“Now now, Isadora!” a voice called out. It was a very patient sounding voice. Patience tempered by annoyance. It was the voice of a man who had been pushed slightly too far. The stench of feces hung heavy on the air. A rather lithe man clomped as heavy as his little feet would clomp into the room. This caused great concern for Isadora.
The mare had experienced much hardship in her life, bouncing from home to the street, home to street so many times. She knew all too well what that loud stomping from daddeh meant. She wasn’t an especially bad fluffy, but she had one flaw.
She had the tendency to let herself take the blame for others…even when it was blatantly obvious that she couldn’t have done it. Daddeh stepped ever closer. Isadora stood up on her back legs, wobbling. “D-Daddeh! P…Pwease nu huwt babbehs…” she begged, tears in her eyes.
“Well!” the rat-faced man replied, crouching down. “Would you care to explain why there’s turds all over the room, and piss soaking into my floorboards?” he hissed, cocking his head. Isadora knew that her babies had done it. They were having so much fun in their saferoom that they couldn’t just stop playing with their bwockies an’ baww.
Isadora gulped.
“B…Babbehs nu make poopies! Isadowa nu’ can’ fine da wittabox!” she bluffed. The foals cowering behind her babies looked at eachother in slight confusion, but, did not protest. The rat-faced man’s greasy brow contorted into a glare. “You mean…after all of the times I had you watch that stupid goddamn DVD on how to use a litterbox 5 times?!” he said, his hands grabbing the roots of her mane.
“P-P-PWEASE!” Isadora complained. “BABBEH NU MAKE POOPIES ON DA FWOW!”
The rat-faced man brought his face inches away from her’s. He regretted it almost instantly as he caught a whiff of her breath. It reeked of rot. “After I WATCHED you use the litterbox?! And do you seriously mean to tell me that a fluffy of your size made such small messes?!” he growled.
Isadora closed her eyes for a moment, whimpering, as if to think of what to say next. The room was silent. Silent. Until a squeaky voice rang out. The blue-haired foal trotted out from behind its mother. The rat faced man turned his gaze towards it, as Isadora began to hyperventilate from the stress of it all.
“Got something to say, you little slimeball?”
The blue-haired foal puffed out his cheeks. “Bwue…Bwuebewwy see! Bwuebewwy see dummeh mummah make bad poopies on da fwow!” There was a pain in Isadora’s eyes now. A pain that was from more than just having her new owner screaming in her face. She quietly began to sob and cry to herself; a useful skill she developed while on the street.
“Stwawbewwy! Teww daddeh dat mummah make poopies on da fwow!”
The rat-faced man rolled his beady little eyes. “Come out, Strawberry.” Out of the three of them, she was definitely the man’s favorite. She was quiet and reserved. Never made a fuss about anything. Moments passed, and the foal walked out from behind her mother. She was sniffling.
“Aren’t you a good girl, hm?” the rat-faced man said, turning away from both Blueberry and Isadora. Strawberry was silent, but he could tell that hearing his praise made her happy, judging by how she leaned in for him to stroke her body with his finger. Her eyes were fixed to the floor.
“Now…be honest. Is what Blueberry said true?”
Strawberry was silent.
“T-Teww daddeh, dummeh sistew!” Blueberry squealed. Her eyes widened, knowing full well what her brother would do if she went against him. “…Yus…Stwawbewwy see mummah make poopies out da wittewbox…” she said. “Buh…buh mummah nu mean to make bad poopies! Mummah wan’ pway wif babbehs!” Her words provided little succor to her distraught mother.
The rat-faced man shook his head. “Even if it were true, that’s no excuse.”
Blueberry gulped, and Strawberry hid behind the stack of blocks she had made earlier in the afternoon as their daddeh hoisted and lifted Isadora. “Come along now, Isadora. I’m afraid it’s punishment time.” Isadora offered no resistance. The fact that her babies were safe was an ineffective salve to the wound that had been inflicted on her heart.