You had settled into life in the foal place as best you could.
The fake milky places along the wall only gave you cold, bitter milk but you had learned not to complain. The first little colt to whine about it received a kick from Pearl so hard he didn’t wake up for quite some time. You worried he might not wake up at all. You drank only when you couldn’t ignore the hunger pangs any longer.
Your numerous siblings scampered around the dim shelf, games of tag were common as without toys you didn’t really know what else to do. There was a small crack above the litter trough where you could sometimes see a passing human, a few of the fillies tried to beg them for toys as they went by. Lavender was on them in seconds, mashing the first one flat with her hooves before chasing the rest off.
“Begging am fo’ bad fwuffies!” She shouted, standing over the mashed foal. “Am dewe any oddah bad fwuffies?!”
No one replied, so she kicked what remained of the foal into the litter and went back to the corner she often lay in, watching you all intently. Pearl stayed against the opposite wall, head resting on her hooves.
Sometimes humans would come and take one of them away, first Lavender, then Pearl, then Lavender and so on. They would return with the dried blood washed off them and new smells in their fluff. Pretty smells, flowers and something that made your mouth water. You wished you could bring yourself to ask them but you were far too scared to get close. Scared to ask questions. Scared to even look at the humans. It seemed like new rules would just pop up out of nowhere and you never knew what they all were. You just… did your best, spending lots of time thinking by yourself.
“Yu am it!” A green colt said, tapping you with his hoof before sprinting off.
You giggled and chased after him. Thinking was a good thing, you didn’t think it made you a bad fluffy. It wasn’t specifically against the rules the two mares told you but it certainly wasn’t as fun as tag.
You darted between the foals, looking for his green pelt among them. It was hard to keep track of all your siblings, there were just too many of them to count and too many repeated colors.
Finally you spotted a splash of green among the reds and blues and oranges. “Yu am it!” You said as you slammed into him.
It took a moment for the size of the foal you tackled to register. You expected to flatten the foal to the floor, instead you had your hooves spread around him, still upright.
You lifted your head to see Lavender’s rage filled eyes burning into yours.
Slowly you put your hind hooves on the floor, untangling yourself from her fluff. Her wings twitched, fluttering imposingly as she stood above you.
“Am… sowwy… nu mean…” you mumbled, trembling. You clenched every muscle in your body to avoid making scardie anything while this monster was within stomping range of you.
“Babbeh nu mean tu.” Pearl placed a hoof in front of you.
Lavender squinted at you for a moment, then turned her glare to Pearl. “Babbeh nee’ be mowe cawfuw.”
“Dat nu am weason to gib stompies. Wet it gu.” Her tone sent a shiver down your spine, more imposing than anything she had said to the foals.
The green alicorn snorted as she stomping away from you. The foals scampered away from her as she went.
“…Tank’oo.” You forced your mouth to speak.
“Yu am guud babbeh.” Pearl said, still watching Lavender go.
“Babbeh… am?” Something in your chest sparked, sending lightning through your skin. You? Good?!
“Yus.” Pearl looked down at you with a small smile playing on her lips. “Yu nu make bad poopies ow peepees. Nu am wun ‘way, say sowwy. Dat am guud.”
“Tank’oo!!” You chirped, standing tall.
Pearl’s smile widened slightly as she slowly stepped past you, returning to her corner. The foals gathered around to watch slowly returned to their games and chatter.
You stood in the center of the chaos, unsure what to do now. You were a good fluffy! What did good fluffies do? You didn’t need to make good poopies, or drink milk without complaining at the moment.
You watched Pearl settle down against the wall in her usual place, single eye scanning the room as it always did. She was so mean most of the time, did being a good fluffy mean she was nice now? Did she save you from Lavender because you were good, or did you become good after? Were you allowed something special now that you were proven to be good? No, no. That was bad. Selfish. Not good. You needed to continue being good, so the humans would like you. So they would love you. Hug you.
Chewing your lip as you thought you weighed your options. You could go back to playing, one of the many games of tag would let you join without question. There were a few foals chatting by the milky places, you could chat with your siblings for a while until it was naptime.
Or… you looked back to Pearl, head resting on her hooves. Questions burned in your belly, but you weren’t sure if good fluffies asked questions. You didn’t see many fluffies ask questions of the mares, they were all far too scared to speak to them.
You slowly trotted over to her, watching carefully for any sign of anger in her. You heard Lavender growl at another foal behind you and flinched, but continued your march. You would risk your good fluffy status for a few questions. Understanding the rules better would make them easier to follow, you told yourself.
Pearl noticed you approaching and lifted her head, a curious look in her eye. “Hewwo babbeh. Wha’ am nee’?”
“Uhm… babbeh hab question.” You said, sitting down in front of her.
“Wha’ am?”
“Uh… Peaww am… am meanie.” you managed to spit out. “Sumtimes. Tu bad fwuffies. Wai?”
Pearl sighed, setting her head back on her hooves. “Peaww nu am be meanie.”
“Wha’?! Buh Peaww gib huwties!” You said before you could stop yourself. You regretted it immediately, biting down on your tongue hard to stop any other stupid words from leaving your mouth.
“It nu am meanie.” Pearl said without looking at you. “It am guud ting.”
“…Babbeh nu unnastand.”
