> You are Maroon.
> And your horn is dripping with booboo juice.
> You and your herd rushed through the shiny entrance, and plopped onto a floor filled with short, soft, red grassies, in a small room.
> There was doorway leading out on he otherside.
> You ran through it, leading your fluffies.
> And there you saw it, in all its glory.
> The Rink. Giant. Magnificent. Able to be home to many, many fluffies. Able to keep fluffies nice and warm throughout snow time.
> Small holes were high above in the ceiling, and you could see starlight through them.
> The red grassies gave way to hard, grey stone. Not quite the same as the metal monster path, but similar.
> You turned your head to the right, and saw The Rink Herd, waiting for you, cheeks puffed out, hoofs stomping.
> You felt the head hurties, and you ran at them. You ran as fast as you could towards them, and they ran as fast as they could towards you…
> …and you buried your horn into the face of some stupid earthie. He let out a yelp before stumbling back into his friends.
> Your own herd, the Best Herd, was right behind you, and they too smashed into the other herd, and began the owwies.
> Fluffies biting, bucking, and butting.
> You use your horn like you’ve never used it before.
> You put holes in the bellies, heads and eyes of fluffies.
> But the head hurties and the pain in your leg is distracting.
> You can taste booboo juice, but you don’t know if it’s yours or some other fluffy’s.
> Every fluffy on both sides cry out, some in pain and fear, some in absolute rage, promising biggest owwies to each other.
> Taunts are exchanged: “Sooty giv dumb fwuffy’s mumma speciaw huggies in poopie place!”, “nu, gon giv Sooty’s babbehs owwies wiv Snowbaww’s speciaw thing!”
> The smell of poopies, peepee and booboo juice is almost overwhelming.
> These fluffies are weak. They will all sleep forever.
> You feel confident of this, until you look to your side and see something you didn’t expect…
 
----------
 
> You are Winter, the white unicorn smarty with a gray mane.
> You’re standing on the gray stairs, with another group of your fluffies, watching the fight unfold.
> You would join in owwie-giving yourself, but you need to stay up here for the moment.
> You look out across the giant pile of owwie-giving fluffies, at a small corner in The Rink.
> To one side of The Red Room, there is a small cubby. A group of your fluffies lead by Stone are hiding there, very quiet.
> This is a sneaky trick you’ve done to other invading herds. Dummy Maroon isn’t the first to try to take your home away from you and your herd.
> As soon as you make sparks with your horn, Stone will lead the fluffies out of hiding, and give the stupid herd biggest owwies from behind.
> It’s so funny to see stupid herds get surprised.
> Cookie is with you, biting his lip and watching.
> “sneaky twick now?” he asks.
> “Nu, not yet…”
> You wait until your fluffies give way just a bit. Make the dumb herd think they’re winning.
> You’re hungry. Your whole herd is hungry. You didn’t get your nummies.
> Dummy herd disrupted your plans. You were hoping for chippies.
> You had to get up infront of your whole herd, tell them that the Dummy Herd were bad fluffies, that they took all the good nummies, and that you were going to play the sneaky trick on them.
> Stupid Maroon.
> You see your chance.
> You smile, and spark your horn up.
> Stone smiles back as he and his group emerge from the cranny…
>…and smashes right into the side of the unsuspecting Dummy Herd.
> Maybe if Dummy Maroon hasn’t gone to sleep forever after this, you’ll give him owwies yourself. Bite his special thing off, make sorry poopies on him while you and the rest of your herd laugh at him and buck him until he sleeps forever.
> That would show him.
 
----------
 
> You are Sweetie, the white Pegasus mumma with a pink mane.
> And you’re being a bad fluffy.
> Your only baby, an earth filly with a white mane and a yellow coat, was whing and crying for milk.
> But you didn’t have any nummies, so you have no milk.
> Winter told all the mares with babies to go into the Sleepy Room and wait until the stallions and mares without babies gave Dummy herd biggest owwies and drove them off.
> But you and your baby were so hungry, so you snuck out.
> You turned down the hall to where the Nummie Room is. It’s where Winter sometimes puts nummies and foodies he wants to save.
> You know Winter would give you owwies if he found out, but your baby…
> “mumma, tummy owwies.” She whines.
> “Shh, babbeh. Nu make noise. Get foodies, hav miwk”
> It’s kind of dark, and a little scary.
> But you press on.
> For your baby.
 
