Magic and Yarn
Princess Fuzzy liked to believe she was a reliable and dependable plushie, ready to face any nightmare or monster that threatened her ward. Now, she found herself shaking with worry, or perhaps fear, of the surge that had thrown her off the bench and to the floor. A floor that was feeling more uncomfortable with every passing second.
Inhale. Exhale.
“Princess! Princess Celestia! Are you okay? Is any pony injured?” A cadre of ponies thundered into the auditorium, their hooves beating out crashing echos and making Princess Fuzzy’s ears flicked back from the raw sound. ‘What…’
“Captain Brass, good," Celestia replied, "Fetch a stretcher for Miss Sparkle here and have her taken to the medical wing right away. No! No magic, we don’t know what it might do to her in that condition. I shall follow with her parents; have some pony bring the professors.”
"Yes, Princess!" the Captain's deep voice rang out. "Sparks, Pinpoint. With me." Steel shoes clattered on timber as ponies rushed to obey.
Fuzzy stared at her foreleg with faint horror as it slowly slid along the floor to touch it’s partner. New sensations and feelings kept hammering into her without pause.
“Princ...Cele-” the weak voice, a familiar voice, Twilight, muttered before the sounds of armored hooves on wooden flooring drowned it out.
‘Twilight!’ A stuttering breath as a wet tongue lashing the back of teeth- her teeth. Jaw muscles tensing and releasing. Speech tumbled forward, sloppy and weird but hers. “Twaa..”
“You're safe, Twilight. Just relax and rest." The Princess tried to comfort the moaning filly as she was carried away.
Shining's familiar voice could be heard from the doorway. “Twilight! Let me go, Cadance, I need to make sure she’s okay!”
“Auntie has it under control, you lump. Let the Guard do their thing and we’ll follow them to the medical wing.”
‘Shiny! I-I feel.. I feel! Please, help me.’ Fuzzy wanted to call out but a shock of fear, of the stomping hooves and unknown ponies stole her voice.
The minutes passed as hooves thundered from the room, the sounds of grunts and muffled words as guard ponies gathered the professors and Twilight’s parents away on stretchers, leaving it oddly silent aside from the soft gasps of a once-plushie.
Princess Fuzzy lifted her hoof, staring as she curled and flexed it, taking a deep breath, using Twilight’s calming technique to try and push down the worry bubbling inside. The sensation of a faint breeze coming from the holes in the room causing a shiver to run down her body, in turn causing the knot of worry inside her to twist. Smells she had never noticed before filled her nose and Fuzzy shook her head to try and focus.
“Deep... breaths… Hah.” No foal to give her voice. “Twilight.” Thoughts and feelings bubbled up inside her, things she had no name for, all revolving around the unicorn.
With her closest friend in mind, the platinum doll cautiously pushed herself up, leaning against a bench to steady herself after the first attempt had her face planting into the floor.
‘...I can feel- this isn’t right...No. Focus. Get u-’ A spike of raw, sharp pain in her hind leg left her gasping for breath, her body stumbling, almost tipping over like a foal before she could find her balance.
‘Something is very wrong!’ The insistent thought was pushed back again.
Princess Fuzzy, the platinum coated plushie looked around for a moment, taking in the feeling of standing on her own with a feeling of... pride? fear?
No strings or spells. No foal or parent holding her.
"F-find Twilight. Nothing else m-matters." she told herself, gritting her new teeth to try and silence the whimpers, then tenderly put one hoof in front of the other, new instincts sliding into place, each step smoother than the last but no less awkward as she limped along, the whispers of panic rising in the back of her mind.
With a last glance at the now empty room, she turned to the open door and began her trek.
- - - - -
The medical wing for Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorn's was fortunate enough that a foresightful builder had allowed for a trio of private rooms, each with a bed and a pair of visitor's chairs. Shining Armor hadn't even noticed the Princess as he sat by his sister's side, Cadance stealing the other chair with a look to Celestia as the pair waited for news.
“How is she, Doctor Humbug?” Princess Celestia gazed down at the sleeping pony on the bed for a long moment before glancing at the grey stallion who was muttering to himself and scribbling notes into a file. A nurse was carefully applying a gel to the filly’s horn, the sharp smell of the medicine mixing with the scent of burnt mane.
