Ebony the Fluffy Filly
- Scars and Scuffs
Ebony was a little earth pony fluffy who was born in the corrugated wooden walls of a decrepit shack. The runt of her litter with rich umber fur, a coily jet black mane, and bright amber eyes with bright mossy speckles, she was an absolute gem in her mother’s eyes. Ebony’s mom, Imani, had the same dark brown fur and eyes that resembled dirty quartz. However, Imani had neon orange hair that was frayed from stress and excessive petroleum jelly use. But, in Ebony’s eyes, her “Mummah” was absolutely perfect.
Ebony had two other siblings. One was a sandalwood-colored pegasus filly with a curly ginger mane and dark black speckles across her muff. Her name was YellaBone, and she was cocky; her green eyes sparkling with confidence. The other was an acacia colored unicorn foal with quite the texture to match; he was covered in odd green and red spots, as if he was covered in moss and fungus. He had very demure reddish-brown eyes. His name was ReddyRich, or ‘Weddy’ for short. His mane was also curly and black, with the only spots of color being the red tips at the end.
Ebony would be lying if she said her siblings never got on her nerves- they all had a competitive streak when it came to racing across the shack, and they all wanted to do their best to impress their Mummah. ReddyRich had no problem burrowing to harvest wild garlic for their mom, whilst YellaBone would scavenge for the best dandelions. Ebony had always tried to grab something unique every time- whether it be a cool rock, a scrap of nice paper, or some restaurant napkins for the family nest. However, no matter what the three brought their mom, Imani always had her hooves opened wide to embrace her fillies and foals’ special gifts.
Ebony, YellaBone, and ReddyRich had never yearned for much. They had clear, beautiful skies; beautiful leaves and lovely flowers to munch on; trees to scamper around and hide in the hollows of; a shed that, whilst leaky during storms, was sturdy and reliable. The few times the fillies have ever had to experience some level of discomfort was when their mother would place them on her back and toddle down a winding, shadowy path to BrownsTown; a blustering Maroon Villa where many other chocolate-colored fluffies (and the occasional neon token) lived. There, Imani would barter her wild garlic and medicinal mushrooms for vegetable seeds, scraps of cloth, and a good ol’ bit of town gossip.
No matter how windy the winds got, how boisterous the thunderstorms were, how dreadfully icy the cold snaps could get, Ebony knew that she and her siblings were loved by their sharp and all-knowing Mummah. After all, what else could ever matter?
Being the runt of the litter that was born last, Ebony ended up having some complications that stunted her growth. Her back right leg was a bit shorter than the others, and she often struggled to gain any meaningful weight. ReddyRich, ready to show off as the responsible big brother, was one of the first people to teach her about the wild cabbage and wood sorrel that grew outside of their shed. It was around his first week of being completely weaned, and he wasted no time in coaching his baby sister on the delicate shoots.
“Eb-knee, eb-knee wook! Wood sowwel!” He pointed at the small yellow flowers right next to the leaves that were too small to pass as clover. “Dis will make ya’ gwow big and strong! Jus’ wike big brudda Weddy Wich!” Reddy threw his snout up in triumph.
“Huh… otay!” Ebony sniffed the sorrel took a nibble. Loving the fresh burst of lemony taste, she squealed with joy and kept munching! “Mmmmm! Weddy, tanks so much! It’s sooooo good!”
“Weddy! Eb-knee! Mummah called y’all for Eva’ ago!” YellaBone called out from the blue tarp that covered the shattered window. “Don’t make ha’ mad; else she gonna whoop us!”
“Uh oh! Wes go!”
“Y-yeah!”
Hoof in hoof, ReddyRich pulled Ebony onto his back and galloped (as best as a little foal could, anyhow) quickly to their home in the shed. As soon as they squeezed their way through the crack in the wall, the two young fluffies stopped in their tracks. There, they saw something they had never seen before. Imani, their mother, was standing next to a big, blue stallion, much bigger than the little fluffies in the room. Meanwhile, YellaBone was using a colored pencil in her mouth in order to sketch out something on some moldy newspaper.
Picking up on how tense the room was, Ebony and ReddyRich trotted over to their sister in order to observe what she was doing. There, they saw something interesting: a drawing of a big, grayish white cloud, covered in grooves and odd prickles… except it was growing out of a log? But why? When YellaBone finished, she spat out the colored pencil and embraced her siblings. It was then that Ebony’s ears flicked up at the words of the Blue Stallion.
“Ima-knee, tank yew so much for dis…” the Blue Stallion bowed his head in respect, something that made all three of the children gasp. “Wen Dewdrop tried to save Special Fwiends’ babies fwom being kil- uhm, fwom… Foreva’ Sweepies… Dewdrop was dethwowned, an’ new Smarty Fweind took ova. Dewdrop tried his best to fight Lemon Spawks, Dew really, really did, but… it was awwwww in vain. Dewdrop loss…”
Tears started streaming down the snout of the blue fluffy, who collapsed to his knees. Imani wrapped her front legs around him in a tight embrace, rubbing his wavy, mint colored mane. It was then that Ebony noticed that her Mummah’s hoof had brushed against a part in the stallion’s mane, revealing a cracked and scabbing horn. She couldn’t fully understand why, but Ebony couldn’t help but want to reach out to the stallion.
