Brew of Anger > Puddles have formed in the once dry earth > Tufts of grass and flowers swim amid a veritable sea of water > As the rain pours down a whimpering is heard in a shallow burrow > "Mummah, why sky suu saddies? Why wawa faww fow suu wong?" > The fluffies residing beneath an old tall tree are shivering > Water gushes down the nearby stream and huge puddles form in the field > All around water pours from the sky and into every nook and cranny > Rosy, a solid pink fluffy, trembles in her home clutching her three young foals > "Mummah dunno, mabeh sky suu saddies bout owdest mummah..." > The foals were conceived and born during the drought > But, they were too young to remember the old fluffy > "Who owdest mummah? Yuu mummah mummah!" > They giggle at their cleverness > Their mother simply cries a few small tears which go unnoticed amid the dripping water > She tries valiantly to keep her foals dry and clean > Several foals have the sikkies from the cold and wetness > Mud has caked on their hooves and bellies > Using her tongue she gently licks off dirt only to have it caked on again later as foals play in the small burrow > A large puddle has formed at the center just a few inches from the mother and foals > A dip prevents it from flooding the home, but it is too shallow for this type of downpour > Her husband Buzzy, a yellow and black unicorn has yet to return from getting nummies > The small store of food ran out last night > With the torrential downpour outside and puddle in the burrow leaving babies unattended is ill advised > The meadow is sopped with two inch deep puddles and a few that would swallow a fluffy whole > Yet, despite the danger stallions and a few mares are out trying to graze > It has been raining for two days straight > Their hunger drives them out of the relative dryness and warmth of their homes > Mothers milk will become too watery to sustain foals > Somehow fluffies know this instinctively as "nuu pwetty miwkies" > Despite fear, discomfort, and danger they brave the downpour > Slogging through wet fields they stuff their cheeks with grass and flowers > Unable to speak with all of the food the only voices are cries for help > "Hewp! Wawa tuu big! Can' swim! HEWP! HE-abogalag! HEWaaglabgaoa!" > Cries ignored or unheard > It is too dangerous to try and pull up a flailing fluffy > Several in the past have been pulled under along with friends > Like mops without handles they flop through the muck and rain back to home > Dragging long trails of fluff through the water and dirt > Cheeks puffed full of food they shake to try and remove the water from their heavy fluff > One group keeps knocking water onto each other shaking indefinitely > Eventually stress causes them to beat a young stallion nearly to death > "YUU MAKE FWUFFIES WET! NUU WIKE WAWA! TEWW STAWP! NUU WISSEN! STUPIT! STUPIT! STUPIT!" > The fluffies are at wits end > If nothing else they hate water, especially on their fluff > Irritable and on edge the stallions slog through muddy banks to their burrows > Nearly drowning in the puddle at the entrance of his burrow Buzzy manages to make it back to Rosy > "Husban! Yuu otay! Fankoo husban! Miwkies nuu pwetty, nummies make miwkies bettow!" > He doesn't smile despite the happy words of his beloved wife > She doesn't hug the soaked fluffy who spits out un-chewed grass and flowers before her > "Ewww daddee, nummies nuu pwetty!" > The closest foal backs up blowing a raspberry at the pile of grass > He is trying to be silly for his siblings > Buzzy snaps > "YUU BAD BEBBEH! BUZZEH WAWKIES IN WAWA AN WET FOW NUMMIES! BAD BEBBEHS GET HUWTIES!" > Before the mare can react the agitated stallion hits his child across the face > The blow knocks him into the puddle > Unable to swim the foal flails its legs splashing and yelling for help > Instantly mortified Buzzy rushes to try and save his foal who struggles in the shallow water > "EWP! BAD FWUFF 'UWT! MUMMA! EWP! WAWA! BAD WAWA! EWP! 'UWT! EWP!" > The father pulls the bleeding soaked foal from the puddle and cries as he tries to lick it dry > "Daddeh sowwy! Suu sowwy! Nuu mean huwties! Bebbeh good! Nuu bad! Sowwy bebbeh! Daddeh sowwy!" > The mother pushes her husband into the puddle as she grabs her injured and soaked foal > "BAD DADDEH HUWT BEBBEHS! BEBBEHS NUU BAD! GUU WAY BAD FWUFFY! WOWSY NUU WUV DOO!" > Rosy cries as she clutches her bleeding chirping foal staining her chest > Buzzy cries and a fat dribble of snot flows down his face > "Nuu-huuu-nuuu-hhhh-uuu-hhh--hhhh huuuuu huuuu huuuu Bu-hhh-uuu-hhhh-uuuuzzzeeee hhhuuuu- sowwwyyy..." > Tail tucked he trudges out of the burrow head down and crying > Crying herself the mare licks the bleeding foals nose clean and begins to dry her foal once more > A similar scene plays out in many burrows > Some foals aren't as lucky getting colds, drowning, and being beaten by irritable adults > As technicolored blobs slowly struggle through a wet meadow several gray figures watch on from beneath the tree > "Gway point... de wawa... sky wawa cwy suu much... tuu much wawa... gway wingie... mebbeh tuu saddies..." > The gray fluff debate ritual and try to decide what to do > "Pointeh knuu... suu wet... fwuffies aww cowd an saddies..." > Point thinks hard > The zippy bugs and birds are all gone and cannot take the sky good