the crisp winter air in the midday sun made the snow blanketing the Skettiland E&C HQ glisten and Stalker barked at the door eager to go out and play. Candice let him out the back door and he bolted into the bright shining powder biting at the loose particles he kicked up then sniffed out a place drop a deuce. After relieving himself by his favorite bush he started sniffing around for anything new that may have wandered into his territory, quickly picking up Jake’s scent and following it to the breeder barn. ducking in through the doggy door a chip in his collar unlocked the door to let him in where Jake, Earl and Odin stood around the make shift pens.
“So what did the vet say about designer mare #10? Why so many still births?” Jake asked scratching his beard.
“Apparently she got a urinary infection in the wild and it spread an did some uterine damage but somehow she survived it but now a healthy brood is roughly 30/70. So I made the call an had all her eggs harvested also dropped off six randos from our pens to have their eggs taken and dumped. once the envitro step is done were looking at at least a grand and a half for everything plus long term storage for the rest of the eggs. But what about mare #10? toss her or keep her?”
“Keep her. I set up an appointment with those guys that’ll clone your fluffy if it dies and put a chip in its head to transfer the memories as well. signed her up for a one time resurrection.”
“Why’d the hell you do that?”
“Cuz then we’ll get a perfectly healthy designer foal with a womb full of healthy designer eggs and ten years of breeding ahead of her.”
“Well I’ll be damned that’s pretty clever.”
Stalker and Odin had no idea what was going on they were too busy looking over the plastic pen fencing watching the mares in the stockades both letting out tiny low growls every so often.
“Stalker! Odin! Stop that! Go play outside. You’re scaring the nurse fluffs.” Jake ordered.
Giving the pen a final snort each they left the pen and trotted off outside to try and sniff out any form of entertainment they could.
Out in the open fields between the homestead and a small forest a small family of fluffies had made a home in an old fox’s hole, chased off by the dogs long ago. inside the hole a purple and green maned earthy mare sat in a nest of straw, leaves and fox fur, nursing four little near weanlings while waiting for the return of her special friend. while it may have been dark inside the foxhole the bright midday sun shone through keeping it light enough to see her beautiful babies huddled up close to her. outside the hole the tracks leading in and outside made the holes location obvious to all but the most dense and blind. her mate, a red and yellow maned earthy who brushed away the snow to expose the tall grass pushed down flat and tore the strands free with his teeth. snow and ice was starting to stick to his muzzle and fluff bringing an even worse chill to his bones, he needed to get back inside the nest fast. sadly because of his fluff color he stood out like a sore thumb and when he lifted his head with a mouthful of not so nummy nummies he could see Stalker and Odin running at him in full chase it down mode. the hole was mere feet away but his smooth nearly flat, smooth hooves slipped on the snowy grass keeping him in one spot like a cartoon character with his pathetic leggies running at full speed.
-Pwease weggies wet fwuffy wun way fwom bawky munstas!- letting the grass fall from his mouth.
Shitting himself in pure terror inching forward ever so slightly the fox hole just a few feet away but the dogs closed the distance in a heartbeat with Odin being the first to clamp his teeth into his neck. Stalker quickly caught up to the half husky grabbing a back leg of the fluffy starting a tug of war that Odin easily won with the bigger chunk and Stalker with just the leg. Odin shook his head sending blood and shit spraying in every direction before starting another tug of war with his tail this time. Odin pulled downwards while Stalker reared back taking not only the tail but half the spine tore free as well. Dropping the fluffy to lick up the blood and gnaw at the severed leg while the dying fluffy laid on his side with his front legs kicking slowly at the air still trying to crawl away. Stalker caught out of the corner of his eye the flash of purple from the foxhole and he turned to get a better look. Dogs saw the world in muted colors with red/green colorblindness so bright purple fluff stood out even more than red against the stark white backdrop. with his head low sniffing the snowy ground the whole way the smell of fear and fluffy shit filling his nose as it was carried downwind to him, when he started pawing at the entrance he herd the fateful call.
-Bawky munsta take sowwy poopies!
Training and experience from being the victim of such tactics he knew to pull back as a brown blast of liquid shit sprayed out the hole. it was almost frozen solid by the time it hit the ground, with the first and worst of it it spent he grabbed the mare by the tail dragging her out. she was swung out and flopped hard on her back when Stalker let her go then pinned her to the cold earth with one paw he kept sniffing away at her.
-Babbehs save mummah fwum bawky munsta! hu huu huu! Babbehs save mummah!
She tried to call for her special friend when Stalker sank his teeth into one of her teats sending pink stained milk squirting out. a blast of pain fueled shit sprayed down the foxhole while he gnawed at the tender flesh filled with mothers milk which he gulped down in a few bites. Starting in on the other one a long strip of flesh was taken with it tearing free at the the dog’s paw where he had her pinned. Odin was still occupied with chewing on the spine of his own prey and as Stalker nipped and pulled off the wildly kicking leggies of the mare. A tiny squirt of shit suddenly hit him in the face just below his right eye and he dropped the leg he was pulling on, her last one.
-Stupi munsta take mowe sowwy poopies!- Shouted a blue uni colt holding his tail up.
Letting out a loud growl that alone knocked the fight out of the colt and snatched him up by his torso and started shaking furiously. when he dropped him the once bold foal now chirped and gurgled out for his parents to save him.
-muh (KAFF!) mummah s-s-save bestest babbeh!
-SCREEEEE! bestest babbeh save mummah! hu hu hu miwkie pwace gone! Pwease gif back miwkie pwaces bawky munsta!