“Dewdrop fought HORDT! Dewdrop fought Lemon Spawks, Dewdrop fought Mykalo, Dewdrop e-eben fought his own Daddeh, Da-bon-té! But it awwwl in vain. Dey stomped out every Poopie Babie Dey could. Every Poopie Babie… ‘cept one.”
At this point, Ebony had already made her way towards the stallion she could only presume was ‘Dewdrop’, her siblings trailing slowly behind her. Ebony, YellaBone and ReddyRich threw their stubby little arms around the Stallion and quietly murmured “Huggies.” It was at this point in time that the three babies noticed peeping noises coming from Dewdrop’s back. The three tiny fluffies perked their ears and snouts up in curiosity. Dewdrop showed a forlorn smile and with his scabbed hoof, he picked up a glossy, jet black tuft from his back and placed it down into the “Beddy-bye Crate” to his right.
Having the small fluffies scurry around and over the stallion brought some chuckles out of Dewdrop and Imani alike. With bright eyes and wide smiles, the three fluffies cooed at the bundle of shivering fluff. There it was, in all it’s glory: a pitch-black Earth pony with a kinky lavender-white mane. Ebony marveled at how the baby’s curls were tighter than hers, and yet still looked softer than a cloud. She hesitantly reached out to touch the poofy mane, and sure enough, it was.
“Wooooahh… Bebeh so, so beauty-full!” Ebony gasped.
“Tanks. Bebeh’s name is Ob-siddy-an. I call ‘im Obsy for short.” Dewdrop grinned. “Ain’t nobody seen nuffin’ wike him before. When he was born, BlackBerry said he “wooked darker dan Coal. Shinier too!”
Dewdrop’s cackle at his special friend’s last words dipped into a loud sniffle. “Dey said… Dey said dat he was ‘cussed’ yanno dat? Dey said dat it was cwear as day that he was gonna gwow up to be some kinda “Alicorn An-tee Cwist”. Dat he’d go ahead and kill us all. Didn’t matta that he ain’t got no horns, no wings, no nuffin but his hungry belly and fur on his ass.” Dewdrop snorted.
“You said dat the udder babehs were kilt, yeah? How many o’ dem was spared?” Imani inquired.
“Jus’ one. A dark Gween one. But knowing how Lemon Spawks WOVES his “Beau-tee Bweach”, he won’t be dark for long.” Dewdrop shuddered. “Anyways… I gotta go. Need to find new herd, need to recovah, need to… sumpthin’! Anythin’ at dis point.” Dewdrop stood up and bowed his head to Imani once again. “Iman-knee, I truss you more than anyone I know. Tha’ Maroons was damm near IM-POSS-A-BUH ta find! But mah Mummah used to live here, and ahm pretty damm pwoud to say dat she died here, too! So Imma just leave it to you. Good luck, Imani. Good luck, lil’ fillies.”
With that being said and done, the stallion trotted his way out of the shed, using his hoof to push open the heavy door. The family looked on as the door was bucked closed with a loud ‘THUNK’, with a quiet hush blanketing the home.
“Welp,” Imani shrugged, gently climbing into the Beddy-Bye Crate. “Who all wants beddy-bye milkies?”
Obsidian took the opportunity to let out a boisterous cry, and everyone burst out into fond laughter.
The very next morning, Imani and her newfound family awakened early in order to set out for BrownsTown. YellaBone took extra care to rip out the special picture in the newspaper and fold it up with her hooves, tucking it neatly underneath one of her wings. Ebony had grabbed out a few faded handkerchiefs and followed ReddyRich to gather dandelion roots and wild garlic to trade in. Reddy instructed her to place their trade goods in the blue handkerchief, and the random shoots and wildflowers in the pink handkerchief.
“Bebehs haf milkies, but Mummah needs gwass. Most shop-keepah’s don’t give out freebies, yanno?” Reddy chuckled.
Ebony nodded enthusiastically in agreement, and neatly nipped a dandelion head off its stem.
When everyone was prepared, Imani slipped on a loose makeshift collar and carefully tied the handkerchiefs around the stretched out leather. She then bundled up Obsidian in a piece of patchwork scrap, and placed him on her back. The other fillies soon followed, and sure enough, they were off. With Ebony no longer being the runt of the family, she took to holding Obsidian and making sure he was swaddled safely. Waking up before daylight was pretty sketchy, even for fillies that could blend into the underbrush with ease.
“Big Sista wuv Baby Brudda,
Big Sissy wuv berry much!
Eb-knee wuv Ob… um, Ob-Sid-ee-yun!
Eb-knee wuv Obsy berry much!”
