Fuzzies

by Palm Palette

Epilogue

That picture was all over newspapers the following morning. “True Friendship Prevails?” was one headline.

---

Breaking news!

The latest twist in the ongoing saga of Fluttershy the fuzzy is perhaps the most stunning yet. Twilight Sparkle gathered the whole town together to deliver not a eulogy and farewell, but a moving plea to abandon hatred altogether and accept fuzzies with open hearts. Understandably, ponies were quite upset, shouting all kinds of horrible things at her.

Nevertheless, she persisted.

Somehow, she maintained control of an increasingly rowdy crowd long enough to deliver her message, and what a doozy it was. According to her vision of the world, it's our hatred of fuzzies, and not the fuzzies themselves, that's the problem. That might seem backwards, but it's not all that much different from age-old arguments whispered in back alleys and behind closed doors.

Ponies have had a long history gravitating towards the gilded tongues of beast lovers. Not many, of course, but enough to be a nuisance. Throughout the ages, those first sympathizers would whisper messages of hope and love, bringing together ponies and fuzzies in secret. But in the grand scheme of things, the effort was mere chaff in the wind. Society as a whole held its collective nose and waved the foul air away. Nothing ever changed.

But this time was different. Something truly magical happened on that stage. It really felt like Twilight made a difference.

Never before has such a well-respected group of ponies stood together in unity with a fuzzy. Never before has a fuzzy stood up for herself and commanded anything resembling respect. Never before has a message of hope and love penetrated on such a wide scale, to so many ponies at once. They cheered! They actually cheered!

And you know what? She deserved it because she's right. It's high time that we stop blaming the victims for something that was never a choice in the first place. Fuzzies have been treated so poorly as to be downright cruel, and it needs to end. Families should not be torn apart at the drop of a hat! An entire squadron of Wonderbolts is not needed to tackle one target who is running away!

Consider, if you will, the forlorn fate of the flying fox filly.

Like most fuzzies, a once bright-eyed, cheerful earth pony had her life stolen and dreams crushed by this curse. She'd been cast out of her home without so much as a single bit to her name simply because she'd had the gumption to sprout leathery wings and fuzz-tufted ears. Desperate for food and shelter, she tried to fit in with a bat pony colony but got exposed when she couldn't walk on clouds. Guess who got charged for all the fine china that got broken when hurled against her hide? The logic being that if she hadn't been such a tempting target, then nothing would have been damaged in the first place. To pay off her debt, she was sentenced to five consecutive life sentences working the guano pits.

So yeah, when Twilight got up there and said it's our own hatred that's the problem and not the fuzzies themselves, she was clearly onto something. Hatred is a powerful force, but we shouldn't let it control our lives. Take her advice. Look beyond your disgust for fuzzies and find those old bonds of friendship and love. They were never truly broken, only smothered, suppressed. Take that first step; lift the weight of hatred from your heart. Give hope a chance.

-FP

"She was obviously a beast lover so I spent the whole time not listening."; "Meh. So she doesn't want to kick Fluttershy out? So what? Don't get in all our faces about it."; "Did you say something? My ears are still ringing." Local residents give poor reviews to supposedly inspiring... [Continued on page 8]

"I'm proud to have Twilight Sparkle as my student," Princess Celestia said last night. This would not be controversial in ordinary circumstances, but given the timing... [Continued on page 3]

A fight broke out in a local bar over what, exactly, constituted 'mass brainwashing,' and the demand for eggplants has spiked... [Continued on page 6]

---

“You wrote this crap, didn't you?” A gruff, sour-faced stallion with a stubble beard, rusty mane, and rough, brown coat slapped a hoof against the daily news. He crumpled it up, snorted, and threw the ball in the dirt. Flapping his wings, he set the thing bouncing, rolling out of sight. Nearby bushes rustled. All were green and leafy, except for one which sported red berries.

