Foreword: I had a request for a Story involving the first Funshine Bear and Playful Heart Monkey. Both characters have been officially portrayed as Male and Female from G1 to the present incarnation of The Care Bears and Care Cousins. It can get confusing.
True Heart Bear looked up from a computer. She was in the process of transcribing The Book of Caring. The seemingly misnamed history book of The Care Bears was really several volumes for each Care Bear generation. Also included were The Care Cousins. True Heart was fulfilling a request by Smart Heart. Not only should the current volume be updated, but also copied to digital form. Computers in Care a Lot were much more primitive than ones used by many Humans. However they were still a valuable tool when placed into the right hand paw. As the founder of Care a Lot's internet service, True Heart was the Bear best suited for the monumental task.
Updating the current volume and copying the previous ones was time consuming. There were many Library Files that had to be referenced. Some of the Genealogical Files were paw written. So Lovalot had volunteered her time to help. So had her Mate and True Heart's Mate. Another Bear had volunteered to mind the Library's front desk. Normally Obsessive Bear would have been available but she was on an obligated Caring Mission. So Surprise Bear was there in her stead. Surprise was updating Funshine's library card. True Heart had glanced up as she heard what sounded like a body hitting the floor. Then what sounded like books hitting the floor.
True Heart sighed as Lovalot ran over to a heap on the floor. True moved up beside Lovalot and stared down at a pile of books. A pile that was moving. A head popped out of the pile. "My bad" said Oopsy. "My foot paw slipped off the stepladder." Another head popped out. "No, it's my bad" said Grizzle. "My extend a paw book grabber slipped out of my hand paw. Who knew books could form an avalanche!"
The ever truthful True Heart shook her head as she tapped Lovalot on the shoulder. "I should have expected something like this. My Mate makes more messes than even Messy Bear is capable of." Oopsy blushed. Lovalot giggled as she reached down and pulled Grizzle out of the pile. "Unfortunately my Mate is well known for creating havoc. We may have unintentionally created the Care Bear Duo of Destruction." Both females jumped as Surprise Bear yelled "you are darned right about that!" "Ah" yelled the startled True Heart. She had just picked up a fallen book. Now it went flying across the room. It hit another shelf sending more books cascading to the floor. "Make that the Care Bear Trio of Destruction" giggled Lovalot.
All the commotion had aroused Funshine's curiosity. He peeked around the shelving. "I thought books were for reading, not dumping on the floor or tossing" he said. Funshine picked up a book with an old looking cover. He flipped it open. "It's just some names and statistics" he said. As he flipped to another page he gasped. "Hey, my name is in here. Why does it say Funshine-Bear-Female?"
True Heart giggled as she took the book from him. "You silly boy. Look at the date on the cover. It says Care a Lot Year Book. Year 19 ATW." Surprise actually sounded surprised as she said "this was written nineteen years After The Wish!" True Heart held the book close to her heart. "This was written thirty four years ago in Care Bear time. That equals one hundred and two Human years. Let's see, where's the page you were on? Here it is. Oh my. This is interesting, take a look Lovalot."
As Lovalot read out loud what had been pointed out, her Mate and True Heart's Mate listened in awe and reverence. "Funshine Bear, female, adopted by True Heart Bear and Noble Heart Horse Year One ATW. Age at adoption approximately eleven months. Mated to Playful Heart Monkey, male. Second Month, third day of Year 18 ATW. Born to them on the three hundred and fourth day of this calendar year their first born Cub. Said offspring, one female hybrid Bear. Funshine the second, to be known as Funshine."
Funshine gasped. "I'm Funshine the third although I am called Funshine. Mom didn't like being called a hybrid. She used to say she was more Bear than Monkey." The ever devilish Grizzle laughed. "Wow, I have heard of someone being called a Monkey's Uncle. You are a monkey's grandson!" Lovalot gave her miniscule Mate a tap on the butt. "Be nice Dear, after all many Bears and Cousins consider us to be an Odd Couple. At least we were not the first. Right True Heart."
