Hello everyone, I have been itching to have Odin and his herd return to all of you once more. Work of Madmen will be the story of Odin’s hunt for other intelligent fluffies, but of course he needs some training.
BUT, before that, let’s see how everyone is doing. Keep in mind, every character that was a foal is now an adult.
Odin’s blinded eye unfortunately had to be removed after a feral herd broke in, but Janet made sure it didn’t hurt. He doesn’t care much, it brought him closer to the actual Odin. He’s been training with Scourge and an upcoming character to hone his skills.
Mimir hasn’t contacted Odin for a while, but Odin has occasionally seen a bit of red in the bushes. Mimir has been searching for more intelligent fluffies, but has only found one possible fluffy. However, they will not speak.
Acorn is expecting a litter from Peanut, and even arranged a meeting with the present owner of the smarty that hurt her, and shat all over him for revenge. She has also made good friends with Pigeon, mostly due to the suffering Pigeon causes the smarty.
Peanut followed along Acorn and beat the smarty, and has fully established himself as Odin’s only toughy. He’s been teaching Pretzel to fight, but unfortunately limited him to only fighting with his hooves (Odin yelled at him for teaching him biting), until now.
Seashell is as happy as ever, living in the herd and has been spending a lot of time with Pretzel. A suspicious amount (if you ask Odin) of time. Janet discovered that Seashell actually inherited good genes from her parents. Guess the genetic abomination Subject O was managed to carry over to Seashell without making her DNA explode.
Pretzel has discovered his true nature during a fight (A bonus chapter will be released in which we learn how Odin officially lost his eye and Pretzel became full cannibal). He also has been staring at Seashell when she isn’t looking, and only Mabel has seen. She recognizes it as the same look his father gave Acorn before they became mates.
And now, we cut back to Odin’s adventures.
. . .
“Wha’ Odin Smeww?”
“There’s the scent of… milk, and a mare. There are at least two foals with her judging by the tracks. But these tracks are noticeably weighted. Must be a bestest.”
“Odin haf gud smeww pwace.”
And here you were. Training with Scourge’s adopted cousin, Kipling. Scourge confessed to his owner, Abul, about his true nature. Abul had a sister named Layla, who worked in fluffy extermination. One of the very best, because she had Kipling. A cannibal fluffy who had a freakishly good sense of smell for a fluffy, so none were left behind. Layla agreed to let Kipling train you in the art of smelling out other fluffies. You turn back to Kipling.
“The scents stale. Gone by now.”
Kipling looks down in sadness. “Dat am tu bad. Bestest babbehs mak’ bestest nummies.” You stare at him in confusion. “Bestest babbehs awways haf wotsa miwkies. Mak’ babbeh taste pwetty.” You don’t ask more questions. It makes sense.
Kipling starts walking out the forest, and you begin to follow him. Until you see a flash of red in the bushes. “Hey Kipling, go on ahead. I’ll follow you in a bit.” Kipling accepts this and moves on. You stalk through the bushes, until you see Mimir.
But… it wasn’t. Mimir didn’t have ears. But behind you, you heard rustling, and whirled around to see another Mimir-like creature. It’s floating slightly, but doesn’t have ears. Finally, your Mimir walks through the bushes.
“Mimir, where the hell have you been? And who are these two?”
“No hello?”
“Yes, hello Mimir. How have you been?”
“Good. I have some important news. But first, let me introduce you to my friends.”
He turned to the one with ears. “That one’s Shifter. They’re a special type of mimic, doesn’t have to kill fluffies to look like them. And the other one’s Ventriloquist. He’s able to manipulate fluffies minds, and even make them speak. Hurts him a bit.”
“However, that’s not important. I believe I found another lab experiment like you.”
. . .
Your name is… nothing. You don’t have a name, and life doesn’t seem good enough to move on until you get one.
It all started when you were a foal. Born with horns and wings, your mother nearly tore out your wings before the smarty stopped her, saying you could just be an enfie mare when you grew up. You never liked to speak to others, because most fluffies just wanted to hurt you. All until that one-eyed fluffy.
Your smarty lost an enfie mare, so he brought the whole herd to look for her. When he found her, she was being guarded by another fluffy. He spoke like a human, like… like… nobody important. It doesn’t matter. He beat the toughie and smarty, and then a toughie took over. He didn’t like how it was run.
For that short while, life was good. The herd didn’t hurt you at every turn. Until that new fluffy came in. Said his name was Berry, killed your smarty and took over. But when he looked at you, you saw nothing but hatred. Tears stream down your cheeks as you remember it.
. . .
“WAI AM DEWE POOPIE MUNSTAH IN HEWD?” He walked over to you, and immediately hit you in the face. You fall to the floor, crying. He attempts to mount you from behind.
“Dummeh gun be enfie mawe… jus’ wike munstah babbeh…”You didn’t know what he meant, but he suddenly fell into a trance-like state. He walked away, but all you knew was sadness and pain.
. . .
You woke up near Berry. He kept you near so he could take anger out on you. But you awoke to an odd noise. It sounded like a music box. You tried to block it out, but it was probably a monster. If it was a monster, then maybe you finally found something that could kill you. Slightly excited, you silently creep out the nest, and follow the music. But when you get closer, nothing’s there. The music stops. A twig snaps behind you, and you whirl around.
