“Dis way.” Chip Bag said before darting around a corner.
You tried to keep your teeth from chattering as you followed behind him. The sun was barely in the sky when you left his herd’s house, the chill piercing through your fluff down to your very core. You had no idea how he kept up his quick pace, your hooves were numb from the frigid pavement.
Chip Bag led you around the city deftly. You were lost by the second turn but he seemed to know where he was. Some streets he ran down, some he traversed slowly, ears pricked for any noise. Other places he stopped and waited, watching for something you didn’t know of. It impressed you, you’d never seen a fluffy so skilled. It was like he knew everything! No wonder he didn’t need any humans to take care of him, he was more than capable of taking care of himself.
“Chip tink dis am it.” He said, stopping behind a large red dumpster.
You blinked at the red brick, unsure. You didn’t get a good look at the outside from within your box, you were too excited to get a new home. It didn’t look the same, you remembered glass doors and a big colorful sign.
A door on the brick wall opened and a lady stepped out, carrying a large bag at her side. Your heart jumped into your chest as you realized you knew her! She was the one who took you from the foal place!
“Tank’oo tank’oo tank’oo!” You said, hugging Chip Bag tightly. “Hope am home!”
Before he could reply you ran up to the nice lady. “Hewwo! Nice wady!” You skidded to a stop in front of her, holding your hooves up so she could pick you up. “Hope am backsies!”
She looked down at you, reaching for something behind her back.
“Mistah Nick am nu guud to Hope, oddah fwuffies am hab wowstest huwties, su Hope cum back tu-”
There was a hiss, and your world was pain.
“SCREEEEEEEEE!” Your eyes burned, blinded by white hot pain. You pawed at them, feeling something painful enter your nose, your mouth, shoot down your throat into your lungs. All you could do was writhe and scream. You didn’t know what happened, what even hurt you.
After a long time you became aware of another feeling, hidden in the haze of pain. A tongue, licking your face. Hooves wrapped around you. Your screams tapered off into gasping sobs, every moment agony.
“Am hewe, am hewe, am hewe…” Chip Bag repeated over and over, his tongue washing over your closed eyes.
“Wh…. Wai…?” You managed to spit out, still blind.
“Chip Bag wan’ teww yu, sumtimes hoomans hewe hab huwty spway…” he gave your face another lick. “Dey nu wike nu-home fwuffies.”
“Buh… huu… Hope nu am…”
“Chip Bag knu. Nu knu wai gib huwties.”
After a bit longer the burn faded a bit more, not enough to open your eyes but enough to make breathing not hurt. How could she have something that caused such pain? And to use it without even saying anything to you! It burned everything it touched, your eyes, your nose, your mouth…
“Chip Bag nu hab mouf huwties?” You asked as he continued cleaning your face.
“Hab. Just nu wan pwetty mawe hab huwties.” He paused only long enough to speak before returning to his grooming.
You started sobbing anew, not out of sorrow but because this fluffy, who you just met, was the only being to treat you with any kindness since Mister Nick. “…Wai?”
Chip Bag paused. “Mawe… Hope am pwetty, an’ nice. Chip Bag bwing bak wotsa nummies, an’ Smawty Beans say can hab spechow fwend.” You heard him make that same nervous cough. “Chip Bag… wan Hope tu be spechow fwend. Nu hab tu, Smawty wet Hope stay eben if nu. Jus’… Tink yu bewwy pwetty.”
You forced your eyes open, his blurry yellow form in front of you. “Yus, Hope wan’ be spechow fwend!”
“Weawwy?! Nu hab tu, Chip Bag jus’-”
“Yus! Wan’!!” You hugged him tightly. “Wan’ ebwyting wif’ bestest spechow fwend.”
“Yus!” He hugged you back, sharing a moment in your joy. “Wen am wawm tiems again, den hab spechow huggies and babbehs!”
“Wai wait?” You asked, wiping your still blurry eyes with a hoof.
“‘Cuz nu hab guud nummies fo’ babbehs an’ soon mummahs.” Chip Bag said. “Babbehs get hungwy, gu foebah sweepies.”
“Oh.” Right, there was no one to bring them food. Judging from the garbage pile they didn’t have a lot of options.
“Can Hope wawkies?” Chip Bag asked, helping you to your hooves. “Wan weave befow meanie cum bak.”
You nodded sadly. It hurt to leave the FluffMart, and the life you thought you had but… with your new special friend you could have a new life! One with babies of your own!
You followed behind Chip Bag, pausing to look at the bag the worker set down before she sprayed you with the hurty water. Your eyes were still blurry and swollen, but you could see a smiling fluffy on it and a bowl of kibble in front of her. You missed kibble, even the not very good stuff you had before you met Mister Nick. You could smell it, faintly, over the spicy smell of the spray.
You blinked at the bag.
“Hope? Nee’ gu!” Chip Bag called.
“Dis… am nummies.” You said, pointing at the bag.
“Wha’?” He trotted up next to you. “Am nummies? Am big!”
“Dis am housie fwuffy nummies!” You explained, sniffing the bag. “Am kibbow!”
“An’…” He paused, sniffing at the bag. “It safe? Nu huwties?”
“Yus! Hope num dis in dewe!” You pointed at the building. “It am guud nummies!” That was almost a lie. It was okay nummies. Not as good as sketties but better than the rotting garbage they had stored up.
“Den… den we nee’ bwing tu hewd!” Chip Bag grabbed the corner of the bag in his teeth and started to drag it down the alley. You grabbed on the other corner, straining as hard as you could to help. You weren’t doing much, but Chip Bag kept looking at you with a grin that made your heart flutter.
“If Hope being dis much nummies bak, den Smawty gib Hope boon!” He said around the bag in his teeth.
“Wha’ am boon?”
“It am wike… nice tingie! Watebah Hope wan’!” Chip Bag said. “Chip Bag bwing whowe pizza to hewd, ask fo’ spechow fwend!”
A boon. Hmm. You bit down harder on the paper bag, thinking hard about what you would ask for.
It took the majority of the day to drag the bag back to the house. At a few points Chip Bag had you guard the bag while he scouted ahead, looking for danger. You were terrified every time, unsure what to do. You didn’t know how to fight anything, not even another fluffy, but you stayed by the bag. You kept your head down and hooves splayed, the way you remembered Lavender staring foals down so long ago.
Chip Bag came back each time, with new directions to go. Eventually you ran into more fluffies from his herd and were able to get them to help, making it back to the herd before it got dark.
Smarty Beans listened to you explain what kibble was, and told the other fluffies to put the bag at the back of the pile, to save for the worst parts of the cold times.
“Yu du guud, nyu fwuffy.” Smarty Beans said.
“Hope!” Chip Bag said.
“Hope.” Smarty Beans hopped up on the couch, looking down on you. “Fo’ gettin’ wotsa guud nummies, Hope get boon! Wha’ Hope wan’?”
The other fluffies of the herd muttered among themselves about the boon. You smiled up at him.
“Hope wan’ spechow huggies!” you chirped.
Chip Bag made his nervous choking noise as Smarty Beans put a hoof to his lip in thought. After a moment of silence, he turned to the teal mare, and she gave him a small nod.
“Yus, fo’ bwingin’ nummies to hewd, Hope can hab spechow huggies!”
You cheered, a few of the other fluffies joining in. Chip Bag tackled you in a hug, kissing you all over.
“Nu du hewe, dummehs!” Smarty yelled. “Gu tu nestie, nasty fwuffies.”
You shoved Chip Bag off you, giggling, and led him off to his nest to find out what these special huggies were all about.