Brew of Love
> Deep in the forest lives a great tree
> The branches hang low and wide
> Flowers, thick grass, and nuts are found beneath this mighty resident of the forest
> Many animals make their home there in the peaceful meadow beneath the tree
> Squirrels, birds, bugs, and even a cat
> However; the strangest resident is the fluffy pony
> Burrowing many shallow dens beneath the wide roots they have created a veritable city of fluff
> There is no smarty, but these fluffies cannot remember a time before the big tree
> For many years they have burrowed and grazed the surrounding field and forest
> "Hewd giff pwesent tuu big twee! Big twee hewp fwuffies! Fwuffies wuv big twee!"
> A nearly gray fluffy once bright blue and red sits on his haunches and raises his forlegs to the tree
> "Twee fwuff take nummies tuu big twee! Big twee be happeh! Happeh twee keep hewd safe!"
> The graying fluff backs up head down and places his face on the dirt floor
> At least a dozen older fluffies are watching this ritual performed once every scary dark
> Tonight the ball will be missing
> This used to scare the fluffies
> Without it they're totally blind in the forest
> Many nights they lay sleepless in fear hugging to suppress the fear of absolute darkness
> Trembling and pleading for the bright ball to return and save them from the scary dark
> Then a long time ago a very good fluffy named Tree made their tree home a friend who protects fluffies
> Tree was the first gray fluff, and he was very clever
> Now nestled in the friendly roots and soft earth fluffies sleep soundly durring the scary night
> Thanks to the gift the tree will keep them safe
> As the fluffies watch the old stallion bow before the small pile of nuts a squirrel appears
> It tentatively sniffs the pile
> Then takes a nut and flees up into the branches
> This happens several more times until the pile is gone
> Somehow sensing the removal of all the nuts, or perhaps just tired of smelling dirt the fluffy rises
> "Fwiend! Twee hewp fwuffies! Keep fwuffies safe! Wuv fwuffies!"
> The crowd of younger and adult fluffies cheers
> Some hug others cry and thank the tree
> This bizarre ritual is repeated in various other instances as well
> When the river is low and the water is foul they leave a gift of blue berries on a leaf that floats down river
> When the sky ball is too hot they leave open red berries for the dragon flies
> And, when a mare has the strange tummy feel they throw a party
> Actually, they throw parties a lot but that's beside the point
> "Nao!"
> The graying stallion speaks once more to the gathered fluffies
> "Fiwwy wowsy weady fow fiwst speciaw huggies!"
> An older filly timidly steps towards the old large fluffy
> "Fwiends, wowsy nee a husban! Who wuud wuv dis fiwwy?"
> A nearby line of colts, some with mothers and sisters speak
> "Weaf wan giff speciaw hugs!" "Buzzy wuv Wowsy!" "Bwight giff bebbehs tuu wowsy!"
> The three colts are nearing their first breeding season
> And older mares have had to keep their ornery colts in line for this ritual
> "Den, cowts come hewe! Must eat da siwwy nummies!"
> The colts are nervous and only Bright steps forward at first
> "Bwight nuu fwaid of' siwwy nummies! Nuu scawy!"
> A leaf covered with mushy red berries is brought forward for each colt
> "Now! Who eats da siwwy nummies..."
> Bright is already munching on the pungent fruit
> "Naom naom nom nom bwight nom nom best cowt nom nom know how eat nummies! dummy."
> The other two look at gray fluff
> "Fwuffy was sayin, whoeffa eat siwwy nummies an NO Sikkies! Wiww be husban!"
> The other two begin slowly eating the disgusting berries
> Bright has already finished and is moving to mate the scared filly
> "Bwight finnich numbies! Giff speciaw huggies now!"
> The old fluffy doesn't attempt to stop him
> Mounting the filly the woozy looking colt tries to hump but is unable to become erect
> "Nuu! Nuu wike bwight! Scawy fwuffy! Nuu Wike!"
> The filly manages to wiggle out from under the dizzy colt who now falls over
> "O...oooo..oo..ooh... mm.. uck... nummies... nuu siwwy... nummies awe yickkie... o. URK!"
> Now vomiting a red berry mush the colt clutches his hurting tummy and cries
> "Nuu..blueaghhhhhh... nuu-hh-hh-nuu blugh.. bealgh! hh--h--h-h-h-nuu sikkie! bleagh! owwies..."
> With most of the fermented berries out some chewed and digested grass is also vomited
> Gray fluff speaks once more, this time to the sick colt
> "Yuu nuu wissen tu gwey fwuffies, gwey fwuffies good mummahs an daddies fow hewd."
> "Fwuffies who dun wissen tu hewd awe bad fwuffies, bad fwuffies nuu get bebbehs!"
> The sobbing and vomiting colt is now left where he lies twitching and barely coughing
> "Nu..nu..hh-hh-hh-nuu... wan be daddeh... nuu-hh-hh-hh-hh- nuu bad..."
> Another colt has barely finished his share and begins trembling
> "Fwuahfee hown huuuuwties... why gwassies spinny?"
> The green unicorn leaf has also begun crying, his head spinning and burning with pain
> His legs are so wobbly that he simply slumps over convulsing
> Leaf however, does not get sick fast enough
> The berries were eaten too slowly
> The alcohol in the fermented fruits has made its way into his blood
> A tiny liver tries desperately to filter out the sudden flood of toxins
> He coughs and begins to vomit, but it's too late
> He cries and wails for a minute then his eyes glaze over
> The unicorn's takes the longest sleep
> Gray fluff speaks to the herd in front of the deceased Leaf
> "Haff saddies fow Weaf, buh Weaf tuu weak.  Weak bebbehs haff biggest sweepies wike weaf."
> The gray fluff and those around him bow in solace at the dead unicorn colt
> Some cry others simply sniffle
> His mother and sister are beside themselves
> "NUUU! WEAFIE! WEAFIE! WAKIES! MUMMAH HEWE! NUU WEAK WEAFIE! BWAVE! BWAVE AN STWONG AN.. an..."
> The mother simply cries as she realizes the gray fluff are right
> Her daughter simply hugs the body trying to resuscitate him
> She pulls the filly away and hugs her till they both stop crying later that day
> The last fluffy now shivers his horn trembling as he tries to eat the berries as well
> "F-f-f-f-fwuffy nuu wan siwwy nummies... Siwwy nummies giff fwiends sikkies an big sweepies..."
> "Nuu wan sweepies... wan wuv Wowsy... Buzzy wuv Wowsy... nuu wan weave Wowsy..."
> The reddish gray fluff looks to his fellow grays who nod at him
> "Buzzy! Uppies yow head! Yuu good fwuffy! Wemembow mows impowtant wesson abowt siwwy nummies!"
> "Neffa eat too many siwwy nummies!"
> Buzzy realizing that he passed the test cheers and hugs Rosy though he's still quite drunk for a fluffy
> A recently vacated burrow is given as a gift to the good fluffy husban an wifey
> Who proceed to snuggle in their new cozy burrow
> Buzzy falls asleep nearly immediately embracing his new wife
> The gray fluff take the deceased Leaf towards the den of the cat monster for tribute
> Who drags the little body into his hole in the big tree
> Bright is given the chance to leave or serve the herd with no special hugs
> Bright leaves only to be overcome by the dangerous forest beyond the big tree later that night
> He dies trying to fight a pile of ants he accidentally steps on
> With all of the fluffy problems solved for now the gray fluff move into the sun and sleep
> Their faded fluff hides the once vibrant colors of playful fluffies
> Around them a healthy and relatively happy herd plays, eats, and raises their young
> Near the pile a bee lands upon a rose