The full collection of Rainbow Acres related works can be found here.
Tricia walked down the vacant city street, headphones in as she took in the crisp morning air.
Cities were quiet at dawn. Though the nightlife continued on well past midnight the rising sun made the music fade and drunkenness fade into a hangover. She smiled at the few joggers that passed her, the only others intentionally awake at hours like this.
“Pwease, nummie box, fwaffy nee’ nummies fo’ special soon mummah fwend!”
Other than fluffies of course.
Feral fluffies picked up pretty quickly that humans were scarce early in the mornings, or at least the ones that didn’t perish quickly. Getting to the trash cans before the garbage men could empty them was essential to survival in an urban environment. The local government had cracked down on littering and any planters were either filled with fluffy resistant plants or already gnawed down to the roots.
Tricia pulled out an earbud as she approached a vending machine. A purple and blue unicorn was tapping his filthy hoof against the few buttons he could reach.
“Pwease, fwuffy nee’ nummies! Su hungwy, wan’ chokuwit nummies!!”
“Here, let me help you out.” Tricia said.
The unicorn jumped, spinning around to see a kind woman crouching down to him. “Nice wady hewp fwuffy??”
“Mh-hm!” Tricia smiled as she held out her arms, triggering the stallion into an instinctual give-huggies pose.
She lifted him under the armpits and into the air before setting him atop the vending machine.
“Tank’oo, nice wady!!” The feral wagged his tail at her as she pumped hand sanitizer into her palms and rubbed them together.
“Good luck out there!”
Tricia gave him a small wave before putting her earbud back in and continuing her walk. The stallion waved back until she was out of sight before turning back to get his nummies.
He stared straight forward at the street for a moment. Then he turned around and looked at the wall behind him. He then checked the metal plate under his feet before looking at the wall again.
His brow furrowed as he turned in place a few times, not seeing the nummies he hoped for. He looked down the front of the machine, getting a glimpse of the candy bars behind the glass before the distance between him and the ground made his head swim and he stepped back.
He checked the wall again, then peeked behind the machine. Not seeing anything even remotely edible, he spun in a few more circles before checking the wall again.
“…Whewe nummies nice wady?” The unicorn asked, turning to face the empty street. He didn’t see Tricia at all. “Nice wady? Nummies? Hewwo??”
There was no reply.
He plopped down on his rump and began to chew the corner of his hoof as he tried to think of a way out of this situation.
Somewhere nearby a litter of foals chirped in hunger while their mother assured them that food was coming soon.
Blocks away Tricia smiled to herself, having done her good deed for the day.
