Sunny Gardens: Not What I Had in Mind

>Well, that was a sucky way to start the day.
>It's not getting much better, either.
>Starlight is still wandering around the pen, calling for Flame.
>You've told her five times that Flame isn't here.
>”Den whewe go?” she always asks.
>You've got no idea how to answer her without causing mass panic.
>There's an incredibly loud noise outside, ugh.
>Now you've got a bunch of fluffies hugging for comfort and crying.
>Damn it...oh, a car's pulling in!
>A very loud car.
>Good lord, it's a yellow Lamborghini Aventador.
>The fluffies all babble as the woman walks in.
>Her outfit probably costs more than your Camaro.
>And you're wearing a skirt that appears to be made of burlap and a watch cap.
>She probably thinks you're a hobo, but she smiles a little.
“Um...welcome to Sunny Gardens!”
>She tilts down her sunglasses to look at you.
>”Are these all the ponies you've got?”
“Well, yes.  It's too hot for strays to survive long, so I don't get many fluffies coming in...”
>She walks over to the pen, her black heels clacking on the concrete floor.
>”They look pretty healthy...besides that one.”
>She's pointing at Mandy, of course.  Athena is trying to nudge him back upright.
>”Fwiend, use weggies!  New fwiend hewe, nee' gif huggies!” she says.
>Mandy doesn't like being jostled, whining protests of “Wubba!  Wiggy foo nuba wob!”
“I do my best...”
>You glance outside at her car again.
>What in the world would a woman like her come in here for?
>Surely she must have seen Sarah's stupid Porsche a couple of blocks down.
>Don't people with snobby cars attract more people with snobby cars?
>”New mommy fo' 'Feena?  'Feena good fwuffy, gif huggies!”
>She seems interested in Athena, but that makes Zeus nervous.
>”Nice hooman, pwease gif huggies to Zoos too?” he asks.
>The woman looks up at you for an explanation.
“They came from the same house.  I think they might have grown up together.”
>She puts Athena down and picks up Zeus.
>”He's stout.”
“Almost as stout as Slate!  Uh, that's the big blue earth over there.”
>She looks over at Slate, who is as composed and stately as ever.
>”New hooman, pwease pick fwuffy fwiend.  Aww fwuffies good, be nice to hooman.  Gif wossa huggies.”
>She seems taken aback by his words and looks over at you again.
“He's kinda in charge of the fluffies when I'm not here.  Takes it very seriously.”
>”He seems really smart.”
>”Am smawty fwiend.  Pwotect hewd, hewp dem be good fwuffies.  Hewp fwuffies be happy.”
>Starlight is trying to push her way to the front, yelping “No fowge' Stawigh'!  Stawigh' good fwuffy too, neva make bad poopies!  Pwease be new mommy!”
>The woman appears to be struck by Slate's demeanor and Starlight's desperate pleas for a mommy.
>”I'll be right back.”
>She pulls a phone out of her purse and walks outside.
>The sniffling begins very quickly.  ”New mommy no wan' Stawigh'?”
>Slate waddles over to console her.  “No cwy.  Hooman no weave, come back.  Pick fwuffy.”
>They can still see her through the windows outside, but don't understand what she's doing.
>Frankly, neither do you.
>After a few moments talking to someone, she comes back in.
>”I want all of them except those four.”
>She points out Fluffy, Starlight, Slate, and Mandy.
>You just blink at her for a second.
“...are you sure?”
>She nods curtly.
>”I'm having a friend bring his truck over to get them.”
>Okay then.  Today just got better.
>You don't enough pet carriers for the fluffies individually, so you have to put in three at a time.
>Athena and Zeus go in one together, of course.
>As you retrieve fluffies from the pen, Starlight beams up with expectant eyes.
>When you don't get her, she looks totally stunned.
>”New mommy...new mommy pick aww fwuffies bu' Stawigh'?”
>Oh god, here it comes.
>”I'm sorry, I don't want all of you.”
>”Bu'...bu'...Stawigh' good fwuffy too!  Stawigh' gif aww huggies an' pway baww an' gif wuv an' an' an'...!”
