Simple Creatures Chapter 3 (By Thk)

The day kept getting worse and worse for green and yellow soon-Mummah.

She woke up with her Special Friend very early when the first birds started singing, same as always, and made their way to the poopies and peepees spot together with each standing guard for the other during that moment of vulnerability, despite the only witness being the yellowed bones of the fat-no-more Smarty. Then they drank water from the little hoof-deep stream and ate some of the food from the nummie box. The guard Toughie was asleep so she booped her on the nose like a Mummah would a fussing Foal. She was angry about that, but nobody ever stayed mad at green and yellow soon-Mummah. She was one of the only babies to survive the cold months that year so in a way she became the entire herd’s baby.

Guard Toughie confused green and yellow then-not-Mummah. She was a Mare, and now-Smarty was very good friends with her, but they weren’t siblings or Special Friends. One day she was a Mare, who cried with all the rest of the Mares and babies when almost all the Stallions had been hurt in the worst ways until they went into that sleep that Fluffies can’t wake up from, but after Smarty slept in her den she had declared she was a Toughie now. She seemed to do a good job, but the other Toughies had been Toughies all their lives and had to remind her of things like patrolling the perimeter of the village rather than inside the circle formed where all the boxes exited, and to only drink when accompanied by another Fluffy. Green and yellow soon-Mummah thought that was worrying, but also knew that she would not be able to be a Toughie at all so Toughie Mare clearly was meant to be a Toughie.

After grumbling about how she wasn’t asleep and then physically nudging green and yellow and her Special Friend until the two of them made an orderly line they were allowed into the nummy box. Green and yellow loved the meat sticks most. They tasted like the happy time she had been allowed to not be nummies as a Filly! Fluffy meat still bothered her, but the other kinds were very good. After she was done she nuzzled her snout against the cheek of her Special Friend (who had successfully suppressed gagging from the smell of rancid garlic sausage).

The two of them played for a while, then at the first proper light they got to work pulling up grass around the box settlement and leaving it in the grass pile to dry out and be bedding. The new ex-domestic Filly named Spritz was already there working. She was very dumb, having been released by her young human owner who thought that an adventure in the forest just like in cartoons would be perfectly fine. Spritz meant well and seemed to obey every single feral who asked something of her, and more importantly she had also been willing to find herself more work to do rather than wander off to play when her jobs were done which quickly endeared her to every member of the herd that would find themselves suddenly being helped. Spritz’s beautiful gold-flecked amber eyes certainly helped, and green and yellow Mare wondered more than once if her Special Friend invited her to work with them so often because Spritz needed to learn, because her similar-looking blue coat made her look like a member of Special Friend’s family, or there was something to be jealous about. Still, Spritz was no knowing homewrecker and Special Friend never acted suspiciously, so green and yellow remained friendly to her.

Smarty hadn’t stopped by to remind them to work hard today. In fact when he emerged from the box of red oldest-Mummah and red no-longer-Toughie he seemed to want to avoid everyone as he made a dash to the little creek then went a bit further down than he allowed any non-Scout Fluffy to go.

The three kept working as the first yellow rays of the sun poked up over the horizon.

While green and yellow was dropping a load of grass into the drying pile there was screams. Special Friend had been on the way back to fetch more grass, but darted back to green and yellow’s side, joined by Spritz. They listened in terror as there was more screams, dying screams. Smarty ran past the pair, and after a few moments of hugging each other they saw brown Scout Mare running. She crossed the creek and was gone. A minute later there was another loud scream of a Fluffy, a Stallion. “Smawty!” green and yellow Mare gasped. The two lovers and Spritz stopped hugging and dropped to their hooves to run, bounding over roots and stones, up a steep ravine and down the other side, across the flat grey rock that humans walk on, a field, grey rock, another field, trees, a small black rock road that the baby metal monsters carried humans on, a small forest with itchy brown bark on the ground, through bushes, and because they didn’t feel safe enough they went a distance in the bushes before coming out again and following the black rock path before going back into the trees. Eventually green and yellow Mare was so tired she simply dropped, tongue rolling out and eyes closing.

She laid there in the sun, warming her fluff and drying the excrement on her tail and back legs. She started to doze off in the sun when something jostled her shoulder roughly. It was wet and loud, a raspy intake and exhale of breath. “Speshul Fwie-EEEEEEEEEEE!”

