Bull and Boar were approached by a grumpy looking red Pegasus, his eyes were almost as red as his coat and he had to fight to keep from yawning out loud.
“Yu! Whewe yuw dummeh bwudda, he suh-pose tu be wook-out nyo, Wobin hab biggesh sweepies an wan gu be wiv speciaw-fwiend.”
Boar chuckled. “Woosta am wiv Tuuwip.”
Robin paused for a moment. “He finawwy teww hew he wike hew?”
Bull shrugged. “Nu in su many wowdies, bu yeh.”
“Hmm, den Wobin nu hab angries wiv him. Nu yet aneeway. Bu need Fwuffy tu take oba, Wobin am guin sweepies wight nyo.”
Boar stepped forward. “Boah gu be wook-out, Wobin gu sweepies, be wiv famiwy.”
Robin opened his mouth to protest, thinking that Boar lacked the training to effectively act as the herd’s first line of defence. But that protest quickly evolved into a yawn and he realised he didn’t care that much.
“Ok, Wobin…Wobin gu sweepies nyo.”
The very tired stallion trudged towards his bed, barely noticing anything around him. Bull and Boar shared a laugh before Bull turned to his brother.
“Bwudda suwe wan be wook-out?”
Boar nodded. “Nu be dewe wong, wait tiww bwite-baww am at highish pwace, den git Woosta tu du his dummeh job. Tawkies wata.”
The two brothers shared a quick hug before going their separate ways, Boar climbing the tree stump that served as their lookout while Bull ambled slowly back towards the rest of the herd. By now most of the herd was awake, the sounds of laughter and playing filled the air, Bull looked over to one side where Matron, one of the oldest mares of the herd – some said she was in the first group that arrived with Nova – gathering all the talkie babbehs and teaching them how to use the poopie hole. Bull then looked to the other side, where Nova The Third was doing some teaching of his own to his son and future Smarty Friend, Nova The Forth.
“Ok, su, wha come afta Noba Thwee?”
“Dat am Noba Fouw.”
“Gud, an yuw babbeh wiww be?”
“Noba… Fibe?”
“Cowwect, den?”
“Noba Se… nu, Siks, den Seben, den eht, den… sowwy daddeh, Noba Fouw nu can wememba counties dat high.”
“It ok babbeh, yuw wewe wight, afta eht it gu nine den ten, an dat am da biggesh counties.”
“Wha happen if hewd git tu Noba Ten an he hab own babbeh tu be nyu Smawty Friend?”
“Den dat babbeh am biggesh honouh of bein Noba Wun gain, dat mean hewd hab dun bestesh fing an made gud wife. Nyo fwom da top, Wun, twu, thwee…”
Bull smiled as Nova Three taught his son how to count, it was instilled in each Smarty Friend from the very first Nova One that Smarties needed to live up to their name and actually be Smart, they were in charge of a lot of Fluffies, there was no room for error when it came to leading the herd.
Bull found Snowdrop and their children sitting in the shade of a large tree, upon seeing his arrival Bracken and Chestnut rushed over to hug their father, Storm stayed back as he was playing chasies with Ammi who happily cheeped while her brother chased her, but both waved to Bull to say hello. Bull lay down next to Snowdrop, nuzzling into her cheek.
“Snowdwop see Woostah an Toowip togetha, am sumfing guin on dewe.”
Bull chuckled. “Nu tawkies, dat am tween Woostah an Toowip.”
“Snowdwop fink dey be gud togetha, hab heawt happies fow dem bov.”
“Daddeh?” Chestnut asked in that typical childish curiosity that all children had. “Am Mistah Woostah gun hab babbehs wiv Miss Toowip?”
“Maybe babbeh, maybe.”
“Ches-nut hope dey du, Ches-nut wan see da pwetty wittew babbehs.”
“Am dewe nu babbehs awound nyo?” Asked Bracken.
Snowdrop shook her head. “Nu babbeh, du anee of yu knyo wai?”
