Chapter 58

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Flying…

The air was arms, blowing behind. The sea blue, white waves foaming up and breaking on a spit. Passing by, striped bunnies not looking up, over the grey salty lagoon.

The land came again and up, up and over, the small plots of farmland making way for the thick jungle. Through falling rain and over the crest, a black gaping hole arrived below, surrounded by stone pillars, and down, down she flew. The air grew chill and the anger rose but there, ahead, it was.

What she had was broken, but this was real, she needed, she had to reach. She HAD to reach. She…

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Beep…

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Beep…

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Beep...

Judy woke up slowly to the sound of machines. Her eyes flickered, she moaned, slowly she began to register that she was not in the dream world but in a hospital room, a red figure curled up on a seat nearby. "Nick?"

His ears shot up, quickly followed by his head. "Judy?"

"Nick," she asked, slowly rising, a paw holding her necklace. "Where am I?"

"The hospital," he said, sitting up. "You fainted at the top of the stairs and started falling down them. You… you were bouncing down them, I grabbed you but it was…" He closed his eyes, looking away.

Slowly working her lips over each other, she tried to reach up with her arm, only to pause, seeing the tubes stuck in. "How…" she began, beginning to shiver. "How long have I?"

"Overnight," he said, walking over and holding her arm, pushing back down. "The injuries from the fall weren't severe or anything but…"

"Good," Judy sighed. "Nothing holding me back from…"

"-Oh no!" he cut in, suddenly far harsher. Judy couldn't help but snap to him as he began waving his paws in front of him. "Oh no, no, no. Let me guess, hold you back from going back to helping?"

"Y-yes, what else…"

"No Judy," he said, stopping before glaring at her, hard. "You are off this case completely."

"What!? Bogo can't…"

"Not Bogo, Judy. Me."

He glared at her, crossing his arms over his chest and letting his fur stick up. "You," Judy asked. "But why? Why can't…"

He held up a paw and brought up a chart. "Patient Judy Hopps," he began reading off. "Brought in so and so time last night after fainting and small fall, causing minor physical injuries…"

"See, only minor…"

"Further diagnosis," Nick cut in, beginning to let his teeth show. "Dangerously elevated blood pressure and overstressed heart from rapid pulse. Cause of which is diagnosed to be dangerous levels of caffeine in the bloodstream. Given levels, minimum of one days bed rest required in order to allow filtering out of toxins, followed by month long abstention from any caffeinated products. In addition, the patient was diagnosed as suffering from serious dehydration, requiring intravenous rehydration," he pointed at her arm, "and clear signs of clinical exhaustion and sleep deprivation, major contributors to heart stress and fainting episode. Strong bed rest and extended periods of sleep essential." He slammed it down and kept his gaze fixed on her, the anger simmering in it slowly beginning to fade and then go away. His narrowed eyes widened and began to quiver and glisted, while the end of his muzzle parted, letting him breath in and out. "Judy, you were working so hard you were killing yourself."

The bunny looked on, beginning to tremble. "I… I was… I was just working harder, I was…"

"You didn't know when to quit," he cut in, looking down. "And all the times you've said that, you acted like it was only a positive! There was no negative. But here we are Carrots. You didn't know when to quit… even as all of us were telling you to!"

"I…" she began again. She closed her eyes and dropped the necklace, clutching her face in her paws. "I didn't know I could… I thought… But Kris is more important, and I could…" She cut herself off, not sure how to continue.

"Don't you trust me…"

"Huh?" she asked, looking up. It had almost been a whisper, Nick mumbling it as he turned, looking into the corner of the room, now letting his head drop into the corner.

"That's what you asked," he recounted, slowly. "Don't you trust me, when I first pointed it out. Don't you trust me? I know my limits. But you don't I… I should have known Carrots. I should have known!" he pulled his head out and slammed it into the corner. "I… was getting more and more worried, but… I wanted to trust you. I didn't want to upset you. I know how headstrong you are, it's why I like you, and I thought… I thought you knew what was best for yourself and I didn't... " He pulled his head up and let it drop into the corner again. Thump. "Want to cause…" Thump. "Anymore drama…" Thump.

"...Nick?"

"I'm just a dumb fox who should have…"

"No, Nick," Judy sniffed, pulling herself out of bed before wincing, feeling the pull of the IV drip. "I…" She sniffed. "I'm… I'm the dumb one here. I wouldn't… I wouldn't have listened. I didn't listen after all." She slowly brought her paws up to her eyes and began to wipe them. "All… All my life, mammals have been telling me what I can't do! And all those times I've… I've not listened to them, and I've done those things I…" She broke into a sob. "I… I… I was so used to them always being wrong, I never… I never imagined they could be right. I… I wouldn't have listened to you Nick. I would have just been a dumb bunny and…" She broke into a fit of sobs, the fox turning briefly before rushing over, holding her tight.

