After running away from the FluffyMart, Carrot found himself in a dark alleyway behind 7-eleven. He kicked a trashcan with his little back hooves, it fell over after around…let’s say 20 kicks. Carrot dug through the trash bag for whatever food he could find. Half-eaten pizza crust, chicken bones, some bugs, and a moldy cheese sandwich. The orange runt choked it down, trying not to throw up, “Twashie nummies nu taste pwetty!”
Night fell, his tummy hurt, probably indigestion from eating literal fucking garbage. He pooped on the sidewalk, a small amount but it smelled absolutely foul. Carrot curled up in a cardboard box with a stained newspaper as a makeshift mattress. He closed his eyes, puffed up his fur, and he slowly fell asleep. A pretty comfortable sleep for a fresh runaway.
The next morning, Carrot woke up and chose chaos, he ran inside 7-eleven, completely ignoring the no pets allowed sign. People were screaming, “SHITRAT IN THE STORE GET OUT!” Carrot ran through the aisles, ripping open bags of chips, drinking the syrup and eating the ice from the Slurpee machine, who could blame him? He was starving! Eventually, the cashier picked Carrot up by the tail.
“SCREEEEEEEEEEEE! BAD UPSIES! PUT CAWWOT DOWN!”
“Ain’t no way I’m gonna tolerate crap chicks shittin’ all over my food! Now GIT!”, and just like that, Carrot was thrown out the door as quickly as he came in.
That afternoon, Carrot tried to get people’s attention the only other way he knew how, dancing. He reared up on his hind legs, jumped up and down and wagged his tail, " 
Dancie! Dancie dancie! Siwwy widdow fwuffy do da dancie dance! " People walked past, ignoring him. Carrot got tired quickly, but still tried to keep dancing, “Cawwot do dancie…pant pant… an’ gib wub to ebby-wun… Cawwot nee’ home..!” The sun sets, night falls, the stars come out. Another day of getting ignored, that was a bust. Back to the box, back to sleep.
A young lady with tan skin, brown eyes, and curly hair tied in a makeshift braid, around 5 foot 2, walked into 7-eleven to buy some lunch. Let’s call her…Harper. A slice of pepperoni pizza, a monster energy drink, and a bag of salt and vinegar chips would suffice. She paid for her food, walked out and what did she see? Carrot. Right in front of the door to the store.
Harper took one look at the runt and just sighed. “Poor baby… Hey little guy, you okay?”
“Hewwo nice wady. pant pant Fwuffy name Cawwot… Cawwot wun way fwum fwuff-mawt…”
“Why, Carrot?”
“Dummeh bwuddah get all da nummies and ten-shun fwom Mummah… Meanie hoomans gib bad miwkies dat gib Cawwot tummy wowstest ouchies…”
“How’d you survive this long out here?”
“Fiwst Cawwot ate twashies. Nu smeww pwetty an’ nu taste pwetty… Den wun into stowe to get gud nummies and mowe meanie hoomans thwow Cawwot out…! Cawwed Cawwot shitwat! Den twied to do dancies, nu-buddy cawe! NU-BUDDY CAWE FOW POOW STUPID FWUFFY!!! HUU HUU HUU!”
Hearing that broke Harper’s cold dead heart.
“Well Carrot…”, she sniffled, “I do.”
“Weawwy?”
“Yeah. Wanna come home with me? You can be safe, have food, toys, and most importantly, eat all the sketties you want!”
“WEAWWY?! NICE WADY BE NYU MUMMAH WIF SAFIE HOMIE AN’ TOYSIES AN’ SKETTIES?! FANK-OO FANK-OO FANK-OO!!!”
“Yup. I’m your mommy now, lil champ, let’s go.”
Harper gently picked up Carrot, taking him to her car, buckling him into the passenger seat. She drove as carefully as she could (as a freshly licensed college driver, not very careful at all). Carrot held on to the seatbelt for dear life, but instead of being scared, he enjoyed the ride,
“Wheeeeeeeee!”
After an hour and a half of swerving and drifting, they made it to Harper’s apartment building, apartment 6B, high rise.
“Oooooooh! Housie suuuuu big!”
“Most importantly… ta-da! The safe room, for all your stupid fluffy needs!”
The walls were painted baby blue, with one of those road map carpets you’d see in a daycare. It had a hamster water bottle taped to the wall, a wicker basket with blankets and pillows, a hooded cat litterbox, and a box full of toys of all kinds.
While roaming around his new safe room, he saw the biggest surprise of his life, another fluffy! A black pegasus with a white tummy, a yellow mane and tail, and stringy yellow hairs on her face that looked like eyebrows. She was twice Carrot’s size. “OH EM GOSH IT AN-OTHEW FWUFFY! HEWWO!” Carrot squealed with happiness, it’s been a long time since he saw any other fluffies after his time in the FluffyMart. He was so excited he made happy pee-pees on the carpet.
“HEWWOOOOO! FWUFFY NAME CAWWOT!! WAT OU’ NAME OTHEW FWUFFY?!”
The patchwork pegasus was just as excited as Carrot.
“NAME PENGIE!!! HEY HI HEWWOOOOOOO!!!”
Harper just sighed. “Carrot’s already taken a shine to Penguin… Fuck’s sake, they might as well be special friends!”
“Siwwy Mummah! Pengie an’ Cawwot nu speciaw fwens! Fwuffies just met!”
“Cawwot gib 'ou funny hoofsies!”
“Yeah yeah, love you too ya little gremlins! Now hurry up, dinner’s on, sketty day! My treat!”
The two fluffies were already bouncing off the walls, hearing those magic words made them even more excited. Harper’s attempt at spaghetti was… something alright. Cup noodles, top ramen, canned meatballs, ketchup, and soy sauce, crudely mixed together with a generous helping of salt, pepper and powdery parmesan “cheese”, nuked in the microwave at full power for 2 minutes. Barely edible for a college kid, but the nut of Christ to a fluffy. Harper scooped the noodle-y monstrosity onto a wide plate and watched as the fluffies went ham. It was the happiest moment in Carrot’s little life, his first sketties, and it was equally happy for Penguin, sharing said sketties with her new best friend. At the end of the day, the fluffies’ bellies were so full they could barely move, Carrot and Penguin drifted off into a deep, peaceful sleep.
“Gud nightie Mummah… Fwuffies… su… heawt happies..! Zzzz…”
