On The Rocks, Part 11

On The Rocks, Part 11

>You are Mist, formerly No-Name, a Grey Earth-Fluffy.
>You have Three Special Friends, Clover and her two white Foals, Ice and Ash, Bwun and her five Foals, all too young to have names, or even be left to play on their own, and Wed, who is currently sulking because she thinks you don’t love her enough.
>Oh, and Little Foal. No, Wait, her name is Lavender now.
>No-Lips, the Herd’s ancient, infamous Smarty Friend, named all the Foals with teeth, to celebrate them living long enough to stop being Foals and start being Stallions and Mares, and then named you as well, to induct you into the Herd.
>Then he named Bandit, a pale blue Pegasus Fluffy with a band of black fluff across his eyes, as the New Smarty Friend.
>No-Lips got terrible Owies during the fight at the Park, and says he will be going on the Longest Sleep soon.
>Whole Herd cried, did not want their Smarty Friend to go away.
>Bandit spent most of the night in the Old Fluffy Corner with No-Lips and the Old Fluffies, One-Eye, Some-Legs, Gnaff and All-Mumma, and learned how to be a Good Smarty Friend.
>He looks tired. Tired and frustrated and sad.
>When you gave him hugs to congratulate him, he just stood there, shivering.
>”Nu ... why Bandit haf do ...” He whispered, staring at some place far over your shoulder.
>Towards the Bad Fluffy Pit.
>Now, Fluffies of the Herd are rushing around, pulling up driest bits of paper from The Papers, where the Herd’s Mares, Foals and Fluffy Mummas normally sleep, and are twisting the paper.
>Twist and twist, twist and twist.
>All the Fluff that falls off Fluffies is to be gathered up and spread over the floor, with the driest Old Poop from the entrance to Haven.
>Yikky, Yikky Wurk!
>Bandit says, No-Lips taught him a very nasty trick to play on the Bad Herds who are coming to take Haven from the Herd.
>Your Herd must leave Haven, you don’t have enough Fluffies to fight off the invaders, but Bandit promised that the Bad Fluffies would pay dearly for taking your home away from you.
>No-Lips and the Old Fluffies are watching as some Fluffies twist paper into long, thin pieces, and other Fluffies push the cardboard boxes from the Old Fluffy Corner down in front of the Wall of Old Poop that normally blocks off most of the entrance to Haven.
>Bandit ordered that be knocked down too, and spread over the floor and mixed with all the shed fluff.
>Shouted that No Fluffy was to make Sparks. Ever.
>Glared at Blue-Horn, who was only pretending to work, whom blew a raspberry back at Bandit, but started to properly twist his bit of Paper this time.
>That the twisted strips of paper be laid down and pressed into the layer of old poop and shed fluff, and then covered with as much fluff as the Fluffies could gather.
>Line of twisted papers have to touch all the way to the middle of Haven, Bandit said, and have to go all the way to the entrance to Haven too.
>Both lines of Twisted Paper must be hidden, and must lead to Old Fluffy Corner, where Some-Legs will play the Nasty Trick on the Bad Fluffies.
>Sun is starting to shine down through the grate overhead.
>Fluffies start to complain that their bellies are still empty, and if it’s Day outside, they can’t eat at the Park.
>”Bandit know! Bandit know Fluffies haf nu Nummies, Bandit haf nu Nummies either, buh nu wan Hewd get Owies, Huwties or Boo-Boos!” He shouted, tears of frustration in his eyes. “Buh Hewd mus’ make sure Bad Fwuffies too busy being Owies to fowwow Hewd to New Safe Pwace!”
>Everyone hung their heads in shame and apologised.
>Went back to work.
>Finally, the Nasty Trick is ready...but what now.
>Bandit turns back to No-Lips and the other Old Fluffies, biting his lips.
>”No-Lips sure?” He asks hesitantly as the Herd gathers at the blue Pegasus’s back, placing their Foals on each other’s backs. “Hewd mus’ weave? Hewd couwd fiww entwance wit’ poop an’ rocks, hide tiww Bad Fwuffies go ‘way?”
