The Last In a Series

Oracle, January 12, 2013; 19:48 / FB 8131
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The Last In a Series

>Time is not something fluffy ponies understand very well.
>Especially not fluffy ponies of her particular generation.
>Plodding, dejected, broken, and miserable, the fluffy before you is a first generation retail fluffy, sold legitimately at full retail price by a legitimate HasBio retailer.
>She had a family, with a little girl who loved her very much, and a mother and a father, both of whom spoiled their daughter ever so slightly.
>And she, in turn, spoiled her fluffy.
>Most would correct that, and say the little girl had spoiled her rotten.
>Her fluff, and mane, once beautifully styled and combed, once pearly white, now streaked with an indistinct grey of age and worn-in filth.
>Her eyes, once brilliant blue, are now dulled by age, and a cataract.
>She has been stray for a very long time.
>Fourteen years, actually.
>Almost all of it alone.
>Last night, after eating the remains of a stale bagel and some fruit pulp, she crawled into the space under an old wooden stairway, and, as is her way, cried herself to sleep.
>Between wracking sobs, a single, short mantra is repeated.
"Pwincess Spawkuh jush' wan go home..."
>Eventually, fatigue overtook her thin, bony frame, and she passed into unconsciousness.
---
>This morning.
>Princess Sparkle was jolted awake by the rumble of a passing van.
>She hadn't realized that her cold, uncomfortable bed was so close to the scary black thing that metal monsters used.
>Princess Sparkle hated metal monsters, more than she hated most things.
>Not because they killed other fluffies.
>Other fluffies were mean and stupid and deserved whatever biggest owwies they got.
>Princess Sparkle hated metal monsters because they kept taking her places that weren't home.
>With some difficulty, she rolled to her feet, and stood.
>Her legs, all four of them, ached, from the tip of her hoofsie all the way up to her aching back.
>She'd been "fixed" at the factory, and never had foals, though that did not stop many awful nasty stallions from trying to have their way with her.
>Some, usually the really strong and mean ones, had succeeded, hurting her in the process.
>As a result, her no-nos ached, and her poopie place.
>Gingerly, she stretched, and thought.
>Thinking was hard. But it had kept her company for many, many long, lonely times.
>There were many meanie things in the world.
>There were meanie dummy humans, who didn't help Princess Sparkle go home.
>There are meanie metal monsters, who carried Princess sparkle ever further from home.
>And there are meanie dummy fluffies, who were meanies and dummies.
>They were meanie to Princess Sparkle, which is the worst kind of meanie.
>And last, most important, there were meanie little sky-balls, that were bright and colorful, and meanie... they were the first things to take Princess Sparkle away from her home.
>If fluffies understood profanity, she would have cursed their strings a thousand fold.
>Home.
>She wanted to go home...
>Where is she now?
>Last night, she had wandered out of a nasty, meanie cee-tee and into a green place, but there wasn't much food in the green place.
>Princess Sparkle never stooped so low as eating grass.
>But this morning, her nose twitched.
"Foodies! Fwesh foodies! Gud foodies! Pwincess Spawkew smeww gud foodies!"
>It was like an explosion of smells, delicious foods, and stupid humans.
>There were many people smells, almost as many as that time she went to the place with flying metal monsters.
>And food! Princess Sparkle can smell...
"... Sketties! Pwincess Spawkew wan' sketties!"
>Dashing out from under the stairs, she skirted along the edge of the road that metal monsters came screaming along.
>She didn't want to be picked up, not now, not so close to good foodies.
>As she rounded a corner, she saw something that would make most feral fluffies blood run cold.
>Humans. More humans than Princess sparkle had ever known.
>They were all sitting, on sturdy folding chairs, facing away from Princess Sparkle.
>Ever self-important, Princess sparkle simply dismisses the sight. Food first, stupid humans later.
>She scampers... well, slowly, her hips all hurt, but still as fast as she can, towards the delicious smell of spaghetti!
>It is coming from a big, circular place, made of wood, and covered in viney plant things. There's only a few humans here.
>With new-found hope, she runs straight up to the first dummy human she sees.
"Gif Pwincess Spawkuh sketties an' hewp Pwincess Spawkuh go home!"
>The Dummy human, a small, elderly woman, with heavily weathered skin and grey hair, smiles down at you.