It was a monster! A barking monster. She rolled over and it continued pressing its nose into her. She saw teeth. Its nose went between her legs and it snorted and backed up a bit before coming back and sniffing her face. She screamed when its tongue extended and licked her. “EEEEEEEEYAAAAAAH!”

The monster suddenly stopped and looked up, then ran back. Before green and yellow could sit up she was in shadow. A voice came while her eyes adjusted. “What did you find, princess? Oh, no. No dead Fluffies! They’re icky! I don’t want to take you to the vet again.”

Green and yellow managed to catch her breath as her eyes adjusted and she looked up at the human before letting out another scream. It had big black eyes rimmed with pink! Its mouth was a hole showing the night time sky!

“Oh fuck, its not dead.”

The human picked up the monster and took off her eyes revealing…normal human eyes. Green and yellow noticed the cloth reflected the sun, so it was only a picture of the sky on its face. “Hey there, little…girl. Are you okay? Did you lose your owner?”

When green and yellow just stared and let her scream trail off into a prolonged squeak the human took off its mouth picture too. Now that the entire face was exposed green and yellow suddenly knew a bunch of things she didn’t before. It was a human Mare. Humans are always Daddys and Mommys. They give Fluffies that are bad unpleasant feelings which they deserve for being bad, but good Fluffies get perfect boxes called Houses. Humans are the ones who give Spaghettis (the previous message of bad=punishment instantly was forgotten), and toys which is the only source of fun. Humans clean Fluffies so they smell good, which is how you know good Fluffies from bad ones (she had never considered it a quality indicator of other Fluffies before) although how that was accomplished did not get elaborated on. Humans give Fluffies families, which is better than a herd especially for Mares. Good Fluffies deserve all those things, and no Fluffy can be really happy without them (this repeated several times in her brain while trailing off until it was boiled down to ‘good Fluffy deserve house, spaghetti, toys, herd’). Then for some reason she knew that Programming Department Supervisor Gibbons was a huge jackass, and for a moment she wondered who Jack was and why Gibbons became his poop end. Then the last bit of info entered her mind, that this human would give her a home if she asked!

Green and yellow opened her mouth to say the phrase at the forefront of her mind before she closed it and looked around for Special Friend who was of course an objectively more good Fluffy because green and yellow Mare loved Special Friend so much. Special Friend should be the one to ask. But in every direction there was no blue Fluffy.

“Whu-whewe Speshul Fwiend?”

“Huh? Is that your owner?”

“Nu! Fwuffy nu hab hoomin, hab Speshul Fwiend!”

The human’s baby voice disappeared, replaced by a monotone.

“Ah. You’re a feral then. ‘Kay, bye.”

“NUU! Pwease hoomin, hewp Fwuffy find Speshul Fwiend!!”

Green and yellow jumped and twisted until she was on her hooves then leapt at the woman, seizing her by the ankle and resting her belly on her toes.

“YECH!! Ah, fucking get off!”

Green and yellow was lifted into the air and she held on for dear life while the woman shook her leg.

“Nuuuu hoomin! Pwease pwease pwease hewp find Speshul Fwiend! Gun’ hab Babbehs! Babbehs need Mummah!!”

The woman stopped shaking her, looking at the small dirty Fluffy as if she was a shit-caked porcelain cup. She lowered her foot to the ground, careful not to stomp on the Fluffy’s back legs.

“Ah, fine, just get off me.”

“Hoomin hewp find Speshul Fwiend?”

“Yes, sure, just stop touching me.”

“YAAAAY! WUB HOOMIN, hooman am good hoomin!”

“Gee…thanks.” The shoes didn’t seem to have shit or piss on them, just some of the beauty bark from the little park garden. She brushed it off then looked at the Fluffy that was rearing back and cheering.

“Um, you uh, want anything to eat or drink?”

“Nuuuuu-uh…yus! Fwuffy am hungwy and fiwsty.”

