Soft hooves don’t work well with hardwood floors.
That thought had been haunting Gremmie the whole of today. Ever since Millie had notified them that Uphie’s legs were temporarily broken, she had been trying to thinking of causes for the injury. However, only yesterday did it actually click. Soft hooves don’t work well with hardwood floors. How could she be so stupid. This was Fluffy care 101 and she worked in a Fluffy farm. This was what sales team always told potential new buyers. Soft hooves don’t work well with hardwood floors. That is why you buy thick carpets for your safe room.
She was an idiot and her idiocy had compromised her cousin’s revenge scheme. The more she thought about it, the more she hated herself, as she was supposed to be the Fluffy expert. She was one who dealt with Fluffies from an objective standpoint, as she was one who worked in a Fluffy farm, yet she had somehow managed to completely overlook this obvious problem. That explanation of Uphie being able to handle it because she was living as a forest Fluffy was stupid, as forest soil was softer than hardwood floors.
It was not just that. It was the shock collar too. It was too effective as a “motivator” in comparison to the work alarm. The work alarm might have been noisy, but at least Uphie could kind of block it out, if the pain in her legs got too bad. She didn’t have that option with the shock collar. The pain was far too strong. Strong enough for Uphie to ignore any signs of more severe leg damage. Plus there was the fact that Uphie was walking for three hours straight, twice a day. A two hour lunch break and only the night time to sleep and rest. Again Fluffies were not designed for this both physically and psychologically, Gremmie realized that she should have put more thought on that and designed a better system.
She felt incompetent. Such a disappointing lack of foresight from herself and worse of all, her stupidity had compromised her the Work Wagon plan. The one they needed to complete in order to put Millie onto the road of recovery, and the only reason Millie hadn’t completely lost it, was because Mabe had come to the rescue and offered this alternate means of having Veve star in some Fluffy show. That felt just as bad as the failure, knowing that some third party was the one to fix this. It made her feel inadequate and such a failure. This was just Hans. She failed him and some third party fixed him up.
Gremmie let out a frustrated sigh. One of her fingers tapping rapidly on the steering wheel. She was in her car, very near to Millie’s place. Here on a scheduled visit to check on Uphie and the safe room situation. She had come alone, as Hans was overseas for a wedding and Alize had family matters. It made Gremmie nervous, the idea of facing Millie alone. She could imagine Millie looking at her with a sneer or disdain for ruining Uphie’s work scheme. It was a shuddering thought.
She was able to shake that thought briefly as she neared Millie’s house and noticed another car, parked on the side of the road. Millie had made no mention of someone else coming over, so who’s car was this? Gremmie stared at the car for the few seconds, trying to find clues on the owner, but she really had no idea, so she just shrugged and parked her car behind it. No point wasting time trying to figure it out, when the owner was probably inside. She quickly got out and briskly walked to Millie’s house. It was pretty cold today after all.
Grabbing the keys to Millie’s house from her pocket, Millie had given her and Hans a copy each, Gremmie opened the front door and was greeted by the sight of Millie and Mabe sat on the couch watching TV in the living room. Accompanying them were four Fluffies: Uphie, Veve, 4A and 4B or rather Gwent and Nelio. Uphie was lying down on a pillow placed on the floor, while the three foals sat in front of her. All looked at her in surprise, except for Nelio, who seemed preoccupied with something else.
“Grem grem?” Millie suddenly asked “What you doing here?”
“It’s Sunday” Gremmie replied “I told you I was coming over on Monday”
“Oh shit! I forgot” Millie said with a blush.
“Language Mii!” Mabe interjected.
“Sorry!” Millie exclaimed with panic.
Gremmie shut the door and turned around just in time to see Millie ambush her with a hug.
“Sorry Grem grem” Millie said softly “I honestly forgot”
“It’s fine. It’s no big deal” Gremmie replied.
As far as Gremmie was concerned this was fine. Millie didn’t seem all too upset with her, so everything was good, though she noticed Mabe giving her a weird look on her face, it looked like concern. As for the Fluffies. Unsurprisingly Uphie looked scared, while Veve had a smile and Gwent looked confused. Gremmie offered them all a polite greeting, then excused herself as she really needed to use the rest room, after that long drive over here.
One quick relief later, and she came out of the toilet to see Millie and Mabe talking in the kitchen. They were talking softly, so she couldn’t hear what they were talking about, but judging from Mabe’s body language, it seemed to be something serious and Gremmie swore she heard mention of her name, but as soon as both women saw her, they both suddenly stopped talking and Millie approached her asking questions about the car drive here, what she wanted to drink, and telling her to sit on the sofa.
