Iris
A tribute to Waggytail and his art, especially Racing Fluffies
by Oculus
Featuring cover art by CookieCrunch
~
Taking in the young air of the new day, man and fluffy were on the outskirts of their house. Waving his arms about in the air, a youthful Eric Abrams then proceeded to twist his trunk, feeling the tightness as he tried to look as far back as possible. To his side, Iris was doing her own unique stretches. At times she tried to copy her owner, but she found it more comfortable to do poses she had been taught as a foal. Hunching her back, she stretched her fore limbs as much as possible, mimicking the way a cat would stretch. After completing his stretches, Eric started lifting his legs continuously in the air. Iris did just as well, using all four of her legs to jog on the spot.
And then, Eric moved forward. As he kept jogging, Iris tailed behind him, maintaining a constant distance. Unlike most fluffies that could merely waddle or run for limited periods of time, this purple unicorn kept pacing with her master, as man and fluffy jogged across the pathway, through the dense thicket, passing by various people, pet animals and fluffies that constituted the residents of the humble little suburb the two hailed from. After fifteen minutes, they had arrived back at home, their jog finished. Taking the time to catch his breath, Eric takes out the water bottle that was on his running belt. After quenching his thirst, he gets on his knees and pours a bit of the refreshing mix of water and electrolytes into his hand. Iris, feeling parched, laps as much of this liquid as she could.
Doting on his little running buddy, Eric asks “Feeling good, Iris?”
Though a little tired, and quite sweaty, Iris beamed as she replied, “Iwis hab bigges’ happies, daddeh!”
~
“So what made you pick Iris out of all the foals at the shop?”
Eric was currently seated comfortably on a sofa. Across the coffee table sat his father, Frank. Eric had been interested in buying a fluffy pony for a few years but he wasn’t sure which one to get. It was only about a year ago, during a chance visit to the local Fluffmart, that he found a fluffy to his liking.
“I was looking at the pens for the foals on display, and saw that Iris was racing with the other foals that were on sale. Although the other foals were arguably cuter, Iris was faster than any of them. After about three rounds around the show pen, the other foals got tired or distracted, while Iris managed to finish it.
I asked the shopkeeper about her. She mentioned that Iris was of the Waggytail breed, a unique breed from New Zealand.”
“I heard Waggytail are expensive, considering they have to be imported.”
“They are, but Iris has been very obedient and loyal. I’d say she’s one of the best friends I’ve made.”
In front of the coffee table was seated, Iris her eyes glued to the television screen. Upon being introduced to Frank earlier, her “gwampa” (or granpa) decided to show her some videos that he had been keeping in his collection. Iris stared in awe as she saw many hummehs, clad in silly outfits and hats, riding on giant fluffies. These giant fluffies were about as tall as the hummehs and even bigger than them, and had a really unique head. They reminded her of some fluffies she had seen before at the Fluffmart and a few other places, but those fluffies were not as huge as these. As she kept watching the screen, she noticed a man that looked like granpa riding upon a magnificent fluffy of a grullo colour. Man and fluffy raced forward, beating out the others in the race.
“Yippeee!!”
Iris cried out. Ecstatic, she stood on her hind legs, with her forelegs up in the air as she jumped in elation. The sight caught the two men by surprise. That initial shock was followed by a smile, as Harold walked up to the little fluffy pony.
“So you liked watching the races huh?”
“Fwuffy wub da wacies! Can Iwis meet gwampa’s big fwuffy?”
“Big fluffy?”
Frank was wondering who Iris was referring to, and then he realized, “Oh, you mean Hermes. Well sure. We can meet that big fluffy tomorrow.”
~
Iris’s eyes were filled with awe as she saw the huge fluffy in front of her. Hermes was a much older grullo now, and had long retired along with his master, who was one of the few jockeys to have retired in the ripe old era of his 60s.
“Hewwo big fwen! Fwuffy am Iwis!”
But the big fluffy did not respond.
Iris, undeterred, asked “Fwen nu be shy! Fwuffy hab big happies ta meet big an’ speshu fwuffy!”
Both men laughed, as Eric explained, “Silly Iris, Hermes can’t talk.”
Iris was a little taken aback. She could tell that Hermes was a pony, very much like her. Though the head was slightly different, he had a similar kind of hooves, and swished tail about in a way she could. And once in a while, he neighed, something that she too could do. But, despite all of that, Hermes could not talk.
“Why big fwuffy howsie nu can hab tawkies?”