>”Nu. Bad Fwuffies know Haven is in Unnerground now.” No-Lips wheezes, bloody spit drooling from his mouth. “Dey nevah stawp comin’ now. Even if Bwave Fwuffies gif Biggest Owies to evwy Bad Fwuffy in Unnerground now, moar come.”
>”Old Fwuffies stay, pway Nasty Twick, gif Hewd time to wun.” Gnaff adds, tenderly grooming No-Lip’s lank fluff with his hooves, his eyes red and swollen from crying.
>”I gu wit Hewd, as No-Lips say.” One-Eye grunts unhappily, giving his old Smarty Friend a look. No-Lips shakes his head and whispers something. “I hewp yuu wemember wat Old Fwuffies teww yuu, Bandit Smarty Friend, tiww yuu nu need be towd.”
>”Aww-Mumma so pwoud of yuu aww.” All-Mumma, her long, ghostly fluff and long, flappy skin smiles, revealing gums almost totally rotten and toothless. “Aww-Mumma know dat Fluffy Mummas an’ Mares take guud cawe of Foals and Baybehs, be Nice to Stallions.”
>”We be Guud Fwuffies.” The Herd murmurs back, sniffling and crying.
>It’s really happening.
>Fluffies are leaving Haven.
>Going to leave Old Fluffies behind to play the Nasty Trick.
>Everyone surges up into Old Fluffy Corner, unable to stop themselves, to give the Old Fluffies hugs, tell them goodbye.
>Nobody says it, but everyone knows. Old Fluffies will not be coming after the Herd.
>Old Fluffies will not survive the anger of the Bad Fluffies who will suffer the Nasty Trick.
>You hug Some-Legs, tell him you will remember to play Rock-Ball with your foals like he taught you, and get told you are a Good Fluffy.
>Hug Gnaff, and tell him he is still Prettiest Fluffy, and he smiles and hugs you back.
>Can’t find the words to tell All-Mumma how much it meant to you for her to give you cuddles when you first joined Herd, and everyone was mean to you, so you just hug her and bury your face in her wispy Fluff, and she hugs you back, crying as well.
>No-Lips ... nobody can hug No-Lips, he’s in too much pain.
>He’s leaking Boo-boo juices inside.
>So everyone touches his muzzle with their own, and whispers how much they love him.
>You tell him, you will try to be the Best Fluffy, like he is. You will follow Bandit like you followed No-Lips, and try your hardest.
>”No-Lips know yuu do. Guud Fwuffy, Mist is Guud Fwuffy.” He murmurs, then coughs, spitting more bloody mess onto his pillow.
>You grab a tuft of shed fluff from the ground and scrub it away, so he doesn’t have to sit in the Boo-Boo Mess.
>Then other Fluffies push their way in to say goodbye, and you have to leave.
>Looking for your Special Friends, when you see Bandit staring at the Bad Fluffy Pit, with that same haunted look on his face.
>Shuffle over and give him hugs again.
>”We fowwow yuu, Bandit. We fowwow yuu.” You whisper, and to your surprise, you are hugged back!
>”Tank yuu.” He whispers back at you, and gives you a squeezy hug. “Bandit need aww Fwiends he can find.”


*********************************************************************************************************


>You are Bandit, the New Smarty Friend. A pale, powdery-blue coloured Pegasus Fluffy with a band of Black Fluff across your eyes.
>No-Lips, the former Smarty Friend, and the other Old Fluffies, are telling you thinks, how to be a Smarty Friend, and more importantly, how to be a Good Smarty Friend.
>What they say .... makes you so very sad and hurt and confused inside.
>About how Foals who smell bad, smell bitter, will never be loved. You have to take them away and place them so the Munstas will eat them, not the Good Foals who smell Sticky and Fluffy-Like.
>About how some Mares will never been Good Mummas, and must have their Foals taken away and given to Good Mummas.
>About how some Stallions are very bad and try to Special Hug Foals. Must drive them out of the Herd immediately. Foals who are Special Hugged will often have Long Sleeps, but Bad Stallions will always want more Special Hugs and will kill all the Foals trying to have Good Feels for themselves.