----------
 
> You are Maroon, and you’re hurting.
> You were giving biggest owwies to the stupid Rink Herd fluffies, when another group of bad fluffies came up from the side and smashed into your herd.
> You went stumbling back, you shifted too much weight on your sore leg and fell over.
> It took you a few moments to figure out what happened and what’s going on.
> A trap.
> You look around for Scout, but he’s not around.
> Which means Stompy won’t know to come in.
> This is bad.
> You get up, booboo juice pouring from your sniffer, before you get bucked, hard, and hit the ground again.
> You want to cry “Owwies!” but instead bite your lip.
> You look up just in time.
> “STONE GUN SQUISH YOO!”
> You roll out of the way as a massive hoof slams down on the floor next to you.
> You scramble to your feet, and look towards this new enemy.
> He is the biggest wingie you’ve every seen. Bigger than Thor. He’s the colour of the metal monster path, and he looks mean.
> You feel a feeling you haven’t felt in a long time when he turns to you, his big teeth bared.
> Fear.
> You bare your teeth in turn.
> “STONE GUN MAKE DUMMY FWUFFY SWEEP FOWEVEW!”
> You pounce at him, hoping to grab hold of one of his wings. Wingies always have big hurties when they break.
> But he’s too fast. How can such a large fluffy be so fast?!
> He leaps sideways, and bucks you again, and again, you fall. But this time, you also slide across the floor.
> All around, your herd is panicking. Most are still giving owwies, though some are making fear peepees, and a few try to run away but are made to sleep forever as they are pulled down and trampled.
> You’re having a hard time breathing, and you’re struggling not to close your eyes and take a nap.
 
----------
 
> You’re Jelly.
> And you’re frustrated.
> Your happy thing is so hard it hurts.
> Even when giving owwies to the other, dumb fluffies, it doesn’t stop hurting.
> You wanted to give Poppy special huggies, but Smarty Maroon said no.
> Why did he say no?
> That was mean.
> You step on a stupid stallion’s throat and push down as hard as you can until he lays still.
> There seems to be a lot more of the Rink Herd’s fluffies around than before, but you were on the outside the Big Owwie pile, so you don’t know for sure.
> You’ve never been good at counting.
> As the stupid stallion sleeps forever, you look around.
> And you see a white wingie mare with a pink mane sneaking down a long tunnel-thing.
> You catch sight of her peepee place, and the throbbing in your happy thing comes back.
> You even feel a small bit of the good feel.
> So, you trot off towards her. Trying to be really quiet. You look over your shoulder often to make sure no fluffy sees you.
> They’re all too busy giving owwies.
> As you get closer, you realize the pretty mare has a baby riding on her back.
> It’s a filly!
> “mumma hungwy!” the filly whines
> “Shh, babbeh!”
> The filly also looks good.
> They turn the corner, and you follow them.
> The mare stops for a moment and sniffs the air.
> “was dat?”
> “Yoo pwetty…” you whisper, which causes her to squeak and turn around. The foal cries a little.
> “f…fwend?” she stutters.
> You can’t stand it anymore.
> You pounce.
 
