So, the beginning of weird post timing begins. In fact most of this week’s posts will be a little unusual. As all of the readers we have in common are probably well aware, its crossover week as the collab I’ve been working on with @dragon_not_found begins. Huzzah. This has been building up for a while, and I know how much work we’ve both put into getting this far, so I hope you all enjoy this.
“That was a great run, love.” Asher offered the much shorter Shadow a hand down from the passenger side of his van as a pair of aging dogs dropped neatly down from the footwell, Glory and Rook following the example with much less grace. “I think we nearly brought in that entire herd, and it wasn’t a small one. Cleared out the old orchard nicely, at least. A couple prime potential breeders, a number of potentially salable foals, and enough feeders to keep all the kids fed for a while. And did you see the way that pair took on the boys?”
“Oh, I saw. I’ll break out some bandages and instagel when we get inside, that fight was not going well for him. I’m going to need to splint that wing, wrap the heck out of his shoulder, and I might well call Katy to help.” She glanced over at Rook’s stiffly dignified attempts not to limp towards the door, the way he carefully held the wing clumsily held in a tied scarf sling and suppressed a sigh. “We’ve been letting him watch too much of that stoic warrior stuff. I don’t actually want him trying to hide injuries from me.”
“Well, that bit wasn’t great, but it was less- Rook and Glory were both clearing a path through the herd like a pair of berserkers in a rage, they’ve gotten a lot better lately. He just ran into that exceptional pair on the way.” the blonde leaned in, tugging affectionately at her ponytail. “But what I meant was that I know a guy. He’ll pay decent money for a fluffy that can fight like that- even if he’s declared loudly and aggravatedly that designers like yours are entirely cheating. The we should split it and see if we can try adding a breeding line kind of will pay.” He held up the small camcorder he’d borrowed for the day, grinning. “Footage for your site and we can edit out a clip to show Nate, on top of everything else we pulled off today. Your little monsters are something.”
“I take that to mean you still want one someday?” she chuckled, as he unlatched the back of the van. It was packed floor to ceiling with bungee secured metal crates, a number of which shouting or crying could be heard from.
“I do have to replace the girls with something eventually. But no, I don’t want one. They’re really more effective in larger groups, so I think I’d need at least a few brace of them. At least four, ideally more like eight.” A few quick yanks had the elastic strapping undone, and Asher started unloading crates. One of the ones near the back was near resonating with the force of calloused hooves drumming against the door, and he sighed. “I was rather hoping he’d tire himself out by the time we got here. Thanks for agreeing to house the entire bunch for now, by the way. I need to figure out a way to keep the neighbor kids out of my stock and supplies, because nothing I’ve tried yet is working. If they manage to poison a batch I sell to someone pet feeding -or worse meat harvesting- and there aren’t enough symptoms before I hand them over… Well, the least of the consequences will be that my reputation and market share is shit for life.”
“Pwease! Pwease gib back babbehs! Tigaw nu wan anything bu’ babbehs, pwease!” the pounding and pleading only escalated as the crate was moved, and the humans exchanged a look.
“Oh, that’s gonna be fun, isn’t it. Think he’s the one Glory had an extended bout with before I caught up,” she muttered, sparing a look through the wires and humming softly. “But he’s also designer born if I ever saw one. Gorgeous patterning. Maybe I’ll luck out and Warlock can talk sense into him. Otherwise there’s the option I told the guys we should have used last time.”
“Fluffies are usually pretty bribable if you know what to offer,” Ash agreed, still moving the large crates. “So what’s the plan? It’s a little more than you usually take in for a delivery.”
“I guess turn the adults out with Warlock’s bunch, warn him he might lose a bunch soon, settle the weaned foals with the sale stock and hand any younger than that over to Pepper. Dump all the casualties in the freezer for later. We’ll do proper sorting when everyone is clean and we have time.” She drummed her fingers thoughtfully on the top of the crate. “I think I got the bleeding stopped on the metallic grey one, but I’ll tuck him in the observation cage in the vet room until he’s stable and we decide what we’re doing with everyone. Even if your fluff fight contact doesn’t pan out right away, both those two have nearly as interesting fluff type as Mr. Stripes here.”
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Shadow unceremoniously dumped the last crate of adult fluffies into the larger pen, held just low enough over the ground to ensure the safety of the new additions. “Hey, Warlock. Don’t get too attached to this bunch yet, I’ll be coming back to sort you out when I have the chance. You’ll still be rewarded as usual, but I’m picking the first few lots out of the newbies. The rest of you? Rule one is that as far as I’m concerned, Warlock here is in charge. I don’t care what shit the rest of you vote, declare or fight for. What he says goes, what he tells me is what happened. Have fun.”
