New Work

>Be a short-time fluffy pony owner.
>you really just learned how great having one was three months ago, when you adopted your little ball of joy.
>She was just a dirty little stray when you met her, starving, both for food, and affection.
>It was probably her shining, magenta eyes that caught your attention the most.
>And once you cleaned her up, her thick white mane curls naturally into neat waves, and her soft red fur regained luster and volume as you fed and cared for her.
>After taking her home out of pure sympathy, you now just couldn't imagine life without her.
>But, well, things were different three months ago.
>You were barely keeping your rent paid with a part-time job, skimping and squeezing every ounce of value you could get for your pennies.
>Fluffy ponies aren't really that expensive to take care of, and since you were already eating ramen, well...
>You just quit drinking soda for a while. Two portions of ramen noodles cook just as easily as one, and you quietly enjoy the double-broth.
>Her litterbox was lined with shredded newspaper, mostly the classifieds from the previous day.
>And her bed was just some old blankets, which you and she arranged at the foot of your futon, so she could sleep close by.
>And so, you learned that two can live as cheaply as one.
>It wasn't the best life, but you had each other.
>...
>And then, suddenly, unexpectedly, your resume started generating calls.
>Calls led to interviews, interviews begat job offers.
>And now, work.
>Suddenly, you have a legitimate job, with good pay, it's still only part-time, but if you keep your other part-time job, you'll end up working slightly more than full time.
>All together, you work six days a week, for forty five to fifty hours, not counting travel time.
>The first morning was the hardest. When you woke up at a quarter to four in the morning, your alarm accidentally woke your fluffy pony up as well.
>"Wha scawy noise? Stiww dawk time, nuu wan' pway nao."
>Naturally, you comforted her.
"It's nothing to worry about girl, I just have to get up before the sun this morning. Get some more rest, I'll give you breakfast before I go."
>And so, while she slept, you showered and dressed, triple-checking your deodorized armpits and carefully shorn facial hair.
>With a half-hour before you really had to leave, you gently wake your fluffy up.
"It's time for walkies sweetie!"
>"Stiww dawk time Daddeh... " she yawns and stretches.
"I know, but today I have to go away for a little while."
>"Whea' Daddeh go?"
>You thought this up right after you got the job, so you hope this little lie works.
"I'm going out to find better food, it might take some time, but I promise, there's better nummies coming soon."
>She looks taken aback. "Bettah den Wamehn? Daddeh mus fin' bestist noms evah..."
"Yes, better than ramen. C'mon now, out of bed, I have to take you for a walk, and make sure you make good poopies outside before I leave..."
---
>Eleven. Fucking. Hours. Later.
>You drag your exhausted ass up the last flight of stairs to your apartment.
>By your estimates, just with what you earned today, after taxes, you've paid for rent. Everything after this is pure profit.
>Well, actually, credit card, college loan, car payments, electricity, water, gas, cell phone, internet, cost of car maintenance...
>Okay, now you're just depressing yourself.
>But still: A good day at work.
"DADDEH!"
>Ahh, sweet joy of a homecoming.
>Your adorable little fluffy comes bounding into the entry hall.
>"Daddeh home! Fwuffy Wuv Yuu! Gif huggies! Fwuffy miss yuu! Wan huggies! Up! Up!"
>With every pronouncement, she jumps and hugs and scampers and just releases so much vibrant energy.
>Hyper little adorable fluffy girl.
"No up-up today Fluffy, How about Daddy plays down-down?"
>You slide down the wall, into a sitting position, feet on the floor, knees in the air, and legs parted.
>She loves to play down-down, and with a giggling shriek she drops down to her belly-fluff and crawls under your knee.
>"Daddeh haf' bes weggies!"
>She crawls and climbs and hugs, while you tickle and scratch and, well, return hugs.
>All the while, her tail is wagging at a million miles a minute.
>So you play with her for several minutes, until she suddenly stops.
>"Fwuffy tummeh feew owwies. Daddeh fin' bestist noms?"
"Well, No, I didn;t get the best food today, but we still have ramen."
>She beams "Yayyy! Wamehn!"
---
>Three. Weeks. Later.
>Your bank has been sending you warning e-mails for the last few days, "Available Funds less than $100".
>Actually, the available funds are about $12.23
>Rent is due tomorrow, food is running low, and you just got a $40 traffic camera ticket in the mail.
>Fuck those tickets. Fuck them harder than anything has ever been fucked before.
