The Sketti Man - Searching For Sketti Man 2

Mr_Potatamoto, June 20, 2017; 01:37 / FB 46757
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Searching For Sketti Man

Part Two


Bonnie awoke several hours later, and when she did she really wished she hadn’t. The memories of what had happened came flooding in and made her want to curl up in a little ball and never, ever come out again! Her precious Green Wingie Baby!

Then she realized that things were so, so much worse than before. “Bwight time ovah aweddy?” she whimpered when she opened her eyes and saw how dark it had become. The sun had set, and the only light in the alley spilled in from a yellow streetlight on the sidewalk beyond. “No wike dawk time! Tu scawy! Tu scawy!” she hid her eyes with her hooves and tried to sleep again.

But a bubble in her gut reminded her that it was time to make poopies again. For an instant, she considered just doing it right where she was, rather than try to venture out. But…no. She was a good fluffy, and good fluffies made good poopies, and good poopies went in the litterbox! “Wittabawks…” she whispered to herself, peering out into the alley. No litterbox…and she certainly couldn’t try to creep out onto the sidewalk during the dark time to find one!

Then she saw the trash bag she’d torn open, flies buzzing around the exposed garbage. “Nu smeww pwetty twashies,” she mused. “Poopies am nu smeww pwetty tu…mebbe…mebbe make poopies in twashies an’ be stiww gud poopies?” Bonnie felt a little surge of confidence at figuring out this newest dilemma. “Babbehs,” she cooed softly as she plucked them from her back, making them peep slightly as they were jostled awake. “Babbehs, mummah gu make gud poopies, den come an’ bwing babbehs tu twashy wittabawks fo’ babbehs make gud poopies, den we gu sweepies ‘gain.”

A pair of sleepy chirps and an equally sleepy “Wub mummah wub wub…” greeted her explanation, and, satisfied, she crept out to do her business. She had just finished depositing a load of former hot dog buns when she suddenly heard a sound that made her jump.

“Mrrrooooowwwwrrrr…” At that sound, coming from over on the other side of the dumpster, her babies suddenly starting chirping in a frightened chorus, even Green Pointy Talkie Baby, suddenly too terrified to speak!

“Babbehs!” Bonnie gasped. “Kitty munstah? Nu huwt babbehs! Mummah comin’!”

She charged right towards the sound of the kitty monster, but before she could turn the corner of the dumpster she heard a sound that cut right to her heart.

“SCREEEEEEEE!” She came around just in time to see the mangy alley cat pull out from under the dumpster with Blue Baby in its jaws! Boo-boo juice was dripping from Blue Baby’s side and leggie where the monster was biting down, and the foal was looking at her mother with pure terror in her eyes. “MUM…MUMMAH!” she wailed.

Bonnie gasped. “NU HUWT BWUE TAWKIE BABBEH!” She screamed, charging towards the kitty monster. The cat gave the pegasus a contemptuous glance before turning and running off down to the far, dark end of the alley, Blue Talkie Baby still screaming for her mother all the while until the kitty monster turned the corner and ran out of sight.

“NUUUUHUUUHUUUU!” Bonnie cried, immediately trying to give chase as fast as her damaged hooves would allow. But then, from above…

“Mrowr?” With a stab of fear, Bonnie looked up. Two more kitty monsters were on top of the dumpster, looking back at her. The two cats hopped down, utterly unconcerned with Bonnie’s presence as they began sniffing around the edges of the dumpster, drawn to the remaining foals’ panicked peeping.

“NUUUUUU!” Bonnie screamed, running in front of the two cats. They actually recoiled slightly at this unexpected resistance, but then their eyes went flat and their ears slicked back, and a low, dangerous purr emerged from each throat. Bonnie felt a gush of scaredy poopies and peepee plop out of her, but she held her ground. “Nuuu…n-nu huwt babbehs!” she managed to force out, and stomped one forehoof on the ground for emphasis. The cats went into a low crouch, ready to pounce, and Bonnie squinched her eyes shut tight.

The sound of a harsh, angry bark from the light side of the alley cut through the night. The two cats were startled all out of composure by being interrupted by the sound of their natural enemy just before they were about to attack. With confused, angry hisses they leapt up onto the dumpster and then up onto the roof of the store.