Pearl sighed again. “Babbehs am hewe to weawn how be guud fwuffies. Peaww hab be meanie. Hab teach babbehs how be guud ow… nu get mummah ow daddeh.”
“Guud babbeh get mummah ow daddeh?”
“Yus. Dat am wai Peaww an’ Wavendah am su meanie. Babbehs nee’ weawn.”
She looked… sad. Her eye stared blankly forward, not at any of the foals in particular. Your gut said she needed a hug but the more rational part of you was apprehensive. You stepped toward her slowly, watching for any sign of annoyance.
“Den… Peaww hab Mummah? Daddeh?” She flinched as you said it and you froze, hoof still raised in step.
“Nu. Nu hab.”
“Wai? Peaww nu am guud?”
She turned to you, lips curling slightly into a smile as you flinched back. “Nu am be scawed, babbeh.” She flicked her tail to her side, and you cautiously leaned against her.
“Peaww am ugwy. Nu hab twu guud see pwaces. Dat am wai nu hab daddeh. Hoomans nu wike broken fwuffies.” She said plainly. “Peaww am guud fwuffy tho, hoomans bwing hewe tu teach babbehs tu be guud.”
“Oh…” You assumed someone like Lavender took it from her, for breaking some rule. You had seen fluffies destroyed for very little. Minor complaints, bullying, not making it to the litterbox in time. “Den… Wavendah hab daddeh?”
Pearl shook her head. “Nu, when fwuffy hab daddeh dey wive wif’ dem. Aww da time. In nice safe woom, wif’ toys an’ bed an’ guud nummies.” Sensing your next question, she continued. “Wavendah nu am pwetty tu hoomans, babbehs nee’ weawn how be nice to wingie-pointy fwuffies, so dey bwing Wavendah hewe.”
The two of you watched Lavender snarl something at a foal who got a little too close to her, sending them scrambling away. She seemed a fine color to you; a bright, cheery green body with a red-purple mane.
“Babbeh nee’ be guud. Bad tingie happen tu bad babbehs.” Pearl said.
“Nu am get daddeh.” You agreed.
“Nu, bad bad tingie.” Pearl said. “Wowstest huwties, foebah huwties. Wowse dan Wavendah.”
You blinked. Worse than what Lavender did? You couldn’t conceive anything worse than the sound of her hooves slamming through a bad foal’s body. Even Pearl had killed a few, though hers were usually in the form of a hard kick into the wall or other solid surface. Foals that laid there in a growing puddle of their own blood and didn’t wake up.
“It am bad. If babbeh am guud, nebah hab tu knu.” Pearl forced a smile. “Yuu gu be guud babbeh, say pwease an’ tank’oo, gu hab nice homesie and daddeh dat Peawl nu hab. Otay?”
“Otay. Wiww du.” You stood. You had many, many things to think about now, somehow more questions than when you started. What could be worse than being broken by angry hooves? Sleeping forever in a horrible heap of fluff and flesh? Why did humans only like pretty fluffies, and were you pretty enough for them? Why did they need you to be nice to a monster like Lavender?
You paused, looking back over your shoulder to Pearl. “Tank’oo, Peaww.”
She nodded. “Yuu cum tawk to Peaww anytime, babbeh.”
You nodded back and trotted off to think about what she told you.
You grew in the foal place, along with your siblings. The good ones, at least. You saw many die, their bodies discarded in the litterbox like your waste. You played, ate, and tried your best to keep the other foals in line. You didn’t have as much sway over them as the nursemares did, though. They ruled through fear, you understood why now. You wished fluffies didn’t have to die, but whenever you felt the urge to save a bad fluffy from whatever Lavender or Pearl was about to them you remember what she told you. Something worse than this. Forever hurties.
So you behaved. Stayed out of it other than urging your siblings to play quietly, to use the litterbox often and eat without complaint. Things that good fluffies did. You could see the sorrow in Pearl’s eye every time she hurt a foal but Lavender seemed to revel in it, her grin wide as she slammed her hooves down on their smaller forms. You were especially careful around her.
And one day, you watched in awe as the wall by the litter tray fell away. Light shot into the dim space, the silhouette of a human looking in.
“Yeah, some of you are ready.”
All at once the foals rushed forward towards the human, reflexively at the sound of their voice, Pear and Lavender quickly pouncing on those at the front of the pack to restore order.
You stayed where you were, off to the side. Good fluffies didn’t beg. Good fluffies didn’t yell. Good fluffies waited patiently. You watched in silence, muscles trembling with the amount of willpower it took to stay still. More than anything you wanted to beg this human to be your mummah, to give you the huggies and love you knew you needed.
But you would be good. Like Pearl said.
“Alright… lets take… you,” The human said as she grabbed a pink filly by the scruff. “And you,” she said, grabbing another filly. There didn’t seem to be any pattern to who she was choosing.
“Dat wun am weady.” Pearl said, your heart leapt into your throat as she pointed her hoof at you.
“Alright. C’mere, girl.” The human reached towards you.
With joyful tears in your eyes you trotted over to her and let her grab your scruff. As you were pulled out from the foal place Pearl gave you a nod, and you waved a hoof in thanks.
You didn’t know if you’d see her again, but you hoped that one day the humans would change their mind about her.