There was a lot of shouting and crying in that evening, all of it echoing out of the cave.
Forrest and Queenie were playing the blame game and each accusing the other of being the reason their children were dead. Every so often there would be a peep from a terrified Strong but he was almost always ignored.
Winston stood guard to ensure no Fluffy came close, Fing stood behinf him as the muscle. Not that anyone wanted to go near the cave anyway, the other members of the herd left were Lollipop and Pickle, both of whom too pregnant to do much more than waddle, and Scarlett who was biding her time until she could set her plans in motion.
She had already told Pickle the first half of her scheme, the second half she kept to herself for now, but if she could pull it off, then this herd would be ruined by this time tomorrow.
Once night fell and the Fluffies took to their rest, the trap was sprung.
Pickle took her cue and waddled over to where Winston was sleeping, gently shaking him awake.
âWins-ten? Wins-ten wakies, Fwuffy need tawkies tu yu.â
Winston groggily roused from his slumber. âWha da⌠Pickew? Wai yu wakies Wins-ten? Dummeh mawe, gu bak tu sweepies.â
âNu, Wins-ten pwease, Fwuffy fink see munstah.â
Winstonâs eyes shot open. âMunstah? Whewe? Hab Pickew towd Smawty yet?â
Pickle paused for a moment, trying to remember the exact words she was supposed to say. âNu, Fwuffy nu am suwe, nu wan wakies Smawty if it nu munstah, nu wan make Smawty angwy. Pwease Wins-ten, jus wookies, Pickew sowwy fow wakies bu wan knyo if it am munstah ow nu.â
Winston groaned, he knew Pickle was mistaken, that there wasnât a monster out there, likely she had just seen a bird or something, but he was up now, and if he could get Pickle to calm down by checking out her âmonsterâ then at least he could get a decent night sleep.â
âOk, Wins-ten wook at munstah, bu if it nuffin den Pickew be sowwy.â
âYeh, fank yu Wins-ten.â
Winston grumbled and followed Pickle over to where she saw the monster. When he saw her leading him over to the pond, he let out a deep sigh, Pickle likely saw a Fluffy in the water and freaked out. He understood why, he didnât understand the under-water Fluffies either, but he knew they were harmless.
Pickle stopped at the edge of the pond and pointed into the water. âDewe, dewe am munstah in da wawa.â
âPickew⌠yu nu see munstah. Dat am jus unda-wawa Fwuffy. Dey nu weave wawa, dey nu can heaw yu, dey nu can huwt yu.â
âNu, Fwuffy pwomise, see munstah in wawa, wook.â
Winston rolled his eyes, but seeing no better way of getting back to bed, he humoured her and peered into the water. Sure enough, there was the underwater Fluffy, his exact twin staring back at him, Winston smiled at the underwater Fluffy, hoping to one day understand why they never wanted to talk to him, and waved.
But then he spotted it, just illuminated by the moonlight, there was something small, and white, and round. It looked, almost like a Fluffyâs face, but it had no Fluff, no smell-place, no see-places⌠and yet it seemed to be looking right at him.
Winston looked closer, trying to see if there was anything more to this non-face, if maybe this really was the monster they had been looking for. He got so distracted by what was in front of him, he didnât notice what was behind him until it had pounced on him.
Scarlett jumped onto Winstonâs back, her hoofs â still dirty from digging up the Bestesh Babbehâs skeleton to distract Winston â pushed down hard onto his neck, pushing his head underwater. There was a lot of violent bubbles and scardey-poopies as Winston fought against his watery demise, he was strong, stronger than Scarlett had expected, but she had a good angle on him, and she wasnât the one drowning.
It took some time, all the while Winston shook and thrashed against the lake, fighting so much that Scarlett was sure Forrest, or worse Fing, would hear the splashing. But eventually she felt him starting to tire out, his bubbled became less frequent, his splashing slugging, his movements limp. Until finally his whole body flumped down from dead weight and he stopped moving, Scarlett slowly and carefully removed her hoofs from his neck, she stayed on-guard but his head never raised above the waterline.