Storm rushed over to join his siblings, Ammi sitting comfortably on his back. “Cowd-times am hewe soon su Noba Thwee nu wet anee Fwuffies hab babbehs cos cowd-times hab bad fow wittew babbehs.”
Snowdrop smiled at her son. “Dat am wight, cowd-times am bad fow aww Fwuffies bu babbehs mosh of aww, dey tuu wittew, need mowe nummies dan mummahs can gib dem. Aww babbehs fwom hot-times am awmosh big Fwuffies nyo, incwuding yu aww.”
“Wha bout Ammi?” Chestnut asked looking towards her sister. “She stiww wittew babbeh.”
Bull leaned closer to his daughter, placing a comforting arm around her. “Ammi am sensitibe babbeh, she nu gwow wike bwuddas an sissy, she wiww be bigga sumtime, nu as big as udda Fwuffies, but bigga. It am hew finkie-pwace dat neba gwow-up, she awways fink she chiwpie-babbeh, nuffin dat famiwy du tu change dat.”
“Dat am su sadies?” Chestnut whined out as she took Ammi off of Storm’s back an gave her sister a cuddle. “Ammi neba get tu be big Fwuffy.”
“Famiwy am wucky.” Snowdrop smiled at the loving bond between the sisters. “Matwon teww Fwuffies bout udda sensitibe babbehs, dey awways cwy, awways wan miwkies, nuffin eba enuff. Ammi am gud babbeh, she waugh mowe dan cwy, she twy udda nummies dan miwkies, nu can make gud chewies bu soft nummies am gud fow hew. She see bwuddas an sissy be gud Fwuffies, an she wan be wike yu aww. It nu be ee-see, bu Snowdwop an Buww wiww awways be dewe fow Ammi.”
“Su wiww Stowm?” The grey colt puffed up his chest.
“An Bwacken.”
“An Ches-nut.”
“Peep.”
The family laughed and shared a hug, all of them looking forward to where the day took them.
From the tree stump, Boar watched Bull and his family and smiled, he would still tease his brother about picking a mare over the honour of The Guard, but Bull was meant to be a dad, that was easy to see.
He gazed over the other Fluffies, to where Matron guided the young foals on proper pooping, to where single mares Daphne and Georgia gathered the flowers on the edge of their home to add to the nummie pile, to where nummie finders Pinecone and Treetop were eating their breakfast in preparation for a long haul, to where Head Toughie Bark was training the other Guards with fight practises.
Boar wished he could be with them now, he was itching for a fight, too bad he agreed to help his stupid brother out. But as he turned away from the Guards and peeked over at Rooster and Tulip hugging each other and softly cooing, he knew he made the right choice.
“Dummeh bwudda be fankfuh dat Boaw am gud Bwudda, hewp him find speciaw-fwien…”
Boar stopped, something in the corner of his eye caught his attention, it looked like… movement. He turned to face it, his attention solely on the spot where he’d seen something, at first there was nothing, just trees and leaves, Boar was about to turn away again, until out of the browns and green there came the sight of deep, dark purple and a large, scarred Alicorn appeared, his burnt and bruised face grinning as he locked eyes with Boar, signalling the arrival of his invading herd.
“INTWUDAS! INTWUDAS IN DA HEWD!”
As Boar’s cries alerted the herd, Nightshade turned to his lieutenants, the slender white and green Jimson, and the hulking yellow Hemlock.
“Be qwick, nu need stay hewe wong. If yu gu fowaba sweepies, wememba tu wook at da cwouds. ATTAK!”
Nightshade led the charge towards the herd, so long as everyone did their duty they would succeed. Bark gathered his Guard Fluffs an led the charge towards the attackers but Boar was already on his way, charging head-first into the first invader he saw, a light green Alicorn called Hogweed.
Boar’s unicorn horn pierced Hogweed’s side, catching the Alicorn offguard, he stopped dead in his tracks as the other invaders ran past, their focus on other things.
“OWWIES! Wai dummeh pointy-Fwuffy gib Hogweed huwties?”
“Cos Hogweed come tu DA WONG PWACE!”