Standing before him was a pale blue, pudgy unicorn with a tan hat that had a press pass stuffed in the brim, the universal symbol of a reporter. This portly stallion pulled a pencil from behind his ear and levitated a notepad in his creamy white glow. “Yes.” He nodded. “I did. I'm Flash Print, and I work for the Manehatten Minutes. You're Autumn Leaf, I presume?”

The old pegasus grunted, curling down his lips and glaring. Though his face wrinkled up, an ageless ferocity burned in his eyes.

The reporter, of course, ignored the warning completely. It was literally his business to pry where he was the least wanted. “So I take it, then, that you're not a fan of this new theory regarding fuzzies?”

Autumn reflexively snorted, then bared his teeth. “Bloody little git, thinking that she can stand up there and change something that hasn't changed in thousands of years.”

Flash scribbled on his pad. “Ah. So this hasn't changed your opinion about your son any?”

The old pony's eyes widened. For a moment his skin went flat, but soon the wrinkles returned with his scowl. “I have no son.”

“It's been sixteen years. Don't you think that in light of recent events you should at least rethink—”

“I have no son!” Autumn stomped, pounding his porch and shaking the earth.

Flash Print clenched his teeth and scribbled away. “So what is it about Twilight's message that you don't agree with? Is it because you don't miss him at all, or like hating him more than you loved him, or—”

“Hey!” Stepping up, the gruff, rugged pegasus pressed his face against Flash's. “Here's an idea. How about you—” he tapped a brown hoof on the blue pony's chest “—GET OFF MY LAWN!”

The bellowing was enough to knock Flash Print's hat off. He stepped back, folded up his notebook and stuffed it in his jacket pocket. Turning away, he reached down to retrieve his hat, dust it off, and shook his head as he walked away. “I guess this goes to show: the more things try to change, the more they stay the same.” It wasn't long before he was out of sight, checking a map and trotting off to his next destination.

The day was fine and fresh, crisp with a clear, blue sky. The summer sun had yet to bake the earth, and the morning chill was pleasant in the temperate climate. Autumn sighed and stared at the sky. Birds chirped, flying overhead to nest in the nearby trees.

The bushes rustled again, and the one with the berries asked, “Is that nosy reporter gone?”

“Yes. You can come out now.”

The shrubbery rustled, and the berries parted from the leaves as a tall figure stood, earthy and pale. Nay, not tall, simply thin and gaunt, hardly a waif to be bowed in the wind. This was a pony, once, but had branches sprouting from its skull like a set of overgrown antlers. It was these that held the berries, and tiny spade-shaped leaves of its own. Legs were knotted, more bone than sinew, and little flesh. Its back was mottled, with lumps of bark and splotches of white. The figure had wings, at one point, but the feathers were gone with brown, dried stems poking out along its length. There were a few green fronds, as some type of broad leaf attempted to fill in the many gaps.

“You're one ugly fuggle.” Autumn Leaf grunted, locking his eyes on the beast. “How have you been doing all these years?”

“Awful. Yourself?” The creature responded. Its voice was as thin and raspy as its frame.

“Could be better.” The two stared, eye-to-eye. Neither blinked.

In the bright sun, the leaves seemed vibrant, the only part of the beast that looked healthy and well. “Is mom around?” it asked.

Autumn shook his head, deeply and full of regret. “She blamed me for this, you know. Said it was because my name had leaf in it. It was too much. We broke apart. About a year after you... left, she hooked up with some sleazy git the south side of Manehatten. Haven't seen 'er since.”

“I'm sorry.”

“So am I.” The elder pony licked his hoof and brushed his rusty mane, smoothing out the frayed ends. “I spent so much time wishing you'd never been born that I lost sight of the fact that I still loved you, deep inside. I wish this Twilight had come along sixteen years ago, then I would have stood up for you, and she might have respected me, and we could still be together.”

“It didn't sound like you were sticking up for me just now.”