The human unslung her backpack and poured out the last of the tub of dog treats then shoved her dog’s face back when she tried to race forward to eat it. “That’s for the little mommy. You’ve got more at home.” The little dog turned its attention instead to the Fluffy-touched shoe, licking it clean of the small meat-flavored Fluffy fecal flakes while his owner poured some bottled water into the small doggie bowl. The Fluffy devoured the meal ravenously, scarfing loudly (the woman was a bit repulsed, knowing that despite being high end dog food supposedly made of lamb and vegetables that it likely contained some Fluffy meat; green and yellow Mare simply knew it was meaty, and loved it).

Eager to distract herself from the thought she asked “So what does your special friend look like?”

Green and yellow looked up, cheeks bulging with dog treats, and said “Sffww fwn mm bww.”

“Burned?”

The Fluffy tried to swallow quickly, but the pain of the large and dry mouthfuls produced omly tears.

“Hey hey hey, drink some water sweetie.”

The Fluffy followed her advice by sticking her snout in the water and drawing a bit of water in through the small gaps of food in her mouth then chewing until it was soft enough for small swallows, and soon she had her mouth clear enough to speak out the side of her mouth.

“Speshuw fwiem am bwue.”

“What else?”

“Fwuffy…” she struggled for something else that she could share, something that wasn’t a smell. “…am big. An vewy bwue.”

Green and yellow Mare went to drink, confident the human’s skill and intelligence (since her mind put them around Smarty level in hierarchy) would make everything right.

“Shit kid, I’ve seen like five blue Fluffies today. Mostly tame though. Your pal a domestic?”

“Nu. Am hewd Fwuffy with Fwuffy.”

“Well, I saw a Fluffy that was big and really dark run that way-“ she pointed towards the bike path “-about ten minutes ago.”

“FANK YOU GUD HOOMIN, FWUFFY WUB OU!” shouted the small Fluffy as she took off in that direction, front legs pushing the ground between the back legs as they were in the air, looking like a young bunny covered mostly in grass. Green and yellow Mare continued along the path for a long while, staying to the side so the metal monsters wouldn’t get mad and chase her. One did, with the human on it laughing and taunting her, but she darted off the side of the pathway and left the human upside down and shouting in the bushes behind her while she raced back to the road. She didn’t know how far she was going, or if it was the right direction anymore, and only now did the thought occur to her that it wasn’t Special Friend the woman saw but instead Spritz or some other feral from another herd, but as despair began to put its feelers into her heart she heard a very unexpected noise; Fluffy chirping. She sniffed the air and recognized the scent. Mommy! Her mother was here! The sounds were her new brothers and sisters, four and one healthy babies born just four and two days ago. Green and yellow looked around, wondering how far she was from the village of boxes the herd called home. She had never left it before and had no way to guess. “Mummah? Mummah! Wastest wast wittew Babbeh am hewe Mummah!”

There was no response.

“Mummah! Ouw Fiwwy am hewe!”

Only chirps.

“Mummah?”

Green and yellow Mare pushed her way around the brush, trying to source the sound. When she reached a place even her small form could barely fit she found her siblings, dropped in a Fluffpile. Based on their intermingled bodies they had not been carefully arranged the way a good mother like hers would, and there was no sign of her mother. No blood, urine, feces, stray bits of fluff. Her scent was everywhere, but she was not. Only the babies were. They cheeped loudly and all wriggled in frustration, all covered in unlicked waste and each with an empty belly. Green and yellow didn’t know what to do. She couldn’t make milk yet, so all she could do was keep them safe as best she could. One by one she loaded them onto her back like Mummah had done when she was small and found her muscles and back chub naturally seemed to make space for them, the fluff wrapping around the top as they sunk into her flesh. Green and yellow Mare looked around, and didn’t know where to go now. Putting her nose to the ground and the leaves of the bushes told her there was Fluffies, but when she tried to follow the trail it stopped. She went a distance then smelled Fluffy again on a root, but then the direction she went didn’t yield any more Fluffy smells. This was Scout work, and she didn’t know how to be a Scout.