True Heart sighed. Many had been shocked when the much older female had fallen in love with Oopy. "Nor are myself and Oopsy. As a True Heart I must know our history by heart. Care a Lot was founded by an Odd Couple of sorts. Were an odd lot, in Care a Lot! A Bear small for her species ran off with a horse small for his species. They found and rescued thirty young animals of various species. Animals cub napped to be used for Magical Experimentation. The Horse and Bear faced grave danger as the boy who wanted to be a Wizard tried to stop them. In desperation the fleeing Bear made a wish upon The Great Wishing Star. The wish was granted and resulted in our beginning. Of course as Care Bears you should already know all of that."
"Noble Heart and True Heart were never Mated. They lived like a couple as they raised the Cubs entrusted to them. So they could be considered a bit of an Odd Couple. However Care a Lot's first true Odd Couple were Funshine Bear and Playful Heart Monkey. They were also the first to realize a true gift given to our species by The Great Wishing Star. Our ability to cross species in bearing Cubs, Kits, and Pups. By now we are all most likely the descendant of a Hybrid. However there is always a first in anything. Funshine, be proud of your background. It is most likely the reason you are quite athletic." A look of reverence was on True Heart's face as she continued to recite Care Bear history.
The others listened in awe and fascination as they learned of their heritage. Funshine looked to be in a trance as he listened. It was if he and the others realized this was a life changing moment. As had been the moment a wish was granted to the first True Heart Bear. The youngsters she and Noble Heart raised had slowly aged and matured. The Great Wishing Star and her accomplice, Princess Starglo, wanted to ensure the Care Bears and Care Cousins would not die out. So Care Bears and Care Cousins were granted some unique Traits and abilities.
They would henceforth age thirty percent slower than mammals such as Humans. They were given Tummy Tags giving each Bear and Cousin a unique power. Some would even achieve the ability to travel Inter-dimensionally. Collectively they could combine powers in a Care Bear Stare.
It would take some time as the first Bears and Cousins discovered their unique place in the Universe. One potential problem was avoided. Most of the original Cubs and Care Cousins had been kidnapped from various Families. So most were not related by blood. Thus incest and genetic sterility was less likely. Being raised apart from other Creatures like them meant the growing Cubs, Kitten, Pup, Pig etc. had to learn about the facts of life by observing each other. The first True Heart and Noble Heart had a problem as their charges slowly began to mature. Because of their slow aging process puberty is a long drawn out affair for adolescent Bears and Cousins. True Heart and Noble Heart tried their best to deal with this dilemma.
For them it was both worrisome yet comical. Catching a young Proud Heart Cat and Loyal Heart Dog rubbing noses incited giggles the first time it happened. Years later when the dog and cat were Teens it incited some concerns. True Heart would soon be well rehearsed in giving "the talk". The Facts of Life meant the boys and girls would soon be tempted to try something beyond rubbing noses.
True Heart was sure Harmony or Superstar would be the first of the Teen Girls who would try to find out why Boys were designed differently from Girls. However it was Treat Heart Pig who first got caught fooling with a male. It was with one of the few males in Care a Lot who was not a Bear or Cousin. Treat Heart Pig spotted Beastly spying on her as she lay sprawled out on her belly after a mud bath and a jump in the Rainbow River. After chasing Beastly down Treat Heart jumped on him. She had planned to rough him up. Instead they somehow ended up rubbing noses in a kiss. Then their hand hooves moved over each other in some heavy petting.
They may have gone even further that day had not Harmony spied them and ran to tattle tale. True Heart startled the unlikely love duo by yelling "stop that nose rubbing right now! And keep your hand hooves to yourself!"
It was a life changing moment for Beastly. From that time on he would have a crush on Treat Heart. It was one of the reasons he could never bring himself to harm a Bear or Cousin. No matter what No Heart demanded. Years later Treat Heart would be re-united with two of her Siblings. One a female and one a male. Beastly would end up falling in love with that female Pig. So Treat Heart's first real kiss was with a Boar who would end up her Brother in Law.
