Fluffy Pony Shelter: The Story of Ruby

>be a fluffy pony mare with no hornsie or wingies

>daddy calls you "Ruby", because he says you have pretty red fluff

>he says you have pretty green eyes too

>you and daddy live in a small apartment by yourselves

>daddy is nice and loves you lots, but he's an old daddy

>his fluff is gray and his pink skin is wrinkly

>he taught you to be a good fluffy

>you are quiet when you are told, you don't touch things without asking first, you sit down when he tells you to, you make poopies in the litterbox, you wait until Friday night for sketties, which he eats with you

>even when you are a bad fluffy, he never used a sorry stick, he would just frown and say that he's disappointed in you

>it hurt you even more when he says that than if he used a sorry stick, but you still love him

>he sits down and plays with you, and sometimes he puts you in his lap and falls asleep with you

>sometimes he puts you in his lap and tells you stories about his life

>he talks to you about when he served in a "war", where he punished bad people called "Naught-zees", because they were bullies who hurt other people

>he got them with a sorry stick

>Daddy's sorry-stick went pow-pow-pow!

>he talks to you about his babies, who are now big and went away a long time ago, before you were born

>he sometimes talks about mommy, who went to sleep and didn't wake up when you were a little fluffy

>he gets sad when he talks about her or his grown babies, but smiles when you say that you don't want to see him sad

>today he told you the story of how he met mommy, when he was in the war, how he promised that he would marry her when he returned home

>he told you about when he and mommy got married, how he bought her a shiny pretty ring

>"Ellen was so beautiful in her white wedding dress, with her sparkling blue eyes, Ruby. I actually cried at the altar. That was the happiest day of my life, Ruby..."

>a drop of wawa comes from one of his eyes

>oh no, oh no, he's sad! that's a bad thing!

"Pwease no cwy Daddy, pwease no cwy! Woo-bee no wike Daddy cwy!" you beg, feeling warm wawa on your eyes

>he wipes his eye, looks at you, and smiles

>"I'm sorry Ruby, I didn't mean to worry you. Sometimes Daddy gets lonely without Ellen or the kids... But I have you. You make me so happy, that you're here with me, Ruby."

>you're so happy that he said that!

>you give huggies to each other

>you love Daddy's huggies

>life is happy

 

>you wake up

>you went sleepies in Daddy's lap again, how funny!

>you look up at him and see that he's still asleepies

>you jump down from his lap to the carpet and stretch

>you look out the window, the sun went sleepies and it's dark outside

>you look back at your sleeping daddy

>his white face looks nice and peaceful

>you waddle to your beddie for more sleepies

>"Goo' nigh' Daddy..." you say before you yawn and go

>you wake up some time later when the meanie sun shines in your eyes!"

>"No wike meanie sun..." you mutter as you get up and stretch

>you waddle to your wawa bottle and drink up

>you go poopies and peepees in your litterbox

>you go to your nummy bowl and eat

>you look for daddy

>he's still sleepies on his couch, even though the meanie sun is also shining in his white face and body

>he must be really tired! you decide not to wake him upand quietly play with your blocks and crayons instead

>Daddy doesn't like to be woken up from sleepies, you learned that

>hours of fun later, you get hungry again, so you go to your nummies bowl, and eat more until its empty

>Daddy will fill it when the sun wakes up again

>the sun went to sleep, so you go to sleep again after using your litterbox. daddy must be so tired...

>the next day you awaken when a black bug with wingies, a buzzy, crawls on your nose and wakes you up and you begin your routine again, except for the nummies part

>your tummy needs food, but the nummies bowl is empty!

>you look for daddy

>Daddy is so funny, he's still asleepies!

>a thought occurs to you: today is sketties day! oh joy!

>you excitedly go to up to daddy

>when something assualts your nose

"Ewwwwwwwwwww, Daddy no smell pwetty..."

>like, he REALLy doesn't smell pretty, at all

>you stop and gag, and you don't feel pretty, but nothing comes out of you mouth and you soldier on

>you know Daddy doesn't like it when you wake him up, but if you don't your tummy will hurt so bad!

"Daddy, Daddy! Is sketties day! Woo-bee hungwy! Wake up pwease!" you say happily.