The heavily muscled bronze stallion snorted the moment that she left the pen, carefully checking over the terrified members of his herd before turning a baleful gaze at the dark blue unicorn. Before he could speak, Warlock stepped forward, carefully placing himself between the newcomers and his own herd. “Am Wawwock. Hoomin am- Hooman am nu nice wady, bu’ get maddies if heaw fwuffies caww hoomin munsta. Wan be cawwed Miss Shado’. Nummies awe bwought ebew nyu bwitetimes an’ jus befow dawktime, an’ aww da wawa bowws awe fiwwed same timies. Dewe aww shewtas fow soon mummah’s an’ babbehs, an’ da poopie pwaces awe oba dewe.”
“Why am Sword’s hewd hewe?’ the larger smarty asked, still clearly ill at ease. His toughies clustered around him until he dismissed them with a flick of his tail, sending them to check more carefully on the more vulnerable members of the traumatized herd.
“Swowd’s hewd am chas’d by doggie-munstas an’ put in metaw sowwy boxes in da big boxy vroom munsta?” The small brown pegasi at the blue unicorn’s side asked quietly, all the other grown fluffies in the pen herd nodding sadly. “Den Maplw nu knuw why ‘ou awe hewe, bu’ knu it am same weason aww fwuffies am hewe. Dat how aww fwuffies comes hewe.”
“Hewd am hewe ‘cause hoomin am munsta. Munsta mummah with munsta fwuffies,” a lavender pegasi muttered, stepping forward and out of reach of his blue smarty. “Wawkspu’ hewd am hewe fiwstes. Fiwst munsta hoomin tooks Bubbwgum an Taffy an’ Cott’n Candy an’ Mawgwita an’ Peppaw, an neba seen ‘gains.”
“Cause am stiww insidies,” Warlock quietly interjected, ears only flicking slightly at the untrusting looks most of the fluffies in the pen gave him. “Hoomin wet Wawwock see insidies afowe, wen Dwuid…” Except for the two uncertain colts huddled in the corner and his own special friends, the entire herd glared at him the moment the name crossed his lips, and he sighed heavily. “Peppaw am wed an wed, wub babbehs. Am guud fwuffy mummah, wook afta man’ babbehs in big fency wooms. Cott’n Cand’ an Mawgwita and Absin, aww gun hab babbehs. Bubbwgum an’ Taffy gib babbehs to mawes. Aww hab nummies an’ nesties.”
“Nu beweib ou’,” Larkspur shouted, puffing his cheeks. “Wawwock hewp dummeh Wiwwow an’ Dwuid pwotect munsta babbehs. Munsta babbehs gwo tu Munsta fwuffies, an’ munsta fwuffies num guud fwuffies!” He stamped his feet, and Warlock sighed again, settling his head on his hooves. “An’ Wawwock hewp Munsta wady huwt fwuffies, gib munsta fwuffies bestest fwuffies to num!”
“If am gibbin’ onwy bestest fwuffies to munstas tu num, Wawkspu’ gun wib foweba.” Warlock muttered half under his breath, not bothering to look up as Larkspur near shrieked in his direction.
“Guud smawty Bwu an’ bestest tuffies Howwy an’ Mewon aww twy pwotect owd hewd ‘gainst munsta fwuffies. Gab man’ sowwy hoofies an’ sowwy poopies, bu’ munstas stiww gab wowstest, foweba huwties! An’ den dey nummed aww of dem! Wawkspu’ an’ Astaw an’ Iwis an’ Absin bawwly escaped- an only den ‘cause bwave, bwave Mawnie wed munstas off tu sab us!” Larkspur looked incredibly distraught at this, leaning mournfully back into his orange and red, heavily pregnant mate. “Mawnie hid guud, but wittw munsta stiww foun’ an’ nummed Mawnie!” At least three of the other fluffies in the pen gave him an odd look at that, not that the lavender pegasus seemed to notice.
“Bu’…Bu’ Hazawd saw Mawnie. Mawnie come out an’ play wit’ nestie toysies wit’ wittwest munsta,‘’ his special friend quietly corrected, only for Larkspur to flick a small wing dismissively.
“Munsta fwuffies nummed su man’ guud fwuffies!” he continued to sob, still stamping a hoof for emphasis. The large bronze stallion huffed softly at that, giving the dramatically ranting pegasus a dismissive look before he returned his attention to the unicorn the human had announced as in charge.