----------
 
> You are Sparks.
> And you are safe with Cuddles and Scout. You led them away from the owwie pile as soon as you could.
> Scout complained as you led him down the hall, saying he wanted to give owwies to the dummy herd.
> You sat down in a little alcove and huddled together with Cuddles and Scout.
> “why nu go back and huwt dumb hewd?” Scout said.
> You stare at him. He’s making you angry, and doesn’t understand.
> “cuz Spawks teww Tor he take cawe of yoo, Bwownie and Sunny.”
> “but wan giv owwies! Wan be guud fwuffy!”
> “yoo awweady guud fwuffy” Cuddles says.
> You told Cuddles about what really happened down at Little River while Maroon had the big head hurties and slept for a long time.
> “but…” Scout begins. He seems confused. “but aww guud fwuffies obey smawty fwend Mawoon…?”
> You look at Cuddles. She looks back.
> “Mawoon is best smawty, of Best Hewd. Aww fwuffies in Best Hewd guud fwuffies!”
> He isn’t understanding.
> You don’t know how you can ever explain to him what they did to you and other fluffies. You don’t know how to explain to him how bad they really are.
> “Enf…”
> What was that?
> You cock your head to the side and listen carefully.
> “Spawks?” Cuddles asks.
> “Shh!”
> This time, you hear something else, beyond the din of fluffies giving each other owwies.
> “Nu, pwease…”
> You get up and walk around the corner, following the sound.
> Cuddles and Scout follow, apprehensive.
> “enf…enf…”
> “babbeh!”
> You know that sound. It makes your stomach hurt to hear it.
> Oh no.
> You dash down the hall.
> “Spawks, wait fow Scout!” you hear Scout say.
> You rush around the next corner and freeze.
> A white Pegasus mare with a pink mane lies on the ground. Each of her legs are bent in horrifying ways. A pool of booboo juice seeps out from around her. He peepee place is also leaking booboo juice, and has what looks like naughty milk dripping from it.
> “pwease, nu giv babbeh speciaw huggies! Too wittle!” she cries, her voice strained as she tries to move about. “why weggies no wowk!?”
> Jelly is on top of a young filly, giving her bad special hugs. It whines and mewls in pain. Jelly has a smile on his face and his eyes are closed.
> With every forceful thrust, booboo juice flies from the filly’s mouth. Like her mother, booboo juice pools around her, thick and dark.
> Cuddles and Scout join you mere seconds after you freeze.
> You get dizzy as memories com flooding back: Stompy giving the earthie biggest owwies. “Yoo shouwd have nevew come hewe” he said.
> The wingie Tangles and Jelly took turns giving bad special hugs to.
> The two foals you were forced to make sleep forever.
> You feel sick, but it goes away rapidly. The back of your head starts to burn.
> No more.
> “NU MOWE!”
> Your horn sparks, and you run headlong into Jelly.
> “NU MOWE HUWT BABBEHS!”
> You barrel over him, pinning him down with your front hoofs.
> His naughty milk splashes on your belly, but you don’t care.
> “owwie! Why Spawks huwt-“
> You jam your sparking horn down his throat. He gurgles and thrashes, trying to get free.
> You haven’t felt this angry since…
>…never. You’ve never felt this angry before.
> When Jelly finally stops moving, you climb off of him, panting.
> You look over to Scout and Cuddles. They seem shocked and sad.
> The mare is still crying. The baby lies very still.
> Your eyes begin to sting as you approach the mare, lay down next to her, heedless of the booboo juice, and hug her.
> As you do so, you look into Scout’s eyes.
> He understands now.
> The three of you would hug this mare, and love her, until she slept forever.
 