It felt suspicious and Gremmie felt a little uneasy. She sat down and stared at the two. The two women were still in the kitchen, but now talking about some clothing store, as though their previous hushed conversation earlier had never happened. That made Gremmie all the more paranoid, wondering if the two were indeed talking about her, yet she felt hesitant to bring it up. What if she was just being overly self-conscious today, after all Millie was reacting better than she had expected. So perhaps this was similar.
It certainly did feel like she was overthinking things today, so she decided to let her mind rest a bit and observe the simpler creatures in the room, the Fluffies. Uphie was the first to catch her eye. The beige mare lying on a pillow with diapers on, staring intently at the screen even though nothing was playing. It was quite obvious that Uphie was aware of her presence and very much terrified of her, staring at the screen and pretending to be focused on the paused video, but her occasional glances and slight whimpers betrayed her true intention. Clearly Uphie was still terrified of Gwassses mummah, something that filled Gremmie with a little bit of amusement. However, she turned her focus onto the foals, as she noticed Veve and staring at her with a cute, curious faces. She offered her a friendly smile.
“Hello” she said softly.
“Hewwo Gwem mummah” Veve said with a big smile.
Gremmie took note of the confidence in Veve’s voice. She did not interact with Veve much, but she did remember that the foal used to be quite timid. This change in behavior, was it due to Veve becoming a TV Fluffy, or was it because of her new friend? Greemie turned her sight to the friend in question. Gwent, who was also looking with cute curiosity.
“He… hewwo” Gwent said nervously.
“Do you remember me?” Gremmie asked curiously.
Gwent nodded “Yu am wady dat fwee Gwent n wittle bwuddah fwom bad boxie”.
Gremmie couldn’t help but smirk at that notion. She was indeed the one to free them, though she was also the one that imprisoned them in the first place. It really was amusing how simple minded Fluffies were.
“I am glad you remember me” Gremmie replied.
Veve and Gwent started smiling and the two foals began playing with each other again. It seemed to be a game of patty cake. She didn’t know Fluffy could do that. Maybe Mabe taught them. Regardless, she turned her sights to 4B, or rather Nelio. The SBS was still staring out into space, clearly in his own little world. He had a big, happy smile and looked well-fed. Very well-fed. As expected of typical SBS trend, Nelio was fat, undoubtedly from eating good with little to no exercise. Maybe a little unhealthy, but for Gremmie it was proof enough that giving 4A and 4B to Mabe was indeed the best move.
Her thoughts were interrupted by Millie and Mabe joining her in the couch.
“Did you remember to say hello to Miss Gremmie?” Mabe asked Gwent.
“Yus mummah!” Gwent replied with a big smile.
Millie suddenly hugged Gremmie, as she passed Gremmie a mug of hot chocolate.
“Thanks. What are you guys watching?” Gremmie asked with a small smile.
“Oh, Bebe’s latest Villain vlog video” Millie replied with a grin “It’s like a journal about the daily life events of Gwent and Nelio, now with the addition of Veve”
Gremmie felt a little bit intrigued. She remembered Mabe had mentioned it to her casually, but never really checked it out due to work and life, and forgot about it when things slowed down. Nevertheless, she was a bit curious as to what kind of things Gwent and Nelio got up to in their day to day lives, yet her intrigue was quickly replaced by unease, when she noticed Mabe giving her another weird look. Mabe looked nervous or perhaps upset. However, as soon as their eyes met, Mabe suddenly smiled.
“It’s just a casual video” Mabe said “Just some lighthearted fun. Gwent and Veve love starring in my vlog videos, right you two?”
“Yus!” Both foals exclaimed with glee
Gremmie raised an eyebrow, feeling perplexed by Mabe’s strange attitude. She looked to Millie and Millie just smiled and shrugged.
“Let’s just watch the video” Millie said calmly.
The video in itself was nothing really special. Though featuring Veve and Gwent as well as Nelio from time to time, the video in itself was no different to the foal development videos she had seen a hundred times in the foal pens at her workplace. Essentially it was a video of Fluffies playing, just without the educational messages to influence foals to develop good behavioral traits. She figured it was because she was so jaded towards these kind of videos, yet it felt so boring, and it would seem that she was not the only one to share such sentiments.
Nelio was still staring out into space, and Gremmie followed his gaze to a painting on a wall. An acrylic painting of a forest during autumn. A serene piece filled with vibrant colors. It was understandable why the SBS was fixated on the piece. As for Veve and Gwent, the two would occasionally show disinterest in the video, in favor of interacting with each other. Nuzzling. Hugging. Giggling. Millie was similar, occasionally making funny face towards her.