“Yeeeeeaahhh, pop off Eb-knee!” YellaBone cheered, with Reddy clomping his hooves together in support.
As it turns out, the other little fluffies took to their new baby brother overnight like a cat to nip. They snuggled around him all night, took turns cuddling him, and had even gone out of the way to make sure he got extra milk. When Ebony yawned last night and said that she was finished with feeding early, she pushed Obsidian to her mother’s teat in order to receive an extra helping of milk. YellaBone ended her feeding shortly after, and Reddy licked little Obsidian clean. Glossy as a polished gem, it was impossible for them not to spend every waking moment gushing over him.
However, lullaby time was cut short as Imani had reached their destination earlier than expected. Beaten grassy paths turned into rocky roads and pebbly bumps, and the sounds of a small creek trickling increased. Once Imani leapt up and landed on a smooth stone, she smiled. Fluffies in all shades of brown, tan, sienna, and green were crawling out from dens and the hollows of trees. Some could be seen working together to push cardboard boxes and wooden crates into the town circle. The occasional neon colored fluffy would pop out of a den to hug their brown and green counterparts, right before pulling out their makeshift sickles and scythes and trotting into the communal fields of wild oats. BrownsTown Villa was awakening. The Maroons were coming to life. Sunset was breaching the horizon, and Imani couldn’t be more pleased.
“Ayo! ¡Hola Iman-knee! ¿Cómo Estás?” A pale blue Fluffy covered in dark brown speckles and a sandy brown mane trotted up the steep cliff. “You here for ya’ oats, hunnybunch?”
“Heh, you bet Eggshell! Hold awn a bit!” Imani deftly leapt down the smooth planes of the cliff and met Eggshell on even ground. “I gotcha gawlick, but I need a fava from you.”
“Sholl thing. Watchu need, hunny?”
Imani then dropped her smile and sat on her haunches. Getting the cue, the Fluffies slid off her back as carefully as they could. Just as Ebony’s hooves touched the ground, Obsidian started to mewl out pathetically. Needless to say, that had Eggshell quirking his eyebrows in curiosity.
“¡No Maw-mes! ¿Nuevo hijo? When didja pop out dis wittle foal?” Eggshell cooed. “Wow, he’s soooo shy-knee! But dawk, like a thunda’ clowd!”
“Well, I guess he mines’ now.” Imani shrugged. “Some stallion named Dew-Dwop bwought him by after searching for da’ Maroons foreva. His Mummah wived here and died here, too. Know somethin’ bout dat?”
“Mm-mm, not wit-out askin’.” Eggshell shrugged. “Ah well. We’ll get awound to it. Come ova’ to my twee Twunk; I got sum Frijoles y arroz for y’all!”
“Mmmm mmmm, yummy!” The small family cheered.
As the group of friends trotted along to the tree trunk on the other end of the villa, Ebony decided to take in the sights. It was a bit awkward trotting along with three hooves instead of four, but the lovely view of the villa made up for it. Giant stalks of wild oats and rice encircled the many trees. Certain Pegasus stallions were dipping their wings into shallow puddles and beating them quickly over tiny sprouts. Earth ponies were layering sticks on top of each other whilst slathering them in mud, almost as if they were sculpting oblong birds nests. The unicorn fluffies, on the other hand, were fussing over who was gonna find worms to throw in “Da Poopie Pile”- a pile of excrement that had been carefully mixed with spent husks, leaves, and sticks too short for building with.
“C’mawn guys! It barely even smells bad anymowe- besides, it’s Spwing! Compost doesn’t fawl fwom da sky!”
“Shiiiddd, sholl wish it did.”
“Oh mah gawd, shut up!” A sienna colored mare rolled her eyes and flipped her curly bleach blond mane, flaunting her horn. “I got da damn wurm awl-ready- oh!”
Ebony couldn’t help but giggle at the group of unicorns rassling the giant worm into the compost pile. Her view was then shadowed by clumps of blooming daffodils and sprouting beans; wild violets straining alongside her hooves. The smell of beans and rice boiling in an ash pit caught her attention, and made her mouth water. As the little fillies trotted into the trunk, they couldn’t believe their eyes: a small tin can holding wild rice and small pods of wild beans and berries! The steam made the trunk so warm that Eggshell was poking the thatching of his roof away with a huge twig; making room for the excess steam to escape.
“Come awn in, lil’ fluffies. Make yo’self at home! Mi casa es su casa, okay? Ok!!” Eggshell rustled through a makeshift shelf made of driftwood in order to collect a few cracked plastic cups and a bent metal spoon.
Imani and Eggshell worked together in order to have the rice and beans carefully distributed. In the meantime, YellaBone and ReddyRich took the initiative to sort of the handkerchiefs; the blue one sitting up against the wall while the pink one was opened up. The greens and flowers were a bit wilted, but still good nonetheless!
“For you, Mummah!” ReddyRich said with pride.
“Ohh, tank you, tank you awl! Let’s share, ok?”
