Listen to Smarty 10

>You are Candy, a feral fluffy pony
>It's been many bright times since your herd left the forest in search of a new safe place: after Purple had her babbehs, the Smarty has been making to herd move a lot faster, even making the herd move during the dark time; it's been a bit hard on your old legs, but you've yet to fall behind
>At the moment, the herd is taking a break in a field of grass not too far from the long, black thing; food's been more plentiful as of late, which you think means you're getting farther away from the hoomans
>As you idly munch on a mouthful of grass, your mind begins to wander inevitably to the past
>You weren't always a feral; a long time ago, you lived in a place where hoomans gave fluffies to hooman mommas and daddas
>You remember your momma, a great big fluffy who used to cuddle you and tell you how special you were and how much she loved you; you remember your brothers and sisters, who used to play with you in your momma's fluff, sometimes they were mean and tried to keep momma's milk all to themselves, but momma would hug them until they were nice again and let you drink your fill
>Then the nice hooman who gave Momma food took you away from her; you remember Momma looked so proud, telling you that you were going to get a nice hooman to take you home with them, feed you sketties and keep you safe
>You didn't know why you couldn't just stay with Momma, but you trusted her and the nice hooman; it made you sad to not see Momma anymore, but having a hooman momma would surely make up for it
>The meanie hoomans never wanted you though, no matter how nice or friendly you tried to be, they always wanted a different fluffy; a younger fluffy, a cuter fluffy, a "better" fluffy
>The nice hooman who gave away fluffies would always try to cheer you up, tell you that you'd be picked "next time", but "next time" never came
>Nobody ever wanted ugly, old Candy
>You don't remember much about how you escaped, it's all a blur of loud noises, screaming fluffies, and fire; all you remember is running as fast as you could into the strange, new world of what you would later know as the city
>Deciding you've dwelled long enough on the past, you finish your grass and decide to check on the herd mares
>Wandering through the field, you see Greenie talking with Purple and Peach as their foals play; you're still amazed Peach has any foals left, guess Greenie is better with other mare's foals then her own
>Most of the other fluffies are either eating or playing, which means their healthy enough not to warrant any special attention; you notice Heartstrings and her attendant Roxanne are playing a simplified version of hide and seek with- or rather around the Smarty
>Since Heartstrings has gotten too big to move on her own, the game has really become "Alternate between covering your eyes and shouting 'See yuu!' while the Smarty pretends to sleep through it"
>You giggle a bit at the annoyed look on the Smarty's face as you move on, its funny to see such a mean fluffy rendered so helpless by a couple of mares
>Sleep sounds good, though; maybe after checking on Cherry and Berry you'll take a nap
>Your heart sinks a little as you think of Cherry: she's been getting worse and worse as the journey's gone on; she's finally gotten to the point where she can't move on her own, but she's still smaller than she should be and Berry can't seem to get her to eat anymore
>You'd help if you could, but the two of them don't listen to you like they use to: they just don't see you as their Momma anymore
>You've tried reminding the two of them so many times, but they never believe it: they say your not big enough to be their momma, that you don't smell right; they don't even remember what happened to their momma, but somehow they're sure it's not you!
>The thought sits heavy in your chest and you stomp in anger
>It's not fair, poop it! You lost so many babbehs in the city, so many wonderful fluffies who called you Momma no matter what happened, why don't the two you had when you were finally safe remember they're still your babbehs?!
"Bawney am Sweetie speshal fwiend!"
>The sudden scream jerks you out of your sulking; you turn and see Barney and Slugger puffing their cheeks at each other while Sweetie cowers in between the two of them
>Slugger stomps his hooves
"Bawney dummy. Swugga Sweetie speshal fwiend. Gif Sweetie speshal huggies, am Sweetie babbehs daddeh."
>The herd begins encircling the group, some shouting for the two to stop fighting
>You give a quick glance back and see the Smarty is still pretending to sleep, too lazy to break up the fight; you snort a bit: the herd's old Smarty, Big Red, wouldn't have let his herd get into stupid fights like this
>Barney's horn begins glowing
"Swugga gif Sweetie dum speshal huggies, nu gif babbehs! Bawney gif Sweetie guud speshal huggies, mek Sweetie mumma! Sweetie teww Swugga dat yuu Bawney speshal fwiend!"
>The herd gasps at this revelation; Slugger just stares at Sweetie, looking like he is about to cry
"S-Sweetie hab speshal huggies wif Bawney? Sweetie nu wuv Swugga nu mo'?"
>Sweetie bursts into tears and runs off, wailing as loud as she can; Slugger tries to follow, only to be tackled by Barney
>You ignore the two brawling fluffies and waddle after Sweetie, who you find some distance away hiding under a bush
>The miserable looking pegasus is bawling her eyes out and smacking her head with front hooves
"Sweetie dummy fwuffy! Sweetie ugwy fwuffy! Sweetie poopie fwuffy! Sweetie… Sweetie wuwst fwuffy!!!"