The other Care Bears and Care Cousins would soon hear about what had happened between Beastly and Treat Heart. True Heart gave Treat Heart a lecture on "the Birds, the Bees, and Boys". As she did so the other Teens laughed and giggled over what had happened. Only Hugs and Tugs had no clue to what the whispering and giggling was about. One Cousin laughed hardest of all. Playful Heart Monkey turned to Funshine Bear. "Imagine that, a fat girl Pig kissing a bad boy Wild Boar!"
"Ew" said Funshine. "What is so nice about rubbing noses!? Let's go outside away from all this kissy kissy talk." From their earliest days after being adopted the female Bear and male Monkey had always been playmates. Bear Cubs are born climbers, as are Monkeys. However most Bears lose a lot of their climbing abilities as they mature. Funshine was a female who had been born quite athletic. She was also a bit of a Tom Boy. Despite her age she still liked climbing. Now she and the male Monkey were seeing who could climb a tree the fastest.
Funshine grabbed a branch and looked up to the Boy just above her. Suddenly there was a loud "SNAP" as the branch broke. Playful Heart tried to grab her hand paw. He did succeed in slowing down her fall. However Funshine landed heavily on her left foot paw. The ever proud athletic girl did not want to let a boy know she was hurt. "Are you okay" asked Playful Heart as he knelt beside her. Funshine was rubbing her ankle. "I'm alright" muttered the girl. However as she tried to put weight on her foot she cried out in pain. She quickly sat down trying hard not to cry in front of a boy.
Playful Heart could see how teary eyed she was. The boy was unsure just what to do. Just putting his paw on a girl such as Harmony would probably elicit a paw slap. "I need to see if your ankle is broken" he finally gasped out. "Okay" said Funshine as she wiped away a tear. Playful Heart tenderly felt the girl's ankle. He could feel her flinch as he did so. "Your ankle feels swollen but I don't think it is broken" he said. "It is probably a bad sprain. How is the rest of your foot" he asked as he felt her toes and paw pad. Funshine was now wide eyed. Her ankle was throbbing, yet having the Boy rub his paw over her foot made her feel better.
Funshine wiggled her toes as she extended her toe claws. Then drew them back into their sheaths. "I think it's just my ankle" she said in a near whisper. "It's too bad I'm no longer a little girl. If so a kiss would help my boo boo. But True Heart isn't here to do so anyway, and now I am too old for that. Plus my feet are dirty!"
Playful Heart laughed as he ran his paw over the top of her foot. "Only your paw pad is dirty, and the bottom of your toes. But it is your ankle that is hurt. So you need to have your ankle kissed." He was only joking to make Funshine feel better. However as the teary eyed girl looked at him and giggled Playful Heart felt something in his heart. Without thinking he put his nose on her ankle and rubbed ever so gently over it. Then as he realized what he was doing he raised his head up. "Oh gees, I am sorry" he blurted out as he looked back up.
Funshine had a strange look on her face as her eyes met his. "I may have been wrong about kissing" said the Girl. She reached up and put both her arms around Playful Heart's neck. "Will you help me walk home?" "Sure" said Playful Heart. With her left arm around his shoulders she limped along beside him. Just before reaching the house she said "let's stop for a moment." Playful Heart thought she needed a rest. As he turned his head to her she asked "do you see anybody yet?"
He glanced around. "No, not a Soul." Funshine put her free hand paw on his nose. "Good, bend your head down a bit" she said with a gleam in her eyes. "I want to give you a special thank you." Playful Heart bent down. He felt his heart skip a beat as the Girl's nose touched his. Then something else as she rubbed her nose on his. He had playfully kissed before, but this was so much better. Both the male and female sighed as their noses parted. Funshine giggled as Playful Heart looked around nervously. "Oh gees" he gasped. "If True Heart found out we did that there would be Heck to pay. But it would be worth it!"
"It sure would" said Funshine as she limped along beside him. Finally they made it home. After a visit to Dr. Take Care the girl would receive a nice box of Honey Bits candy as a get well gift. It was from Playful Heart. Soon the ever observant True Heart noticed how the former playmates were now often giggling together as they stood nearly cheek to cheek. "I think we have a problem" True Heart informed Noble Heart.