She set off walking again, following the sounds of birds and before long she realized she heard Fluffy chirping again. More babies in the bushes, this time her cousin’s. Cousin pink and purple Mare had given birth to three brown babies with brown, black, and yellow manes as well as three dead babies in pretty colors which was only four and four and three days ago. She wasn’t very nice to them at first but loved them when she accepted that the pretty ones weren’t waking up. Only then had she let red oldest-Mummah take them away, and loved her living babies. Green and yellow took them too, humming a little bit of the Mummah song when the Foals fussed at being on top of or underneath another baby. They all settled in and quieted down after a minute, and she resumed her journey before smelling blood and hearing big sounds a short distance away. She froze in fear until the sounds passed and she resumed her journey. The smell of blood got strong again and green and yellow Mare saw why; cousin’s leg was on the ground, bits of white inside-stick showing where the rest of her body should be. Fluff everywhere, but no scratches on the ground. Even a very young Mare without a role knew she hadn’t died here, merely been eaten here. Her feral instincts told her that much.

Eventually during the aimless wandering she realized there was a downwards slope ahead of her. Looking down the hill she saw a small house at the end of the black road and the beginning of the rocky one. The other houses were empty and all far apart, and the yard was very big; the back was fenced off but based on the old rock wall at the next house the property was much larger than the well-kept fence indicated, with overgrown brush forming a natural semi-covered alley between them. It was an old farmhouse, expanded across several generations until it was a respectably large two story (with a spacious multi-room basement). The old barn out back hadn’t seen animals besides rodents in decades, having been reinforced to be Fluffyproof when they began first showing up in herds and harassing the sheep. Though the old orchard had been lost from the diminishing plot size as the town grew during is heyday, a row of neglected fruit trees and one overgrown field remained which was protected by ancient and rotted pasture fencing. The settlement beyond looked like it once had potential as a metropolitan hub but now remained a mostly forgotten closet to the struggling city nearby and as a place for trains to pass through.

Of course the Mare knew none of this; it was just a somewhat safe looking place where she could rest and try to find a home for her kin gently snoring or peeping softly on her back.

The sun was high and at its hottest point, which when combined with her fluff and back heat would prove an issue for the babies. Green and yellow Mare began her slow walk down the hill and was halfway to the house when she heard a noise behind her. There was no hesitation, no thought; the bark had sent her sprinting down the rest of the way before she even registered what it was, following along the perimeter of the fence when the words ‘barking monster’ formed in her head. She reached the natural alley and instinct depleted its list of guided actions, leaving her terrified and trembling in the tall grass like a bamboo forest scaled down for the small horse-like creature. It was coming, the barking was going down the hill. She dropped to her belly and covered her face with her hooves, mind a torrent hoping it would be over fast while pleading for someone, anyone to save her.

She pleaded through the list one by one, in reverse order of love. Toughies, human with the space face, the babies, Smarty, Mummah. Then her last desperate plea, the one she loved most of all. “SPESHAAA FWIEEEEEEND! SAB FWUFFY! PWEASE, pwease…pwease sabe Fwuffy. Huuhuuhuuuuuu.” Then came a voice, one that immediately ended her crying. The most beautiful voice, Special Friend speaking from the other side of the fence. Faint from distance and muffled by wood and blades it came: “Speshuw Fwiend, whewe am ou? Pwease come to Fwuffy!”

“Whewe?! Nu can see howe in waww!”

“Fowwow Fwuffy voice!”

Green and yellow Mare hopped back up, adrenaline and a heart refilling with hope providing her the strength to try to save herself.

“Fowwow!” Special Friend was now on the other side of the fence from her. She followed the sound of Special Friend’s panting and continued cries to follow until green and yellow reached the hole, which in actuality was an entire board bashed in; Special Friend was big and strong (and the fence, despite its fresh coat of paint, was mostly dry rot glued together by layers of cheap house paint) and the hoof scratches in the soil indicated another Fluffy had helped. She zipped through it just as the grass was rustling loudly in the alley while the dog searched for its meal.

The yard was unkempt, but the tips of the grass only brushed her chin. Two mounds of rotting food and grass sat in the back of the yard, two locked sheds were near the fence hole, the ancient locked barn linked the yard to the pasture beyond, and an uncoiled hose was sprawled out connected to the house. A lawnmower with a tarp haphazardly thrown over it was next to the steps of a porch that extended all the way around the building with a door on each side where it met to the fence ensuring a separation between the front and back yards. Special Friend and Spritz were both there, causing green and yellow Mare to puff out her cheeks at them. Before she could even say a word there was a banging behind her; the barking monster had attempted to get through the hole and gotten stuck.