“O-tay!”
“Yay, share share!”
“Share is Care, hee hee!”
Sure enough, the small group enjoyed their delicious breakfast. Imani took extra care to unswaddle Obsidian to let him suckle, and the ambient mood settled into a warm one, riddled with giggles and small talk. It wasn’t until each of the fluffies had stacked their cups back on the driftwood that Imani sat up and cleared her throat.
“YellaBone! Lil’ bebeh, c’mere and give Mummah her big picture pwease.”
“Oh, das wite!”
YellaBone quickly untucked her sketch from her wing and handed it to Imani. The newspaper quickly unfolded and Imani pointed to the sketch of the very strange cloud sitting on the log. The pale blue speckled fluffy quirked his eyebrow, and then hummed deeply in thought. His sandy tail suddenly whipped a satchel bundled with twine off the driftwood shelf, whisking it undone over the newspaper, revealing…
“Mush-wooms!” Reddy and Ebony shouted.
“Cwose, buh not quite.” Imani smiled. “Eggshell, watchu’ know ‘bout some ‘Wion’s Mane’ ?”
“Wion’s Mane? Wow! Haven’t heard dat one in a long, long, while. Buh it’s supah healthy for when Maroon fluffies get sickies. Why come?” Eggshell inquired.
“Well Ob-siddy-an here is pwetty sickies. He can eat, but not enough for a two-week ol’ foal,” Imani simpered. “No wan’ him to go cold an’ die; neither does DewDwop. So… help me go an fowage, please?”
“Ok!” Eggshell agreed. “But we gon need sum help, Yanno? Two of your fillies gotta stay in da Villa, but we may need one to help us fowage. Wion’s Mane can be weally, weally twicky to find, so we need awl eyes on deck!”
“Mummah, can I come pwease?” Ebony leapt up enthusiastically. “Since I’m big sistah now, I wan help Obsy get bettah!”
“No way! Eb-knee might be bwave, but she has bad leg! What if fowest Munster try to scoop her up an eat her?” ReddyRich piped up. “No want anything bad happenin’ to Eb-knee.”
“Das true. But Mummah and Eggshell said dat Fowest is big an dawk. Eb-knee might be able to go sneak-sneak better wit’out gettin’ found.” YellaBone placed a hoof on both Ebony and ReddyRich’s shoulders alike. “B’sides Weddy, we need a stwong Fwuffie like you to help guard Obsy and to keep Eggshell’s Twunk safe from danger.”
Both Ebony and YellaBone held their breath as Reddy thought over his sister’s reasoning with a displeased look on his face. But ultimately, he sighed and shrugged his shoulders in resignation. “Okay, fine. But in da meantime, Imma be teachin’ Obsy how ta’ be TUFF! Wike a weal big bruddah!” Reddy puffed his chest out in a goofy fashion, and the stump full of Fluffies laughed.
As the bright tide of morning yawned and retreated to the clouds for a nap, the chill of mid-afternoon spring started to arise. Winds blew their gusts through the hills, rustling tall trees and beanstalks alike. Vines of morning glory and kudzu sashayed along redwood trees, and bushels of groundnuts and plantain danced in the wind. In spite of everything however, Ebony was holding her ground surprisingly well. Latching onto random blades of grass with her teeth whenever the winds got too strong for her had saved her from nearly flying off a few times. The fact that they made for a bonus snack was nice, too.
That being said, foraging was no waltz in the park either. There were times where Eggshell and Imani had used their hind legs to lift up decaying logs while Ebony scurried under them to look for the purported “Lion’s Mane”. Needless to say, Ebony had a pretty close call when she shrieked at an unusually huge Roly poly; shocking both Imani and Eggshell into nearly dropping the log on her. Her Mummah took to soothing her and moving her out of the way when Ebony emptied her bowels out of fright. Eggshell on the other hand, was bemused to the point of cackling; it wouldn’t be the first time he’d taken a young Fluffy out to the woods for foraging lessons, and it sure as hell wouldn’t be a worthwhile venture if one of the youngsters didn’t shit themselves out of fear. Imani gave him a scorching glare, but even that couldn’t quell his laughter.
Gross, but hey- that’s what made it worth it!
As it turned out, having the patience to patter through poop and plantain sprouts eventually bore some fruit. Just as Ebony had managed to steady herself on a fragile shelf of shale rock, the structure ended up tumbling down. The screeching brown fluffy had her mane snagged through moss and flecks of pebble, only for her to crash through a branch and land on a huge frizzy mass.
“EB-KNEE! MIERDA, EB-KNEE?!” A shrill call echoed over the ledge that Ebony had just rolled off of.
“Egg…shell? Huh? Wait, wha-“ Ebony leapt up and immediately chased her tail, making sure that everything was still intact. “Way-ment, hold awn…”
It wasn’t until then that Ebony looked down at the white, cloudy mass that she was standing on. Prickly white stalagmites spiked down from the ledge, and smaller white tufts trailed along the decaying bark she had clipped her haunches against. She gasped loudly with joy and shouted.
