@Soviet_Fluffy requested: “Someone loses functionality in their legs due to some disease, so their family gets them a fluffy. They initially reject it, but over time they come to depend on it for emotional support. Then they have to try to live without the fluffy due to a new government edict, then they eventually move as they emotionally just couldn’t live without it.”
“… Seriously?”
John stared down at the small, overly fluffy cartoonish pony before him. It was a unicorn, with a red bow tied around its brown-furred neck. It wagged its short, bushy magenta tail at him. “Nyu daddeh?” It asked, a pleading look in its ice blue eyes.
“Mom, seriously? A fluffy? Aren’t those for kids?” John asked. He looked over at his mom in exasperation. Was this really for him? It couldn’t be.
His mom brushed her blonde locks away from her face, smiling patiently. “Not always for kids, John. We decided to get you a buddy, since you’re still having to stay at home for now. The treatment, y’know?”
John rolled his eyes. He knew. When he was about 10, he had been diagnosed with dermatomyositis, an inflammatory disease of the muscles. He’d gotten an unexplained violet-colored, itchy and painful rash on his knees and gone to his mom for help. She’d immediately taken him to the doctor, being the good mom she was.
There had been tests; Blood analysis, x-rays of his legs, electromyography, and biopsies. Once the tests had come back when he had just turned 11, he’d been diagnosed with the disease. A few years down the line, once he had turned 13, he’d started to have trouble swallowing. At 15, he was in a wheelchair. His arms were more or less okay, it was his legs that the disease had targeted. He was almost completely unable to move them at all. Now he was almost 18.
For the time being, he was having to stay home and rest, and take multiple different medications per day. He didn’t like pills in general because they tasted nasty (Why the fuck didn’t they coat them? Eugh.), but they helped a small bit. He needed to take pain medication as well, because the disease caused him significant pain throughout the affected areas of his body.
Unfortunately, no accommodations could help the pain. He could be in slightly less pain he guessed, but fuck that. He wanted to be in no pain. He’d take a cure for the pain if there was one, because this disease hurt and in doing so, was lowing his quality of life. He could, however, still live a fulfilling life in a wheelchair. He wasn’t broken, despite what those asshole bullies back in middle school had told him.
He rolled forward a bit on his backless wheelchair, glowering down at the chipper fluffy. The fluffy shifted its stance just a bit, making a few small thumps on the carpet with its deep purple hooves.
“It’s not exactly a service animal, more like just a pet to keep you company while your dad and I are at work. Like a puppy.” His mom explained. He scoffed. How was this child’s toy supposed to be a companion? He was not a kid anymore.
“Yeah, not my thing. No thanks.” John deadpanned and rolled his green eyes. He turned around and rolled away, leaving a confused fluffy sitting on the living room floor.
When he came back from his room a few hours later, the fluffy was still in his house, much to his disappointment. It was chowing down on kibble, making little “nom nom” sounds as it ate. John smirked. Cute.
Wait, cute? He shook his head. “What are you, five?” He muttered to himself. He made his way into the kitchen to get dinner of his own.
Once the oven pizza had been eaten, he went back to his room, ignoring the little fluffy that wagged its tail at him. He took his after-meal meds and went right to bed.
“N-Nyu daddeh?” John heard a small, quivering voice beside him. He opened his eyes to see the brown fluffy standing at the side of his bed. He groaned, mostly because his room was too bright first thing in the morning. Why was this damned thing waking him up so early?
“Fwuffy sowwy fow wakin’ yoo… Big mummah an’ daddeh fowgot to gif fwuffy bwekfast. Can yoo get nummies? Pwease? Hab hungwies.” The small biotoy asked politely.
John sighed. This thing likely wouldn’t leave him be until he fed it. “Fine, fine, alright.” He griped. He pushed himself up and into his wheelchair, picking up his legs and setting them in their places. He rolled out to the kitchen and grabbed a scoop of fluffy kibble from its bag on the floor. Once the fluffy bowl was full, the unicorn leapt up and down excitedly.
“YAY!!! Daddeh get nummies!!! Fankyoo! Wub ‘ou!”
John could have sworn his heart had literally melted. He’d never seen anyone, even an animal get so excited over something as simple as food. He knew he was getting attached. Oh well. Guess this new animal would need a name.
“So, little guy…” John said as the fluffy swallowed the last bite of its food. “You need a name. How does ‘Chip’ sound?”
The unicorn whipped its gaze towards him, eyes widening. “Fwuffy get nyu name? Fwuffy name am Chip?”
John nodded.
Chip practically exploded with glee, running around in circles around him. “WUV NYU NAME!” Chip squealed. John couldn’t help but laugh.
“Ha, ha ha! Glad you like it, buddy.”