“Munsta fwuffies?” Warlock nodded at that after a quick check of the area. “…Dawk-gwey and bwacky winged wit’ pointy tu? An’ weawwy wite yewwow wit spotty bwu an gween wings? Bot’ big wike Swowd?” the bronze stallion asked dryly, stretching his bruised and scarred legs.
“Yes. Dose two am da Pack stawwions,” Warlock agreed, giving the larger leader a curious look, his ears sliding back. “Dewe awso wittwe wingy pointy wit’ cwaws an’ scawy wings, an’ a big wingy pointy mare awwmost same cowow as Swowd mane. Am bewy big, awwmost big wike doggie- munsta. But mawe am soon-mummah wast time was out, nu can hunt fwuffies wite now.”
“Am nu stawwions, am jus’ big cowts,” Sword disagreed with an almost amused snort. “Stwong, but nu weawn how weawwy fite yet. Nu tink tings twu.” He shrugged at that, sparing a lick for the long, shallow slash over his ribs. “And dat munsta nu be thweat fo’ a wittw whiwe.”
“Swowd gib munsta huwties? An nu am nummed ow gibben wowstest huwties?” the small brown pegasus stallion asked, his eyes wide in awe, and most of the clustered pen fluffies shared the same look as they crept up to the herdleader’s feet fawningly.
The lavender pegasus still enacting dramatic wails over the memory of his fallen herdmates finally quieted, staring at the huge stallion in utter disbelief. “Wawkspu’ nu bewieve dat. Nu fwuffy can gib munsta huwties, nu wike dat. Munsta awe scawy an’ bad an’ gib aww da huwties an’ scawies. Big fwuffy am tewwin’ nu-twufs tu hewd!” he puffed his cheeks as he had to Warlock, drawing himself up to his very limited full height as he stepped forward. “Wawkspu’ am-”
With an only slightly aggravated sniff, Sword lifted a single hardened hoof and tapped the pegasus’s nose, sending him tumbling back into a sobbing heap. Stepping around without even a second glance, he rejoined his toughies, carefully checking over his herd. His first stop was a pair of sobbing mares, a light blue one barely more than a filly and a cinnamon brown who wore the signs of multiple past litters. A far lighter grey mare with a slightly tattered flower in her mane was diffidently attempting to console then, even as her eyes flicked speculatively over the few stallions from the other group in the pen.
As soon as Sword joined them, the light grey mare peeled off, strolling cheerfully over to the food and water with a handful of stallions following after a look back at their leader. The younger mare near collapsed into Sword’s side, one other hindlegs dragging painfully behind her, and he curved a foreleg around her, sighing heavily. “Metaw nu hewe? Whewe Metaw? Wataw twy keep cwazy mawe unda contwol, bu’ nu can fite mawe an’ wed bawkie-munsta!” As if reminded, his head shot up again, surveying the slowly milling group of worse for wear fluffies who had been delivered with him. His wary study was suddenly broken by a cheerful greeting from inches away. Two of the mares from the pen herd were expectantly staring at him, the skinny brown pegasus and a chubby near stallion who closely matched the aqua mare’s coloring.
“Smawty Swowd am stwongest ob stwongest fwuffies! Am muches stwongaw dan bad Smawty Wawwock. Ossan an’ babbeh Foamie join sword hewd ‘stead ob dummeh bad smawty!” the aqua mare declared, hugging the young stallion. Behind her, the brown pegasus and the heavily pregnant orange and red nodded enthusiastically.“Swowd nu wemeemba say any fwuffy couw’ join hewd,” he said shortly. “Owchawd hewd hab ‘nouf fwuffies. Wat fwuffies bwing dat mean hewd nee’ dem?” Four faces fell at that remark, looking at each other as if that question had never occurred to them.
“Mapw…Mapw am guud nesty an’ safpwace finda! Smawty Wawwock awways…” he quieted suddenly, glancing awkwardly over at the blue unicorn who had walked off to check on some of the more distraught new fluffies himself. “Nu nee’ nestie finda in hoomin fency pwace, bu’ was awways best outsidies!”
“Wawkspu’ wa’ bestest nummy finda in owd, owd hewd,’ the snuffling lavender pegasus added hopefully as he slunk up behind the others. “Nee’ guud, munsta safe hewd fo’ speciew fwiend. Hazawd am soon-mummah, bewy soon-mummah!”
“Ossan am guud mummah. Had bestest babbehs. Munsta hoomin took pwetty pink babbeh, bu stiww hab bestest bwu cowt babbeh.” She was pushing the sullen colt forward again, and Sword irritably stepped out of her path. “An nao Ossan gun hab Mapw’ babbeh tu! Am soon mummah gain!”