Bonnie was absolutely breathless with shock. She was sure the two cats had been about to give her the worstest hurties, but now? All she could do was sink down, cover her eyes with her hooves and shake. “Pwease nu huwt gud mummah an’ gud babbehs bawkie munstah! Pwease nu huwties pwease nu huwties!”

“Cwiss nu am bawkie munstah, am fwuffy,” said a tired voice from right next to her. With a squeak, she flinched, but then cautiously peeked up. It was a fluffy! A pointy stallion, with black fluff and a vivid deep blue mane.

“Wewe…wewe bawkie munstah gu?” Bonnie asked timidly.

“Bawkie munstah gone,” Criss replied.

Bonnie became aware that her foals were still chirping and terrified beneath the dumpster behind her. Her…foals…

“BWUE TAWKIE BABBEH!” She screamed, jumping to her feet and running down the alley where the kitty monster had taken her foal. She stared down the pitch black alley in utter consternation. “BABBEH! WEWE AM BABBEH! MUMMAH AM HEWE! PWEASE BWING BABBEH BACK! PWEASE! HUUUHUUU…pwease…” She dropped to her haunches and sobbed softly.

She heard Criss padding up beside her. “Kitty munstah take babbeh?” he asked softly.

A fresh sob wracked Bonnie’s yellow body, and she nodded. “Cwiss am sowwy,” the unicorn said, giving her a hug. “Bu’ come wiff Cwiss tu safe pwace. Bwing babbehs. Nu safe hewe, kitty munstahs be back soon.”

Bonnie shuddered with tears several more times, but then nodded again. She stood and peered one last time into the dark, silent alleyway. “Mummah su, su sowwy nu can keep pwomise, Bwue Tawkie Babbeh! Hab tu bwing udda bwudda an’ sissy tu safe pwace!” She called into the uncaring night. “Mummah awways wuv Bwue Tawkie Babbeh!”

With that, she turned and went back to the dumpster and crawled beneath it again. She took a moment to hug and comfort Red Wingie Baby and Green Pointy Talkie Baby until their terrified chirps quieted down. “Mummah wuv babbehs, babbehs wuv mummah,” she sang softly, in a voice that still shook with tears. Once they were cooing at her, she placed them both on her back and came back out where Criss was waiting impatiently.

“Fowwow Cwiss,” the strange unicorn ordered, and walked towards the streetlight. Too sad about Blue Talkie Baby to be scared of the big world anymore, Bonnie wordlessly followed. Criss led her just a street over and then down another alley. A basement window was broken and level with the ground there, and a box was pulled right up against it that the fluffies could step onto. From there, it was a series of little hops down other boxes to the dusty old floor where Criss had some rags and other odds and ends for bedding.

“Dis Cwiss housie?” Bonnie asked, gingerly stepping on hooves that were still terribly sore.

“Nu,” Criss replied. “Cwiss nu hab housie. Dis Cwiss safe-pwace. Hab odda safe pwaces, but dis Cwiss bestest safe-pwace.” He walked over to an open vent that was at floor level in the wall opposite the window. “If munstahs come, we gu in hewe. Wots of ups an’ ups, bu’ it gu tu owt an’ den we wun to odda safe-pwace.”

Bonnie just nodded, impressed that Criss knew what to do in case monsters attacked his safe-place. Then she sniffed. “Nu smeww pwetty…” she murmured, turning her head and seeing where Red Wingie Babbeh had made bad poopies on her mother’s back. “Ewww! Wed Wingie Babbeh make wowstest bad poopies!” Bonnie exclaimed, recoiling. Then she sighed sadly.

“Nu babbeh’s fawt…Mummah nu take babbehs to wittabawks wike mummah pwomise…nu…nu keep babbehs safe wike mummah pwomise…huuu huuu…” To keep herself from crying helplessly again, she quickly took both foals from her back and started cleaning them. “Ickie yikkies nu wike gibin’ poopie wickie-cweanies, bu’ nu wan’ bad poopies be on babbehs,” she muttered as she cleaned.

To her surprise, Criss came over and gave her lickie-cleanies, licking off the little smear of poopies on her back fluff with a grunt of displeasure. “Yu am gud mummah,” he said when he was finished.

