Aegis

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Nurture S͟ta̡r̷va̧t̡i͜ǫn̷

As Fast Bun awoke again, her stomach convulsed and sent a wave of pain through her body. She managed to get up only slowly, while clasping her stomach with her hooves. “Ouch.....” she moaned. Fast Bun trembled, hardly able to stay on her hooves. Rubbing over her stomach, she looked around in the environment she found herself in now.
“H-How did I get hea?” she whimpered, a single tear in the corner of her eyes.

She was in her bedroom. There was no doubt. Fast Bun recognized the colorful, round carpet she stood on. Her bed, made of wood and painted white. The bright, blue walls. And the collection of plush animals that sat in a corner of the room on the floor. She was at home again.

As she tried to keep balance, she revelled in all the familiarity around her. Only the elephant gave her an eerie feeling. Did it always have such a wicked grin?

Fast Bun would have spent time pondering this question, as well as trying to remember how she got here, if it weren't for the cramps she felt in the middle of her body. “Ouch,” she moaned again, her entire body shuddering. “Why am I, like, so hun-gry ahready?”

Only as she had spoken this sentence, the scales fell from her eyes. Everything that happened in the last few hours, it had all been just a nightmare. Her memory was lacking, especially in regards to the reason why she was sleeping on the floor, but Fast Bun figured she probably came home from preschool and that she was so tired that she didn't even make it into her bed before she collapsed. It would explain everything, even the enormous hunger she felt. Her stomach convulsed again, painfully reminding her that it had to be true.

The hungry filly wasted no time anymore now. She staggered to the exit of her room, reared up to reach the handle and pulled the white door open with the last strength she could muster. As she stood outside of her room, she started huffing. It was an arduous trek down the stairs, her condition forcing her to go at it slowly despite her hunger, but Fast Bun eventually managed to reach the kitchen.

Her dad was sitting at the table, face hidden behind a huge newspaper at first. He put it down and revealed his face when he heard the hoofsteps of his daughter entering the kitchen. The brown stallion with the dark-orange mane smiled as Fast Bun came into his vision. He scooped her up as she had gotten closer and, placing her in his lap, gave her a kiss on her bright, orange mane. “How is my perfect dawghta doin' today?” he asked, a playful and proud tone in his voice.

“I'm hun-gry,” Fast Bun answered simply. Despite the familiar embrace by her dad, she squirmed uncomfortably.

Her dad laughed. “Well, then we should take care awf it dat yawh tummy gets filled, shouldn't we?” He laughed again and booped her nose, then sat her down in her own chair right next to him. “Yawh mudda is done preparin' dinna any mawment.”

Now the smell wafted into Fast Bun's nose. She held it into the air and sniffed strongly, taking it all in. Her stomach grumbled in response, making her grimace again. But the filly handled the pain easier now, knowing how close she was to eating something. And the delicious smell, this wonderful, perfect smell she could never mistake with anything else, it made her immediately realize what it was that her mom was cooking for dinner.

“Carrot dawgs?” she asked, licking her lips.

“Carrot dawgs!” the cheerful voice of her mother rang out behind her back.

Fast Bun could hear the clinking of plates and the hissing of fat as the carrots were taken out of the pan, two very anticipated sounds. Her stomach grumbled again, eager to fill itself with the delicious treat.

More clinking found its way into her ears, then the hoofsteps of her mother finally approached the table. The mare with the blue mane and the white coat presented her daughter with a wide and warm smile as she put a huge plate filled with carrot dogs in the middle of the table. Having put down the plate safely, she gave her daughter a noogie, bringing her mane in disarray. “Now grab dem while dey're hawt,” she said, then took seat opposite of her daughter.

It was nothing she needed to tell Fast Bun, of course. Eagerly, the filly reached for the plate and pulled one of the carrot dogs into her hooves. Without a moment of hesitation, she lifted it to her mouth and bit off a huge chunk. As soon as the taste of the carrot and the mayonnaise that was on top of it caressed her tongue, Fast Bun began to feel better. She barely chewed the bit in her mouth before swallowing it. It made her belly feel nice, full and warm, and she let out a comfortable groan as the pain began to vanish.

Her mom and her dad watched her, both wearing huge grins in their faces, then they reached for a carrot dog, as well.

“I had, like, da wawst' nightmare,” Fast Bun began to tell, feeling better. She bit off another chunk.