Unlike its siblings in the forest, this one had not left the town when the human owners had been evicted from their property and primarily subsisted on handouts from folks. It was fat and lacked the desperation that made its siblings such efficient Fluffy-hunters; its only interest in them was in play, since no fresh Fluffy Foal could ever compare to the honey sandwiches schoolchildren shared with him each morning nor the lunchmeat the timber yard workers would trade for a mere wag of the tail. It now desperately was trying to free itself from the situation it had stumbled into, but to the horror of the Fluffies it was trying to pull itself forwards.

Special Friend planted hooves into the dirt and shot it a defiant stare that would even give a human pause. “Wun.”

“Nu, Speshul Fwiend!”

“Yu haff Babbehs, need to gib Huggies and Wub.”

“Nu, nu wanna be awone withou Speshul Fwiend ebah again!”

“Wun Speshaw Fwiend an Spwitzy!”

“Nu wanna be apawt nu moah! Pwease, come wif-“

“WUN DUMMEHS!”

Spritz turned and bolted, beginning to piss and shit herself at the same time and sending spraying it like a trail behind her as her back end bobbed up and down from the gallop. Green and yellow took another look at Special Friend, who resembled a a Toughie ready to take on a whole herd. So she ran, hoping everything would be okay and refusing to consider that it wouldn’t be. The babies jostled in her back fluff, no longer sleeping and having disentangled themselves from her body, each peeping in terror as they knew something bad was happening but could only inform all adults of that fact as a defense. Spritz was at the door, banging on it with her front hooves and screaming for Mummah and big Mummah to rescue her. Green and yellow saw movement as the curtain in the window next to the door shifted, moving shadows visible past the glare of the sun on the glass. Suddenly a loud crash came; the dog was through! Spritz shrieked and tried to get back down the stairs, succeeding in falling and rolling down. Green and yellow started to follow her but then stopped and watched as Special Friend tried to distract the dog, hopping around and screeching at it. While momentarily cautious it overcame the fear when no attack came, snapping at Special Friend who’s ‘dance like a butterfly’ turned into ‘avoid getting your head bitten off’. Green and yellow Mare raced up the steps and began pounding on the door screaming as loud as she could. “HEWP HOOMIN! SABE SPESHUL FWIEND! SABE BABBEHS! Hewp, pwease, Fwuffy wiww join hoomin hewd if pwease sabe Fwuff-EEEEEIES!” The last syllable turning into a shout as the door suddenly opened and she fell into the opening. She raced inside as fast as she could, pushing the door open further as she brushed past. “SABE MUMMAH AN BABIES!”

…

Green and yellow tried to stay quiet. Her instincts told her everything would be okay, and as scary as the man in the magic box was he was talking about helping Fluffies. He did magic that made the Fluffy that looked like it was going to die instantly better. The human outside the box was about to do the same magic, she just had to be patient. The bigger human who picked her up and yelled at her had stopped being mean, setting up the spell on a table and putting her siblings in a pile. She just had to be patient. Special Friend and Spritz were going to be okay. So were all the babies, and herself too. But she couldn’t shake the nervousness, imagining that sharp small stick going into the blue Mare like it had the Stallion in the box.

Then the human used magic to make fire come out of his hand and her nerves crumbled. She shook and shrieked, unable to stay quiet. When Smarty had appeared she felt happy because he was alive! He’d made sure Special Friend and green and yellow Mare would be okay! He’d save the babies like he’d saved her when she was a baby just some months ago. They were an even smaller herd now, but the babies would grow up and they’d be only a normal small herd again.

But the magic human wasn’t happy. He smelled like he made bad poopies when Smarty came in (which made sense, anyone who didn’t know that Smarty was a good Smarty would probably be afraid) and told the big human to get the Fluffies out of there. He’d grumbled, but clearly the smaller one was the Toughie because the big one obeyed him. She was picked up under the armpits and cartied through the house before being put inside a smaller room and told not to move. Green and yellow sat on the floor, looking around at the mostly empty lavender room that was furnished with a few stacks of cardboard boxes, a few empty pieces of furniture, and a big wooden box with cloth on top. When the man came back he had Smarty held by the muzzle in one hand, straining due to his thrashing and muffled shouting, and the three babies in the crook of the other arm. He knelt in front of green and yellow Mare, who wanted to rush forward and grab them in case he dropped them, but the voice in her head said to let humans hold babies (though it said nothing about actually trusting them). Looking up at her he said “Eh, momFluff. Little help or you just gonna sit there and watch?” The voice was instantly quieted and she crossed the foot of distance to him and grabbed each by the scruff of the neck with her teeth and set them down on the ground. Now free from his burden the man turned his attention to Smarty, who was making incomprehensible promises of doom and declarations of hatred. The man just gave a mocking smile and gently flicked each ear, them his nose, making Smarty wince instinctively each time. Finally he rolled Smarty gently across the floor and ran. Smarty got to his hooves and dashed to the barrier, screeching at it and giving it sorry hooves while little green and yellow Mare checked on the babies.

