It was a quiet day for the herd. Too quiet.
You looked around. The sun was high in the sky, illuminating the patch of ground you called your home. Dream was gone, looking for nummies. You could hear his foals chirping in their nest while Sunny sang to them.
Tuffy was circling the camp with his chin up, not about to let even a bug wander in.
Your red foal was here too. The one Dream had saved what felt like forever ago. You watched him wander about, giggling with Sunny’s foals, eating nummies. You were simply grateful to have him.
There wasn’t much else to do. Not until your nummie finder made it back at least.
And so, you took a nap. It had been long enough, right?
Laying down on the comfy patch of leaves reserved for you, you closed your eyes.
“Nyu fwen?”
What. You jolted up, wandering into the herd, a red mare. Smiling and looking about curiously.
Tuffy wasted no time running to her.
“Hu am ‘ou?” He said. “Dis am hewd homsies!”
“Sowwy!” She said. “Fwuffy nu kno dat!”
“Kno wat?” A second fluffy, approaching from the opposite direction, this one a purple colt. What was happening?
“Nu move!” You yelled to both of them. “Wewe ‘ou com fwom?” You said, stepping forwards. Your red foal silently looked at the new guests, while Sunny stood up, inching closer to her nest.
“We fwom Smawty Huwk’s hewd siwwy!” The mare said.
“Hu am Smawty Huwk?” You asked her. “Smawty am onwy Smawty wound hewe!”
Sunny was placing her foals on her back. A precaution maybe, in case things got out of hand.
“Buh Huwk am dah bestest smawty!” The voice was another new fluffy. “He bit meanie sometime buh Huwk aways kno wat’ wite.”
“Wy su many fwuffies!” You yelled. “’Ou hab mowe fwuffies? ‘Ow many!?”
“We hab wots ob fwuffies in Huwk’s hewd!” The colt happily said. “We hab pwetty mawes an’ babbehs an’ big stwong tuffies…”
“Big stwong tuffies?” Tuffy asked.
“Ye! An Fundah am da biggest an tuffiest! Ow! Dewe Fundah nao! Hai!” The colt waved his hoof towards you.
You only had a second to see the lumbering silver stallion that had snuck up behind you before he plowed his hoof square in your eye.
“SMAWTY!” Tuffy yelled.
“EEE! Fundah gibing huwties!” The mare screamed, “Tyme tu go!” The three new fluffies ran.
Disoriented, you found yourself on the ground.
“SCREE! SUNWY SABE BABBEHS!” Sunny had already taken off. That was the last time you saw her.
You looked up to your attacker. The silver pegasus with the black mane named Thunder. His hoof was bloody, and only now did you realize your eye had been smushed.
Thunder raised his hoof again, but was knocked to the side. Tuffy rammed the beast, but even with all his strength, Thunder only stumbled back slightly. He looked back to Tuffy with fire in his eyes while you crawled away.
Looking around, you saw your red foal hiding under a paper nummie container Dream had brought some weeks ago. As Tuffies screams filled your ears, you pulled yourself towards your foal.
“Tuffie gon-“
WHACK!
“OWIES!”
SMACK!
“’OU AM… STIWW DUMMEH…”
WHACK!
“TUFFIE… PWOTECT…”
SMACK!
WHACK!
CRUNCH!
A hoof came down in front of you, blocking your way. You looked up, your eye following it to a Green unicorn with a black mane.
“’Ou am hewd’s Smawty?” He asked.
Looking to your foal, then to the unicorn, you gave a painful nod.
The Unicorn followed your gaze to the food container, and stepped towards it.
“NU!” You yelled. “WUN! WUN WAY!”
The Green Unicorn flipped over the container, and brought his hoof down on the foal’s tail before it could jolt.
“Scree! Wet babbeh gu! Scawy!”
The Green Unicorn looked back to you. “Wewe am Dweam?”
Dream!? What did he want with Dream?
“Dweam’s smeww am hewe. Nesties smeww wike him. Wewe Dweam?” The Unicorn repositioned his hoof on your foal’s head, and began pressing down.
“CHIRP! HUWTIES!”
Your heart was racing. “Dweam finding nummies! Nu am bacc! Pwease nu hewt Smawty’s babbeh!”
The Unicorn smiled. “Den we wait.” And pressed harder. You could only watch as your red foal’s head was compressed, his hooves flailing about as one eye popped out, then the other. You heard the worst crunching noises of your life as his fragile skull gave way all at once. Reducing your foal’s head to a mess of blood.
You didn’t know how long you lay there twitching, tears running down your face. You did nothing as Thunder dragged you away by the tail. Putting his hoof on your head as the Green Unicorn took his place next to you.
You heard leaves and sticks cracking, panting. A blue and white shape sprinted through the trees towards you. Arriving at Sunny’s nest with his poopie and purple foals, Dream stood at the empty nest where his foals had been.
“DWEAM!” You shouted to him.
He turned around, and saw you.
“Dweam miss Huwk?” the Green Unicorn said.