“WION’S MAYNE! Wion’s Mayne! Mummah, Eggshell, we foun’ it! Da speshul mush-woom! Yay!”
In her excitement, Ebony nipped a huge chunk of the mushroom with her mouth, and attempted to climb up the tree stump. It was then that the mycelium began to peel away from the stump, and both the lion’s mane and Ebony stumbled onto a bushel of purslane. By this time, Eggshell had managed to leap down with a vine in his mouth, and helped Ebony up to her hooves.
“C’mon Eb-knee. Let’s get the mush-woom dragged up the hill. I’ll pull, you push. Okay?”
“Okay!”
It had taken awhile to fasten the vine around the mushroom, but soon enough, the two Fluffies were moving the medicinal mushroom up the steep hill that Eggshell rushed down earlier. With Imani just over the ledge squeaking in encouragement, it didn’t take long for them to make it to the top. The afternoon sun had retired from its nap long ago, and the cotton candy colored clouds of sunset started to creep across the sky.
“Okay. If we keep going nao, we shoul’ get back to da Villa by night times!” Eggshell huffed as Imani fastened the remaining length of the vine around his belly. “NAO all we gotta do is-“
“SCREEEEEEEE!”
The fur on the napes of the Fluffies’ necks stood up. In less than a nanosecond, the entire forest was blanketed in static. Every blade of grass emanated a vibrato of tension; each leaf twisted in the wind with a frantic anxiety. Before Ebony knew what was happening, Imani snatched her off her hooves and dashed under a prickly thatch of brambles. Ebony whined as the thorns nicked her weaker leg, which had begun to ache under the previous duress. In a pathetic effort to self-soothe, Ebony bit her tongue and started twisting a lock of her mane in between her hooves.
Eggshell on the other hand, was not so lucky. It seemed obvious to his compatriots that having a baby blue complexion with brown speckles made him stick out like a cuckoo egg in a sparrow’s nest. No matter how fast he ran, the horrid screeching echoed louder across the forest. It was then that Ebony saw something that she had never quite seen before: a giant winged beast, bigger than any bird than she’d seen, snatched Eggshell up by the very Lion’s Mane strapped to his back! The extremely distressed fluffy became a thrashing mess of expletives and excrement; doing everything he could to wrest himself from the hawk’s talons.
“CHINGA SU MAW-DWEEEEEEE! PINCHE IDIOTA HALCÓN! ¡Déjame libre, Déjame libre, Déjame libreeeee!” Eggshell hysterically shrieked. “¡PUTA MAW-DWEEEEEE!”
“EGG SHEEEEELLLLLL!”
“Huh- wha?!”
Looking down across the rushing greens, Eggshell saw a patch of brown flashing through the shadows of wild grass and tall trees. It was no-one other than Imani galloping at full, stumpy-legged speed, with Ebony bouncing on top of her head. Lifting his neck up, he saw a clearing ahead; a ring of stumps surrounded by nests full of wild oats, rice, beans, and decomposed filly dung. It was then that Eggshell’s attention was snapped to rapt attention by the sounds of vegetative flesh being ripped by talons.
Eggshell took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and wound his haunches up as far back as he could in such a skewed position. He threw his head down only to buck as hard as he could, tucking his mane under his stubby arms and rolling his body into a tiny, furry ball. The hawk above him screeched with annoyance, the Lion’s Mane gave and crumbled into spiky clouds. The last thing Eggshell remembered was a small prayer that he muttered under his breath as he hurled towards the giant fluffy compost pile.
Between licking the tin can full of beans clean and dusting Eggshell’s den clean with their tails, YellaBone and ReddyRich had a pretty full day. Obsidian was now nestled in a makeshift nest of wild oat grass and some random feathers that ReddyRich had scavenged for. Earlier, YellaBone had entertained Obsidian by placing him on her back and slowly trotting around the wide stump, helping to keep his colicky cries at bay. Now fast asleep, the two tiny Fluffies looked down at their baby brother with adoration. Reddy then peered out of the stump with concern in his eyes.
“Y’think Mummah, Eggshell, an’ Eb-knee are ok? Weddy gettin’ worried…” ReddyRich sighed.
“I dunno. Cotton candy time awl-reddy here. It’ll be nighty-night time supah soon, and I can’t make milkies for Obsy.” YellaBone pouted, making sucking motions with her tongue. “I don wan us t’go hungry…”
“It’s ok! I can go an’ ask if dere’s a wet nurse awound. But first? I WEALLY need to make poopsies!” ReddyRich leapt to his hooves and giggled. “See y’all in a few. Keep Obsy safe, ok?”
“Okay!” YellaBone waved, turning to lovingly gaze at Obsy.
ReddyRich hurriedly trotted out and galloped past multiple tree trunks and sandy dens. Reddy felt as if he was running forever in order to get to the mountain of poop; never had he been so happy to see a towering mountain of literal shit. By the time that he reached the other side of the clearing to “make poopies” he had nearly twisted his hooves into knots. It wasn’t until he started unloading his stool on the edge of the pile that he heard an odd noise from above.