>How Fluffies must sometimes eat Very Bad Things that Sleeping Fluffies offer them from the Sleeping Fluffies’ Tummies in times when Herd is very, very hungry.
>You also know way to Far Unnerground, they told you that so many times you could find it in your sleep.
>”Fowwow Yellow Lights with Red Pointy Lines unda dem tiww yuu find pwace wit’ many Rails”. No-Lips had told him, in the silence as the other Fluffies of the Herd slept. “It Vewy Bad Pwace, Rail-Munstas often come, lots of Hoomans, but if yuu wait tiww Rail-Munsta stawp to pick up Hoomans, den yuu and Hewd can wun under Rail-Munsta, and find Secwet Tunnews.”
>”Secwet Tunnews are Noisy, Scawy, buh Hoomans no can fowwow, Rat Munstas no wike de Noise an’ stay ‘way, but it bad fo Fwuffies too. Yuu use Secwet Tunnews to go on, fowwow dem stwait, den yuu find Overground ‘gain.”
>”Buh Overground is Bad Pwace!” You protested, feeling panicked. This was all so much, so soon! And Rail-Munstas! So scary! So big and fast and mean, tear Fluffies away and drag them down the Tunnels, make them bleed and cry and stop moving!
>”Nu dis pwace. It go under Biggest Hooman Lairs, so it Scawy, but dere be pwaces where Many Hewds could pway and haf nummies. Buh Fwuffies mus’ stay Unnerground when Day comes, as Hoomans evwy-where. But dere no other Munstas, Hooman’s scare them all away.” Gnaff murmured, his eyes half closed.
>”Is very Scawy Pwace, but it onwy pwace Bad Fwuffies nu can find Hewd now.” All-Mumma added between grooming No-Lips and trying to make him feel better. “If Stinky Wa-Wa’s Hewds know ‘bout Haven, den soon Aww Fwuffies know ‘bout Haven. Fwuffies fight an’ die an’ kiww tiww Hoomans can fowwow de Sounds, an’ aww Fwuffies in dese Unnergrounds get snatched an’ cwunched.”
>You stood there, trembling with fear, confusion and, yes, excitement.
>Part of you was eager to see this ‘New Underground’, to set hoof where you’d never been before, to be the Brave Fluffy who led the Herd to their new home.
>But the responsibilities ... they weighed on you like rocks, crushing you.
>Mares would depend upon you to protect them from Meanie Fluffies, both inside the Herd and outside the Herd.
>Foals would look up to you, and try to follow every action you took, good or bad.
>Stallions would rely upon you to decide the daily activities of the Herd, and would be the first to die if you chose poorly.
>”Fwuf .... Bandit .... Bandit not weady to be Smarty Fwiend.” You said loudly, snuffling forwards and crouching down to stare into No-Lips’s eyes. “Bandit is jus’ no weady!”
>No-Lips cracked a crooked smile at you, and cough-laughed.
>”No-Lips was not weady eitha, buh Yuu is Guud Fwuffy. Yuu will do aww yuu can. Yuu will fail, cwy, get angwy, huwt Fwuffies, buh No-Lips know, yuu will be Guud Smawty Fwiend.”


*****************************************************************************************************


>You are Gnaff, and you wave as the Herd shuffles out, pushing the Fluffy Mummas in the middle of their group, all being Very Good and being Very Careful to not scuff up the shed fluff and dried poop.
>Some-Legs is practicing for the Nasty Trick, his horn glowing and glowing till it hurts to look at.
>All-Mumma is sitting by No-Lips, who is burbling with every breath.
>His eyes are so sad as he looks at you.
>Sob and feel the tears run down your cheeks.
>It’s a slow, painful way to die. Like drowning, but slowly.
>It’s not the way you want No-Lips to go.
>He saved you from the Bad Smarty Friend, drove Bad Smarty Friend and Bad Smarty’s Friends into the Bad Fluffy Pit after they killed Foals who wouldn’t give their rock-balls to the Smarty Friend.
>Can’t even give him Hugs anymore.
>Have to sit by his side and keep lifting him off the Pillow by the scruff of his neck, and let All-Mumma prop the pillow up more so No-Lips can keep breathing.