>no response

>silly daddy!

>you brace your leggies on his shoe and shake it

"Wake up Daddy! Feed Woo-bee pwease!"

 

>he doesn't wake up still!

>you climb up on the couch

>a buzzy flys away when you get on

>you put your leggies on his hand, but something makes you stop

>his hand is white with some blue spots, and feels so cold and hard, like a rock! you shake it

"Daddy, pwease wake up! Pwease make sketties fo' Woo-bee, no mo' sweepies!

>he still doesn't wake up

>there are buzzies flying and crawling on Daddy and the couch

>the buzzies buzz around when you shake Daddy, but they land on him again and won't leave him alone

>why won't Daddy wake up? you're worried now

"Daddy! Daddy! Daddy! Why so sweepy?! Pwease wake up!"

>nothing

>something's wrong, daddy won't wake up. What are you going to do?

>scared, not feeling good, hungry, and frustrated, you feel warm wawa on your eyes

"DADDY! WAKE! UP! PWEASE! PWEASE WAKE UP!!!"

>he lays still

>your panicing now, nose sucking in lots of air and inhaling Daddy's very-not-pretty smell

>you're scared and don't feel pretty at all

>the very-not-pretty smell and your not-pretty feels make you want to spit your nummies, but you haven't had any so you spit up drool

>this is no good! ...Oh, you know what to do!

>"Gif huggies, Daddy feew bettah!" you declare as your weggies embrace the side of his body

>give Daddy the most biggest huggies you've ever given!

>...

>...

>"...Daddy? Daddy feew bettah?" you nervously ask as you look up

>not only is Daddy still asleepies and cold and hard, but a meanie buzzy crawled in his open mouth!

>there are no fluffies or hoomans who would let something like that happen!

>nothing changed, something's still wrong with Daddy!

>no one else is around, but your Daddy needs help!

>you waddle as quickly as your leggies can move to the outside door of the apartment and scratch your leggies against it

"Hewwo?! Pwease hewp, Daddy sick! Daddy no wake up! Daddy so cowd! Hewp Daddy, hewp fwuffy! Pwease hewp! Hewp! HEWP!" You cry so loudly that it hurts your throat

>several minutes of begging for someone to help later, the door shakes and makes a loud noise, scaring you

>"Shaddap ya nitwit! Andy, tell your fluffy pony to be quiet! I'm watching the Price is Right!"

>that's Mister Roberts! he's daddy's friend and neighbor. he can help you!

"Hewwo?! Mistah Wahbawts, pwease hewp! Daddy asweep, no wake up! Daddy so cowd and hawd! Hewp!"

>silence

>"What?! R-Ruby, what did you say?!"

"Buzzies mean to Daddy! Daddy no wake up in two days! Pwease hewp Daddy!"

>"...O-oh god, oh god! A-Andy! ANDY! Are you okay?! Answer me! S-stay there, I'll call an ambulance!"

>you hear footsteps, which get quieter and quieter

>you cry more, what's wrong with daddy? will he be okay?

 

>later, the outside door finally opens

>strangers in white shirts and black pants rush in

>you're scared, you don't feel pretty, you're confused, you're cying alot

>they take Daddy, and put him in a black bag

>there's so much going on, and yet Daddy doesn't wakes up

"Whewe take Daddy?! Pwease wake up Daddy! No! No take Daddy 'way! NO WEAVE! PWEASE WAKE UP! NO WEAVE WOO-BEE AWONE!! NUUU!!!!" you wail as the strangers take daddy and put him in a big white and red vroom-vroom

>you never see him again

>no matter how much you beg and cry, the strangers don't listen to you

>the white and red vroom-vroom drives away, the red lights on top shiny and making loud scary noises

>Mister Roberts is sad and crying

>this makes you cry even more

>other strangers in black clothes with shiny things on their chests talk to him

>they don't say anything to you when you ask why they took Daddy away, and why he doesn't wake up

>a long time later, you are in Mister Roberts' place

>you stay in your beddies, sobbing over and over, your eyes red and puffy and hurting, because those men took Daddy away and won't give him back

>they only say that he died. what does that mean? you don't understand...