>She starts to hyperventilate.  Slate embraces her in an attempt to calm her down.
“Can't you take her?  She deserves a good home, she's had such a hard time being here.”
>The woman flashes you a smile.
>There's something oddly sad about it.
>”These are all the ones I want.”
>Twenty minutes pass before her friend arrives in a blue Silverado.
>He loads up the pet carriers while she pays the fees.
>”Pwease, new mommy!  Stawigh' sowwy not be good 'nuff fwuffy!  Stawigh' be betta!  Stawigh' jus' wan' mommy!”
>She smiles down at her, petting her mane.
>”I'm sure you'll get a mommy one day.”
>Slate tries to plead her case as well. “Stawigh' good fwuffy, neva be bad, neva go in sowwy box.  Pwease take too?”
>She pets him too, but shakes her head.
>The way she's acting is bothering you, but you've got fourteen fluffies that are on their way to better lives, so you let it go.
>Soon, she's off, her yellow Aventador leading the truck down the street.
>You smile, but that fades quickly when you look at the four fluffies she left behind.
>Slate is still trying his best to calm Starlight down.
>She is sobbing hysterically.
>”Why mommy no wan' Stawigh'?!  Stawigh' am good fwuffy, gif huggies an' pway!”
>So much for the day getting better.
>Mandy is shuffling around aimlessly, nosing the red ball ahead of him.
>He suddenly stops, looks up, and notices there are a whole lot fewer fluffies now.
>It takes him five full seconds to realize it.
>”Hooo...fubba?  Wab fubba ahhh wog?”
>He falls down and starts screaming.  “Fubba!  Fubba nuuuuu weeg!  Nuuuuu weeg!”
>His shattered fluffyspeak fades into incoherent, fearful noises that only serve to agitate Starlight even further.
>Fluffy doesn't react to any of this, just sitting on her haunches and staring up at the ceiling.
>She gets up abruptly and goes to the litter box.
>“Nee' poopies.”  When she finishes that, she just goes back to blankly staring.
>You glance up at the wall clock.  Crap, it's after two and you haven't fed them yet.
>The trip's going to be a lot faster today.
“Slate, I've got to go get lunch.”
>”Swate make suwe Stawigh' okay.”
>Bless that fuzzy blue ball, again.
>After giving Starlight the very biggest hug you can without injuring her, you head out the door.
>Since it's just those four, you can spring for something besides the spaghetti from the place next door.
>You all love the cheese pizza from the Italian restaurant down the street, you'll split one with them.
>Unfortunately, it's right across from your sister's foal factory.
>Oh well.  You'll just be fast.  No big deal.
>As you get closer, you notice something.
>That woman's Aventador is parked in front of the restaurant.
>She's outside, too, seemingly ready to leave.
>You figure it'd be nice to thank her for adopting so many of your fluffies, so you jog up to her.
>You summon up your best polite smile as you arrive.
“Hi!  I...I wanted to say thanks for adopting.  You must really like fluffies, taking so many.”
>The woman smiles that unsettling smile again.
>”We'll find out in a few hours, I guess.”
“...pardon me?”
>You feel extremely awkward.
>The woman looks almost as uneasy as you feel.
>“It's nothing, don't worry about it.  I need to get going.”
>Your spine tingles.
“What did you do with them?”
>She was almost to her car door when you said that.
>She looks deflated as she casts her eyes back up at you.
>”My chef just came back from Thailand.  She wants to try her new fluffy pony recipes.  We're going to barbecue them later.”
>Your jaw drops.
>She sighs a little.  “I stopped by that store across the street, but she only sells foals and my chef wants to practice on adults first.  Your fluffy ponies looked the healthiest.”
>You can't even speak anymore.
>”That's why I didn't want the purple one and the orange one, they're messed up.  The blue one and the pink one...I spared them.  They don't deserve to be entrées.”
>You just stare at her in disbelief.
>”I'm sorry, I really need to go.”
>You watch her drive off, totally numb.