jewelry and selling it online. “I will do it.”
“Wonderful. Peter are you in or out?”
Peter nodded. “Yes.” Peter hadn’t been in prison long, but his life was hard. He never told anyone about the films, but somehow it got around the second week he was there.
“Short and sweet, Ruby will you take your love to town?”
Ruby laughed. “You don’t strike me as the county music type.”
“I’m not, Cathy is, she’ll listen to anything. You don’t have to worry about her. With me and the officers that will be here, and a few other things, you won’t bother her.”
Ruby snarled. It was the best way to get out and get her revenge. “Sounds fun.”
Dr. Lois smiled wide. He hope she would say that. It was going to be fun.
…
This story will wrap up in part 9. It’s not the end of Ruby story. She will be back with Red (from One And Only). Title pending. There is a scripted comic written about the mentioned experiment. I will get to drawing it eventually.