Neither Akina nor Toby realized Kitri was dead yet, so Akina suggested letting her parents look at Kitri and see if they could do something about her.
Toby didn't like this idea, but didn't know what else to do. In the end, he agreed, but only if Akina let him know immediately when Kitri woke up so he could go to her.
But if Akina thought she would take Kitri out to her parents without Toby, she was mistaken.
Toby jumped onto her shoulder as she started moving toward the door with Kitri in her hand.
She startled, but continued on.
"Mom, Dad, can you fix this furby so she can talk again?"
"She? I thought Hopkins was a he." Mom said.
Toby winced.
"Not him, this one."
"Where did you get this?" Dad asked, doing a double-take at Akina and her two furbies.
Akina hesitated a moment to think. 'Beethoven brought her into my room from outside last night' probably wouldn't be believed. Finally, she just said, "She was found outside a little way from our house."
"Okay, let me see what I can do." said Dad, "Though if she was dropped or thrown, she might be broken so that I can't fix her."
Toby glared. "That's my friend you're talking' about." he growled.
Akina handed Kitri off to her Dad. But she also put a hand on Toby at the same time, then turned to leave.
toby growled at her.
"She'll be okay." Akina tried to reassure him, but she really didn't know either.
Unable to get Kitri up and running, Akina's dad put her among some old electronics he planned to drop off at a place that accepted such things for recycling. He didn't tell Akina this, but discussed with her mother the idea of ordering a replacement furby that looked just like the one that was dead. It was a good thing Toby was up in Akina's room while the girl did more homework on her bed. Neither of them overheard what the parents were talking about.
Days went by, then weeks. Toby remained distant, only letting his guard down at meal time, showing kindness when something had upset Akina enough to bring her to tears, and he reluctantly put up with any cuddling from the little girl, always to break it off shortly.
Then one Wednesday night, Akina was down in the basement, watching TV and pretending to do homework when her dad came down to tell her there was a surprise for her on the kitchen table.
She was excited when opening the package to find it was a new furby, but became puzzled. "What happened to the one I found?"
Akina's parents had to explain to her that this was the same type of furby, meant to replace the dead one.
So the new purple furby Party Rocker was awakened by Akina and parents while still at the kitchen table. As soon as she snored and yawned awake, then said her first words, Akina was delighted.
"Oh, she's adorable! Now Beethoven will have a furby friend to make him happier."
"Are you going to introduce them now?" Mom asked.
"Yeah."
"Tell us how it goes." said Dad.
"Sure."
akina and her newest furby were initially greeted by an ecstatic Toby.
His eyes lit up, on his face was an expression Akina had not seen from him before, nor would she ever again.
"Kitri!" Toby exulted as he launched himself from the window ledge to crash into her and show how glad he was to have her back and well again.
He backed off, then recoiled as soon as contact was made.
"Whoa!" The new furby giggled, surprised, but she seemed pleased. "Hello there, you handsome dude!"
Toby looked confused for a moment, then frowned. He looked at the new furby. "You're not Kitri." he said.
"No, my name's Petunia, what's yours?"
Toby turned his back and leaped back to the window ledge. "Don't matter." Then he scowled at Akina. "What've you done with Kitri?"
Akina looked at a loss. "Nothing."
"Where is she!?" Toby shouted.
"I don't know. Dad couldn't do anything for her. He said she was dead. We thought you wouldn't be lonely if we got another one like her.
"You thought wrong! I don't want a new friend! I want Ki - " Then it hit Toby what Akina had just said. He stopped in mid-rage. "Dead?" "My Kitri…" He burst into sobbing.
Distressed, Akina left her room to rejoin her parents. "He's worse than ever." she said. She told them that Beethoven had figured this all out and wouldn't settle for a replacement.
Neither one of her parents had any idea what to do about Toby, and were becoming concerned about Akina's distress over him.
That night, Toby requested, "Leave the window open for me please."
Don't do it, Akina." Petunia whispered.
I don't think that's such a good idea." said Akina. She was worried he might run away.
I'm suffocating in here!" Toby snarled in a sudden burst of anger.
"I hate it when you get angry." Akina sighed, at her wit's end.
Let me out!" Toby demanded.
No, it's time to go to bed. You should be sleeping too." Akina said, trying to take control of the situation.
Let - me - out!" Toby began incessantly repeating. "Let - me - out! LET - ME - OUT!"
Akina sighed, crawled into bed and tried to ignore him, which soon became impossible.
Toby wouldn't give her any peace. He leapt from the sill onto the bed and back again, slamming his beak into the window, making a racket. "Beethoven, stop it!" Akina turned on her back in bed and looked toward the window.