“Iris, my dear Iris. Horses aren’t like fluffies. They’re bigger, but they’re not as smart. Do you remember that lesson about the monkeys at the daycare?”
“Fwuffy memba! Monkee fwens hab handsies and feetsies wike da hummehs!”
“Yes, but monkey friends can’t talk like humans. Also, monkeys have tails while humans don’t. Likewise, horses are like bigger versions of fluffies, but just like how monkeys can’t talk, the big horses can’t talk.”
”Aww,” groaned Iris, feeling a little disappointed.
And yet, Iris’s childlike wonder filled her mind with imagination. Realizing that she was in the presence of a great member of her kind, and recognizing the career he once had, Iris knew what she wanted to do in that instance.
“Can fwuffy gib howsie huggies?”
”Iris,” trailed off Eric, a little unsure.
“Let her.”
With some hesitation, Eric carried Iris in his arms, and brought the fluffy up to the grullo. With her forelimbs outstretch, she proceeds to stroke the horse’s mane.
“Nice howsie fwen,” cooed Iris.
Hermes, who had initially been cautious of Iris, was starting to slowly accept this odd little creature. After a while, he gave the little fluffy a lick on the face.
“Teehee!” giggled Iris, as she noted, “Wickey cweanies!”
Eric then placed Iris on the back of Hermes. For a brief moment, Iris felt like she was a jockey much like granpa, riding Hermes like a proud equestrian. As she hugged Hermes, she softly whispered, “Bigges’ huggies!”
~
“And this is where the fluffies will be racing.”
A young worker who just started his job at the racecourse was being briefed by the foreman. The venue had once been a place where greyhounds had competed against each other, placed by man to chase after a mechanical prey. However, while some sports do change with the passage of time, some things do remain slightly similar in tone.
“Why is there a bowl in the place of where the mechanical hare should be?”
“Oh that. Well, there’s where we place the marinara sauce.”
The worker was able to catch on by what the foreman meant.
“Oh, I get it. Because almost all fluffies love spaghetti.”
“Pretty much. Fluffies aren’t too smart and get easily distracted, which is why one of the arrangements was to use the lure of marinara sauce as a means of guiding them.”
“How fast does the mechanical lure go?”
“It’s currently set to 30 kilometers an hour.”
“That’s pretty low, the lure used to go faster for the greyhounds.”
“Well yeah, fluffies aren’t that fast. The average Carpdime tabby goes up to 11km an hour, and those usually sprint in short bursts. Most of the time they can only manage a waddle. The more athletic fluffy breeds like the Waggytail, Yehdoo and Olive are a bit faster, and some can go up 25km an hour, but they never beat the mechanical lure.”
Fluffy racing had been debated among fluffy owners for a while now, but most fluffy races had not succeeded as fluffies were usually too unwieldy for running or, if they were of a more agile running breed, were too easily distracted to commit to proper running. That was until the implementation of the mechanical bowl, similar to the practice of using mechanical hares in greyhound races.
As Eric massaged Iris’s legs, he stroked her mane, as he said, “Just try your best.”
Iris saw the bowl hovering in front of her. Looking around, she could observe different fluffies of all kinds, lined up in a row beside her. She recognized a big fat fluffy, like the ones that were called “Carpdimes”. She saw a long fluffy with a sausage like body, most likely a Foxhoarder. All of them were eyeing a bowl, which seemed to have that delectable dish of stretched out dough covered in marinara sauce.
Unbeknownst to the fluffies, the “spaghetti” that they were looking at was only a cardboard cutout, smeared with marinara sauce. However, even just a small amount of this condiment produced enough scent to entice most fluffies. As the smell wafted down and reached the nostrils of the fluffies, Iris’s mind was filled with thoughts of that one delightful cuisine.
“Sketties!!!”
As the gates opened up, the fluffies ran off! Iris kept running, licking her lips, as the fluffies beside her all ran for the bowl. Some fluffies tried to push each other out of the way, but ended up slowing each other down. Iris, being a bit more agile, dodged as many of the kicks and shoves as she could, as she ran after the bowl in front of her. As the bowl passed its first lap, Iris found that she was now in the company of about four other fluffies, while the others were far behind her. The other three were moving the fastest but were so focused on getting up to the bowl that they couldn’t think of pushing each other out of the way
The bowl zoomed past the finishing line, and within seconds, the other running fluffies tailed behind. Iris was the third to win. The first, a Waggytail of a yellow colour, kept chasing the bowl until his owner came in. Almost all the other fluffies clamoured for the bowl, but thankfully, and due to their small size, it was easy for their owners to come in and catch their wards. With towels in hand, they massaged them, while wiping off their sweat.
