//------------------------------// // Shed // Story: Channels // by Buttery Biscuit //------------------------------// A calm, rhythmic beat accompanied an image of a dancing brain. A big white box with the letter S in it faded over the brain, before cutting to black. White letters emerged  one after another until it spelled out the word “Shed.”  An earth pony with a pepper grey mane and a dark blue hide played around with a blue and white beach ball, his hindlegs propping up on an old, wooden desk. A scooter stood faithfully beside him, its age evident from the many nicks and scratches it had sustained over the many years. He sighed as he stared out to the big glass door and his backyard, disinterested in any of the toys in his playroom. He shifted around in his chair, groaning into the air, his eyes aimlessly wandering around. “Doctor Shed!” A familiar voice called as she rounded the doorway to the playroom. Turning back, an earth pony with purple, curly hair greeted his vision. “Ah, Forty-Two! How are you?” Shed asked, continuing to toss the beach ball about. She was probably here for a visit. He hoped she had a game that they could play, else this day was going to be a very long one.  Forty-Two rolled her eyes and groaned aloud. “Doctor Shed. A patient came in today with matted fur.” Forty-Two said as she haphazardly threw a manila envelope onto his desk. It slid across the wood, knocking over a plastic tin filled with candy corn onto the table. "Hey! I only get so much of that! Be careful!" “Stop calling me Forty-Two and maybe I’ll be more careful!” “No, only a dummy eats Forty-Two cotton balls before realizing they aren’t marshmallows!” he yelled at one-fourth of his personal team. "He probably got glazed with some honey. Just throw him into the washing machine and it'll be resolved. Case solved!" “We did, but he got worse, not better,” Forty-Two huffed as she flopped down into a bean bag. Loafing onto it, she played with a half-solved jigsaw puzzle as she waited for Shed to read through the file.  Shed looked at the manila envelope. After grabbing a bunch of candy corn and throwing them into his muzzle, he flipped the envelope open, revealing two different photographs.  The left image had the bear's name written across the top corner, Sir Fluff. In the photo, Sir Fluff lay on a blue blanket. His fluff was stuck together in knots, sometimes sticking to the hide of the bear. The unusual thing is that the residue on the bear was consistent with chewed gum or honey.  Shed hummed in thought as he took a glance at the photo on the right. These toys usually got better after a loving wash and comb treatment, but unfortunately, it looked like the usual treatment was ineffective. This poor bear looked like a couple of cases Shed had seen before, similar to those that were found in the garbage can, or found buried in the ground, or one left in a basement for years. However, a closer inspection of the toy gave Shed quite a shock; he couldn’t believe that such a thing was happening right under his snout. The poor thing’s fur was so matted and worn you could barely tell it was a bear in the first place.  “Huh, interesting. I’ll do it. Let’s go see, and we can make Stressed and More Stressed interview the washers. I wanna make sure that we employ only the best of the best, and to show that this is not on us,” she said as he tossed the beach ball into the corner. “You mean Lava and Glider; those nicknames are stupid, Shed,” huffed Forty-Two. “Now let’s go, its condition could be worsening!”  “Alright, calm down, just take a chill pill,” she said as he stood up from his office chair, grabbing the container of candy corn. Hooves clacked against the cold tiled floor as he approached a male unicorn stirring something inside a large metal pot.  “I'm going out Dad, there’s a toy that needs to be cleaned up,” Shed said as he tugged on his fathers dark blue tail.  A gruff voice answered him, “Alright, but be home before dark. We are having carrot pot pie for dinner.”  “OOOOO, I love carrot pot pie! Be back before dark, love you daddy!” Shed said as he gripped onto one of his fathers light blue hooves. “I love you too pumpkin, now go have fun with your friends. I wanna hear all about it when you get back.”  Shed smiled as he felt his father tussle his mane with his hoof. Letting go of his leg, Shed trotted after Forty-Two, panting as he caught up with her. He took a moment to catch his breath before he spoke. “Alright, to the toy store then!” Forty-Two and Shed walked together through the busy streets of Ponyville. Adults passed by, as did the colorful buildings and shops. Forty-Two and Shed stopped at none of them, not even bothering to play in the square fountain, something they did together often. After all, they were on a mission, a mission to help a poor bear.  Eventually they reached a small toy store. One the best toy makers Ponyville had ever seen lived there, and Shed was lucky to be interning under her and her daughter. It was one of the most coveted positions a seamstress could get.  However, that didn’t stop him from getting bored. He was already considered a master among his peers and a prodigy among adults. He thought it would take longer for one to become good at their special talent, but it looked like Shed was a fast learner. The doorbell rang as Shed opened the door, going right up to the phone to pick it up.  “Hey,” Lavender, the granddaughter of the owner greeted. “Hey, this is yummy,” he said as he pressed some numbers, and waited for the phone to be engaged.  “You can't just-” “Hello Lava. Get Glider and Forty-Two, come down to the toy store. I want you to go through the video footage and interview every employee who hoof-washes toys. I will not tolerate anybody deviating from the standard cleaning procedures on my team. Bye,” he said sternly as he slammed the phone down, hoping that no one was doing so, but he had to be sure.  “You really should get permission before-” “You really shouldn’t have cooties!”  “I DO NOT HAVE COOTIES!” “DO TOO!” he yelled at Lavender, her muzzle turning a deep shade of red. His heart beat thudded in her ears as he looked away from her. “Nerd.” “Shed and Lavender sittin’ in a tree. K-i-s-s-i-n-g,” Forty-Two started singing, a smile so wide it almost took up her entire muzzle. “Smoochy, smoochy, smooochy!”  “I DON’T LIKE HIM! Go back to work, Forty-Two,” Lavender snapped as she slammed her hoof down onto the wooden floor. Forty-Two just giggled as she stepped through another wooden door leading to a hallway. She trotted down the hallway of private rooms until she reached the last one on the left. She pulled back the flower-patterned shower curtain and stepped inside.    Dr. Shed stood before a crying foal. “It is what has to be done.”  “What did you do?” Forty-Two panicked as Shed was often known to be sassy, and insensitive. So, she rushed to the patient immediately, fearing the worst. “I got consent, the patient’s going to need a full thread and stuffing replacement. Although that won't solve the problem with his hide, he's starting to smell moldy. If I do not tend to it, the mold could spread to his hide, and it would all be over,” Shed said as he threw a piece of paper into Forty-Two’s forehooves. “Get her to stop crying. I'll get ready, meet me in Operating Room three when you are too,” Shed instructed as he pushed the brightly colored curtain aside. His hooves echoed off the tile floor as he grabbed the sterile blue bed the teddy bear stood on.  With a grunt, the wheels of a small blue stretcher bed squeaked against the floor as Shed pushed it out of the room and down the hall, ignoring the cries of an upset mare behind him. No matter how much she cried and begged, he kept a steady pace down the hallway until he reached his objective. “Why won’t he listen to me...” the mare pouted as she pushed against Forty-Two. “Shed is the best of the best. He will make sure everything will go perfectly. If anyone can save Sir Fluff, it is him.”  “Can you stay with me?” the mare whimpered as tears fell down her muzzle in a cascade.  “Of course I can!” Forty-Two said as she took a seat next to the mare. “My name is Berry, what is yours?” “Crimson Snow,” the foal whimpered out, his voice rough from crying. Her eyes sagged as she clutched her hooves onto her chest tightly.  The clock ticked by and Crimson didn’t get any better. Her body remained tight, and trembling. Once full of color, she was now drained and stared voidly into nothing. Berry did what she could but nothing she tried worked. The mare wouldn’t respond, which left nothing but a long bout of eerie silence . The flowered curtain shrieked open, making both mares jump. Doctor Shed stepped in with a cocky smile. “He’s fine, his fluff was moldy, when I opened him up; see, you could see it rotting away. I played it safe and replaced all the thread too. Take him home, he will be just fine.” “Thank you, Doctor!” Crimson Snow smiled, as she shot down the hallway to pick up her teddy bear. “Another case solved,” Doctor Shed smirked at his colleague. “Let’s go celebrate!” “YES!” They all jumped, running off to the gaming room. They were setting up the console when a ring sounded from the phone in the game room. “Hello….WHAT? Well, bring him back this instant!” he yelled as he slammed the phone down, making a harsh metallic ring.  “What’s wrong?” “It's that bear, Crimson Snow washed him but somehow he is in the same condition he came in. Get the crew and meet me back here.”  “Alright,” Forty-Two said as she dashed out of the room.  Shed grumbled as he dragged out a small whiteboard from the left wall. He rolled it out to the middle of the room and grabbed his favorite pink marker. On the board, he wrote, “matted fur when washed” and “stuffing mold.”   Lava, Glider and Berry stepped into the room, making themselves comfortable on the few chairs around before Shed and his whiteboard. He stood before them, a marker in hoof ready to write down some ideas. “Lava, Glider, what have we found?” “Well, we looked through all the cameras and interviewed every single creature in our facility and nothing. No signs of any negligence,” Lava said as she brushed her red bangs out of her eyes. Shed's marker squeaked across the board as he jotted some keywords down. "Go on.” “Well that’s good news but it doesn't explain why this keeps on happening. Matting, and molding of the stuffing. What about the washing machines? Have any of them been tampered with?” “No, nothing we could see was amiss,” Glider said up as he leaned back laxly into his seat. “I’ve checked all the labels myself. Nothing’s wrong.” “Well, if it is not us, and it is not her...what about the soap?” Shed questioned, he always kept an extra special supply of his own for the toys that needed it. It was incredibly expensive so it was not commonly used in the washing rooms unless it had to be. “We did get a new kind, but it's working just fine on all the other toys,” Lava said. “Yes but this bear is a lot older, and he could be made of a different fabric. Gliders, go get a bottle of soap; Berry, head to her house and check the soap and washer. Perhaps the soap used in their washing machine was too corrosive, which would explain everything but not the state of the bear’s eyes.The bear's eyes appear to have deeper scratches, something that is most probably due to its age. Perhaps it is their washing machine that they have at home?” Shed questioned. Fortunately, he always kept an extra supply of his own special mix for toys that really needed it. Shed watched as his team shuffled off as he picked up the phone again. “Nurse, go to room five we need a teddy bear dried off,” he said before putting the phone back down. Now, he could do no more than wait for his team to get back. Shed waited as the minutes ticked by, staring into the whiteboard, going over the symptoms in his head, just in case this didn’t work out in the end.  Lava, Glider, and Berry stepped back into the room. Glider and Berry carried two bottles of soap and Lava carried a piece of paper. Glider and Berry placed the two white bottles with red labels down on the floor. “Soft Plush Ink,” the bottles both said.  Lava placed the note next to the bottles and read it out loud. “Washer XI.” Shed smiled. “Let's go talk to the mare again,” he said as he got up from the plush carpet floor. He led his team of four down the hallway and to the patient. He smiled wide as he threw the curtains covered in cartoon crows. “Good news, everycreature.” “Oh?” the many ponies said in unison. “He’s fine, his fluff was moldy, and the seams were worn. Unfortunately, that did not get at the real issue. Our doctors looked into not just the staff for neglect and found the true cause, detergent, and the washing machine.” “The hide of this bear is different from the rest and needs special soap, combined with the harsh wash of your new machine-made him the way he is. Wash him by hoof with specialty soap, and he’ll be just fine.” “Thank you, doctor!!” “It’s what I do best.”