He only continued with the "Let - me - out!" and threw himself back on the bed, then against a wall, making an even louder commotion.
"Ouch!" Akina protested when he jumped back on the bed and hurled himself right at her face.
The door opened, and Akina's mother stood there. "What are you doing in here?"
Nothing." said Akina. "Beethoven won't go to sleep."
Well, try not to play so loud, and get to sleep soon. You do have school tomorrow, even if Beethoven doesn't."
Yes, Mom." said Akina.
The door shut, and Toby started up with the commotion and demands all over again. He beaked Akina on the nose.
"Cut that out!" Akina said in a frustrated whisper.
Toby rolled out of bed. He jumped and beaked at the window, threw himself all over the room, forcefully landed right on Akina as she tried to ignore him in bed. she couldn't ignore him any longer when he slammed into her head. But he didn't stop there.
"Agh! Eww, get out of my ear!" The little girl protested as Toby fell to beaking, yanking and otherwise making things very uncomfortable. She warded him off with a hand.
He moved to beak her on the top of her forehead.
"Hey dude! Back off her!" Petunia came to Akina's defense. "She doesn't want to play games."
I don't want to be here." Toby responded. "So let me out and I won't bug either of you."
Hey!" Petunia protested as she was sent toppling.
The door opened abruptly. "Akina, I meant what I said, now go to sleep."
I'm trying." The little girl replied.
The door shut.
What are you trying to do, get me in trouble?" Akina said in a half-whisper.
Toby didn't reply, but got the idea to get into Akina's homework. He landed on a binder and managed to get it open a little way, then began tearing at some pages.
No!" Akina exclaimed, jumping out of bed to remove him from her homework.
Then let me out." he demanded.
Akina sighed, looking discouraged. "Okay." she finally gave in.
Toby wasted no time returning to the sill, and as soon as Akina had the window open far enough, he leapt out, into a tree, scurried down it and was soon out of sight.
Toby didn't return for days.
Finally, Petunia went out searching for him.
During toby's absence from Akina's, he wandered through the city, sometimes managing to get into people's homes, but finding nothing he wanted there, left without being noticed. There were homes with other furbies, but they were always furbies he didn't know, so was not interested in making friends with them any more than he wanted to be friends with Petunia. He kept on and on until he detected something off about a certain house.
That day, when a window was left open, he got inside, and finding no one about, he headed for a girl's bedroom, where he found what he was looking for.
The My Little Ponies on the shelf were surprised by something scampering into the room, and before they had a chance to speculate what it was, a small furby came into view.
Big Mackintosh had remembered the little furby who ran away. But this one looked different. "Hey baby, you're not the same cute chick that ran out of here."
I'm not a chick at all, dude!" Toby stormed, looking ready to take Big Mack apart.
My mistake. So, you wouldn't happen to know where she went, would you?" Mack asked slyly, a lustful glint in his eye.
Toby was about to attack him right there and then, but thought better of it. There were other My Little Ponies around, and their presence was already making him feel a little queasy. If he attacked Mack now, they would all come to the defence of their friend, and Toby wasn't ready to let himself become the next furby casualty of any My Little Pony; especially after what happened to his beloved Kitri.
As he got another idea, toby went from furious to shifty. "I know where she is all right," he hissed, "I've set up a rendezvous with her - she thinks she's meeting her new boyfriend. Instead, it'll be me and you. How'd you like to come teach her a lesson?"
Ooooh!" Big Mackintosh grinned gleefully. "What're we waiting for? So where is this meeting?"
" In the park down the way." Toby replied.
Be back later, everypony," Big Mackintosh crowed, "I'll tell you all how it went when I get back." He was too excited to notice Toby wince.
Follow me." said Toby, and he scurried out of the room, looking back.
Big Mackintosh followed closely until they got to the chimney.
"I'll have to grab hold and haul you up." said Toby.
It'll be worth it." said Big Mack.
So the furby and the My Little Pony got into the fireplace and gradually worked their way up the chimney.
Only one way from here," said Toby, "down."
I can take it." said Big Mack.
Before he could prepare himself for the plunge, Toby shoved him off the roof.
That wasn't funny dude!" Mack protested.
Toby jumped and landed next to him. "So, the park's over in that direction." Toby said and began to wander off, looking back. Mack groaned, got up, and followed.
The two said nothing more to each other until they got to the park.
Seeing no one else, Big Mackintosh suddenly became apprehensive. "What if she doesn't show?"
Toby's expression turned malevolent. He growled and pounced on the pony in a vicious fury.
Big Mackintosh let out a loud, indignant neigh and struggled to get Toby off him.