-Speciaw fwend… hewp…n-nu can feew w-w-w-eggies (Wheeze)back haf wostest hewties…
Stalker bit down on the foals head again, vigorously shaking his head till the torso simply ripped free andbounced off then landed next to his dying father whose spine was finally snapped off. the body smacking against his prey got Odin’s attention, looking up to see Stalker return to the mare’s last kicking leg he ignored that and trotted up to the foxhole. pawing and sniffing at the entrance he did his best to dig out the hole but didn’t make much progress with the frozen dirt but he could smell them, two more colts and a filly. snack size. with a lucky swipe of his paw he managed to drag out a little red colt pinned under his paw by the torso scraping its face through cold rocky shit soaked snow. partially blinded, his spine cracked in three places and both front legs broken from how he was dragged out. With his one good eye the last thing he saw was Odin’s lower fang piercing through it as the upper fang cracked his skull like an egg. As he easily chewed at the foals head Stalker took a turn to keep pawing at the hole, digging with the same intensity of a dog on a single minded mission, fetch. Now both were digging away slowly widening the hole while the remaining two foals cowered inside chirping and crying out for their parents. eventually the hole got big enough for Stalker to plunge his head in but the foals remained just out of reach, the little foals covering their eyes feeling the hot rank bloody dog breath on their faces. Forced to back out and dig some more a loud whistle in the distance and Earl’s voice shouting for Odin caused the dog to take off excitedly at his masters call, stepping on the pillowed mare.
-HRK! wheeeezzze! Pwease…hu hu… Nu mowe huwties… fow babbehs… Bawkie munsta… Mummah nee babbehs fow hu… mumma nu haff weggies fow huggies nu mowe! hu hu hu… am stupeh mummah now…
Stalker almost followed after Odin out of his instinctive need to chase but the startled shriek from the mare got his short attention again. Starting in on the exposed strip of flesh he tore and sawed off chunks of tender flesh with his teeth then started pulling out her intestines. Taking a moment to roll around in a clean patch of snow, cleaning off some of the blood in the process but it put him out of sight of the foxhole. gaining a semi-white coat of snow he returned to sniffing around for anything new for him to “play” with. the chirping cries of two foals sobbing about boo-boo juice and mummah and daddeh going foweva sweepies with their siblings. standing atop the tiny hill the foxhole had been dug into his shadow cast over the red filly and purple earthy colt who were crying so hard they didn’t even notice until it was too late. the foxhole having been dug out wider at the bottom and sides had weakened it enough for the heavy dog to collapse the entire entrance much to his own surprise as he fell. landing hard on his side he crushed the filly under his shoulder and stepped on the back half of the colt when he scrambled back to his feet. the little colt still sobbing and chirping for his mummah to save him but only got a cold dead stare in response from her steaming corpse, quickly cooling in the cold winter air. still under Stalker’s shadow the steam from his breath washed over the crippled colt he loomed over watching curiously as the purple colt tried to inch away over slick, glass smooth bloody carnage.
-muh…mummmmmaaaa… safffffffe babbehhhhh…- he wheezed, reaching out with one shaking leggie blood dripping from his mouth.
stepping back on the foals already crushed legs the foal threw his head back shrieking allowing Stalker to bite down on his head and pulled it off taking the spine with it. chewing the head into chunky mush he swallowed it then finished the rest, then he heard Jake’s whistle and calling his name. Obediently and excitedly running at full speed he came to a skidding halt by Jake’s feet in the middle of the yard who was holding a cardboard box under his arm.
“Damn, boy! What did you get into? Hmm… No tracks near the barn… You find some ferals, boy?” reaching down to give his head a hearty rub.
Stalker barked excitedly at the question then coughed up a chunk of purple fluffy leg having over eaten quite bit at this point. sitting upright he sniffed at the box under Jake’s arm and it reeked like a pile of foals and he lightly nipped at a corner of the box.
“Ah ah ah, down boy. Rejects go to the meat grinder.”
Stalker sat down cocking his head sideways and whining with sad puppy dog eyes reaching up to paw at the side of the box.
“…Aw, what the hell.” Reaching into the box.
pulling out a newborn foal, still wet from its just born tongue bath it shivered and peeped loudly in the biting cold wind, it was an ugly shade of burnt umber.
He barked excitedly sitting up, panting and ready to go.
“Go long boy!” Cocking back and hurling the foal.
kicking up snow momentarily sliding in place Stalker bolted across the yard eyes locked on target who made one loud long peep as it arced through the air. Leaping up he caught it, biting down it burst like a balloon full of bloody meat.
“Here comes another!” Launching a brown mustard colored foal.
this one whistled across the air like the other popping when Stalker bit down on it and gagged a little from the impact coughing it up then eating it again. Jake whistled and Stalker’s head shot to attention as his master chucked a puke green foal and he darted left after it. This one hit the snow before he could get to it, skidding to a halt, getting as much snow in his mouth as foal, the blood gushed out the sides of his jowls looking like a cherry slushy.
“Last one boy!”
A piss yellow foal careened across the sky and Stalker in hot pursuit leaping up to catch it its mushy body giving his powerful jaws no resistance.
“That’s it bud all gone.” Turning over the empty box.
Stalker ran to his masters side as Jake scooped up a few fistfuls of snow and rubbed Stalker down, wiping off as much blood and gore as he could.
“You are gonna need another bath tonight boy. you little gore hound.”
from the house front door Clara called out an address for a call they just got about a feral infestation, standing up and patting the snow off his gloves he whistled and Stalker followed. Climbing into his truck he toweled Stalker as dry as he could before heading off for the next job.