Days were becoming more difficult as each passed. Toy was soon mummah. This had been the case as spring went into early summer. There was plenty of food outside, but the mare found it difficult to go out and forage. She had sickies from how hot it was and how she rarely got to sleep, let alone how she had only a small amount of food for herself and the babies growing inside of her.
It wasn’t uncommon for her to wake up far past the afternoon now, and then only because Sketti was screeching because of tummy huwties. Despite feeling like she could barely move she went out and got some nummies for her mummah, because she was the only one who could.
Her munstah daddeh was becoming meaner too. As she rarely even gave a reaction to bad special huggies anymore, simply laying there slumped on the ground as he took advantage of her incredibly weary body, he began to give Sketti huwties too. Usually pulling on his tail or giving a hoof to one of his useless legs. This at least got Toy to protest in some way, and that usually made Rex happy.
It was clear that things like this couldn’t last forever. “Tummy huwties su su much…huuu…” Toy lay curled on some dried grass that served as her nest. Rex had already left and she should be sleeping, but it hurt too much to do so. “B-Biggest poopies? Nuuu….!” She didn’t even realize it was happening until it had. The mare had just given birth, and she would force herself to stand and look at the newly born chirpies. A yellow, brown, red, and orange one. Only two made little peeps and cheeps, needing wicky-cweanies. She couldn’t do it for them. Sketti was making his loud huwty-peeps that meant he was very hungry. Mummah hadn’t really gotten to eat yesterday. Carefully scooping up the chirpies one by one, starting with the dead, she brought them to her mummah.
“Nummies ‘foh bestest mummah ‘n sensitib babbeh.” One of the chirpies would squeak uselessly, latching onto Pumpkin’s snout with a coo and trying to suckle from it as if it could give miwkies. Pumpkin didn’t say anything, because she rarely did after all. Instead she just opened her mouth and squished down on the babbeh, chewing on it even as it cried uselessly. Toy didn’t want to watch this. It gave her the wowstest heart-hurties. Those were her little chirpies. Maybe they loved her the same way she loved mummah and bwudda. Yet she had to stand there and gently nudge more chirpies to Pumpkin, who now had tiny rivulets of blood running from the corners of her mouth.
Rex was especially bad that night. “Nu wan bad huggies! Speciaw pwace su su huwties!” Toy cried to him, though of course the stallion didn’t care. “Dummeh mawe bad mummah! Where am babbehs!?” This just made her heart sink. Because she was a bad mummah. Her babbehs were nummies. The mare had backed up against the nest and held up a hoof as if about to defend herself but the wave of sadness made her sink down pitifully. Taking this as his moment to strike, Rex mounted her from behind and pressed all of his weight down on her. “Speciaw pwace huwt, hab poopie-pwace. Gud feews! BESTEST FEEWS!” He shrieked at her as he began to drive into her poopie-place, the mare squealing in pain and clicking her hooves against the floor. Yet she knew even now if it wasn’t her, it would be Sketti. Munstah daddeh would do anything he wanted.
The next morning it was especially hard to move. Blood trickled down her legs and onto the floor, but she had to get outside to find more nummies for mummah. Though something was different today. Sketti was peeping and chirping far too loudly as if he’d never been fed but mummah had gotten nummies. Lots of nummies, really. Limping over to Pumpkin and her brother, toy glanced down. Mummah was forever-sleepies. She didn’t have to be a genius to know that. Her eyes were bulging out and a foam had boiled out of her mouth, bloated tongue sticking out the corner of her mouth. Sketti had attempted to continue suckling at her until her teats were left stretched out, bloody, raw.
“Mummah…” Toy said, eyes misting up with tears. She took hold of the mare with her mouth and gently dragged her away from Sketti. Pumpkin hardly weighed anything and so was easy to relocate, but it caused her brother to shriek and cry as it was truly one of the first times in a long while that he had been without her warmth and scent. Toy laid down in her spot. Sketti settled on suckling from her teats which would never give miwkies to her babbehs. Babbehs which had never been licked clean or gotten the mummah song sung to them.
“Sissy wub bwudda…bwudda wub sissy…” She sang to him, the miwkies and song lulling Sketti off to sleep. The oversized babbeh cooed, flicked his tail around, and Toy stood back up. There was only so much time in the day and she knew what she had to do. She couldn’t be a new mummah to him. There was nobody to get food. Munstah daddeh would come back and give them both the wowstest huwties.
“Wub ‘ou. Sissy wub bwudda.” Toy leaned down and gave his ears several licks. This always caused him to smile dopily, sleeping or not. It was one of the little things she’d always done ever since they were foals. “Sowwy, mummah. Sowwy babbehs. Sowwy bwudda. Toy am nu gud.” With that she reared up and brought her hooves down on Sketti. The stallion’s eyes flashed open, looking directly to his sister. He couldn’t do anything of course but screech in pain and flail his fat legs around. Toy continued to rain her hooves down on him. Smash! Smash! Smash! He was squishy, and bigger than even she was. It was taking a lot. She felt his bones break like twigs, and she knew she had to continue if it meant munstah daddeh wouldn’t come back and give him huwties. The mare stomped him until tummy skettis began to come out of his mouth, and the peeps had stopped. He didn’t move at all anymore.
All of the events of the last few days had gotten to her but she didn’t want forever sleepies. If she stayed in the nest and had sleepies, there was a chance munstah daddeh would come back and be so mad he couldn’t hurt Sketti that he would finally do something truly terrible. Slogging out of the nest and making her way through the scrubby little woods she called home, she eventually came to a small meadow of pretty flowers. Toy went to lay down there, basking in the warmth of the sunshine and watching as buggies whirred past. She nummed a few of the flowers, ducked her head down and got as comfortable as she could. The air out here smelled so good. It smelled pretty unlike the nest. For the first time in a long time she was able to sleep peacefully. She had a good dream. In it, she was a talkie-babbeh again. Her, Sketti, Teebee, and Bwight Time were all running together playing chase. Mummah was there too, and there was no munstah daddeh. Toy nuzzled the flowers she laid in while sleeping, feeling so happy to be with them again at least for a little while.
