All the excitement of hearing about getting to live in a saferoom was quickly deflated when Raptor saw that cruel smile on Seth’s face once again. Slowing backing behind the carrier the pegasus lowered himself against the wooden table, trembling as he shook his head.
“…Waptow nu wan see babbehs git huwties nu mowe…Hab sickies aftah munstah gib wowstest huwties tu bwu fwuffy…Waptow jus’…jus’ wan gu tu safewoom…p’wease…”
Gently lifting the carrier, Seth stifled a slight chuckle as Raptor audibly yelped, amused at the pegasus’s shock as he removed his only hiding spot. Placing it on the floor next to the workbench, Seth then put the foal’s canister next to Raptor, the nervous colt jumping slightly as the glass tube struck the wooden workbench, the white foal within now chirping with a rapid and nervous fervor. “Raptor…I’m only going to give you one warning. I just finished dealing with a bad fluffy and it’s left me in a pretty foul mood. So if I were you, I’d do what I say, like a good fluffy.” While his tone was even and calm, there was a fire behind his words, with his gaze never leaving the cowering pegasus as he spoke. Lifting him by his neck, Seth held him over the litterbox, the colt a quivering mess as he saw the floor below.
“*SCREEEEEEE!!! Tu hi upsies! Nu wike! Wet Waptow down! Wet Waptow down!”
Letting the pegasus dangle over the litter, Seth ignored his pleas. “If you need to go to the bathroom, do it now. You know what’ll happen if you go on my workbench…” Whimpering slightly, Raptor complied, his hooves covering his testicles ever so slightly as he voided both bowels and bladder before Seth dropped him back onto the workbench, the pegasus yelping slightly as he struck it firmly.
Not giving Raptor the chance to respond, Seth then made his way to his trunk, leaving the colt to contemplate his fate. Starting off simple, Seth grabbed a roll of duct tape and tore off a few strips as he advanced towards the workbench. Seeing his approach, Raptor nervously crawled behind the foal’s canister, desperate to evade Seth’s notice. Reaching past the glass tube, Seth grasped the pegasus by his still forming mane, the terrified colt kicking and screaming as he was lifted into the air.
“*SCREEEEEEE!!! NUUUUUU!!! MUNSTAH AM WIAR!!! JUS’ WAN HUWTIES WAPTOW!!! NU MOWE!!! *chirp…*chirp…MUMMAH!!! HEWP BABBEH!!!..*chirp…*chirp…SAB BABBEH!!! *SCREEEEEEE!!!”
Pushing the flailing colt against the toolboard, Seth then placed a strip of tape over his belly, adhering him to the wooden pegboard. Stretching out his flailing hooves, Seth then taped them one by one, taking a simple joy in Raptor’s futile attempts to free himself. By the time Seth had fully restrained the colt against the toolboard, he had nearly fully reverted, chirping and screaming for his phantasmal mother to come and save him.
“*chirp…*chirp…*chirp…MUMMAH!!! …*chirp…*chirp…*chirp…P’WEASE SAB BABBEH!!! …*chirp…*chirp…*chirp…BABBEH AM GUD FWUFFY!!! BABBEH AM GUD FWUFFY!!! …*chirp…*chirp…*chirp…”
Laughing as he watched the pegasus’ head swivel and jerk, trying in vain to catch even a glimpse of the mare who had sung to him, Seth gripped his head, forcing Raptor’s tear-streaked face towards him. “I already told you Raptor. You’re momma isn’t here. She abandoned you, because she knows you’re not a good fluffy. You’re a bad fluffy, a bad fluffy that lets other babies die.” His head now hanging with shame, Raptor began to whimper, his quiet peeps now muffled by sobs.
It pleased Seth greatly how ashamed Raptor was, despite not really doing anything wrong. While it was true that the young colt was quite the bully when Seth had found him, the pegasus’ only real crime now was valuing his own life over the lives of other fluffies. However, due to his age, just old enough to eat solid foods but only recently weaned, it was relatively simple to manipulate Raptor using the idea of a disappointed mother. Fluffies were kind and considerate by nature, and even the meanest and cruelest smarty knew deep down, that there was something errant, something unnatural about going against their instinct to spread joy. So for the colt to be abandoned by a mother because he wasn’t a good fluffy was a severe blow to Raptor’s fragile psyche, and a great way to manipulate the poor fluffy into willfully torturing himself.
