Yuzu told you the whole story. No horrible details spared. How she was abandoned by her human for asking a single question. How many other fluffies she met were thrown out for similar reasons. The horrible things that some humans would do to homeless fluffies. How she got pregnant. How she found the bunker. Giving birth alone, unsure if her foals would even live.
She didn’t fully understand how the world got this way, she admitted, but she gave you the best explanation she could. The humans got mad at each other and rather than use words or their not-hooves to work it out they decided to destroy everything. The big loud noise that got rid of things like birds and flowers and most of the humans caused a sickness that didn’t affect fluffies, something that made everything else sick and sad. Some creatures survived, like the buggies you’d seen with your old herd or the patchy-furred barkie monster at the dump. Some humans survived until the worst of the sickness was gone, but they were ones that did were cruel to fluffies.
Yuzu told you what she had to do to survive. She cried explaining what happened to her foals, how her only friend even thought about eating them all. How he got sicker and sicker until all he could do was let her out into the ruined world. It seemed like she was filled with endless tales of horrible, awful things fluffies and humans did to survive. Late into the night the two of you sobbed into the blankets for the foals eaten by their own mothers, the friends lost to cruel human traps, the senseless violence of hungry herds.
You listened quietly as she talked and talked and talked, all through the dark time and well into the light’s return. In between the tragedy and loss there was the occasional spark of joy. A kind herd giving her food, a human traveler warning of danger, a rainy night spent with a few other lone fluffies. Dramatic escapes from danger. Beautiful things found along the way.
When Yuzu had run out of stories to tell the world seemed just as large as before but now the wonder of it all captivated you. You needed to see more.
“Can… can fwuffy cum wif’ Yuzu?” You asked. “Wen weab? Fwuffy nu hab hewd nu mowe.”
To your delight, she nodded.
After a long sleep through the brightest parts of the day Yuzu instructed you in packing her belongings back up. Not having a second backpack, Yuzu gave you the flashlight to manage. You did your best to keep it fed and happy on your journey so that it would light your path when you traveled into the night.
The journey was rough on you. You had never done more than run around your herd’s home so day after day of travel was hell on your body. You whined the first few days but the flashlight in your mouth helped you keep your complaints to yourself until your hooves seemed to harden and adapt to the travel. Traveling in the rain sucked as well but Yuzu pushed you onward until the two of you could find somewhere dry to hole up. The few times you were stuck waiting out heavy rain she would quiz you on the plants she’d shown you on the way. What did edible berries look like? Where could you find good leaves to eat? What was the best way to store food for later? It filled you with pride when you got her questions right.
Eventually the landscape changed. The sparse, dry grass and rubble of the city faded into tall weeds and low structures separated by winding blackrock paths. Yuzu explained that these places were houses, where humans and fluffies had once lived together. Somehow as you looked at the splintered structures you could see how they should be. Boxy walls supporting a pointed roof. Shiny, clear windows looking out over close cropped grass. A fluffy and a young human playing together. It made you sad to think that things would never be that way. It was just one of the things you tried to think about.
Like Yuzu’s wounds.
Her face had grown puffy by the time you got to the houses, more and more angry red flesh visible as her yellow fluff fell out. She would wipe away a greenish white goo every morning, trying to hide her grunts of pain from you. It wasn’t really working. Sometimes you stayed up all night just to make sure she continued breathing, every pause in her quiet snores sending a jolt of panic through you.
You weren’t ready to be on your own. You had grown some, both taller and leaner with sturdy legs and strong muscles but nothing had killed the social creature within you. You never wanted to sleep alone, never wanted to eat without sharing or sleep without another warm form pressed to your back. You didn’t know how Yuzu had been alone for as long as she was but you saw what it had done to her. You hoped that when she…
You hoped you’d be as strong as her.
“Dewe. Nee’ gu dewe.”
Your mostly silent march was interrupted by Yuzu’s voice. You turned to see her pointing at a wooden fence barely visible through the tall grass. With the flashlight in your teeth you couldn’t reply but nodded in understanding before turning towards it.
She let you take the lead, as you had much of the time lately. As your muscles grew hers had started to fade, so it made sense for you to shoulder your way through the grass to make space for her.
Eventually you could see something in the grass, a square concrete curb not unlike what was on either edge of the blackrock.
Once you shook yourself free of the grass you saw more concrete forming steps leading down into the darkness. Yuzu started lowering herself down the steps without comment.
The steps were dusty and the space behind them darker than any space you’d ever been in. You hesitated at the top of the steps but seeing your companion’s dull green tail disappear into the darkness you turned on the flashlight and trotted down after her.