“She is fortunate." Doctor Humbug replied, "Judging by the ‘in depth’ examination I have taken in the last five minutes since you, and her brother, all but demanded I give you answers, she is sleeping off the effects of magical exhaustion.” His unconcealed bite earned a look from the Princess. “Still, a stage four magic depletion-”
“Stage four?” Shining Armor cut him off, “But the guard training only ever mentioned up to stage three. Why is there a stage four?” His worry was clear, only Cadance’ hoof on his back keeping him seated next to the bed.
Doctor Humbug sniffed. “Because, junior guard training doesn’t cover it unless you plan on taking medical training. Something I’ve brought up with the Captain before. In this case, she pushed too much magic through her body, which tried to shut down to protect her but something kept the flow open- likely the surge itself, though it was exacerbated by the flare that ended the surge. Thus the burns and stress fractures.”
“A-and my parents?” Shining asked, leaning into his friend’s calming touch as the pink alicorn spoke.
“They did catch the full brunt of the same magic that hammered my shield spell." Cadance rubbed at her horn, already coated with a healing goop.
“Oh, they’ll be fine. Probably won’t even remember it. Pony minds tend to block out abrupt transfiguration and they weren’t changed for long enough to cause other symptoms to crop up. I’ll have nurse Silver Mark wake them shortly.” Doctor Humbug then turned and pointed a hoof at Princess Celestia. “What you did, however, was plain stupid.”
“Excuse me?” It had been some time since a pony had spoken to her in such a tone as the towering alicorn stared down at the unicorn doctor.
Humbug’s blue eyes held all the warmth and care of an icicle as he met his princess’ gaze. “Ending a magic surge of this type by forcibly overpowering the immature spell matrix can result in magical feedback. Bleed-through runs the risk of stressing already overtaxed pathways past the point of recovery. You could very well have got it wrong and torn apart her ability to ever use magic.
“I knew what I was doing, I have been practising magic for quite some time, Doctor.” The mild rebuke was obvious.
“Yes, general magic. Not healing, not like this. Forty years of learning and I still..." Humbug trailed off, eyes distant for a moment, "There are some things, Princess, that you can never have enough practice for. This time, you were lucky. Any bleed-through was minimal.” He shook his head and scowled.
The alicorn bowed her head. "You are correct. I will remember for the future.” Celestia’s eyes moved to the other patient who was curled up in a large basket, snoring softly.
‘A dragon hatchling...from an imitation egg...is she? I’ve been- no, don’t get your hopes up, Celly. Let her grow.’
Cadance, looked between the pair and tried to ease the tension in the room, cutting in with a question of her own. “I didn’t expect the School to have a medical wing of its own, at least not one this large.”
Doctor Humbug huffed in reply, “You can thank nobles with more bits than brains for that after some little class challenge got out of control, ended up burning the original north wing to the ground. The pop up stand of a medical room they had lacked enough of everything so a few ‘noble’ children were left with crippling burns and one lost her horn. Medicine was not so advanced eight hundred years ago."
"They were difficult times." Princess Celestia looked up with a sorrowful look at a memory. “I would have done something had I not been sorting out a border issue with the griffons.”
The doctor chuckled unpleasantly. “How very polite of you, Princess, to refer to the Three Day War like that. Regardless,” He turned back to the pink alicorn, “funding to the School increased and the medical wing was added when they rebuilt. It might not be Canterlot Royal Hospital but we do our best.”
"It's very impressive. I did see quite a few non-unicorn students though." Cadance replied honestly.
"My School has grown so much since Star Swirl's time." The Princess' voice was soft. "Grown past what we envisioned, to teach more than just one tribe about more than just magic. Oh, but I could not let go of the name."
Shining Armor moved to the bedside and held one of his sister’s hooves. “She’s really going to be okay?” His eyes took in the goop covering her horn, the shortened mane with charred ends and the barely noticeable burns in her fur. The real eye catcher was the bright mark on her flank.
The grey stallion's horn lit up briefly, green symbols floating over the sleeping filly. “If the exhaustion is the only problem, then a few days of good rest at her age will see her back on her hooves, but I would say no magic for two weeks, and a course of treatments, to give her horn time to heal. A check up then will give me more to work with than I had now.”
Turning to the Princess, Doctor Humbug gave a short bow. "If there is nothing else, I have other ponies to check on." At her nod, he made for the door. "I'll have the nurse wake the parents."
