So here we are again, post- site rollback version. (If it was a twelve hour rollback, this was within fifteen minutes of being safe. Ah, well. I type in googledocs and paste over anyway. Just have to redo formating.) But yes, the collab arc continues. Current plan has regularily scheduled plot resuming by week 15, but we’ll see.
The last crate of weanling foals- which neither the border collie nor the heeler would go anywhere near, was set down gently on a rubber floored pen. The low walled pen was nestled in the corner of a bright painted room, one with televisions mounted high on three of the four walls. The fourth was more window than not, a childishly cheerful motto painted across the top of it. All three of the televisions were blaring some form of insipid programming, all primary colors and happy fluffies bouncing about.
There were a number of other foals scattered around the rest of the pen; napping on the tumble of fleece covered beds, playing with the copious piles of simple toys, gorging themselves on the bowls of chopped fruits and cereal. They were, to a one, fat compared to the litter of feral foals. Not unhealthily so, but it was clear none of them had gone hungry a day in their lives. All of them were barely past weaning, those few paying attention staring at the four young fluffies taking cautious steps outside the crate.
They had attracted attention from outside the pen as well, tall, leggy fluffys with wings longer than their flanks. With a bounce, the smallest of the grown fluffies outside the pen levered herself at the wired gate. Her stubby red claws gripped easily between the wires, letting her scramble up and perch on the top of the gate to watch them.
“Hi! Hi- hewwo-hi! Nyu fwuffy babbehs!” She seemed very careful to balance herself more on the far side of the gate than inside the pen, occasionally peering back at the shut door behind them. “Nyu pwetty fwuffy babbehs! Fo’fia wub babbehs!”
The small green foal was cringing back, she and the forest splotched earthie both tucking back into the shadows of the crate they had been shoved into. It was hard to say whether the claws, the bat wings fluttering behind her, or the mouthful of cat-like fangs grinning at them was more the cause of their sudden terror.
“Fo’fia nee’ down. Am scawing babbehs,” a more soothing voice crooned from behind her, a tired looking earth fluffy rearing up to carefully tug the other down by her plume of red orange tail. The new fluffy was a more silvery grey to the smaller ones smoke color, her muzzle and legs shorter and far more like the usual fluffy look, halloween black and orange mane tumbled over her face. With a resigned huff, the fanged fluffy dropped back down, still watching the litter through the fence as she leaned into the earthie.
“Bu’ babbehs, Mawnie! Wook, wook, dat one am pwettiest bwu an’ gweenies! Hab pwetty mane, wike Mawnie and Fo’fia! An’ dat one… dat pwetty puwpw one hab wingies an’ hownie, wike Fo’fia an’ Wook, an’ Auwowa, an’ Gwowy!” She enthusiastically pranced in place, spinning briefly before nuzzling happily at her companion. “Babbehs owdew dan udda gu-way-soon pen babbehs, Mawnie tink babbehs stay?”
“Nu know, Fo’fia askies Mummah Shado’” Marnie’s voice was still soothing, but she was studying the young fluffies just as intently as Foxfire had. “Aww da nyu babbehs aww bewy pwetty, dough.”
“Awe num- cough Nu Pack- fwuffies ow mowe Pack babbehs?” one of the taller fluffies asked, the near black wing not splinted and strapped against his side ruffling as he paced stiffly up towards the pen to stare down at the crate and its inhabitants. Cat pupiled ice blue eyes peered down at them, the looming form of the large alicorn terrifying the tiny green pegasus even further back into the crate. “Nu can num fwuffies in pwaywoom, Mummah says, bu’ mayb’…yip” He yanked one of his hind legs up defensively, half whirling with his own vicious fangs bared. The much smaller white and red alicorn foal who had sunk her own fangs into his bandaged hock giggled, and he just sighed, carefully setting his hoof back down farther from her. The moment his back was turned again, another barely weaned foal dove at his tail, hauling his mouthful back and shaking ferociously. “Mayb’ nough babbehs in pwaywoom wight nao.”