“Ccccchhhhiiiinnggaaaaa sssuuuUUUUUUU MAAAAAWWW-DWEEEEEEEEEE!”
“H-huh?!” Reddy gasped, looking up in the sky.
He was far from the only one who was frightened by the noise; as plenty of other fillies and colts had started shaking in their hooves and retreating back into their dens and stumps. ReddyRich was absolutely certain that he was hallucinating, because there was no way a fluffy blue meteor was hurtling towards the giant compost poopie pile right now!
The copper-speckled foal was too shocked to move until it was almost too late- he dived right as the fluffy meteor crashed into the top of the compost pile!
“Wat in da World?!” Reddy gasped. It was then that he saw the fuzzy meter unfurl, revealing his newfound friend. “EGGSHELL?!”
Reddy was terrified of hopping into the pile, but he was even more terrified to leave Eggshell alone up there. He sucked in the biggest gulp of stale air into his tiny lungs, and started crawling up the poopy pile. It took him everything not to give into the nausea and hurl right there on the spot, but he managed to make it to the crater and grab Eggshells’ hind hoof by his mouth. It didn’t take much pulling for the two of them to slide down the mountain; stopping right behind a patch of wheatgrass and broken lion’s mane.
The blue and brown speckled fluffy had cuts under his eyes, a shallow puncture wound on his belly, several scratches under his chest, and was struggling to breathe against the vine tying the now-crushed fungus to his back. Reddy started cutting away at the fraying vine frantically with his stubby horn, heavily panting whilst he did so.
“H-hey Weddy! Tanks so… cough tanks so much…” Eggshell gasped as the vines were removed. “I’m feelin’ weally… weally sweepies-“
“Eggshell, No! Stay wakies, STAY WAKIES!” ReddyRich shouted, placing his front hooves over Eggshells chest and shaking. “Wake up, wake UP, wakies, WAKIES, WAKIES-“
“HEY!”
Reddy was startled by a shrill, panicked voice behind him- so startled that he had stopped pumping his tiny hooves over Eggshell’s chest. He jolted away from the baby blue fluffy body to look up at another Unicorn, one with a bleach blond mane and sienna fur. For some reason, she seemed familiar, but Reddy didn’t have much time to reflect on that.
“Weddy’s sowwy! Am just tryna’ help Eggshell, an-“
“Shhhhhhh, it’s ok! Keep doin’ that pushy thingie witcha’ hooves, but ovah his bump-bump place, okay?” She shushed gently, guiding Reddy’s hooves over Eggshell’s chest. “Now do it as toughies as yew can! Gweat job! You don’ know it yet, but you’s a Nat-two-wal!”
ReddyRich wasn’t exactly sure what the hell he was doing to help, but the poor foal wasn’t going to question it. Especially not in front of what he could only assume to be a self-assured “Smarty” mare. Given what little he DID know about Smarty fluffies… Reddy shuddered and continued to pump his hooves over Eggshell’s chest. The story of Obsidian’s close encounter with annihilation was not one he was eager to reminisce on. He sure as hell wasn’t gonna be on the receiving end of a potential redux.
Said smarty mare in the meantime, was suctioning her mouth over Eggshells in order to pull out tiny clumps of dirt and roots, spitting them on the ground. Whatever she couldn’t suction out, she used a stiff blade of grass to shove down his throat and scratch it out. As soon as his mouth looked clear, she took a step back, widened her haunches, and closed her eyes. Her horn, scabbed and slightly jagged, started to glow and spark ferociously. The rainbow-colored sparks were frightening to Reddy, but he dared not to stop his tiny chest compressions. With a loud whinny that cried out over the sunset, the Mare stood up on her hind legs and shot a glaring large spark into the sky!
The frantic buzzing of static put Reddy’s fur on edge. Whilst keeping up his compressions, he looked at the shimmering spark float down, emitting even smaller sparks and bits of smoke. The spark then floated straight into Eggshells mouth, jaw askew and agape. At this point, the Sienna-colored mare placed a hoof on ReddyRich’s shoulder and pulled him aside. It was a wise move as well, considering the sudden heaving and convulsions that Eggshell started to do. They both jumped as Eggshell’s body jolted up and started heaving, with the Mare running forward to catch him by the chest. Sure enough, Eggshell started hacking up a storm and vomited the remaining compost that was still lodged in his throat.
“Eeeeeeggggshellllll!” A pair of familiar voices started encroaching the clearing.
“Wait a minute- Mummah? Eb-knee? Y’awl finally home! Y’awl made it! Yay!” ReddyRich cheered.
Ebony ran up to the small group and spat out a sizeable clump of white fungus into her hooves! “Wook, Weddy! We got da Wion’s Mane for babeh Obsy! He’s gon’ be awl-wite! Yay!”