Boar charged again, Hogweed went to scream but Boar rammed his horn into the Alicorn’s open mouth, piercing through the roof of his mouth. It wasn’t enough to kill Hogweed, but it did a good amount of damage. Boar listened to his victim gargle for a moment, enjoying the sound of a bad Fluffy in agony, then he pulled his head back, ripping the entire top portion of Hogweed’s jaw off of his face. Hogweed swayed for a moment before falling down dead from shock and blood loss.
Boar turned to the other attackers, three of them had formed a ring around him, he felt the blood dripping down his face and he smirked.
“Whu’s neks?”
Elsewhere, Nova Four watched helplessly as his strongest Toughies battled the invaders, the lumbering brown Earthie Log took on two attackers by himself but the constant barrage of small kicks and head-butts were wearing him down. Robin was facing down the enlarged Hemlock by himself to protect his family, but the lack of sleep was slowing him down, and the massive Alicorn was not going easy on him. Even Bark, who had already slain one attacker, was struggling against these invaders.
Nova Four turned to his father. “Noba Fouw need gu, need hewp hewd.”
Nova Three shook his head. “Nu, Noba Thwee hewp gib bad Fwuffies foweba sweepies, Smawty need pwotek babbehs.”
“Bu da hewd…”
“Da babbehs AM da hewd.”
Nova Four paused, slowly taking in his father’s words and realising he was right, a Smarty’s first priority was to the young and helpless. He took a deep breath and nodded.
“Ok, wha Smawty need du?”
Nova Three smiled, proud of his son for doing the right thing. “Fowwow Matwon, she knyo way out, dewe am safe pwace neawby, dat whewe babbehs am tu gu.”
“Be cawefuw daddeh.”
“Awways.”
The father and son shared a solemn nod, both silently wishing to see each other again, Nova Three turned and charged at the two Alicorns attacking Log, with a surprising amount of force for an older stallion, Nova Three knocked one of the invaders into the other just before they could slit Log’s throat open.
Nova Four took one final look at his father before turning away, he found Matron and the foals all huddled together behind a tree, this wasn’t all the foals in the herd but it was a majority of them, they were Nova’s responsibility and he would ensure their safety.
“Matwon, daddeh say yu knyo way tu safe-pwace? Nova Fouw hewp yu git dewe.”
Matron quickly nodded, understanding the situation. “It am dis way, Matwon wead, Smawty make suwe nu babbeh faww behind. Dis way babbehs.”
With some light coaxing, the two adults got their mini-herd of 11 foals moving away from the fighting, Matron led them through a gap in the bushes, deeper into the forest. The herd had found empty burrow underground not long after they arrived and had stocked them with food for just such an occasion, if they could get to them without being seen then they could stay hidden for quite some time.
Only for their plan to instantly fall apart when Matron was suddenly and violently knocked down by a light purple Alicorn name Foxglove, who pinned Matron to the ground and held a hoof to her neck.
“MATWON!”
Nova Four rushed to help, but was stopped by Jimson appearing out of the bushes.
“Jimsun nu du dat if wewe yu. Foxgwove bweak mawe’s nek befowe yu sabe hew.”
“Wha yu wan, dis am hewd’s wand?”
Jimson smirked at Nova Four’s attempt at strength. “Nu wan mush, jus yuw babbehs.”
“Da babbehs? Nu, Smawty neba wet meanies hab babbehs, dey unda Noba Fouw Pwotekshun.”
Jimson shrugged. “Jimsun nu say it wewe opshun.”
Nova Four charged at Jimson, the Alicorn deftly dodged the first attack but Nova Four quickly switched his feet and back-kicked Jimson, narrowly clipping him in the face. Jimson felt his lip burst and he spat at the blood.
“Yu tuffa dan Jimsun fink, ok den.”
Nova Four charged at Jimson again, he raised his hoof to slam down on the invader’s skull, only for Jimson to duck under his hoof and slash his horn deep into Nova Four’s belly.