A smiling Eric massaged Iris, as he noted “Congratulations, you got third!”
But Iris was distracted. The smell coming from the bowl was too strong, and she knew what magic lay within that bowl.
“Sketties! Sketties!”
Seeing that the bowl had stopped, iris lept out of her owner’s hands. Rushing towards the bowl, she started to prance up and down, wanting to reach for the sketties in the bowl. The worker who was tending to the mechanical lure laughed as he noticed the dance from the purple unicorn.
“Haha, silly girl.”
The worker then took off the bowl and showed Iris what it really contained: a cardboard cutout of spaghetti.
“Oh.”
Iris was somewhat disappointed. But the disappointment was not long. As she stood upon the podium, with a dish of sketti waiting for her after the race, she felt proud. Not only because she was getting a spaghetti dish, but because she ran fast enough to earn it.
~
Sometime after Iris won her first race, she was watching an episode of My Little Fluffy. It was one of her favourite shows on television. And she enjoyed watch it because it had her favourite character: Lightning Fast.
Lightning Fast was challenged by a unicorn fluffy on the show. In that episode, the Pegasus had been a bit tardy and had not cleared the excess clouds over the little town of Fluffyville.
“Fwuffy can cwear da cwouds! Ten secondies FWAT!”
There was a slight clap of thunder, as Lighting Fast zoomed off. Being a Pegasus, Lightning Fast had access to weather magic, and utilized the lightning to augment her speed. Iris giggled, as she saw the Pegasus clear the clouds of the sky. Boasting before the dumbfounded Unicorn, she proudly stated, “Dewe! Ten secondies fwat!!”
“Iris, it’s getting late! Time for bed!”
“Otay daddeh,” said Iris obediently. Pressing the hoof on the remote, she switches off the television, and heads to her room.
Some hours into the night, the once clear skies above the suburb started to be filled with a mass of clouds. Initially they were a smaller herd of cotton-like cumulus clouds, but eventually a large and giant cumulonimbus came around the area. Its girth heavy with vapour, the electric charge within this massive aerial cloud worked their magic, and their resultant sound signal the arrival of this aerial behemoth.
KRACK-BOOM!
Any ordinary fluffy would be afraid of the sound of thunder, but Iris was curious.
She had heard about the sky zappies. The sky zappies were brief, but fast, and created the “woud wumblies”, otherwise known as “thunda”. While the woud wumblies couldn’t really hurt fluffies, sky zappies were so fast, that one could get the forever sleep if they were too close to the sky zappies. In the show, she remembered that Lightning Fast had a cutie mark, that of a lightning bolt. Something about that intrigued Iris. Of course, Lightning Fast was a character in a story. She was make-believe. But lightning was very real, and very fast.
~
After her spectacular performance in the first derby, Eric entered Iris for another fluffy Derby. However, and unlike the race she was in last time, Iris noticed that all these fluffies were very much like her. They had a similar body type and more importantly, were well-exercised much like her. But the most interesting thing she noticed was that some of them had a unique mark on them. Some of them had a sign on their flank, like the cutie mark the fluffies from My Little Fluffy had. Some had a white sign that resembled a hummeh, but running. One Earth fluffy had two feathers on each side, resembling that of a Pegasus.
Of course, not all of them had a mark – Iris recognized the one fluffy she had raced with before. He was a big fellow, and very bulky, but more importantly, his tongue was stretched out, as his eyes were glued towards the bowl of imaginary sketti in front of them.
With the change from the red fluffy to a green light on the overhead stoplight, the gates lifted, and off the fluffies ran!
As she galloped, Iris noted that this race felt very different from the last one. In the previous race, the fluffies had all initially all ran together like a herd, trying to reach for the mechanical lure. But here, the fluffies were keeping their distance, as they ran fast as they could for this one bowl.
In the back, one fluffy, feeling the pain in her hooves, lamented as she cried out “Nu wan wose!” Beside her, a male fluffy trying his best to catch up yelled to her, “Stahp bein a babbeh!” As Iris rushed forward, she passed by a particularly rowdy brown unicorn. This unicorn kicked one of the green fluffies behind him as he said “Out of da wayy!” He too tried to charge after Iris, but Iris was too quick, as she came within reach of the faster three.