Autumn Leaf shook his head. “No point now. In all honesty, I probably wouldn't have done it back then, either. I ain't a brave pony.”

“And I'm no pony at all,” the figure spat bitterly.

“Wallow Wind...” The elder bit his tongue. He eyed the barely-living half-plant, who was once a bright-eyed, happy colt. “What happened to you all these years?”

Wallow sighed and looked up at the sun, the one thing which had never forsaken him. “I took it poorly, as you can imagine. I hated it. I hated it all. I kept cutting the branches off, but they grew back, they always did. I picked at the bark, though it hurt like the dickens.” The white patches were not spots of faded color, but scars. He was covered in them. “And as for the wings, well...”

“I can't help but notice that it looks like a different type of plant.”

“I tried to escape from it all, and binged on enchanted comic books.” He paused and clenched his teeth. “Stupid things kept casting me as the villain, even though they're not supposed to do that,” he muttered under his breath. “The magic was not good for me. When I molted and started growing fronds, well, I flipped out. That's why they're all dead.” He shook his head, rustling the branches. “It was a huge mistake. The leaves help me live. I nearly pruned myself to death.”

“Ouch.” Autumn Leaf coughed and raised a hoof, pointing at one of the dangling red berries. “Have you ever...?”

“They're bitter and salty and don't grow when planted.”

“Ah.”

An awkward silence settled in. A squirrel darted in the background, clambering up an oak. The wadded up newspaper had come to rest against a row of daffodils, bright and white. Autumn walked over, uncrumpled it, and dusted it off. “This doesn't mean I like it. Those folks just write opinions and try to cram it down everypony's throats, pretending it's news. When I look at you, I still see the same beast I kicked out sixteen years ago.”

“Of course you do.” Wallow sighed.

“But I'm willing to give this hope a chance. Why don't you come inside and we can have ice cream... son.”

The thin figure perked up, red eyes wide and shining. He eagerly followed his father to the door, only to clack his branches against the frame and nearly topple over as the top-heavy weight threw off his delicate balance. “Ow,” he moaned, rubbing his temple.

“Or, you could stay out there and I'll bring you a bowl.”

“It's fine. I need more sun, anyway,” Wallow said through clenched teeth. He hung his head, fully feeling the burden of his curse upon his shoulders. Sap leaked from his eyes and ran down his hallow cheeks. “Of all the things I could have been, it just had to be a tree.”

---

The Fuzzy End

Comments

[ponybird21]

I... I don't know how to exactly respond to this.
But it's rather... Interesting. I like it!
This idea of ponies being cursed and then hatred is directed at them for something they had no control over.
It's a rather dark tail to a bright world, or so we think.
Overall, fantastic story. I look forward to more promising stories such as this and I especially want to know what inspired this for you.
Excellent job!

[Cloverleaf]

When Twilight was going over the overexposures to magic information....

Damnit Discord

i.pinimg.com/736x/0a/75/eb/0a75eb01b679604009cc3503f0b22191--pony-party-discord.jpg

[Courage Fire]

Hm... I'm feeling .. something familiar here.

[Defender9to5]

I love it, I hope there is a sequel or spin off to it

[JazzyWaffles]

This story was... eh.

I hated the main character for most of the fic, and it was only near the end that her irrational hatred was explained. And the conclusion was... rushed. It just didn't feel satisfying. I dunno.

[Arkonfleight]

An interesting premise soured by dropping anvils all over it. It could use more discussion of herdthink or some examples of actual memories on Twilight's part.
Bonus points for the fuzz actually mostly being drawbacks, instead of being bland superpowers. I'd read about the further adventures of Fluttiger trying to get along with her life.

[ponybird21]

Just... Just think about it.
"You have committed an act worst then murder. You are... A... FUZZIE."
I fuckin died when I pictured this to an angry pony. That was my thought process for this entire story. It was great!

[fanreader999999]

>.<