>Mister Roberts has been on his talky thing, talking for a very long time, sounding very sad

>you can overhear him saying things like

>"Listen, one last thing, your father left a fluffy pony behind, but unfortunately I don't know how to care for those things. Will you adopt her? Andy trained her pretty well-- ...I'll have to put her in the city shelter then. ...Okay, I understand. I'm sorry for your loss."

>and things like

>"--And that's what happened. So really, I'd like leave this fluffy with someone who'd take care of her, with you or the grandkids. Just to, you know, honor a friend. ...Sigh, alright, I understand. Thank you anyway."

>he does this many times, saying the same things and looking sad

>Mister Roberts tries to give you some nummies, you eat a little because your tummy hurts bad, but you're too sad to eat more

>you want your Daddy

"Mistah Wobawts, when Daddy come back?"

>"I'm sorry Ruby... Andy isn't coming back."

"WHY NOT?! Woo-bee wan' Daddy! Why Daddy no wake up?! Why Daddy cowd?!"

>"Groan... You wouldn't understand. I'll take you to the shelter in the morning. Just be sure not to pee on my carpet."

>he goes to a room and shuts the door, leaving you to cry more in the dark

>the next morning, he wakes you up

>you made poopies on his carpet last night, apologize a lot

>he just shakes his head as he cleans it and picks you up

>he takes you to his vroom-vroom

>you don't like being in vroom-vrooms; they're loud

>he doesn't say anything when you tell him you don't feel pretty

>the vroom-vrooms move too much and make you not feel pretty, but you don't spit up nummies because Mister Roberts didn't give you any

"Whewe taking Woo-bee? Woo-bee no wike vwoom-vwooms... Whewe Daddy?"

>"I'm driving you the the shelter, Ruby. You'll be with other fluffies, good people to care for you, and maybe you'll have a new daddy."

"Nu nu nuuuu! No wan' otha daddy, no wan' fwuffies, wan' Daddy! Pwease no take Woo-bee 'way! Go back, hewp Daddy! Sowwy fo' poopies!"

>his vroom-vroom stops a while later and he takes you outside

>you enter a building, Mister Roberts talks to a lady at a desk

>he tells her what happened, says that your Daddy "died"

"Wha? Wha "died" mean? Daddy died? Wha dat?"

>the lady looks sad as Mister Roberts writes on a paper

>"Don't worry sir, we'll make sure she gets a good home."

>"Thank you so much." Mister Roberts scratches your ear and gives the paper to the lady, but he looks so sad. "Ruby... good luck."

>What!? Mister Roberts is going away!

 

>"Nuuuuu! No weave Woo-bee!" you cry, struggling in the lady's grasp. "No weave! Pwease take Woo-bee to Daddy! NUUUUUU!!" you scream.

>Mister Roberts goes outside to his vroom-vroom and drives away

>you never see him again

>you cry, wanting to see Daddy, Mister Roberts, your beddies, your home

>the lady pets you and cries to comfort you as she takes you deeper into the building

>she takes you to a big room, and you see other fluffies behind shiny bars everywhere

>"Hewwo!" "New fwend! Yay!" "Pwease pick fwuffy, fwuffy good!" "FWuffy hungwy, fwuffy nummies fo' fwuffy?" "Fwuffy wan' pway wit' new fwend!" "New fwend pwetty! Pwetty fwend come awound hewe often?"

>normally you'd be happy to see so many fluffies, but for some reason you don't smile

>the lady opens some of the bars and places you in a cage with another fluffy, a pink mare with blue eyes and no horn or wingies

>"Okay, now you two be nice, okay?" she chirps

>oh no, the lady is leaving!

"Nuuu! Whewe wady going? Pwease no weave Woo-bee! Why dey take Daddy away?! DADDY COWD AN' HAWD!! MISTAH WOBERTS! BUZZIES IN MOUF!! HEWP DADDY!!! WAAAAAAH!!!" you howl at the top of your lungs, smashing the bars with your leggies

>your loud noises upset your cage-mate, who makes poopies and starts mewling

>"Why fwend woud?! FWuffy no wike! Stawp woud pwease!"