She plopped herself down in the middle of the space as you scanned it looking for any danger. There were some objects scattered around the space you didn’t recognize. Splintered boards were stacked against a wall that was dotted with tiny holes, some little hooks in them seemed to indicate that at one time things were stored on it.
“Fwuffy say nu am hab fwooty nummies, wight?” Yuzu’s voice caught your attention and you spun to where she was picking through a pile of old cans and packets against a cracked wall.
You set the flashlight against some debris before replying. “Yus, fwuffy wif’ owd hewd tawk ‘bout it.”
Yuzu lifted her head triumphantly, holding one of the cans in her teeth. She trotted away from the refuse pile and set it down before pulling her backpack off.
“Wha’ am?” You asked, approaching the can. Yuzu had told you about these, how some of them contained food. It seemed strange to you still, food inside a metal shell that somehow never went bad.
She pulled out her little knife and pried up the lid with a loud pop. “Dis am fwooty nummies! Am peach!”
The smell hit you and nearly knocked you off your hooves. You couldn’t help but lean towards the can, the sticky sweet scent seeming to wrap itself around your thinky place and drag you forward. Yuzu took the lid in her teeth and peeled it off the rest of the way, thick syrup dripping onto the filthy floor.
“Nummies am fo’ fwuffy!” She said.
You didn’t need any further enticement. You shoved your muzzle into the can, splashing the syrup onto your hooves as you bit down on one of the soft lumps within. Pulling it out you could see the bright orange hemisphere glistening in the dim light, a reddish hue mottling the small divot at the center. It was like nothing you’d ever tasted before, not even the wrapped up snack you stole from Yuzu.
You heard Yuzu giggle as you scarfed down the soft sweetened fruit. One by one the delicious chunks disappeared into you. Seeing only a single one on the bottom of the can gave you pause, and you used all of your willpower to step back from the treat.
“Yuzu nee’ nummies tuu.” You said, gesturing to the can.
She shook her head. “Yuzu nu nee’.”
You frowned for a moment before her meaning clicked and a pit grew in your stomach.
“Nu…”
“Yuzu am sickies.” She said plainly, touching a hoof lightly to the angry red patch covering most of her face. “Fwuffy nu am. Fwuffy gu wive, Yuzu stay hewe.”
“N-nu! Nu wan’ gu! Nu wan’ be ‘wone!” you shouted at her. “Nu wan’! Bestest wan’-” you caught yourself, the cry dying in your throat.
Yuzu shuffled up to you, wrapping her hooves around your neck and licking the syrup and tears from your cheek. “Nu am Bestest. Am Peach.”
“Peach wub namesie. Pwease nu weab Peach ‘wone.” You whispered between sobs.
“Yuzu gu foebah sweepies soon. Wish dat nu, but am.”
The two of you hugged for a long forever before you pulled away. “Pwease hab wast nummie? Fo’ Peach?”
She smiled and nodded. “Otay. Fo’ Peach.”
You sat with her as she ate the fruit in many small bites. So many thoughts raced through your head but no words followed them. Once Yuzu was done she sat back and gazed unto the ruined bunker.
“Dis am whewe Yuzu an’ Mistah Petah wib.” She said softly. “Dis am whewe him an’ babbehs awe.”
There was a long silence before she stood and nudged her backpack to you.
“Take bakpak. Am hab knife fo’ pwotec an’ poket fo’ nummies.”
You nodded silently, letting her put it on you and tuck the knife into the side pocket.
“Yuzu… Yuzu wub Peach.” She said, tapping the velcro down. “Yuzu thought be ‘wone foebah. Yuzu happy tu meet.”
You opened your mouth to say the same but only a sob escaped you.
“Dis nu am safe pwace.” She said, putting the flashlight into the pocket. “Wotsa hoomans wan’ dis. Gu bak way fwuffies came, fin’ own pwace to wib.”
You nodded. You let her lead you back up the stairs, and out into the grassy world.
At the top of the stairs she stopped once again. “Yuzu nu see nice hoomans, buh Yuzu weawwy hope Peach fin’ hooman wike Mistah Petah. Mabbeh nice hewd.”
You nodded, swallowing the lump in your throat. “Peach nu ebah fo’get Yuzu.”
“Yuzu see Peach ‘gain, when Peach gu foebah sweepies. Yuzu hope nu see fo’ wong, wong time.”
The two of you shared one last long hug before you turned back down the path in the grass you made earlier. You paused at the edge of the blackrock, hooves on the curb, not wanting to make your first solo steps into the vast world.
“Hewwo Mista Petah!” You heard Yuzu’s distant voice behind you. “Hope yu hab guud sweepies. Yuzu see yu soon.”