Cadance watched the stallion leave before leaning against her friend. “Twilight will love it here. Her and..oh, oh dear." The pink alicorn looked around the room.
"Cadance?" The Princess' voice was curious. Celestia had heard a few stories about Evening Star's creations but had never seen one that caused such a reaction.
"Fuzzy, Twilight's doll, isn't here. She's something of an heirloom and a little weird but she's really important to Twilight. In all the rush I left her in the classroom."
"I see." Celestia murmured in amusement.
Shining missed the twitch of an ear but not the slight tug. "Twilly?"
The filly in question chose that moment to sneeze and stir, curling her hoof around her brother’s. "Fuz..."
"I'll be right back! She needs to be here." Cadance tried not to feel slightly silly as Princess Celestia watched her leave to retrieve a doll.
Twilight's eyes slowly crept open, looking up at the two white blurs above her, “Wh-what happened? Did I pass?”
- - - - -
Princess Fuzzy dearly wished she were home or at Twilight’s side as she braved the unknown, like the explorers from the bed time stories as the ache in her leg grew worse. Escaping the exam room had been trial enough but the hallway had revealed a new obstacle in the form of polished tiles that sent her sprawling painfully at the slightest misstep.
After discovering just how sensitive to impact her nose was for the third time, she resorted to walking along the side of the corridor for balance, making rest stops easy, stops that were needed more often as she limped along. The effort was draining in a way she didn't understand, a hollowness inside that sapped her as she pushed herself onward.
‘My leg is sore... plushies don’t feel pain..what am- no! No, focus!’
The end of the corridor opened into a small atrium, but the space before her, with so many other hallways and doors to choose from, made deciding where to go next a daunting prospect.
‘Something is wrong... it hurts. I don't understand..I'm-’
"Twil...Twilight.."
The ache in her hind leg had grown and the others kept shaking when she wasn’t paying attention. Slumping against a potted plant, the platinum pony looked for something- anything- to give an inkling on where her Twilight had been taken. An investigation revealed labels in some places but the letter and number combinations didn’t mean anything to Fuzzy and she could feel the unpleasant knot inside her middle twist as she took deep breaths.
“No sunlight...no moss...no glyph or map..I..” She trailed off. What was ‘A1-4 East Wing’ meant to mean?
Nothing she’d listened to or read with Twilight seemed to help- there was no map or ancient table to refer to and the wrongness wasn’t going away, nor was the hollow feeling inside her chest.
‘Twilight, what do I do? I'm...I'm scared.’ Glass eyes blurred and Princess Fuzzy couldn't hold in the sniffling. Trying to push back up to her hooves was too awkward, slipping and hurting too much.
"Don't think- just...just move!" The once plushie dragged herself forward on her forelegs as far as she could bear to, until numb and shaking, she curled up where she was.
I'm sorry Twilight, I'm not- I can't.." The wall holding everything in crumbled and Princess Fuzzy couldn't stop the sobs bubbling up.
She felt so very small and alone.
- - - - -
Handwavium is truly a valuable resource.
MOAR!!! If you don't mind.
I'm absolutely loving this so far. Just wonderful.
aw ye, this is some good stuff
Oh gosh, I really feel so sorry for the poor little thing. Please let Cadance find her before something goes even more wrong.
Toy Story: My Little Pony Edition
I hope Cadance will find Fuzzy. I suddenly think this is going to cause quite the stir.
Oh no! A cliffhanger, and Princess Fuzzy is scared and alone! 😰
Excellent dialogue, nothing seems forced or raced, your pacing is just right, and you are writing your characters extremely well. My heart breaks for Fuzzy, it really does. Keep up the good work, and of course, don't stress to hard about pleasing the masses, writing is something meant to make you happy too.
-Noobblue
Wonderful, the tension and determination are palpable. Do take your time with this now, you've got something special going. Be sure to get it right, yes?
Why do I get the feeling that the hollow feeling is either because she’s away from twilight I.e familiar bond or as an autonomous sapient artificial life form her mama battery is low (would account for the pain and shaky movement)
I had expected she would become living plush, but it sounds like she might be flesh and blood.
10229669
'My mana battery is low, and it's getting dark.'
10229669
I think it has more to do with the fact that she hasn't eaten anything ever. Her body lacks nutrients.
Go fluffy go!!!