“Woah, das awesome! I just helped Eggshell get his Wakies back, thanks to dis supah nice Smawty Mare! She’s sooooooo COOL!” Reddy smiled.
“Oh, I ‘member you! You was the Unicorn wit dat big, BIG worm! You so stwong!” Ebony sat on her haunches and beamed. “What’s your name?”
“My name?” The smarty mare looked back at the young fluffies with genuine awe in her voice. “Oh! My name is Wosalie. It’s a real-deal good feel in da tummy to meet ya too!” She grinned.
“W-w-wosalie…” Eggshell wiped away some spittle away from the corner of his mouth. “Gracias, mi hermana. I-“
“¡PINCHE CABRÓN!” Rosalie screamed, slapping a hoof straight up Eggshell’s already bloodied snout. “Do you have ANY IDEA jus how STINKY you are? We awe less than one full moon away from da weaning season being ovah, an’ you go AWF and near-Lee getcha’ self KILT!”
“Ooooowww, okay, okay! Lo Siento…” Eggshell sniffled. “I know dat Fluffy Schoo’ is s’posed to start soon, but wittle Obsy needs halp! I don’ wanna lose anutha itty-bitty foal again… hurts too much.”
“Hey , hey, its’ ooooh-tay. I get it.” Rosalie gave a forlorn smile and wrapped an arm around her brother. “We no loose wittle Bebeh, okay? We bwought Tendah-Fwame back fro’ da bwink of deaf; we can bwing Obsy back too. Jus’ don’t loose ya’self again like you almoss did those foreva big moons ago, ‘k?”
“Kay.”
At this point, multiple small Fluffies had crawled out of their hiding places in order to observe their surroundings. With most of the commotion now being settled, the fluffies breathed out a collective sigh of relief, and returned to packing up their shops and tools for the night. Imani and Rosalie made sure that Eggshell was on all fours, and slowly walked him to his tree stump at the end of BrownsTown. Ebony showed her siblings the Lion’s Mane that she helped discover, and her siblings picked up whatever little pieces of the fungus that were scattered across the ground.
Soon, the 4 little fluffies would be nestled near their mother’s teats, suckling away for comfort. Soon, Rosalie and Eggshell would stoke the smoldering fire below the dented tin can; freshly washed with shed fluffy fur and rainwater collected in thimbles and bottle caps. And when Imani eventually eased her milk into said thimbles and poured them into the makeshift pot, maybe she’d look in awe and wonder as Rosalie pounded the Lion’s Mane into the now-warming concoction. Eggshell might’ve thrown bits of honey scavenged from an abandoned Bumblebees nest into the mix, and finished it off with a bit of pink clover and wild mint for garnish. But in the end, nothing else mattered but the sleeping herd and their squeaky breaths emitted in the trunk.
The fungal milk and honey mixture coagulated over the dying fire as the small herd peacefully slept on.
When Ebony had finally awoken from her slumber, she wiped the sleep from her bleary eyes with her now-callusing hooves. What she saw was an interesting sight- a line of little fillies and foals waiting and prancing outside the tree trunk, giggling and peeping in with excitement. In the meantime, Imani was holding and trying to soothe a now-fussy Obsisian, mouth covered in a waxy film. The dark brown filly fluffy couldn’t help but notice that Rosalie had a tiny wooden makeshift spoon that she was scrubbing off with water and fluff.
“Oooohhh, I know, I know wittle Obsy. Is no fun takin’ meddy-cine, but is good for you!” Imani cooed, peppering kissed all over the black, shiny coat. “Weddy, Yella, make sure ya’ lick all of the tic-ture offa yo’ fur, okay?”
The two other foals chirped a bright “Yesh Mummah!” As they attended to the licking of their fur. It was then that Imani looked up and smiled at Ebony softly.
“Awwww, good mornin’ wittle Eb-knee! Our pwescious He-row!” Imani chirped softly. “C’mere and gwab some meddy -cine before the other lil’ fluffies do!”
Ebony jumped to her hooves and quickly trotted over to Rosalie, where a large lump of waxy cream was waiting for her on a spoon. As soon as the dark brown filly sat on her haunches and opened her mouth, the lightly bittersweet concoction slid down her throat and slipped easily into her stomach; leaving a light, minty tingle behind.
“Wow, you did bettah than e’erey Otha filly so far! Good job!” Rosalie grinned. “Okay, now let’s make sure tha Otha fillies get their fill!”
“Huh, how come?” Ebony cocked her head while licking her chops.
“Cuz! Meddy-cine das good for Obsy good for Otha nursing fillies, foals, an’ fluffies too! It’s uh, pwe-vent-ta-tive!” Rosalie grinned whilst waving for the other little fluffies to trot on in.
