Chapter 6
Adam grumbled. Sales. It wasn’t the worst thing in the world. All he really had to do was gather up the foals old enough to be sold, and put them in the shop’s enclosures. All of them were supposed to be well behaved. The ones the mill sold directly were held at a certain standard. They had to be beautiful, and they had to act respectful. They were still allowed to be foals, but they needed to be litter trained and not demand. They wanted parents of course, but they didn’t all swarm en masse begging to be adopted. They were trained to say hi if they were overcome with excitement and introduce themselves. Other than that, they were encouraged to play with each other. Some potential owners even requested they not be seen to see how the foals acted when they thought they weren’t being watched. It was quite clever, even if the Mill watched them all the time on cameras.
Okay, so it wasn’t a fluffy mill. Not any longer. No, it was more of a well run machine. It used to be called the Mill, and they kept with it despite the negative connotations. It was industrial enough. They expanded into the designer fluffy business since that was where the big money was. Anyone could be a backyard breeder and sell some pretty foals. The Mill did better. They made beautiful fluffies with pedigrees. They had a team of scientists dedicated solely to predicting potential colors and patterns of foals between the mares and studs. Of course genetics was always a bit of a toss up, especially so with fluffies. Apparently they could still predict with a pretty high accuracy. That was only the color predictors too. There were other teams of nerds. Adam barely interacted with them. His job was on the floor. Their jobs were in the lab. There was no reason fro them to interact.
Adam was glad he only needed to deliver them. He’d been a retail slave in a few different jobs as a teenager. He never wanted to repeat it. Of course if someone came to him with a fluffy related question, he could answer it…but as for any other stock in the store, he wasn’t obligated to answer.
First step was to go to the foal room. He got to get the adolescent ones who no longer needed milk, but had also gone through the behavior training. It was mostly done through special FluffTV episodes. Honestly, Adam thought they could benefit through the Cherry and Berry episodes…but it might be too complicated for young foals. Maybe adult fluffies? He entered the foal room. Warmer than was comfortable for a person, but perfect for little fluffies still growing in the coats. They’d just gotten their manes and tails. It was easy to tell which fluffies were ready. None from the fluffies surging towards him. “Fluffies line up.” He told them. The ones that listened right away…they were ready. “You guys are going to come with me. You’re ready for new moms and dads.” A little cheer went up from the lined up fluffies, and huus came from the ones who were not chosen. A few tried to join the line, but Adam would remove them from the line. There were about fifteen that were ready. All were beautiful. Adam told them to use the litter box, and there was a small stampede to use it obediently, showing off they could make good poopies for their new parents. “Remember the rules.” He told them, and carefully put them in the box. It was important to keep them happy, as nobody liked a tearful fluffy in the shop. “I’m going to be moving the box. I won’t drop you. You’ll all be safe. This is a travel box.” He said. There were a few ‘scawy’s from the foals, but they hugged each other so there were no tears.
Before entering the shop area Adam checked over his uniform. Clean. Poop and other fluffy bodily fluid free. Though he normally wore the brown company overalls over it all. He had to take those off to be on the sales floor. The uniform was black pants and the dark blue company logo. There was a furry looking M on the breast pocket, indicating it was the Mill. Adam was glad the uniform didn’t hurt his eyes. It looked more professional and less cringeworthy than the pastel uniforms that the other fluffy stores had.
He looked over the fluffs currently display. The glass walls were one way, but the lights were set for daytime. There were also a few adult fluffies for show. Honestly, it was their last chance before milkbagging. They weren’t expected to be adopted but occasionally a kind soul decided to take a former breeder. So long as they weren’t a pain. No way were they going to diminish their reputation by selling a bitch. They were kind, but didn’t have the makings of a nurse mare. Might as well try to make money from their sale before repurposing her.
Adam glanced at what wares they had. It was a while since he last replenished the foals in the store. The shelves had been stocked by someone else and straightened. They had a small abuser section, but it was listed as ‘punishment’ and nothing too out there. Again, reputation. It was mostly specialty items or foal items, as well as beginner sets for fluffies. They even had a small book section. It was a bit of a small paradise for hugboxers.