>your screaming also scares other fluffies

>"No wike woud!" "No cwy, no cwy!" "Pwetty fwend nee' spesha' huggies, make feel happy!"

>you keep this up for a few minutes until your leggies and throat start hurting

>you flop down and sob

>it's hopeless...

"Daddy... Waaaaaah... D-d-daddy... Pwease wake up... Hewp Woo-bee... waaaaah..."

>the pink fluffy gives you hugs, but it doesn't make you feel better

>eventually you can't cry anymore, your eyes are puffy and red, and just stare at the ground, not smiling and not feeling pretty

>you're so very, very tired...

>...

>days pass, when the shiny lights in the ceiling go to sleep like the sun

>you've never felt more miserable and alone in your life

>on your first day, strangers, called doctors, poked and prodded you, said things like "behavior", "spayed already", and "vaccinations" and other words you can't say and don't understand

>one mean stranger shoved a long plastic thingy in your poopie place

>you screamed, it hurt so much, and then he pulled it out and said you were normal

>your poopie place hurt for so long

>other strangers gave you a bath and brushed you

>your cagemate, the pink fluffy, gives you hugs and tells you that you're her friend, but you don't care

>"Fwuffy wan' fwend smiyah-smiyah-smiyah! Fwuffy wan' chee-yah up fwend!" she chirps with a smile. "Fwuffy do anyting fwend wan', fwuffy make fwend gwin, gwin, gwin!"

"...Woo-bee wan' Daddy wake up an' hewp Woo-bee, Woo-bee wan' go home... Daddy die..."

>you still don't know what it means, but it's bad

>"Otay! Fwuffy fin' fwend Daddy! Fwend smiyah soon, fwend see!"

>two days later of your friend trying to ask the strangers where your daddy is, she comes up empty-hooved. she comes to you at playtime

>"Fwuffy no know whewe fwend Daddy is, dey say fwend Daddy die... *sniff* F-fwuffy no know whewe f-f-*sniff*fwend home is, fwuffy so-sowwy..." she mewls, sad for you

>she starts to cry for you

>for some reason her poofy pink fluff becomes straight and her fluff seems darker

>that just makes you feel worse

 

>when strangers take you and the pink fluffy out to play with other fluffies, you sit in the corner of the play place, just staring at the floor or trying to have sleepies

>that's what you do all the time, you saw Daddy when you have sleepies, which makes you feel better, a little bit

>then you wake up and Daddy is gone, and you're sad again

>sometimes in your sleepies, the dreams are scary; the strangers in white and black take Daddy away, the men in black clothes say that Daddy is dead

>you dream about being in the apartment with daddy, about the buzzies, about how the strangers took him away and never gave him back

>"Your master is dead. I'm sorry, little fluffy."

>did they really say that? you don't remember, your head never feels pwetty anymore

>scary dreams like that make you not want sleepies for hours

>when you eat nummies, you eat very few of them, and that's if you bother to eat

>sometimes you leave your nummies bowl alone and let the pink fluffy eat your nummies instead

>a few times when you eat your nummies, you don't feel pretty and you spit them back up

>today, two stranger girls come in, like they always do all the time, before the lights go to sleep

>they take fluffies from their cages, clean the litterbox, and put the fluffies back in with fresh wawa in the wawa bowls

>you try to sleep, hoping to see Daddy again as the strangers work

>you can hear them talk, even over the fluffies saying "Hewwo Pauwa!" "Fwuffy wan' pway wit' Jasmine!" "When Jasmine gif sketties?" "Fwuffy wike Pauwa, Pauwa haf pwetty weggies!"

>a girl with black fluff and smooth tan skin finishes up your cage, so you huddle in the corner and try to go sleepies

>"Jasmine, what do you think'll happen to Roo-- er, the red fluffy? You know, the depressed one. Look at her... she's lost weight and her eyes are bloodshot, I don't think she slept.""

>"I wouldn't know, Paula. It's been a week since she got here and she seems to be getting worse. Joshua told me, get this... My brother told me that yesterday when she got a certain Italian pasta, she rejected it."

>"Really? Just... wow, really? That's fucking unprecedented. That's, wow, that's like Stephanie Meyer writing a decent novel. Say, couldn't the shelter, y'know, reset her?"