>"Oh, one of the families must have lost their fluffy... Is there a collar on you... Princess Sparkle?" She smiles with the generosity you only encounter in lifelong practitioners of the culinary arts.
"Yush! Pwincess Spawkuh pwetty neckwass wite heah!" She touches her neck, where the ragged remains of nylon scarcely hold together "Gif sketties an' hewp Pwincess Spawkuh go home nao!"
>Princess Sparkle tilts her head to the side as the old woman's probing fingertips seek around, finding the collar.
>"Now Just hold still a minute Princess Sparkle... Your name tag says... Well... it just says "Princess Sparkle" and has a cute little picture of a sun on it..."
>That specific tag only came out with first generation fluffies who were sold from HasBio itself. It has never been re-issued.
>Another dummy human leans over and looks at the dingy Princess Sparkle.
>"Give it a plate of pasta and tell it to stay here, all the families will come through after the graduation anyway. One of them will pick her up."
>"Sounds like a plan. Hold on sweetie, here's a plate of pasta salad."
>The Dummy human scoops a ladle full of not-sketties onto a paper plate, and drops it in front of you.
>"Dis nuu skett..."
>The words die in her mouth. It's MOSTLY sketties. That's better than she's had in years.
>Princess Sparkle dives, face-first into her paper plate of Pasta with gusto (and a bit of white sauce), and lets the sweet, creamy deliciousness of noodles envelop her.
>"Heh, I've never seen one that says "nom" when she eats. It's kinda cute."
---
>Meanwhile, less than two hundred yards away, the motivational speaker, hired by the college to give the students one last pep-talk has been wrapping up her 9th re-telling of her life story.
>Which amounted to becoming a motivational speaker after all of her sons died to horrific gang-related deaths.
>Because, clearly, so many graduate students had plans to swear loyalty to the Latin Kings this year.
>It's better job security than the current market.
>As she took her last bow, the President of the college stepped to the podium.
>"We will now honor our graduates, by awarding their diplomas..."
>He began reading from the index cards before him, the names of some five hundred students, listed alphabetically.
>"Aaron, Amy..."
>And polite applause ensues.
---
>Back in the "Pergola",
>Which is the proper name for a structure composed of vertical posts or pillars supporting an overhead lattice that has vines creating a shaded walkway
>The less-dummy human had moved off, leaving other dummies around to care for Princess Sparkle.
>Having eaten more in a few minutes than she had all day yesterday, she laid happily on her side, feeling the wonderful sensation of a real meal in her very full tummy.
>"Okay, You stay here, and your family will come through soon."
"Wan go home nao..." Princess Sparkle whined in a content manner.
>"Of course you do. And they'll be here really soon."
>And then the human went away. Not far away, just, over, a little bit away.
>If she had been younger, and her bones ached less, she would have pursued the stupid human, reminding them that she was what was really important.
>But, as a properly elderly animal, Princess Sparkle wasn't going to argue with a full belly and clean place to lay.
>Hazily, her eyes closed, and she started to feel a gentle chill... not like cold white times, but like spring mist... comfort and peace settled on her.
>And the droning noise of the makeshift kitchen mixed with the call of the distant human."
---
>"...O'Malley, Caboose. Doctorate in psychology. Ontopp, Ursela. MBA. Onymous, Anne."
---
>Princess Sparkle's eyes shot open
"MUMMAH!"
>Her hoofies scrambled, and gave her whole-leg ouchies as she wrenched herself up to a standing position.
"MUMMAH!"
>She scrambled, pushing her aching joints as hard as she could, breath already short, and, for the first time in many years, she hit her top speed of 3 mph.
>"Woah, hey! Where's she going?"
"MUMMAH!"
>"Someone grab that fluffy!"
>Princess Sparkle had just heard Anne's name. Mummah Anne was here! If Mummah Anne was here, then it was home!
"PWINCESS SPAWKEW GOAN HOME!"
>"I'll get her, it's just a fluffy."
>Her awkward dash took her under the benches of the pergola, and out through a side exit, onto the campus green, in pursuit, one young adult male employee of the college.
>Princess Sparkle was so much closer this time... just just had to listen for Mommy Anne's name again, and she was home.
