Listen to Smarty 8

>You are Listen, a Smarty Friend
>You are currently overseeing your herd's travel preparations, which mostly consists of making sure nobody fights as they strip the field of anything even remotely edible and store it in their fluff
>Some fluffies are pulling leaves off of the bushes, normally forbidden as it would rob you of hiding spots, while others are pulling grass blades out at the roots; the dirt caught in them won't be good for digestion, but it'll beat starvation
>You see Peach eating some of the leftover berries by herself; Barney seems to be avoiding her, opting instead to hang around Sweetie and Slugger
>The two of them make your head hurt, but since whatever their problems are aren't affecting the herd, you're more then happy to let them sort it out themselves
>You wander around the field, looking to make sure Peach's babbehs are safe; you find Greenie chatting with still-pregnant Purple, cuddling Peach's foals
"Peach wet Gweenie pway wit babbehs? Nu fite?"
>Greenie smiles at you
"Nu fite. Peach guud mumma now, no mowe meanie scawedy mumma. Ask Gweenie hug babbehs while she ge' nummies so mek milkies!"
>Purple sulks a bit
"Puwple wan' babbehs cum out. Wan' hab babbehs in safe pwace, nu scawy pwace."
>As Greenie tries to comfort Purple, reassuring her that her babbehs will be born in a safe place, a familiar-looking blue and red foal begins to toddle away from her
>It's eyes still closed, the tiny unicorn blindly wanders forward on the grass; you put your hoof in its path to keep it from wandering too far
>The foal is initially curious of your hoof, feeling it with its legs; it sniffs at your fluff, then starts clumsily running back the way it came, chirping for help
>Greenie giggles as she scoops up the distressed foal and gives it a big hug
"Siwwy Juice, Smawty nu munsta!"
>You shake your head as you waddle away from the group
"Juice nu siwwy. Juice smawty, know Smawty Fwiend scawy."
>You leave Greenie to tend to the foals and return to watching the herd
>You see Trevor rush out of the cave, grab a few berries with his mouth, then run back
>You trot off towards the cave and find exactly what you expected
>Trevor spits the berry on to the dirt which he then crushes with his hooves
>He then dips the end of his tail into the now red mud, and then uses his hooves to paint the mixture on to the walls
>You clear your throat slightly
"Twevow shuuwd eat nummies, nu pway wit'"
>Trevor continues painting, not even bothering to look at you
"Nu hungwy. Dis mo' impowtant."
>You walk up behind him and stare at his work
>The painting depicts several fluffy ponies playing in an empty area surrounded by trees, around which many types of monsters lurk; behind the fluffies is a cave
>Closer inspection shows a line of smaller fluffy ponies heading towards the trees, running away from a stack of rectangles flanked by two stick hoomans
>The drawing is crude by human standards: all depictions are just outlines, and the entire work is painted using only dark red
>To your fluffy eyes, though, it is a masterpiece
"Why su impowtant?"
"Nu wan fowget hewd was hewe."
"Twevow, nu can bwing cabe wit hewd."
>Trevor stops working and looks at you, his face full of frustration
"Twevow know. Nu wan' …cabe… tu forget. If hewd weave, wan'" *he gestures wildly in the air* "sumone know hewd wived here."
>You nod, not fully understanding what he means, but not wanting to disturb him anymore
>As you watch Trevor continue his work, you notice something looming over the entire piece
>Overlooking the entire scene is a large figure, too long and slender to be a fluffy, but lacking any of the shapes belonging to munstas, with two large wings spread across the blank sky
>You have to figure Trevor stood on another fluffy to paint it, most likely his special friend Lucy
"Wha' dat?"
>Trevor looks to the figure, then resumes painting
"Dat Wed Howse. See in dweams. Vewy meanie, vewy scawy. Watches hewd, scawes munstas."
>You stare at the Red Horse and for a moment, it feels like its staring back
>Cinder calls for you from the cave entrance: Raindrop's group has returned
>You cast one look back at Trevor, still absorbed in his work, and leave the cave
>Raindrop, Steven, and Sparks slowly enter the fields; the looks on their faces tells you all you need
>The hoomans are here to stay
---
>You are a man named Jeff
>A couple of hours ago, your sister's annoying boyfriend, Lance, got you roped into hunting down a bunch of fluffy ponies
>Now you're waiting for Lance's breeder friend in the by the entrance to the park, counting down the hours 'til your vacation is over and you can finally escape
>A large, rusty pickup truck pulls up and two people walk out: a man carrying two large cages and a woman holding what appears to be two plates of spaghetti covered in saran wrap
>Lance waves to the two
"Theo! Candy! Over here!"
