Sunny Gardens: Damaged Goods

>It took you forty-five minutes to snap out of it and then get the pizza.
>You carry it back into the shelter, still a bit shocked.
>”Mommy back!”
>Starlight tries her hardest to fly out of the pen to get to you, but her little pink wings barely lift her.
“I'm sorry it took so long.”
>Slate looks up at you and tilts his head.
>His eyes say that he knows something isn't right.
>His stomach, however, says it's time to eat now.  It's growling cutely.
>You give him little pieces of pizza to distribute to the tiny herd.
>Starlight runs around in happy circles with her piece in her mouth.
>Fluffy just takes hers and eats it quietly.
>Slate gives one to Mandy, who thinks it's a ball.
>He noses it around and then craps on it.
“Oh, Mandy...”
>He squeaks happily as you move him away from the mess and clean it up.
>You give him another piece of pizza, which he plays with as before.
>He eventually eats it.
>You watch them play for a while and try to forget what the woman told you.
>Well, you watch Starlight and Slate play.
>They bump the ball back and forth.
>Fluffy is in a corner, gazing out through the mesh at the empty cages on the wall.
>Mandy is shuffling around at random, emitting short bursts of 'wooo!' and stilted, meaningless words.
>He suddenly topples over onto his side.  Frightened, his legs begin tearing back and forth in an attempt to run away from himself.
>You sigh and go over to pick him up.
>Without so many other fluffies to split your attention, Mandy's issues are glaring.
>Starlight tries to play with him, nosing the ball to him.
>He runs away from it; rather, he attempts to run away, bounces into the mesh side of the pen, and falls over onto Fluffy.
>He promptly craps on her.  She doesn't seem to notice.
>You have to take her into the back and give her a bath.
>She doesn't seem to notice that, either.
>By the time you return with the clean Fluffy, Mandy is in a corner of the pen.
>His back is facing out, his rear end is up in the air, and when you go around after setting Fluffy down, you see his legs are moving.
>He thinks he's walking, but he's standing on his head.
>”Why Mandee wun on waww?” Starlight asks.
“Mandy's just silly.”
>It's your standard response whenever another fluffy asks why Mandy does the things he does.
>”Siwwy Mandee!  No can wun on waww!” Starlight giggles.
>At least she and Slate aren't worrying about the sudden lack of friends.
>Yet.  It's a just matter of time.
>Mandy drops onto his back, waving his legs around with fright.
>”Wooba!  Higgy fob!”
>His forelegs are stretched out.
>Ah, the universal sign for 'hey, give me a hug', which seems to be so far ingrained into the fluffy mind that they all know it.
>You oblige, picking him up and holding him to your chest.
>”Higgy fubba...”
>Not only is he slow, he's a runt.  He won't be fully grown until he's about eight weeks old, but he still looks like a colt.
>Starlight and Slate have stopped playing.  The former interrupts calling for her lost ball to look up at you.
>”Mommy, why wook sad?”
>You shake yourself back to awareness and look down.
“Oh...it's nothing.”
>Starlight blinks at you for a moment.  “Nuffin?  Wike muffin?”
>You can't help but giggle.
“No, not like a muffin.”
>Slate waddles over and nudges her.  “Gif baww pwease.  Stawigh' on baww.”
>She rolls over onto her side.  “Fin' baww!  Yay!”
>You smile.  Mandy starts wiggling and squeaking, so you set him down again.
>Time creeps on.  You try hard to avoid considering the idea of fluffy pony barbecue.
>It brings you to the verge of tears a couple of times.  Starlight always stops and asks what's wrong.
>You have no idea what to tell her.
>You try to kill time by cleaning out the now unoccupied cages and washing that bedding.
>It's only five o'clock by the time you're done.
>You consider going out and looking for strays, but seeing a bunch of roasted fluffies probably isn't going to help you feel better.
>Roasted fluffies.  Damn it, mind.
>“Wh-whewe fwiends go...”
>You look up.  Starlight is huddled in the center of the pen, trembling.
>The 'mommy's back!' high has finally worn off.
>She suddenly runs over and clings to the nearest fluffy, which happens to be Fluffy.
>Fluffy gives her a reflexive hug.  She doesn't even look at the pink pegasus.
>”Fwiends go 'way, whewe aww fwiends go?”
>You would remind her, but that would make it so much worse.
>As the sun begins to set, she grows increasingly terrified.
>Even Slate is worried.  “Nice hooman, nee' mo' fwuffies.  No haf 'nuff fo' hewd.”
>”Whewe fwiends goooooooo?” Starlight wails.
“Um...maybe someone will bring new friends?”
>There probably aren't many to bring.  A check of the weather online says the high was a hundred and four today.
>Any strays caught outside may as well have been in an oven...oh damn it, mind, stop that!
>Starlight's babbling becomes low whines as it gets darker outside.
>Soon, it's eight thirty.  Time for bed.
>”Nuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!  No wan' wonwey!” Starlight cries, realizing what comes next.
>You deal with Mandy first, pooping him (ugh, that squeak kills you) and putting him in his cage.
>You notice his eyes look off, somehow.  Maybe you should take him to the vet tomorrow.
>Fluffy goes next, her face blank as always.  God, those red eyes are actually really creepy.
>Slate obediently waits for you to pick him up.  Starlight waddles in fast circles around him, crying.
>”No wan' be 'wone!  Stawigh' no wan'!  Wan' fwiends!  Wan' mommy!”
>You're almost as unwilling to do this to her as she is to have it done.
>Suddenly, you get an idea.
“Slate, can Starlight sleep with you tonight?”
>He looks up at you.  “Okay.  Swate gif sweepy huggies to Stawigh'.”
>You put Starlight in his cage.  Her wings and legs flail unhappily.
>”Nuuu, mommy no weave!”
“I'll be back in the morning, calm down.  Slate's going to keep you company!”
>She suddenly realizes this isn't her cage when you put her bed in it.
>Slate goes in next; she clings to him.
>”Sweepies wif fwiend?” she asks.
“That's right, you can be roommates.”
>”Wha woomace?”
“Er...never mind.”
>You look at the four fluffies.  Mandy is whining and wobbling back and forth on his back.
>He doesn't deserve to be in there by himself.
>You put him and his bed in with Fluffy, who reacts with a robotic, automatic hug.
>At least he'll have someone to cuddle now.
>Time for the nightly speech.
“Okay, be good fluffies until I get back tom--”
>”No weave...” Starlight whines into Slate's fluff.
“I'll be back, I promise.”
>”No wan' be 'wone...”
>Sigh.
>You grab your things, say good night one more time, and head out.
>You're probably in for a long night of dreaming about Athena and Zeus on a spit-roast.
>Damn it.