“Wooks am siwwy! Awways nee’ mowe babbehs!” Foxfire cheerfully retorted, returning to shoving her nose through the gate towards the feral litter. “Wook nu nee’ hewp, Mawnie an’ Fo’fia can wook aftaw aww babbehs. Eben if… sneeze -pwetty bwu babbeh smeww wittw funnies.”
Before the bandaged alicorn could respond, the clawed fluffy had scrambled over the gate, dropping lightly to the other side and nudging the latch open easily. The earthie mare joined her as the gate swung open, both of them entirely focused on the piles of babies. They were soon mobbed by what of the chubby domestic born weanlings were awake, all of them happily babbling at both the grey mares without a trace of fear or nerves.
The dark grey fluffy gingerly pushed the gate shut again, rearing up to reach over and pull the latch back into place as easily as the smaller one had opened it. With a last, vaguely puzzled look at the new foals, he gently began picking up the smaller foals attacking his hooves and carrying them by their scruff over to a large bed. Several of them seemed to dispute this course of action, tumbling back out after him to grab for his mane or tail. “Wook! Bwanw’n gots ‘ou!” the little white and red filly squealed, grabbing for the trailing end of the bandages on his hock again.
Rook winced, but just swished his tail in front of her muzzle until she pounced at it like a kitten, letting her drag along as he steadily settled the babies into the nest. “Am wate. Dawk times soon. Babbehs nee’ sweepies tu gwow big an stwong,” he softly chided, lifting her into the nest after the rest. “Dat mean Bwanwyn an’ Awekto tu.” he snagged the tiny blue bat winged foal who was doing her best to wrestle a chunk of his mane, and set her on top of the rest. When he was satisfied they were settling in, he returned to his own preferred corner bed, stiffly trying to make himself comfortable around the bandages and splints.
The smoke grey fluffy nosed happily at the familiar foals, but soon turned her attention to the new additions. "Pwetty, pwetty wingie pointy!’ she purred, trotting straight for the deep purple alicorn and the smaller foals hiding behind him. “An’ da pwetty bwuey gween babbeh! Hi! Hewwo, hi! Aww so pwetty.”
The purple alicorn took immediate notice, taking an uncomfortable step back that nearly landed him on top of the cringing green pegasus who had been using him as a shield. “Hewwo? Am Ammo,” he timidly introduced himself, any confidence he might have had about strange fluffies failing this close to cat sharp fangs and the somewhat stubby claws her forelegs bore.
The unicorn next to him, the gold spackled midnight blue of lapis broken by mottled patches of green and the redblack flare of his mane, just studied the small mare with eyes gone jet black for a long moment. “Hewwo. Fwuffy am Souw.”
“Hi! Am Fo’fia. Dis am Mawnie. Dewe awe wots nyu babbehs in pwaywoon dis bwite time!” Marnie notices some of Ammo’s nerves- and probably the fact Grass and Cammo are still hiding behind them, and starts nudging Foxfire back a couple inches. “Nyu babbehs in ‘nu stay wong’ pen in pwaywoom, nyu wittw babbehs fo’ peppaw an’ Wiwwow tu wook afta, an’ wots of nyu fwiends fo’ Wiwwow fwiend Wawwock. Wub nyu fwiends, am awways guud!” Her leathery wings flutter excitedly at the thought. “Bu Wook an Gwowy awe huwties an’ nu happies. Nu knuw why.” she glanced over at her bandaged brothers, before the foals’ existence caught her attention again.
The lapis blue unicorn perked up at that, the jet black wells of his eyes fading back into earnest blue as they beamed up at her. Soul perks up. “Das cus Smawty Swowd am bewy stwong! Dey knu how tu gib wowsest wowsest hurties” Behind him, the green filly is still shivering like a wet cat, and the splotched outline slowly resolves itself into another small filly behind her hooves.
