After my guests left, I took the next few days to clean and pack. I let Andrea outside to explore more frequently as she had more energy with the foals being gone. Brownie seemed to follow me closely and interact more with me since I’m sure I imprinted more strongly onto her by feeding and caring for her more. I explained to Andrea that we were going to leave to go home back where I am from but she became upset and would mutter things about her imaginary “special friend”. She was also mentioning something about being “soon mummah again”, a term I didn’t understand and I thought it was about seeing her foals back in Portland.
The last day, as I was packing the car for the cross-country trip, Andrea bolted for the woods.
“Hey! Andrea! Get back here!” I yelled out to her.
“Speshuw Fwiend! Speshuw Fwiend!” She continued to yell out. I didn’t have time for games and imaginary friends, none of the foals had developed anything close to a weird fixation like Andrea did. I cornered her near some brambles as she was anxiously looking around.
“Andrea, we need to go. Don’t you want to see your babies again? They are back home with their new families.” I tried to reason with her.
“Andwea am soon mummah, babbehs nee daddeh, an mummah nee daddeh!”
“What are you talking about? I thought I was your ‘daddy’, I adopted you and your family, remember?”
“Andwea knu Mistuh Awmawd am daddeh, buh speshuw fwiend am daddeh fo’ babbehs a soon babbehs…” She explained. Was she pregnant again? Is this “special friend” a real live pony? Is this why she was going outside so much?
“Weave Andwea awone!” A small voice shrieked at me from behind. I turned and saw a red colored fluffy pony, about the same size as Andrea with a white and red candy cane-like mane. Its fluff was matted and dirty and was covered in dirt, sticks, and brambles. It was puffing out its cheeks, flapping its small wings, and its tail was lifted in the air in an aggressive stance that was punctuated with a scowl on its face.
“Dummeh poopie human!” It yelled as it stomped its hooves.
“Nuu! Speshuw fwiend! Daddeh Awmawd am nice mistuh! Daddeh gib gud nummies and hewp Andwea an babbehs!” Andrea pleaded with the red adult fluffy, clearly this must be the father of the foals
“Nuu cawe! Wodgew am hungwee an cowd and sweepies outsidies, suu many munstahs wan huwt fwuffie… sniff… sniff…” He trailed off as his eyes welled up with tears, he was starting to cry.
“Wai Andwea nuu gib nummies, nuu wet Wodgew hab wawm housies nuu mo’? Andwea nuu wuv Wodgew? Am Wodgew bad fwuffie? Huu huu huu…”
It looks like his name may be Rodger if I’m converting the accent correctly, he has been through a lot, living outside, fending for himself. I try to reassure him and get him to lower his guard.
“Hey Rodger, you are not a bad fluffy, it was scary out here by yourself, you must be so strong and brave!”
“P…poopie cowowed hoomin… maek Wodgew stay outsidies, huu huu.” He continued inconsolably. These animals seem to have a fascination with outward appearances as the little bastard commented on my skin tone.
“Rodger, do you want to get warmed up and eat, or stay out here?” I asked impatiently as I was getting fed up with some weird guilt trip he was making Andrea and myself go through. He red pegasus stood silently brooding until Andrea had to play peacemaker.
“Speshuw fwiend, Andwea am soon mummah, Speshuw fwiend be nice to hoomin daddeh a get gud nummies, nuu be dummeh.” She scolded him, which made him only become more resolved into this cute little temper tantrum.
“Hmph! Hoomin huwt fwuffies, Wodgew hewp Andwea, buh Andwea nuu hewp Wodgew.” He retorted, it looks like he was abused in the factory, used as a stud and nothing more. I was willing to guess he was the brains behind their breakout. I get fed up and leave for the cabin, Andrea quickly follows behind while calling out to her mate to follow. The red fluffy follows at a distance. When we get to the cabin he stays hidden in the bushes, looks like he has some severe trust issues. Brownie meets us at the door as she was left alone in the cabin during the ordeal.
“Mummah, Daddeh!” It peeped out. I give Rodger one last “carrot” before resorting to more of a “stick”.
“Okay Rodger, last chance to eat some nice spaghetti in the warm and dry house!” I yell out, the other two fluffies are jumping up and excited over the promise for one of their favorite foods. The red fluffy slowly walks up to the door, refusing to make eye contact, I stop him with my foot.
“Wait right there, I have rules.” I sternly tell him as I raise his head up to meet my eyes, he looks away from the awkwardness of me asserting dominance. “You have to me nice! Use the litter box! And you need a bath before eating!” Rodger was taken aback my the mention of “bath”.
“B… baff? Wawa am bad for fwuffies!” He protested. I wasn’t going to continue the argument and picked him up to bring him into the tub. Andrea joined in on the concern repeating the same issue in a more reasoning manner.
