Daddy loves you, Blue

Robert Simmons e-diary

Evening of day 2

Today I’ve discovered that keeping a fluffy foal is not just about giving out milk and loveable hugs (even though Blue Cloud seems mostly content with such), it’s also about going some distance to make sure your little friend is well taken care of. It wasn’t all that bad though...really. Some things I could have definitely lived without though. *shudder*

Simmons out.

o.O.o

Day 2: earlier same day.

After finishing feeding little Blue and cuddling her to boot, she cozied up in my big palm and relaxed, followed by what I recognized as snoring. About to let her rest in her little cardboard home, I stopped and scrutinized it. Shit. Literally, and urine too. I scolded myself. I was so adamant in bringing her to my apartment that I forgot to check the state of the box. Damn, it smelled a little rank to be honest.

        Well, no time like the present, right? Alright, how to do this? I rather not stir the little one, I thought.Babies needed their sleep after all.

        Slowly, I made my way to grab a red terry cloth from the small bathroom, the filly still in my right palm. Carefully I placed her on the folded towel, with Mr. Bunny right beside for comfort on my bed. Alright, part one of the plan executed flawlessly, and we have accounted for potential accidents, initiating part two, the cleaning. Note to self: bathe filly after nap time.

I grabbed the brown box and took out a trash can from the kitchen, placing the old newspapers and the hay in there. Thankfully it seemed like they’d done a decent job of absorbing the filly’s droppings, however it struck me that I should probably invest in something better when I got the chance. A bigger pen of some sort probably, maybe a large rat cage with the top part taken off would suffice? Frankly I didn’t know, however the answers were never that far away.

Thank god for the internet, and for work to provide me with my own laptop. The broadband in this apartment could make regular people cry though but not me. Heh, patience’s a virtue, don’t you know?

Next I put in some fresh newspaper and opened the bag of cutter shavings, I poured some on there, not too little and not too much I figured. Little thing should be able to move around, but avoid swimming in it.

I went to the living room where I past my laptop resting on the black table, I turned it on and waited for it to start up, then I opened the door to the balcony a tad to let in some fresh air. Note to self: Never ever leave balcony door open whenever Blue is ready to explore the apartment.

My laptop played its little tune, alerting me to start googling for advice on how to better raise little Blue and what to expect in the future. Let’s see here, your Fluffy and you, sounds promising, I mused as some of the first hits popped up. An article appeared and my eyes darted back and forth for a while, then I quickly closed it down. Okay, creepy story about abducting fluffies and brutally molest them, check.

Now I know the internet could be scary almost always nine out of ten times, but I didn’t let it discourage me. Fluffyponies one-on-one. Creepypasta involving gory dismemberment, lovely. Fluffextra, website where people got together and talk about their favourite ways to off a fluffy. It even had a personal tally system, people checked it every time they murdered one of them. The hell people?

This is beyond fucked up, how can people get kicks out of this? Are we that desperate to show our dominans towards other sapient beings? Fluffies, especially feral fluffies can become annoying and bratty, but isn’t that the extent of their abilities anyway?

Anyway, that’s my lifetime’s quota of mindless slaughter and mayhem, time to put safesearch on. Even with the little box checked that allowed me to skip a lot of disgusting stories and pictures, it took me a while to get to a site that I could finally deem as giving out actual sound advice.

A fluffy breeder named Fiona had taken her time to construct a webpage that included everything from diet, exercise, health and much more. Categorising every step from infant to adult in every topic. I took my time reading through the infant steps, at least I believed Blue to be an infant still, her eyes remained closed, and according to the breeder they would remain so until the baby reached two to three weeks maturity.

I felt my insides get cold again as she stated in the text that little foals should be nursing from either a mother’s or an artificial teat once every three to four hour. How many hours went by in the night? five, maybe six? I never slept that long to be honest, I chided myself for my mistake and noted down feeding cycles on a document, and began setting alarms on my phone.

Once the little baby reached about three weeks of maturity, soft food could be introduced to wean the foal out of milk and into a more solid diet. Vegetarian kibble stood on the recommended list, softened up with some milk for easier consumption.

Toys I had already more or less covered at the moment it related in the text, however playpens for foals were important when they started to explore their surroundings. A lot of people posting comments on the site agreed that Fluffyponies hurt themselves regularly in homes not catered towards them, bumping into objects due to carelessness or excitement. Note to self: Nail down everything.

I came across the health section, and realized I should probably get Blue Cloud an insurance in case she got sick. Another cost digging deep in my pockets, perhaps I could sell some of dad’s old records stored in the basement? Should cash in enough money I presumed.

Also, another important section, bathtime. Apparently, fluffyponies loathed water for some obscure reason, one of the many other causes they never lived very long in the wild. ‘To remedy this, introduce the baby to water very early in its life, and make sure to keep it to body temperature, and to a minimum of an inch deep. The foals are prone to drowning even small bodies of water, due to exhausting themselves in unknown environment. Always, always assist your little one during bath time, do not leave it alone!’

Yes, ma'am! I shouted in my head after I finished reading. Well, not that I thought of abandoning my little cloud in the sink, but it felt good clarifying it either way.