>Theo looks like the lovechild of Joe Pesci and Danny Devito, with an extra 150 pounds of muscle thrown in the mix; he's short, stocky, and his hands look like they could crush your head like an egg
>He ignores you and starts talking to Lance
"Alright, Lance. Where's this herd you were talking about?"
>And he sounds like Gilbert Gottfried, wonderful
"In the forest, dude."
>Theo does not seem pleased
"You said you knew where they were, Lance."
"Theo, don't worry about it. My bro here can find them no problem."
>You certainly don't remember saying that
>Theo hands you one of the cages and takes the one of the plates from the woman
>He looks pissed
"Candice, take Beardo here and go find the herd. Lance and I are going to have a talk."
"Yes, Mr. Wisner."
>You start heading back into the woods with Candice, eager to not be around The- Mr. Wisner, anymore then you can help
>You look back at Lance, somewhat convinced you'll be digging his grave at gunpoint, who just gives you a smile and a wink
>Oh god, he thinks he's doing you a favor
>Candice isn't bad looking or anything, she's pretty if a bit on the skinny side, though she hasn't passed into 'needs a sandwich' territory; but she looks rather young and there's no way you'd be able to go for that without coming off as seriously creepy
>You lead her back to your campsite, where she unwraps the spaghetti and places it on the ground
>She starts speaking louder then usual
"I sure wish someone was here to help me eat all this spaghetti!"
>She makes a few other calls about the deliciousness of this particular plate of pasta, but after a few minutes its clear no one's coming
"Damn. You see them anywhere else?"
"Well, there were a lot of droppings around the deer that Lance… put out of its misery. Considering the volume and smell, could of been fluffy ponies."
>She picks up the plate and you start leading her to the spot
>You attempt to make small talk
"So how does one get into world of fluffy pony breeding?"
"Well, I spent six years in college, changed majors four times and ended up with an art degree, so my choices in employment were a bit limited. A friend I was mooching off of set me up with this gig so I'd start paying rent, and three years later here I am."
>You do some mental math on her approximate age as you direct her around some poison ivy
"Mr. Wisner doesn't talk about himself much, but from what I gather he started the mill as a cover for some of his other less then legitimate side businesses, if you catch my drift. When he started making more money through fluffies then his other jobs, he started focusing more on it."
>You're not all that surprised
"That's sort of what I wanted to ask: how do you make a profit breeding fluffies? You watch the news and it sounds like they're fucking everywhere."
"There are a lot in urban settings and states with moderate climates, but there still pretty rare in places like Texas and Alaska. There's also a weird stigma about adopting previously owned or feral fluffies, I think it's mostly a behavioral thing: a feral fluffy may be cheaper and just as healthy as a store-bought one, but you get what you pay for when it comes to attitude and obedience. And since the stupid things die so easily, people always need replacements. Plus, our mill does special orders, so you can get a fluffy version of Rarity, Colgate, Wild Fire, etc."
>You try and pretend you have any idea who she's talking about
"Your boss is still offering a lot of cash for a bunch of strays if all he wants is to breed …Flutter…Sky… for a couple guys with more money then common sense."
>Candice's voice lowers in tone, a tone your blind dates typically use to explain things like the reason behind their large adam's apple or why they don't use the "ex-" part of "ex-husband"
"Well… fluffies don't cost much to upkeep, especially if you don't care about their mental state, so you can make a lot back on them through pet sales. But you're right, we make most of our profit through other methods."
>You get the feeling you're about to learn something you'd rather not, but much like when your friends send you a video link with an ominous description, you just can't resist the temptation
"Such as…?"
"Most mills do it through feeders, selling foals to feed animals in petshops, zoos, aquariums, you name it. As long as it's not a runt, animals love the taste of fluffies. Wisner's even started selling cans of chopped fluffy as a kind of dog food. if it's successful he's planning to start a line for cats as well."
>Well that's not so bad-
"There's also the value of the waste as fertilizer, we feed some fluffies more then the minimum just so they'll produce a steady supply of feces to sell to farms and orchards. We also have a hot room where we keep fluffies who we shave for their fluff. Apparently fluff makes good stuffing for pillows when you compare it to feather down, and we can sell it cheaper."