Some weird creature is staring back at you. Large ears, plastic-looking fur, and a creepy smile. You sit on your haunches, and wait in anticipation. Two more creatures like it appear next to it. One of them walks up.
“Speak.”
You refuse. You wanted to be as difficult as possible so they had no choice but to slam you into a tree.
“I only wish to confirm my suspicions. Speak.”
What suspicions did he have? Not like you had anything to lose at this point.
“…Who are you? What are you?”
The other two creatures turn to the one that could speak, and made some odd noise that sounded like communication.
“So it is true. You’re another.”
“Another what? Can we just skip to the end where you kill me now?”
“I do not wish to kill you. I wish to help you.”
“Then just kill me already. Life sucks, I can’t survive out there on my own, and that fluffy wont accept me…”
“Oh? Which one?” He can barely even move his face outside of turning his head, but you can tell if he could give a sly smile he would. He turns to the one with the giant ears, and nods.
Then what you see next is slightly horrifying. It’s eyes go wide, and it’s neck twists and snaps. It sounds like a million animals in a meat grinder until his head stops spinning, and staring back at you is him. That fluffy that beat your old smarty. The one with one eye.
“What’s the point. I couldn’t ever find him… and it’s not like he would accept me. I’m a monster.”
“Wrong. His sister is an Alicorn, like you.”
Your heart flutters a bit. If you could find him, and he accepted you, maybe there was a way out of this life that didn’t involve dying. But you remember why you didn’t go with him.
“He hated my herd… I was too scared to go with him.”
“You shouldn’t have been. He’s currently looking for fluffies like you. Those who speak the tongue of the humans.”
“R-really? But I can’t find him, how could he find me?! It’s a lost cause.”
“If you make up one more excuse I will give you a headstart by flinging you out of the woods.”
“Fine… Why are you so determined to help me?”
“Do I need a reason other than helping a friend?”
“I guess not. But I don’t know anything about survival other than eating! They always just kept me in the herd to hurt me. I had no duties other than being a punching bag.”
“Then we will help you. Call me Mimir. We’re getting away from this herd.”
“How can I make sure that you things or that fluffy will protect me from them? They’re bound to search for me.”
“I wouldn’t worry about that. Berry’s an old friend of his.”
. . .
“He WHAT? I swear, im going to find that fucker and pillow him with my own teeth.”
“Calm down, she’s currently safe. But I can’t bring her here directly. Too much exposure to a Jellenheimer can drive fluffies insane. Even if it doesn’t seem to effect you, I wont test it on her. I suspect you are immune due to my… stalking of your father.”
“Creep.”
“Shut up. Go back home, and I’ll tell you if anything else happens.”
. . .
You met back up with Kipling, and you went your separate ways. You came back to the herd, and immediately are knocked over by Seashell.
“Bwuddah bak! Hewwo Bwuddah!”
“Hey Seashell. How’s everyone doing here?”
Peanut comes up, since Acorn is too distracted singing to herself. “Hewwo Smawty! Acown’s tummeh babbehs gwow big an stwong. Bu’ Pwetzew wook funneh.” You look over, and he’s right. He looks frustrated. Mabel’s in the other room, so you walk over.
“O… Hewwo smawty.”
“You alright there Pretzel? Hope you aren’t still blaming yourself for the eye.”
“Pwetzew jus’ finkin abou’ tings…”
“Like…?”
Pretzel looks around him, and then whispers to you. “Am sowwy smawty… wan be speciaw fwens wif Seasheww, bu’ am fwuffy nummew…”
You step away a bit. That’s why? He loved Seashell but was scared of himself because of his true nature. This wouldn’t slide. Rule number one of your herd is that nobody should be mentally unstable due to how they were born. Except you.
“Don’t think like that. It just means you could protect her from ferals that try to hurt her. You’re a good fluffy, Pretzel.”
“Pwetzew knyo hao yu wook at Pwetzew wen Pwetzew was babbeh. Wike Pwetzew am munstah.” You wince. He’s unfortunately not wrong. It took a long time to get used to living with a cannibal fluffy.
“You’ve got sharp eyes. I guess you need to know. When Seashell and I were in our old herd, a cannibal fluffy like you was in it. He was eating foals, and even tried to eat me. But do you know why he was a monster?”
“Munstah was fwuffy nummew…”
“No. It’s because he chose to eat fluffies that didn’t deserve it. He ate babies. But you could be different. What if you only ate fluffies that tried to hurt the herd?”
“Pwetzew can be… fwuffy nummew tuffy?”
He looks at you with excitement. Shit, his father was a toughie. Why not. You give him a big smile, and he looks ecstatic. He runs over to Peanut, and tells him the news. But you can’t stop thinking about the fluffy Mimir found.
. . .
Your heart beat faster and faster as you ran away. Berry woke up and immediately demanded a search for you. As fluffies scrambled around, you made a mad dash to get away. There was a chance at life now. But you nearly tripped when you stopped, Almost colliding with the large eared creature. It does the horrifying bone snapping thing, and looking back is a reflection of yourself. But with a blank stare, and a unmoving smile.
It was going to be a decoy. You nod and keep running, as you first hear screams of anger, then screams of pain.
There was hope. Something you haven’t felt for a long time.
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