Holding the still peeping Candyfloss in his hands, Seth narrowed his eyes on the pegasus below him, almost pleased that Raptor had given him such a blatant excuse to punish the foolish foal. Still manic from before, Raptor was unprepared as Seth suddenly kicked the pegasus against the gate. Shrieking as he collided against the firm metal and plastic frame, Raptor tumbled against the ground, sobbing as he tried in vain to cover his face with his hooves. Seth placed his hand gently over Candyfloss’ head, wanting to spare her from the screaming vitriol that was about to spew from his mouth. “WE DO NOT STEAL BABIES RAPTOR!!! NOT IN MY HOUSE YOU LITTLE SHIT!!!” Deciding to hammer home the message, Seth kicked the pegasus again and again, his body slamming into the gate and toppling onto the floor, in rapid succession.
“*SCREEEEEEE!!! NUUUUUUU!!! WAPTOW AM…*SCREEEEEEE!!! … *chirp…*chirp…P’WEASE DADDE…*SCREEEEEEE!!! …*chirp…*chirp…MUMMAH!!! SAB BABB…*SCREEEEEEE!!!”
Distraught first by scaring Candyfloss and now by her daddy’s screaming and brutal assault on one of her new babies, Cyclops trembled as she watched the vicious display. After watching her biggest foal crash against the floor over and over, Cyclopstook a deep breath and trotted over beside Seth, lightly tugging against his jeans and pleading with him.
“Daddeh p’wease! Nu huwties babbeh Waptow nu mowe! Dat am enuff! Dat am enuff!”
Going still, Seth’s head slowly turned to the distraught mare, his expression as he glared towards her making her blood run cold. While Cyclops knew her daddy was a good man, she let go of his pants and began to back away slowly, fearing some form of reprisal for her hasty actions. Leaning down so that his face met hers, Seth’s face was eerily calm. Whimpering slightly, Cyclops glanced past her daddy to see Raptor, writhing slowly on the floor as he chirped and mewled softly. Yelping as she felt Seth’s hand grasp her muzzle firmly, he forced her focus back on him. “Cyclops…you know that you aren’t EVER supposed to tell your daddy what to do…” Shaking under his grip, Cyclops tremored violently as Seth raised his voice. Despite how much she loved him, it was horrifying to see him so angry.
“Cy’cwops am sowwy daddeh…P’wease nu yeww…Cy’cwops onwy wan babbehs tu be otay…”
Taking a deep breath, Seth tried to quell his growing rage. While he felt justified in brutalizing Raptor for what he had tried to do, Seth had grown fond of Cyclops and definitely had a soft spot for the sweet mare. “Okay…I’m not going to yell, but Raptor broke the rules and he tried to steal away with a foal…” Seth had to grit his teeth slightly as he thought of how easily Candyfloss could have been killed if he hadn’t intervened so quickly. “…And he left the nest Cyclops! I told you your second day here that no fluffies in the saferoom are allowed past the red tape…including you! Didn’t you go over the rules with your new babies yet?” As he spoke, Seth pointed to the tarp, reminding the mare of the boundaries that he had set for the fluffies days ago.
“Cy’cwops nu teww babbehs wuwes…Wus gowna teww dem aftah dey aww hab nummies…Cy’cwops sowwy…nu mean tu bweak wuwes…”
Petting her softly, Seth sighed. “I know sweety…but rules are rules. I have to punish Raptor…and I have to punish you too…” Calm at first, Cyclops began to whimper and cry. Seth couldn’t tell what upset the poor mare more, that she was going to be punished, or that she had let him down. “Go back to your nest and wait for me.” Still sobbing, Cyclops slowly turned to make her way to the tarp when she noticed that the white foal was now next to Raptor, the little fluff peeping and chirping as he lightly rubbed his head against the downed pegasus.
“Babbeh?! Nu!!! Gu backs tu nestie!!!”
Trotting quickly, Cyclops approached the foal and reached for it, only for the confused baby to screech and peep as it backed it’s way against Raptor, clearly distressed at the thought of being separated from it’s friend. Seth approached the fluffs at the gate, astonished at how quickly the foal had imprinted on Raptor. Even now, hungry and scared, the white foal was choosing the wounded pegasus over a new mother. Reaching out, Seth grabbed first the foal in one hand, and then Raptor in the other, walking them back to the tarp as the half conscious pegasus groaned in his hand. “Come on Cyclops! You need to feed these foals anyway…” As the mare cautiously made her way back, unsure of what punishment awaited her, Seth placed the white foal and Candyfloss down gently. Using his finger, Seth calmingly stroked the little filly, trying to soothe her after her ordeal. “Don’t worry Candyfloss, that mare isn’t a monster…that’s Cyclops! She’s your new mamma! And I’m your daddy!” Cooing at Seth’s touch, the filly grew excited as he spoke to her, chirping and peeping at the affection.