Bonnie sniffled as she finished licking Green Pointy Talkie Baby clean. “Bonnie nu am gud mummah,” she whimpered. “Bonnie am wowstest mummah…meanie mistah gib Green Wingie Babbeh wowstest huwties an’ fowevah sweepies, an’ kitty munstah take Bwue Tawkie Babbeh away…Mummah nu can du noffin’…Bonnie am wowstest Mummah!”

“Fowevah sweepies babbehs am gone, bu’ Bonnie gib odda babbehs gud wickie cweanies, nu get mad at siwwy babbeh fo’ make siwwy bad poopies. Bonnie am gud mummah,” Criss said with gentle firmness. “Bonnie an’ babbehs stay in safe-pwace, Cwiss gu get twashy nummies.”

“Nu wike twashy nummies,” Bonnie said, making a face.

“Cwiss nu wike dem edda, bu’ dey onwy nummies. Fwuffy mummah nee’ nummies fo’ make miwkies fo’ babbehs.”

As that was exactly what Bonnie had told herself earlier, she had no choice but to agree. “Fank yoo fo’ be nice fwuffy fwiend tu Mummah and babbehs,” she said, giving Criss a warm hug that Criss returned.

“Cwiss gu get twashy nummies nao,” the black unicorn said softly before clambering up the boxes back outside.

Bonnie explored her new surroundings as she waited for Criss to return. Not much there…scraps of fabric and paper for bedding, one rather lumpy hackysack and a few blacks for toys. She found an open floor drain that smelled like Criss used it for a littlerbox, so she did the same. She thought about trying to hold Green Pointy Talkie Baby over it since he hadn’t made poopies yet, but she was afraid he’d slip and fall down. Instead she pushed together some of the oldest scraps of paper together and pushed them down the hole when the foal had pooped on them.

Criss returned shortly, dragging a clear plastic wastepaper basket liner with him. “Cwiss fin’ gud nummies!” He announced, sounding happier and more animated than Bonnie had heard thus far. He made it to the ground and pushed the bag over proudly.

Bonnie gasped. “Cwiss fin’ cwusties! Cwusties AM gud nummies!” She sat back and waved her forelegs happily at the sight of the discarded pizza crusts. Her Daddy would give her the crusties when he was done eating the pee-zaa parts off of them, and it was one of her favorite treats.

Yellow pegasus and black unicorn shared another hug before tucking into their little feast. “Fank you fo’ gud cwustie nummies, Cwiss! Yu gud fwiend!” Bonnie said around a mouthful of crust.

“Cwiss gud fwuffy, hewp fwuffy mummah an’ babbehs,” Cwiss replied, his mouth full as well.

Bonnie licked her lips and furrowed her brow in thought. “Mebbe Cwiss hewp Bonnie fin’ Bonnie’s Daddeh an’ housie?”

Criss finished off the last of his crust and sat back on his haunches. “Bonnie hab hoomin Daddeh? Wai Bonnie Mummah an’ babbehs in kitty-munstah pwace den?”

Bonnie related her story as quickly as she could, which in fluffy-speak wasn’t very fast. Plus she broke down crying and needed huggies from both her foals and Criss at several points before she could continue.

When her story was finished, Criss rolled over onto his back, his legs sticking out straight as he looked up at the dingy ceiling thoughtfully. “Cwiss nu tink dat Cwiss can hewp fin’ Bonnie Daddeh’s housie. Nu knu what way tu gu.”

Bonnie’s eyes filled with tears. “Bonnie an’ babbehs neba see Daddeh ‘gain?”

Criss leaned his head back to look at her. “Mebbe, mebbe nu. Cwiss tink that Bonnie gu fin’ Sketti Man wike she wanna du. Cwiss hewp fin’ Sketti Man.”

Bonnie tiled her head. “Wai fin’ Sketti Man? Skettis am bestest nummies, bu’ nu nummies fo’ fin’ Daddeh.”

Criss rolled back over and stood up. “Cwiss see Sketti Mans. Dey aww nice mistahs. Dey gib skettis, den hewp fwuffies fin’ hoomin Mummahs an’ Daddehs. Cwiss tink dat Sketti Man hewp Bonnie and Babbehs fin’ Bonnie Daddeh.”

“Sketti Man hewp fwuffies fin’ Mummahs and Daddehs?” Bonnie asked, awestruck. Was there truly no end to the magic of the Sketti Man? “Den Mummah an’ babbehs fin’ Sketti Man, gu back tu housie!” Bonnie said firmly, feeling more hopeful than she had since her ill-fated adventure began.

