“Here piggy piggy piggy!”
Sunflower sprinted as fast as her little yellow leggies could carry her, her heart pounding in her ears. “Pwease weggies! Wun fasta!” she begged, her legs already burning from the effort it took to keep up her current pace.
The day had started well. She had woken up in her quiet alley next to her special friend, a blue stallion named Fred. They had cuddled for a while before leaving the old recycling bin they inhabited, beginning to forage along the quiet streets. The low foot traffic meant a lack of humans and their associated litter, but the rarely trodden streets were host to thousands of dandelions that kept her and her special friend well fed, especially for a feral.
They had been grazing along the sidewalk, tucking some of the bright yellow flowers into their fur for later when they heard it.
Click
thud
Click
thud
“Wha’ am noisies?” Fred asked, quickly positioning himself in front of Sunflower to protect her from the unknown disturbance. The sound grew ever closer until a short human rounded the corner, slowly limping along on a set of wooden crutches. His bright grey not fluff was thin, fluttering freely in the light wind.
“Fuckin’ VA… I’m a god damn veteran, whadda they mean the cafeteria is only for active members… bullshit fuckers… first the cut off my fucking leg and now I can’t even get a damn coffee…”
Fred had made the first move, boldly striding up to the short, pudgy human. “Nyu fwen?”
With a quick, practiced movement the man reached out with a crutch, placing it under the stallions chest and flipping him onto his back. “And now I’m being assaulted by the fucking VC of NA,” he said, taking a swig from a flask that hung loosely by his hip, “except at least the Viet Cong had an ounce of goddamn sense!”
Fred had struggled weakly under the splintery wooden crutch, gasping for breath as his hoofpads weakly flailed “KAFF KAFF HU-KAGK HUWTIES! NU WIKE!”
Sunflower stared with shock, her legs trembling as the man reached under his thick green jacket and withdrew a long, shiny Bowie knife. Both fluffies were entranced by the blade glinting in the sunlight, glued to the shimmering metal as it made a shining arch into Fred’s inner thigh.
“SCREEEEEARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHhhhhgggghghhhgghh!!!”
Sunflower stood transfixed as she watched the man butcher her mate, the sharp, well maintained blade effortlessly tearing through the weak tendons and muscles of Fred’s legs, the stallion screaming in pain as blood pooled around him. The short man chortled. “God damn you fuckers scream loud for how tiny your lungs are!”
Sunflower shook herself out of her stupor, wailing loudly as she ran up and began beating against the man’s legs. “Nuuuuuu! Spechul fwen nee’ weggies fo’ wun an pway! Nu take weggies! Nuuuuuuu!”
The man gave a short, harsh laugh before backhanding the mare in the face, leaning over her and screaming “THIS IS WAR! You FUCKERS will get no mercy from me you baby raping racists!”
Sunflower watched helplessly as the old man removed the stallions other right leg, leaving him lopsided. Fred screamed, still struggling under the weight of the man’s knee that pinned him to the ground. “SPECHUL FWEN WUN!”
And Sunflower had run. She ran as fast as her leggies could carry her, sprinting down the quiet streets. The man faced munstahs cackled echoed through the streets, louder than even her special friend’s screams.
“Run, run, run, little piggy!”
Sunflower saw the bright graffiti mural that marked the location of the pairs nest, quickly turning down the tiny alley. She could hear the munstahs approach, sprinting to the recycling bin she buried herself in the moldering newspapers and scraps of cloth that formed the couples bed.
Click
thud
Click
thud
Sunflower flinched at every step the munstah took, shaking with fear. She smelled the coppery scent of booboo juice, slowly growing stronger and stronger as the footsteps drew closer. She heard the munstah cackle at the alleys entrance.
“I smoked out those VC bastards in their own jungles! You think you can escape from me in the streets of my own city?”
Sunflower held her breath, pushing back as far into the mound of bedding as she could, tears streaming down her face. She could feel her heart beat, pounding in her ears like a drum. She closed her eyes tightly, trying to remain as still and quiet as possible. It wasn’t enough.
“Well, well, well. What do we have here?”
A rough, callused hand shot through the moldy newspaper, grabbing Sunflower by the hind leg. “SCREEEEEEEEEEEE”
“Hah! Gotcha bitch!”
The stench of grain alcohol stung the mares eyes as she was dangled upside down, inches from the munstahs face.
Sunflower began to sob, thick tears falling to the pavement as the munstah drew his blade once more. “Pwease nu huwt fwuffy! Am soo-“ a closed fist backhand silenced the mare momentarily as well as sending a few teeth clattering to the grimy alley floor.
“OWIEEEEEHHUUUHUUhu-“ another backhand knocked more to the floor and left the mare with a concussion. “Your fake tears don’t fool me, you bastard!” The mare sobbed, vomiting a thick yellow green sludge. “Nu fake, am weaw! Pwease, fwuffy nu am fow huwties am fow-“
The mare was suddenly dropped, falling chest first onto the cement, breaking a few ribs and winding her. “GAGHK! huuugh…. GASP!” Sunflower curled into a ball and began to sob as the man poked at her with a crutch, the mare screaming in pain as he prodded a broken rib.
“Fucking pighorses…”
Sunflower sobbed loudly, tears and snot streaming across her face as the man knelt down, pinning her with his one knee. “NU AM PEEGHOWSE, PWEASE WET FWUFFY GU! NU WAN FOWEBA SWEEPIES! WAN WIVE! WAN WIVE!”
“I ain’t gonna kill ya girl! Perish the thought! I stopped killing back in ‘Nam!”
Sunflower sobbed loudly. “Buh… buh Spechul fwen!” The man guffawed. “I didn’t kill him, he’s still alive!” The mare relaxed only slightly, the Hasbio programming to love all humans fighting with the mares overwhelming fear of death. “Weawwy?”
The man chuckled, a sick smile spreading across his face. “Of course! The rats do all the killing.” With a flourish and flash of light the knife slashed through the delicate tendons and muscles holding the mares right hind leg to her body.
“SCREAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGGGHHHHHHHHH”
The man moved with deadly efficiency, amputating the right hind leg and moving to the foreleg, dislocating it with a short, jerky twist before severing the leg and tossing it over his shoulder. The mare hadn’t even finished her first scream before the man was done with her, wiping the bloody Bowie knife on the mares grimy fluff before sheathing it and slowly standing, using the wall to support him.
“There we go…” the man chuckled as he leaned against the wall, tucking the sheathed blade under his coat and checking his wristwatch. “And still in time for the early bird special at Cracker Barrel!”
Sunflower wasn’t listening. The intense pain and stress had sent the mare into shock, leaving her gasping on the floor as the man hobbled out of the alley, disappearing from view as the mare lay limply on the blood soaked cement, tears freely streaming down her face.
squeak
The mares eyes darted around the alley, looking for the source of the odd new noise. “He…. Heh… hewwo?” Her voice was weak, barely a whisper as an odd chittering noise approached.
squeak?
The mares heart rate spiked, more blood pouring from her wounds as the rat came into view. “Nu…. Weave fwuffy awone!” Sunflower begged as the rodent scampered up next to her, sharp yellow teeth quickly tearing into her eye as the mare wheezed, unable to scream.
“Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeehuuuhuuhuuhuuu!”
More rats scampered out of various spots in the alley, from under dumpsters, gutters, grates and cracks they swarmed, tearing into the soft, weak flesh of the mare, biting, gnawing, cracking open bones to feast on her marrow. Sunflowers last vision before her other eye was taken was that of rats feasting on the small, fluffless tummeh babbehs that they tore from her. The mare died of a broken heart before the rats could kill her, slipping into an endless void.