Foxfire seems taken aback at that, but not nearly so much as the almost silver grey earthie next to her. “Weawwy? bu’ bwuddas an’ sissy awe stwongest fwuffies Fo’fia knu! Nu as stwong as Mummah Shado’, couwse, bu’ Pack am bewy guud hunta’s. bwing much nummies back fo’ Fo’fia an nao da wittw Pack babbehs.” She glances over back at where Rook managed to wrangle all the three week old demonfluffs into their bed, flanked on either side by his and Glory’s. “Dat smawty mus’ be weawwy big, an’”
“Owchawd hewd? Swowd an’ da owchawd hewd am weaw?” Marnie asked suddenly, her soft brown eyes wide. "Owd fwuffies in owd hewd teww stowies bout Owchawd hewd, bu’ smawty bwu say nu weaw, jus’ stowy. Swowd am weaw? can fight Pack fwuffies…’ she glanced back at Foxfire’s baffled expression and trailed off. “Nu dat Mawnie tink Pack nee’ be fighted. am guud fwuffies fo’ Mummah Shado’,” she added hurriedly, and Foxfire rubbed under her chin like a happy cat.
“Mawnie am best of fwiends. Wub Mawnie.” The tiny, terrified foals behind soul had finally caught her attention, and Foxfire snuffled gingerly around towards them. “Teeny babbehs? Am scawed? Wat am scawed ob? Pwaywoom is bestest, safest pwace.”
For once, none of the huddled foals were paying attention to her as their attention focused on the halloween colored fluffy with wide eyes. “Owchawd hewd am weaw, babbehs wibed dewe wit’ daddeh Tigah.” It was the purple alicorn that stepped forward first, tilting his head at the adult fluffies watching him. “‘Ou know Swowd hab giben bawkie munstas foweva sweepies?” he added, tail swishing as he eagerly relayed it with the earnest expression of a child relaying what they had been told. He had managed to garner the undivided attention of all the the nearby fluffies, with even a charcoal grey lifting on the other side of the room with ears trained forward.
Foxfire broke off her investigation of the little pegasus and the almost invisible earthy to stare at the purple alicorn just as aghast as the rest of the litter. “Bu’ why gib bawkie fwiends huwties? Janie an’ Jesse awe Pack fwiends, Wook say su. An’ Mummah Shado’ an’ Ashaw agweed. Bawkie-doggie- fwiends awe nice. Aww fwuffy an’ fun an wet Fo’fia pounce taiws an’ pway bestest baww gamsies.” there was a noticable shine to her cat pupiled eyes, and Marnie sighed before leaning in and hugging her.
“Am otay. Saw pack-fwiend doggeh fwiends wen Pack came homes, wit’ Ashaw an’ Mummah Shado’. Awe otay.” Foxfire snuffled and curled into the hug, and Marnie nuzzled at her ear. “Wub bestest fwiend Fo’fia.”
Ammo had clearly noticed the attention he had suddenly drawn, and dropped his head, shuffling his feet. “Nu knu if twu, jus hew fwom bewwy owd fwuffy dat Swowd’s daddah wen foweva sweepies an’ Swowd gib foweva sweepies back. Can teww ‘ow dah stowie?” he offered. His eyes were fixed on Foxfire, an appeasing, apologetic look plastered over his face. Soul’s eyes were fixed on Marnie, a strange, almost knowing expression on his face.
Marnie met the small blue unicorn’s gaze for a moment, sighing before she curled herself up at the other mare’s side.
“It…dat am otay, babbeh,” Foxfire sniffed, nuzzling back at Marnie before she edged closer to the litter again, inching forward on her belly as if she was trying to look less threatening. “‘Ou hab foweba’s tu teww stowies. Am neawwy dawky nu wite time, an’ Nyu nicey hoomans nu come to gib guud nu pack fwuffy babbehs nyu homes in dawk time, onwy bwite times.” With another bright look at Ammo, she slowly extended her nose forward. 'Why wittw gween babbeh scawed?"
The splotched earthy is the one to answer that. “Am Cammo. Dats, hawd ding tu tawk ’bout.” she whispered shyly, glancing over at the green pegasus questioningly. The small filly nodded slightly, and her sister hesitantly made her way close enough to whisper into Foxfire and Marnie’s ears “Enfie munstas gib bad enfies tu sissy Gwassy an’ sissy S’one, an’ sissy S’one gu foweva sweepies. Bwuddah Souw wa’ nu bwuddah Souw, an’ hab sweepies fow many bwight times afta dat.”
