Conditioning

Anonymous Wed 18 Apr 2012 06:19:19 No.1350067
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>You've recently come into quite a bit of money, and you decide to give some abused fluffies a good home
>You go down to the shelter and ask if you can help out with fluffy rehabilitation. The staff is all too eager to oblige
>Your house becomes a "transition home" for small groups of fluffies
>It begins
>Your first group consists of three fluffies: Toughly, an orange earth, Breeze, a brown pegasus with a black mane, and Spring, a purple unicorn
>They passed the inspection of the shelter's psychologist without too many problems, but it's customary for all abused fluffies to spend a few weeks in a transition home before turning them out
>You arrive at the shelter to pick them up
>They're huddled in a travel crate. They look up at you with their huge eyes.
>"Hewwo, new fwen?"
>They are very timid, shying away when you get close.
>They do not call you mommy.
>One of the shelter staff sees you off. "Yes, Mrs. Anon is going to be your new friend. She'll take very good care of you," she says.
>The ponies all look relieved. Toughly sniffs your hand.
>"New fwen smeww pwetty."
>It's true. You can afford moisturizer now.

>You take the crate home.
>You've set up a sizable room as the "safe room." You read about this on the internet. It's very simple. Litter boxes, some beds, shallow food bowls, and double-recessed water bottles.
>They have a few balls and some single-piece soft toys to play with.
>You set down the crate in the middle of the room and let them out. They file out quietly.
>Toughly, Breeze, and Spring look up at you.
>They say nothing.
>It's a little unnerving.
"Hey guys. I'm Anon."
>You crouch down to appear less threatening. They back away a little.
"Don't be scared. I know you guys have been through a lot, but that's all over now. You're safe here."
>Toughly exchanges looks with Breeze and Spring. He looks back to you.
>"Yoo fwuffy friend?"
"Yes, I'm your friend.
>"Yoo no huwt fwuffies?"
"Never. I would never hurt you guys."
>After another tepid moment, the three ponies walk up and hug your torso.
>Finally, they start to babble.
>"New fwen wawm!" "Love new fwen. Give hugsies." "Foodsies soon?"
>You show them where everything is, and dump some spaghetti into their bowls
>After they eat, you play with them until they fall asleep
>You carry them to their beds and tuck them in
>You sit up for another hour, just watching them sleep
>You frown
>They're all kicking and whimpering
>They're all having nightmares.

>The next day, you play some more with your new ponies.
>Toughly is clearly the most dominant of the three, but he is also the most protective.
>If one of the other ponies gets hurt, he immediately hugs it and gives it "sowwies", even if it just ran into a wall or tripped over itself.
>Breeze is very quiet. You hardly ever hear him speak, though he is affectionate. Like most fluffy pegasi, he can't really fly.
>Spring is the only girl of the three. You like her a lot, but she has an odd sullen streak that seems to come up randomly
>Like right now
>"Swring tiwed of this game. Spwing wanna pway someting ewse!"
>Inexplicably, she pushes Breeze aside.
>"Owies!"
>He starts to sniffle. Toughly hugs him, giving "sowwies" over and over.
"Cmon Spring, don't be mean to Breeze. You don't have to do that."
>Spring immediately shrinks into herself. Her eyes tear up.
>"Spwing sowwy. Spwing not bad fwuffie. Spwing sowwy. Pwese fowget!"
>She seems to be trying to forget what she just did, but the memory won't go away
>"Go way!" she says, to no one in particular, rubbing at her own head, as if trying to exorcise a thought. "Pwese fowget! Spwing sowwy! Spwing sowwy!"
>Unnerved, you reach for the pony
"Shh, it's okay Spring. It's okay."
>She backs away from your hand.
>"Nooo, Spwing sowwy!"
>Toughly and Breeze now both move to hug her
>You stare at the fluffpile, scratching your head
>What happened to these ponies?

>Later that day, you call the shelter, asking for the psychologist
>When she comes on, you ask her about your new charges
>Specifically, who their abuser was, and what he did
>She tells you that she can't divulge that kind of information
"I understand that you can't give me the guy's name. But can you at least tell me what he did to them? It'll help me out."
>As you say the words, you know they are partially true
>But you also can't suppress the other feeling
>The strange morbid curiosity you have about every fluffy abuser
>You quash it as the woman speaks
>"Well, I can tell you this much. He was a big proponent of Pavlov."
"Excuse me?"
>"Pavlov, a behavioral scientist. Took some dogs and tied behavioral responses, like the desire to eat, to specific, unnatural stimuli. Really fascinating stuff. Monstrous, but fascinating."
"Huh."
>You ask what he did, specifically.
>"Near as I can tell, he did something involving words."
>Words?
>"Yeah, trigger words. I can't for the life of me figure out what he was trying to do. But they sure as hell scare the bejeesus out of the little guys."
>You swallow
>What were they?
>"I'll tell you, but you gotta promise me you won't say em. I did it once, and I regretted it. Those little guys don't need the trauma."
>Okay.
>"The words are 'tungsten' and 'guillotine'. Weird, huh? People these days are nuts."
"Yeah... heh."
>You thank her and hang up.
>You go to the safe room to play with your ponies, trying to forget what you just heard.

