>When you come in the next morning, nothing seems out of sorts.
>Starlight is snuggled very closely to Slate.
>Fluffy is in her bed, and Mandy is on his back as usual.
>Huh, the cage is awfully clean.
>He didn't eat too much yesterday, anyway.  At least you won't have to clean it out.
>You set your bag on the front desk and head over to wake everyone up.
>”Mommy back!”
>You give Starlight a hug as you take her out and set her in the pen.
“Yes, mommy's back.”
>She runs in wobbly rings, chanting 'yay mommy!'.
>Slate yawns as you take him out next.
>”Nice hooman fin' new fwiends?”
“I'm afraid not.”
>You probably should have gotten up a bit earlier, you might have been able to find a couple.
>The four times you woke up after dreaming about a Felix sandwich thwarted you.
>You check on Mandy next.
>His eyes are halfway open, as is his mouth.
>This is his usual waking up look, so you leave him for a moment to retrieve Fluffy.
>Once she's in the pen, you go back to get Mandy.
>...something's not right.  His eyes are all the way open now, but look in different directions.
>His left foreleg twitches every so often.
“Mandy?”
>He might be as slow as a quadraplegic snail, but he still knows his name.  Most of the time.
>It gets no response out of him, however.
>You look more closely.  He's still breathing.
>Very carefully, you scoop him out and carry him over to the desktop.
“Fluffy, what happened to Mandy?”
>She climbs out of the litter box and looks up at you.
>”Make funny noisies.  Bouncy.”
>You spend a moment to translate that into English.
>That sounds an awful lot like a seizure.
>You look at Mandy again.
>He's still twitching a bit.  Drool trickles down his cheek fluff.
>”Fwiend okay?” Starlight asks.
“I'm...I'm not sure.”
>You wave your index finger above his face.  A healthy fluffy would track it, usually while asking 'wha doin'?'
>Mandy's eyes don't even budge.
>Even his blinks are incredibly slow.
>It's finally happened.  His brain is broken.
>”Wan' pway wif fwiend!  Pwease gif!” Starlight calls.
>Mandy is in no state for that, of course.
>You have to get him to the vet...
>No, you already know what she'll say.
>You may as well do this yourself.
>”Mommy?  Wha' doin'?  Why no gif fwiend?”
>You look over at the pen.  Starlight is plopped on her rear, gazing at you, while Slate stands beside her.
“Mandy doesn't feel well.”
>”Sickies?” she tilts her head.
“Um...yes!  You could say that.”
>”Gif huggies!  Huggies make betta!”
>...maybe they could.  Maybe she could suffocate him for you by accident.
>Damn it, how could you think that?!
“I don't think huggies will help, sweetie.”
>”Gif nummies?” Slate offers.
>You just shake your head, too busy thinking about how to get this over with.
>It has to be quick.  He deserves that.
>No leaving him outside to fry on the sidewalk.
>No letting him starve to death either.
>The least horrible option is to take him and break his neck.
>Picturing this brings out the tears.
>”Nuuuuuuuu!  Why mommy cwy?!”
“I'll be right b-back...”
>It takes so much effort to choke out the words.
>You gently pick Mandy up and go to the door in the back right corner.
>This is a storage closet, the only place in the building that's out of sight of the play pen.
>You can hear Starlight calling fearfully as you shut the door.
>You never go back here with a fluffy pony.  She knows something is wrong.
>After you turn on the light, you set Mandy down on an empty shelf.
>The cold metal makes him twitch a little more violently.
>Even though you know he's mentally checked out, you can't help but think his derped eyes look a little fearful.
>That's probably the fault of the part of you that's already regretting this.
>You pick him up again.
>You finally have to admit that you have no idea how to do this.
>Unlike your unstable cousin, you tend to shy away from murdering living creatures.
>You wrap your left hand around his neck.
>Too hard; he poops a little.  Now he's shaking.
>He can't be in pain, he was barely responsive!
>Suddenly, he emits a broken, high-pitched squeak.
>It startles you, and you drop him.  Little cracks ring out as he strikes the tile floor.
“N-no, that's not what I meant to do!”
>His eyes are still looking in different directions, but his body twitches furiously.
>The squeaks.  Oh god, the squeaks.
>Frantic, you pick him up off the floor.  His blood gets onto your hands.
>He's wiggling, and now the blood's making him slippery.
“Mandy, stop!”
>Why would he stop?  He's in terrible pain and it's your fault.
>He slips out of your hands and drops again, landing with more faint snaps.
>The chirping shifts from tinny and fearful to weak and pained.
>After a few agonizing seconds, you're just desperate to stop the noise.
>You kneel and punch him.  Right in the head.  He squeaks loudly one more time, then falls still.
>Now you have to shove down your emotions, and get him into the trash can by the sinks without Starlight or Slate seeing the body.
>You gather up his bloody corpse and shoulder open the door.
>”Mommy back!  Bwing fwiend too?”
>You dare not turn and look at them.  You just walk sideways along the wall until you reach the can, then drop Mandy in.
>Damn it, some of his blood got on your white shirt.
>”Nice hooman haf fwiend?  Whewe fwiend go?”
>You wash the crimson off your hands, but there's no towel over here.
>Without thinking, you turn to walk back to the desk.
>Starlight sees it immediately.  ”D-dat boo-boo juice?”
“No!  It's...uh...it's cranberry juice!”
>Slate stares at you for what seems like an eternity.
>”Whewe fwiend go?” he asks again.
>Curse that fuzzy blue ball.
>When you don't immediately answer, Starlight has enough time to piece it together.
>”M-mommy huwt fwiend?  Why mommy huwt fwiend?”
>You walk toward the pen, but before you can even try to explain, Starlight is backing away from you.
>”No huwt Stawigh'!  Stawigh' good fwuffy, no huwt!”
>Slate positions himself between her and you.
>”Why huwt fwiend, nice hooman?  Why make fwiend go 'way?”
“I didn't have a choice!”
>”Nice hooman neva huwt fwuffy, a'ways say fwuffies good, no get owwies!”
“Mandy was sick, he was in pain, I had to...I had to...”
>You sit on the floor by the pen.  Starlight scrambles to the farthest corner.
>Slate eyes you for a minute, then follows her.
>They're never going to understand this.
“I'm not going to hurt you, don't run...”
>”No suwe.  Hooman make fwiend go 'way.”
“Slate, I had to!”
>He cuddles with Starlight, who's now crying and trying to 'hide'.  His eyes never leave you.
>Fluffy, as usual, may as well be on another planet.  She doesn't even acknowledge the noise.
>You don't know what else to say, so you get up and go find a tissue.
>You glance up at the clock.  It's not even ten thirty.
>This day sure got ruined fast.