Seth took Kickball to the kitchen , the foal still unconscious from her visit in his hobby room. Despite having blacked out, Seth could see her twitch and squirm, her slumber granting no respite against her pain. Opening the drawer, he saw the burned brown foal. He had left the cushion and was huddled in the corner, a small pool of waste on the paper towels below him, his hooves covering his maimed face. Realizing the drawer was now open, he shook violently, trying desperately to wedge himself further into the corner, to somehow hide from the monster.
“We’ll discuss the mess later…for now I have a friend for you. Take care of each other, ok?” Seth chuckled, dropping Kickball onto the cushion and slamming the drawer shut, once again leaving the brown foal in the dark.
Turning on the tap and running the hot water, Seth decided that it was time for him to give Ash his surprise. Filling
a bottle with the formula, he let the powder mix with the steaming water of the faucet. Once it was full and properly mixed, he put the bottle into his pocket, out of sight. Reaching into the shelves, Seth retrieved the jar containing the yellow foal. The tiny mare was despondent, only lightly chirping from hunger and neglect. Turning her head only slightly, she met Seth’s eyes, tears falling down her stained cheeks. Putting the jar in the sink, Seth lightly tilted the jar, allowing it’s viscous contents and the foal to fall free into the sink.
Still only chirping slowly and sullenly, the yellow foal barely responded as Seth took a paper towel and began to dry the putrid mixture off of her, using rough strokes as he wiped her. After a few minutes, the unpleasant experience over, the foal chirped and sobbed, looking up at Seth, her front hooves in the air as she sat in the cold metal sink. “*chirp…*chirp…upsies…*chirp…*chirp…”
Thinking both on how adorable the sight of the scared foal wanting to be picked up was, and the existential nightmare of being programmed to crave affection, Seth picked her up, using his thumb and forefinger to grasp her waist as he didn’t want her to feel like she was being given attention just yet. Placing a towel down on the counter, he placed her onto it. As she chirped and peeped, slowly becoming less lethargic, Seth reached into his utility drawer and grabbed a small container of petroleum jelly and undid it’s seal. Taking out the rigged M-80, Seth put a healthy dollop of the jelly onto it, coating it liberally. He then took a smaller amount and quickly rubbed it onto the foal’s anus, with the foal chirping and peeping in protest.
“*chirp…*chirp…nuuuu!..*chirp…*chirp…nu tuch poo’pee p’wace…*chirp…*chirp…”
Not giving her a chance to react, Seth held her in place with his free hand and placed the M-80 against her anus and firmly pressed against it, the foal now screaming and struggling as the large cylinder tore her open, blood now dripping down her legs. Sliding in surprisingly fast, the foal collapsed as it was finally in, her breath hard and jagged. Smiling at the traumatized foal, Seth figured he would let her rest for a few minutes before enacting the final part of his plan.
It took nearly twenty minutes for the foal to start chirping again, her injury clearly causing her distress. As she tried to stand up, she wobbled back and forth, her distended belly making movement difficult. Seth waited patiently, wanting her to recover as much as possible before they went to visit Ash. When she started to walk slowly and groan and complain, Seth decided it was time. “*chirp…*chirp…huwt…*chirp…*chirp…beww’e huwt…*chirp…*chirp…” Picking up the bloated foal, Seth made his way to the hall closet.
Opening the door and flicking the light on, Seth saw Ash lying in his litterbox, the stallion slightly placing his hooves over his groin as Seth entered. Laughing as he hid the foal in his front shirt pocket, Seth leaned down to meet the fluffy. “Yeah the fog is clearing for sure…” He pushed his hooves aside and flicked his testicles lightly, prompting a groan from Ash as he started to shake, curling up from the pain to his groin. “You remember what happened earlier. Well I think I have a way to get the rest of those cobwebs out…” Seth plucked the other M-80 from his pocket and lit the fuse, outstretching his arm and holding it right next to Ash’s head. “Let’s hope this works…” Seth said as he reflexively turned his head away.
There was a loud bang, Ash was sure of it as the small foal suddenly looked around, confused. Putting it out of his mind, he put his efforts back into trying to get milkies. He hadn’t eaten in hours and his mother, a mare pegasus with white fur and near golden highlights along her mane and wings, had been refusing to feed him. He was looking up at her but she was so tall, too tall, stretched higher than even the tallest human he had ever seen. And her face, her face was gone, with nothing but smooth fluff covering it as her distorted voice warbled at him, screaming insults and threats he wasn’t able to comprehend.