>You sit at the edge of the safe room, leaning over the 2 foot plastic divide
>Toughly and Spring are playing with a ball while Breeze naps
>You can't stop thinking about what the psychologist told you. The words won't get out of your head.
>You quiver a little. No. There's no way you could do that to your fluffies.
>If you said those words, it would dig up everything they're trying so hard to forget.
>They're supposed to be safe here. You're supposed to protect them.
>You can't say those words.
>But they just won't go away.
>You step into the pen.
"Hey Toughly, hey Spring."
>They run over to give hugsies to your ankles.
>"Hewwo, fwen!" "Pway?"
>You swallow. And point above you, to nothing in particular.
"So, uh... I see you've got a new tungsten there."
>Toughly and Spring immediately freeze
>They fall forward, clamping their hooves over their eyes
>Screaming
>"OWIES! TOO BWIGHT! TOO BWIGHT! WHY WIGHT HUWT FWUFFIE?"
>Toughly forces himself to stand
>His eyes are held tightly closed. Tears stream out of the corners
>He collapses again, writhing in agony
>Spring is spinning on the floor, trying and failing to pull her head into her own fluff
>You watch in paralyzed fascination
>"PWESE - PWESE WIGHT GO WAY! GO WAY!!"
>You hit the switch on the wall, and the room goes dark
>All goes silent
>When your eyes adjust, you see the bodies of your three ponies on the floor
>Breeze is still asleep, and now Toughly and Spring are too
>For the first time, none of them are having nightmares

>You feel absolutely sick to your stomach
>You scoop the fluffs up and put them together on a bed
>Instinctively they hug eachother
>You go off to throw up
>The next few days, you do nothing. What you saw terrified you. But the nightmares return. The ponies sleep fitfully.
>On the fourth night, after dinner and play, you group the three ponies together
"Tungsten."
>All three ponies scream in pain, clapping hooves to their eyes to block out some unseen light
>They scream for help, and hugs, and for the light to go away
>When you flick the safe room's light switch, plunging it into darkness, they immediately fall asleep
>No nightmares.
>Christ.
>The next morning, Spring is acting strangely.
>She's climbing all over Breeze, who mewls in pain in discomfort as she steps on his head and tail.
>Toughly looks on dumbly
"Spring, stop hurting Breeze."
>"Fwuffy see wight, fwuffy stop," she says. "Fwuffy see wight, fwuffy stop."
>You stare as she hugs the pegasus
>"Why hugsies no make betta?" she asks. "Why fwen no wan pway? Why fwen stop?"
>Breeze is shivering uncontrollably
>You reach for Spring, but she scuttles away
>"Spwing sowwy. Spwing be good fwuffy! Pwese fowget."
>She lies down, covering her head with her front legs.

>You swallow
"Guys... do you remember anything about your home before this one?"
>They say nothing
"What about your daddy? Can you tell me about him?"
>Toughly stares at you.
>"Toughwy wuv daddy! Daddy give nice hugsies!"
>The other ponies join in.
>"Daddy is da bestest!" "Wuv daddy!"
"Where is daddy now?"
>The ponies furrow their furry brows
>You realize that this question has not occurred to them
>"Whewe daddy?" "Daddy no wuv fwuffie?"
>That sick feeling enters your stomach as you see Breeze is now near tears.
>"Wan daddy hugsies! Whewe daddy?"
>They continue clamoring for daddy. They don't stop.
>You know what you have to do.
>You try to pronounce it like the psychologist said.
"Do you guys remember anything about... guillotine?"

>Immediately the ponies shut up
>Toughly lets out a low growl
>"Spwing is BAD FWUFFIE!"
>He charges at her, knocking her down. She screams
>"NOO! Spwing good fwuffie! No huwt! No huwt!"
>You watch, horrified
>Toughly pins her down. She shits everywhere
>Breeze darts out and bites Spring's nose
>He starts biting her all over
>"No! NO! Hewp fwuffie! PWESE! NO HUWT!"
>You look at Toughly
>He is trying to force himself into Spring's fluff
>Jesus.jpeg
"T-Tungsten! Tungsten!"
>All of the ponies scream and cover their eyes
>You run over to the switch and turn off the lights
>The ponies fall asleep
>The next day, they awaken with no memory of what transpired
>"Why fwuffie huwt?" Spring asks you. "Pwese give hugsies. Make betta."
>Later, you call the psychologist again and ask how long these ponies were with their abuser
>"8 months," she says. "Probably pure hell."
>You hang up and go to watch them play
>Toughly is hugging Spring, who is still complaining of "ouchies"
>Breeze is holding a ball against his stomach, staring lazily at the ceiling
>They'll be here for a few more weeks.
>At night, they still get nightmares. But it seems like they're slowly going away.
>You still can't get those words out of your head.