A stray thought occurred to her, and she looked curiously at her new friend. “Cwiss say dat Cwiss see Sketti Man, bu’ nu gu tu Sketti Man? Cwiss nu wan skettis?”

Criss looked away from her. “Cwiss wan skettis. Skettis am bestest nummies. Cwiss wuv skettis…” He paused and sighed.

“Mummah? Mummah! Mik! Mik! Wub mik, wub mummah!” Green Pointy Talkie Baby was apparently hungry, and Red Wingie Baby seemed to be chirping in agreement with her brother.

“Oh! Babbehs hab tummy owwies! Nu wowwy babbehs, mummah hab miwkies fo’ aww gud babbehs!” Bonnie turned to her foals, but not before glancing again at Criss, who sat back on his rump and looked rather sad.

Bonnie sang her mummah song to her last two foals as they drank their fill. She plucked them off her teats, but her eyes filled with tears as she realized she didn’t have to save any milk for other foals anymore, so she let the two of them have all her milk. Their stomachs were quite round when they were finished, but they sounded very happy. Bonnie made them a little trash litterbox again right away and disposed of it down the drain as she had before. Criss looked on approvingly.

When the mess was clean, Criss pushed over his old hackysack towards the foals. “Cwiss pway baww wif babbehs?” he asked Bonnie.

“Cwiss am gud fwuffy, pway wif babbehs,” Bonnie agreed with a smile.

Criss nosed the ball towards Red Wingie Baby, who began pushing the worn thing around with her nose. Green Pointy Wingie Baby waddled over and began pushing it as well, the two of them moving in an awkward circle. “Baww! Wub baww!” Green Pointy Wingie Baby exclaimed, suddenly finding another new word.

The two adult fluffies watched the foals for a few minutes. “Cwiss knu dat Sketti Man hewp Cwiss fin’ nyu Mummah ow Daddeh, bu’ Cwiss nu wan nyu Mummah ow Daddeh.” The black fluffy turned to look at Bonnie, his mane falling over one of his eyes. “Cwiss hab Mummah an’ Daddeh fowevah ago. In big pwetty housie, wif wots of fwuffy fwiends an’ toysies, and Mummah an’ Daddeh wuv aww fwuffies.

“Bu’ den bad ting happen. Aww fwuffy friends gu fowevah sweepies. Pwetty housie faww down. Mummah an Daddeh nu can get owt. Bu’ Mummah an’ Daddeh hewp Cwiss, wet Cwiss get owt. Mummah an’ Daddeh say, ‘nu fowget.’ So Cwiss nu fowget.”

Bonnie felt herself crying again from Criss’ sad story. “Bu’ wai Cwiss nu wan’ nyu Mummah ow Daddeh? Dey wuv Cwiss tu!”

Criss shook his head. “Cwiss knu dat fwuffies am dummehs. Fwuffies fowget. Bonnie Daddeh hab hoomin head fwuff?”

“Uh…yus…” Bonnie replied slowly, confused by the change in subject.

“Wha cowow? Hoomin head fwuff be bwown ow bwack ow yewwow, mebbe wed ow white. Wha cowow?”

Bonnie tried to remember, she really did. She stepped from one hoof to the other nervously as she tried to picture her Daddy’s nice face and the head fluff on top of it. “Bonnie nu ‘memba,” she finally confessed.

Criss nodded. “See? Cwiss nu ‘memba wha Mummah ow Daddeh wook wike. Nu ‘memba any fwuffy fwiends namies. Onwy ‘memba wha Cwiss say. If Cwiss fin’ nyu Mummah ow Daddeh, den Cwiss tink Cwiss fowget dat, tu. Mummah an’ Daddeh say ‘nu fowget.’ Cwiss nu fowget. Cwiss hewp Bonnie an’ babbehs fin’ Sketti Man when bwight time come, bu’ Cwiss nu go wif Bonnie. Bonnie gu tu Daddeh. Cwiss stay hewe, an’ ‘memba.”

Bonnie hugged Criss so, so good. “Bonnie hab saddies fo’ Cwiss. Cwiss make fwuffpiwe wif Bonnie an’ babbehs?”

