As Starburst heard her daddy’s voice, screaming and directed squarely at her, the mare instantly snapped out of her mania, her eyes widening as she heard the words, the loud pitch hurting her ears. Looking up, she began to whimper as she saw Seth, glaring down at her, his arms crossed as he impatiently tapped his foot. “Do you have anything to say for yourself?!”
“*huuu…huuu…huuu…P’wease daddeh…nu yeww at Stawbuwst…”
Reaching down and picking up Kickball by the jar her body was stuck in, Seth then walked towards Starburst, each step slow but measured and loud, the pillowed mare flinching with the pace of his stride. Leaning down, Seth grabbed Starburst by her mane, pulling her upward so that only her rump was still on her pillow, the mare shrieking as she wiggled. Pushing the jar into her face, Seth screamed as he let it strike her in the muzzle over and over, punctuating his every word. "Another dead foal Starburst?! Another dead baby?! Why’d you do it Starburst?! Why’d you let it die this time?! Why can’t you be a good fluffy for daddy and keep your babies alive?!
Screaming as her nose was struck again and again until it was finally bloodied, Starburst was in full hysterics. From her daddy screaming at her, to the rapid series of blows of the glass jar, the dead foal that limply shook and dangled in front of her face, it was clearly far too much for her. As she looked to Seth, blood dribbling down her muzzle, Starburst began to whimper and beg.
“*huuu…huuu…huuu…Nu weave Stawbuwst daddeh…Stawbuwst nu mean tu wet babbehs gy foweba sweepies…Stawbuwst nu hab weggies…nu can hewp babbehs…”
Placing Kickball’s jar down beside the bed, Seth struck Starburst across her face, the mare screaming briefly before going silent as she began to tremble in his grip. Seth noticed that she had peed herself, with the waste dripping down her haunches and onto her bed below.
“When I first got you Starburst, you asked for babies. You sure as hell didn’t have legs back then either. You told me you could still take care of them. That it didn’t matter that you were a no-leggy fluffy. You swore to me that you wouldn’t let any babies get hurt. You swore you wouldn’t let them die!”
“…sEff…sEfF aM wYiN’ tU yU sTAwbUwSt…sEfF aM wAn hU…”
Trying his best to stand upright, Ash ambled closer to Starburst as best he was able, clearly still hurt from his fall. Frowning slightly, Seth looked down at the desperate stallion, letting Starburst fall from his hand with an audible yelp. Leaning down Seth grabbed Ash’s mouth, holding it closed as the stallion struggled feebly against him, his soft hooves striking his hand over and over. Getting his face as close to Ash’s as possible, Seth spoke softly, his grip tightening as he squeezed the stallion’s muzzle, silencing his whimpers. “You almost broke a rule Ash…do it again and I’ll force my entire arm through her and make you watch me tear her apart from the inside…slowly. Nod if you plan to be a good boy.”
Shaking as his eyes began to water, Ash slowly nodded, his eyes never meeting Seth’s. Letting the stallion go, Seth walked back over to Starburst who fallen onto the bed belly up. She had her eyes firmly shut as she whimpered and shook, trembling harder as she heard Seth approaching again. “So do you have anything to say for yourself this time Starburst? Any excuse for why you let another baby die?” Opening her eyes as she cried, Starburst struggled to see Seth from her current angle, lightly wobbling as she tried to roll over.
“*huuu…huuu…huuu…STAWBUWST SOWWY DADDEH!!!..*huuu…huuu…huuu… NU WAN WET BABBEH GO FOWEBA SWEEPIES!!!..*huuu…huuu…huuu P’WEASE NU WEAVE!!! NU WAN BE BA’ FWUFFY!!!”
“You know what I have to do to forgive you Starburst. If a bad fluffy wants to be forgiven, what has to happen?” Seth had to suppress a smile as he watched the look on Starburst’s face. It always pleased him how the mare feared abandonment more than anything else. From her perspective, a life without someone to love her was more terrible than being punished, and being a bad fluffy meant being abandoned. As he watched the mournful expression on her face, the realization that she’d have to pick being punished or losing Seth’s love.
“*huuu…huuu…huuu…Daddeh teww Stawbuwst dat ba’ fwuffies hab tu git sowwy stick an’ sowwy box…*huuu…huuu…huuu…buh Stawbuwst nu wike sowwy stick ow sowwy box…*huuu…huuu…huuu…P’wease daddeh…nu huwties Stawbuwst nu mowe…”
“If you don’t want to be a good fluffy for daddy, then I guess you aren’t my fluffy anymore…” Grabbing her awkwardly by her scruff, Seth lifted her with one hand and slowly walked towards the door. “I’ll just take you to the dumpster out back and leave you there. You can live on the streets where it’s cold and dark, where the other bad fluffies live!” Writhing in his hand, Starburst bawled and screamed. trying her best to squirm free as she pleaded with Seth.