Lastly I looked over some pet pens that showed promise, until I heard the familiar cry coming from my bedroom. Well, time to get lil stinky accustomed to the scawy wawa, the sooner the better. I headed over to my bed and carefully picked up the terry cloth with my little cloud in it. Gosh, it’s just so tiny and vulnerable, yet its cries for help squeezes my heart like it possessed an iron grip.

Far away from Earth, In a distant empire, frozen over apart from a safehaven guarded by a pink alicorn princess, said pony hummed contently to herself, earning a smirk and a quizzical look from her loving husband.

I moved the small filly over to the bathroom, and let the tap run until it reached body temperature, while cradling Blue against my chest. Small stains in her fur let me now that she let one go in the towel as well. Now less than an inch of water, I carefully placed Blue in my palm, her face aiming upwards as I wet my hand and exposed the filly to the first droplets. She shivered a bit at the first contact and started chirping. I cupped just slightly to make sure she didn’t wriggle out of my hand.

“I’m sorry, baby, but this is your alpha run, and there’s no opting out I’m afraid,” I cooed and started washing her blue fur. “Daddy will make you all clean and smell good, I promise.”

I continued pouring liquid into her fur, rubbing it gently back and forth to get the urine out of her hair. Then it hit me. Did I just refer to myself as her daddy? Guess it wasn’t that far-fetched, I’m the one who will feed her, play with her, make sure she’s safe and sound and never wanting for love. That kind of made me her dad, right? What made a father anyway?

Certainly not my old man, that’s for sure at least, I thought cynically as I finished washing my tender little filly, who was almost devastated at this point by the change of environment.

“Don’t worry, my darling Blue Cloud, daddy is finished now. I’m going to dry you and make you all warm and better. Then we’ll cuddle some before your next bottle.”

As she focused on the sound of my voice and the gentle touch I provided with another terry cloth, she visibly relaxed in my embrace and chirped contently. Soon Blue’s fur stood out in every direction, she definitely looked part cloud now. “Think I’ll cool it with the beauty part though for now. We’ll wait with the grooming until you’re older and sturdier, my little filly.” If Blue Cloud minded, her low-key chirps made it hard to tell.

I settled us down on the black living room sofa, stroking her now dry fur. She seemed to like it when I did that, shifting her head around my finger as to return the signs of affection. “I love you, Blue Cloud,” I said sincerely. She responded with a happy sounding ‘chirp’.

More than an hour must have gone by as we sat in the chair, since her happy tune turned a little more distressed and weakly flailed around. My phone alarm indicated that the next feeding was due. I got up and refilled her milk bottle, Blue’s tummy aches soon quelled by its sweetness.

I patted her back after she finished nursing, earning another small belch after a couple of tries. Yawning softly she promptly went back to sleep, smiling I let her rest on the cloth while it lay on my lap.

I reached for the computer on the table and continued searching for more information regarding my new, little fluffball.

Apparently, I’d purchased the cutter shavings on impulse really. The breeder wrote while wood chips were acceptable, little foals and fillies should rather rest on softer surfaces during their first weeks to avoid chafing their delicate skin. Soft cloth towels could be used and preferably covering the living area of the baby.

“Welp, glad I caught that at least, better replace the shavings with some more cloth then, it’s easy to wash anyway.”

‘Consider turning a small unwanted space into a so-called ‘safe room’ for your new little friend. A safe room is a secure, padded area at least a nine by nine feet square or greater where the fluffy can play without hurting itself. It should be high enough to deter escape from a naughty fluffy and heavy enough to make them unable to move the area.’

“Sounds like a glorified play pen if you ask me,” I said out loud. The idea behind it made sense though, fluffies were more fragile than other pets due to almost bird-like skeletal structure. “Guess I’ll have to visit another pet store that carries more specialized items, not going back to Peter’s place at least,” I grumbled under my breath.

My wallet would be feeling it soon I could tell. “Well, there goes dad’s records I guess, too bad, I really liked Kiss.” My old man kept on playing them for Christine - my mother - when she still lived. One of my earliest and probably fondest memories of them consisted of the two dancing in the livingroom to Detroit Rock City, yeah they were a little weird like that. Dad never played his old records after she passed away, but I dug up them up a while after he moved to the institution, and reminisced about better times.

I shook my head. “Alright enough trips down memory lane, what else is on here that I’m totally not prepared to deal with it,” I said and scrolled through the website. What? I wasn’t trying to be sarcastic, I knew I was in over my head, but the fluffy little cloud in my lap made me hold no regrets.

I read over the diet section again. 'The mare’s milk contains a substantial amount of antibodies and nutrition important for the foal’s growth, babies raised on regular milk have a higher chance to suffer from illnesses and diseases. Specialised foal formula sold in various designated pet stores are especially made to supply foals their needed nourishment as substitute.' I’m relieved to see a list of stores that carry the formula in Little Rock.

Blue Cloud’s peeps out little snoring chirps as her chest calmly rose up and down peacefully. “Well, guess I have an hour and two to kill while you’re resting, baby, might as well go and get what we need for the coming days.” I deposited my little bundle of joy in her makeshift cardboard home, making sure she’s warm and snuggly. I locked the door, the balcony, checked the windows, pulled on my jacket and headed out.