nummies > Perhaps, if they go to the high rock they can give the sky nummies themselves? > "Sky saddies... sky cwy wawa... make sky happeh? YES! Make sky happeh!" > The old gray fluff nod in agreement as they move to the largest burrow holding the herd's food supply > Inside a large collection of roots sits dozens of leaves covered with various stages of fermenting berries > Other foods for ritual are also here; nuts, blue berries, edible red flowers from pointy stems, among others > As emotionally unstable stallions graze outside distraught mares cry for foals, colts, and fillies > "*cough* *Cough* Muuhhmuuuhh... bebbbbeehhh tuuuummmehhhh huwwwwtttt.... *cough* Nuuu... feww pwetteh..." > The mare clutches her diseased child who slowly but steadily poops tiny dribbles from minute to minute > "Dun wowwy bebbeh, bad poopies otay, haff sikkies, juss feww bettah, nuu wowwy bou bad poopi...*Cough*" > With many stallions kicked out of their burrows over the next day between light and heavy rains they huddle in a pile > Crying and complaining about, "meanie mummahs" "dummy sky" and "Tuu much wawa" > Many have sikkies themselves and spread it quickly through the herd > Then they see the old gray fluff carrying leaf after leaf of their precious silly nummies out to the field of water > "What gway fwuff doin? Make wawa nuu saddies?" > The gray fluff struggle even more than their young counterparts in the watery field > Trying to keep the leaves afloat and in their teeth proves more difficult than expected > Before he can gasp for help an old pegasus accidentally steps in a hole now filled with water > Already totally submerged the other gray fluff don't notice a sudden disappearance > Swallowed up by the water > They soldier on heading to the edge of the clearing where a large stone juts out from the ground > It is only five feet high at the tip but is climbable > The highest point fluffies can reach on their own > Closest to the sky > But, before they can arrive they are blown apart slowly but steadily from one another > With leaves abandoned the silly nummies are lost and now the old nearly blind fluffies cannot see the tree or rock > They're lost in a sea of water with no help in sight > Totally alone and weak from treading water only two eventually return to the tree > Point and his oldest surviving friend an earth pony with a faded green and brown body named bark > "Wha happen tuu offa gway fwuffies?" > The stallions are eager for news and hopeful that the sky is made happy > "F.. fwuffies nuu get nummies tuu sky... tuu much wawa... gway fwuffies gowne... onwy point an bawk weft..." > The stallions are saddened by the loss of old parents and elders crying and hugging > But, around a third are enraged > "YUU DUMMY FWUFFIES WET SIWWY NUMMIES GUU?! SKY HAFF MOW SADDIES FOW GWAY FWUFFY FWIEND! NEFFA STAWP CWYIN!" > Through tears and blind rage they begin to beat their old earth pony father who is too weak to fight back > Shock causes the other stallions to run for their old burrows > He dies quietly surrounded by screams and tears > Then they turn on Point > "YUU DID DISS! SKY SUUUU SADDIES IT NEFFA STAWP CWYIN! BAD FWUFFY! BAD FWUFFY GET HUWTIES!" > Barely managing to escape Point makes his way into the heart of the tree > Behind the food storage is a bark wall which he pushes aside > Pulling it back he sits in a tiny room surrounded by darkness and cries for vengeance > Raiding the store room the stallions eat their fill of the remaining silly nummies and tribute food > They're the tastiest things they've ever eaten > "Dummy fwuffies hide guud nummies fwom hewd! Nuu need dummy fwuffies! Dis Smawties hewd now!" > A blue and black unicorn declares himself smarty > This doesn't last long > Soon several unicorns are fighting and killing in a drunken fury over leadership > Even a few pegasus and earth fluffies join the fight > Stallions who stumbled out of the tree find mares and foals in burrows > Too drunk to remember or care for their former herd they brutally mount mares and fillies alike > Fathers desperately fight off their drunken former friends > Several are too weak or give up the defense > Soon the herd is in full panic mode > A thick field of water around their home traps them with the enraged, drunk, and violent stallions > For nearly two hours the once peaceful and happy herd is practically drowned in an orgy of violence and sex > Soon, stallions are sick and begin vomiting as mares mewl for lost or wounded children comforted by wounded husbands > All around the tree tired, upset, wet, and injured fluffies cry out for help > This is when the old gray fluff emerges > In his mouth he drags a leaf full of small purple berries > Going to each of the sick fluffies he gives a berry > "Dese nummies make huwties guu way..." > The injured and greedy fluffies gobble up the berries he supplies > "Yuu giff mow ulk.. nummies tuu smawty! Nee nummi..e...s......" > One by one they slump over > Dead > Too concerned with their own injuries the stallions don't notice the fate of their friends and rivals > Fathers and mothers watch on in horror as their old kind elder sews quiet death on the bad fluffies > During this grim display the herd doesn't even notice the sun emerge > Too entranced by their oldest daddy > Angrier than they have ever seen him