Two not-Poopies and a not-monster not-Poopie, who were all red no-longer-Toughie’s sister’s. They were completely covered from ear to tail in urine and feces, as was Smarty. There was a part of her that said Smarty was no longer a Smarty, and deserved to be hurt for being a bad Fluffy. She didn’t understand what the thought meant, because the rest of her knew Smarty was good. He was a protector, he was kind, and she loved him. The thought didn’t want to leave though, so she focused on the babies instead. They were so gross! The little Filly was having a hard time even moving because her waste had mixed with mud that had hardened in her soft downy fluff on her back. The two Colts had fared better on that front, but worse in every other way as they had somehow been plastered in the face with poop and because they peed out nu-nu sticks that pointed up their bellies they had both soaked themselves in their own urine. The only parts of them that were clean was where the tears from their closed eyes and drool from their lips had rinsed the filth off.

Green and yellow Mare really didn’t want to do this. She wanted to leave them here for another Fluffy to take care of. She was barely out of babyhood herself. But there was no other Fluffy here other than Smarty, and he’d suffered the indignation of being a moving litter box for his herdmates already. She was going to be a Mummah soon, and would be a good one. It was the right thing to do. It was her job. None of these thoughts made her move a muscle.

Instead, it was pity that provided the motivation. The little not-monster shivered and let out a soft stuttering chirp that trailed off into silence, a self-comfort it didn’t expect to be answered. The little Filly heard it though, and even though her wriggling was severely limited by the fecal shell she made it to him bumped her nose against his cheek, then let out a coo. He sobbed once more then put his nose against hers and cooed back. The other Colt couldn’t seem to locate them, moving in the opposite direction, but gave a coo as well then yawned. It was him that the Mare picked up first, so as to not distract the other two from the heartwarming display.

The moment that green and yellow Mare’s tongue touched the not-Poopie Colt’s forehead some of her Fillyhood innocence died. It was, THE worst thing she had ever tasted. She felt disgusting, and disgusted. Overwhelmed. There was so much horrible gunk on the three of them, and she had to eat all of it. The little thoughts in her head immediately stopped judging Smarty and instead told her to hate the babies. They were Poopies, meant only for eating poop so it would go away until they died and made the world better for it. They had no right to exist because they weren’t real Fluffies, with thoughts and feelings who deserved things. Just bad ugly things that needed to go away like all other poopy things. The world was pretty and made of pretty things, and they didn’t belong in it.

The thoughts finished as the little Colt giggled from her licking the last of the vile stuff off of his cheek, and she held him up higher in order to start on his chest. The two others chirped, happy their brother was happy. Green and yellow thought the thinking voice was stupid. It was wrong about Smarty and it made sense that it was wrong about the babies too. They were cute, Smarty was good and she loved him very much, and the voice didn’t sound much like a Fluffy anyway.

The door opened and closed again, leaving the big human standing above her. He set down a bowl and started pulling her siblings and cousins out of it and setting them side by side next to her. He wrinkled his nose and said “Man, you things stink.” then noticed her licking the babies. He paused and opened his mouth to say something then closed it and kept pulling out the Foals quietly. Smarty looked like he was about to attack him, front legs stiff and back legs bent with cheeks puffed out. He let out a noise that was akin to a snarl for a Fluffy when the big human patted green and yellow Mare on the head. Suddenly the man reached out at Smarty, who gave him a shriek and a bite to the webbing between the index finger and thumb before he was pushed on his back with a loud and mocking “Boop!”.

The man was on the other side of the closed door laughing by the time he was back on his feet, and in frustration Smarty was screaming and kicking the door while the man said “Alright, any of you little shits need to make little shits, use the litter box. By which I mean Sam’s bed.”