As Ebony decided to sit next to her other siblings, she looked in awe at the multitude of green, brown, dark gray, tan, and blue fluffies that wobbled in. It was obvious that while many of them were just beginning to wean, that even more of them were looking more on the lean and sickly side, kinda like Obsy. Ebony turned to look at ReddyRich and YellaBone, who were cuddling each other while lost in their own little world. She then looked down at her barely aching hind leg. Ebony started to fidget with her coily mane, closed her eyes and wished a silent wish. If a limping little filly like her could manage to help save Obsidian, then hopefully she could help save the other little fillies too! It was worth a shot- it had to be.
Around the same time, Eggshell had carefully snuck back into his trunk on his hind legs, using his forelegs for balance. He had a rag tied over his chest and belly, covered with a translucent green film. He then slid down against the wall of the trunk onto his haunches, huffing as quietly as he could. Rosalie looked up from her tincture administration, and gave him a soft smile.
“How’d da Aloe Vewa tweat-mint go?” Rosalie asked, licking the waxy corner of a grey-purple speckled foal. “All yo’ boo-boos feeling bettah?”
“Uuuughhhh…” Eggshell groaned and rolled his eyes at his sister, which earned a loud-ass laugh from the both of them. “You kno’ how it is. Feels like biggest hurties wite now, buh in gwand scheme of Fluff?” Eggshell grinned at the little fillies and foals leaving the tree stump. “It nuh hurt too much.”
“Muy Bien. Cuz now dat dis is awl said an’ done, we gotta start pew-paren for Fluffy Schoo. Full Moon closa than fartha ‘way, and you know we need more soapsies, feathers, and beeswax. Pwus, we gonna need to pay Tío and Tía another visit to da Bodega to get sum mo’ rice and beans.” Rosalie sighed as she sent the last little filly on her way.
“U-uhm, UN-cool Eggshell? What’s Fluffy Schoo?” YellaBone asked, ears perked with curiosity.
“Oh YellaBone, you’s gonna LOVE Fluffy Schoo! It’s where awl the little fillies and foals come to learn Big Fluffy tings! Big fluffy tings like how to tell good flowahs from bad flowahs; which plants make good meddy-cine, how to look at bad signs and good signs so you won’t get sickies, and eben how ta draw an, sniff an stuff!” Eggshell grinned. “Filly’s and foals get to play, an’ eat, and learn to gro’ veggie-tables and pick berries!”
“Little fluffies also learn cer-tan hoomin-peepul skills. Like Phon… Pho-nicks, and how to ‘read’ some lettahs and numbahs.” Rosalie put down her spoon and fluff scrubber down on a random makeshift counter. “You also get ta’ make new fw-frrr…friends and even try new tings!” The sandy fluffy spoke slowly, almost as if trying to carefully measure her words.
“Yeah! Wosalie an’ I been around enuf’ both hoomin-peepul, hoomin-munsters, and mean fluffies to know LOTS bout ‘talkin proper’ and stuff. Makes tings a lot easier when both hoomins and fluffies can take yuh serious.” Eggshell perked up, doing his best to mimic air quotes with his calloused hooves. “We pass on every’ting we know tuh make sure dat all little Fluffies grow up and sur-vibe!”
“Wooooaaaahhh.” ReddyRich perked up and smiled. “Can’t wait to go to Fluffy Schoo! Me wanna go wite nao!”
“Alwite nao, less calm down. Sssshhhhh.” Imani shushed the excited little fillies and foals. “Schoo is closa den you tink. Now less nap before we go home, ok?”
The fillies and foals then crawled up on one of the empty handkerchiefs and yawned loudly. The tree stump fell back into a peaceful slumber, and the warm scents of nectar and tree blossoms skittered through the smoky air.
The next time Ebony woke up, she was surround by a shroud of warm, scraggly fur. As she lifted her head to sniff the air, she recognized the familiar pheromones of her loving mother. As she looked around, she saw Eggshell and Rosalie waving their hooves goodbye with tired smiles on their faces. Ebony turned forward, looking at the grassy knolls and trodden path ahead of her. The afternoon sun wrapped itself behind a fluffy cloud for an early nap, and Ebony placed her head down to do the same.
Life these past few days was hectic, but exciting for the tiny filly. Now it was time for her to return home to her peaceful life in the shed: with her Mummah, her siblings, and her new baby brother. Ebony closed her eyes and dreamed of “Fwuffy Schoo’”- a mysterious place full of gardens, phonics, and and all sorts of exciting things for fluffies like her to try. The sweet nectar of the future teased her nostrils, and she inhaled the excitement with groggy anticipation.
End of: Scars and Scruffs.
Author’s Note: Hello, and thanks for reading! I’ve had this chapter finished since last year; I’ve just been waiting to have a lot of stuff written before publishing anything publicly. As you can probably tell, I’ll be taking a lot of liberties that typically aren’t seen in typical Fluffy Stories in order to really flesh out the Fluffy Society that’s been built here. I hope you stick around and read with an open mind, and don’t be afraid to ask questions!
Thanks for Reading!
-PlayerTenji95
Link to Google Doc: Ebony the Fluffy Filly: 1. Scars and Scuffs - Google Docs