>”I sowwy.” He groans, spitting out another mouthful of Boo-Boo Mess. It’s almost all Boo-Boos now. “No-Lips ... wan Fwiends to wiv.”
>”We haf long time.” All-Mumma replies softly as she puts another piece of card-board under the pillow to make it sit at a steeper angle. “Fwiends haf many baybehs, many funnehs, many saddies. Aww-Mumma ... is weady. Weady fo’ Long Sleepies wit’ No-Lips.”
>”Some-Legs weady too.” Some-Legs murmurs, shuffling up to you all, sweat dripping off him, his horn all swollen and bleeding from him practicing the Nasty Trick over and over again. “Some-Legs pwotect Hewd ‘gain. Some-Legs be Bwave Fwuffy, one moar time.”
>”Gnaff ... is scawed. Buh Gnaff nu wun. Gnaff wan show No-Lips dat Gnaff is nu Siwwy Fwuffy nu moar, dat Gnaff can be Bwave Fwuffy!” You reply, trying to sound brave, but you can’t keep the sadness out of your voice.
>Silence as the Old Fluffies gaze fondly at each other.
>”Is ... not so bad.” No-Lips murmurs, reaching out a hoof. Everyone does the same, covering each other’s hooves with their own. “Hewd will be safe, an’ Fwiends ... fwiends will be together.”
>”Togetha.” You all whisper as the sounds of the Bad Fluffies arguing gets ever closer.


********************************************************************************************************


>Smelly is Smarty Friend of Big-Big Herd.
>Smartiest Smarty Friend of the Herds.
>Left Eggs and Smoke with their Dumb-Big Herds, and rushed to the entrance to this ‘Underground’, your stallions in front, the mares and foals pushing the Fluffy Mummas behind you.
>Stallions go in first, kill the Fluffies in this ‘Haven’ the Raiders spoke of, then stand guard and keep other Fluffies out while your Mares and Fluffy Mummas get settled in.
>But can hear Stupid Eggs and Mean Smoke in the Tunnels.
>Herd got separated, so now you just grab whatever Fluffies you find and tell them they are now part of Greatest Smarty Friend’s Herd.
>Honestly, they’re so terrified by the dark, damp, dangerous tunnels you could tell them you’re going to tear off their fluff and beat them with it and they would follow you.
>Finally ... stones.
>Stones on the otherwise smooth ground.
>Tracks too, leading onwards.
>Fluffies tried to cover their tracks by sweeping their tails behind them, but they missed a few....
>”Fowwow Smelly, haf found Haven!” You cheer happily!
>”GUUD! NOW YUU GIF TO ME!” Smoke roars at you, his horn sparking as he glares at you from across the other side of the tunnel, the slowly moving river of Dirty Wawas between you your only protection from his Nasty Horn-Sparks!
>”Nuu, mine, aww mine!” You shout, and charge forwards, hoping to follow the tracks.
>”Mine! It mine!” Eggs yells, his Herd appearing at the junction of another tunnel, on a third ledge.
>Smarty Friends puff up their cheeks and glare at each other, even as the Fluffies in their Herds shout and reach for their ‘Friends’ and ‘Special Friends’ that have now be co-opted into rival Herds.
>”MINE!” All the Smarty Friends shout at each other, charging as one towards Haven.


********************************************************************************************************


>Fluffies tumble into Haven, shouting, screaming, fighting, hugging.
>Three in particular are being particularly mean, biting at each other’s throats, kicking at tummehs and naughty places, grappling and howling insults.
>Sickly Green Pegasus, Dark Blue Pegasus, Black and Grey Unicorn.
>”Minemineminemineminemineminemineminemineminemineminemine!” They shout non-stop as their Herds squeeze into the opening of Haven, some of them fighting, others hugging, yelling that they missed their friends, where did they go?
>Mares roll Fluffy Mummas into Haven, squabbling and blowing raspberries at each other even while the Fluffy Mummas babble greetings and try to give each other hugs.
>Foals scramble and wail, trying desperately to not get stepped on or smushed.