Winston was officially dead.
With a final sadistic chuckle, Scarlett kicked Winstonâs corpse into the pond, watching as it floated slowly across the water. She waited until the corpse was almost out of sight before turning back to the herd, as instructed Pickle had woken Lollipop and brought her to the pond. How she was still able to move, Scarlett had no idea, but with great effort Lollipop made it to the pond.
âWha am guin on? Wai Pickew bwing Wowwipop hewe?â
âPickew sowwy fwiend, nu wan scawe Wowwipop tiww am suwe it am safe. Dewe am nu munstah huwting hewd, Scawwett AM munstah, she gib foweba sweepies tu meanie stawwions, gib foweba sweepies tu Wins-ten wight nyo.â
âWins-ten?â Lollipop looked out at the water, seeing the off lump floating on the water and understanding what had just happened. âHe am daddeh tu tummeh-babbehs, gib bad huggies tu Wowwipop.â
Scarlett was surprised by that. âFowwest nu am daddeh?â
Lollipop shook her head. âSmawty babbehs gu foweba sweepies cos nu hab enuff miwkies, Smawty caww Wowwipop wowstesh mummah an wet Wins-ten hab bad speciaw-huggies. Wowwipop nu am sadies tu see him gu foweba sweepies.â
âWha Scawwett wan Pickew an Wowwipop du nyo?â Pickle hopped into the conversation, eager to find out what her part to play was.
Scarlett eyed the two mares, given their size and difficult moving, she could easily kill them both right now, even build her strength up by eating their unborn foals⌠and yet, she couldnât. Every time the idea of killing them entered her head, something tried to block it away, tried to tell her it was a bad idea.
Scarlett didnât know what it was, and she didnât like it, but it was the basis for the second half of her plan.
âPickew and Wowwipop need tu weave hewd wand, it nu am safe fow soon-mummahs nyo.â
The two pregnant mares were shocked. âGu? Bu whewe?â Asked Pickle. âNu hab pwace tu gu, nu knyo safe-pwace fow soon-mummahs.â
Scarlett pointed down to the other end of the pond, where a stream had split off and ran through the forest.
âFowwow wawa tiww find big twee, dat am Scawwett homesie, big twee hab sweepies pwace inside, an dewe am sum nummies unda a big wock wib gween nu-fwuff on top. Dat am safe-pwace, am tuu faw fow Fowwest tu fowwow, he nu find yu, Scawwett make suwe of it.â
Pickle and Lollipop looked at each other, both unsure what the best course of action was, until eventually Pickle turned back to Scarlett and nodded.
âFwuffies du dat, gu tu Scawwett safe-pwace. Fank yu fow hewping Fwuffies, yu am fwiend tuâŚ
Pickle stepped forward to hug Scarlett, but Scarlett jumped backwards, hissing at the friendly mare.
âNu touchies, nu huggies. Nu am fwiend tu dummeh mawes, jus nu wan yu making wound noisies wen Scawwett gib Fowwest wowstesh huwties. Nyo fukin gu befowe Scawwett change finkie-pwace pwan.â
A little hurt by Scarlettâs words, Pickle and Lollipop turned round and started following the stream to their new home, Scarlett watched until they were gone from view before she turned back towards the herdâs land. There was an uncomfortable feeling in her gut at how she treated Pickleâs attempts at friendship, it was strange, and almost⌠sad in a way.
Once again she ignored the feeling, and settled in for a short rest, she had some time left before dawn, and she needed all the strength she had to finish her plans.
Forrest work early once the sun rose, this was his first summer in the cave since taking over from Harold, because of its natural shape and position, it trapped heat very well, perfect for cosy nights in winter, but an oven in the summer.
Forrest was drenched in sweat, had Queenie actually allowed him near her to sleep with the two of them might have boiled to death. Not that he would admit that, as far as he was considered she was still a stupid mare who was responsible for the deaths of their children.
