Title:           Heart of Gold
Author:          Staccato
Pastebin link:   http://pastebin.com/KfWdVrq6
First Edit:      Tuesday 18th of September 2012 07:21:52 AM CDT
Last Edit:       Tuesday 18th of September 2012 07:21:52 AM CDT

>You are a fluffy pony.
>You are not a beautiful fluffy pony: your fluff is of a metallic - and not particularly pleasing  shade of blue,
your mane and tail are dullish red and your left ear is nothing more than a mangled stub. But you dont care.
>Youre strong and tough As much as a fluffy can be, obviously.
>And, most importantly, youre a guardian. Youve sworn to protect the place where you live at the cost of your
life, from whatever invader may come.
>Youve never lost.
> Fowwow smawty! Smawty fin gud pwace fo hewd! Wossa gwassies, no munstas!.
>From your hiding place behind your favourite bush, you look at the herd trying to invade the sacred field. How foolish!
They will pay soon enough.
>The smarty friend leading them is a lilac unicorn stallion. Some toughie friends trot alongside him, looking
around all menacing. One of them is almost as big as you.
>Youre not worried. Youve fought against bigger herds, after all.
>One of the smaller stallions of the herd  he was probably considered just a colt until a couple of dark times ago
 tries to take a timid nibble from the grass around him, but hes promptly smacked on the snout and left sobbing on
the ground by one of the toughie friends. Stupit stawwion!, the smarty friend sneers at him. Nu can eat untiw
smawty an toughie fwends eat! Den fwuffy mummas can eat, den west of hewd!.
>S-sowwy, the young stallion whines, sniffling. Nu wan huwties.
>You can see there are a couple of round fluffy mummas, being rolled around by dutiful attendants and babbling about
their soon to be born babies.
>You silently hope you wont need to hurt them to make the herd go away.
>Some seconds later, the worst possible thing actually happen: the smarty friend notices the patch of sacred flowers.
>Smeww pwetty nummies!, he exclaims, eagerly approaching it. Wan eat dose.
>Oh, no, you wont.
>No fluffy will eat a single one of the sacred flowers, not until you stand on guard.
>You jump out of your hiding place, putting yourself between the patch and the smarty friend. Smawty fwend go way
now, you growl at him while you lower your head, preparing to charge at him in case he doesnt comply.
>They never do.
>Stupit fwuffy go way, ow smawty gif big ouchies!, he says, puffing his cheeks. Hes trying to look
intimidating.
>Youre not impressed.
>A couple of the toughie friends could maybe be a problem, but as you said, you fought worse battles. Your missing left
ear is the proof of your valour in combat.
>Go way, you repeat, slowly. No wan gif ouchies, bu gif if haf to.
>The smarty chuckles derisively. Smawty gif biggest ouchies den. He then charges at you, along with his toughie
friends. The rest of the herd just stares at you from afar. They look concerned, especially the fluffy mummas.
>You prepare yourself for the upcoming fight. At least the smarty friend isnt staying behind the front line, this
time. Last one you had to fight tried to use a fluffy mumma as a shield. You gave him biggest ouchies for being such a
spineless coward.
>The first toughie friend tries to bop your nose with one of his front hooves. Hes a earthie, just like you, but not
quite as big. You avoid his attack and manage to buck another one of the toughies  a red and green pointy  right
in the side. You hear a satisfying Oooof! coming out of his mouth, and he crumbles on the ground, crying about
bewwy bad owwies!.
>One of the other toughie friends seemingly forgets hes fighting against you and tries to hug his hurt friend. A hoof
to his face takes care of him.
>Now only the smarty and one of the toughies still are in condition to fight. The lilac unicorn starts looking uneasy
and concerned. S-stop gif huwties to toughie fwends!, he barks at you. Fwuffy meanie, fwuffy bad!.
>The toughie, meanwhile, tries to sneak around you, probably to held your tail so that the smarty could give you face
ouchies. You immediately notice what hes trying to do, however. In the past, youve lost a ear for getting
distracted while fighting, and thats a mistake you wont repeat again.
>So you wait until the henchpony is behind you and then deliver a strong kick to his snout.
>The smarty looks around in panic: his toughies are lying on the ground, mewling pathetically and trying to hug
themselves in a futile attempt to stop the pain. N-n-nuuuu! Dis hewd pwace now! Why stupit fwuffy huwt toughies?.
>You look down at the smarty. Youre a good head taller than him, after all. Smawty take hewd an go way NOW.
No wan gif huwties to mummas, but gif if haf to.
>The unicorn starts trembling and mumbling something, then he suddenly turns about, running towards his herd and crying.
Nuu-huu-huu! Dis bad pwace! No wan stay hewe, hewd come wiff smawty!.
>Less the five minutes later the twenty or so fluffies have left the place, even the toughies you gave ouchies to. You
look at the patch of sacred flowers with a prideful expression on your muzzle: you performed your duties as a guardian
as perfectly as always.
>The door behind you opens. Lancelot, have you done playing? Dinners almost ready!.
>Your eyes sparkle. Yay! Nummies!. You dart inside the house, and  albeit unconsciously  a subtle yet
radical transformation occurs: youre not the strong, mean guardian, terror of the feral herds anymore; now youre
just a big, scruffy, goofy house fluffy.
>Your mommy looks down at you, smiling. You must be really hungry for playing all day, dearie Thats why I made
you spaghetti!.
>You start wagging your tail. Sketties! Wanswot wuv mumma!. You hug her shin, being as careful as a fluffy pony
can be. She has white fluff on her head, so you know shes old. Thats why you protect the sacred flowers for her.
Wanswot pwotec fwowers today! Meanie fwuffy hewd wan eat, bu Wanswot gif them sowwy ouchies!.
>Your mommy pets your head fluff, gently. Thank you, Lancelot, youre my knight in shining armor. You arent
sure of the exact meaning of those words, but you guess theyre a human way to say that youre a strong and brave
fluffy.
>You eat your foodies in front of the TV. You mommy has a plastic table, and you have your bowl on the ground; when
youve finished your spaghetti you climb on the sofa and nestle alongside mommy. She always gives you some yummy
treats and scratches you behind your ears when you do that.
>You still remember the moment when mommy adopted you: you were a lone stray, and you were so hungry, and the flowers in
that backyard smelled so pretty and seemed SO yummy
>But then you mommy  even if, well, she wasnt your mommy at the time yet  came out the back door, and saw you
eating the flowers. She didnt get angry at you, she didnt make loud noises or tried to make you sleep forever; she
just stared at you, and she seemed so sad And that broke your little heart.
>And you know what? The flowers werent even good. They smelled pretty, but tasted yucky.
>But after you told her you were sorry many and many times, your mommy smiled at you. She scratched behind your ears,
she gave you a bath, a name, nummies and lots of huggies.
>And so your promised yourself something: that you would have never, ever let some other fluffy eat the flowers. Because
mommy loves them, and you love your mommy.
>Your mommy is the best mommy ever. And sometimes, she does something that makes you hug her with all your might,
something that makes you feel happy and bubbly inside.
>She calls you beautiful.
>But thats not something the other fluffies have to know, right?