>"Well Paula, the only taser thingy the shelter has is broken and the replacement isn't here yet. Plus resets aren't foolproof. For example, if she was reset, and then later smells a scent that reminds her of her old life, or eats something familiar, or hell, even mistakes her new owner for her old one, the reset would break, she'd have her memory back, and she'd have a mental breakdown. And, well, the poor baby's seen some shit, you know."

>"Yeah, I heard how they found her... There aren't any anti-depression meds for fluffies either, and I don't think this shelter has a program for fluffies whose owners have passed away. Jasmine, you've been here longer than me. You don't think we'll have to put-- hey, hey, HEY! Don't hump my leg you fucking little green perv! Offa me!"

>"But fwuffy wuv Pauwa!"

>"Hahaha! Oh that green one is such a horndog. Here, let me help you with that. Uh, if the red one'ss not better by Friday, then the doctors will have to talk about it. Say, have you seen the fifth season premiere of MLP yet?"

>you're asleepies now

 

>you wake up from a dreamless sleep

>the lights are still asleepies

>you look around and see that everyfluffy is asleepies too, even your pink cagemate

>you try to go sleepies for a long time, but you can't for some reason, even though you're really tired

>all this time no strangers came to wake everyfluffy up

>...you're thirsty

>you hobble over to the wawa bowl, drink a little

>...done

>instead of walking back to your sleepies place, you stay there and sigh

>Daddy had your wawa in a bottle, not a bowl

"Daddy... Woo-bee miss you..."

>...

>why...

>why do you even bother waking up from sleepies everyday...

>...scary dreams...

>you're staring down at the wawa bowl

>...

>you dunk your face and nose in

>you feel scared when you feel wawa in your face, but you don't want to move

>it hurts when you breathe and get wawa in your nose

>something in you tightens

>your face comes out of the bowl and you land on your side

>"...Whaaaa? Wha... Oh! Fwend!" pinkie friend is awake and looks scared now

>your legs flail, you can't breathe no matter how hard you try

>it hurts so much... ...your eyelids feel heavy...

>"Nu nu, nuuuu! Fwend huwt! Gif huggies, make evwyting bettah!" she cries hysterically as she tries to hug you

>you can hear shouting of everyfluffy, they sound scared

>dark... scary... cold...

>"Nuuuu! Why huggies no wowk?! Why dis happen?! Fwend! FWEND!!"

>lights wake up, eyes close

>"What's with the rack... et. Oh, son of a bi--"

>something's making you rise up

>sleep...

>...

>...

>...

 

>you are Anon

>you were just remembering the story of Ruby, a red fluffy earth mare, and one of the rare fluffies who've committed suicide, and the first to have done so at the shelter since it opened a year ago

>fluffies have asked to be killed before, such as when they're badly hurt or suffered through severe distress, but none have taken the initiative of offing themselves like she did

>the video cameras in each cage room don't lie

>you watched the tape. Ruby suddenly woke up, drank water, contemplated her water bowl, dunked her head in, and despite pulling her head out, she drowned

>you were juuuuuuust a few seconds late to save her

>she was already dead when you pulled her out of her cage

>...shit happens

>from that day forward, a few things changed around the shelter

>first and foremost, all water bowls were replaced with water bottles

>to be honest you don't know why this didn't happen sooner...

>second, all fluffies showing severe and persistent psychological damage were to be closely monitored

>all employees and volunteers were to pay extra attention to those shell-shocked fluffies, get them to play with their peers, and to give them extra spaghetti as a comfort food of sorts

>younger volunteers and more idealistic employees especially were eager to help out

>this seems to be a success. less shell-shocked ponies, and not a single suicide attempt since Ruby

>hell, the pink earth mare who was Ruby's cagemate fell into depression very soon after her death

>it was when you gave her spaghetti and moved her to a new cage that she brightened up and stop begging for you to give back her friend

>that reminds you...

>for those fluffies who will never recover, the only option is a mercy kill

>the surefire sign of a fluffy giving up on life, of one in need of a needle in the leg or a place in the CO2 chamber, is the rejection of spaghetti

>what can you say... shit happens