Author's note: Uh, today's episode sure was something...
Also, trigger warning for ableism and dehumanization.
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Failed.
Failed Male.
He was a failure.
He was a failure because of his wings.
Fm laid in his nest, holding on to Cube, his stuffed penguin tight.
The cardinal overheard the scientist talking about him.
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Fm was getting his regular treatment for his wing when he overheard them.
"We should keep the Failed Male out with the next process in our experiment. Along with Three and Four, of course." One of them said, a female human with blonde hair.
"Shh! Keep your voice down!" Whispered a male with black hair and white streak going through the middle of it. "We don't want him to hear us."
The female scientist rolled her eyes. "Don't worry. It doesn't understand us. Now, let's get him back with the others."
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Fm curled up tighter as he held back sad chirps. Tears threaten to spill out.
They never even gave him a real name, to them, he was just a failure.
He couldn't fly, he couldn't breathe properly sometimes and to the scientists, he couldn't even breed.
It's seems Fm wasn't quiet enough, as he heard two sets of wings fluttering down to his nest.
Since Fm was useless at flying, he built his nest on the ground.
"Fm?" It was X, real name Ninety-Seven, he gave himself the name X to differentiate from his brother. "What's wrong?"
"Yeah," Four joined in. "Is everything okay?"
Four, Fm never felt more envious of his friend before. Not only was he the first out of their friend group to fly but he also has a mate.
Something the scientists didn't approve of Fm having.
"I-it's nothing." Fm turned away from his friends, nuzzling his face into Cube's soft body.
X got in his nest. "Fm, it can't be nothing, we never seen you act like this before."
Four did the same, draping one of his wings over him. He looked at his long-time friend with sorrowful eyes.
Fm felt tears welling up. "I overheard the scientist talking about me..." He was doing his best to not choke out on his own tears. "I'm... a failure."
"What!?" Both X and Four said at the same time.
"What do mean failure?" X's wings puffed up in anger.
"They called me a Failed Male. That's what Fm stands for! That's all I am to them, a failure!" He shouted, tears falling down his face.
Four pulled his friend into a hug, X wiped the tears off of Fm's face.
"No, you're not." He calmly stated. "Just because you have one small wing doesn't mean you're a failure."
"Yeah," Four let go of hugging Fm. "You're the best climber out there. You and Three are the only ones to understand human speech and you did something the rest of us could only wish what we could do. You fought back against the scientists and won."
X put a hand on Fm's shoulder. "You're not a failure, you're from that."
"Fm doesn't have to stand for failed..." Four began. "It could stand for...
Fantastic!"
The two began listing off some words that started with F.
"Firey"
"Fun!"
"Friendly."
"Fragalious!" Four said with stars in his eyes.
"Four, Fragalious isn't a word." X deadpanned.
Four huffed, he turned his head away from X. "How would you know, feather boy?"
Fm and X started laughing at Four's silly antics.
Fm's laughter died down. "You guys are the best."
X let out a chirp. "What are friends for?"
Fm pulled his two friends into a hug.
Who cares what some snobby, stuck up, scientists think?
Fm is not a failure.