P’wease gib miwkies tu babbeh…babbeh hungwy…" Ash pleaded. His stomach had the worst hurties, and so did his no-no’s? He didn’t remember hurting those… His mamma raised her long and stretched out leg high into the air, bringing it down to crush Ash, her garbled voice a loud and screeching nightmare.
"*GRRZZZZRRRRRGGGGZZZZZRRRRAAAAAARRRRR!!! "
Running as he began to cry, Ash begged his mother for mercy. “*huuu…*huuu…*huuu…Nu gib babbeh sowwy hoofsies! P’wease! Babbeh wuv mummah!” Ignoring her foal’s pleas for love, the monstrous pegasus continued to stomp, raising one warped hoof to slam against the ground, followed by the other, trying to crush the whimpering baby.
*RRRRGGGGGZZZZZAAAAARRRRRGGGASHRRRZZZZZGGGG
Tumbling from fear, the small and terrified foal could no longer dodge. Bringing his hooves over his eyes, he cried. “ASH WUV YU MUMMAH!!!” As her hoof closed in on him, everything went black.
Wiping tears away from his cheek with his hoof, Ash was confused. As he made his way to the kibble in the small pen he and the other fluffies were kept in, pondering why he was crying, he began to eat. As he nibbled at the small morsels of food, his thoughts drifted strangely to his mother. Ash tried to avoid thinking about her when he could, as it gave him the worst heart hurties to remember how much she had hated him. Lapping up some water to wash down his meal, he heard footsteps approaching the enclosure. It was the nicest lady, one of the people who lived here sometimes and said that they would try to find him a new mamma or daddy. But her face…her face was gone… and Ash couldn’t understand what she was trying to say to him…
“*RRRRRRGGGGGGZZZZAAAAZZRRRRASHRRRRRGGGGGYOUZZRRR”
Suddenly panicking, Ash knew that what she was trying to tell him was important, that he needed to know what she was saying. “Ash nu unda’stan nicest wady. Wat nicest wady twy teww Ash?” The woman picked up the young fluffy and began to shake him violently, screaming at him with a warped and shrill cadence.
“*ZZZZZRRRRRAAAAAGGGGASHRRRRZZZYOUGGGRRRZZZTHERE”
She suddenly released Ash, the stallion falling for what seemed like forever, screaming for someone, anyone to save him. "HEWP!!! SABE ASH!!! NU WET ASH FAWW!!! As he felt himself collide with the floor, he shut his eyes, preparing to take forever sleepies.
Waking up from a sleepy picture he couldn’t quite remember, Ash rose up, stretching his legs. He was so excited because today was a very special day. Today was the day he went home with his new daddy. They had met yesterday and he was so nice.
…NU TWUST MUNSTAH…
The excited stallion could see his new daddy speaking to the nicest lady. Ash could hardly wait, the fluffy dancing in place as he thought of all the things his new daddy told him about. A saferoom, toys, and even his own special friend!
…MUNSTAH WIWW HUWT YU…
As he saw his new daddy making his way over to his pen, Ash called out to him. “Hewwo nyu daddeh! Ash su 'cited tu hab nyu daddeh!”
…NU MOWE HAPPIES…
His new daddy came to him, leaning down and stroking his fur softly as he spoke, a garbled and warped voice coming from his featureless face.
“*RRRRZZZZGGGGGASHRRRRRRYOUTHERE?”
…ONWY HUWTIES…
His new daddy lifted Ash into the air with both hands, his sweet promises and wonderful words warped and indecipherable, but still Ash smiled and cooed. He knew that he would never be sad again.
“*GGGGZZZZZAAAAAASHRRRYOUTHEREAREYOUTHEREASH”
…WUN AWAY…
As his new daddy began to spin around with him, Ash started to feel strange. The fluffy place around him began to shift and change. The fluffies around them began to change, their color shifting to yellow. As they turned to face him, Ash saw that their eyes and mouths were empty black pits, a flood of maggots pouring from them as they stared through him.
“*ZZZZZGGGRRASHRRRRYOUTHERERRRYOUTHERERRRYOUTHERE”
…WUN AWAY NAO…
The loud sounds, he could hear them again. Where were they coming from? What were they? He knew them! Ash knew the loud sounds from somewhere! He was still spinning as his new daddy held him, his hands now squeezing him too hard. “Daddeh! Ash scawed! Wat am wow’d noy’s! Daddeh nu huggies Ash su hawd! Nu wan!”