---
>"Oppenheimer, Topper. Physics. Pazuzu, Pazuzu. Doctorate of Theology."
---
>Her lungs ached.
"MUMMEH! MUMMe- *cough* *hack* -mum..."
>She stumbled, and fell, her breath ragged in her throat.
>Her tiny frame, unable to exert itself in such a manner, felt heavy, and her heart hammered in her chest. At the edges of her vision, the world started to go grey...
>"Gotcha."
>Strong hands encircled her middle.
"Nuu! Wet Pincess spawkuh go!"
She was lifted, and turned, to face a young man.
>"You should stay at the buffet, the families will- stop squirming."
"Wet Pincess Spawkuh go, dummeh hoomen, oh gif sowwy poopies!"
>"Sorry poo- seriously?"
>Ever true to her word, Princess Sparkle puffed her cheeks, lifted her tail, and defecated, directly down the college employee's uniform shirt.
>For a moment he simply stood there. Shocked.
>And then, the smile.
>Princess sparkle smiled too, with a wicked grin. That made him sorry. now he'd get rid of her, and she could go back to mommy Anne, who was RIGHT THERE! Somewhere...
>Except, he didn't.
>"Listen Pintrest Spackle. You're gonna have to do worse than that."
>Calmly, he tucked Princess Sparkle under his arm, and walked back to the Pergola.
>"I'm majoring in Veterinary Science. I had my arm shoved up the anus of one of your bigger cousins earlier this week, and nothing you can do to me is anywhere near as disgusting as that."
"Yuuu stoopid hoomen! Wet Pincess Spawkuh Go! Mummeh Anne WITE THEAH!"
>"Well if she's right there, then she'll find you right here."
>He made his way back to the Pergola, but stopped slightly outside it.
>"Hey Germane." he called, attracting the attention of the same elderly less-dummy human who had given princess sparkle her almost-sketties.
>"Yes?"
>"We've had a little accident. Got any ribbon left over from the balloons?"
"Dummeh hoomen wet Pwincess Spawkuh go!"
>"Yeah, she really misses her family. Separation anxiety, you know? Happens to most pets." gently he put her down on the ground, and firmly he held her collar.
>"It's all over you!"
>"Yes, which is why i didn't come inside. Give me the ribbon, i'm going to put a leash on her so she doesn't bolt again."
>"You're not coming in here like that."
>"Definitely not. Just bring me the ribbon please."
>Princess sparkle pulled and twisted against the unshakable grip of the student employee.
>She even tried to make sorry poopies again, but found herself unable...
>I guess you could say, *sunglasses* it just wasn't in her to make number two.
>Insults were hurled, then hurled again. And again.
>Her repertoire wasn't exactly deep.
>Eventually, Germane came back with the ribbon, which the student employee put to great use.
>"She's alright to stay here, but she's upset, so I'll put her on a short leash. When her owner comes by, she can claim her. I'm going back to the facilities office to get clean clothes."
>Germane just shook her grey-haired head. "Seemed like such a nice fluffy."
>"It is a good fluffy, but you've got to remember, they're just animals. She's scared and alone. Probably never been apart from her family before."
"Wet pincess spawkuh go home!"
>"See? Just wants her mommy. She'll be fine as soon as her owner comes by.
>With a final gentle pat, he looked straight into Princess Sparkle's eyes.
>"You're a good fluffy for trying to get back to your mommy. She'll come here in just a minute... uh... very, very soon, and then you can both go home."
>Princess sparkle felt... uneasy.
>She was used to humans telling her nasty lies and calling her a bad fluffy, and getting rid of her like meanies.
>This one had kept her, and told her she was a good fluffy.
>A dummy human talking the truth.
>He stood up, and left her tied to a post on a very short lead.
>For the first time in her own memory, there were lots of people around who were ignoring her, and that was alright.
>So she sat, awkwardly and quietly.
>People busied themselves around her. Germane, the less-stupid human woman came up and gave her another plate of almost-sketties, then patted her and went back to work, while in the distance, a very dull man kept droning on and on and on.
>Eventually, there was a lot of noise as people clapped their hands, but Princess Sparkle didn't care.
>For the first time, she wasn't being pushed away or thrown aside.
>She was wanted. and being kept.
>Not kept in a bad way, like that stupid human who had tried to make her have bad huggies with dummy stallions.