Smarty continued his tantrum, but green and yellow Mare didn’t look. The voice judged him again, saying he had been shamed and the human was her new daddy and to destroy all the bad fake babies so he would love her. She ignored the stupid voice that said stupid things about good Smarty and good babies. She had a lot of babies to clean, because even though her siblings were cleaner each one had defecated on themselves. They needed to be cleaned and made happy, because she was their Mummah now. She could hardly call herself second best Mummah, which is the title she was aiming for, unless she made all her babies clean after all. But two thoughts forced their way into her head, this time both her own; she had no milk to give them and they were all hungry so they would die today, and Special Friend was dead. Then the realization that the barking monsters could probably reach them here too. Smarty and herself would die too.

She tried to force out the thoughts and focus on the action, but couldn’t. She’d gotten used to the terrible taste and smell, and her body was moving of its own accord now. Nothing to distract her from what was going to happen. All the babies would die. Special Friend died for her. Smarty would die. So would she. Death, dead, dying. It was hopeless. Then she felt a pair of tiny hooves wrap around her eyes and she froze. She was cleaning the pee off not-monster’s tummy when she’d started crying, and he instinctively hugged her. She openly wept, his fluff collecting her tears and his baby scent filling her snout. Slowly she began grooming him again, finishing him off and setting him down next to his two clean siblings. The rest of the babies took far less time, and soon a giant Chirpie fluffpile the size of an adult lay beside her. But they were not sleeping, as the hunger pangs nibbled at each of them.

Not knowing what to do now she bowed to the instinct to try and feed them. She sat upright with her legs apart and picked up the runt of her mother’s litter, placing him on one of her nipples. She knew her teats were empty, that they were still covered in the fluff that would fall out and leave them bare when they eventually swell would swell to twice the size of a Chirpy. Hers were still tiny, smaller than the ones on a chubby Stallion. But she didn’t know what else to do. The baby didn’t seem to know what to do either, since there was no sweet milk smell. But it eventually latched onto the still-hairy nipple and tried to suck and knead at undeveloped glands. It was excruciating, and green and yellow Mare let out a squeal but she endured it. All she could do now was give them a bit of hope. Maybe they would think their new Mummah had failed them instead of feeling abandoned.

Smarty eyed her. “What ou doin?”

“…hewpin.”

“But ou hab nu miwkies.”

“Dey nu know dat.”

He kept looking at her as she rotated the babies one at a time, each struggling and desperately seeking nourishment before sobbing gently as they were pulled away. It hurt so much. She wouldn’t be able to get through this if she thought she’d be alive to feel the bruising and rawness later. As each baby was removed they were quiet afterwards, now aware that they were not suffering because of a lack of attention or love. Each snuggled back among the other babies, knowing from the other grumbling bellies that they were not left as the only one unfed. The voice in her head had been urgently forcing the (mangled, raw instinct composition of) the Mummah song into her mind since she first began grooming.
She was starting to get used to ignoring it now, and since she had absolutely no happies left to fuel the singing she remained silent.

Finally Smarty stood and walked over to her. His belly grumbled as well though it looked like he had food in his gut somehow. He dropped next to her and placed his hoof on her shoulder for a moment. Most Fluffies would recognize this as an aggressive act, the threat of a blow from that same hoof, but Smarty had instead used the motion as a kind of respect, a way to form a connection without the sign of equality or weakness that a hug implied. She didn’t feel better, but the impending doom was less oppressive somehow. She reached over and hugged him instead, allowing his hoof to slide down and hang limply. Smarty closed his eyes and sighed. He whispered “Smawty gwad ou wewe gonna be Smawty’s Babbeh’s Mummah. Am Bestest Mummah fow widdwe Babbehs.”

Then the human opened the door.

Next Chapter

Chapter 2

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Not much to say about this one. The dead one is not Thatmotherfluffer’s adoptable, she’ll appear later.

Next chapter is the perspective of the surgery patient. Fun! Andre’s perspective will close out the first act. The remaining (surviving) Fluffs will not have a chapter of their own yet.

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Love it

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The scene of her cleaning the babbehs and trying to inspire hope is heartwarming. Also her pushing against her “programming” is intriguing.

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