Criss hugged back and smiled. “Cwiss wuv fwuffpiwe.” And so they slept through the night in Criss’ safe place, Criss and Bonnie draped over each other with Red Wingie Baby and Green Pointy Talkie Baby snugly on top.

Bonnie was woken up by Green Pointy Talkie Baby’s babbling nonstop in a toneless singsong. “Wub wub wub wub! Wub baww, wub sissy, wub mummah! Wub miwkies! Wub wub wub huggies!” Bonnie yawned and stretched, nothing that her hoofsies almost felt good again. Red Wingie Baby was laughing and chirping at the sight of her brother rolling on the ground exploring the limits of his new vocabulary.

“Hewwo babbehs! Mummah wuv you” Bonnie called, and immediately both foals waddled over to their mother and gave her great big hugs. Bonnie felt a stab in her heart as she looked down and only saw two babies where just one bright time ago there had been four. She felt like she could cry again, but she forced herself to smile for her surviving offspring. “Babbehs hab goo’ sweepy times? Babbehs wan’ miwkies?”

“Wub miwkies Mummah!” Green Pointy Talkie Baby replied, and Red Wingie Baby giggled and chirped in agreement.

Bonnie waddled over to the few crusts that were left over from last night’s dinner. They were harder than before, but still good nummies. As she chewed and chewed, she looked around. “Wewe fwiend? Cwiss? Hewwo Cwiss,” she called through a mouthful of crusties.

“Cwiss am hewe,” came the reply, and there was the black unicorn, coming in through the window above and down the boxes. “Cwiss gu fin’ odda nummies su Mummah hab cwusties fo’ gud miwkies.”

Bonnie’s eyes filled with tears again, but this time from happiness…maybe a little bit from sadness too. It was very confusing. “Cwiss be speshul fwiend wif Bonnie?” Bonnie asked suddenly.

Criss stopped on the last step before reaching the ground and sat. “Cwiss nu be speshul fwiend,” he said. “Cwiss am fix-ted. Nu can hab speshul huggies fo’ make babbehs.”

“Bonnie am Mummah nao, nu nee’ nyu babbehs. Bonnie hab babbehs,” she waved her forehooves down at her two foals who were eagerly suckling. “Cwiss be nyu fwuffy daddeh fo’ gud babbehs. Cwiss am bestest fwuffy. Pwease come wiv wif Bonnie an’ be speshul fwiend?” The last was spoken in a tearful plea.

The strange black unicorn heaved a great big sigh. “Cwiss sowwy fo’ Bonnie. Bu’ nu be speshul fwiend. Cwiss stay hewe an ‘memba.” He shook his head. “Nu can be speshul fwiend fo’ Bonnie an’ be fwuffy daddeh fo’ gud babbehs. Dat gib Cwiss su many happies, Cwiss fowget aww sad times. Cwiss nu fowget.”

Bonnie started crying again, but it was more soft and regretful than her tearing sobs from before. She so badly wanted Criss to come and live with her at her Daddy’s house and be a fluffy daddy for her foals, she knew they’d be the best fluffy family ever! Her foals made little squeaking sounds as they suckled and hugged her milkie places tight in response to the sound of her mother’s sadness.

Criss watched silently for a long moment, then sighed again. “When babbeh aww done wif miwkies, Bonnie and babbehs make gud poopies and come owt. Sketti Man be hewe soon.” With that, he climbed up the boxes again and slipped out through the window.

When the foals had drunk their fill, Bonnie waddled to the poopie hole and made good poopies and helped her foals do the same over more wadded up papers. Bonnie gave each one a tight hug before placing them on her back. “Babbehs come wif Mummah! We fin’ Sketti Man, hab bestest skettis, den Sketti Man hewp Mummah an’ babbehs fin’ Daddeh and housie!”

Feeling very hopeful that this terrible adventure would soon be over, Bonnie climbed up the boxes and joined Criss in the alley.

“We gu dis way,” Criss said, pointing down the street. “Sketti Mans awways come fwom dis way befo’ sky-baww goes tu high.”

“Otay,” Bonnie said in a subdued voice, still sad that Criss wouldn’t come with her, despite everything.