>The ribbon lead was long enough to allow her to lay down, and rest. It was all she could do now. Wait for mommy Anne to find her again.
>She felt so helpless.
>Strange humans started coming into the Pergola, they took big plates full of nummies, and moved through.
>Some small humans, about the same size as Mommy Anne was, would stop and look at her, then reach out to give her nice touches.
>She kept her eyes downcast, and said nothing.
>They weren't Mommy Anne.
>More humans, more than she had ever known or ever felt like remembering, poured through the Pergola, in a great big mulling line.
>Like a herd of people.
>Princess Sparkle thought herds were stupid... but right now she just worried about Mommy Anne finding her.
>"Hey, Pintsize Speaker, right?"
>Oh, hey, nice human is here.
>He's wearing something black and clean, and smells much more pretty now than when he last held you.
"Pwincess Spawkuh nuu unnastan."
>"Well, you're a fluffy, so there is a lot of that. Mind if I sit with you?"
>She blinked and stared up at him with ice blue eyes.
>"Wai?"
>He didn't answer, he just gently stroked her mane for a little bit.
>Then, he pulled out a funny little booklet, and flipped through the pages.
>"C'mon. What did you say your owner's name was?"
"Wha?"
>"Who's your mommy?"
"Pwincess Spawkuh Mummeh Anne!"
>He scanned through the pages, stopping once to make a little mark with a pen.
"Okay, and Anne, what color is her hair?"
>Princess Sparkle furrowed her brow."
"Nuu know."
>"Her eyes?"
"Nuu know."
>Another mark in the booklet.
>"Okay... what about her skin... is her skin like mine, or different?"
>Princess sparkle wracked her tiny fluffy brain, staring very hard at the offered hand to see its skin... Is this how humans tell each other apart? Since their fluff is all so dull...
"Nuu know."
>"It's wierd, you can talk, but I get exactly as much information out of you as I would from a lost dog."
>Another mark in the booklet, and another gentle petting of the mane.
>He sighed, pocketed the booklet, and stood.
>"Okay, according to the graduation announcements, there are three girls named Anne in this class. Let's go see if one of them is your Mommy Anne."
>He stands up and slips the ribbon leash off the post that Princess Sparkle was tied to. He wrapped a bit of the ribbon around his hand, and started walking.
>"Now Princess sparkle, I'm going to find your mommy among all these people. Just stay close to me, and i'll go slowly, I promise.
>He fishes a small black thingy out of his pocket, and starts staring intently at it while walking.
>"I'm going to take her name, google it... found her on Facebook. Friend request would take too long, but here's a graduation photo she just made public... open it, check the metadata... it's thirty seconds old... and the GPS coordinates are... let me check maps... She's outside the northwest dormitory, and, judging from the picture, already sitting down. Ready to go see her?"
"Aww dose tings yuu sai mean yuu gon take Pwincess Spawkuh home?"
>"Well, to your mommy Anne anyway. I have a few minutes."
"Cwose 'nuff."
The walk was only about as long as a city block, but it was still tiring to the aged Princess Sparkle. But the ground was soft, and nobody had thrown her yet, so she trekked onward, staying close on the ribbon leash.
>As they approached a big white table, the nice human stopped.
>"Okay, this might be Anne. Up up up!"
>His big strong hands cradled Princess Sparkles, lifting her by her chest and pelvis, and he held her close to his body.
>"Excuse me, Hi! My name is Mark, I work for the college. Are any of you named Anne, and missing a Princess Sparkles?"
---
>Several minutes, two failures, and quite a bit of walkign later, Princess Sparkle looked incredibly depressed.
"Dah nuu mummeh anne. Dat meanie hoomen. Mummeh Anne nuu heah... Pincess Spawkuh jush wan go home..."
>"Oh come on. Just one more Anne. This one, i don't even have to google."
"Nuu... Pincess spawkuh weggies haf huwties. Pincess Spawkuh ebbytin' haf huwties. Been wookin fohebba foh home..."
>"Anne and her folks are right over here. Even if she's not your Anne, I think you'll like her. I sure do."
>Pathetically, even in her own mind, Princess Sparkle, long defiant and proud, felt the last of her will slipping away. She couldn't keep going. There were just too many not-mommies here.
