Fungi
Bloodthirsty squeals filled the air as the boars tore and ripped through the woods, the feral beasts only stopping to root against the ground in pursuit of their prey. Years ago, they had been kept by a kindly old couple, trained to sniff out truffles by their caretakers. But time had eventually claimed the venerable pair, leaving the pigs to break loose and become feral. But that scent never left their minds. That dim memory of praise they’d receive each time they had succeeded was still etched into their core behavior, regardless of how beastly they had become. They scoured the clearing, finding where the scent had come from when they came apon a cluster of truffles, most of which had been partially eaten. Upturning the soil and dirt as they aggressively inhaled what scent they could find. Something had nested here and eaten recently, something that smelled like food.
Trying his best to find his way free of the woods, the little brown stallion marched through the trail as best his rotund frame would allow. Ever since he had found those delicious mushrooms, he had felt sluggish, and even a bit bloated. Despite the extra weight, the earthie hadn’t really worried until he heard the bloodcurdling noise of the monsters in the forest. While the panicked fluff had yet to see them, he grew more and more concerned as each time he heard them, they seemed to be getting closer.
It didn’t help matters that he had to keep stopping to rub and scratch his back against the nearby trees. What had been a minor tingling sensation before had slowly become an almost unbearable itching, forcing the earthie to scrape his body vigorously against whatever he could find, oblivious to the tiny shreds of mushroom that were peeling off of him every time he did.
“*huuu…huuu…huuu…Wai su itch’ee…Nu feew gud…nee’ bettah scwatchies…”
It slowed his progress greatly having to stop again and again, trying to gain some relief from whatever malady had struck the unfortunate stallion. By the time nightfall had come, he could still hear those terrible squeals in the distance, wishing that he had gotten further away while the light was out. Unaccustomed to the dark, fluffies simply couldn’t navigate in anything less than optimum lighting, let alone the gloomy pitch of night. Hunkering up against a nearby oak, the fluffy sobbed quietly to himself, occasionally wiggling with discomfort as he dragged his back against the rough bark of the tree, the sensation in his skin growing worse and worse.
""Nu wike itch’ee backsies…*huuu…huuu…huuu…An’ munstahs am gowna finds fwuffy…
Despite being frightened and his skin feeling like it was on fire, exhaustion eventually gave way to sleep, the earthie not waking until the sun rose again. Stretching his legs, he was pleased that while his back still felt oddly heavy, it no longer itched or burned. Sluggishly rising to his hooves, it was hard for the stallion to lift himself, wobbling slightly as he tried to find his balance.
“Su heb’bee…Hawd tu maek wawkies…”
It was slowgoing with the mysteriously gained mass, but the stallion made good time, covering far more ground than the day prior without having to stop and deal with the awful irritation that had vanished overnight. But after several forevers of walking, the earthie grew ravenous, needing to take a break from his journey to sate his hunger. Walking to a nearby tree, the stallion leaned over to gather some of it’s fallen leaves, but when the foliage was in his mouth, something seemed off. Crunching on his meal, there was an odd sensation, as though it weren’t food, with the fluffy quickly spitting it out. He tried another pile, and another still, but for some reason, he couldn’t stomach them anymore.
“Fwuffy hungwy…buh nummies nu am gud…”
Saddened that the only food he could find was strangely inedible, the stallion sighed, walking away from the pile and to a nearby puddle that had collected from the recent rainfall. If he couldn’t eat, then the least he could do was slake his thirst. Leaning down, he began to lap up the brackish water, only to find that he was far thirstier than he had thought, gulping down mouthful after mouthful until there was nothing left. Licking his lips, the earthie smiled, feeling far better and strangely full as he continued his trek, hopeful that he might find his way free of the forest before the monsters could find him. As the sun began to fall, the stallion grew sad, worried that he would have to rest again. But as he hunkered down against a nearby tree, the fluffy felt oddly restless and unable to fall asleep. Stranger still even as the sun set and the woods grew dark, the earthie could somehow still see clearly, as though it were still day.