>You give a little snort at the display: typical dummy fluffy, too absorbed in feeling sorry for herself without realizing all the problems she's causing the rest of the herd
>Sweetie doesn't hear you waddle up behind her, but she sure notices when you bite her tail and start dragging her out into the open
"Aaah! Munsta hab Sweetie!"
>You quickly release the flailing fluffies tail, her back hooves barely missing your nose; you give her a quick bop on the head to make her stop
"Dummy Sweetie stop yewwing, Candy nu munsta. Dummy Sweetie cum bak tu hewd."
>Sweetie sniffles a bit, trying not to cry
"Sweetie nu wan gu bak. Sweetie bad fwuffy, mek speshal fwiend saddies."
>You nod
"Sweetie vewy bad fwuffy. Buh if Sweetie nu cum bak, den Sweetie be bad fwuffy fowebah. Nee' cum bak, say sowwy tu hewd an' Swugga."
>Sweetie still looks upset
"Buh wha' if Swugga nu fogib Sweetie? Wha' if nu wuv Sweetie nu mo'?"
"Den yuu nu speshal fwiends nu mo'. Sweetie bad fwuffy, mus' say sowwy tu stay hewd fwiend. Buh Swugga nu hab tu fogib, nu hab tu wuv."
>Sweetie looks like she's about to start bawling again, you quickly raise your hoof to keep her attention as you continue talking
"Sweetie nee' teww Swugga why Sweetie du bad fwuffy ting, mebbeh hewp Swugga fogib Sweetie. Now cum wif Candy, wan gu bak tu hewd."
>As the two of you waddle back to the rest of the herd, you hear the Smarty barking orders to the rest of the herd to gather up food, apparently he's finally stopped napping like a lazy colt
>You see Slugger and Barney sitting away from the other fluffies, looking very beaten and ragged: Barney's face is swollen and some of his fluff has been torn off; Slugger is in slightly better shape, though boo-boo juice is dripping from his nose
>Sweetie tries to hide behind you, staring at the ground like like a foal; you push her towards Slugger, having had enough of her cowardice
>The two fluffies don't say anything for awhile: Slugger just stares at Sweetie as she keeps opening and closing her mouth, unable to find the proper words, her face becoming more and more upset
>Finally, Slugger grabs Sweetie with his hooves and pulls her into a large hug, causing the bewildered mare to begin sobbing and blubbering muffled apologies into the large stallions fluff; neither noticing Barney sadly shuffling away, tears of frustration welling up in his eyes
>You feel your own eyes roll as you waddle off: Slugger's always too soft for his own good, especially when it involves Sweetie
>You wish he was more like his daddy, Big Red; he may have been a mean Smarty, but he never treated his special friend any differently then he did the rest of the herd
>As the two lovers cuddle and coo as they make up, you waddle off in search of Cherry and Berry; you want to check up on them before the herd starts moving again
---
>You are Listen, a Smarty Friend
>You've been leading your herd away from your old home for many bright times now, far more then anyone in the herd can remember; the bright times have finally begun to grow cooler, but the leaves are still a tasty-looking green
>The herd has gotten its strength back as you've found more nummies on your journey, though still not enough to keep everyone happy; it's caused the herd to stop fighting as much, though there are still the occasional incidents such as Barney and Slugger
>With the herd growing stronger, you've started pushing them harder to keep moving, especially during the dark time: you remember the dangers of staying in one place for too long, even for sleep
>But now you have a problem
>You stand in front of a large river, glaring angrily at the rushing water illuminated in the light of the not-so-bright glowy sky ball; your herd anxiously mulls around the bank, nibbling at the grass or hugging each other for comfort
>It's impossible to tell how deep the water is in the dark, but you're not too interested in crossing the water anyway; you would have to ford fluffy mummas and foals now, far too many things could go wrong, it's too risky to try
>You look a little ways away up the riverbank at the long black hooman thing; it crosses over the river, offering safer passage, but if a metal munsta comes you'd be trapped between it and the water
>You glance at the herd behind you: there's no cover on this side of the river, sleeping here would leave you exposed to hungry munstas; you think you some trees on the other side of the water, on the other side of the long black thing
>Not seeing any other option, you turn back to your herd, speaking in a low tone to not attract unwanted attention
"Hewd wissen tu Smawty. Nee' cwoss wa-wa, gu tu twees fow saf' sweepies. Fwuffies wawk on wong bwack ting, gu obew wa-wa tu odda side."
>The herd murmurs with concern over this idea, but for once you don't have to shout anyone down to get them to obey; you lead the herd to the long black thing, trying to keep an ear out for any possible dangers
>The bridge looks even longer up close then it did from the riverbank, you give a quick glance up and down the long black thing before ordering Rover across
>The little blue and black pegasus runs full speed across the pavement, seemingly without a care in the world as he disappears into the darkness; you wait a few moments and then-
"Wobew foun' gwassies!"