After all, it couldnât have been his fault, not a great Smarty like him.
Climbing out of the cave, Forrest caught sight of Fing looking over the herd, he yawned and stood beside the massive Toughy.
âFing, gatha hewd wound, Smawty need tawkies tuâŚâ
Forrest trailed off once he saw what Fing was looking at, it wasnât the herd, it was where the herd should be. Even with their numbers dropping by the day, to have nothing, no mares, no stallions, nothing, it was a blow to Forrestâs fragile psyche that even his twisted logic couldnât comprehend.
He turned to Fing, the shock on his face seemed alien to Forrest, having never seen the usually stoic Toughie react to anything before this.
âWhewe am hewd? Yu knyo wha happen?â
Fing just shook his head, his eyes not leaving the empty space where the other Fluffies should be.
Forrest marched in front of Fing. âFwuffies nu jus gu-way by sewves. Wha happen tu Smawty hewd, whewe am mawes, whewe am Wins-ten?â
âFOWWEST!â
Forrest spun round at the sound of his name, climbing out through the trees, with a malicious grin on her face, was Scarlett. She smirked at Forrest, enjoying the look of confusion on his fat face.
âYu wan knyo whewe munstah am dat gib hewd foweba sweepies? Scawwett am wight, fukin, hewe.â
Something inside Forrest snapped. His great herd, his strongest Toughies, all his amazing and perfectly clever plans, all of them brought to ruin by a fucking mare.
No, this would not stand, not by a long shot.
âFING! GIB DUMMEH MAWE BIGGESH HUWTIES AN WOWSTESH SPECIAW HUGGIES, MAKE HEW BEG FOW FOWEBA SWEEPIES!â
Not needing told twice, Fing immediately charged at Scarlett, despite the advantage in distance and being a Pegasus, Scarlett was surprised just how fast the hulking Fing actually was, his colossal hoofs thundered through the forest floor, shaking through the roots of every tree around her.
She stayed in front of him as she led him toward the pond, but only just.
Reaching the pondâs edge, Scarlett lurched to the left, seemingly trying to juke Fing in the wrong direction, the massive black earthie moved to follow her, but stopped when he spotted something in the water. Taking a closer look he recognised the drowned body of Winston floating across the pond.
Ever loyal to his post, he noted the body in his mind, not because he was sad, but because he knew Forrest would want to know about this later.
Unknown to Fing, Scarlett had planned the distraction, seizing her opportunity, she leapt out of her hiding place towards Fing andâŚ
Immediately bounced off of his brick wall of a torso, landing hard onto the mud.
âFUK! Shittin fuk piss da huwt wike a mummahfuâŚâ
THUMP
All the rage and anger in Scarlettâs body disappeared at the sound of a thick hoof stomping the ground, replaced by a feeling the young mare had never felt before.
Fear.
âNununununununununuuuuuu!â Scarlett started hyperventilating as she crawled away, her legs too shaky to lift her off the ground. This was not how this was supposed to go, all of her plans revolved around her getting the drop on Fing, all she had was surprise, now she had nothing.
Hoping she was far enough away, Scarlett tried to stand up again, only for Fing to stomp down on her back, not hard enough to break any bones, but hard enough to remind her that he was still there.
Scarlett coughed, the sudden hit messing with her frantic breathing, she tried to stand again, Fing kicked her back even harder, making Scarlett taste vomit as she fought from throwing up. Feeling desperation for the first time in her life, Scarlett turned to Fing, trying to plead with him.
âPwease, nu gib huwties, Scawwett wun way, gu su faw way yu neba see hew gain. Nu wan foweba sweepies, nu wan Fing gib wowstesh speciaw-huâŚâ
Fing cut her off with a hard kick to the face, dazing Scarlett long enough to allow Fing to rush in and grab her right ear with his teeth, pulling and pulling on it until almost the entire thing was ripped off.