“Nu. Fwuffies hab hewd, sword hewd nu nee’ mowe fwuffies. Nu nee’ ‘ou.”without another look back at the still pleading fluffies behind him, he paced along the same path Warlock had taken, head up and surveying the herd carefully again. Past several fluffies whining over sluggishly bleeding bites and ripped out chunks of fluff, he found him again.
The stocky blue unicorn was in tense conversation with a small brown and green fluffy, both of them worriedly watching the striped earthy’s alternating attempts to dig under the chainlink fence and crying near hysterically. “Pwease nu huwt babbehs! Wan babbehs back. Nu cawe bout any’ting bu hab babbehs back, pwease! Tigaw nee’ babbehs, an’ babbehs stiww wittw! Babbeh’s nee’ Tigaw!”
“Babbehs nu hab mummah?” Warlock was asking, a deeply concerned look on his face. “How wittw am babbehs? Wawwock mayb…’”
“Neaw weanin’- big wawkie tawkie babbehs, can hab nummies, bu stiww nee’ miwkies sometime,” the brown fluffy answered quietly. “Am ‘wig, hewp Swowd be bestest weadew. Tigaw am guud fwuffy, bestest toughie, bu’ weft hewd wen wose owd babbehs an’ species fwiend. Hab biggest saddies.”
“Am wowse. Tigaw nyu speciew fwiend am wowstest mummah, gab own babbehs tu bad fwuffies tu… Tu hab wowstest bad speciew huggies wit’, aww ‘cause dey nu pwetty ‘nuff fo mummah. Tigaw sab wat babbehs Tigaw couw. Tigaw- tigaw am awways guud fwiend tu Swowd, su swowd wet back in hewd, bu’ den…”
Warlock’s eyes had gone wide at that information, glancing between Tiger and the nesting mummah fluffies in the far corner. “Dat- dat am wowstest, wowstest mummah! Wawwock hab babbehs, nu knuw wat du if babbehs am huwt. Ow bwudda Dwuid babbehs.”
“Woud puwpw fwuffy say Dwuid babbehs munsta?” Sword asked, just a trace of curiosity in his voice as he spared a single comforting nudge at Tiger before resuming his wary watch of the pen.
“Dwuid an’ wiwwow babbehs nu munsta. Jus’ wingie pointy babbehs, wike sissy Pawadin. Hewd am…hewd nu unnastan. Wan gib babbehs huwties. Su Dwuid an’ Wiwwow wib wit babbehs insidies now, cause Miss Shado’ tink babbehs awe pwetty enough fow insidies . Hoomin…Hoomin nu awways munsta. Sometime awwmost nicies, speciewly wit’ babbehs.” This was increasingly addressed at Tiger, who’s frantic digging had finally slowed as he looked up at the unicorn. “If babbehs nu out hewe, den awe insidies. Insidies awe nice, hab betta nummies an’ toysies an’ nesties. Wittw babbehs stay wit nicey mummahs, owda babbehs wike tigaw’s stay in speciew pwace to fin’ nyu hoomin mummah’s an’ daddehs. Hoomin wady say Wawwock teww Miss Shado’ bout aww hewd an’ aww nyu fwuffies wen com back, Wawwock can ask ‘bout babbehs.”
“Wawwock fwuffy can get babbehs back fo’ Tigaw?” the red and blue striped fluffy asked, sudden, plaintive hope in his voice.
“Wawwock wiww twy. Shadow hoomin can be nicies if asked wite. Pinky Miss genny am weawwy nice, bu’ neba hewe dis cwose tu dawktime. Miss Shado’ say nu, fwuffies ask Miss Genny nex’ bwitetime.” At this offer, Tiger pulled the smaller blue unicorn into a fierce hug, one only interrupted by Sword’s grumble. “Wat wong?”
“Swowd hewd catch udda munsta fwuffy befowe- fwuffy num fwuffy munsta, nu wingie pointie. Wataw am watch’ fwuffy wen bawkie munsta came, nao Wataw huwt an’…” his gaze focused on a patch of beige and lavender at the edge of the eddy of fluffies. “An’ munsta am hewe.”
First Chapter- The Pack- because what we need is more fluffies bred to eat other fluffies. (1) by :Shadowfox
Previous Chapter- The Pack-(34) end of week 13 (Shadowfox)
Next Chapter The Pack (36) "Crossover week" part 2- Playroom footage. (Shadowfox)