July 4th
It had been a painful and restless slumber for Raptor, his wounds far too great for a peaceful night’s sleep. Despite how well Seth had performed the amputation, the pegasus found that even after blacking out, his rest was feverish and fitful. Rocking and whimpering amid fever dreams and seething bouts of pain, Raptor found no solace, even whilst asleep. Chirping and peeping as he slept, his mutterings sullen and indecipherable, Raptor finally stirred awake well before dawn.
“*chirp…nu…nu wan…*chirp…p’wease…nu…*chirp…*SCREEEEEEE!!! NU MOWE HUWTIES!!!”
Breathing hard as he slowly tried to recover from the night terror, Raptor noticed that he wasn’t in the scary place anymore. Elated at first, the pegasus quickly winced, his eyes going wide as his wing flapped slightly from excitement. Feeling the pain along his back and the odd lack of sensation where his other wing should have been, it all came back to Raptor. The monster…no, his daddy had taken his wing from him, a terrible price the pegasus had paid to prove that he was no longer a bad fluffy. As the pegasus began to sob, lamenting the loss of his beautiful wing, he suddenly felt something grasp him. Pulling him by force, Raptor tried to drag his hooves against the smooth pillow, yelling with fear as the large figure drew the pegasus in.
“*SCREEEEEEE!!! MUNSTAH!!! MUNSTAH TWY AN’ TAEK WAPT…”
Muffled abruptly by a hoof pulled gently against his muzzle, Raptor found himself suddenly pressed comfortably against something warm, and fuzzy. As he cooed at the near forgotten sensation of being cuddled, he heard a voice quietly calling to him.
“*Shh…Babbeh am tu wow’d…Gowna wakies odah babbehs wiff aww dohs show’tees…Babbeh comes an’ git huggies fwom nyu mummah…”
New mamma…Raptor’s heart skipped a beat as he took in the soothing words, nearly forgetting the raw agony in his back. It was true. His new daddy had kept his word and taken him to the saferoom, with a new mother, just as he had promised. While hard to see in the low light, Raptor could feel her against him as her hoof held the pegasus, could smell the mare and the other foals who had stirred from his troubled dreams. Hearing their light peeps reminded Raptor of the white foal, the one that he had saved in lieu of his lost wing. Even as he winced with every subtle movement, the pegasus smiled, snuggling closer to his new mother, her voice soothing as she sung to calm the foals back to sleep.
“Mummah wuv babbehs…”
“Babbehs wuv mummah…”
“Dwink wots of miwkies…”
“Gwow big an’ stwong…”
Raptor couldn’t help but to tear up, sniffling slightly as he heard her wonderous, pacifying voice. His tail wagging, the pegasus could almost forget the flesh he forfeited in exchange for this happy new life. Yawning as his eyes began to close, happily chirping as he drifted asleep, Raptor could hear his new mother quietly mumbling so as not to disturb the foals.
“Babbehs am su wuk’ee dat daddeh finds dem…”
Trying to stifle an involuntary shudder, Raptor tried to focus on his new mother’s voice, struggling in vain to push away the dark memories of what his daddy had done to him over the past few days. Quivering slightly, the pegasus chirped and peeped nervously until finally his body gave in to exhaustion, with the young stallion falling back asleep.
Starburst had screamed long after Seth had left the saferoom, the small airholes atop the cooler allowing the poor mare a dim view of Ash’s dangling eye. With her sorrybox being only slightly larger than she was, Starburst had struggled to escape the disembodied organ, it’s slightest graze of her fluff sending her into panicked screams and horrified flailing. After her throat was raw, and her body beaten and exhausted from her punishment and trying to escape, she thankfully gave in to fatigue, blacking out.
It hadn’t been so easy for Ash however. Trying to shift as his exposed nerve was between the cooler and it’s lid, the stallion had struggled to remain quiet and stalwart, hearing the desperation of his former special friend and not wishing to further scare her. But as his legs grew more and more tired, Ash struggled to hold himself up, with each inch he slid causing fresh agony as his eye was tugged and pulled ever so slightly. After what seemed like a forever, the stallion could no longer feign bravery as he gave into full throated screams, wanting anyone, even Seth, to save him.