Nova Four collapsed to the ground, his blood and guts spilling out onto the dirt, he tried to lift his body but strength was leaving him too fast, all he could do was gasp and gargle blood in his mouth. Jimson looked down at this so-called ‘Smarty friend’ and scoffed.
“Pah-feh-tic.”
Jimson turned away from the dying Nova and back towards Foxglove, the rowdy stallion was trying to mount the elderly Matron, his breath sharp and excited.
“FOXGWOVE!”
Foxglove paused at the sharp tone of his superior. “Wha?”
“Foh-cus on wha Fwuffies need tu du, nu time fow enfies nyo dummeh.”
“Bu…”
“NYO!”
Reluctantly Foxglove climbed off of Matron, but he gave her a swift kick to the back of her head to knock her out as he did. Together the two stallions gathered up the weeping infants and carried them away, their backs the final thing that Nova Four saw before life finally left him and he died.
Back in the thick of it, Bull was keeping his family safe, Rooster and Tulip had joined them and the two stallions where keeping up a protected front against anyone that dared to come near them. Then Bull looked over towards Boar, his tough as nails brother had killed another invader, but he was bleeding, he was drowsy and he was slow. And the massive Hemlock was lumbering towards him, having beaten Robin to a bloody pulp and killed his mate.
“Buww need gu hewp Boah, Woostah wook afta famiwy.”
“Bu Woostah nu can…”
“Woostah can, Buww bewieve he can.”
Rooster still looked terrified, but one look back at Tulip and he knew he could be brave, for her and for his brother’s children.
“Ok, Woostah pwomise tu wook afta famiwy.”
Bull smiled, knowing he could trust his brother. He gave Snowdrop a final hug goodbye and turned to race towards Boar…only for two of the invaders to block his path. One was bright red, almost orange with a green mane, the other was purple with a yellow mane and a number of scars along his body, including a large burn on the left side of his face and a nail embedded into his left hoof.
Bull could tell just by looking at him that this was the invading Smarty.
Nightshade smiled at the group. “Weww, weww, Whewe am yu guin?”
Bull snarled at Nightshade. “Mobe, ow yu wiww be mobed.”
“Ooh, yu a tuff wun. Niteshade wike yu. Bu nu hab time fow dis, Yew, git him.”
The red stallion, Yew, burst forward, crashing into Bull and sending the two of them tumbling away. Bull recovered first and saw Nightshade creeping towards Snowdrop, he tried to race forward to save them but Yew got in his way.
“Yu nu gu aneewhewe, dummeh.”
Distracted by Yew, Bull could only catch glimpses of what was going on behind them, as Nightshade got closer to Snowdrop and her foals, Rooster jumped in front of him.
“NU! Yu nu huwt bwuddas famiwy, Woostah pwomise tu…”
SLICE
One swift swipe of his hoof and Nightshade had slashed his nail across Rooster’s left eye, sending the frightened stallion to the floor, screaming and crying as blood pooled around his ruined appendage.
“HUUUUU! SEE-PWACE NU WOWK! WAI NU CAN SEE?!”
“WOOSTAH!”
Tulip rushed to help her new found love, leaving just Snowdrop against Nightshade, and she wasn’t about to go easy on him.
“Yu weave Snowdwop an babbehs awone, NYO!”
“Niteshade nu wan huwt yu, jus wet hewd take yuw babbehs an yu can wive.”
“NEBA! Dis am OUW babbehs, yu wan dem, yu need gib Snowdwop foweba sweepies fiwst.”
To her surprise, Nightshade looked disappointed at Snowdrop. “If dat wha mawe wan.”
Bull felt his blood chill as Snowdrop took on Nightshade by herself, he tried to burst forward to help her but Yew continually held him back. Bull knew the red stallion was just toying with him, distracting Bull while Nightshade took care of the real work, but he couldn’t escape from the fight, nor could he get close enough to kill the red bastard and end it.
Snowdrop was alone, and there wasn’t a thing he could do to help her.