Noble Heart grinned knowingly. He was aware of some questionable activities between the teen male and teen female. Harmony was not the only tattle tale. Treat Heart Pig held a grudge for getting chewed out for kissing Beastly. After spotting the Bear and Monkey nose to nose she quickly squealed on them. Noble Heart had kept her info to himself. Now he let True Heart know what he knew. True Heart looked uncomfortable, then finally shook her head and grinned. "Well, boys will be boys and girls will be girls. We knew days like this would eventually come."
Noble Heart whinnied in a nervous laugh. "Well, we know for sure those two are not related. Also they are from different species so nothing like a Cub should come about." True Heart looked nervous again. "We don't know that for sure. We are still discovering things The Great Wishing Star included in the Wish she granted me." Noble Heart laughed and winked at her. "Then it is your fault and the Wishing Star's fault if they find they can make a baby!" True Heart sighed. After all, being a Step Mother had been wonderful. Being a Step Grandmother would mean more Cubs to feed, diaper and bathe. True Heart pictured in her mind the first time she got peed on by a Cub.
"If so I hope their first one is a little Girl" said True Heart. Noble Heart laughed happily. "Be careful, it is evening. The Great Wishing Star is out in the sky." True Heart looked out the window built to look upon The Wishing Star. She saw it twinkle in a glorious display of light. "Oh my stars" she said. Two weeks later True Heart felt her age as Brave Heart set out on his own. Moving into a cozy den in The Forest of Feelings. Within a month Playful Heart started building a home of his own. A simple Log Cabin with some nice amenities. After completing it Funshine threw a House Warming for him. As the House Warming ended the Monkey watched his guests leave one by one from his porch. At last only one guest remained. On the porch the last guest kissed Playful Heart. Somehow she ended up not leaving until the crack of dawn.
Shortly after that wondrous night a Bear and a Monkey ran off together. They returned as Mates. True Heart took their elopement rather well. After all The Care Bears got started when she had run off with a Horse. True Heart felt like grounding Laugh a Lot when she laughed out "running off with a Boy runs in the Family!" However True Heart knew it would soon be all too true. "Lands sakes" she told Grams Bear. "Now I know why you have streaks of grey fur!"
It was not long after that when True Heart received some amazing news from Funshine. Funshine was expecting a Cub. A Care Cousin boy could get a Care Bear girl pregnant. With that the beginnings of The Care Bear and Care Cousin Lineage would evolve into a whole new Care a Lot. Yes, it was one amazing story which had been passed on. The one a bunch of Bears were listening to in the present in a Library.
The latest True Heart sighed as she finished reciting Care Bear history. Funshine looked as if he were in a trance. The ever devilish Grizzle poked Funshine in the ribs. "Huh" went Funshine as his mind came back to the present reality. "So, are you going to run off with a Bear or a Monkey" asked Grizzle gleefully. Funshine cringed.
"Run off with a Girl!? Yuck" said Funshine. "Why would any Bear run off with a Monkey." Just then he heard someone walk into the Library. He look out into the front room. There stood a female Bear and a female Monkey. Both appeared to be Funshine's age. For some reason Funshine felt his eyes drawn to the Monkey. "Oh, she has pretty fur" he thought to himself. Soon they were chatting enough to elicit some "shhs" from Surprise. They soon left with her paw on his shoulder. True Heart turned to Lovalot and whispered "oh Dear. Could this be the start of another Care a Lot odd couple?"
Lovalot looked down at the Mate who was so much shorter than she. She reached down and giggled as she lifted up her Runt of a Mate. "Why not" she said as Grizzle laughed. "It may be in the stars for them to fall for each other." Lovalot suddenly felt an impulse to give a public display of her feelings for her much smaller Mate. Lovalot held her hand paws under Grizzle's arm pits. Grizzle smiled fondly as he was gently swung like a Cub. Then the two Bears were nose to nose. Lovalot heard some gasps as she rubbed noses with Grizzle in a Care Bear kiss. Lovalot then grinned unabashedly. In a near whisper she said to those watching "we really are an odd lot in Care a Lot!"