The two fluffies waddled down the sidewalk, doing their best to keep out of sight and out of the way of any humans they saw on the street. They got some peculiar looks, but everyone just shrugged at the fluffy ponies and let them pass without comment. Criss led Bonnie to a big, white housie with a pointy roof and a big grassy place all around with big bushes near the street. They slipped underneath one of those bushes.

“Sketti Man be hewe soon,” Cwiss said. And as if summoned by Criss’ words, the wonderful song began to float through the air again.

“Sketties am bestest nummies!
Sketti Man hab bestest Sketties fow aww fwuffies!
Pwease come owt fow yummy nummy Sketties!”

Bonnie hugged Criss fiercely, and the black fluffy hugged back. “Cwiss nu come wif Bonnie?” she asked one last time.

Criss shook his head. “Cwiss wanna, bu’ nu. Cwiss miss Bonnie, bu’ Cwiss hab happies dat Bonnie gu back to Daddeh.”

“Cwiss gib babbehs huggies gu’bye!” Bonnie decided, plucking the babbehs from her back and setting them before her friend.

“Cwiss say gu’bye, Wed Wingie Babbeh,” Criss hugged the little red filly. “An’ gu-bye Gween Pointy Tawkie Babbeh. Cwiss wuv babbehs!”

“Wuv Cwiss!” Green Pointy Talkie Babbeh licked Criss’ snout, and Criss actually giggled at that.

“Siwwy babbeh,” he sighed, setting him down. He looked at Bonnie as the song grew louder. “Bonnie gu owt of bushie nao. Sketti Man wiww stop fo’ fwuffy. Nu teww Sketti Man ‘bout Cwiss.”

Bonnie hugged Criss again. “Bonnie wuv Cwiss!”

“Cwiss wuv Bonnie, tu,” was the reply. “Gu back to Bonnie Daddeh nao.”

Bonnie sniffled as she put her foals on her back once again and began crawling out of the hollow beneath the bush. She glanced back at Criss, who just smiled and nodded.

Bonnie sat on her haunches as the song drew closer and closer. Soon she saw the source, a big white metal monster with pictures of sketties and smiling fluffies all over it! It was a quiet metal monster, though, not nearly as scary as the loud vroom kind. It slowed to a stop right in front of her, and a moment later a door opened up on the side of it, revealing a nice-looking old mister in a clean white uniform behind a counter.

“Well now, who have we got here?” The Sketti Man asked with a kind smile.

“Muh-Mistah Sketti Man weawwy gib skettis to Mummah fo’ make bestest sketti miwkies fo’ babbehs?” Bonnie asked shyly.

“I can promise you I will, little darlin,’” He nodded. “The Sketti Man always has skettis for such a nice fluffy.”

“An’…an’ Sketti Man hewp fin’ Bonnie Daddeh?” Bonnie began crying yet again. “Bonnie nu’ can fin’ housie, wose babbehs, wan’ Daddeh!”

“Lost your Daddy huh?” The Sketti Man shook his head sadly. “That’s a pure shame, and no mistake. Let’s get you up here and we’ll see what we can do about that, little girl.” With very gentle hands the Sketti Man leaned over and lifted her up onto the counter. He took a strange black human thing from behind the counter and waved it over her, and it beeped. “Welp, you got a chip that’s all up to date. Guess that gives ya a fightin’ chance. Let’s just see if your Daddy’s anywhere close.”

He put the first human thing down, and picked up another, holding it close to his mouth. When he spoke again he was so LOUD! Bonnie squeaked and covered her ears.

“Aanon Anonson, Aanon Anonson, I’ve got your fluffy Bonnie here. Aanon Anonson, please come get your fluffy.” He took the thing away from his mouth and smiled down at Bonnie, who took her hooves from her ears and tentatively smiled back. He seemed like such a nice mister. “Well darlin’,” he said, his voice back to normal, “If your Daddy’s close, he’ll be here for ya soon. If not, no worries. The Sketti Man’ll get you home, don’t you doubt it.”

They waited for a little bit, and the Sketti Man made his voice loud twice more. Finally though, he shook his head and sighed. “Ah well, I reckon that’s just about that. You certainly do look hungry girl, and those young’uns of your’re soundin’ pretty thirsty. Think it’s about time for your sketties!”

“Sketties!” Bonnie bounced up and down happily, and her babies were happy too! Red Wingie Baby began chirping, and Green Pointy Talkie Baby started singing, “Sketties sketties sketties wub!”