“*sCReeEeEee!!! hUwtiEs sU bA’!!! p’WEaSe sEff…cOmEs aN’ sAb aSh!!! *sCrEeEeEEe!!! aSh bE gUd!!! asH bE gUd!!!”
Losing track of time, Ash desperately hugged the cooler, his legs quivering as they threatened to buckle and fail him. After yelling in vain for so long, the stallion had simply began to sob, his mind beginning to drift to better times.
“*huuu…huuu…huuu…aSh nU…nU wAn oWiEs oW hEaWt hUwTiEs nU mOwE…*huuu…huuu…huuu…wAn sTaWbuWst bE sPeCiaW fWeNd ‘gAiN…wAn bAbBeHs bAcK…*huuu…huuu…huuu…wAn…wAn sEff bE nIceS’ 'gAiN…”
While it wasn’t always easy for Ash to remember, there was a time when Seth was a wonderful owner. Time and trauma had long distorted the stallion’s early memories, but he remembered a vague sense of tranquility, as though the saferoom he was now trapped within was once a haven. Countless forevers ago, when Seth had forced him to stay with Starburst, he tried to ask her about before, when the pair had been lovers, when they had a litter of their own. Sadly, a combination of Starburst’s phobia of foals and her twisted views on Seth made it a confusing and brief discussion.
Whimpering as he struggled to stay upright, Ash shrieked in horror. His legs exhausted from holding him aloft, the stallion began to slide downward again, his eye tugging against his own weight. With each pained struggle, Ash screeched as he felt his optic nerve pulled harder and harder.
“*sCreEEeEeE!!! nUUuuUuU!!! *scReEEeeEe!!!”
Tearing with a soft snap, Ash fell to the floor, writhing along the floor as the pained stallion fell into full throated screams, blood ebbing from his freshly emptied socket. Grasping at his face as he thrashed wildly, Ash bellowed long into the morning before finally passing out from his injuries.
After Seth had left him by himself in the closet saferoom, Plucky had darted after his owner, the closet door closed in the pegasus’ face. Standing upright, he banged against the door, wailing for Seth’s return, horrified at what his daddy might do. After it had become clear that he wasn’t coming back, Plucky slumped against the floor, sobbing.
While he knew that Sassy deserved whatever was coming to her, the thought of losing one of his foals broke the pegasus’ heart. Why had she defied him at every turn?! Plucky knew that his new daddy wasn’t as nice as he’d of hoped for, but Seth had been kind to him, even spared him the heartache of seeing one of his offspring perish. Despite how scared Plucky had been of him in the alleyway, watching helpless as his family and only friend were dragged away, he had grown to like Seth, maybe even love him.
Sullen as he whimpered and bawled on the closet floor, Plucky eventually grew too tired for tears and slowly fell asleep.
As the alarm began to blare, Seth’s gaze went from the ceiling to his alarm clock. Despite his exhaustion, rest had simply never come to him, his mind too busy and his thoughts too manic. Tuning off the alarm, Seth made his way to the bathroom, brushing his teeth and readying himself for the day. It had felt like an eternity of waiting for the fourth, but now that it was here, Seth felt hollow, and alone. Why is it always like this, thought Seth as he donned a fresh pair of clothes from his dresser drawer.
He knew the answer, although he’d never admit it aloud. Each time this year, despite all the fun, and the games, Seth couldn’t escape the thought of losing his oldest fluffies. Starburst and Ash had been with Seth for over four years now, and were the very first fluffies he had owned. And he had been prudent with their abuse over the years, not wanting to overtax them, at least not again. All those years ago, when Seth had decided to torture and kill their foals in front of the fluffy couple, he was sure, so goddamned sure that it’d be Starburst who broke.
But it was Ash who snapped, falling over in a fit of terrible grief before Seth had lost him in the mental haze that was the Wan Die loop. It took months of work to retrieve the lost stallion, and even then it was temporary. While Seth appreciated the cruel and inventive fun that he shared with Starburst, it just wasn’t the same without Ash. Looking back, Seth almost regretted what he had done, if only because it lessened the stallion’s years, and Seth was going to miss him. Caring for and subtly torturing the pair had become routine for him, and while Seth could only really enjoy his hobby on his time off, he’d come to rely on the daily fix that was their pained existence.