10229537
Handwavium. The mana-conductive mineral considered to be the tier one magic crystal. From there we go up the scale of rarity and magical functionality to Convenientium, Retconnium, Miraculium, Phlebotinum, and the ever coveted top tier of magic crystal, Unobtainium.
10229685
I’m working off the theory that she is still a textile based life form (I.e golem/ homunculus)
10229707
Seems like flesh and blood to me.
10229707
I'm getting that vibe too also this chapter feels very sad
10229815
I can see where your quoted line supports the flesh and blood theory and I’d be happy to be wrong but this line suggests (to me anyway) that she isn’t a “real” pony at this point. End of the day we won’t find out till lily reveals it and cadence finds fuzzy
10229684
Humbug lives up to his name a smidge. Good fella, though!
Hopefully Fuzzy can hold on there.
10229537 Most elements of fantasy and politics would never work without it.
10229690 And alicornium, which tops the list.
If she is flesh and blood (like Spike), that's going to cause some fun issues in adjusting to her new body.
If she is still stuffing and fluff... that's going to cause some issues too, particularly around feeding time.
It was not every day that Celestia saw such a dramatic change from one of her students, or even once every century or two. Spike was certainly going to be unique among dragons, who were a unique race anyway, with no dragon looking quite exactly like another. Still, he was behaving exactly like a dragon, tested out to be a dragon, and was teething on a sizable gemstone last Celestia saw, so it was far easier to mentally classify him as an ordinary dragon with extraordinary history. An orphan, in a way, and that would make it easier to raise him alongside her new student since a dragon was tough and magic-resistant.
The other new addition to her school was going to take some getting used to, particularly when she saw Fuzzy sitting in her throne. The soft support backing had been torn off by small fabric teeth, and Fuzzy was quite busy chewing her way through the stuffing concealed within, or at least until Celestia's shadow fell over her.
"Um..." said the small stuffed creature, looking up with plaintive eyes. "Did you want some too? It's very good."
System malfunction, damage control inoperable due to lacking resources. Immediate assistance is required!
Fuzzy will surely be noticed soon when the bell rings and students come rushing out... Whether that will be a good thing or not, time will tell...
Keep going! ;)
Good stuff. Keep up the good work!
The loneliness
Oh, this is spectacular!
Now... the waiting begins.
I cannot understand, is she transformed or just animated?
Can't say if Fuzzy is flesh and blood but she is certainly have reactions that point that, if not flesh and blood she is reacting like it. I'd say she is suffering from hunger and quite possibly a broken leg
10229993
Actually, no. Alicornium is a term reserved for the Miraculium crystal structure of Alicorn horns. The distinction is made because of a lack of evidence that synthetically grown Miraculium horn spires can be successfully grafted in place of an Alicorn's natural horn. To be more specific, there's a complete lack of Alicorns in need of horn grafts, so results of any kind have yet to be observed.
There's a fascinating bit of history behind the word 'Alicornium'. It was originally used in Unicornia as the name for the mana-conductive mineral that makes up a unicorn's horn. The horn spire in that era was called an Alicorn because of an ancient legend of a bygone species of pony that was said to be magic incarnate who were called the Alicorns. So, as the foundation of a unicorn's magical proficiency, the people of Unicornia felt they were doing these magnificent ancients justice by using the name of their species for their horns. At that time, the mineral that would come to be called Retconnium had yet to be discovered.
Later when the discovery was made, it would lead to the connection that the mana-conductive mineral in a Unicorn's horn was in fact Retconnium. This would be after what history books call 'The Second Coming', referring to the resurgence of Alicorns in Celestia and Luna. However, it would be some time before synthetic Retconnium Unicorn horn grafts would see successful application, and in the time before such a medical revolution the Retconnium found in Unicorn horns would be given its own name, a tribute to the ancestral home of the Unicorns, Unicornium. Upon such a time as Miraculium horn grafts see successful application as a transplant upon Alicorns who have lost their horns, the word 'Alicornium' will likely fall out of use, as 'Unicornium' did after the first successful Unicorn horn graft.
As for the two mana minerals above Miraculium, Phlebotinum is extraordinarily rare and powerful. The only recognized Phlebotinum crystals are the Tree of Harmony and its fruit, and the Crystal Heart. Both the Tree of Harmony and the Crystal Heart were created over long periods of time, by infusing a crystal 'seed' with large amounts of magic, then planting it directly on a point of intersection between three of more ley lines and leaving it for at least 100 years.