Toby hung on like grim death as Mackintosh spun and jumped like a dressage horse, and nothing more was said until Big Mack finally crumpled to the ground, limbs flailing spastically in every direction.
Big Mackintosh moaned, as Toby continued the attack.
Once he was sure he had Big Mackintosh down for good, Toby hissed, "You tried to violate my Kitri. If you hadn't sickened her to death, you were ready to violate her the same way you did to that little pony Apple Jack - yeah, I heard about that too."
Big Mackintosh only moaned and writhed in response.
toby shut his eyes as a flood of memories came back. Memories of being held by that gentle Jessica, memories of Kitri kicking his butt in combat training, Jessica's last goodbye, and Kitri's sad weakened state before her death. His beloved Jessica and Kitri.
The last thing Big Mackintosh heard before his demise was an anguished shout from Toby.
"I don't see any reason to let you live!"
That night, Jasmine's family returned from dinner and an evening at a movie, to find Jasmine's room in disarray. All of her My Little Ponies were scattered on the floor, and Big Mackintosh couldn't be found anywhere among them.
Petunia found Toby among a pile of dead leaves, at a park in the middle of the night.
When she approached, he seemed to startle, realizing he was not alone.
Beethoven," She said.
He nodded.
Petunia was about to say something else when she noticed something in his grasp. She moved in to get a closer look, and shuddered.
In Toby's paws and beak was the head of Big Mackintosh. One ear was removed, and he was working on the other. Mack's nose had signs of bite marks and the outer layer of the pony head was completely gone on one side.
Petunia gaped in horror. "What are you doing?"
I started out trying to find any of my friends out there, and looking for Big Mackintosh, whichever came first." Toby explained. "I found other furbies, but I don't know them." He looked sadly at Petunia. "But this pony has paid for what he did to my Kitri and for taking her away from me." He relinquished the pony head and started to cry. "She would still be here if it wasn't for him!"
Petunia dared to try and comfort him.
Toby didn't reject this kindness, he only continued crying and saying how much he missed Kitri, Jessica, and all of his furby friends.
Finally when he subsided, Petunia said, "Come back to Akina's with me."
Toby complied, and together, the two furbies moved out of the leaf pile and what was left of Big Mackintosh's bits and pieces.
Akina was overjoyed to see Petunia return with Toby, but that joy was short-lived. Akina had forgotten how morose Toby could be, and the time away had not done much to improve his disposition.
More time went by.
Petunia was a very friendly, happy furby toward Akina, and she willingly sang, told stories/jokes, and crawled in with Akina at night to help her go to sleep.
Akina was in love with Petunia, but she felt horrible that Toby was being left out, and she couldn't understand why he continued to prefer it that way.
Toby was terribly conflicted over Petunia, too, but not in a way Petunia or Akina would've thought. He was not jealous over her coming in and getting a lot of attention as some other toys might be. He just couldn't be nice to her because she was not Kitri, she was only a replacement. He couldn't be nasty to her because her voice and appearance was so much like Kitri's had been. So Toby went from resenting Petunia to feeling drawn to her, and his feelings kept fluctuating between these two states, making his treatment of Petunia extremely unpredictable.
But he had become a lot nicer toward Akina since the little girl had given Kitri shelter in her last hours.
At least one thing good came of this, Akina got a furby pal that loved her and she could love back without getting rejected. Petunia got a nice little girl as a human friend, and couldn't be happier.
That made it easy for Toby to make up his mind to leave whenever he could get an opportunity.
He did make good on escaping several times when a window or dor was open, but Akina always fretted about him going missing, and then Petunia went looking for him. She always found him, and persuaded him to return.
Each time this happened, his attitude became gentler toward Petunia, and although he still remained mostly quiet and serious, he would even participate in games with Akina and Petunia, for their benefit. He knew they were sorry for him because of his brokenness, so he tried hard to make it easier on them. He had even begun to feel something for them. They would never replace his old friends, but he started thinking of them as new friends.
And this scared him.
Dare he allow himself to love again? Would he be betraying Jessica's and Kitri's memory if he did? What if he loved Akina and Petunia and something happened to them?
He had no answers for these questions.
One night, he dreamed about being back home with Jessica and Kitri and all of his friends. The dream was so vivid that awaking from it was a terrible bitter disappointment, and it put him in a really bad downer all that day.
That night, he made another escape, and this time, he intended to leave for good, no matter what Petunia said to him if she found him again.
He eventually happened on some party being thrown by wild college students. They had plenty of booze there, and it was easy enough for toby to get into it without being noticed. When he had more than his share, he moved off and found a quiet place to sleep. He wasn't trying to get drunk, but to put himself out of commission, permanently.