“Oh, a nightmare, really?” her mother asked. She smirked, then looked at her husband and both shared a chuckle. An exuberant sigh left her mouth. “What was yawh nightmare, my little honey?” another question rolled from her lips. It sounded sickly sweet.

The second warm bit slid down Fast Bun's throat, then she answered. “We were trapped in da mawll!” she exclaimed. “Me, Babs, Curtain, Pops and Starlet. We were playin' hide and seek, but forgawt how late it was, so da mawll clawsed befawre we could get out. And Starlet was mean and nasty, she hurt Curtain and den she hurt Pops!”

Her face became serious for a moment, but then she remembered the carrot dog and a third bite disappeared in her mouth. She chewed with satisfaction, cheeks red.

“Oh.....” her mother answered. “Oh, little honey, I'm sure Starlet didn't mean it dat way.”

“Right so,” her dad agreed. “Starlet is ar filly with her heart at da right place.”

“Um-hm.” Fast Bun nodded, moments before swallowing again. “She was, like, just upset and said she misses heh parents. You should've seen heh cryin', I felt bad for heh.” She lowered the carrot dog, but only a little.

“Oh, deah, sure she does!” her mother gave Fast Bun confirmation. “Every fawl would, isn't it?” She exchanged a smile with her husband. “You would miss us, I bet.”

“I..... yeah. I did. I missed you.” Fast Bun cocked her head now. “Mommy? Is everythin' ahrite?”

“Oh, deah, sure it is, little honey! I'm sawrry for wawrryin' you.....” Suddenly, there was concern in her face.

Fast Bun looked over to her dad, who eyed her with a stern expression. Some fear creeping onto her face, she looked back at her mother. “Mommy? Why are you and daddy lookin' like dis?”

“Oh, it's nothin' serious..... Daddy and me are just ar little wawrried. It looks like da food is spoiled, little honey.”

“Spoiled?” This came as a surprise to Fast Bun, but now she noticed how neither her mom, nor her dad had started to eat their carrot dogs. Resting in their hooves completely untouched, they looked the same as they had when they were taken from the plate.

“Why spoiled, mommy? I just ate it, it tastes good!” Fast Bun looked down at her own carrot dog, intended to demonstrate that her parents must be mistaken. As her eyes fell on it, all the color drained from her face.

Instead of a fresh, orange carrot inside a nice, long and soft bun, there was now a green and squishy, moldy piece that barely resembled a carrot anymore. The bun around it was hard and it was covered in a pelt of white spores. Yet, this was her definitely her carrot dog, the one she grabbed from the plate earlier. Despite the mold, she could still see her bite marks on it. Shrieking, Fast Bun dropped the carrot dog.

“See?” her mom asked. “It's spoiled. I'm sawrry I didnt, like, nawtice earlia.” The sickly sweet tone in her voice was back.

Fast Bun looked up. Now the carrot dogs in the hooves of her parents looked just as rotten and so did the others on the large plate. The beloved taste on her tongue suddenly changed. It now tasted foul and old. Fast Bun retched a little. How did she not notice any of this?

“Let's thraww it away,” her mom said. She grabbed Fast Bun's carrot dog and put it back on the plate. Then she and her husband did the same with theirs. The mare carried the plate over to the bin and let the carrot dogs glide inside, then she put the plate into the sink.

Fast Bun shivered. Her stomach started to turn itself upside down and a loud grumble emerged from it. Her face took on a slightly green color. She wrapped her hooves around her body and fought back the urge to vomit, while her mom opened the fridge and took out a couple of sandwiches. The mare placed them on two smaller plates and carried them to the table. She put down one in front of her husband, then sat down with the other one.

It was just then that the food poisoning became too strong for Fast Bun's little body. Finally failing with her efforts to keep herself from throwing up, Fast Bun leaned forward and vomited the contents of her stomach on the table in front of her. She started to breathe heavily. Her face was red now. “I'm sawrry,” she said, embarrassed.

The sweet smell coming from the combination of the rotting food and a bit of stomach acid that drifted into Fast Bun's nose made her retch. A second later, another stream of vomit came from her mouth until her stomach had emptied itself. The liquid parts of the green, stinking mass trickled over the table's edge, some drops landing on Fast Bun's legs.

Weakly, Fast Bun leaned back in her chair and started to breathe in and out repeatedly. She felt ill, both from the process of vomiting her food and from the hunger that had returned now.
“Can I have ar sandwich, too, mommy?” she asked between two breaths.

