"Better luck next time (Challenge No.02 entry)" By fluffstory (https://pastebin.com/u/fluffstory) URL: https://pastebin.com/FPrmrKyT Created on: Friday 29th of November 2019 08:48:44 AM CDT Retrieved on: Friday 30 of October 2020 11:23:15 AM UTC aroptua, November 28, 2012; 11:37 / FB 7078 ======================================================================================================================================= Better luck next time >be male fluffy pony >you have a special friend and she’s the best >she’s giving birth to your babies now >she’s in pain and screaming but you stay by her side to provide what little support you can >”wuv speshal fwen’. wuv babehs. evewyffin’ be otay.” >she’s breathing hard and pushing >other fluffies from the herd are helping with the glorious miracle that birth is >they just poke her belly and cheer for the foals to come out >one by one they plop out and immediately start chirping for their mother >you carry them in your mouth to her for her to clean and feed >she softly coos to them as they eat and hug >”wuv babehs. pwetty babehs. momma’s wittaw tweasuwes.” >the sight makes you happy, you smile and join your new family >all four of you hug and slowly drift off to sleep in a cute little fluffpile >days pass >you have to head out with the better part of the herd males to gather food >being autumn, there’s lots of fruit fallen from trees on the ground, some berries but very little grass >you gather as much and as fresh apples, quinces and pears as you can manage to carry and bring them back to the cove where you live >what greets you there, however, is a disaster >seagulls found your herd >they picked and tore every fluffy >you herd is all but wiped out >some of the scavengers break into tears, others stare in disbelief and yet others frantically search for survivors >you run to where your family used to sleep >your face is wet with tears, your heart is pounding out of your chest >you hold your breath and shiver more and more violently as you approach >before you are the remains of your special friend, all that’s left of her is torn up fluff, bones and a face with contorted expression >you look for your babies but they’re nowhere to be seen >you fall down and wail their loss >suddenly, you hear someone else crying, a high-pitched familiar voice >it’s one of your babies! >it must have managed to hide somewhere and survive >”BABEH! WHEWE AM YUU?” you scream >”DADDEH! SCAWED! Waaa” >you hurry to the source of the voice and find your baby underneath a mess of thrown away bowels >you pick your blood-soaked baby up and hug it >”Babeh! Wuv babeh, dadeh is hewe, evvewyffin betta” >it just cries in your embrace and eventually tires itself into sleep >turns out your foal is the sole survivor of the attack >the other fluffies of your herd don’t like you for it >they lost their babies and special friends and think you’re to blame since one of your babies is fine >it’s not your fault but they think it is >you had to find a new place to live and gather food all over again >you tried to pick up your life with your baby and make the best of it but the others would only give you a tiny ration, barely enough to keep you full >your baby constantly complains that its tummy has owies but there’s nothing you can do >the others take away whatever food you try to hide >your only hope was to find some fruit while they were asleep and give it to your child >but it wasn’t enough, it couldn’t be - only one good meal a day >you want to leave the herd and take care of your baby alone but it’s almost white time and you know you won’t be able to survive alone >other fluffies had tried before and later you found their frozen bodies while you were looking for food >no, you must stay with the rest >your foal grows, it’s beginning to look like a big fluffy now, even if it is skinnier >it constantly complains to you that you’re a bad daddy for letting it starve so much >you take it with your head down and hope that some day it will understand what you’re doing for it >you constantly have arguments about leaving the herd and fending for yourselves >your baby doesn’t want you to look after it any more but you know you have to, you know it can’t fend for itself yet, especially in the white time >”yuu neva unnstan fwuffy! am big boi nao! can tak cawe fow maisewf! nu nee’ stupi hewd, nu nee’ stupi daddeh!” >”yuu stay wiff hewd. daddeh tak cawe of babeh untiw babeh become big stwong fwuffy an’ fin’ spesha fwiend. den babeh tak cawe of own famiwy.” >”am nuu babeh! am big fwuffy!” >and then it stomped out of your tree hollow >you ran after it but the other fluffies held you back >”nuu go aftew fwuffy. fwuffy big fwuffy nao, can tak cawe of sewf.” >but he wasn’t a big fluffy yet, he was still a baby and you had to take care of it, you alone >”NUU!” >you punched the fluffies holding you down and ran after your baby but you quickly lost its tracks >you wandered the forest for hours to no avail >you found hide nor hair of it >”BABEH! BABEH!” you kept screaming but you got no answer >as the day drew to its end, so did your strength >finally, you collapsed in the middle of the woods, tired, cold, hungry, alone and in despair >you only had your one baby left and you couldn’t protect it >you couldn’t take care of it and it was lost >you were a bad fluffy daddy >you wept until the chill took over your body and stole your last breath >and all you kept repeating until then was “whewe babeh? fin’ babeh.”