Snowdrop wasn’t as well-versed in combat as the stallions, but she was a mummah and she’d be damned if she let this monster take her babies. She threw her hoofs at Nightshade, each of them the Alicorn easily dodged, she tried to headbutt him, but even as she managed to knock one of his back legs, the force did more damage to her than to him.
She shook the dizziness off and jumped onto him, her teeth ready to bite into his throat and rip it out, but in her haste she left herself vulnerable and Nightshade shoved his nail deep into her chest.
All the air in her lungs turned to ice, Snowdrop felt each breath catch in her throat as her punctured lung failed to inflate. The mare toppled over onto her back, fear creeping its way through her heart, each failed breath getting shorter and shorter as her life faded away.
She looked up, seeing Nightshade standing over her, his face still shockingly disappointed.
“Dis couwd hab been diffawent, buy u gib gud fighties, yu du yuw an-cess-tahs pwoud.”
Nightshade then stepped to the side, allowing Snowdrop an unrestricted view of the sky, while his nailed hoof was pressed against her neck.
“Wook tu da cwouds, an fink of fwying wiv da Fwuffies of owd. Dis am yuw wewawd fow a wawwiow’s end.”
Woozy and delirious from the lack of oxygen, Snowdrop did as she was told, the big, blue and beautiful sky lay before her, and she could feel herself soaring through the clouds, bring a final smile to her face.
She didn’t even feel it when Nightshade pierced her neck with his nail.
Bull however did.
“SPECIAW FWIEND!!!”
Boar took down his third invader with a heavy stomp to their neck when the anguished cries of his brother alerted him. He was beaten and bloodied but still standing but his actions had gathered a crowd of the invaders and none of them would let him past to save his family. Boar tried to take advantage of a gap but when he made a rush for it, the lumbering Hemlock got in his way.
Boar looked up at Hemlock, even at his best this would’ve been a tough fight, but Boar was exhausted, weakened and probably losing blood from one of his injuries. He knew he had no chance against this behemoth, so he did the only thing he could think to do.
He smiled at the monster.
“Yu a big fuka awen’t yu?”
One hard kick to the face and Boar’s neck was snapped into pieces, his body hit the ground but the smile never left his face, he died fighting, that was all he wished for.
Unaware of his brother’s demise, Bull tried to push forward to save his children, but Yew kept him back, in desperation Bull rammed his body into Yew’s, a technique that surprisingly almost worked with Yew being caught off-guard by Bull’s hefty bulk. But the stallion sorted himself out quickly and dug his hoofs into the ground, stopping Bull dead in his tracks.
“Yu am gud fighta…” Yew hissed into Bull’s ear. “…but dis hab gun on wong enuff.”
Yew thrust his jaw down onto the back of Bull’s head and bit down onto a piece of muscle, the sharp pain distracted Bull long enough for Yew to throw the earthie off of him. Bull thudded onto the dirt but before he could realign himself, Yew kicked him in the face, breaking Bull’s nose and dazing him something fierce.
Everything was a blur to Bull, through the ringing in his ears he could just make out the frightened calls of his children as they were gathered up and taken by these invading monsters. Bull tried to lift himself up but his head was too shook up to allow him to do that just yet.
“DADDEH!”
“HEWP, NU WAN GU WIV MUNSTAHS, DADDEH HEWP!”
“CHIRP, PEEP PEEP!”
“Ba…bbehs…”
Bull fought through the haze, he had to save his family, he had to… he had to just stand but he couldn’t even do that. As Bull crawled forward, a dark shadow stood in front of him, he couldn’t make out who it was, but when the snarled voice leaned in to whisper into his ear, he recognised the figure as Nightshade.
“Dis nu am da end fwiend, yu an Niteshade wiww see eech udda gain. An wen we du, Niteshade hope yu fight eben hawda den yu did nyo. Niteshade nu can wait tu see yu gain.”
The Alicorn Smarty gave Bull another harsh kick to the skull, unable to take anymore the large brown earthie was struck unconscious as his hulking form crashed onto the dirt, the frightened cries of his children the last thing he heard before everything went dark.