The next few days, John got more and more emotionally invested in Chip. Chip loved climbing into his lap to cuddle, watching tv, and napping with him. Chip was laid-back for a fluffy, except when something very good happened to him, such as treats or going for a walk around the block.
He discovered that Chip’s favorite food was mint carob-chip ice cream, ironically. John had read that fluffies would get drunk if they had chocolate, as an ingredient in chocolate made them intoxicated. So they had settled for carob instead. Chip loved it anyway.
He’d bring the fluffy to physical therapy as well. When he took speech therapy, he tried to teach the fluffy how to speak like a human too. Eventually, Chip got the hang of his L’s. Chip was enrolled in a service animal class as well. Chip learned to count to 10, understand certain commands, and how to call for help if a medical emergency happened. He learned many different commands, and passed the service animal test with flying colors.
“Chip luv yoo, daddeh.” Chip cooed as he cuddled up to John every night. John would always say it back. This fluffy was such a sweetie, always watching over him at night without even being asked to. Chip soon became like a son to John.
But not all good things last forever. 2 years later, a particularly corrupt person in power over his state did something fucked up. He banned ownership of service animals for anyone who wasn’t able to get some sort of bullshit “permit” that showed they actively raised and bred service animals for a living. Biotoys counted.
There were protests. Petitions. People called the person and rightfully told him off and practically begged him to take the order back. But the one in power was not swayed. People had to rehome their animals, give them back to the person that had raised them, or give them to others who needed service animals in different states.
Suicide rates went up, because some people only had that animal as company and nobody else. People did their best to boycott the state. People even moved out because they genuinely needed their service animal that much.
John nearly cried when he found out he would be forced to get rid of Chip. Chip had been a fantastic friend since day one. It wasn’t his only friend of course, he had many other friends. But Chip had been one of the best.
When the person planning to pick up Chip for the shelter arrived, John burst into tears. He did not want to lose his fluffy. It was the best pet he’d ever had. After a tearful hug goodbye, Chip was stuffed into the carrier and carried out the front door. He completely broke down when he heard Chip call for his “Daddeh”.
A few weeks later, he stared at the front door of his house from the outside. He heard the idling moving truck in the driveway, and smelled its exhaust. He’d already packed his most important items. He couldn’t stand to live in that house anymore; not with all the bittersweet memories of Chip still at the back of his mind. He rolled onto the lift that was at the side of his mom’s car, was lifted into the van, and was driven off to his new house out-of-state.
Once the very last box was unpacked, the takeout that had been ordered was eaten, and he had gotten the hang of the layout of his new home, he went to a biotoy shelter. While no fluffy could take Chip’s place, he needed someone to talk to at least until he made friends in this new state he lived in.
He browsed the fluffies until he found one that seemed nice enough. It was a disheartened unicorn mare, named Night. She had black fur with a pink mane and tail, and white hooves. She was apparently supposed to be rehomed, as she was unable to raise foals as a surrogate mother anymore. She’d gotten too old to make milk, and her hips were weakening. John’s heart melted.
He adopted her for about 20 bucks, and took her home. She was very excited once she was there; leaping about as if she was young again, and slipping on the tiled kitchen floor a few times. It was cute and funny when she skidded and fell onto her butt, but she was still nothing like Chip.
A few days later, he was out walking her, the dirt on the road crunching under the tires of his wheelchair. He’d applied to a group of fluffy enthusiasts, people who loved fluffies dearly. They met twice a month, and John was on his way to the first meeting with them. Soon enough, he was at the house that held these meetings, which was only a block or two away.
“Hi there John! You’re early.” The person who made the group waved him over, and he made his way there. John shook hands with the person, glad to have a human to talk to. The leader of the group had dyed blue hair, and some stubble. A golden crescent moon necklace hung around his neck, reflecting the ceiling lights prettily.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Rush!” The blue-haired man greeted. The two of them talked for a while. Rush had a partner named Devon, who was currently an employee at a biotoy shelter. The both of them had a fair bit of respect for fluffies, and animals in general.
Soon, other members arrived. Some in groups of two, some even an entire friend group of five, but most of them were alone. Each of them brought their own fluffies. Eventually Devon showed up too. All of them greeted the newest member with a smile and handshake. Some even with a high five.
As John rolled through the large group of people and fluffies, he caught sight of something. A familiar flash of brown was filtering through people’s legs, careful to stay out of everyone’s way so they didn’t accidentally step on it. John’s eyes widened as he rolled closer.
It was a fluffy. Identical to his old one. Down to the very hex code that John had searched up as a match for Chip’s fur. A familiar sweet voice chatted and giggled with other fluffies, and some humans. The brown fluffy wagged his magenta tail, and then, the stallion turned around.
Ice blue eyes met green. Both pairs of eyes filled with tears of joy.
“… Chip?”
“Daddeh?”