The enclosures for the fluffies weren’t too small either. They were spacious with toys for the foals to play with. They were ready for sale, so they were very well behaved and toilet trained. Trained either by the nurse mares for their basic needs, or the toughies if they needed behavior correction. They were about as close as one could get to perfect fluffies. Look good and act good. Though they clearly weren’t responsible if the owner did not keep discipline and the foal turned into a brat later. They were still learning, after all. Even if they got a good base.
The shop wasn’t full around this point. That was on purpose. He could shock the enclosures while there weren’t many customers. He had four enclosures to fill up. The fluffies were not sorted by pattern, but type. Earthies, Pegasus, Unicorn, and Alicorn. Each font was stylized to look fancy. They were trying out different sorting units, he saw. Last time it was patterns and non patterns. The time before that it was colts and fillies. Ah well. They had a good mixture of all the types here, but the alicorns were obviously the most expensive.
The fluffies were curious about the ‘nyu housie’ and Adam knew the answer them so it didn’t look cold to customers. “Yes, this is where you’ll be until you’re adopted by a new mom or dad.” He said with a fake smile. “You’ll have friends and toys here.” He was sorting them, occasionally telling the especially pretty ones that they were indeed pretty. Hopefully that gave the impression the fluffies were very cared for and loved. Well, he supposed the foals were, even if the breeders were treated with disinterest.
Luckily the foals allowed themselves to be stocked without much trouble. One unicorn colt complained he wouldn’t be with his brothers, two pegasus. Adam claimed he could still talk to them through the mesh. The three might have been brothers. Maybe they could tell by scent. Still, he would be with unicorns. Adam also mentioned he could talk to fillies here too. Though any fluffy that came into sexual maturity would be separated into boys and girls in the next stage up pen. Which was not his job. At least not this time.
Next…intakes. Sometimes they got good looking fluffies from people giving them up. Bitch mares, smarties, or their kids grew tired of the fluffy. The reason didn’t matter. It was a pretty breeder coming in for them. They needed new stock every once in a while. Adam disliked this job too…because it was the worst of the worst fluffies. They tended to be brats when it came to breeding. He would still check to see if some could become toughie enforcers or nurse mares. After that…well for their sakes he hoped they could breed well. Otherwise they could always use more milkbags.
Mercifully he got to be in the back again, and put his overalls back on. They had faint stains that would never come out, and the faint smell of fluffy shit, but it was more familiar to him than the shop. And the overalls didn’t smell nearly as bad as the rooms. Especially not the one he was going to.
The intake room was a cacophony of whining and fluffy shouts. There was even a splatter of sorry poopies on the wall. Yeah, he was using the offender as a sponge before their bath… “Who did this?” He asked, making his voice cold and hard as ice. The fluffies in the room silenced at the unkind voice. Usually they were encouraged to not coddle the newcomers. Adam had to agree. Spoiled little things already shit on the walls, probably for being ignored. Adam stalked forwards, knowing he’d find the culprit. Sure enough, it was a male with a shit covered ass. Flecks were all along his cage, and the bars of it. He was bright red with a white and red striped mane. A unicorn. Beautiful…but not for long. Adam unlatched the cage door and reached in, grabbing him by his side fluff. He dragged him out of the cage, then shoved him against the bars, moving him up and down like a rag to clean the cage.
“Owies! Nu wike! Wet go of Candy Cane!” The fluffy squealed.
“No. You’re going to clean all this shit you made.” Adam growled. “Your fur works perfect.” No wonder there were rags of fluffy fur. It was easy to clean and retained wetness.
After the bars were clean-ish he moved to the wall.
“Bad upsies! Nu wike!” The fluffy protested, sagging under the weight. His tail was between his legs as Adam ignored him. He started using the fluffy like a living rag, moving him up and down.