 
----------
 
> You are Queenie, the purple unicorn mare with a black mane.
> And you stick your head out of the Sleepy Room, heedless of the other mares annoying protesting.
> What dummies.
> You look at Winter. He’s simply watching the owwie pile.
> You don’t like him.
> You were his favorite mare before Poppy came along.
> You even had a baby for him. But it was a stupid baby. Didn’t smell right.
> Then, he gave you to Stone.
> You don’t like Stone either. Every time he gives special hugs, it hurts to breathe. He crushes you, and his happy thing hurts your peepee place.
> When you didn’t give him babies, he gave you owwies.
> Your gaze shifts to the owwie pile.
> There you see Stone. You scowl.
> He is trying to give owwies to some dark red unicorn.
> The unicorn is stained with booboo juice. You think. It’s hard to tell.
> His right eye is swollen shut, black and blue.
> He seems to be trying to keep his distance from Stone, but he’s not running.
> Stone keeps trying to swipe at him, to buck him, to bite him, but this unicorn keeps rushing and scrambling out of the way.
> “STONE GUN SQUISH DUMMY MAWOON!” you hear Stone bellow.
> Maroon. The unicorn’s name is Maroon.
> You watch them both.
> Stone smacks Maroon hard across the sniffer with his mighty hoof, causing Maroon to hit the ground and roll.
> Maroon spits out a few of his teeth before staggering to his feet.
> Stone advances on him quickly and tries to buck him with his back legs.
> Maroon sees this coming and jumps to his side.
> Then he butts Stone’s left front leg with his head.
> “OWWIES!” Stone roars.
> When Stone turns to face him, you see that Stone’s leg is leaking booboo juice.
>…how did he do that?
> Stone advances again, and tries to step on Maroon with his good front leg.
> Maroon quickly hops to the side, but is unbalanced by Stone’s wing rapidly flapping in his face.
> Before staggering away, you see Maroon bite at the air, looking to grab ahold of Stone’s exposed wing.
> Maroon recovers, his face twisted in pain, whereas Stone only seems mad.
> “YOO HUWT WEGGIE!” Stone yells.
> He rushes Maroon, and tries to bring his good hoof down in his head.
> He hits Maroon’s horn instead, which causes him to retract his hoof, shaking it. Booboo juice leaks from it.
> Maroon’s horn must be sharp!
> Stone seems to wobble a little bit.
> “Mawoon huwt mowe den weggie, weak wingie!” Maroon says as he runs a little ways away from Stone, smiling despite having big owwies.
> “STONE STWONGEW DEN YOO! WAAAUUGH!”
> Stone rushes towards Maroon, his stride uneven, and jumps at Maroon.
> Maroon ducks, and brings his horn up, which goes directly through Stone’s left back leg.
> Stone hits the ground and rolls on his side, his back facing Maroon.
> Stone cries “WHY WEGGIES NO WOWK!?” as he flails around
> Maroon rushes Stone, his horn leading the way.
> And drives the horn into the top of Stone’s head.
> Stone shivers, makes peepee, then lies still as Maroon struggles, twists, turns, and pulls himself free.
> Booboo juice and pink head ickies cover his horn. He staggers back a bit before looking towards the owwie pile.
> You don’t feel sad that Stone is sleeping forever. The sight of Maroon giving him biggest owwies doesn’t scare you either.
> However, you find yourself drooling, and your peepee place feels tingly.
 
----------
 
> You’re Stompy.
> And you can’t stand it anymore.
> You hear them through the hole: fluffies giving and getting owwies, begging for no hurties. It’s driving you crazy!
> You even think you can smell booboo juice.
> You stomp your hoofs.
> “dat’s it! Dat’s it! Stompy gun go in and stomp! Dun cawe wat Mawoon say!”
> You turn to the group of fluffies with you.
> “WE GO IN! ANY FWUFFY WHO NOT WISTEN GET BIGGEST OWWIES FWOM STOMPY!”
> They start scrambling forward into the hole.
> But then a thought occurs to you, what if some of The Rink herd escape?
> “Nemo” you say. Nemo stops and looks at you.
> “Wat?”
> “Yoo stay hewe. Dun wet any Wink hewd get away!”
> Before he can say anything, you dash into the hole yourself.
> You are going to stomp.
 
----------
 
> You are Winter, and you are pleased. Smarty Julius taught you well.
> The owwie pile is shrinking. Your herd is winning.
> Poppy was worth this.
> As much as you liked Poppy, there are always other mares. Any mare, infact.
> Prettier mares. You keep your herd well fed and safe, so you can do whatever you want. It’s one of the good things about being a smarty.
> You still love your herd, and would do anything to help them, however. Special hugs with any fluffy is just a bonus.
> “Wintew, wook!” Cookie says, pointing his hoof to the otherside of The Rink.
> Another group of fluffies has emerged. All unicorns. They’re advancing slowly but surely. They seem to have come from the other hole.
> You feel a slight cramp in your stomach. You weren’t expecting this.
> “Cookie. Go to Sweepy Woom. Get aww mawes and babbehs.”
> “wat?”
> “Wintew wead dem away to Poopie and Wawa Woom. Yoo be sneaky and sneak awound dem.”
> You look at him. “Do dis. Go to Dawk Fowest. If Wintew no come after two dawk times, yoo nevew come back to Wink”
> Before he can respond, you turn around to your own group of fluffies.
> “fowwow Wintew!” you shout and scramble down the gray steps.
> You rush towards the newcomers. Leading them is a smaller unicorn with green fluffy and a blue mane. He looks mean.
> “Aha! Stompy see yoo, dummy fwuffies!” he bellows.
> “Stompy eats hooman poppies!” you shout at him. You come close to the Hall leading to the Water Room and Poopie Room.
> “Fowwow Wintew, stoopid Stompy!”
> Stompy smiles. It’s unsettling
> “Dat dummy hewd’s Smawty Fwend!” he says to his group, who all begin stomping their little hoofs and puffing out their cheeks. “Stompy gun wuv dis!”
> You run up the hall, your fluffies, and Stompy’s fluffies, following you.
> As soon as you come near the end of the hall, you turn around and face the oncoming dummy fluffies.
> You puff out your cheeks and spark your horn. This is it.
 