>The first one had called her nasty words and sent her away. The second had called the nice human nasty words, and sent them both away.
>That was always the way it happened. They all sent you away... further and further from home.
>And suddenly, the crowd cleared, and there was... another group of humans...
>Except...
>Her nose twitched, and a tiny, tiny part of her brain, which was partially cribbed from a pig, identified a familiar smell.
>"Oh, Mark honey!" Anne stepped away from her parents, and gave him a hug. "You look so good in that, aren't you overdressed for this I mean it's just my graduation, not a wedding or anything." she laughed, a big, joyous laugh.
>"I got a phone call today from Taylor Bolyn, she's the woman who does the hiring for Baumster and Macos, and I have the job! They want me to start next month!"
>"That's fantastic Anne!"
>"Oh, and an E-mail came back from the indie publishing house that i'm distributing that silly little fan-fic I was writing? I'm on their best sellers list. The fans are howling for a sequel!"
>"Oh my god that is so great!"
>"All that and I finally get my degree? Today is the best day of my life!"
>"Oh, really? Wow, well, I've got to ask you one thing... Two things actually."
"Mummeh?"
>The conversation stopped, and Anne stared down at the, comparably, tiny ball of fluff that was half-hiding behind Mark's trouser leg.
>"Mark... why did you bring me a fluffy pony?"
>"This might be crazy but, do you own a fluffy pony named "Princess Sparkle"?
>"No I don't own a-... Princess Sparkle?"
>Caution filled Princess Sparkle. This human smelled like Mommy Anne, but she was HUGE! more than twice the size mommy anne was when Princess Sparkle saw her last, and so dark! Like a big column of dark-times.
>But... she smelled right...
>"I had a fluffy named "Princess Sparkle" when I was, like, nine."
>Anne knelt down in her flowing graduation robe, and looked into Princess Sparkle's eyes.
>Her hands felt the collar around Princess Sparkle's neck, which, under the light strain of being adjusted, finally let the last of it's nylon threads give way.
>She lifted it, and saw the cutie mark emblem.
>"Oh my god... Princess Sparkle!"
>With a shriek of girlish joy, Anne scooped up the shocked fluffy, and hed her deep in a loving embrace.
>"Mom and Dad told me you'd run away!"
>"Mummeh Anne!" Princess Sparkle, blinded by tears of joy, gave the strongest huggies she had ever given in her life.
>"Deh meanie sky-bawws, an dey take Pincess Spawkuh faw, faw awai, an den deh meanie shiny fluffy dat thwow pincess spawkuh fwom twee, an den... den.. dis white tingy a wingie dumeh had thwow pincess faw faw awai an... Pincess spawkuh miss mummeh anne suu much!"
>"Oh god Princess Sparkle, I don't know how, but I missed you so much, I cried for days..." Anne was crying now, tears of joy? Emotional catharsis?
>Mark and her parents stood by, watching the reunion calmly.
>"So, Still the best day ever?" Mark probed, when it seemed that the waterworks had slowed.
>"Could not get better..."
>"Well, it would for me.. if you would do me the honor..." He knelt, extracting a small, velvet box from his inside pocket.
>"Would you marry me Anne?"
---

EPILOGUE

>Two days later, Princess Sparkle died.
>That's a kick in the teeth, isn't it?
>I did promise, though, that this would be her last story.
>She died peacefully in her sleep, on a plush comforter that had been removed from the futon for her use.
>Her fluff had been cleaned, her belly filled, and a proper veterinarian had been called earlier that day about her cataract, even though Mark insisted he could do something about it.
>She died where she belonged, where her species had been designed to belong, in the loving home of a family.
>Though, technically, Mark and Anne are just "shacking up"... the wedding is still months away.
>Princess Sparkle was exactly fifteen years old at the time of her death, which was the official "life expectancy" of a Fluffy Pony, as per HasBio original press statements.
>In actuality, she is the statistical outlier, the longest lived fluffy pony in the world.
>Over the course of her lifetime, she knew suffering of a biblical scale, ever forced to continue roaming, searching for the unobtainable, all while facing hatred and rejection everywhere she went.
>And frankly, she deserved every bit of it.
>Knowing these facts, you can appreciate that this isn't necessarily a happy story.
>But it is a fluffy story.
>And that's close enough.