An elderly man makes his way down the road, an umbrella in one hand and a cane in the other to help keep both his balance and pace so that he is not trampled by the city goers attempting to get where they needed to go and out of the rain. Slowly but surely, the man shuffles through the crowded streets and manages to break away from the flow to the underhang a local pet store near the edge of town, breathing a small sigh of relief as he closes his umbrella and shakes off the rainwater before entering the store proper. Right away heâd be greeted by a young woman in store uniform, giving him the usual rigamarole of daily deals, sign-ups, etc. to which the man politely declined and asked to be shown where the high-quality fluffies were.
Meanwhile, five foals were wide awake and ready for a day of play, each one excited at the prospect of finding a new home at long last since thanks to their special markings, the store dared not to put them down unlike most common fluffies. Stripes, spots, and spirals decorated their coats with the exception of one whom was different from the rest; a pure red earthie with a black mane and large triangle-shaped patch of white fur on his chest. Initially he was considered nothing but a normal fluffy, but thanks to the keen eye of an employee they found a few white strands of fluff that grew in number over time until it gained the unique shape it did now.
Despite this, the other fluffies he was settled with didnât think he was in the same league as them, often teasing him for his âugwy spawtâ which paled in comparison to their unique markings and excluding him from group activities such as playing with toys or fluffpiles. Day by day, he endured their reticule, taunts, and âsowwy hoofsiesâ until one fateful day, one of the store employees stopped in front of their enclosure with an old man whom by now they knew would be the ânu daddahâ for them. Competition was fierce, many tried to get the attention of the man by dancing and singing with the exception of the small red stallion whom got as close to the door as he could and greeted the man kindly âHewwo, nice mistuh! Be fwuffy nu daddeh? Pwease?â The young fluffy asked only to have his face be slammed against the glass by a pair of hind legs belonging to a blue male unicorn with white stripes running along his back and sides, giving the appearance of a ribcage wrapped around their body âDummeh fwuffy, nu desweb nu daddah. Owny pwetty fwuffies get nu homsies. Nu pwetty, gu way!â he shouted before having the employee enter the pen and separate the two quickly, taking the blue fluffy to a small time-out box in the corner whilst leaving the red fluffy on the ground near the old man.
Thankfully he wasnât hurt too badly, his snout leaking a bit of blood but the employee was quick to tend to it by holding the red fluffyâs head back whilst covering its nostrils with their hand. They began firing off rapid apologies and excuses to the old man, promising that âthey arenât normally this violentâ and âIâm sure heâs not hurt too bad, are you little guy?â, but her words fell on deaf ears as the man simply stared at the fluffy dead in its eyes. The gaze of the old man was intense, the feeling of comfort and warmth he exuded before was quickly replaced with an icy-cold glare that made it seem as though he was trying to gaze into the fluffyâs very soul and judge it. Needless to say, the small creature was now terrified of the old man, and after a few moments of eye contact it began to flail wildly in an attempt to escape and get as far away from the man as possible. To his dismay, the employeeâs grip with a trembling arm the old man pointed directly at him âIâll take the red one please.â
The next few moments from then on were a blur as he was taken from the pen away from the other fluffies, thrown into a carrier with a small litterbox, and was taken outside into the outside world for the first time in his entire life.
Due to the old manâs hands being full carrying both his cane and umbrella, one of the store employees whom were getting off their shift offered to help him carry his new pet to his home and in exchange, he would give them a small âbonusâ for their help. The three huddled closely under the old manâs umbrella, the rain sliding off its edges whilst the headlights from passing cars danced across the slick roads which managed to distract the fluffy ever so slightly, though during the entire walk home it screamed constantly about not wanting to get wet or being eaten by the old man, begging the âniwce wadyâ to let him go and escape his fate. In total, it took nearly 40 minutes for the man, off-duty worker, and fluffy to reach the door of an apartment complex sandwiched between a butcher shop and an identical building to the one they were currently entering.