Leaving Raptor for the moment, Seth took the foal in a can over to his utility sink, depressing the bottom buttons as he made his way. Several panicked peeps marked the catheters being pulled out as the foal began to chirp rapidly, blind and desperate for someone to find and save it from the unseen monster. Placing it under the sink’s tap, Seth unscrewed the lid, the poor white foal now curling up at the bottom of the tube, desperately avoiding the loud pop of the canister’s lid being removed. Jostling the tube, lightly, despite the foal’s protesting chirps, Seth tested the canister, assuring that it wouldn’t wobble or tip. Satisfied, Seth then walked back to the workbench, with Raptor still splayed against the wall, his eyes firmly closed as his head turned as far away from the sink as possible.
“*chirp…*chirp…Waptow wan be gud fwuffy…*chirp…*chirp…*chirp…Nu wan widdew babbeh tu hab huwties…*chirp…*chirp…*chirp…ow foweba sweepies…*chirp…*chirp…*chirp…Jus’ wan gu tu safewoom…*chirp…*chirp…*chirp…”
Firmly placing his fingers on the pegasus’ eyelids, Seth stretched the eye forcibly open, the colt screaming as he tried to move his head away, his hooves trying in vain to kick free of his restraints.
“*SCREEEEEEE!!! NUUUUUUU!!! WET GU!!! WET GU!!! …*chirp…*chirp…*chirp…”
Once Seth had Raptor’s eye opened wide, the struggling pegasus clearly unable to shut it, he used his other hand and flicked the soft organ, sending Raptor into a bout of pained howls.
“*SCREEEEEEE!!! SEE PWACE OWIES!!!”
“I warned you Raptor. If there was ever a day not to disobey me…It…Is…Today!” Punctuating every last word with another light blow against the shrieking pegasus’ eye, Seth watched with joy as the fluffy screeched and tremored.
“*SCREEEEEEE!!! NUUUUUUU!!! SEE PWACE HAB HUWTI…*SCREEEEEEE!!! P’wease, nu mowe…*SCREEEEEEE!!!”
Letting Raptor have a moment’s reprieve, his eye red and swollen as he tried to catch his breath. “Now as long as you behave, I won’t have to do that again. Now, do you want to live in one of my saferooms?” Still sniffling, Raptor looked to Seth, a faint glimmer of hope visible amidst his desperation and fear.
“*huuu…huuu…huuu…*chirp…Yus…Waptow wan wiv’ in safewoom…*chirp…*chirp…Nu wike scawy ba’ pwace…*chirp…*huuu…huuu…huuu…Nu wan wiv’ hewe nu mowe…*chirp…”
Taking his hand and lightly rubbing it against the pegasus’ face, Raptor cooed slightly even as he trembled from Seth’s attentions. "Well if you can prove to me that you’re a good fluffy, then you can leave for a saferoom tonight, a wonderful saferoom with a sweet fluffy mother that will love and take care of you. But if not, then it’s the bad saferoom with you. That’s where I keep my scary and broken fluffies. Seth grinned slightly as he saw Raptor trying to process what he was saying, wondering if the pegasus could even comprehend the concept of a bad saferoom. “So, are you ready to prove to me that you aren’t a bad fluffy?” Clearly still frightened, but desperate to leave the hobby room, Raptor slowly nodded, his chirps having become softer and less frequent.
“*chirp…Yus…Waptow wan gu tu gud safewoom…*chirp…*chirp…P’wease wet Waptow down nao…*chirp…*chirp…Waptow nu wike wen munstah twap weggies…Nu wike bein’ su hi upsies edah …*chirp…*chirp…”
“Well let’s see what we can do about it then…” Leaving the pegasus alone for the moment, Seth returned to the trunk, fetching a couple of nails and a hammer, as well as his scalpel and the fluffy first aid kit. Walking the items back over to the workbench, Seth gripped Raptor’s wing abruptly, the startled colt screaming as he tried to flap and wrestle the vestigial limb away.
“*SCREEEEEEE!!! WEAVE WINGIE A’WONE!!! WAT AM MUNSTAH DOIN” WIFF WINGIE!!! *SCREEEEEEE!!!"
Taking one of the nails, Seth stretched the wing out as far as it would go, despite the whimpering protests of Raptor, and then pressed the nail against the wing’s alula. As the metal tip drew blood, Seth looked to the pegasus, writhing as the nail dug into the delicate skin of his wing. “Take a deep breath Raptor, this is going to hurt…” Taking the hammer, Seth pulled back and struck the nail, hearing Raptor suddenly wheeze and sputter violently from the pain, the pegasus silently attempting to scream but having winded himself far too severely. Before he had a chance to recover from the first blow, Seth then stretched out the other wing, with Raptor moaning as he tried to flap his wings again, wincing as the one that was pinned pulled against the nail with each flap. Piercing it as before, Seth drove the nail in quickly, wanting the pegasus to still be conscious for what he had planned. Once both wings were pinned to the pegboard, small rivulets of blood trailing down to the wax paper that covered the workbench, Seth then let Raptor recover a bit, going back to the utility sink.