“Fow da sketti!!”
Iris didn’t know if that came out of the fat fluffy with his tongue sticking out, or if it came from the teal fluffy next to him. All she knew was two of the faster fluffies in front of her were definitely running in the hopes of getting the supposed sketti in that bowl.
Iris kept rushing forth. She knew that the bowl was a lie, and that there was no sketti in it. However, there was something else that she wanted. She didn’t care if she was going to get sketti after the race. She didn’t care about the prize, which didn’t mean much to her.
What she really wanted to do was to get in front of the bowl.
And after a while, the bowl seemed to slow down around the curve of the track. Feeling like it was an opportunity, Iris lunged forth, and started to take bigger steps.
But then she felt a pain. A large terrible pain, that was making her stop. She noticed that although two of the three fluffies of her were slowing down, the one who had his tongue out kept chasing after it, undeterred. Even though he seemingly slowed down, he was able to maintain a distance with the lure. After a while, the lure sped up, and he too sped with the lure. Iris tried to catch up, watching to beat that fluffy, and the lure.
But it was too late.
~
The winning fluffy landed his face deep into the spaghetti. The brown fluffy who had injured one of the other fluffies was place within a sorry box, while his owner was scolding him – he was going to be barred from future competitions. Most of the fluffies who lost the competition were tired, but Iris saw the one purple fluffy who was wailing.
“Nu wike wosing! Nu wike huu huu huu…”
Although Iris wasn’t wailing at that moment, she felt a similar empathy for her, as tears trailed down her own eyes. Although she was a mere runner-up, Eric massaged her, trying to console her.
“There, there Iris. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. There’ll always be another race.”
“Fwuffy knu.”
“Cheer up a little, Iris. I’ll treat you to some sketti when we get home.”
“Otay.”
Iris still had her face to the ground. As she did so, she started to notice that the surrounding area was getting darker. Then there was a drop of wawa. Followed by another, and yet another.
And then, the sound came.
CRACK-BOOM!
“SCREEE!!!”
The shrieks of various fluffies could be heard. Some cried out “Nu wan wawa! Wawa bad fow fwuffy!!” while others started running into the shade by themselves. In the winner’s tent, the fat fluffy was too busy eating his spaghetti, too unconcerned about the weather around.
“Come on Iris! You’ll catch a cold!”
But Iris stared at the clouds above. Seeing the lightning strike in the distance, something stirred within her. She remembered seeing some of the fluffies having a mark like that. And that was just something about lightning as an element that she wanted.
~
“You sure you want this Iris?”
“Fwuffy am shuwe.”
“You know it’ll be very painful, right? You’ll have the wowstest huwties for weeks.”
But Iris was sure, as she nodded.
“Fwuffy am shuwe.”
Huddled in a corner, Iris was a little uncertain about what was to happen next. There was “doctah” mister that was examining her, and reminded her of the many times she had visited a similar doctor mister who gave her the meh-dee-sen when she was feeling sick. This doctah gently pressed his fingers around Iris’s see-pwaces, as he shone a light onto the eyeball.
“P-pwease nu huwt eyesie!”
After the physical examination was done, Iris was given a bath. However, unlike the baths that she had many times with her owner, this particular bath felt less friendly and caring. Still a little wary of the procedure, Iris could only ask a simple “Nice mistah?” of the doctor.
As Iris felt the tightness of the restraints on her forelimbs and general body, she had forgotten the very reason why she was in that place. She saw a razor, like the one that daddeh uses to remove his face fluff. Knowing that it was a sharp thing, she could only please “Nuu huwt fwuffee!”
Carefully, the vet shaved off the fluffy from the area that the brand was going to be applied. Wanting to speak, Iris kept generating saliva in her mouth. The excess saliva started to loosen the restraints until it snapped. As the weird wawa was place over the bared skin, a puzzled Iris could only ask “Why cowd?”
The doctor wanted to reapply the restraint but, and remembering what the next step entail, realized that leaving her mouth open would be for the best. Knowing that he had to perform his duty quickly, he strokes Iris, trying to calm her down.
“Fwuffy am scawed…”
Upon removing the brand from the liquid nitrogen, and with one quick movement, he applies the brand to the shaved area of Iris’s body.
“SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!”