“Hao fwuffy see? Nu am bwite time…”
More curious than scared, the fluffy forced himself upright, grunting from the effort of his back, which felt even heavier somehow. With the dark no longer obscuring his sight, he no longer found it nearly as intimidating, hesitantly continuing his trek. It did unnerve the earthie a fair bit at first, walking around at night seeming almost impossible before. But it wasn’t long before his apprehension was all but gone, with the stallion simply pleased that he might find his way free of the woods before the beasts pursuing him could catch up. Unfortunately for the earthie, it wasn’t long into his night time journey that he noticed that try as he might, he couldn’t manage the same pace as before. It was more than just his back, which was so heavy that he wobbled back and forth as he walked, unable to keep his balance. His body was tensing up, his hoofs cramping and tightening with every step as even moving his head became difficult.
“Tu…hawd…tu…wawkies…Wai…fwuffy…su…heaby…”
The stallion struggled as his stride became slower and slower, until he finally collapsed to the ground. Wheezing from the effort, he tried to force his body to move, only to find that he was stuck. Between the now crushing pressure on his back, and his stiffening muscles that burned and tore at him as he struggled against them, the earthie was paralyzed, rasping for air as even his chest refused to untense. Lying there for hours, the unfortunate stallion was aware enough to hear the horrible squeals in the distance that grew ever closer, and to feel as the boars ripped and tore into his flesh, his nightmare finally ending.
It had been days since the wild pigs had enjoyed their strange but delicious meal. Tasty as it had been, something about the strange creature’s meat hadn’t sat well with them, causing them a great deal of stomach distress until they had passed the unorthodox sustenance. Within the old piles of scat, there had been small mushrooms, growing quickly until they began to take a more rotund shape, almost like a foal as their mouths opened and began to chirp and peep.
Neon Gore
“Well? I haven’t got all day…”
Ezra stood before his crew, coffee in hand and clearly inpatient. They had been working for months on his latest project, and had little to show for it. Fluffies in general had long been played out, only being profitable if you could somehow put a new and interesting spin on them. That was Ezra’s specialty and his latest idea was a new and exciting twist on one of the most important features of the biotoys: their fluff color. In the beginning, hue and shade, tint and tone, these were what mattered to the public. A well complimented fluffy could garner a hefty price compared to the off colors, and even a good fluff coat could be ruined by an unfortunate mane and tale.
But people grew bored of simple colors, next wanting patterns, multiple colors, monochromatic fluffs, ect. Harder and harder to breed traits were sought out, raising the cost of the newer and rarer biotoys, while causing the price of the old fluffies to plummet even further. But the consumer, ever fickle and nigh impossible to please, grew tired of even these. Which forced people like Ezra to think outside the box. Ever the savvy businessman, he had turned custom and themed bioyoys into an empire, mostly dealing in holiday fluffies. St.Patrick’s Day fluffies that were green and dressed like leprechauns, orange and black foals trained to say trick or treat for Halloween, the man knew what people would buy, and it didn’t go unnoticed. After just two years running his operation, he oversaw a merger between his company and a fluffy research division that would allow Ezra to further unleash his imagination on the money making biotoys.
Which led him to an epiphany. People enjoyed his pastel fluffies because of their bright and bright pleasing coats, so why not take it one step further. Tapping his foot impatiently, Ezra waited as his R&D department wheeled out the cart of tarp covered cages, the room now filled with whimpers, sobbing, and outright screams that did little to boost his confidence in the fledgling workers. “We’ve had some setbacks sir, but we are making progress. Personally I think that it won’t be long before…”
“Spare me the excuses and show me what you have, Reynolds…”
Cowed by his Overseer’s quiet but demanding tone, the scientist only nodded, making his way to the first cage and pulling the tarp free. “It’s been slowgoing with the Lumenials and phosphorescence inducing chemicals…” Unlike the other cages that were still noisy with shrieks and mewling, this one was utterly silent, as Ezra walked closer and saw the cadaver within, shielding his eyes from the pulsating glare coming off of it’s glowing body. It was a macabre sight, with the fallen biotoys entire skeleton radiating a bright pink light, the intensity of which made it’s features almost impossible to make out. “While it didn’t survive the process, we were quite pleased that trial Nineteen-Five-A yielded such…desirable…results…”
Seeing the displeasure in Ezra’s face as he scrutinized the corpse, the scientist stumbled over his words, not wanting to risk angering his boss further. Grimacing at the glowing body, he finished the final dregs of his coffee before sighing aloud, his gaze quickly shifting to Reynolds.