Then there was Uphie and Mabe. Both were practically mesmerized to the screen. Uphie especially, who seemed heavily invested in the sights of foals playing on the TV, even though they were playing on her side. Perhaps it was the accompanying music or the fact that the screen was brighter, but Uphie could not tear her eyes away from the screen and Gremmie had noticed something. Subtle movements that seem to display excitement. Slight wiggling of the body and waggling of the tail. These happened during certain portions of the video. Specifically solo scenes with Gwent. Weird as Uphie showed none of these scenes for her own foal. Again Gremmie had to wonder if she was overthinking things.
She turned her focus to Mabe, who also seemed to be watching with heavy interest. Though it was clearly from a more objective standpoint. A small smile, but focused eyes. Perhaps an examination on the quality of her film making, or perhaps admiration of the creation. She was quite a strong Hugboxer after all.
That brought up a thought. Mabe was quite a passionate Hugboxer, and Gremmie’s SBS sibling bond experiment could easily be categorized as abuse. She had never told Mabe the nature of her experiment, but was there a possibility that 4A might had leaked details? If so, was Mabe perhaps able to extract this information and piece together the nature of her experiment, and could Mabe’s strange behavior towards her actually stem from contempt? Perhaps resentment from the harm she had imparted on 4A and 4B?
That was an uncomfortable thought and Gremmie started making occasional, careful glances at Mabe, trying to catch any possible dirty looks or faces of disdain. Looking for any evidence to support this notion she had formed, but Mabe showed no such signs of malice the whole time, and by the end of the video Gremmie felt like again, she was overthinking on the manner, so she dropped it.
After the completion of the video, Mabe engaged in an interesting activity. She started reading positive comments from viewers to Veve and Gwent, essentially showering the two with praise and kind words. It was an intelligent move. Fluffies were after all social creatures and these compliments would no doubt motivate a performance of a similar standard in future videos, though Gremmie had to wonder if she was overthinking on the action again, and this was more to do with Mabe genuinely loving Fluffies and reading nice things. Gremmie wasn’t sure, but there was something else bothering her.
Three times. That was the amount of times Uphie felt the need to insert herself in the conversation. The first occurred after Mabe had said aloud the fourth positive comment and Uphie asked if the viewers had said anything nice about her. Mabe reminded her politely that she was not in the video, prompting a faint whimper from Uphie. The second time occurred during the seventh positive comment where Uphie would display jealousy and request a positive comment from Mabe, but would receive a stern word from Millie, causing Uphie to whimper again. The third time occurred during the eleventh positive comment, where Uphie would once again request kind words about herself. Mabe obliged her this time, calling her a “Good Fluffy”. However, that was apparently not enough as Uphie would request for more.
At this point Gremmie intervened. She had noticed Millie’s happy, calm smile slowly turn into a venomous frown and for the sake of maintaining this relatively peaceful atmosphere, she offered to bring Uphie back into the safe room. One that was met with quick agreement from both Millie and Mabe. Uphie was quick to protest, but she didn’t have the capacity to resist, so could only make faint whimpers and offer meaningless apologies, as Gremmie carefully picked up the pillow Uphie was lying on and brought her back to the safe room, placing Uphie gently at the center of her space in the safe room.
As she placed the frightened Uphie down, Gremmie noticed Prie lazing about in the Fluffy carrier. She had honestly forgotten about that foal and had to wonder why Prie had not join the other Fluffies in watching that video, but she was more curious about Prie’s behavior. She had put Uphie down and had expected the foal to come running over to greet their mother like normal, but instead Prie just turned stood up and walked deeper inside the carrier. A sign of disagreement between the mare and her foal? Whatever it was, Uphie herself did not seem to care, as she continued staring at Gremmie in terror.
“Uwpee sowwi!” Uphie suddenly cried “Pwease dun sen Uwpee tu shewtew, Uwpee nu can pway wit Mistah Wok Wagon becaw weggies hab worstest hurties! Uwpee pwomise tu be gud Fwuffy, pwease dun weplace Uwpee. Pwease Gwasses mummah”.
Gremmie stared silently, noting that Uphie still remembered the replacement scare tactic that they had employed in Paise’s property, though the effects of such scare tactics had come undone, annoyingly. She ignored that and instead inspected the casts. Nothing special to note, they looked like ordinary cast, but then again she had little experience when it came to Fluffy related medical care, so she didn’t really have much to say on the matter. The only thing it proved was that Millie really did seek a specialist to fix Uphie and reminded Gremmie of her idiocy. Soft hooves. Hardwood floors.