>Weird, but still so far, so good-
"And then there's the meat industry."
>You feel yourself gulp, there it is
"Meat industry?"
"Yeah, huge profit there. Wisner says he's the first that thought of it, but I think he's just blowing smoke. Apparently, since fluffies aren't classified as animals, their meat falls in a legal grey area. There's also no standards for what condition it has to be in, and you can get a comparatively large amount of meat for very little sustenance. Foreign countries will import it straight up, legally speaking they're just importing toy parts. Here in the States, though, it's mostly used as a source of cheap filler in ground beef."
"Ground beef? Exactly how common is this-"
"If you've eaten a burger in the last two years, you've eaten fluffy pony."
>You think of your bacon double cheeseburger and are overcome with a great sense of betrayal
>Candice smiles at you
"But enough shop talk. What do you do?"
---
>You are Raindrop, an ex-Smarty Friend
>You were happy when you found hoomans in the forest, though you were apparently the only one
>Sparks got all panicked and wanted to run back to the cave, and Steven just started growling
>You don't like Steven, he tells bad lies about hoomans being meanies and gets into fights with other fluffies when they tell him he's wrong
>Maybe if Steven stopped being a bad fluffy all the time, maybe hoomans would be nice to him
>Luckily, one of the hoomans saw you before you all left; Steven and Sparks ran away like scaredy fluffies, you waved at the hooman before following them, trying to let them know that you were still a clean and good fluffy
>You wish you could have stayed, gotten them to take you home with them, but you still need to look out for your herd, make them clean and good so they can get Hooman Mommas and Daddas too
>Dummy Listen wasn't happy to hear you all found hoomans, especially when Sparks told him about the little house and tasty-smelling nummies they had
"Dis hooman wand, den. Hewd mus' weave. Guud fwufies eat now, hewd weave wen Fweddy cum back."
>You wish Dummy Listen was as dummy as the Meanie Friend used to be
>Then your herd could stay in the forest and hoomans would make him take big sleepies for being a bad fluffy
>Then you'd be Smarty again
>The three of you don't get to graze the already short grass for long before Freddy, Ice and Rover return to the field; Rover's smiling face covered with blue juice
>You're always amazed at Rover; no matter how many scary things Dummy Listen tells him to do, he always comes out okay
>Dummy Listen talks to Freddy for a bit, then climbs up his rock
>The herd gathers underneath Dummy Listen, fluffies whispering to each other to be quiet
"Hewd wissen tu Smawty! Hewd weave hooman wand, fin' nuu saf' pwace! Pwace wif nu hoomans, nu munstas, and wots of nummies!"
>The herd becomes excited at the mention of this new safe place, which annoys you; a happy herd could make you lose your chance to be Smarty Friend
>You glare at Cinder, cheering from the front of the herd with Holiday; you'd worked so hard to convince the other fluffies that Dummy Listen was too meanie to be Smarty Friend
>If dummy Cinder hadn't been the one to start the new fluffpile, you know the whole herd would have joined and chased Dummy Listen away; too many fluffies were scared of Cinder being meanie, you just know it!