----------
 
> You are Cookie, and you’re at the Sleepy Room.
> You cry out at the various shivering mares and babies: “aww mummas and babies, fowwow Cookie!”
> Most of them make their way toward you.
> Except Queenie, who lays in a corner to the left of the door.
> “c’mon Queenie! Need go!”
> She gets up, comes over to you, and shouts right in your face: “NU! GUN STAY!”
> You fear peepee a little.
> “But Wintew says mummas and babbehs aww fowwow Cookie”
> “Wintew stoopid” she snorts. “Am not even mumma, and Wintew put me hewe so Stone giv owwies”
> Most of the mares are out now, waiting for you.
> “But dat Smawty idea” you protest.
> Then you smell something. It’s the smell that mares have when they want special hugs. It takes you a moment to realize it’s Queenie.
> She bucks you lightly, which startles you.
> “Stoopid Cookie weave! Weave ow get big owwies!”
> You know that you have little time, so you leave, leading the mares and babies away from the Sleepy Room and to the hole.
> Outside the hole there is a single green fluffy unicorn with a dark blue mane.
> “Y-yoo not awwowed to go!” he stammers.
> You bite his ear
> “owwies!”
> Then another mare bites him.
> And another.
> And yet another, until he’s sleeps forever.
> A few of the babies and foals cry at the sight.
> But you don’t have time to wait around.
> You push on, looking back at The Rink one more time before you continue your journey to Dark Forest.
 
----------
 
> You are Winter. You and your group are outnumbered.
> And this smaller unicorn named Stompy is really tough.
> And nimble. He keeps jumping out of the way when you try to buck him.
> When you do get a solid hit in, he smiles.
> You even bucked him in the face. His nose leaked booboo juice, but he simply smiled and tried to bite your ear.
> “Stompy gunna stomp yoo!” he says. “gun eat out Wintews peepews, and go peepee in da howes!”
> You’ve never met a fluffy like this before. Most don’t smile at owwies.
> You duck and weave past him as he bucks and stomps.
> You lash out with your own leg…
>…and then you feel enormous pressure and pain, followed a loud *CRUNCH*
> You let out a scream. Stompy laughs, a sick, rasping sound. Like high-pitched gurgling.
> Your leg hurts. You look done and see a white thing sticking out of it. Booboo juice dribbles out of the hole the white thing made.
> He rushes you, his mouth open.
> So, you spark your horn up and drive it into his lower jaw.
> “heheh-gak!”
> He stumbles backwards, and you press in on him, using your larger size to pin him on his back when he topples over.
> You hold your horn to his lower jaw, but he keeps struggling, gurgling and growling.
> You smell burning.
> This time, you smile.
> “AAAUuuUUGH!”
> There is an impact against the side of your head, followed by a high pitched ringing noise.
> You find yourself falling. Your head hits the ground. You try to stand, but you feel a weight on your neck.
> Looking up, you see a light brown unicorn stallion holding you down.
> Where are your friends?
> You try to look around, but you can’t see much.
> As your hearing returns, you hear fluffies talking.
> Not giving owwies. Oh no…you’ve lost!
> “Peppew, wat happen to Stompy?” the brown stallion holding you down says.
> “dunno, Skippy” another voice says. A few seconds pass, you can hear various babbling, but you’re not sure where from.
> “…Stompy sweeping fowevew!”
> You can hear gasps.
> You allow yourself a tired smile.
> “wat do now?”
> “Skippy, stay hewe wiv dummy Wintew, and yoo two fwuffies. Peppew take othews and find smawty Mawoon! BOOBOO JUICE!”
> The cry is echoed before the sound of many fluffies running back down the hall steals your hearing away mometarily, yet again.
> You close your eyes.
> You hope Cookie made it out with the mothers and babies.
 