“*chirp…*chirp…*chirp…nyu mummah? …*chirp…*chirp…*chirp…daddeh? …*chirp…*chirp…*chirp…”
“That’s right! You’re so clever my little Candyfloss…” As Cyclops approached, Seth helped the excited little filly latch, her second attempt to nurse from the mare far more successful than the first. Then, Seth picked up the white foal, the small colt chirping and peeping against him the entire time as he placed him onto Cyclops’ other teat. If not for how hungry he must have been, the foal would have probably just kept fighting, thought Seth chuckling to himself. Once Cyclops was distracted by feeding the foals, singing her mamma song to them as she gently stroked them with her hooves, Seth then placed his hand on Raptor, checking his ribs where he had repeatedly kicked the manic pegasus.
His breathing was labored, and the flank where most of the blows had landed was an angry, bluish bruise, but all in all, it could have been far worse. “You are either the luckiest or unluckiest fluffy I have ever met Raptor…” Seth said softly. “…And for the life of me, I couldn’t tell you which…” Slowly responding to his touch, Raptor’s eyes focused and met Seth’s, the pegasus clearly still woozy from the attack.
“*chirp…*chirp…*chirp…Daddeh? Waptow hab the wowstest huwties…,*chirp…*chirp…*chirp…Wah hap’en tu Waptow? …*chirp…*chirp…*chirp…Wai am Waptow hab owwies?”
Interesting. It seemed like Raptor may have truly blacked out when he absconded with Candyfloss. While it wasn’t uncommon for a fluffy to lie about misbehavior, Seth simply didn’t think that the pegasus was present enough to try and deceive him at the moment. “Well Raptor…you did a very bad thing and made your daddy very, very upset…You called me a monster again, and in front of all of my good fluffies…” Seth was careful to keep his voice down, so as not to attract the attention of Cyclops. While he had slipped up more than he had intended earlier, the mare was still thankfully unaware of Seth’s more devious nature. “…And you tried to steal a foal…and not just any foal but Candyfloss…daddy’s favorite foal…”
Seth could see Raptor struggling to recall his misbehaviors, the pegasus’ expression slowly changing from confusion, to shock, and then finally to horror as he tried in vain to rise up and escape, his injuries far too severe to move just yet.
“*SCREEEEEEE!!! WAPTOW NU WA…”
Cut off by Seth’s hand clutching his muzzle firmly, Raptor could only lightly peep as he looked to his owner with a pleading stare, his eyes already tearing up in anticipation of whatever torment Seth had planned. “Not so loud…you’ll disturb the foals…” Waiting until the pegasus had calmed slightly, Seth withdrew his hand, pleased to see that despite some light peeping, Raptor clearly knew better than to scream again. “I take it you remember now?” Facing Seth as his battered body shook and tremored, it was clear from his fearful gaze that the pegasus knew what he had done, and how severely he had erred.
“*chirp…*chirp…P’wease…Waptow nu mean tu…*chirp…*chirp…Waptoe jus wan sab Candee’fwoss fwom munstah…*chirp…*chirp…”
Growing more and more frustrated by the moment, Seth grasped Raptor’s muzzle, forcing it closed as he placed his thumb and forefinger on the nape of the pegasus’ neck. “I told you to stop saying that word Raptor…” Squeezing the flesh firmly, Seth could hear the pegasus’ muffled screams as he pinched and pulled at his neck. “…There is no monster here, remember?! The only fluffy in danger right now is you…”
Seth continued Raptor’s light torture for several minutes, his pleas for mercy and cries of agony dulled by his held muzzle. It would have gone on longer if not for the sudden panicked chirps of the white foal. Now with a full belly, the tiny fluff had waddled blindly towards Raptor, peeping rapidly as though it could sense the pegasus’ distress. Releasing his grip on the nape of Raptor’s neck, Seth gave the pegasus a knowing stare before slowly releasing his maw, the injured fluff only groaning slightly as he was freed. Nuzzling against the beaten pegasus, the white foal began to calm, his chirps and peeps becoming softer and less rapid, before the little fluff’s eyes slowly began to open.
“*chirp…chirp…chirp…bwu’da…*chirp…*chirp…*chirp…huwt…”
Leaning up as far as his tiny nubs would allow, the white foal began to sniffle where the pegasus had been badly bruised, clearly concerned for his brother Raptor. Before Seth could adequately respond to the newly talkie colt, he heard something far more distressing…
“*chirp…*chirp…*chirp…bwu’da? …*chirp…*chirp…*chirp…bwu’da sab candee’fwoss? …candee’fwoss wuv bwu’da! …*chirp…*chirp…*chirp…”