Her mother and her father exchanged a furtive glance.

“Oh, little honey, no.” Her mother shook her head. “You should, like, go into yawh room, lie down and get some sleep.”

“Um-hm.” Fast Bun nodded weakly. “I just need to, like, get dis taste out awf my mouth first. Please give me ar sandwich.” Her voice was pleading now.

Her mother's face took on a more serious expression as she shook her head a second time. “No. Food poisonin' isn't to be taken lightly. You need to rest up.” The voice of her mother had become very strict all of a sudden. Hearing it made Fast Bun shiver.

“But I'm hun-gry again.....” Fast Bun moaned, gripping her stomach stronger. She frowned.

Her mother did not respond. She concentrated on her meal and her father also ignored her.

Feeling suddenly weaker than before, Fast Bun slumped down in her chair even more. She closed her eyes for a moment and as she opened them again, they widened in horror as she observed how her stomach began to swell. It grew and grew, until its size had become tripled. Fast Bun held her hooves at her cheeks, looking in despair at the monstrous growth. Her cheeks felt squishy and bloated now and she felt the same as she touched her lips. Terror building in her face, she stared at her mother.

“Mommy?! What's happenin'?!” Fast Bun trembled and began to cry.

“Oh, nothin', deah.” Her face was rigid and cold as she answered. “You are just, like, starvin' to death, dat's awll.”

“Starvin'? T-To death?” More fear invaded Fast Bun's mind and she held her hooves in front of her face, ready to cover her eyes and to wet them with her tears, but then she flinched away from them. Just moments earlier they had looked strong and sturdy, but what she saw now was pitiful. Her forehooves appeared thin and fragile, the skin looking like it had been wrapped directly around her bone. She could not spot any muscles or fat on them.

The fear gave her new energy. Fast Bun stood up in her chair and climbed on the table. She reached to the plate in front of her mother, weezing, and tried to grab one of her sandwiches. Her mother, though, swiftly pulled the plate out of her reach.

“Ah, ah!” she said, lifting a hoof. “Be ar nice filly, Fast Bun. Dis is mommy's food, I did nawt allow you to have somethin' awf it.”

Fast Bun sniffed and slumped down on the table. She was crying without restraint now. “But..... Mommy..... Why? Why do you nawt let me eat?” She lifted a hoof to her face. It twitched uncontrollably and it took her three attempts before she could wipe away the tears that blurred her vision.

“Awww.....” her mother said, once again in the sickly sweet tone. “Don't cry, little honey. See, dese sandwiches are, like, da last food left in da house and mommy and daddy need to eat, too.” She gently stroke over the edemas in her weeping daughter's face.

Fast Bun lowered her eyes, her glance now fixated on the surface of the table. Her eyes looked glazed. She swayed slightly.

“It's awnly been, like, ar month, little honey, I'm sure you can hawld out until mommy bawght new food tomawrow. And even if nawt.....” Her voice became colder. “You love yawh mommy and yawh daddy, right? You wouldn't want us to starve, righ't?”

Fast Bun did not respond. Suddenly, she felt like the words came from far away. Her vision blurred even more and her swaying became stronger. Only as she felt a sharp pain flaring up on her right cheek, she was reminded where she was. Confused, she looked up and into her mother's face. It expressed rage and hatred now.

“Will you listen to me!” her mother shouted into her face. “What if yawh mommy and yawh daddy are goin' to die? What would you do den?” She gave her daughter another slap in the face.

This time, Fast Bun's lip popped open from the impact and blood spilled on the table. She barely felt the pain.

Her mother grabbed her at the shoulders and shook her violently, while her father just watched with a disappointed glare. “Do you nawt want to sacrifice yawhself so yawh parents can live, Fast Bun?! Do you nawt love us, you disgustin', little FREELAWDA?!” She screamed the last word.

Fast Bun twitched as the words washed over her, but she still didnt respond and her eyes kept their glazed look. Emotionlessly, she continued to stare into her mother's rage-filled face.

As her mother had finally stopped shaking her, Fast Bun lowered her eyes again. More spasms made her hooves twitch now and she could barely see the table under her anymore. A second later, Fast Bun fell over. With a thump, her head hit the surface of the table. The food right in front of her eyeballs now, she breathed laboriously and her heartbeat became slower. Now she was too weak to try and reach for any of it.

Something hard coming down on her head with full force was the last thing Fast Bun felt before her vision turned black and she stopped to perceive her surroundings.....