“Pwease Gwasses mummah nu send Uwpee tu shewtew!” Uphie suddenly pleaded once again.
Gremmie looked back at Uphie silently, trying her best to mask her annoyance. Working on a Fluffy farm had given her a thick skin when it came to dealing with the pleas of Fluffies, but Uphie always had this way of irritating her. It was the one of the few things Uphie was good at. Being an annoying shit rat.
“I won’t send you to a shelter, if you stay quiet” Gremmie replied calmly.
Fortunately, Uphie actually listened this time and immediately shut her mouth, only nodding her head as a reply, accompanied by one of those pitiful crying faces. Gremmie rolled her eyes and ignored the mare, as she had found herself curious about something new. It was the presence of scratch marks on the hardwood floors within the Work Wagon area.
At first, Gremmie thought they came from the Work Wagon. Maybe a faulty wheel, forcing Uphie to drag the tool. A possible contributor to Uphie’s current conditions, but the marks were much too small and random to support that notion. Could they have come from Uphie? Gremmie stared at Uphie once again and looked at the mare’s casts. Soft hooves. Hardwood floors. How could those hooves make such marks. She was being an idiot again. Gremmie let out a frustrated sigh and felt the marks. She wasn’t sure, but it looked like the marks came from something repeatedly scratching the wood.
Before Gremmie could put any more thought on the matter, she was interrupted by the sound of Millie and Mabe entering the safe room, with the three foals in their hands. The two women were chatting about the viewers and some of the hateful messages they left behind, but Mabe suddenly stopped talking when her eyes met Gremmie’s own eyes, and again she was looking tense.
“Is something wrong?” Gremmie asked in confusion.
“No! Nope… Uh… Everything is fine, right Mii?”
Millie nodded, and the two women quickly placed down all three foals on Uphie’s side of the safe room.
“Um… Gremmie?” Mabe asked “Can you look after the Fluffies for a bit, Mii and I will go to the kitchen to make them some food”.
Gremmie nodded, and watched as Mabe took Millie’s hand and led her cousin away. It was so obviously suspicious and it was clear that something was up. It was actually getting a little bit annoying, so Gremmie decided that she would just confront them when they get back, but for now it was back to Fluffy watching. A rather nice activity that she quite enjoyed.
She noticed that Uphie was still looked tense, no doubt from her presence, so she backed up a bit and sat on a chair at the side of the room, sat on Veve’s side of the safe room. Far enough for Uphie to ease up and interact with the foals normally. Gremmie remained silent and as she observed the interactions of the Fluffies, she began to notice something about Uphie’s space.
The toys, accessories and pillows. Uphie’s space was a looking a lot more homely now as it was filled with various objects. It was all for Veve’s sake. Millie had mentioned this. After Uphie broke her legs, Veve was very adamant about leaving her side and even attempted to jump off the table to be reunited with her mother. So Millie had decided to let Veve stay with Uphie, and had made Uphie’s space more Fluffy friendly for Veve. The reasons were justifiable, but it left Gremmie feeling a little bit sour, as it reminded her of the failed plan, specifically that element of having Uphie’s space consist of just three objects to highlight to Uphie how little the Fluffy actually had.
Gremmie had to admit. It was irritating yet impressive. Though injuring her legs was undoubtedly painful and the accident in itself unintentional, the fact remained that against the odds, Uphie had managed to gain the life she wished for. One where all she needed to do was rest in a comfy safe room. Food and housing provided without the need to work for it. She even had her foals. The whole reason she ran away and gave up her good life in the first place. Somehow Uphie had gotten what she wanted, even if only temporary.
Now the question was, how to stop this from ever happening again. Gremmie thought about brainstorming for more ideas. Explore options that she might have missed in the past, but there was a little voice in her head telling her that it was stupid. Even if she did think of something, there was a high chance that she missed something else and then it would all end up back firing like this. Thinking of ideas by herself was a stupid gesture, so she simply focused on watching over the Fluffies like entrusted. Brain empty. Just watch.
She was not the only one entrusted with a task. Uphie had been entrusted to take care of Nelio, with the SBS placed right next to her face. It was actually quite a simple task that just required her to keep Nelio happy, something she really enjoyed herself. The mare was spoiling Nelio with affection. Nuzzling the foal so lovingly and showering the foal with kind words, clearly finding satisfaction from Nelio’s happy chirping. Yet the sight itself felt so strange. An SBS in diapers being nuzzled by a full grown mare, also in diapers. The absurdity would have been amusing if Gremmie wasn’t still feeling so sour, so she simply turned her attention towards Gwent.