>Old Fluffies whimper as they hide behind the biggest piece of cardboard left.
>Gnaff is looking out the corner, waiting for the right moment. Have to wait until Haven is almost full before the Nasty Trick can happen.
>Too few, and Bad Fluffies will run away and Herd will be in danger.
>Too many, and Nasty Trick might not work!
>Some-Legs is working himself up, stomping and swearing, his horn glowing again, so much glowing that he’s sweating and shaking.
>No-Lips has his eyes closed, and is whispering something to All-Mumma, who is crying and nodding her head.
>”Fwuffies awmost to Bad Fwuffy Wall.” Gnaff whispers as the Herds come tumbling in, fighting and bickering over who should have Haven.
>The three vicious Fluffies have separated, facing each other in a little circle, snapping their teeth and crouching low to the ground.
>All three are bloodied, their fluff stained and matted and torn, but none of them look like backing down.
>Without their Smarty Friends, the Herds just keep coming in, complaining about dry poop under their hooves, asking where all this fluff came from, demanding to be taken to the Safe Places their Smarty Friends told them about.
>”Nu can bweave! Nu moar Fwuffies!” Several Fluffy Mummas shout, barely heard in the din of Fluffy Voices shrieking and screaming as close to two hundred Fluffy Ponies scramble into Haven, pressing in tightly to the point many are having to stand on their hind legs to avoid getting squashed.
>Nobody wants to get near the Smarty Friends and the wall of stones, nobody wants the Smarty Friends to give them Huwties or drive them away from the Safe Place.
>More and more Fluffies outside of Haven shout and bawl and fight, desperate for the sanctuary of ‘Haven’.
>”No moar woom, No-Lips! Fwuffies nu wan go near Bad Fwuffy Pit!” Gnaff whispers as Fluffies start to get pushed up onto the raised section of the Old Fluffy Corner, getting dangerously close to the cardboard lean-to the Old Fluffies hide under.
>”Do it naow!” No-Lips grunts in pain as All-Mumma pushes him up onto his hooves, his disfigured face a mask of pain and anger.
>Bad Fluffies have made Haven a Bad Place.
>Can hear the screams of Foals as they are crushed and stepped on.
>A Fluffy Mumma just had a Scaredy-Fit and went poof, setting all the other Fluffy Mummas into a panic as fluff and wet, sticky Foals rained down on them.
>Fluffies are grabbing each other, wrestling, trying to throw their rivals out of Haven as those outside the entrance push and strain, desperate to go inside.
>”Mine! Aww mine!” The Sickly Green Pegasus whines, his wings all but a blurr of motion on his back.
>”Yuu is stuuuuuuuupid fwuffies! Dis aww fo’ Smoke! Aww of it!” The Black and Grey Unicorn shouts back, his horn bent at a strange angle.
>”Is mine! Need fo’ Fwuffy Mummas! Yuu both gu!” The Deep Blue Pegasus shrieks in fury, stomping his hooves angrily.
>Some-Legs shuffles forwards, his cheeks puffed out, sweat sliding off him as he strains, placing his swollen, bleeding horn on the twists of paper ... and they smoulder.
>Smoke ... most Fluffies don’t know what it is, but they do know it’s bad.
>But all Fluffies know Fire.
>And as the smouldering paper catches fire, the nearest Fluffies squeal in alarm, then shriek as the twists of paper quickly catch fire, and then spread the Nasty Trick onwards.
>Shed Fluff curls up and makes terrible, stinky smoke, filling the air with Bad Smells, and the dried poop soon starts to burn too, making the Bad Smells even worse!
>Fire crawls along the twists of paper, slipping under brawling Fluffies towards the entrance and the cardboard, and towards the middle of Haven.
>But ... Fluffies have stomped on the twisted paper leading to the middle of Haven! Can smell the terrible smell of fresh Fluffy pee in the air!
>At least the Fire is giving Bad Huggies to the Fluffies it was running under!
>They howl and try to run, or roll on the Fire to give it Bad Hugs of their own, but there’s too many Fluffies, they can’t run away!
>Fire that rushed towards the entrance eats the Cardboard, the dried poop and the shed fluff and gets very, very big.