>The herd goes through a roll call, you call out your name after Ice but before Moss
>You do a quick count of fluffies yourself to make sure Dummy Listen hasn't forgotten anyone; you end up with five groups of six, plus Peach's four foals, just like the last time you counted; you worry that if the herd gets much bigger, you won't be able to keep track of it
>With Freddy and Dummy Listen leading the way, the herd begins shuffling into the forest, heading away from where you saw the hoomans
>You and several other stallions assist Greenie in pushing Purple along, allowing her to better keep up with the rest of the fluffies
>You worry a bit about the rest of the herd; while you know you'll survive the trip, you managed to survive by yourself when the herd abandoned you and left the city, many of your herd's mares are going to be mummas which will slow the herd and need extra nummies
>The trip to the new nummies takes a long time, the herd is quiet as it scurries through the trees
>All the fluffies know that being noisy can attract munstas, and fluffies who are loud when gathering nummies eat last
>Freddy points ahead towards a bush as the herd finally reaches a small clearing; the bush is covered in blue nummies, similar to the red nummies from the previous bright time
>The herd swarms the bush, eating as much nummies to fill their bellies and stuffing the rest into their fluff
>You and Moss help stuff each others fluff with blue nummies; you hate the feel of them in your nice, clean fluff and resolve to give both of you a good grooming when you finally stop for sleep
>You see Dummy Listen standing a little aways from the bush, several other fluffies stuffing nummies into his fluff
>He looks nervous as he stares deeper into the forest, his ears keep twitching in different directions
>You try and tune out the soft babbling of the other fluffies, but all you can hear is the occasional chirps of the small birdy-munstas
>After all the herd has eaten, you set off again, following Dummy Listen deeper into the forest
>He makes the herd move at a slow run, changing directions whenever one of his ears twitch
>Several fluffies begin to complain about the pace and the lack of playtime, some only now beginning to realize that the new safe place is very far away; they are quickly silenced by other fluffies or a growl from Dummy Listen, who tells them that only bad fluffies talk in the forest
>You all stop when you come to a stream; while not very big or very fast, the water still represents a huge danger to fluffies
>There appears to be no safe way across up or down stream, Dummy Listen runs up and down the bank, growing more frustrated-looking as his ears twitch like crazy
>Finally he moves to a spot that looks shallower then the rest points at it
"Wobew, cwoss hewe."
>Rover looks nervously at the water
"Wobew nu wike bad wa-wa…"
>Dummy Listen stamps his hoof and puffs his cheeks
"Wobew cwoss wa-wa ow Wobew bad fwuffy!"
"Wobew nu bad fwuffy! Wobew cwoss wa-wa fow fwiend!"
>Rover hesitantly enters the stream, the water reaching a little under his shoulder; he whimpers as he walks along the stream bottom, losing several nummies to the lazy current
>As he finally climbs out on the other side, dripping and shivering from the wet fluff, a small cheer lets out and even Dummy Listen looks relieved
>Now convinced it is safe, the rest of herd begins to cross: Dummy Listen makes fluffies cross in groups of twos, except Peach who crosses with two attendants to make sure her babbehs don't fall off
>Your heart almost stops when you see Moss slip on a rock in the stream, but luckily Blackie, a black pegasus with a magenta mane and tail with pink stripes in them, manages to catch her by the mane and keep her head above water
>You yourself cross with Purple, aided by Slugger and Mint: you and Mint flank Purple's face and tail to keep her head from going under, while Slugger pushes her across the stream
>About halfway across the river, you hear a voice; it's harsh and shrill, and sounds really angry
"HEY FLUFFIES! I'VE GOT SPAGHETTI! COME ON OUT YOU LITTLE BASTARDS!"
>You're a little confused, the voice sounds angry but is promising the fabled skettis; Maybe the water made your herd clean and the hoomans want to reward you?
>But then why does it sound so angry?
>The fluffies on the other side of the stream look equally confused: many run for cover behind trees or under bushes, while the few remaining are either running in circles looking for the voice or trying to silence the former
"Mint wan' sketties! Wan- AAH!"
*Sploosh*
"Mint!"
*Splash*
>From the other side of Purple, you hear Mint go under the water, while Slugger stops pushing Purple to pull him out
>Purple keeps rolling forward, the weak current slowly tilting her head towards the water
"NUUU!"
>You push on Purple's head to try to keep her above the water, but the slippery rocks underhoof and the current continue are too strong and you are only able to slow the descent
>You begin to panic alongside Purple, begging for someone to help you; Slugger is too busy trying to get Mint to cough up the water, and the rest of the fluffies don't want to go into the water
"DUMMY FWUFFIES WISSEN TU SMAWTY!"
>The panicked herd quiets down, leaving only you and Purple screaming for help; on the other bank stands Dummy Listen, his cheeks puffed and wings spread; behind him are Steven and Roxanne, a purple earth fluffy with a black mane and tail, their heads poking out from under a bush
"Swugga hewp Puwple! Waindwop take Mint tu odda side! Cindew and Spawks, ge' bak in wa-wa an' hewp Puwple cwoss!"