A bloodcurling scream filled the room. Iris never imagined a pain this terrible. A pain so terrible, she lost control of her bowels. Although the brand was already removed from her, Iris kept screaming and struggling, wanting to break free. However, the doctah mister takes a sharp huwtie, and slightly pricks Iris on the right side of her body. Slowly, Iris starts to feel her limbs go numb, though she could still feel the hurt from the application of the brand. Slowly massaging her body, the docta mistah whispered, “It’s okay, take it easy. It’s over now. Take it easy.”
~
As is customary with the procedure, Iris had to stay for five days at the vet, so that the effects of the procedure could be observed. The immediate application of the freeze brand would reveal a swelled pattern, and the patient had to be isolated to ensure that outside elements would not interfere with the freeze brand.
Lying on the floor, Iris was trying to remember, why did she get this huwtie? Why was she in this clinic, getting this terrible cold, and going through all of this? From time to time, her owner Eric would come by, checking on her condition.
“Are you feeling okay?”
Iris could only manage a simple, “It am so huwtie…. Huu huu…”
As Iris cuddled up to her owner, Eric had to remind her, “you wanted this remember? You wanted to look like the other racers.”
“Iris memba,” sobbed Iris.
“I told you it was very painful. I would rather you didn’t go through with this.”
But there was a mirror in the room Iris was in. Although the huwtie was painful, she could see the clear shape of a lightning bolt, very much like the one Lightning Fast had. Whenever the pain came, she looked at the mark in the mirror, and it reminded her why she was willing to take this injury. And more importantly what it meant.
~
“OUCHIES!”
It was night. Iris was still in the ward, and she had made the mistake of lying on the side of her body that had the mark. She managed to quickly roll back, but the pain was still smarting. As that pain lingered, Iris started to wonder. Was the pain worth it? Was it worth it looking pretty just to make herself stand out from the rest of the crowd?
Lying down in the darkness, Iris stared at the blank wall. She remembered the big fluffy, that howsie fwen Hermes. She could remember his grullo colour, his largeness, and how he stood, proud noble and firm.
“Siwwy Iwis.”
Iris blinked. She was in a meadow, and in front of her was, her daddeh! Not Eric daddeh, her fluffy daddeh! The fluffy daddeh she met at the farm so many forevers ago. Although Iris loved her hummeh daddeh, she always remember the humble farm she came from, and the real parent who taught her first words.
Iris rushes up towards her father and hugs him, as she squeals, “Daddeh!”
But then to her shock, she finds that she was actually hugging Hermes!
“Siwwy Iwis.”
And now, the howsie fwen was talking!
“Siwwy Iwis, Why am su saddies. Nu cwy!”
“But it am so huwtie……”
“Habbing fastest runnies gib huwties.”
As he said this, Hermes’s grullo colour slowly changed into a bright cyan. Even though he was still a horse in shape and size, he started to resemble Lightning FAST.
“Getting sowwy hoofsies from udda fwuffies gib huwties. Huwties wiww happen, wut matta am how fwuffy deaw wif da huwtie!”
“Deaw wif da huwtie?” enquire Iris.
“Why did fwuffy wan ta pwetty mawk? Why fwuffy wan da zappy mawk?”
Iris brought her left forelimb to her mouth, as she tried to remember.
“Iris memba… da zappies. Da sky zappies. So fast, so powah-fuww.”
“Das wite. And Iwis wan ta be wike da zappies, wite?”
”Wite!”
“Wike Witenin Fass. Fass as zappies!”
“Yus! Iwis wan be fass!”
“Dats wite! Nao, fwuffy wan oat or kibbwe?”
“Huh?”
“I said, do you wants oats or kibble?”
Iris blinked. She was back in the room, and it was daylight. The doctor was asking her what she wanted for breakfast.
~
A month had passed. The top layer of the skin where the brand was applied was started to shed, as the burn started to heal. As the fluff would regrow in this area, it would give a natural white colour, the intended effect of the freeze branding procedure. During this period, it was advised that fluffies should only do simple exercises.
But something about Iris seemed rather odd to Eric. As opposed to just playing with her blockies, eating sketties and watching FluffTV, Iris was now spending more time trying to watch the races. In addition, whenever he got home from work, he noticed that his little fluffy seemed more sluggish than usual. So one day, he took a day off from work, but didn’t tell his fluffy. Hiding in his room, he carefully noticed that his fluffy got out of the house, and spent at least two three times a day, running around the house. Eric had seen some fellow fluffy owners build elaborate obstacle courses for their fluffies to participate in, but these were meant for fluffy agility courses. And while Iris had participated in those, both Eric and her knew the only type of race that Iris and he were genuinely interested in.