The pink foal was nuzzling Veve and had noticed the affection his little brother was receiving from Uphie. Gremmie watched as Gwent approached, climbing up the pillow bed and carefully avoiding Uphie’s cast covered legs, just so that he could give his little brother a hug. That warmed Gremmie’s heart a bit. The knowledge that even after being adopted by Mabe, 4A and 4B still maintained their close relationship.
“Tank yu fo gib wittle bwuddah heawt happies, Uwpee mummah” Gwent said politely.
Uphie made a delighted giggle as a response and began nuzzling Gwent as thanks.
“Uwpee wub Newio!” Uphie exclaimed with glee “N Uwpee weally wub Gwent”
Upon saying that, Uphie began to nuzzle Gwent softly and showering him with praise.
“Gwent am vewy pwetty babbeh!” Uphie suddenly declared “Hab pwetty cowow n pwetty pointy thing. Gwent am stwong n smawt n gud big bwuddah. Gwent weally am bestest babbeh!”
Gwent began to giggle and nuzzled Uphie in appreciation.
“Tank yu Uwpee mummah!” Gwent exclaimed “Uwpee mummah am gud mummah”.
Uphie let out another delighted squeal saying how much she loved Gwent, then the colt began nuzzling her so lovingly, as Nelio made little delighted squeaking sounds. Gremmie stared silently at the scene. One could easily mistaken this for a tender familial moment between a mare and her two colts, except those weren’t her foals. Her foals were not included in this affectionate scene. Veve was on the side, playing with her stuffed toys, seemingly oblivious to what was going on, but Prie was aware and the foal had quite the displeased look.
Yet something was off. It was Prie’s inaction. The loud, belligerent foal was being unusually quiet and docile. Simply staring at the scene still stood in the Fluffy carrier, and Gremmie noticed that Prie would occasionally glimpse in her direction. Was Prie staring at her? Gremmie decided to test this. She saw a crumpled up piece of paper under the table on the other side of the room. She moved to grab it, purposely turning away, and when she quickly turned back to look at Prie, she caught the foal clearly staring at her. She stared at the foal curiously. Did Prie’s current passive attitude have something to do with her own presence in the room?
“Grem grem we need to talk” came Millie’s voice suddenly.
Gremmie’s attention turned to the door. Millie was peering in with a serious look. It looked like they were going to discuss something important. Perhaps how she had completely ruined Millie’s plans with her incompetence ideas?
“Coming” Gremmie replied with a hint of nervousness.
She headed out of the safe room, making one quick glance at Prie before leaving the room, then she turned her attention to Millie who was standing next to Mabe. Both women had serious looks on their face and Gremmie had to wonder if this was actually about 4A and 4B’s living conditions prior to being adopted.
“Gremmie. I wanna talk about Gwent and Nelio” Mabe said with a frown.
Gremmie averted her gaze. So she was right. Mabe was going to complain. Probably an angry scolding about Fluffies being living creatures with feelings and dreams. It wasn’t the first time a Hugboxer came up to her to voice their complaints about the rights of Fluffies, even though Fluffies didn’t have any rights, but it never did feel good being lectured, especially about bio-toys.
“I just want to start by saying I’m sorry” Mabe said with a short bow.
Gremmie looked at Mabe with a mix of surprise and confusion.
“Huh?”
“I know you trusted me to look after Gwent and Nelio, and I can assure you that I am trying my best, but it isn’t that easy. Like I’m really trying. Well okay, I guess I’m not really really trying, but you need to know that I really am thinking about their well being…”
Gremmie stared at Mabe blankly. Unsure at what exactly Mabe was trying to convey and she noticed her cousin grinning and suddenly hugged her tight.
“Mabe. Let’s start this slowly. Grem grem clearly has no idea what you’re talking about”.
Mabe gave a detail summary. 4A and 4B as villains. The Skettiland Rangers unable to distinguish between reality and fiction, and displaying antagonistic behavior. The need for two safe rooms. 4A’s supposed isolation and the use of Veve to alleviate loneliness. Mabe also highlighted that fixing the situation could lead to greater complications. Gremmie just listened quietly. In truth, she didn’t understand half of what Mabe was talking about, and only kept quiet out of respect, as clearly this matter was really giving Mabe a lot of grief, and honestly Gremmie was just happy it wasn’t a lecture.