“…I’ll assume you decided on Calcium Phosphate as a base?”
“Well, yes…I figured it would work well and cause the compound to be easily processed throughout the subject’s entire body…How did you know?”
“…Because the only part that is glowing is the skeleton. Not a terrible idea Reynolds, but your choice in base caused the lion’s share of your experiment to be absorbed into the fluffy’s bones. Make note that this could be viable if shifted to a neon green and were released in October, as long as the biotoy could survive long enough to be sold. What else do you have to show me?”
Not wanting to further waste any time, Reynolds removed the second tarp. Within the cage, several foals stumbled about blindly, screaming as they bumped into each other.
“tu bwite!!! am tu bwite!!! *chirp…*chirp…*chiro…”
“*chirp…*chirp…*chirp…ba’beh nu see!!! ba’beh nu see!!!”
“*screeeeeee!!! nu huwties ba’beh!!!”
Like the previous cadaver, the tiny fluffs within had an unnatural glow, albeit throughout their entire bodies. Leaning in for a closer look, Ezra watched as they ran about the cage in a horrified panic, realizing the issue that vexed the shrieking foals.
“Good…very good. But we need the solutions not to break the soft tissues in future batches. They’re being blinded by the light from their own eyes…Could be a fun gimmick though. Fluffy flashlights. Make a note that they would need to be given mood enhancers to dull out the yelling and keep them calm until they expire…”
Writing down Ezra’s notes, the scientist seemed thrilled that even their supposed failures were garnering results. After re-covering the cage to dull out the noise of the shrieking foals, Reynolds then revealed the last cage’s occupant. Ezra couldn’t help but smile as he saw her, an earthie mare with fluff that wasn’t simply pink, but was a glowing neon. With only a few scars on her body, chemical burns he had to assume, Ezra found her to be flawless. Seemingly calm, save for some light sobbing, he was hard pressed to see the issue, simply staring through the fluff until he finally turned his attention to his staff.
“She seems perfect…what’s the issue?”
Reynolds sighed, producing a small but sharp scalpel. Opening the side of the cage, the mare within saw him, and then the blade in his palm, clearly recognizing and fearing the implement.
“NUUUUUUU!!! P’wease!!! Nu!!! Nu huwties fwuffy nu mowe!!! Fwuffy nu wike buwnie huwties…SCREEEEEEE!!!”
Taking the mare by her scruff, Reynolds was careful to make a small nick on the fluffy’s leg before pulling his arm free of the cage and locking it. Ezra had noted the strange way that she had been pleading, seemingly less frightened of the scalpel and more of some sort of burning, his eyes falling back to her scars. Crying only slightly from the small cut on her leg, her eyes went wide as a few drops of blood fell free from the wound.
“*SCREEEEEEE!!!”
An audible sizzle could be heard as the glowing pink blood touched her skin, instantly causing her to scream as though it were acid. Flailing her hoof around, Ezra could see that the neon blood was indeed caustic, causing the mare’s outer flesh to bubble where ever it made contact, the small would already clotting despite the fluffy’s painful protests. “We’re at a loss sir. She’s the closest thing we have to a success but the process has also made her blood’s PH skyrocket. It doesn’t seem to effect her internally but…”
Ezra only nodded. With a fluffy’s delicate body and accident prone nature, one that was harmed by it’s own blood would be a massive issue. Still, the mare was almost perfect, the spitting image of his idea of a Neon Fluffy, save for the blood issue. Staring as she cradled her ruined flesh, whimpering in pain, Ezra made his decision.
“Keep her alive for testing…It may take a few more weeks of cutting and prodding, but I’m confident that she’ll lead us in the right direction gentlemen…”
