>You are... >Actually, you don't know what you are >But you know you're cold and wet >One minute you were all warm and cosy >And now you're lying on something cold and hard >You're unhappy and you don't care WHO knows it >You cry to the best of your ability >It would sound like chirping to anyone else >But to you it's as loud a noise as you can make >You hear a voice >"Nudda babbeh! Wook, nudda babbeh!... Speshaw fwend?" >"Guys, the mare's stopped moving... And breathing! What do we do?" >"We don't do anything... Fluffy mares are lucky to survive birth. This one wasn't lucky." >So many big words! You don't know what they mean, but they don't sound good. >"Speshaw fwend go sweep? Why sweep? Babbeh fwuffies need nummies!" >Babies? Oh, THAT'S what you are! You're a fluffy pony! >How'd you mess THAT one up? >You try to open your eyes a little, but all you see is white light >It hurts, so you close your eyes and chirp some more >Seems like a good thing to do >You hear a voice again >"Get the mare out of there. Leave the stallion to look after his kids and set them up at a foal feeder" >You hear a rustle and bang that frightens you >"Whewe take speshaw fwend? Bwing fwend back, babbehs need miwk! Come back fwend!" >You hear more chirping and crying >More babies! >You don't know why, but that sounds like a good thing to you >"No cwy babbehs! Fwuffy find nummies fo babbehs..." >You feel something licking you >You suddenly feel a lot cleaner >When did you get dirty? >Suddenly the licking stops and the sniffing starts >You get sniffed all over >Kinda tickly, you wish the licking would start again >Then you hear a voice again >"Bad babbeh! Ugwy babbeh! No wan'!" >There's a bad baby? Where?! >You HATE bad babies! >... You think >Suddenly, you feel something pressing down on you >HARD >It hurts so much! >"Bad babbeh go 'way! No wan' bad babbeh!" >Why is this voice hurting you so much? What did you do?! >Then it sinks in >YOU'RE the bad baby! >How did this happen?! >"What the hell are you doing?!" >The pain stops >Sweet relief! >You hear angry voices >"What, you think just because he's small that he's not your kid?!" >"Bad babbeh huwt speshaw fwend! Make go wong sweep! GIF BIGGEST OUCHIES!" >"Jesus christ, we can't let this guy near his kid. He'll kill the little one!" >"Get him out of there, you know what to do. Blanket and bottle. Leave the stallion with his other kids." >You hear another rustle, and you feel yourself leave the ground >How are you flying? You don't THINK you're a wingie friend... >Suddenly, you're so warm! >Your mama must be cuddling you >You feel something pressed to your lips and you instinctively suckle at it >You are rewarded with some warm milk >You love milk so much! Your mama is so nice! >"Well, he's suckling. It's a start." >Wait, that doesn't sound like your mama... >"M-ma...Ma... Ma?" >Hey, you can talk! Sweet. >"No, I'm not your mama, little guy." >Well, that answers THAT question >You try to open your eyes again >The light doesn't hurt anymore >You see a big face >It's a human! >Humans are pretty, if this one is anything to go by >Wait, where's mama? >"Ma... Ma?" >"Sorry little man, your mama's not here... You won't get to meet her. After you were born she... Went for a big sleep." >Big sleep? >Well, you hope she wakes up soon >For now, you're pretty comfortable with this human >And you have milk, that's cool too.       15 DAYS LATER   >You're still a fluffy pony >You're a bad baby >The other fluffy ponies you meet seem very keen to not let you forget it >Especially your siblings >Your brother and sister are meanies >They hit you and bite you and pull your fluff when you see them >You think they're stupid >You wish you could tell your mama about it, but she's not here >Your brother and sister say that you hurt her and made her go away >They're liars >The humans here are nice though >At night, they let you sleep by yourself >Plus one of them started giving you something called toast >You don't know how it's made, but it's really good! >"Best nummies", you think the others would put it >One day, one of your human friends comes to see you >"Fwend!" >"Hey shrimp, we're going to try something a little different