“So. That’s the whole situation” Mabe concluded “I know you asked me to take care of Gwent and Nelio, and I really want you to know that I am trying the best for them… Well I guess I could do better if I were to…”
Gremmie raised her hand, interrupting Mabe’s flow. She got the feeling that if she let Mabe continue, she was going to hear another ramble with very little context, so she decided to move the conversation forward.
“Is this why you were giving me weird looks earlier?” Gremmie asked politely.
“I was giving you weird looks?!” Mabe exclaimed in shock.
Gremmie smirked then nodded.
“It’s fine” she replied “For both the weird looks and the situation regarding 4… Er… Gwent and Nelio”.
“But you trusted me to look after them?”
“My only obligation was to ensure they found a good home. As far as I am concerned you remain the best home for them, regardless of this… Isolation issue”.
Mabe went quiet. The look of surprise on her face suggested that she had not expected that kind of response and Millie suddenly hugged her.
“See. I told you she wouldn’t mind. You’re thinking too much like a Hugboxer” Millie said with a grin.
“Yeah” Mabe responded with a nervous laugh.
Millie continued to tease her best friend and the one tense atmosphere, now felt quite cordial. For Gremmie, it felt like the right mood for other apologies.
“Sorry” Gremmie muttered to Millie, resting her forehead on her cousin’s arm
“Huh? What for?”
“I…”
SCCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
Despite being slightly muffled by the safe room door, the high pitched screams of a Fluffy in pain were easy to identify and Mabe quickly bolted for the door. Millie and Gremmie quickly followed, and were greeted by the sight and sound of Uphie screaming, as the foals looked at her in terror.
Mabe quickly picked Uphie up and held the screaming Fluffy in her arms, coddling the mare to calm her down. It took a good minute of rocking the mare left and right, but eventually Uphie had stopped screaming and was instead moaning about “worstest leggie huties”. Meanwhile, Nelio was still crying. The SBS had undoubtedly been startled by Uphie’s loud screeches and was having a breakdown on his own. It was obvious that Mabe wanted to comfort the foal, and at first it looked she was going to say something to Millie, but seemed to hesitate and turned to Gremmie instead.
“Gremmie can you help hold Uphie for me?”
Gremmie nodded and approached, but as she got close, Uphie began to shake.
“Nut Gwasses mummah! Nut Gwasses mummah!” Uphie screamed.
Gremmie looked at Uphie with surprise, and she heard Millie click her tongue in annoyance. Her cousin walked passed her and held her arms out.
“Give her to me” Millie said coldly.
“Mummah!” Uphie cried out with tears of joy.
Mabe passed Uphie to Millie, and Gremmie watched as the Fluffy mare nuzzled her so lovingly, moaning about how she had the worstest leg hurties and needed love and hugs from her beloved mummah. It was quite a sight. Uphie with her tearful eyes and notions that her mummah cared about her. Millie with that cold, dead look on her face. Gremmie wasn’t sure if it was impressive or irritating that Uphie somehow held the notion that Millie still loved her, but it was clear that Uphie had interpreted Millie’s current actions as a sign of love, instead of obligation, so that Mabe could tend to the crying Nelio.
Gremmie did not have much to do, so she observed the scene, looking for tell tale clues as to what had happened. Though she mainly worked in the laboratory, this was not her first rodeo in dealing with a care mare suddenly screaming in pain with no clear indication as to what had happened, and her colleagues had taught her what to look out for. Foals were usually the main reason, and Gremmie already had two suspects: Prie and Gwent, as the two foals had bite marks, signs of scuffle. Add the fact that Uphie was still in casts, and Gremmie felt like she had an idea on what was going on.
Mabe meanwhile had managed to calm down Nelio and turned to the three foals.
“Gwent. What happened?” Mabe said in a stern yet calm tone.
“Gwent wuz jus nuzzling Uwpee mummah n Pwie com n gib hurties…”
“Dummeh Gwent! Yu steaw mummah fwom Pwie…”
“HUH?! Gwent nu dummeh! Pwie…”
Prie and Gwent began fighting again, hitting each other with their hooves and biting on each other’s mane. Mabe quickly put Nelio down and began to separate the two foals.
“I think Prie and Gwent got into a fight and Uphie tried to stop them, and she ended up trying to use her fore hooves in the process” Gremmie explained.
Mabe and Millie both stared at her, and Gremmie stared at Uphie, who nodded in agreement.
“Pwie n Gwent gib sowwi hoofies n Uwpee onwy wan staph, bu Pwie n Gwent nu wisten, n Uwpee twy walkies den hab worstest weggie hurties”.
