“It's time for bed, you guys.”
>Oh, they hate this part.
>They know you're going home for the night.
>They know they will be alone.
>Starlight takes this the hardest of all, so she goes into her cage first.
>”Nuuuuu, no weave 'gain!  Stawigh' no wike wonwey!”
>You make sure she's got her little blue stuffed bunny rabbit before setting her inside.
“I'll be back tomorrow, it's okay.”
>Nimbus goes in next.  She's sad, but resigned to the whole process.
>Strawberry, one of the red earth ponies, comes after Nimbus.
>She likes to have a ball with her to nose around, in case she wakes up.
>Felix goes in his cage after Strawberry.
>”Fewiss miss nice hooman...”
>You tousle his mane a bit.
>Athena, a dusty grey pegasus mare, is next.
>She likes to have a little bowl of grain to snack on overnight.
>Zeus, a big yellow unicorn, wants a hug before he goes in, not unlike most of the other fluffies.
>He goes, crying, into the cage next to Athena.
>They came from the same house, and are inseparable.
>Mandy gets pooped before he goes into the cage.
>You have to squeeze him firmly, and he always lets out a heartbreaking squeak because he didn't develop enough to know the word 'owwies'.
>You linger a bit on the thought of putting him down.
>He'll never be normal.
>What kind of existence are you giving him?
>You dismiss it.  Every fluffy deserves a chance...right?
>Grab a tissue, move on.
>A young peach earth fluffy mare named Mango is hiding behind Slate.
>She's not really scared of being alone, she's nervous because so many of the others are.
>”Why fwiends scawed?” she asks.
“They're okay.”
>Fluffy, a plum-colored unicorn mare, is next to be put up.
>Yes, her name is Fluffy.  She was reset so many times, a given name won't stick anymore.
>A patch of her forehead is bare; the skin is too scarred to let fluff grow.
>Nutmeg is next, a rich brown earth fluffy with a great personality.
>Until it gets dark, when she freaks the absolute hell out.
>Her owner would leave her in an unlit room for days on end as punishment.
>Get another tissue.
>You continue putting them into cages, giving out hugs and assurances that you'll be back tomorrow.
>The king and queen of your herd, Slate and Flame, go in last.
>”See nice hooman when shiny come 'gain.  Fwuffies be good, ge' sweepies.”
>Big hug for Slate.  It must kill him to see you leave every night, but he never shows it.
>He is always strong for his herd.
>Flame is still jittery about the fluffy 'munsta'.
>If you had been thrown out and replaced by one, you would be too.
>All the fluffies are in their cages.
>You step back and look.
>Starlight begs you to take her home.
>Flame is trying to hide in her blanket.
>Athena and Zeus wail about being apart.
>Mandy is stuck on his back, unable to get in his bed.  His little legs flail wildly.
>No actual words come from his mouth, just a fearful “Woooohaaa!  Wuffa hoogie wibba!”
>You open the door and put him in his bed.
>One more look around.
>Fluffy stares blankly into space.
>Nutmeg is sobbing, begging the 'scawy dawk' to go away.
>All the worst that humanity has to offer, in convenient fluffy packages.
>Your soul gets crushed just a little bit more.
>Push it aside.  Gotta smile for the nightly speech!
“Okay, be good fluffies until I get back tomorrow!”
>”No weeeeeeeeeeave!” Starlight sobs.
“I'll be back, Starlight, don't cry.”
>”Stawigh' sowwy, pwease no weave, no wan' wonwey!”
>Another tissue.
>You'd take them all home in a heartbeat...if your apartment allowed pets.
“Be strong.  I'll be back, I promise.”
>Lots of sniffling and sad faces.
>It's not going to get any easier, so you grab your keys and lock up.
>One last wave through the windows before you drive off.
>...and a big sigh.
------
>Something is wrong.
>Wake up!
>You startle to consciousness, shaking your head until your grey mane is out of your eyes.
>Something doesn't smell pretty.
>You check your blue fluff to see if you made bad poopies.
>Wasn't you, so you start looking around.
>The smell is coming from the cage next door...which is Flame's.
“Fwame, why make bad poopies?”
>She is utterly terrified, having crammed herself in the farthest corner of her cage.
>”Fwuffy munsta hewe, see munsta, nice hooman no wuv Fwame anymo'...”
>You enter alert mode, standing up and looking around for the enemy.
>You don't see anything, however.
“Swate no see munsta.  No be scawed.”
>Flame isn't listening.  She's staring at a shadow on the far wall, made by the night shinies outside.
>”Pwease wuv Fwame, Fwame is good fwuffy, no haf babehs anymo'...”
>You're confused about Flame's behavior.
“Swate no see munsta, no be scawed.  Ge' sweepies.”
>All the other fluffies around you are doing that.  They wouldn't be if a monster were really here.
>The shadow moves because a vroom box comes by.
>It doesn't scare you, but Flame hides and whimpers.  She also makes more bad poopies.
“Fwame, no be scawed!”
>”Fwame sowwy, Fwame sowwy, no mean make bad poopies, no mean be bad fwuffy, pwease wuv,” she sniffles.
“Fwame no bad fwuffy...”
>She's not listening, and you're really sleepy.
>Your eyes close, even though you're worried.
>Flame will be okay, she's a smart fluffy like you.  She'll understand that a monster isn't really here.
>Time for sleepies.
>The next time your eyes open, the big shiny thing is back.  Everything is bright.  All the shadows are gone.
>You nod approvingly.
>As usual, you are the first fluffy to wake up.
>You turn to Flame's cage.
“See, no muns-”
>Flame is looking right at you, but something is wrong with her eyes.
>She looks bad.  You can't really express it, but the way she's lying on her side terrifies you.
>Bad poopies fill her cage.
“Fw-fwame?  Fwame sweepin'?  Fwame no feew good?”
>It takes you ages to attach a word to what you see.
>When the meaning strikes, you feel weak and wobbly and scared.
>Flame is dead.  This is death.
>You begin pounding on your cage door weakly.
>Your voice is barely above a wheeze.
“Pwease hewp Fwame, Fwame nee' huggies, Fwame nee' nice hooman...”
>An eternity passes before you finally see nice human's vroom box arrive.
>She'll fix Flame.  She can fix everything.
------
>You arrive bright and early, ready to...
>You're stopped cold when you get to the door.
>You see Slate scratching at his cage door frantically.
>Flame's cage is full of crap, and she looks kinda...
>Oh no.
>You quickly walk in, waving the smell away from your nose.
>Gotta be quiet, can't let any of the others see this.
>”Pwease hewp Fwame, Fwame haf owwies, Fwame nee' huggies,” Slate whimpers.
>She's beyond hugging now.
“Slate, what happened?”
>”Say see fwuffy munsta, scawed, make scawed poopies, no wissen Swate when say no munsta...”
>She terrified herself to death, thinking she saw an alicorn.
>Damn it!
>You very quietly remove the body and clean out the cage.
>Just as you get done, the others begin waking up.
>You go about the breakfast routine and put everyone in the big play pen.
>It only hits them then.
>Nimbus blinks, looking around.  ”Whewe fwiend Fwame?  Why Swate cwy?”
>Starlight blinks, waddling around the pen.  “Fwame!  Fwame nee' nummies!  Whewe is?”
>After half an hour, she cries for you.  “Mommy, no wike dis game!  Wan' fwiend back!”
>You really don't know what to tell them.
>The tears probably tell the story well enough, anyway.