>Slugger wades over to you and pushes Purple up with his mighty hooves; you take Mint from him, propping up the white earth fluffy, his wet green mane covering his eyes
>You pass Cinder and Sparks on your way to the other bank, Mint coughing and gasping for air the whole way
>Now you know why the hooman is still angry: there are still two bad fluffies on the other side of the stream, if it weren't for them you'd probably all get sketti
>You see Dummy Listen talking to Steven and Roxanne on the other bank; Steven looks mad while Roxanne looks scared and upset
>You hope the hoomans aren't mad at Roxanne; she's a good fluffy, even if she is terrified of the dark and tells bad lies about hoomans, though she never starts fights like her special friend Steven
>Steven gives Roxanne a hug and then runs back into the forest, Dummy Listen dragging a crying Roxanne through the stream with him
>You snort; it doesn't matter how clean Dummy Listen tries to make himself, you'll be sure to tell the hoomans what a bad fluffy he is
---
>You are a man named Jeff and you want your weekend back
>You've been wandering around the forest for hours, Candice occasionally setting out her spaghetti lure, but for all your efforts, you have yet to see a single fluffy
>While Candice is better company then Lance, you'd rather be fishing and relaxing then wandering around the woods blindly, with the ever present fear that if a bear doesn't get you, Mr. Wisner will
>In the middle of planning your expert escape from all of this, you hear one of your favorite band's songs begin to play
>Candice reaches into her pocket and pulls out her cellphone
"Yes, Mr. Wisner?…Really?…Alright, be there in a bit."
>She hangs up the phone and turns to you
"Apparently Wisner and Lance found one and are going to bribe it to show them where the rest of the herd is. They want us to meet up with them in case the herd's too big for one cage. You remember the way back to the camp?"
>The two of you start heading back for your campsite
"Nice ringtone, by the way."
"Thanks, I loved the band, just wish they hadn't broken up."
"Two of the guys are still going around as a duo, musics pretty good."
"Really? I'll have to check 'em out."
>You talk music the rest of the way back, turns out the two of you like several of the same bands, and you get a few recommendations to check out when your boss thinks your working
>When you get back to your tent, you see Mr. Wisner and Lance are already there; Lance's clothes are dirty and he's wearing a pair of sunglasses, you suspect to hide a pair of black-eyes
>At their feet sits a little magenta and orange fluffy, it looks sorta like one of the ones you saw earlier, but who can tell with these things?
>Candice bends over and starts scratching the fluffy under the chin, it's little orange tail wagging back and forth
"Hey little guy! I hear you're a good fluffy who's gonna help us give your herd a nice home?"
"Dat wight! Fwuffy shuw nice hoomans whewe hewd wive, ge' sketties!"
>Wisner chuckles
"This is why I love these little retards. Promise them some cheap italian and they'll do goddamn anything you want!"
"Wha' wetawd?"
>Wisner smiles at the fluffy and talks to it in a voice you think is supposed to be friendly, but in actuality makes him sound like a child molester
"Why, that's your new name, little guy!"
"Yay, Wetawd wuv nuu name! Wetawd shuw Daddeh whewe fwuffies wive!"
>You shake your head; you'd heard these things were stupid, but seeing it in person you realize the stories did not do them justice
>Retard sets off with the four of you following him, which isn't very hard considering he seems to move at a slow waddle
>After a couple of hours of walking through the woods, you begin to suspect Retard is lost
>Candice appears to share your suspicions
"Um, sweetie?"
"Fwuffy nu Sweetie, fwuffy Wetawd!"
>She shoots Wisner a dirty look as Lance giggles
"Yes, well, Retard. Do you know how to get back to the other fluffies?"
>Retard puff his chest out
"Wetawd guud fwuffy, Wetawd nuu way back! Haf' fowwow pitchas!"
>He points at a nearby tree, a closer inspection revealing a small scratch at fluffy eye level, though it gives little indication what way anyone is supposed to go
>After another couple hours, you notice that a clearing you're positive you've passed before and begin to suspect Retard is screwing with you
>Wisner dismisses your concerns
"Fluffies ain't got the brains for that kind of shit. Retard probably got turned around, we just gotta make sure he doesn't do it again."
>You do notice though that Wisner starts offering Retard less spaghetti and more beatings if he doesn't get you to the herd
>After another hour of walking, you reach a large, open field painted orange by the setting sun; the grass is very short and there is a small cave at the back that looks big enough for small animals
>The four of you wander the field, checking under bushes and in the cave but finding nothing
>Wisner angrily walks up to Retard and picks him up by the scruff of the neck
"Where's the herd, Retard?"
"Dunno, mabbeh wook in Wetawd poopie pwace?"