>The herd tries to shush Rover from across the water which seems to work, though he could have just fallen asleep for all you know
>Now confident that there are no munstas waiting on the other side of the bridge, you begin sending fluffies over the long black thing one at a time: it might make crossing take longer, but you risk losing far fewer fluffies if a metal munsta comes
>Despite their mothers' protests, you place your herd's foals on the backs of some of your faster fluffies, only allowing each fluffy to transport a single foal; the transport fluffies can't move as fast without risking the foals falling off, which slows the herd, but it's safer then letting a mare carry all her foals across at once
>The real problem is the fluffy mummas: they need an attendant just to move and it still manages to be slower then carrying the foals across; you watch for a agonizingly long time as Roxanne pushes Heartstrings across the hard ground, deciding to hold your herd's other mumma, Cherry, back until the end, whom you'll help push across
>Despite a few strange noises causing panics and a few fluffies getting confused as they cross, things have managed to work out fairly well: the only fluffies left to cross are yourself, Cherry, Berry and Raindrop, who is carrying Licorice on his back
>As Raindrop walks across the bridge, you're about to get Cherry ready to cross when your ear picks up a familiar sound; you look with horror down the long black thing as two glowing points emerge from the darkness
>It's a metal munsta
>The whole herd screams at Raindrop to hurry, causing the stallion to panic and run full speed towards the other side; in the light of the not-so-bright glowy ball, you think you saw something fall of his back
>You panic
>By the time your mind has begun processing the situation, you're already halfway across the bridge; using the light of the oncoming munsta's eyes, you spot a small black form that sticks out against the dark, rocky surface
>Sprinting for the other side, you lean your head down and wrap your teeth firmly around the form, a shriek of pain your only reassurance that you've grabbed the foal; you run with all your might towards the rest of your herd, only stopping when the feeling of hard rock on your hooves is replaced with that of soft grass
>Releasing your wailing cargo, you turn back towards the long black thing, to make sure that metal munsta hasn't stopped to let any hoomans out; what you see instead causes the color to drain from your face
>Confused and frightened, Berry has begun pushing Cherry across the bridge, straight into the path of the oncoming metal munsta; you watch helplessly as Berry cries for help, begging you to help push her sister to safety, knowing that it's too late
>Something pink and fluffy rushes past you…
---
>You are Candy
>And you love your babies
---
*SCREEEEECH*
---
>You are a man named Ted
>As you silently drive back home, your headlights illuminating the long road ahead, you reminisce on the craptastic weekend you've had
>You had so many plans for this weekend: going off on with your girlfriend Amanda to a nice resort she'd been talking about, celebrating your one year anniversary at that awesome restaurant you found out about; you were all set to ask her to move in with you, it was all going to be so perfect
>Which is why it all fell apart: you got lost on the way there, the hotel screwed up your reservation, the waiter hit on your girlfriend RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU, and your incredibly expensive meal has been waging an unceasing war on your colon since last night
>And then to top it all off, you ran over a fluffy with Amanda in the passenger seat, which with your current run of luck will make her think your some kind of animal-hating sicko
>Wasn't even your goddamn fault, the one rolled the fat one right into the path of your car, there wasn't enough time for you to hit the brakes!
>If it hadn't been for that other one pushing them out of the way, you'd probably run over the both of them
>You hear some humming next to you: you glance over to see that Amanda is gently petting the two fluffies, the two of them having finally passed out from their crying
>The big fat one (pregnant, maybe?) kept wailing for her mother as she desperately tried to hug the one splattered across the pavement; guess you can add "destroyed a family" to your list of suckage for the weekend
>Amanda looks over at you
"Why'd you bring them with us?"
>You feel your eyebrow raising
"Well I couldn't just leave them there, could I? I mean, I killed their mom, for god's sake! They didn't even have a herd or anything, leaving them out there would have been like killing them too!"
>Amanda strokes the smaller fluffies mane, causing it to stretch a bit before embracing the round one once again
"So what are you going to do them? Throw 'em in a shelter?"
>You frown at the thought: you've heard the horror stories about the fluffy shelters, and regular pounds just use fluffies as food
"I'll see if any of my friends want 'em. My brother's got a daughter, maybe he'd be interested in one."
"But what if-"
"Then I'll take care of them, for god's sake!"
>You feel your face grow hot and you look at Amanda, only to realize she's smiling at you
>The two of you ride in silence for a little while, only the noise of your engine and the occasional sound from the sleeping fluffies filling the quiet
>Ah, fuck it
"You wanna move in with me?"
>Amanda almost bursts out laughing
"Pff, really? You run over an animal and think that's the perfect moment to ask that?"
>You grin
"Hey, if you didn't run screaming from me after these last two days, I figure nothing will."
>Amanda leans over and kisses you on the cheek
"Alright, I accept your most romantic offer."
>fuckyes.jpg
"But we're going to have find a bigger place; your rat's nest of an apartment is going to be too cramped for two people and a pair of pets."
>You smile as you continue down the long road home
>The weekend might have sucked, but you've got a feeling that tomorrow will be better