today. You're going to meet your dad." >"Dada?" >You seem to remember having a dad >But something about it makes you feel uneasy >The human friend picks you up and takes you to somewhere you've never been >Lots of big fluffies everywhere! >Fluffy mamas, fluffy babies, everything! >Your friend takes you to a cage with a very big fluffy >He looks at the human friend >He hasn't seen you yet >"Hooman haff nummies?" >"Not today buddy. I have someone to meet you." >Human friend puts you down in the cage next to this big fluffy >Must be your daddy! >"Yoo fwuffy daddy?" >The big fluffy looks at you, then sniffs you >He puffs up his cheeks and starts stamping his hooves >"BAD BABBEH! NO WAN'! HUWT SPESHAW FWEND!" >He bites your head and pulls your fluff >You scream and shriek in pain >Human friend runs in and pulls your daddy off you >"No! This is your baby, fluffy!" >"NO WAN' UGWY BABBEH!" >He keeps struggling against your human friend, trying to hurt you >You just keep crying >He says you hurt your mama... >You ARE a bad baby...   ONE MONTH LATER   >Yup, still a fluffy runt >Still shunned by other fluffies >You've made friends with the humans though, so you don't mind too much >One told you something that helped you get through it all >"If you keep letting them calling you bad baby make you sad, then they win. You might be a bad baby, but you're a good fluffy." >So you don't take bad baby as an insult >It's what you are, so you don't let them hurt you >Humans are smart like that >Now that you're a little bigger, you sleep in a cage next to the other fluffies >Specifically, next to your brother and sister >You still don't like them, and they still don't like you >Whatever, they're tools. >Or at least, that's what the humans call them >Late one night, you hear a noise in your brother and sister's cage >You wake up and look over >Your brother is behind your sister >And... moving? >You hear a soft noise >"Enf, enf, enf..." >Oh WHAT?!   "Bwudda! No huggie sissy! No make bad speshaw hugs!" >Your yelling makes your brother stop for a moment and glare at you >"Bad babbeh no tawk to fwuffy! Fwuffy wuv sissy, sissy wuv bwudda! Bad babbeh get ouchies!" >He just goes right back to humping "Nuuuu! Bad speshaw huggies make bad babbehs! Bwudda no wike bad babbehs!" >"No cawe! Wuv sissy!" >This is... STUPID! >They're going to risk making bad babies? >After all they've put YOU through!? >You run at the bars of the cage and start screaming "HATE SISSY! HATE BWUDDA! KIWW! KIWW BWUDDA! KIWW SISSY! HATE BOWF!" >You screaming frightens your siblings so much that they stop >They make bad poopies >They run away from you, hiding at the other end of the cage >You want to hurt them so much! >You HATE them! >Your noise has also brought a human over to your cage >"What the hell, runt? Why are you screaming?" >"Hate! HATE! WAN' HUWT BWUDDA!" >The human picks you up takes you away >Puts you in a place called the "sorry box" until you've calmed down >You cry that night   TWO WEEKS LATER   >Yet again, you're a fluffy runt >Still hate your daddy, sister and brother >But you don't see them any more >Just the other fluffies >They ignore you so long as you stay out of the way >Though some of the fillies, when they smell really pretty, let you give them special hugs >Special hugs are AWESOME >The humans are still your friends >There's one pretty lady who looks after you >She's like your mama >But you know your real mama is dead >That's the word the other humans use to describe her >"Where's his mother?" >"She's dead." >It's not exactly the nicest sounding word >But you don't dwell on it >You're a little busy giving special hugs to some filly who's forgotten you're a bad baby >She'll remember eventually, but for now... "Enf! Enf! Enf!"   >Later that day, you're taken to the lotsa foals room >It's where you and the other foals go and see new humans >Sometimes humans take foals home and be their "daddies" >That's dumb >They're humans, they're not fluffy daddies! >But still... It might be nice to get away from this place >To live with someone who might actually love you >"Excuse me? Is there something wrong with this little one? >Oh, another human   ...   "Hewwo, big man."