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- >When you come in the next morning, nothing seems out of sorts.
- >Starlight is snuggled very closely to Slate.
- >Fluffy is in her bed, and Mandy is on his back as usual.
- >Huh, the cage is awfully clean.
- >He didn't eat too much yesterday, anyway. At least you won't have to clean it out.
- >You set your bag on the front desk and head over to wake everyone up.
- >”Mommy back!”
- >You give Starlight a hug as you take her out and set her in the pen.
- “Yes, mommy's back.”
- >She runs in wobbly rings, chanting 'yay mommy!'.
- >Slate yawns as you take him out next.
- >”Nice hooman fin' new fwiends?”
- “I'm afraid not.”
- >You probably should have gotten up a bit earlier, you might have been able to find a couple.
- >The four times you woke up after dreaming about a Felix sandwich thwarted you.
- >You check on Mandy next.
- >His eyes are halfway open, as is his mouth.
- >This is his usual waking up look, so you leave him for a moment to retrieve Fluffy.
- >Once she's in the pen, you go back to get Mandy.
- >...something's not right. His eyes are all the way open now, but look in different directions.
- >His left foreleg twitches every so often.
- “Mandy?”
- >He might be as slow as a quadraplegic snail, but he still knows his name. Most of the time.
- >It gets no response out of him, however.
- >You look more closely. He's still breathing.
- >Very carefully, you scoop him out and carry him over to the desktop.
- “Fluffy, what happened to Mandy?”
- >She climbs out of the litter box and looks up at you.
- >”Make funny noisies. Bouncy.”
- >You spend a moment to translate that into English.
- >That sounds an awful lot like a seizure.
- >You look at Mandy again.
- >He's still twitching a bit. Drool trickles down his cheek fluff.
- >”Fwiend okay?” Starlight asks.
- “I'm...I'm not sure.”
- >You wave your index finger above his face. A healthy fluffy would track it, usually while asking 'wha doin'?'
- >Mandy's eyes don't even budge.
- >Even his blinks are incredibly slow.
- >It's finally happened. His brain is broken.
- >”Wan' pway wif fwiend! Pwease gif!” Starlight calls.
- >Mandy is in no state for that, of course.
- >You have to get him to the vet...
- >No, you already know what she'll say.
- >You may as well do this yourself.
- >”Mommy? Wha' doin'? Why no gif fwiend?”
- >You look over at the pen. Starlight is plopped on her rear, gazing at you, while Slate stands beside her.
- “Mandy doesn't feel well.”
- >”Sickies?” she tilts her head.
- “Um...yes! You could say that.”
- >”Gif huggies! Huggies make betta!”
- >...maybe they could. Maybe she could suffocate him for you by accident.
- >Damn it, how could you think that?!
- “I don't think huggies will help, sweetie.”
- >”Gif nummies?” Slate offers.
- >You just shake your head, too busy thinking about how to get this over with.
- >It has to be quick. He deserves that.
- >No leaving him outside to fry on the sidewalk.
- >No letting him starve to death either.
- >The least horrible option is to take him and break his neck.
- >Picturing this brings out the tears.
- >”Nuuuuuuuu! Why mommy cwy?!”
- “I'll be right b-back...”
- >It takes so much effort to choke out the words.
- >You gently pick Mandy up and go to the door in the back right corner.
- >This is a storage closet, the only place in the building that's out of sight of the play pen.
- >You can hear Starlight calling fearfully as you shut the door.
- >You never go back here with a fluffy pony. She knows something is wrong.
- >After you turn on the light, you set Mandy down on an empty shelf.
- >The cold metal makes him twitch a little more violently.
- >Even though you know he's mentally checked out, you can't help but think his derped eyes look a little fearful.
- >That's probably the fault of the part of you that's already regretting this.
- >You pick him up again.
- >You finally have to admit that you have no idea how to do this.
- >Unlike your unstable cousin, you tend to shy away from murdering living creatures.
- >You wrap your left hand around his neck.
- >Too hard; he poops a little. Now he's shaking.
- >He can't be in pain, he was barely responsive!
- >Suddenly, he emits a broken, high-pitched squeak.
- >It startles you, and you drop him. Little cracks ring out as he strikes the tile floor.
- “N-no, that's not what I meant to do!”
- >His eyes are still looking in different directions, but his body twitches furiously.
- >The squeaks. Oh god, the squeaks.
- >Frantic, you pick him up off the floor. His blood gets onto your hands.
- >He's wiggling, and now the blood's making him slippery.
- “Mandy, stop!”
- >Why would he stop? He's in terrible pain and it's your fault.
- >He slips out of your hands and drops again, landing with more faint snaps.
- >The chirping shifts from tinny and fearful to weak and pained.
- >After a few agonizing seconds, you're just desperate to stop the noise.
- >You kneel and punch him. Right in the head. He squeaks loudly one more time, then falls still.
- >Now you have to shove down your emotions, and get him into the trash can by the sinks without Starlight or Slate seeing the body.
- >You gather up his bloody corpse and shoulder open the door.
- >”Mommy back! Bwing fwiend too?”
- >You dare not turn and look at them. You just walk sideways along the wall until you reach the can, then drop Mandy in.
- >Damn it, some of his blood got on your white shirt.
- >”Nice hooman haf fwiend? Whewe fwiend go?”
- >You wash the crimson off your hands, but there's no towel over here.
- >Without thinking, you turn to walk back to the desk.
- >Starlight sees it immediately. ”D-dat boo-boo juice?”
- “No! It's...uh...it's cranberry juice!”
- >Slate stares at you for what seems like an eternity.
- >”Whewe fwiend go?” he asks again.
- >Curse that fuzzy blue ball.
- >When you don't immediately answer, Starlight has enough time to piece it together.
- >”M-mommy huwt fwiend? Why mommy huwt fwiend?”
- >You walk toward the pen, but before you can even try to explain, Starlight is backing away from you.
- >”No huwt Stawigh'! Stawigh' good fwuffy, no huwt!”
- >Slate positions himself between her and you.
- >”Why huwt fwiend, nice hooman? Why make fwiend go 'way?”
- “I didn't have a choice!”
- >”Nice hooman neva huwt fwuffy, a'ways say fwuffies good, no get owwies!”
- “Mandy was sick, he was in pain, I had to...I had to...”
- >You sit on the floor by the pen. Starlight scrambles to the farthest corner.
- >Slate eyes you for a minute, then follows her.
- >They're never going to understand this.
- “I'm not going to hurt you, don't run...”
- >”No suwe. Hooman make fwiend go 'way.”
- “Slate, I had to!”
- >He cuddles with Starlight, who's now crying and trying to 'hide'. His eyes never leave you.
- >Fluffy, as usual, may as well be on another planet. She doesn't even acknowledge the noise.
- >You don't know what else to say, so you get up and go find a tissue.
- >You glance up at the clock. It's not even ten thirty.
- >This day sure got ruined fast.
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