----------
 
> You are Maroon. And you’re in pain.
> Worst still, all of your group has big owwies. Some are sleeping forever.
> And you can’t get out- they’ve blocked you from reaching the shiny exit.
> Your head is pounding. You can’t see out of one eye. Your leg hurts.
> You find yourself slipping on booboo juice, poopies and peepee.
> There is no way out.
> So you buck and butt wildly in a circle, exhausted, trying to keep the dumb earthies and weak wingies at bay.
> Some don’t want to get too close: they saw what you did to stupid Stone, and are afraid.
> Others are braver fluffies, they rush in to bite and kick you. So you bite and kick and butt back.
> But it hurts. Every bit of you is sore.
> So, you decide to charge them as fast as you can.
> Which isn’t very fast.
> You plow into one earthie, causing him to stagger, before others buck your legs out from underneath you.
> You cover your eyes with your hoofs as they rain down blows on you and rip chunks of your fluff out.
> You feel nothing but hatred. You try to stand, but you’re too sore and tired.
> This is it…
> “WAAAH!”
> A cry goes out, and the owwies stop coming. You open your eyes.
> You’re surrounded by more of your herd! They’re giving the other fluffies biggest owwies!
> “FOW DA HEWD! BOOBOO JUICE!”
> Your heart starts pounding, and you rise to your feet, shaking with effort.
> Some fluffies try to give you hugs, but you shake them off.
> “nu huggies! Not now. Now owwies!”
> You turn around and join the newly formed owwie pile, though you are slow and unsteady in your movments.
> The Rink Herd gives owwies back. Big owwies.
> They’re strong, and brave until…
> “MUNSTA! MUNSTA!!!”
> Monster!? Where!?
> Then you hear a sound that makes you grin.
> “STOMP YOO! STOMP YOO AWW!!!!”
> Barreling through the owwie pile, Stompy emerges. But he’s different: his right eye is completely white, the fluff around his face is charred, and his whole lower lip hangs in shreds from his mouth, making him look like he’s always angry. His drool has booboo juice mixed in with it.
> The remaining Rink Herd scatters, as well as some of your herd when they see Stompy.
> This allows the brave ones of your herd to wrestle some of the remaining Rink fluffies to the ground and step on their necks, making them sleep forever.
> Others are given owwies until they sleep forever.
> You feel a feeling you have no words for.
> But it is the best feeling in the world.
 