Looking down to the blind foal, it’s tiny nubs flailing desperately to the sky for food or love, Seth almost felt bad for the little creature. “Time to see if you make it or not. For what it’s worth…good luck.” Turning the handle of the tap ever so slightly, Seth adjusted the sink back and forth until there was only a slight drip coming from the faucet. Once Seth was satisfied, he then pushed the faucet directly over the canister, with each slight drop causing the foal to go into a panicked fit of peeps and chirps as it was struck. Trying it’s best to evade the watery bombardment, it found it had no room to crawl, nor did curling up against the canister’s bottom help, as this simply soaked the confused foal’s belly fluff. After a few moments, it simply sat, wincing and peeping with each water droplet that fell upon it.
Once the faucet was prepped and he felt that Raptor had been given enough time to recover, Seth made his way to the poor pegasus. His face was twisted, contorted from the impaling of his wings, with each subtle movement causing him to suddenly scream in agony. However, Seth smiled to see that despite all the pain Raptor was in, his eyes were wide open. “I see you’re finally staring to listen to me. That’s a great start Raptor.” His hand reaching towards the colt’s head yet again, he nearly shrieked until he felt Seth’s hand lightly petting him. As Raptor began to lightly coo, Seth gently turned his head, so that the foal and the utility sink were within his line of sight.
“See the foal Raptor? I’ve put it in the bad water place and it’s can is slowly filling up. Now if nothing is done to save it, it will drown once the water goes above it’s head, but if you’re really a good fluffy, you can save it!” Still nuzzling against Seth’s hand as well as his bindings allowed, Raptor stared towards the unfortunate foal, his eyes watering as he slowly turned to meet Seth’s gaze.
“*chirp…Waptow wan be gud fwuffy…*chirp…*chirp…Wan mummah to wuv Waptow…*chirp…*chirp…If Waptow sab babbeh, den munstah wuv Waptow tu…*chirp…*chirp…An’ munstah taek Waptow way’ fwom scawy woom…*chirp…*chirp…Wet Waptow wiv in nices’ safewoom…*chirp…Waptow…Waptow wan sab babbeh…*chirp…Wan be gud fwuffy 'gain…”
Nodding to the pegasus, Seth smiled. “That’s very good Raptor…But you might change you’re mind when I tell you how to save the baby. See I think you might still be a bad fluffy, and I need you to prove me wrong. Saying you’re a good fluffy is easy, but showing me you’re a good fluffy…well, that’s going to be a tad harder.” A puzzled look creeping on the pegasus’ face, his head tilted slightly.
“*chirp…Hao am Waptow gowna pw’oov Waptow am gud fwuffy tu munstah? …*chirp…*chirp…”
“It’s very simple…If you want to save that foal, you have to tell me to take your wings away…” His eyes suddenly widening, Raptor began to flail and struggle, his wings rapping against the toolboard as he tried in vain to flap and move them.
“*SCREEEEEEE!!! NU TAEK WINGIES!!! NU TAEK WINGIES, P’WEASE!!!”
His hand once again going to the frantic pegasus’ eye, Seth forcefully opened his eye wide and held his other hand, poised in the flicking position. “Calm down, NOW!!!” Despite Raptor’s fear of losing his wings, the pegasus cowed to the more current threat, whimpering as he tried to flinch away from Seth’s readied hand.
“*chirp…*chirp…P’wease…*chirp…nu taek wingies…*chirp…*chirp…Waptow nu wan wose wingies…*chirp…*chirp…”
“If you don’t want to lose your wings, then you won’t…” The relief on Raptor’s face was palpable but brief, as his expression grew more and more dour as Seth went on. “…But if you do nothing, then that foal will drown. And then I’ll know for sure that you’re a bad fluffy.” His mouth agape, the colt was clearly confused, struggling with what Seth was trying to tell him.
“*chirp…*chirp…Buh…buh Waptow am gud fwuffy nao…*chirp…*chirp… nu wan babbeh tu dwown…*chirp…*chirp…”
“So you want me to save the foal? You want me to keep it from drowning?” Seth tried his best to hide his ever widening grin, eagerly awaiting the pegasus’ response.
“…*chirp…*chirp…Yus! Gud fwuffy wud sab babbeh…*chirp…*chirp…An’ Waptow an gud fwuffy…*chirp…*chirp…Su yus, p’wease munstah…*chirp…sab babbeh!..*chirp…”
“I will save that baby right now Raptor, but you have to tell me to take away your wings first. If you do that, it’ll prove to me that you are a good fluffy, that another fluffy is more important to you than keeping your wings. That’s what a good fluffy does. It puts others before itself, Raptor. So are you a good fluffy? Do you want me to take your wings?”