“Why were you two fighting?” Mabe asked Gwent and Pwie.
“Pwie attac Gwent!” Gwent exclaimed.
“Gwent am dummeh mummah theef!” Prie retorted.
“I think Prie was jealous because of the attention Uphie was giving Gwent” Gremmie stated “I caught her glaring earlier and I think she might have been waiting for me to leave before she attacked Gwent”.
Prie looked shocked, then turned away, probably due to the discomfort of her actions being discovered. It was a clear sign that Gremmie had predicted correctly and she found herself intrigued. Prie was actually waiting? That required patience, and she did not remember that hell gremlin possessing patience.
“You knew?” Millie suddenly asked coldly.
The question took Gremmie by surprise and as she thought about it, she realized it looked bad. She knew of a possibility that something like this would happen yet did nothing, and it ended up in a possible situation where Uphie’s leg injury could have worsen. She needed to say something.
“I…”
“Sorry. It’s nothing. Mabe maybe you should bring Gwent and Nelio back to their carrier”.
Mabe nodded, picking up Gwent and Nelio and leaving the safe room, as Millie laid Uphie back down on her pillow bed and whispered something.
“Pwie, Wewe! Com hewe fo huggies” Uphie suddenly said.
The two foals seemed surprised, but offered no protest, with both quickly running to their mummah to give her a big warm hug.
“See mummah!” Uphie said “Uwpee am gud mummah. Wuv aww babbehs!”
Millie didn’t say anything. She just walked away, rolling her eyes. Gremmie looked at her in confusion.
“Uh… Shouldn’t you be admonishing Prie for picking a fight? Not rewarding her”.
“Don’t bother thinking about it” Millie retorted harshly.
Gremmie looked at her in surprise, and Millie looked down in shame, before gently holding her hand.
“Sorry” Millie said softly “I… I just don’t want you wasting your time thinking about this stupid matter. It’s so fucking stupid. Now let’s go. I think I’ve just had about enough interacting with Uphie today, and I owe Mabe an apology”.
Gremmie nodded in agreement and followed Millie out of the safe room, though she could not shake this feeling that she was once again a screw up.
Lunch was awkward. Gremmie, Millie and Mabe didn’t really have much to say after that Uphie incident. That whole thing kind of ruined the good mood going on, and after lunch Mabe excused herself, saying that she needed to go home. Despite Uphie’s screams, Gwent did mention that he had had fun, so there was no reason to stop future play dates, though Mabe did suggest not to include Uphie and Prie next time. A suggestion that was met with agreement from both Millie and Gremmie.
After that there was no more talk about Fluffies. Millie had insisted upon it. She went into the safe room alone to do some stuff. Just told Gremmie that she was changing Uphie’s diaper and placing the food bowl. Then when she came out, she declared that further Fluffy talk was over for today. She had enough dealing with them and wanted no further, and she did not want Gremmie talking about Fluffies either, especially if the topic was Uphie
That was somewhat disappointing as the main reason Gremmie had come was to talk about Uphie’s future work plans, as well as apologies for her incompetent ideas injuring Uphie, but Millie insisted on no more and claimed that she wanted to focus on giving Gremmie an enjoyable day, which she actually managed to deliver on.
They watched an intriguing film: Nothing Nowhere All at Once, one that led to a fun and lengthy discussion about the film and the concept of the multiverse. A discussion which lasted the whole of the afternoon. Then they reminisced about old family memories, as they played some nostalgic board games, followed by a delightful dinner, while talking about Gremmie’s current genetic research. Before Gremmie could even realize, it was already time to go home. She had work the next day, and she drove off feeling content.
Soft hooves don’t work well with hardwood floors.
That phrase didn’t make her feel like such a screw up anymore. She felt like everything was still going well. The way Millie had interacted with her today, she did not sense any resentment or any feeling that Millie was blaming her for the matter. It really did make her feel silly how much she over thought about the matter.
That was until she reached home. She was in her bedroom. Removing her clothes, when she felt something in her pocket. A paper. It was the crumpled up paper from Millie’s safe room. She unfurled it curiously and examined the contents. It was a receipt. A doctor appointment for one Dr. California Reaper dated on the 02nd of November. The content was quite clear, this was the receipt for Uphie’s medical examination, but something was wrong. The date was incorrect. Millie had said that Uphie had broke her legs on the 05th.
Gremmie got her phone and looked at the message from Millie. She really had stated that Uphie’s legs had broke on the 05th. So that was a lie? A mere three day difference? Why would Millie lie about that? Gremmie opened her calendar. 02nd was a Friday. 05th was a Monday. Was it something to do with the weekend? What was so significant about that weekend? Gremmie looked at her diary and realized that she was supposed to come over that weekend.