Foxfire’s eyes go even wider, a vast amount of indignation in her eyes. “Dat, dat am wowstest… Munstas am foweba sweepies? Ow Fo’fia nee’ Mummah Shado’ wet outsies tu hunts munstas?” She bared every inch of those white, needle sharp teeth. “At bewy weast, munsta’s nu nee’ no-no’s any mowe.”
Marnie, while also outraged, seemed to have actually noticed the second part of that statement. “How Souw nu am Souw? Am bad huwties tu sweep many bwite times?”
“Nu kno hao. Daddeh Tigah nu teww,” Ammo answered quietly with a look at Soul.
Cammo acknowledged Foxfire’s anger with a small smile. “Buh dey gu foweva sweepies, nu kno hao cus hiding. Den daddeh Tigah takes us tu nyu hewd.”
“Poow, poow, wittw babbehs.” Foxfire lunged forward before Marnie could stop her, pulling all the foals close and curving her wing over them protectively. “Nu mowe bad wiww habben. Nu wet bad habben. ‘Ou can aww be Fo’fia an’ Mawnie babbehs nao. Wiww teww Mummah Shado’ babbehs nu can gu to nyu hoomin homes! Nee’ pwotectin’.”
“Dat am…Mawnie awways wan mowe babbehs, mowe babbehs am awways guud, bu’ mayb’ fwuffies shou’ ask Mummah Shado’ fiwst!” Marnie’s voice had gone a little shrill, her eyes flicking toward the blinking lights in the corner of the room and back to the corner where two bandaged alicorns, a pile of exhausted demonfluff foals, and a heavily pregnant mare were all curled in padded dog beds. “Nu eben ‘sposed tu be in sawe babbeh pen wen Mummah Shado’ nu hewe!”
Soul gave Marnie that strange look again from under the shelter of an arched bat wing, and she shuddered, glancing back at the rest of the room.
Under the soft leathery wings, the green pegasus is trembling violently, clearly just as frightened as she was before. Next to her, Ammo is leaning into the grey fluffed side, but has his hooves over his head, a desperately confused look on his face. His splotched sister seems just as baffled, but is leaning into the protective embrace as well, eyes sliding closed.
A soft nuzzle into the babies leaves Foxfire sneezing, but she still tries curling tighter around the foals. “Fo’fia wiww teww Mummah Shado’. Wuwes awe…eksist, bu babbehs nee’ pwotectin’. Dat am mowe ‘powtant. An’ mummah Shado’ wike Mawnie nao, gib wittw cowwar wike Wook.” At the reminder, Marnie lifts a hoof, brushing against the cheap nylon webbing and thin aluminum that marked her as a fluffy with a home. “Fo’fia teww Mummah Shado’ dat dis Fo’fia ide’ an’ Mawnie twy stawp Fo’fia. Mawnie am be otay.”
“Mawnie did twy stawp Fo’fia. Sometimes it just nu wowk, Mawnie nu fas’ nouf.” Her tone was exasperated, and worried, but still somehow fondly affectionate. “Fo’fia mean weww, bu’ nu awways hab bes’ idea, memba?”
The smoke grey and orange flame maned mare purred, seeming thoughtful for a moment. “Bu’ babbehs. Poow, huwted babbehs. Babbehs shouw nu hab huwties!” There was a small snort from the corner, a pair of ice blue eyes still watching the pen and the cluster of new fluffies. “Fo’fia stay, keep babbehs safe.” She tucked her hind hooves underneath her, settling her muzzle on her hooves. Marnie sighed, still fondly, carefully picking her way to curl into the demonfluff’s side. On her other side, a handful of the other sale stock foals made their way over, cuddling into the more familiar side of the fluff pile. Rook remains with his head up, watching the pen carefully for a long moment after the fluffpile in it has settled into sleep and the lights in the playroom have gone out.
First Chapter- The Pack- because what we need is more fluffies bred to eat other fluffies. (1) by :Shadowfox
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