A few flights of stairs and a few bucks later, the woman dropped the fluffy off and went on her way back to her home with his black umbrella in hand, which he used as a bargaining chip to shave a few bucks off since it was still fairly new. His fingers pinched the latch to the fluffyâs carrier, and finally it was free, yet despite this it refused to leave the carrier which had the old man concerned, prompting him to get down on his hands and knees to figure out just what was the matter. Looking inside, he found the fluffy pressed up against the back of the carrier curled up in the litterbox, Its front hooves covering its eyes whilst softly peeping to itself like a foal. âItâs alright lilâ feller, the rain canât getâcha in hereââ The old man reassured the red stallion with a chuckle only to be met with an ear-piercing âSCREEEEâ as the fluffy kicked clumps sandy piss and feces near the opening, managing to only get a few grains out of the carrier itself whilst the rest landed on the walls, floor, and ceiling of the carrier. Seeing that he wasnât going to coax the creature out, he opted to take a more direct approach by grabbing it by the scruff of its neck and practically dragging it out through the mess it had created âNUU, NU BAD UPPIES! NU HUWT FWUFFY! FWUFFY AM FOâ HUGGIES ANâ WUB!â âI ainât gonna hurt ya lilâ fella, though we are gonna have to clean ya up now thanks to that âepisodeâ you had there.â He sighs as the two head off to a small bathroom.
With the turn of a knob, warm water quickly began filling the basin of the tub whilst the fluffy huddled in the corner near the doorway in the wall until it was finally full enough. Without a word, the old man plucked the fluffy from the ground and eased him into the water â NUU MUNSTUH DADDEH, WAWA AM BAD FOâ FWUFFIES! NU WAN FOWEBBA SWEEPIES IN WAWA! ONY WAN HUGGIES ANâ WUB!â thankfully the waters remind clean thanks to the fluffy vacating their bowels in their panic moments ago, though it wouldnât remain that way for long as the water gradually turned a shade of light brown thanks to the filth being gently washed away by a warm wet cloth and a brush to get get rid of harder clumps and snarls. One towel dry later, an the fluffy, whilst still a bit shaken, was no longer in hysterics like before âTank ou, munstah daddeh, fwuffy now feww anâ smeww pwettyâ âYouâre welcome lilâ fella, though I guess I canât keep calling you that. How does the name âTuxâ sound? After all, that fancy lilâ V-Shape you got goinâ on there makes you look like youâre wearing a tuxedo.â He chuckles whilst the fluffyâs face lights up with glee âDaddeh gib nu namsies tu fwuffy? Fwuffy hab biggest hawt happies!â âWell thatâs not all Tux, thereâs somebody Iâd like you to meetâ The old man says with a smile, opening the door to the bathroom and leading him over to the guest bedroom which had been fully transformed into a safe room complete with food bowls, bed, litterbox, and even toys such as cheap foam balls and some old worn blocks. However, the centerpiece of the room was a brown alicorn mare whom was sleeping soundly in a nearby bed. It was clear from the outset that she had been through hell and back, in case being a âpoopeh babbehâ wasnât bad enough, her wings and horn would have granted her an immediate death sentence right out the gate if it were not for the fact she was born into a fairly loving home that could prevent anything from happening to her. Still, despite their best efforts she had suffered some abuse from her littermates seeing how she was missing her right front leg and two of her front teeth. Right away Tuxâs eyes fixated onto her, approaching the bed cautiously which prompted the mareâs eyes to slowly flutter open to meet his own âHewwo? Nu Fwiendâ The brown fluffy asked, her muscles tensing slightly in the event that this fluffy was just as mean as her siblings. âFwuffy am nu fwiend. Fwuffy namsie am Tuwx.â âTuwx hab pweety cowows. Fwuffy namsie am Cocownuwt.â. The mare replied, feeling a bit more at-ease thanks to him not attacking her right out the gate âCocownuwt am suu pwetty. Wan pway?â Tux asked before the two went to chase a foam red ball around the room.
EPILOGUE
From there, things were fairly smooth sailing for the two as they had many litters of foals which thanks to their generic pairing were of fairly high quality and allowed them to continue living their quiet life inside of the apartment until their dying days
The blue fluffy, later named âBoneyâ, was given to a very rich familyâs younger son, whom was treated more as a toy than a living creature and as such was thrown away after he âbrokeâ during a game of down the stairs bowling.
END.