>Fluffies outside shriek as those trapped in the entrance get set on fire, and probably try to get Hugs to make the pain go away.
>Fluffies inside Haven are in a panic, but there’s too many! The ones at the Bad Fluffy Pit are more afraid of their Smarty Friends than the fire!
>”Dwop the Wall.” No-Lips grunts, and you rush to push it over.
>”Fwuffies! FWUFFIES! Onwy safe pwace is in Guud Fwuffy Howe!” No-Lips shouts, several times, before the panicking Fluffies hear him over the shrieking of the Burning Fluffies and the crackle of the Fire! “Go in Guud Fwuffy Howe, behind Stone Wall, yuu wiv, onwy way to wiv!”
>”Guud Fwuffy Howe!” Those at the back scream, pushing forwards with a strength born of sheer terror and desperation, trying desperately to escape the growing numbers of Fluffy Friends who howl and dance and try to give Hot Bad Hugs, flames licking around their tummies and tails and under their throats.
>”Wat? Nuu, is howe, is bad!” The Blue Pegasus Smarty Friend shouts back, but the Fluffies are panicking, the terrible smell in the air, the shrieking of the Fluffy Mummas as they all start to have Scaredy Fits and pop, flinging wet, whimpering Foals through the air.
>The Herds all rush forwards, ploughing into their Smarty Friends and scattering the low wall of stones.
>”Guud Fwuffy Howe!” They shout in desperate need to escape the pain and fear and flames ... and then howl in dismay as their hooves meet empty air ... and a deep, deep hole filled with water.
>”NUUUU!” The Fluffies in front yell as their friends and Herds push onwards, desperate to escape the spreading fire that licks eagerly at the shed fluff and dried Fluffy Pony poop.
>First a dozen fall in, screaming all the while, then the second row tries to stop, but cannot fight the momentum as scores of Fluffies behind them wail and stampede forwards towards the ‘safety’ behind the Stone Wall.
>The third and fourth ranks protest loudly as they are pushed in, screaming that this is not right!
>Stones are kicked into the Bad Fluffy Pit by desperate, scrambling Fluffies, battering and burying Fluffies who were pushed into the hole by their Herds, the view of the death that awaits the Fluffies obscured by the smoke and the bobbing, shambling tails and backsides of the Fluffies in front.
>Fluffies turn and grab at the Friends behind them, desperately seeking a way to climb back over their friends.
>”Is okay, I hewp yuu!” Those behind them shout, hugging their friends and charging forwards, blinded by the fluff now pressed firmly to their faces as they charge forwards ... into empty air.
>You watch for as long as you can, but the smoke gets too thick. Can’t hear Fluffies anymore, only the crackle of the fire.
>Some smoke is going out the grate, but there’s so much. Can’t see the sunshine anymore, everything is lit by the red, dancing glow of the Fire as it slowly chews it way through the Dried Fluffy Pony Poop, spitting more bad black smoke into the air.
>Nasty Trick worked ....
>”Fwiends...” No-Lips says, then coughs, boo-boo juice splattering his pillow. “No-Lips sowwy ... yuu ... yuu has Hugs now.”
>Everyone shuffles over slowly, coughing and crying from the bad smoke getting into their eyes.
>Pull No-Lips up, onto his bum, and everyone hugs together.
>Press your faces together and whisper goodbye.
>”I wuv yuu aww.” All-Mumma whispers softly as the smoke starts to give you all hugs too, creeping into the little spaces between your fluff and tickling your throats once again.
>”I is pwoud ... to haf been Bwave Fwuffy.” Some-Legs replies, feeling the coughing welling up in his chest once again.
>”Hewd wiv. Fwiends ... yuu is Guud ....” No-Lips manages to say once more, before he coughs again, and goes still, falling back against the wall of Old Fluffy Corner, limp.
>Everyone sobs and shuffles over as best they can to lean on the wall with No-Lips and give him Last Hugs.
>It’s all alright, you tell yourself as the smoke starts to make it impossible to see anything anymore.
>Soon, you’ll be with No-Lips, All-Mumma and Some-Legs again.
>It’s all alright now.