Suddenly things began to click. Soft hooves and hardwood floors was not her only failure. There was also Uphie’s attitude. She hadn’t put much thought about it when she was there, but Uphie was displaying the narcissist attitude of a Fluffy that felt they were worth something. Thinking about it, Uphie was not supposed to be showing that attitude at all, as her ego was supposedly broken during their trip to Paise’s house. That was the whole point of the Wan Die loop scheme. So clearly that failed.
What else? The shock collar as Gremmie had figured before, was far too effective as a motivator. It only helped bring about the conditions necessary for Uphie injuring herself. Perhaps the design of the Work Wagon? Smaller wheels with the entire device turned at an odd angle. It would certainly making pulling a lot more harder, as Uphie was not only pulling on the Work Wagon, but at a strangle angle too, only serving to increase the effort Uphie needed to use in order to pull the Work Wagon.
What else? What else? Gremmie stared at her phone, scrolling through her messages and noticed the rants from Millie about the state of the safe room thanks to Uphie. Messages about the smell and all the feces. She had sent Millie that video about using Fluffies to manipulate other Fluffies and Millie had stated that it worked wonderfully and that clean up went well, but did clean up actually go well?
The scratch marks were all around the Work Wagon area. The area where Uphie would spend a lot of time. Pulling on a Work Wagon without diapers on, a product of her limited interaction idea. Layers upon layers of feces, pressed down by the wheels of the work wagon and Uphie’s hooves.
The wax they had applied was supposed to make clean up easy, but what if it didn’t actually work? What if Millie had to pry the feces off the floor? Use an object to scrape the excrement stuck so firmly to the wood. Like a knife, which would have left scrape marks on the floor.
Also she had actually failed on limiting Millie’s interaction with Uphie. Having Uphie’s legs broken, only forced Uphie to become more dependent on Millie. A dependency that was required to be met, if Millie wanted to continue her Work Wagon scheme, yet it was clear that it was affecting Millie mental state quite negatively. Meaning that incompetence of her ideas were also having an adverse effect on her cousin’s mental health, the one they were tying to fix.
Then there was this single damning piece of evidence. Proof that her cousin had lied about the day that Uphie had broke her legs. The 2nd. Not the 5th. The weekend she was supposed to come over had been omitted and the reason was so obvious. It was a cover up.
The fact of the manner was, Uphie broke her legs and Gremmie could have come over to help, but why would Millie want that when all Gremmie’s other ideas had proven to be failures:
Soft hooves on hardwood floors.
A failure to break Uphie’s ego.
The shock collar being too effective.
The Work Wagon requiring more physical effort to move.
The filthy state of the safe room Millie was ranting about.
The fact that much effort needed to be made to clean up the mess.
The fact that it had all ended with Uphie being even more reliant on Millie than ever before.
The worsening Millie’s mental health.
Millie must have realized this and instead of letting Gremmie come over to help, she decided to do things on her own. She only brought up the Uphie incident after Mabe had offered a far better solution, but must have realized how damning it was to admit that Uphie’s legs broke and then she refused Gremmie coming over. She lied about the date, out of kindness, because she did not want to hurt Gremmie’s feelings.
The same for today. Everything she had seen today was the merits of Mabe’s own plan. Plus that rule of no talking about Fluffies after Mabe left, was probably Millie trying to avoid listening to anymore of Gremmie’s own incompetent ideas, instead keeping Gremmie placated with all those other activities. Plus that line Millie had said out of anger: Don’t bother thinking about it. A direct statement. Stop thinking about it because your ideas are ruining everything.
Gremmie felt cold. The conclusion was obvious.
She wasn’t helping. She was just being a burden and Millie was just being polite. How could she be so stupid. She had already failed Hans. She never there for him when he needed her most. He only got better thanks to the support of Millie, Alize and his own friends. The same trend as now. Millie was only getting better thanks to the efforts of Mabe. Gremmie had merely created unnecessary complications.
Gremmie tossed her phone aside and went to take a shower.
Of course her ideas were stupid. When it came to family she was an idiot. She couldn’t help Hans and she couldn’t help Millie. All she did was make things worse. So there was no point in helping. Her heart felt cold, but she knew that this was the best. She was useless when it came to family, so it was best to just focus her effort on things she was good at. It was just best to focus on science.
In case you don’t know what Gremmie is talking about: SBS Sibling bond experiment.