>You've been working for three weeks, and only just now do you finally get cut your first paycheck.
>You got an actual, physical check.
>At lunch, you wasted your half-hour going to your bank, and depositing the load, and taking a healthy amount of it in cash.
>You take great joy in filling your gas tank to the brim on the drive home.
>then you divert over to a supermarket, where you completely load your cart with real food, including actual meat, real cheese, fresh fruits and vegetables.
>And most importantly, several boxes of spaghetti and vegitarian sauce, just for your little girl.
>She's been so patient these last few weeks.
>Putting up with your odd hours, and being quiet when you tell her how tired you are, and even helping you fall asleep on days when your two jobs schedules didn't sync well, by laying her warm little body against the small of your back as you fell asleep, even though she wasn't tired.
>But her play times have been getting shorter,
>And she stopped asking about "best noms" a little while ago.
>So today, today is the good day.
>You open the door with your arms laden in grocery bags.
>Wow, the big clock on your wall tells you it's later than you thought.
"Fluffy! I've found the best foods! Fresh and good for little fluffies and big daddies!!"
>Silence.
>You fear the worst.
"Fluffy?"
>Dumping your groceries on the kitchen table, you begin combing the apartment, room-to-room.
>It's not a big apartment, but you're being thorough.
"Sweetie girl?"
>Not in the kitchen, nothing out of place.
>Not in the closet, but THAT'S where you left your belt.
>Not in the "living room"... it's kinda spartan in here.
"Where are you Fluffy... I have noms..."
>Not in the bathroom.
>The "Safe room"? You hardly use it.
>She hasn't hurt herself in your house... ever.
>And she's not in there anyway.
>That just leaves... your bedroom.
>There she is, laying on your bed.
>Did she fall asleep waiting for you?"
"Fluffy?"
>She stirs, and looks at you.
>For the first time since you adopted her, her face is streaked with the trails of tears. She must have been crying all day.
>"Daddeh? Yuu nuu wuv fwuffy animoh?"
"What? No! Of course I still love you fluffy!"
>You pick her up and hug her tightly.
>"Den wai yuu go 'way aww bwight time?"
"Fluffy, I needed time to find good food for you and I, and I have done it! Come! I brought fresh food! good for little fluffies."
>"An' wai yuu nuu wan pway nuu moah?"
"I'm just tired from looking for food, it's hard to find out there."
>"An' wai habben Yuu dun "Ed-yuu-kaded Fwuffies Paww Sicks" yeh?"
>The question catches you cold.
"Wha- What?"
>"Yuu mae' gwea huggie stowwy, peepow wuv weadin' buh yuu weaf stowwy aww awone. Wha happen' ta' Cwisma? An' Awtum? An' Winta an' Spwing an' Summeh an' Howideh? Fwuffy wan' know!"
>Swallowing, you set her down on the bed.
"I... I have no Idea what you're talking about. Quit breaking the fourth wall, or the author might delete this!"
>"Nuu Daddeh, Yuu deh awfow!"
>Oh damn it all.
"And I suppose that makes you my muse?"
>"Dat's wite! Smawty fwuffy!"
"Stay out of this little Smarty. As long as I'm talking to my muse, we may as well shed the pretense of an owner / pet relationship.
>"Dat faiw. Fwuffy keep cute wittew bodeh and speesh pattewns. Wai nuu nu stowwy?"
"Look, I, I'm tired. I don't know what I'm going to do with Educated fluffies. I have a lot of great material written for it, but it's all disjointed. Bits and pieces of the story that are still three or four episodes down the road."
>"Buh yuu wite suu mush Daddeh, wai nuu pubwish fiwwew chaptah foh Ed-yuu-kaded fwuffies?"
"I like to think I write in a style similar to Wodehouse, crafting long stories and revising and revising until they meet a personal subjective standard, but the truth I write more like Douglas Adams, bits and pieces in inexplicable burst patterns, and the only way I can figure out what will happen to my main characters next is if I go off on a tangent and see what someone else is doing... but right now, I'm even failing at that, because I've been so busy right now!"
>"Yuu nuu faiw Daddeh! Yuu teww gud stowwies! Jush nee moh... Inspiration..."
>Her fluff falls away as her body changes, becoming more... classically beautiful.
>She raises a delicate hand to my jaw.
>"If you want, I could keep the hooves and tail..."
>I wish I could tell you more of this story but, well, it's personal. Deeply, deeply personal.
>Educated Fluffies, part 6. Next.