Iris was starting to slow down after her fourth lap around the house. As she walked towards the water dispenser placed on the lawn, Eric strolled towards her.
“Hey iris. I see you’ve been running a lot lately.”
Panting, Iris nodded, “Fwuffy am. But Iwis nu am fast enough.”
Kneeling down, he rubs his hand around Iris’s tense muscles. He notices that her hooves were getting a bit worn.
“You land your hooves too hard. You got to be lighter on your feet. Also, you take too many big steps. You got to be more constant.”
“K-konstan?”
“Samey steppies. Not too fast, not too slow. Remember how I jog?”
“Fwuffy memba! Bu daddeh, Iwis wan gu fasta!”
“You’ve got to build speed. It’s like building blockies, you don’t have a blockie tower so quickly, you got to slowly develop it.”
“Biwd wike bwockies?”
Eric remembered that there was a little exercise he did, many, many ages ago. He looks at his watch, and presses a few buttons. He then asks Iris, “to jog on the spot, as fast as you can.”
“Otay!”
Upon pressing the button, he then says, “keep going until I say stop.”
Iris proceeds to do so. She had done this jogging on the spot exercise many times before. But now, the secondies were starting to build up way pass ten, and it was feeling like a forever. Iris was not sure how long she could manage this.
“Stop!”
Iris started to pant. She was a bit surprised that she got tired out from an exercise she had done so many times before.
“See Iris, sometimes you jog too fast, and then sometimes you go too slow. And you get tired out too easily. You got to build it up.”
“Iwiws wan to git betta. Iwiw wan be fasta.”
Seeing the determination in her eyes, Eric sighed.
“We’ll try. It’s not going to be easy, but we’ll try. And no matter what, I’ll support you.”
And so the months passed. Eric kept training Iris, as he kept watching her steps and gait. At the same time, Iris started being more conscious of what she was eating. Although she did love spaghetti, she started to notice that she couldn’t fast when she ate sketti the night before. Aside from kibble, Eric started to look into the sort of food that Hermes ate. Consuming the oats and hay, Iris felt the changes slowly take place as she could feel herself filled with more energy throughout the day. Her mind was filled with images of Lightning Fast and Hermes, as Iris trained each week, with only one goal on her mind.
~
“You’ve been spending a lot time training Iris.”
That was a comment made by Sandy, Eric’s elderly neighbour. The duo had just finished a training regimen, and Iris was going inside to take a rest.
“I have, yes. The 5th official Fluffy Derby is coming up, and I think Iris really wants to win it.”
“Yeah but, most people usually just let their fluffies train themselves, or put them through the agility courses. You’re really going the mile to train Iris like as though she’s a runner.”
“I mean, that’s what she is, isn’t she?”
“Yeah, but it’s supposed to be instinctual, isn’t it? From what I understand, the more athletic fluffies have a bit of dog DNA in them, and the use of mechanical lure is supposed to echo the way greyhound races are handled.”
“I know.”
“And I mean, you don’t really give running advice to a greyhound, do you? And I don’t think fluffies are that smart.”
Eric paused for a while. He looked to the sky, and noticed that the clouds were gathering.
“You know, when I was a kid, I was the captain of my school track and field. I spent many years, constantly running, wanting to be the fastest. I once wanted to be good enough to run at a National level, and maybe even be good enough for the Olympics.
Then I broke my leg. I never forgot that day when it happened. I remember I was still in the final year of high school, and I was struggling to balance both. When that happened, it gave me the time to focus on my studies, and I passed my final exam. But when I tried running again, my will, my dream, it just, wasn’t there.”
“Your dad’s a jockey, wasn’t he? Why didn’t you try that?”
“I just wasn’t interested. I do love horses, but riding a horse is not the same as looking after one. I spent my childhood looking after horses, but I never really enjoyed riding them. I guess I took after my mom.”
“Is that why you got a fluffy?”
“In a way, yeah. I heard about how these things were basically a more domestic version of the horse, and I was intrigued by them.”
“Sounds to me like you’re getting something else out of owning Iris,” smiled Sandy, as she walked back into the house. Before closing the door, she then said, “I wish ya luck, Eric.”
~
And so the day of the 5th official Fluffy Derby came.