----------
 
> You are Maroon, and you’re sitting down in the middle of The Rink.
> Before you is Winter, his white fluff matted with booboo juice and filth.
> His leggies don’t work anymore. He has big hurties. This makes you smile.
> “Who da dummy now, Wintew?” you ask.
> He remains silent, and stares at you, anger plain across his features.
> You get up, walk over towards him. “Yoo is”
> You then turn around and strain hard until you give him sorry poopies.
> A few of the fluffies murmur that is doesn’t smell pretty. Pepper and Stompy laugh.
> Cuddles, Scout and Sparks have also joined you. They must’ve giving lots of owwies: they’re covered in booboo juice.
> You sigh in relief before turning around to look at Winter again. He still glares at you.
> “You awe a bad fwuffy, Mawoon.” He says, voice flat.
> “Nu. Am best fwuffy.” You laugh. “Of best hewd!...and yoo…yoo are stinky, dumb fwuffy of no hewd! Hah!”
> You look at the remaining fluffies of your herd. There are still many left at The Home.
> “Stompy…make dummy fwuffy sweep fowevew”
> He grins and goes about his fun.
> As you walk away, you notice that Winter doesn’t make a sound.
> Odd. No crying, no yelps, no begging.
> You dismiss this thought when a beautiful mare you haven’t seen before walks up to you.
> “Yoo Mawoon?” she purrs.
> You feel a familiar feeling, and smell a familiar smell.
> “My name Mawoon, best smawty of Best Hewd. Who yoo?”
> “Queenie.” She slowly approaches you and nuzzles your cheek, heedless of the booboo juice staining you. “I see yoo giv soopid Stone biggest owwies. Yoo so stwong an hansum. Wet Queenie be speciaw fwend?”
> You nuzzle her back. “Yes. Come. Fowwow Mawoon”
> You’re too sore to give special hugs tonight.
> You lead her out of the hole on the other side of The Rink.
> You’re taken aback when you see Nemo sleeping forever, his fluff ripped out and bite marks covering him.
> “was dat?” Queenie asks
> “dumb fwuffy. No wowwy.”
> You breathe the fresh air, and feel something cold on your sniffer.
> A snowflake.
> Snowtime had come.
 
----------
 
(A month and a half later)
 
> You are Maroon. Best Smarty of the Best Herd.
> And you’re sitting under The Net, on a small soft thing, called “The Smarty Seat”.
> Your herd has grown strong again. Infact, just a few days ago, Queenie had two of your babies: a red unicorn colt with a black mane, which she named ‘Prince’, and a purple filly unicorn filly with a red mane, which she named ‘Princess’.
> She said you should change your name to ‘Kingie’ for some reason. But Kingie is a silly name. You are Maroon.
> Fluffies play infront of you, hug, babble and give each other special hugs. They are happy.
> Behind you, in and around The Net, however, is anything but happy. The bones of earthies, the torn off wings of wingies, and the fluff of all kinds of different fluffies surround you. A few heads, too.
> Some fluffies say it smells funny. But it smells good to you.
> A day ago, Pepper brought back a shiny thing called a ‘Ring’. Said he found it in the snow. It had a clear rock on it.
> You placed it around your horn. This way every fluffy will know you are best smarty.
> For giving you the ring, you allowed Pepper to dip his horn in the Burnie Pile which is near your low soft thing. It turned his horn gray and black.
> He was happy to become an Ash Horn.
> You only let the meanest, strongest and smartest fluffy become Ash Horns. They get best foodies, prettiest mares, best toys and all the hugs they want.
> You talked to Queenie, and she told you about something called an “Owwie Ring” that stupid Winter used to use to solve fights between fluffies. You’ve adopted this. It’s fun to watch other fluffies give each other owwies.
> You even have a few wingies and earthies in your herd now.
> Oh yes.
> Well, they’re not really herd members. They’re called ‘Slaves’, Wingies have their ears and wings ripped off, and are forced to roll in poopies. Same with Earthies, except they don’t have wings.
> They clean up poopies, eat bad nummies, and do all the things a unicorn shouldn’t do.
> They’re made to have special hugs with unicorns whether they like it or not. Any who disobey sleep forever and go to the Hurty Place- a small cranny where you toss them and leave them there to go stinky.
> Next to the Hurty Place is the Slave Room, where they all sleep. Sometimes, really bad unicorns go to the hurty place. If they’re just kind of bad, they sleep in the Poopie Room.
> You still get the head hurties sometimes, but your leg feels much better. It doesn’t hurt anymore.
> All is good. When Greentime comes, you shall eat lots of grassies and nummies.
> You breathe in the smell of the stinky parts festering around you and smile.
> You truly are Best Smarty.
 
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> You are Sparks.
> And this is horrifying.
> Maroon is a crazy, bad fluffy.
> You huddle with Sunny, Brownie, Scout and Cuddles in the Sleepy Room.
> As soon as Snowtime is over, you will escape with them.
> First chance you get.
> They all know the truth about Silky, about Thor, and they’ve seen what Maroon has done.
> You shiver. You’re scared. But you’re determined.
> You will leave this place, and take them all with you.
> You will keep your promise.
 
 
(To be continued in “MaroonFall”)