“Hewwo? Nyu fwiends?”
Slate and his owner Ryan looked up towards the voice, at the end of their garden, where a hole in their fence had gotten worse after a bad storm a few nights ago, a skinny green mare was poking her head through, a look of utter desperation on her face.
“Nyu fwiends?” She asked again, lowering her head in submission. Ryan spotted two lumps on her back that must be her foals.
“Hey there.” He smiled at the mare, walking over and kneeling in front of her. “What brings you here?”
“Huu, Cab-bag need nummies su can make miwkies fow wastesh babbehs. Speciaw-fwiend gu wook fow nummies bu neba come bak, Cab-bag awweady wose twu babbehs tu tummeh huwties, nu wan wose aneemowe.”
“Daddeh! Need hewp nyu fwiend an babbehs, nu wan babbehs hab foweba sweepies.”
Ryan looked down at Slate, tears forming in the little guy’s eyes. That sealed the deal for him, Ryan pulled off some of the loose boards of his fence and made a hole large enough for Cabbage to walk through.
“Here, come on inside. I’ll grab some food and then we can see about finding somewhere safe for you and your babies.”
Cabbage started crying again, but now with a smile on her face. “Fank yu nice mistah, Cab-bag neba fink aneewun hewp hew.”
“Well we’re a good family here, we look after lost Fluffies. Slate you keep her and the foals company, I’ll run inside and get the food.”
“Ok daddeh.”
As Ryan ran inside, Cabbage lay down on the soft grass, slowly she lifted the two foals off of her back and lay them in front of her, wrapping her hoofs around them to keep them safe.
“Wakies babbehs, mummah hab miwkies soon.”
The two foals, a green colt and a pink filly, slowly stirred from their slumber.
“Mummah hab miwkies?” The green colt asked.
“Peep?” Asked the pink filly.
“Nu yet bu soon. Nyu fwiends daddeh git nummies fow mummah.”
The two foals turned around and looked over at Slate, the young stallion eyed the two foals curiously.
“Swate neba see babbehs dis cwose befowe, dey am su pwetty. Hewwo babbehs.”
The pink filly giggled and stretched out her hoofs to hug this friendly new stranger. Cabbage smiled at the act, the poor little girl hadn’t opened her eyes yet when her father disappeared, she didn’t even get to meet him and had been missing out of a proper family life.
Cabbage didn’t want to assume anything, but these were the first people to be nice to her and offer her food and shelter, could this friendly grey unicorn be an adoptive father for her babies. Silently she hoped so.
Slate looked up at Cabbage. “Can Swate gib huggies tu babbeh?”
Cabbage nodded. “Jus wittew huggie, babbeh am stiww wittew.”
Slate understood and carefully picked the pink filly up and softly held her in his arms, she peeped with contentment and softly cooed at his soft Fluff. Slate couldn’t be happier.
Cabbage on the other hand, felt her blood turning to ice. Because when Slate picked up her pink babbeh, she saw two tiny wings on her back. He wasn’t a unicorn at all, he was a…
“MUNSTAH!”
“Wha?”
Before Slate could understand what was happening, Cabbage launched herself at him, her skull crashed into his stomach, knocking the grey stallion to the ground and sending the pink filly rolling across the grass. Scared and disoriented, the pink filly began howling, only receiving comfort from her green brother while her mother attacked their host.
“MUNSTAH NU NUM BABBEHS, MUMMAH PWOTEK BABBEHS FWOM DUMMEH MUNSTAH!”
Slate was helpless against her attacks, so frightened, so confused was her by her assault that he couldn’t find an opening to defends himself.
“Huuu, nu am munstah, am Swate, Swate am gud Fwuffy.”
“WYIA!”
Cabbage pummelled Slate with everything she had, had she eaten recently and gotten her strength back she might have broken a few bones. As it stood all she could do was batter and bruise the poor stallion.
Not that Slate was thinking about how much worse it could be, when for the domesticated stallion this was as worse as it could get.
In his panic, Slate’s back legs kicked at Cabbage, which she immediately took as an aggression, she lowered her sorry-hoofs to his torso, bruising vital organs and battering fragile bones. Each strike made Slate want to vomit from the pain.
Then when one errant hoof struck his testicles, he did.
“Dummeh munstah make sicky-wawas on gud mummah, yu gu foweba-sweepies ny…”
“WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?”
Cabbage stopped just long enough to see Ryan racing over to her, a hefty push from his heavy hand sent her flying off of Slate, crash landing close to her terrified foals. Ryan gather the sobbing Slate in his arms, holding him close as the stallion wept.
“What the fuck did you do you little monster?”
“CAB-BAG NU AM MUNSTAH! DAT AM MUNSTAH, NYU DADDEH GIB IT FOWEBA SWEEPIES!”
“I am NOT your daddy and Slate is NOT a monster. You attacked my Fluffy for no reason, why the fuck would I want anything to do with you?”
Cabbage felt her heart break with every word out of Ryan’s mouth. “Bu… bu munstah twy tu num babbehs.”
“Huuu, Swa… Swate nu num bab…babbehs. Jus wan gi… gib babbehs hug…huggies. Huuuhuuuuu.”
Ryan held Slate tighter and turned to Cabbage. “Get out.”
“Wha?”
“GET OUT OF HERE!”
“Bu nummies fow…”
“I’M NOT GIVING YOU ANTHING YOU FUCKING MONSTER, GET OUT!”
Cabbage tried to argue, but the rage in Ryan’s eyes terrified her, not wanting to risk the last of her foals, she pushed them forward as they reluctantly left the garden, back into the frightening wilds of the wide world.
“Wha bout miwkies mummah?” The green colt asked Cabbage.
“Fwuffies nu git miwkies babbeh, dummeh hoomin wike munstah betta dan gud Fwuffies.”
“Bu… Swate seem gud, wai am he munstah?”
“He hab wingies an hown, onwy munstahs hab bov.”
“Nu seem wike munstah tu babbeh.” The colt muttered under his breath before a grumble in his empty stomach took his attention.
The pink filly turned back towards Slate, seeing the bruised and bloodied stallion still crying in his owner’s arms. With tears in her eyes she reached up towards him, wanting to feel his comforting hugs again.
“Daddeh?”
But he could not hear her, and as Ryan carried Slate inside to heal his wounds, the pink filly turned away and followed her mother back to the cruelty of their feral life, and the unknown pains that would await them.