âFUKIN SHIT DUMMEH COK!â Scarlett yelled out in agony, she was bruised and bleeding from her busted nose, her ruined ear, and possibly from some of the battered lumps on her back. All the while she waited for Fing to finish her off, but as she pulled her busted body along to muck, he never did anything, just slowly watched and followed her along.
Scarlett knew what he was doing, he was toying with her, and there wasnât a thing she could do to stop him.
All she could do was keep crawling, hoping that eventually he either got distracted, or just hurried up and killed her. But he didnât, Fing just stayed behind her, the heavy thumps of his hoofs a constant reminder that she was trapped.
Eventually, her body gave up and she collapsed into the mud, still alive, emotionally destroyed from the fear.
Fing grinned behind her, his nu-nu stick already hardening in anticipation. With one of his heavy, filth-encrusted hoofs, he softly stroked Scarlettâs back, enjoying the soft feel of a mare. As he did, he felt her body shaking, a rhythmic movement punctuated by strange noises coming out of her mouth.
At first he thought Scarlett was crying, but as he listened closer, he realised she was laughing.
The soft chuckled grew into hard laughter then outright guffawing, it was non-stop, almost uncontrollable. Scarlett rolled over, allowing Fing to see the tears streaming down her blood-stained face. Furious, he stomped his hoofs, hoping the sudden noise would shock her into stopping.
It didnât stop her, but Scarlett did calm down as she looked up at Fing, the ugly earthie standing directly over her now.
âSowwy, sowwy. Yu⌠pfffth⌠yu wan knyo wai Scawwett am waughin su mush?â
Fing nodded, the scowl on his face growing ever steelier.
Suddenly the look on Scarlettâs face changed, she was still smiling, but now the smirk looked downright sadistic.
âIt am distwaction yu dummeh kunt.â
And with a sudden burst of strength, Scarlett rolled to the right, using her hoofs to kick out both legs on Fingâs right side, allowing for her to roll out from under Fingâs body, but also knock Fing off-balance and knocking him to the ground.
He had just enough time to see the sharp rock, the one hidden in the muck, the one Scarlett had found days ago, the one she had deliberately hidden with her body as she pretended to give up, before his neck slammed into its cut-throat point.
The stench of blood filled the air, Scarlett pulled herself to her feet, wincing at the bruises on her back, and the flaps of exposed skin where her ear used to be. She turned to look at Fing, and even for a seasoned killer like her, it was a hard sight to witness.
Fing wasnât dead, but he shouldâve been, the rock had carved through his neck, embedding itself deep in his thick muscle, in a desperate panic, Fing tried to pull himself up, tried to lift his heavy body off of the pointed stone, but his rapidly weakening body and slippery blood-flow were making a difficult task nearly impossible.
The worst of it was the noise, Fingâs trademark silence was replaced by a horrific, raspy gurgling, like he was trying to cry out in pain and terror but could only let out these sickening croaks. It made Scarlett uncomfortable listening to it, seeing a beast so mighty brought down to a pathetic level.
So she did the only thing she could do, she pressed one hoof to the back of Fingâs head and she sharply pushed down. The rock tore through his neck even more, blood cascading out of the expanding wound before Fing let out a final gurgle and his whole body went limp.
Scarlett kept pushing even after Fing went limp, not taking any chances, when she felt resistance and realised that the rockâs point was ready to pierce out of back of his neck, she stopped pushing and fell onto her side, utterly exhausted after the battering she had just received.
âFukin poopies. Yu⌠yu am wun tuff mummahfuka. Shit, yu weawwy fuk Scawwett up on dat wun. Need be mowe cawefuw wib big kunts wike yu.â
Scarlett turned to face Fingâs corpse and she laughed, kicking him in the face as she did. âNu su fukin big nyo awe yu. Dummeh fukin pwick.â
She kicked the body one more time before rolling over and pulling herself to her feet. She ignored the pain pulsing through her body and stared heading back towards the cave.
It was finally time to end this.