>You all just stare silently at the fluffy
"…The hell did you say?"
"Mabbeh dummy hooman fin' hooman in Fwuffy poopie pwace. Hewe, Fwuffy hewp."
>Retard suddenly unleashes a spray of feces, splattering crap all over Mr. Wisner's legs
>In response, Wisner spikes Retard into the ground, the fluffy actually bouncing a little from the impact; the rest of you try not to snicker as Wisner gets more and more angry
"You little shit stain, do yo have any idea who you're fucking with?!"
>Retard struggles to stand, it appears the impact has broken one of his front legs
"Yep. Yuu wetawd hooman whu mo' dummy den fwuffy."
>Wisner grabs the fluffy by the neck, the ball of fluff gasping for air as he chokes it
"You little fuckwit, I'm gonna find your herd and I'm make you watch me stomp every last one of them into fucking PASTE!!!"
"Actually, we can't."
>Wisner whips his head around and faces you, it's like staring into the eyes of a lion and you've got a steak wrapped around your neck
"The hell you say?!"
"We can't find them. We're running out of light, we have no idea where they are, and there are wild animals out there. If we couldn't find them in the daylight, it'll be impossible to find them in the dark, and there's a good chance one of us could get hurt. I'm sorry, Mr. Wisner, it looks like Lance had  you come all this way for nothing."
>You see Lance go pale as you throw him under the bus, Wisner just stares at you for a moment, then turns back to Retard and loosens his grip on the fluffy, who starts heaving
"I'm not done with you, fucker: you're gonna be an example to the rest of the fluffies, mares will be begging me to take their foals so I don't do HALF of what's in store for you. Candice, gather the cages and let's go back. We've wasted enough fucking time here."
>Candice takes the cage from you and slips something in your hand before running to catch up with Wisner
>You look and see a small piece of paper in your hand, a note giving a phone number and the words "Call Me"
>You pocket it, if your sister's friend doesn't work out, you wouldn't mind seeing Candice again, even if you would have to trim back the beard
>Definitely not going for burgers, though
---
>You are Steven, a feral fluffy pony
>You are currently sitting alone in a large sorry box, riding the back of a metal-munsta as it runs down the long black thing
>Every now and then the munsta bounces and give you extra owwies to your leg
>It doesn't bother you much, you've been through worse
>Your hooman daddeh was a hooman-munsta who loved to hurt you and your special friend Roxanne
>He beat you for no reason, made you hurt other fluffies and each other for food, and made you have babbehs just so he could give them big sleepies
>The bright time when you finally escaped him was one of the happiest moments of your life
>Then you met the herd, heard the Smarty's idea of finding a place without hoomans for fluffies, and actually found it
>But then hoomans came and took it from the herd, came to take you and Roxanne back to that awful place
>When the Smarty Friend asked you to lead the hoomans away from the herd, you gladly accepted; there was no way you'd ever let hoomans hurt Roxanne ever again
>You smile, thinking of the Smarty; wouldn't he be surprised to learn how well you distracted them
>He just thought you should just run from them; bet he never imagined that you would outsmarty a group of hoomans!
>The look on the meanie hooman-munstas face, it makes your chest feel full of joy
>Deep down, you know the hoomans will take your victory away from you; they'll use the black box your daddeh-munsta used to make Roxanne forget about the babbehs he gave big sleepies to, leave you with nothing but lies and pain
>But the hoomans will remember, every time they look at you, of the one time a fluffy beat them
>Victory doesn't come naturally to fluffies, and even when they do it is fleeting
>A fluffy is a loser for life: the world takes your friends, your family, your home from you, not even letting you keep the memories of them
>Even your victory today cost you your life
>You begin giggling madly as the metal-munsta continues taking you to your doom
>It was worth it
---
>You are once again Listen, a Smarty Friend
>Your herd rests in a fluffpile under a bush, having done their best to dry their fluff off before settling down for the dark time
>Beyond your small bush lies the edge of the forest; in the distance stretches a long black thing with short grass on either side, you see trees in the distance, though they look less numerous then those of the forest
>Next bright time, the herd's journey begins
>You try and reassure yourself that this time will be easier, that you will lose fewer friends; you've learned so much since then, the herd will fall prey to the mistakes of the last journey
>Under the pile you hear the sobs of Roxanne as Heartstrings hugs her and whimpers in sympathy
>You wish you could believe yourself