In short order, there was a bowl full of the nectar of the gods right in front of her. With an eager moan she pushed her muzzle into the lukewarm pasta and thin sauce, slurping it down deliriously. Sketties were a rare treat for her, and it filled her being with utter pleasure each time she got to enjoy them. Far too quickly, the bowl was empty, and Bonnie was lapping up every drop of sauce from inside.

“Sketti Man am nicest mistah!” Bonnie moaned happily, wiggling her bellyful of sketties from side to side. She already felt her milkie places began to swell with the very bestest milkies of all…sketti milkies! “Babbehs hab bestest sketti…miwkies…nao…” Suddenly Bonnie’s haunches dropped to the floor and she yawned hugely, her head dropping till her nose was nearly touching the counter. “Ohhhh…Bonnie hab su many sweepies. Bonnie nee’ nappies…”

Then the Sketti Man was lifting her gently again, and gave her a warm hug. “C’mon there little darlin’. I got a nice place where you can sleep, and when you wake up you’ll be with your Daddy.”

“Fank you…Mistah…Sketti…Man…” Bonnie mumbled the words out idly, barely even aware of the cold place the Sketti Man laid her, next to another fluffy already taking a nap. She felt a vague sense of worry when she felt him pluck her babies from her back, but then they were nice and quiet when he put them back. Her last thought before sleep claimed her was that they must need a nappie too. “Fiwst nappie, den miwkies…” she mumbled sleepily. Then it was dark.

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A short time later the Sketti Man truck drove over a pothole. The sudden jolt sparked Bonnie into semi-wakefulness. “Su…cowd…” she breathed, unable to make a sound louder than the faintest whisper. There was just a dim, greenish light in the tiny room she was in, cast from a digital display on the wall. Bonnie felt a surge of terror as she realized she could barely move. She could see one of her leggies, and it was covered in hard white stuff! “Su…cowd…pwease…hewp…” she tried again, but still couldn’t make but the faintest whisper.

Then something small and hard tumbled off her back and landed right in front of her. “Gween…Pointy…” she couldn’t even muster the energy to say his whole name. But something was terribly, terribly wrong! His tiny body was so stiff, and hard, his legs all splayed out and not moving at all. And his head was twisted all the way around, with his mouth wide open and his frozen little tongue hanging out!

“Hewp…hewp…Mista…Sketti Man…” Bonnie had to suck in so hard just to get any air inside her, and then she couldn’t even make a sound! What had happened? With her next breath, she felt something roll off her back to the side. She couldn’t turn to see, but as it hit the ground with a clink she knew it was Red Wingie Baby.

“Nuuu…wai…babbehs…wai…” She felt darkness rising up to claim her again, but with rising panic she realized she wasn’t just going to sleep. “Nu wan’…fowevah…sweep…ies…” Helpless and despairing, Bonnie couldn’t stop staring at her dead green foal as the last vestiges of life left her body.

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Criss watched as the Sketti Man gave Bonnie a hug and took her inside the metal monster. He’d been so, so close to coming out and joining her when he smelled the sketties…that nearly pushed him over the edge into breaking his promise to his old Mommy and Daddy. It would be a good thing, to go with Bonnie and have a real housie and a fluffy family.

But then who would remember Mommy and Daddy? And all the fluffy friends? Nobody. Criss was the only one who remembered. If he let himself forget, then nobody would remember. He wouldn’t let that happen. He wouldn’t forget. He would remember.

As he watched the truck go on down the street, still playing the Sketti Man song, an itch on his shoulders reminded Criss that he didn’t need to hide his wingies anymore, so he let them come out again. He stretched them out by making them make little buzzing noises like the bee wings he often thought they looked like. Criss wasn’t sure if Bonnie would have minded his wings, but most fluffies got scared when they knew he had them, and keeping them hidden wasn’t hard.

When the Sketti Man was out of sight and Criss couldn’t hear the song anymore, he crawled out from under the bush. “Cwiss hab hoomin Mummah an’ Daddeh fowevah an’ fowevah ago,” he recited to himself. “Hab bigges’ pwetty housie, wif wots of fwuffy fwiends an’ bestest toysies. Den bad ting happen…” He headed back to his safe place, repeating the words again and again to make sure he never forgot them.