“Daddeh Awmawd, wawa am bad fo’ fwuffies, nuu huwt Speshuw Fwiend, Wodgew nuu be meanie nuu mo’, pwease!” She begged.
It was a weird concern, I wonder if they were punished or tortured using water, or maybe they are naturally bad swimmers? I drop the pony into the tub, who begins to shake and tremble in fear. When I turned on the tap he let loose a spray of diarrhea on the shower wall, easy to clean but the smell was so foul. I’ll have to keep that in mind to not scare these creatures and produce such accidents in other rooms of the house or near furniture.
I make sure the water is nice and warm before slowly cleaning his hooves and legs before working my way up to his haunches and tail, avoiding his face or any hard sprays. Rodger’s fear quickly melted away with the mud and feces on his coat as the gentle wash helped him relax. Andrea watched with keen interest and asked for one too, which I think she was overdue for as well. I place the small family in the tub and soon they are laughing and giggling as they “smeww pwetty” again with the wash. I discover on Rodger some scrapes and cuts along with some healed wounds that looked like it came from repeated beatings. I get them out and dry them off. I make a hodgepodge meal of any leftover food mixed in with the remaining pasta for them to feast on. Rodger immediately jumps at the food and eats until he rolls over engorged from overeating, falling asleep on the kitchen floor.
I find out from Andrea and Rodger over the next few days that there were about six fluffies that escaped the factory originally, one was eaten by a “munstah”, one ate “bad nummies” and went “foweva sweepies”, and two got lost from the group, leaving Andrea and Rodger to fend for themselves. She was grateful for Rodger being with her again, but I didn’t anticipate having so many pets, especially finding out she was pregnant again after only giving birth three weeks ago. I let the family sleep in a huddled pile in the kitchen with them embracing and nuzzling each other.
We finally get to leave for home the after being delayed for three days from the new addition and drama that followed. Rodger has become a lot more relaxed around me now that he is consistently fed and he knows I’m not abusive. I lay some extra linens and the litter box in the trunk of my hatchback where I place the fluffy family. I don’t know how they would do in a moving car so I tell them to tell me if they feel sick. The first leg of the trip was uneventful, Brownie vomited a few times due to not being able to look out the window, but Rodger had her sitting in the litter box the entire time, so there was no mess. The fluffies would play games that I could join in as well like “I spy” that helped the time go by quicker. We arrived late in Chicago at Miles and Julie’s place.
The two foals Jalapeño and Bubblegum are able to reunite with their parents with Rodger exclaiming “bestest babbehs!” when he saw them again. Apparently Miles’ daughters couldn’t keep their pets to themselves and word got around the girls friend circle about a new fashionable pet. The demand was so heightened that Miles confessed he was going to breed the two siblings when they got older. He had a potential adoptive family for Brownie, turns out a rich girl who loved horses but couldn’t stable one in the city would love to have a “pocket pony” as a pet. It didn’t hurt that her father was willing to give over $10,000 to secure ownership of such a unique pet.
When Miles heard that Andrea was pregnant again he insisted that we stay until she gave birth as he was looking to cash in on the next litter. I didn’t mind as I was already in between jobs and the offers to buy the future foals would prevent me from dipping too much into my savings. The extra time allowed Andrea and Rodger to spend more time with their “bestest babbehs” and help teach them some manners as Jalapeño was becoming a little bit of a brat that the parents punished with “sowwee hoofsies” as he would clock him upside the head to bring him in line.
Andrea gave birth to six new foals, one was a jet black pegasus with neon blue streaks in the color of his mane and hooves that went for quite a large sum, the others were of varying bright colors of orange, green, red, purple, and pink and were able to be sold to high bidders. It seems the total gestation period was about seven weeks which makes them breed as fast as rabbits. I’d hate to make Andrea a brood mare and just want her as a pet to keep me company. I make the hard decision to split Andrea and Rodger up after he knocked her up a third time while waiting for the newest foals to be weaned. Miles’ mother was having trouble with some beginning signs of dementia so we gave her Rodger who would keep her company and he was even smart enough to press the Life Alert button if there was any issue or emergency. Andrea wasn’t happy about being alone, but I reminded her that two of her other foals were home waiting to see her.
After spending over a month with Miles and Julie, I finally headed back to Portland and home where I could be a loving caregiver to Andrea and the new life we would spend together.
END
Part 1: The Andrea Incident (Part 1) (Artist - Great_White_Nope)
Part 2: The Andrea Incident (part 2) (Artist- Great_White_Nope)
Part 3: The Andrea Incident (Part 3) (Artist- Great_White_Nope)
Part 4: The Andrea Incident (Part 4) (Artist- Great_White_Nope)
Part 5: The Andrea Incident (Part 5) (Artist - Great_White_Nope)