“All good things…” Seth muttered to himself as he made his way to the kitchen. Flicking the stovetop on, Seth retrieved a pan and some eggs. Cracking the shells and emptying the contents into a bowl, Seth mixed the egg batter, occasionally mixing in a dash of spices before pouring it into the pan. As the scramble began to cook, Seth then fetched a tomato and some mozzarella from the fridge. Cutting the tomato into sections, Seth then took a wooden spoon and began to stir the eggs as they slowly grew solid and fluffed. Spooning them onto a plate, Seth then topped it with a handful of the shredded cheese and the tomatoes before sitting down to enjoy his breakfast.
Savoring the first bite, Seth began to think of how the day was going to unfold, a fit of nostalgia and melancholy gripping him. Just based on how badly he had injured Ash last night, he had a sinking feeling that this would be the last Fourth of July that he’d spend with the stallion, if not the last day. And sadly, without his old friend around, Seth saw little reason to keep Starburst anymore, her daily presence just threatening to remind Seth of what he’d soon lose.
Plucky and Cyclops were keepers, Seth knew that already. With their politeness as well as their penchant for obeying instructions, they were the rare breed of fluffy that Seth actually enjoyed, at least for now. Yesterday, the idea of breeding the two had crossed his mind but after seeing how territorial Plucky could be when it came to his foals, Seth thought better of it.
Of all the foals he’d aqquired, the only one that he really cared about was Candyfloss. From the moment he’d seen the adorable two-toned filly in that old cardboard box, Seth’s heart had melted. And while he’d been concerned with how Sassy’s poor behavior might have influenced her, that was no longer a problem. Besides, with Candyfloss’ recent half-pillowing, Seth knew that she’d grow overly reliant on him, making her more loving and affectionate in the long run. As for the rest of the foals, Seth was already making plans to cull their numbers, starting with Cyclops’ own. While he knew that it would break the mare’s heart, they would be opening their eyes any day now, speaking and possibly revealing to Cyclops that her beloved daddy was a monster.
The lucky blue foal was another story altogether. While Seth himself didn’t believe in the metaphysical or in anything unearthly that couldn’t be weighed, observed, or analyzed, even he had to admit that the little blue bastard had overcome some insane odds yesterday. And even though Seth knew that it was likely that the foal wouldn’t live a long or healthy life, he was loathe to just kill it.
Lastly was Raptor, who Seth was genuinely shocked had made it to today, while only losing a few teeth, one testicle, and a wing. Now convinced that he was a good fluffy, Seth had worked hard to give the little pegasus everything he had ever dreamed of, all so he could take it away. While he wasn’t quite sure how just yet, Seth had an inkling, and it involved Cyclops’ foals.
Finishing his breakfast, Seth brewed a small pot of coffee to wash it down, and to hopefully perk him up. Pouring a cup of the potent brew, he savored the warmth that flushed through his body. Still, even as he planned out his day, the ennui that had haunted him since Sassy’s strangling still lingered. Lamenting silently as he looked first to his old coffee kettle, and then to one of the canned foals, Seth slowly shook his head. “I need a new one anyway…” Grasping the container, Seth depressed the lower buttons, the red foal screeching wildly as the catheters were violently pulled from him. Twisting the canister’s top, Seth casually tilted the cylinder, letting the chirping and panicked foal tumble into his hand.
As it peeped within his hand, confused as to where it was but feeling the warmth of the large hand that cradled it, the foal began to chirp contently, laying low in Seth’s palm and wrapping it’s tiny nubs around his fingers. As he made his way to the other side of the counter, Seth opened the top of the kettle and quickly let the foal fall within, it’s surprised yelp from the fall quickly quickly replaced with fervent screeches as it splashed helplessly within the boiling coffee, it’s fragile skin blistering as it called out for rescue. Looking down as it’s struggles began to slow, it’s life near an end, Seth only sighed. “Me too, little guy…Me too.”