“*SCREEEEEEE!!! NUUUUUUU!!! STAWBUWST NU WAN GU!!! NU WAN WEAVE DADDEH!!! *SCREEEEEEE!!! NU TAEK STAWBUWST OW’T DEWW!!! P’WEASE DADDEH!!! GIB STAWBUWST SOWWY STICK AN’ SOWWY BOX!!!”
Holding her high enough to meet his face, Seth gave her a mirthless smile. “There’s my good girl.” After taking Starburst back to her bed, the mare a shivering and whimpering mess, Seth walked over to the saferoom’s closet. It always made him smile on the rare occasion when he needed to open it, as this was where Seth stored his disciplinary tools that were for Starburst and Starburst alone. Opening the doors revealed a leather riding crop that hung on the wall, as well as a large plastic cooler with several holes drilled in it’s top just below the crop’s rack and an old metal bucket laying beside it. Reaching up, Seth grasped the riding crop, running his hand over the leather bound shaft all the way to the keeper, the crop’s striking surface. Giving it a few healthy test strikes against the cooler, each blow loud and causing Starburst to yelp and whimper from across the room, Seth smiled and made his way back to the terrified mare.
As Seth walked to the fluff-proofed gate, he could see that Ash had made his way over to Starburst, trying in vain to calm the sobbing pillow-fluff.
“sTaWBuWst…wIsTen tU aSh…yU nU aM bA’ fWufFy…sTAwbUwSt aM gUd fWUfFy…aSh wUv yU…nU wEt sEfF sAi sTaWbUwSt aM bA’…dAt aM nU tWu…sEff aM wiAw…”
Watching as Ash held the quivering mare, Seth chuckled slightly. Despite all his effort and all his kind words, Ash would never get through to Starburst. Her trauma was simply too different than his, too foreign a concept for the poor stallion to comprehend. In her mind, she was a bad fluffy, that was the only explanation that made any sense to her. It was why all her babies went forever sleepies. It was why any baby she ever saw went forever sleepies. And it was why her daddy was mad at her right now.
Crossing over the gate, Seth pulled back and took a powerful swing with the riding crop, striking Ash directly in the face, the stallion screaming as he fell over, his hooves clutching his face.
“*sCReEeEEeE!!!”
“I Told you to stop breaking the rules Ash.” Ignoring the pained whimpers and chirps of the wounded stallion, Seth then turned his attentions to Starburst, the shaking pillow-fluff having screamed at the sight of the riding crop being used on a fluffy. “Now Starburst, what does daddy say about the sorry stick?” Her whimpering quickly deteriorating into heavy tears and sobbing, Starburst buried her face slightly in her bed as she gave a muffled retort.
“*huuu…huuu…huuu…Daddeh sai dat him onwy gib huwties cus he wuvs Stawbuwst…”
“Don’t hide Starburst!” Seth struck her fiercely in the side, garnering an instant scream from the mare. “And speak up when daddy asks you a question! Now, tell me again, what does daddy say?!” As the pillow-fluff winced from the blow, she tried to answer, with Seth whipping her furiously, keeping the blows concentrated and in one area for now.
“*SCREEEEEEE!!! Daddeh sai *SCREEEEEEE!!! *huuu…huuu…huuu…Da…daddeh sai dat *SCREEEEEEE!!! Daddeh sai dat hi *SCREEEEEEE!!! WOWEST HUWTIES!!!..*huuu…huuu…huuu…Da…daddeh s…sai da…dat h…him *SCREEEEEEE!!! *huuu…huuu…huuu D…da…daddeh s…sai dat h…hi…him…on…onwy *SCREEEEEEE!!! *SCREEEEEE!!! *huuu…huuu…huuu…Stawbuwst nu wan huwties…onwy wan huggies an wuv… *SCREEEEEEE!!! SOWWY!!! *huuu…huuu…huuu… STAWBUWST SOWWY DADDEH!!! *SCREEEEEEE!!! Dadd…daddeh sai…*SCREEEEEEE!!! Da…daddeh s…sai…dat…*SCREEEEEEE!!! Dadd…daddeh s…s…sai da…dat…*SCREEEEEEE!!!.. … … …”
It took Starburst nearly three minutes to finally finish answering Seth’s question, with the fierce and unrelenting blows sending her into bouts of screaming and mournful whimpers. Once she had finally managed to repeat the whole thing, her side was badly bruised, with several patches of fluff torn off and raw, her skin mangled and red underneath. Now panting heavily, with the occasional chirp and warbled apology, Starburst laid there, shaking like a leaf with her eyes firmly shut. Taking his hand, Seth slowly worked it towards her, enjoying her fear and the anticipation of more pain, as she lightly pulled from his touch. Gently stroking her mane, he felt Starburst untense, albeit only slightly. Her sobs slowly began to be intermixed with very weak coos, as Starburst whimpered and groaned, her attempts to nuzzle Seth’s hand forcing her injuries to stretch and pull painfully.
“Very good girl…Now, are you ready for the sorry box?”