It had no effect on him other than make him feel tired and weak, and his eyes look bloodshot.
The next day, he was back to normal and in no better frame of mind than the night before.
So Toby got out in the middle of some road and shut his eyes.
But the vehicles didn't even put him out of his misery. they went around or just over him without the undercarriages even touching him.
Climbing to a high place and jumping didn't work. He was far too tough and squirrel-like for that.
So he wandered aimlessly about for days until he came upon something that caused him to stop. But he didn't return home.
After days of Akina not being able to find Toby anywhere, she sent Petunia out to look for him again.
It was another few days before Petunia returned in the early morning, holding Toby by an ear. She put him in Akina's bed, waking the girl up.
"Oh!" Akina whispered excitedly, so glad he was found. "Where did you find him?"
"At Jessica Smith's grave." Petunia replied. "But I'm not sure he's still alive. He didn't do anything when I picked him up to carry him back here."
"Oh, Beethoven, you're cold as ice." Akina took him in her hands and tried to warm him. She looked at Petunia. "Thanks for bringing him back."
"You're welcome. I hope he revives and will be okay. This is too sad a way to go." she said.
"That's for sure." Then she looked sadly at Toby. "I wish I could be Jessica for you." she whispered.
"But then you couldn't be Akina for your family." Petunia reminded her. "I wish I knew how to mend his shattered heart, too."
Akina carefully brushed and cleaned his fur, and he still didn't awaken.
She took him back to bed until her parents were up. Then she took Toby to the kitchen to fix him some warm milk, hoping that would revive him.
When he still didn't respond, Mom suggested using an eye-dropper or a doll's bottle.
So, they tried the dropper method.
Toby sputtered, then opened his eyes.
"Oh, good!" Akina said, beaming. "Here, have some more."
Toby said nothing, but quietly assessed his surroundings while he was being fed.
Akina really wanted to stay home and watch over him, but it was a school day. So she shut her room window to prevent Toby from trying to make another escape, and Petunia stayed with him while Akina was gone.
Toby remained eerily quiet, but at least he wasn't hostile. He mostly slept, and wept off and on. But this time he didn't reject comfort from either Akina or Petunia.
More time passed, and he became stronger. He rarely got cross any more, but smiles and laughter from him were just as infrequent. If Akina and Petunia had known him before the tragedy, they would be even more distressed with his emotional state. He used to have the wickedest sense of humor, was usually the life of the party, and got a kick out of throwing people off their game. There was very little sign of that now.
But at least he wasn't so angry, so that had to be a step in the right direction.
Then one day, something happened that really threw him.
Akina took Petunia to school with her, but returned home without her.
Instead, she had a small game console with her.
When she came into her room without Petunia and flopped down in her bed to start playing games, she was startled by a rather stern voice from the window ledge.
"Where's Petunia?"
"I gave her to my friend Sofia for this game."
"You just - gave her away?" Toby snarled, turning a flaming gaze on her.
Akina looked disconcerted. Things had been at a nice even keel for a while, but apparently there was just no telling when some change, no matter how small, would upset Beethoven and cause a setback in what progress had been made with him.
"It was a trade." Akina explained.
"A trade - for that?" Toby jumped off the sill and next to Akina. "Let me see that thing." Soon, he was trying to buffet it with his beak.
"Be careful, Beethoven, it's not mine. I'm giving it back to Sofia on Monday, and she's giving me back Petunia then too. Then we're gonna trade something else."
"As long as it isn't me." Toby said tersely.
"Petunia's fine with it, but I don't think you would be, and I wouldn't wanna trade you for anything anyway. Not even with Sofia."
Toby subsided, his expression softened considerably. "Thanks." he said, Then moved away from the game and close to the side of her head where he gave her a quick nuzzle and even quicker kiss near her ear. Then he turned and jumped back to the ledge again.
"You're welcome." she replied, surprised and beaming.
This was the first time Toby had shown something like love, besides drying her tears, or allowing her to hold him for short periods when she asked if she could. Akina felt almost the same way as if she had just gotten a wild bird trusting her enough to come take food from her hand for the first time.
From that point on, he seemed to finally be bonding with Akina, and even smiled and nuzzled Petunia when she returned.
that night when everyone dropped off to sleep, Toby was the only one still awake, as usual. After sitting and watching Akina and Petunia snuggled up in bed, he carefully jumped down off the sill and climbed up the blanket rather than jumping on it to startle either of the sleepers. He took his place on the pillow on the other side of Akina's head from Petunia, settled down with them for the first time, and whispered softly, "Goodnight, my Jessica and Kitri." Then he shut his eyes.
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