“ASHAREYOUTHERE”
…MUNSTAH GETCHU…
"Nu gib Ash huwties! Fwuffies nu am fow huwties! Fwuffies am fow huggies an’ wuv!
“ASHAREYOUTHEREASHAREYOUTHEREASHAREYOUTHERE”
…MUNSTAH NEBAH WET YU GU…
"FWUFFIES AM FOW HUGGIES AN’ WUV!!! FWUFFIES AM FOW HUGGIES AN’ WUV!!!
ASHAREYOUTHEREASHAREYOUTHEREASHAREYOUTHERE"
“Ash are you there?” Seth looked down at Ash, the stallion shaking and mumbling, as his eyes slowly focused, his whole body shaking oddly. “…fwUFfiES aM fOw HUggIEs aN’ wUv…” The stallion slowly fluttered his eyes, raising up slowly, shaking his head as he came to, realizing where he was. Looking up at Seth, he lowered his head, only slightly meeting his eyes. “…heWWo SE’ff…”
And there he was. Seth smiled and leaned down, petting his long lost fluffy. “Hey Ash! It’s so good to see you again!” Tremoring and shaking, Ash only responded to his touch by slightly flinching away, clearly not wanting Seth to touch him. “nU gIb AsH bA’ toUChiES se’FF…nU wiKE…”
Chuckling at how strange Ash sounded, he put his arm around the stallion, hugging him even as he pulled away. “You ok buddy? You sound a bit off…” It always pleased Seth to see what aberration would occur when he brought Ash out of the loop. There had been many but no matter what strange behavior he displayed, he never referred to Seth as “daddy”, “mister”, or even “monster”, only by his name.
“aSh Nu wAn huGGieS fWoM se’FF…weEb aSh A’WoNE”
Seth stood up and retrieved both the bottle and the yellow foal, the baby chirping only lightly from exhaustion and pain. Her belly was distended and warped, and without any milk for nearly the entire day, she was weak. Seth knew that she’d die soon, but he only needed her alive for just a few more minutes. Letting a drop of milk out of the bottle and onto her muzzle, she began to chirp faster and with slightly more energy. Her eyes now locked onto the bottle, Seth began to tease her as Ash noticed the chirping. “aSh hEwe baBbEH…wEwe BAbbEh?”
Ignoring him on purpose, Seth continued to tease the foal, allowing the nipple to barely touch her mouth, only to move it as she tried to latch. She chirped and began to cry, her hooves kicking and flailing as she threw a tantrum. Finally, after several minutes, the foal started to yell. "…*chirp…*chirp…*chirp…wuv Ash…wuv Ash…*chirp…*chirp…"
Turning so that Ash could see the foal he was now bottle feeding, the stallion shook his head and began to walk up to them, disbelief in his eyes. Taking away the bottle for a few minutes, the foal began to kick and chirp before looking to Seth, tears falling down her face.
"…*chirp…*chirp…*chirp…hun’gee…wuv Ash…wuv Ash…*chirp…*chirp…"
Giving her the bottle again, the foal still crying as she ate, Seth looked down to Ash but said nothing. The stallion looked up to the foal, tears falling down his face. "daFOw’dIw? aM dAt yU? Lowering her slightly, he allowed Ash to get just close enough to smell the foal. Thanks to the combination of pheromones and blood, she smelled like Ash and Starburst, like a foal they once had named Daffodil. Once Seth watched her unlatch willingly from the bottle, he leaned down and put her in front of Ash, still saying nothing. He cried, tears streaming down his cheeks, grabbed the foal and hugged her, smiling and cheering. “aSh sEE DAfOw’Diw gU foWEba SwEEpiEs…hAo bAbBeH hEWe?” Unsure of who the friendly fluffy was, but adoring the attention she was getting, the yellow foal chirped happily. "…*chirp…*chirp…*chirp…wuv Ash…wuv Ash…*chirp…*chirp…"
Pulling out his phone, Seth leaned down to Ash, the fluffy lost in the joy of hugging what he thought was his long lost foal. “Hey Ash…say goodbye to Daffodil…” Before the stallion could even look up, Seth pressed send.
Her body had muffled a great deal of the blast, with only a popping sound marking the explosion. Ash felt a light heat and then a stinging in his hooves and muzzle as he felt the blood and bone shards splash over his face, his hooves now empty save for bits of bone and smoking flesh. Only small traces of yellow fluff were still attached to the now smoldering remains. It took several seconds before Ash’s eyes went wide with realization and horror.
“NUUuUUuuuUUUuuuUUUuuU!!!”