“SCREEEE! Nu! Nu wike! Put fwuffy downsies! Nu smell pwetty!” The unicorn wiggled for all he was worth, but he was just too weak.
Adam got the walls as clean as he was gonna get without wetting the fluff again, and figured an actual rag would be much quicker…and quieter. He unceremoniously dropped the fluffy into the industrial tub. It looked more like a dog bath than anything else. He was careful to make sure the fluffy didn’t break anything from the fall. The mares could break and lose all their limbs and still be bred without assistance…but stallions needed their limbs or they’d need to be held up. Nobody wanted that job, unsurprisingly.
The washing went about as expected. A lot of protesting, and Adam had to use the leather strap at the bottom of the tub to restrain the fluff. It was an added feature to keep fluffies down. It also somewhat lessened the urge to break their legs so they wouldn’t run. Adam got all the shit off the fluffy, and cleaned him up. Into the outtake cage, where the doctor would look over him. Adam recorded no visible injuries.
The next was a bubblegum pink mare with a lighter pink mane. …Surprisingly she was an alicorn. The moment she opened her mouth made Adam realize why nobody wanted her.
“Dummeh hoomin! Gib speshul fwiend! Wan pwetty babbehs!” She stomped her hooves, then screed loudly.
Ah. One of those. Baby crazy and demanding. “Oh, you’ll be getting babies alright…” Adam said. He made a note on the clipboard. Start her off with the rougher studs to get her quieter. He put her in the bath, and began to wash her. He was absentminded, until he felt a pinch on his hand. He looked down in mild surprise. Did this bitch just…?
She did. She bit him. She was trying to grind her teeth in too. So that’s how they were gonna play, huh? Adam moved his hand under the stream of water, and used his other hand to hold the scruff of her neck. Very quickly the fluffy not only let go of his hand, but struggled. Adam held her under a few seconds before pulling her out, watching her cough and gasp pathetically. “Next time you bite, I won’t pull you out.” He said coldly. The fluffy peed herself in fear, but other than whimpering and squirming, she did not dare bite him again. Adam noticed no deformities. Into the outtake bin with the towels. It was separated into mare and stallions. No unauthorized breeding happened here.
The next one was a surprise. The stallion was jet black. He would be a unicorn…but his horn had been snapped off and ground down. How the hell was he given up? Adam pulled him from the cage…Oh. His back leg was deformed. It looked like it had been broken and never healed right. His tail was gone too. The poor guy looked like he’d been through hell. Adam was gentle with him. So long as the fluffy didn’t annoy him, he saw no reason to make their life worse. The washing went mercifully well. The stallion whinnied and whimpered in fear, but did not struggle. Instead he went stiff with fear. Adam left a note about the leg and tail, as well as possible PTSD.
The next…it was a pastel green fluffy with a white belly. Ah, a two tone. Her mane was a darker green, but still pastel.
“Nyu daddeh?” It gasped.
Adam looked puzzled. “No.” He said.
The ears went down. “Buh…owd daddeh say goin tu nyu daddeh!” The mare protested.
“He lied.” Adam knew this kind. Spoiled, sheltered, and stupid. They never understood the simplest things. They always felt losing their foals like the first time. Usually they were made voiceless because the crying annoyed everyone.
“Nu! Wan daddeh! DADDEH!” The fluffy began calling for him.
Adam rolled his eyes, and shoved her under the water to shut up.
Apparently the tribal running on the wheel was dead on this one. After getting her breath back, she was crying and yelling for her daddy, asking why hurt her. Adam got one of the rubber bands off the shelf, and wrapped it around her snout. It just meant he had to be more careful about not drowning her. Which he was. Finally she was cleaned. A note about her crying for her daddy, hence the rubber band.
The rest of the baths were far less eventful. There were brats, fearful ones, and criers…but the rest fell in line and were set to dry themselves off as they pleased. There was a heater vent above them, so it wasn’t like they’d get hypothermia. They were the doctor’s problem now.