Iris could feel many things deep insider her. The lessons that daddeh had taught her. The memory of Hermes, the big fluffy she met all those months ago. That cartoon of Lightning Fast, and the pain of the freeze branding. And that bowl with cardboard cut-out, the lie that bound her fellow compatriots. Even as she smelled the marinara sauce, Iris knew the real reason why she was here.
As she waited for the light to go off, she looked around to see who were competing with her. She remembered her first race, and was surprised to see some unique fluffies she hadn’t seen in a while. She saw a fluffy with a long sausage-like body, most likely a Foxhoarder. And she noticed a Caprdime, very similar to one she saw in the first race. But most of the other fluffies were indeed racing fluffies like her, those being fluffies of the Waggytail, Yehdoo and Olive breed. And she could see that same yellow Waggytail, that one waggytail who had his tongue out, and his mind focused only on sketti, eyeing the bowl constantly.
And off they went!
As Iris galloped, noticed the fluffies in this race were a lot faster than the past two races, better behaved, and a lot more focused on chasing the bowl. But she noticed that they were not constant in their steps. Remembering what her father taught her, Iris maintained her momentum. After a while, as some of the fluffies petered out, Iris caught on, and was within the first four in the lead.
After a while, it was down to two. Iris, and her rival. His tongue out, salivating while chasing the bowl in front of him.
The bowl was starting to slow down. Most of the other fluffies however were starting to experience the hamstrings, as they weren’t trained by the owners. But Iris was prepared. Following after her rival, she too slowed down, but maintained her pace. Keeping her steps constant, she could still feel the target within her range, and, as the bowl started to speed up, she was able to be pace with her rival, neck in neck.
And this was the final lap. The final 100metres. The finishing line was there, and Iris was coming into it. But Iris was not interested in just being the first. Steeling forward, Iris charged, and with every bit of energy in her, galloped until she managed to reach just under the bowl.
The crowd gasped, as they realized that the fluffy had done. Even the announcer couldn’t believe his eyes.
Iris kept going, ignoring the yellow fluffy behind her that was so focused on the sketti bowl that he didn’t realize who was in front of him. And perhaps to him, it didn’t matter.
Iris was now at the pace that she truly wanted to be. But she could feel the mechanical bowl behind her, chasing her. The smell of the marinara sauce lingered, tempting her, wanting her to forget the race, and just chase after the bowl. But Iris could see the finishing line up ahead. And she knew what she really wanted to do. Despite the craving, there was something in her heart that she truly wanted to fulfil.
~
“A WORLD RECORD! HOLY CRAP”
The announcer yelled into the microphone as the crowd erupted in applause, amazed by what this one purple fluffy could do. As Iris crossed the finishing like, she started to stumble. Trying her best to slow herself down careful, she manages a walk, and then, stops. She then collapses, exhausted. A number of fluffy vets rushed to the scene, massaging the fluffy. Eric, worried for the safety his fluffy, is by her side.
“Iris? Iris?! Are you okay?!!’
But Iris’s eyes look to the sky. She sees a large cloud slowly moving, until it turns into a vaguely horse-like shape. And as she notices that, she smiles.
~
A much older Iris was now sitting before a class of foals. A decade had passed since that race when she set the first notable record in fluffy racing history. That record became the talk of the town, not only amongst fluffy owners, but amongst fluffies themselves. Many fluffies came to Iris, wanting to know how she could move so fast. And in every generation, there was a group of foals that wanted to be as fast as Iris. Over the time, some fluffies managed to overcome the mechanical lure, being more interested in the prospect of being the fastest fluffy alive. And even though Iris’s record was broken eventually, the impact of her athletic lifestyle and record on the racing fluffy community was so profound that it changed the way fluffy racing was handled.
But there was one question that Iris was having a hard time answering.
“Why Iwis want ta beat da boww?”
Iris wasn’t sure what to tell that foal. Tell her about Hermes, the racehorse that belonged to grampa, and how she wished she could be as fast as Hermes? How she didn’t like being slower than the mechanical bowl and wanted to beat It once and for all? How the phenomena of lighting inspired her to get her tattoo, and the pain which had steeled her resolved to overcome pain of her greatest run? It was a lot of ideas, and this many ideas could confuse and muddle a fluffy’s thoughts.
But there was one shining reason that stood out the most out of all them. And Iris beamed, as she proudly stated her greatest motivation to all the foals gathered in the class.
“Iwis wuv wacies!”
Dedicated to Waggytail, one of my biggest inspirations as a hugboxer
