The Lake: Part I

>Live in a forest in the middle of nowhere.
>It's a nice house, though, you won the lottery a while back.
>Got a large deck on the rear that overlooks the center of a long, undulating lake.
>You spend your mornings out here with your coffee, listening to the various sounds of nature.
>This morning, though, the brisk air carries a different noise:
>”Wan' pway!” “Why dawk?” “Owwies!  Fwuffy get squishied!”
>It's faint; you have to strain to make out the stilted baby-talk.
>It's coming from the lake.  Specifically, the little island near the shoreline.
>You retreat inside to grab your binoculars.
>Training the lenses on the island, you begin searching for the fluffy ponies you hear.
>The island is shaped like an eight, with two round bumps of land topped by about a dozen pine trees each, that are connected by a grassy strip about 20 feet wide that is very low to the water.
>You see nothing on the strip.  Nothing in the pine grove to the left.
>You finally notice a box in the other pine grove.
>It appears to be a wooden crate of about six cubic feet that's missing its top.
>It's shaking slightly, back and forth.
>Now that you're focused on it, it's easier to hear the rambling fluffy pony conversation.
>”Fwuffy see twee!” “Fwuffy weggies cold!” “Pway wif fwuffy?”
>You are slightly annoyed.  People come out here to abandon fluffy ponies almost every day.
>Most simply toss them out of car windows as they drive, leaving them to their fate.
>Some of the more sadistic ones chuck them into the lake itself, allowing them to drown.
>You've never seen a bunch left at once before, though.
>You continue to watch the box as it shakes.
>Suddenly, it tips over toward you.  The fluffies huddle together inside, dazed.
>It appears they all tried a group hug, moving to one side of the box in the process.
>After a moment, they begin to file out of the box, babbling ceaselessly.
>It's easy to hear them now.
>All of their voices are squeaky and female.
>”Fwuffy see wawa!” “Gwass tickle fwuffy's hoovies!” “Fwuffy see mo' twees!”
>There are ten of them in total.
>All three types are present.  You see three unicorns, three pegasus, and four earth fluffies.
>They begin to explore the little island, toddling about together as a rainbow-colored herd.
>They approach the steeply-sloped edge of the pine grove and look into the water.
>A yellow earth fluffy with a grey mane and tail loses her grip and slides into the lake.
>She screams. “Hewp!  Hewp fwuffy!  Wawa make fwuffy cold!”
>Her fluffy comrades stare dumbly down at her as she thrashes about in the water.
>”Hewp fwuffy!  Fwuffy no wike wawa!”
>She manages to propel herself to a tiny strip of sand under the pine grove.
>She pulls herself mostly out of the lake.  Only her rear legs remain submerged.
>”Fwuffy...fwuffy no wike wawa,” she says weakly, panting for air.
>The rest of the herd has moved on.
>They are now exploring the grassy strip.
>A red pegasus blurts out, “Hung'y!  Fwuffy tummy hurt!”
>It's like a light bulb goes on over their heads.
>They begin to graze.
>”Gwassies yummy!  Fwuffy wikes dem!” a green unicorn says, her mouth stuffed full.
>Meanwhile, the yellow earth fluffy that nearly drowned is huddled on the sandbar, shivering.
>”Fwuffy cold,” she mewls.
>The rest of the herd appears to have forgotten she even exists.
>They graze happily.  The conversation has become totally focused on their feeding.
>”Gwassies!  Gwassies fo' fwuffy!” “Fwuffy tummy feel happy!” “Yay! Fwuffy no hung'y now!”
>The abandoned earth fluffy begins to grow restless as she hears the others grazing.
>”Fwuffy wan' gwassies! Fwuffy tummy make noisies!”
>Her hunger drives her to dip a hoof into the lake, looking for a way to the grass.
>She withdraws it immediately.
>”Wawa cold!  Fwuffy no wike!” she says.  She begins pacing around on the tiny sandbar.
>”How fwuffy get up to twees?  Fwuffy want gwassies!”
>She tries to climb the slippery rock above the sandbar.
>She fails repeatedly.
>”Hewp fwuffy!” she calls loudly.
>The other fluffies all look up at once, confused.
>They babble excitedly.  ”Fwuffy hear somethin'!”  “New fwiend for fwuffy?”  “Wan' play wif new fwiend!”
>They leave the grassy strip and return to the pine grove, searching and calling for the 'new fwiend'.
>They look in the empty crate at least eight times.
>The soaked earth fluffy hears them above her.  ”Hewp fwuffy!  Fwuffy stuck in wawa sandy pwace!”
>A green fluffy pegasus with blue hair and a red fluffy pegasus with yellow hair walk over and look down.
>”New fwiend!” they both babble.
>The earth fluffy stretches her stubby forelegs up to them.  ”Hewp fwuffy!  Fwuffy stuck!”
>The two pegasus jump down to her, flapping their fluffy wings to glide.
>There isn't nearly enough room on the sandbar for the three of them.
>The yellow earth fluffy gets bumped back into the water.
>”No!  Wawa bad!  Wawa mean to fwuffy!” she screams, splashing about uselessly.
>”Wan' pway?” her pegasus rescuers ask.
>The earth fluffy thrashes about, her fluff soaking up water like a sponge.
>She becomes extremely heavy.
>Her movements grow sluggish.
>”Hewp...hewp fwuffy...” she mewls weakly.
>She sinks to the bottom, exhausted.
>Since the depth of the lake near the island is about eight inches, the earth fluffy is now standing.
>She has more than enough clearance to keep her head above the surface.
>”Weggies...weggies cold,” she whines, not even thinking to walk back to the sandbar.
>The two pegasus fluffies touch the water and panic, screaming their fluffy heads off.
>”Wawa!  Wawa cold fo' fwuffy!  Hewp fwuffy!  Fwuffy can't walkies!  Hewp!” they shriek.
>The yellow fluffy gingerly moves about in the shallow water.
>”Wawa fwiend now?  Wawa wuv fwuffy?” she asks the lake.
>The fluffies stuck on the sandbar watch her as she starts walking around more confidently.
>They continue to scream about being stuck even as they do so.
>The fluffies above them in the grove continue to call for their 'new fwiends', looking in places they've searched a dozen times already.
>This includes the empty crate.
>You set your binoculars on the deck railing.
>Holy fuck, these things are idiots.