As for Unobtainium, there are no records of any mana-conductive crystals with the properties described as Unobtainium crystals. In fact, given both that and the crystal's name, a large number of scholars and magic experts have completely written them off as a prank by Discord. They claim he edited textbooks during his brief prison break, and edited memories alongside those textbooks so nopony would question why there was an entirely new kind of magic crystal all of a sudden. Skeptics of this viewpoint just counter by questioning why Discord would bother himself with creating something so boring as a new normal. Come claim to have heard echoing laughter from the shadows after making such opinions known, with one particularly adamant protestor to this claim saying he heard a similar for say 'he gets it!'
10229815
10229861
My personal theory going by both your quotes is that it's a permanent charge-dependent transmogrification spell. At full charge she's more or less a real flesh-and-blood pony, but if her mana level gets too low she turns back into a plush.
I'd certainly be up for the Good Ol' Trope of Fuzzy turning back into a plush every time someone aside from Twilight (and Spike) is around for years simply because Twilight is still too young to keep up her charge for extended periods.
This is very cool
10230416
If that is the case, the most ethical thing to do would be to provide her with some kind of "life-support" system, to ensure that she always has enough charge.
10230553
Not necessarily. It might certainly be helpful sometimes, but considering she is apparently still aware while being a plush and fully content with that state of affairs, I doubt that she would actually much care for it or make use of it outside of some rare occassions when she needs immediate autonomy and Twilight isn't around or able to recharge her.
It's not necessarily the ethical thing to make her something she is not, and might not want to be, just because it sounds preferable to natural-born ponies.
10230308
Hmmm, seems like there's ample evidence to support the "flesh&blood" theory, as well as the "Still a stuffed toy" theories. Can't wait to see how that plays out!
How'd she know?
10230416
Plushie anatomy is weird as all get.
10230308
Just keep it away from the Rebootium. That stuff will mess you up good.
10231235
Celestia keeping track of odd things because using life-like dolls to prank ponies she likes, and troll ponies she doesn't, seems perfectly in character.
Next chapter will shed like on some of these questions.
10231495
Yeah, Rebootium is highly unstable. Studies suggest that the mirror portal is powered by Rebootium. It's why Starswirl designed it to stay off most of the time. Thankfully when Twilight forced the damned thing open she wasn't as thoughtless about it as she was when she opened Limbo. Analysis of the circuit she created indicates that beyond its obvious application of keeping the portal open, it also circumvents the Rebootium battery built into the mirror.
Obviously that works because the magic link between the journals is acting as a power source, but a lesser mage might have wired the whole thing through the Rebootium core and then where would the ponies be? Well they'd be in roughly the same place, but they'd be largely bald ape things with spindly legs and mini-forelegs ending in mini-hooves branching off from their forehooves. It'd be a nightmare made real... *shudder*
This is way too adorable. Please, more!
10229684
this made me a sad
'Learn from Sunset, you old nag. At least wait until she's old enough to drink before you drive her to it.'
Fascinating glimpse of the peculiar nature of Princess Fuzzy's new existence. Looking forward to further data on the topic.
10230308
The trick with Unobtanium is that it's only found on this one planet populated by giant Smurfs with nerve-tentacle-ponytails.
Very nice work with the little Princess.
You got Fuzzy confusion at existing nicely.
Good work.
Just read your story and I love it! Can’t wait for more.
I'm rooting for you Fuzzy!
Fuzzy will return!
In a curious combination of 'Laptop suffers a critical fail vs falling' and 'We're on short hours during this pandemic. Oh, except for you folks, you'll be doing 60 hour weeks so we can meet contract deadlines.', I seem to have lost a month.
Just, uh... so you know. Aiming for later this week.
Ha, my favorite part. Somepony telling Sunbutt that she is a fucking idiot, and needs to be repeatedly slapped upside the head with a rolled up newspaper, is something that needs to happen more often.
He might not have said it in those words, but that's what Humbug said.
10298066
To a degree, yes. Celestia had the advantage of seeing the long view, which is fine for empire level ruling but does mean she's a little slow to deal with crisis events that she doesn't have a decade to plan for.
So Cool
I very very eagerly await any updates in this story.
10234132
So, Protoss?