Slowly, stroking her ears, he began to calm her down.

"There there… There there…"

"I… I don't know what to do…"

"Just get some rest, Fluff… Doctors orders…"

"I don't know what to do," she cut in again, buckling over. "After… After all this! Do I have to start listening to these mammals who always said I couldn't do this stuff… Do… Do I have to stop trusting myself!"

"No, no, no, Carrots. You…"

"Because look where trusting myself got me! It… It landed me here, and you're… you're so scared and hurt, and I did that! I messed up and hurt you again! I… -You… -you should just go! All these times I've been worrying about you and… But I can't trust myself not to hurt you, so you should just go and find a good… a good nice vixen who won't hurt you like I will…"

"Never."

"Just… Why…?"

"Because I'm a very dumb fox," he said, slowly holding her so she could bury her head in his chest floof. "Who loves a very, very, very dumb bunny. And because of that, I'm not going to leave you, okay? You're going to calm down those waterworks, and then we're going to talk this through. Sound good?"

She mumbled an uh-hu through his fur, as he slowly held her, stroking her, calming her down. Finally, he spoke again. "All those times you asked me, 'do you trust me?' Remember those?"

Breathing in, she nodded, slowly.

"Well," he began, looking around. "Maybe I can ask the same thing. Do you trust me?"

"Huh?" She looked up and he, brushing one of her ears out of the way, looked back down at her.

"Do you trust me to tell you when you're going too far?" he asked. "Do you trust me to tell you when I think you're hurting yourself doing so?"

Slowly, she nodded again. "Now… Now I do, I'm sorry Nick… I'm sorry, I…"

"Shhhhhhhh," he said, calming her. "It seems we've found a nice little solution to this problem. Maybe a few more mammals can join that list alongside me but, for now, let's keep it between the two of us. Rest. Okay? Rest…"

He put her down, slipping off the necklace and putting it in a stand for safety before tucking her in, as she huffed out. "Are the others… worried too?"

"Naturally," he said, smiling. Judy could only groan. "Carrots?"

"All this time," she said, looking away. "I was doing these things because I was worried. Worried for my family, and my friends, and you and the kits. All these bad things are going on, against you, and…" She closed her eyes, squinting, biting her bottom lip. "I just wanted to help, Nick. I just wanted to do something to help you, so maybe I could stop worrying." She let out a breath, looking down. "Turns out I just made more of a mess for everyone."

"No you didn't," Nick assured her. He held her paw. "As someone very clever once said. Life is messy." She looked up, smiling. "Come on. I will say that all the others got back safely last night, and Duke is being questioned at the moment. Meanwhile, motions are finally being made to get rid of a certain DA given the now leaked evidence of his… unsuitability for the role. He's got a TV spot coming up but, from what I gather, as of Monday he will be out. As will be a certain silver fox as a result. So, with that good news, just sit back, relax and rest." He gave her one of those looks. "Trust me?"

"I trust you," she said, managing a smile. "Dumb fox."

Making his way out of the door, he turned back, winking as he gave her one last look. "Takes a dumb bunny to know one."

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Catano looked on, over the table. It had taken a while to get the two small detectives up to speed on everything that had gone on in their absence but, here they were again, ready to go. The cheetah hoped, hoped that they could look at this again and maybe, just maybe, figure it all out and find the answer. Because, right now, the weasel in front of them wasn't giving them any silver bullet.

"I mean, yeah, I argued with them. I was angry. But then I just kept on haulin' that dumb too heavy cart down, clearin' the path. I… I signed out with my supervisor after the shift, I called my cous' up in Predford asking if I could borrow this old camper he keeps for me. I then left…" He looked down, gritting his teeth. "I just wanted to get outta the city for a bit! I… I didn't know anythin' would be going down."

"Even though you supposedly said something to your baby cousin."

His eyebrow rose. "I… I thought this jerk kid was getting a dumb prank played on him by one of his schoolmates. I didn't think someone would frame him for this!"

There was a long pause, holding across the room.

"C-c'mon fellas. I… I know I'm a crook but I ain't evil, right? You can see that too, right? Right…?"

Catano nodded. "I understand that if true, this would be a major escalation of your criminal activity, so to speak…"

His eyes narrowed. "Why thank you…"

"In any case," she began, bringing out a map of the park. "Could you confirm where you were when you met the others?"

He pointed in the expected place.

"Which way did they go after?"

Tracing it, it lined up perfectly.

"Which way did you go after?"

He brushed down in the same direction. "Slower, of course, I was doin' work."

The cheetah noticed that it was going away from where he'd have needed to have gone to bump into Maisy on her way back. Out came a new resource, five or so pictures of different sheep, Maisy included. He looked over all of them, blankly. "What's this?"

"Recognise any?"

He looked up. "No. Am I suppose to or what?"

She took them back. "No comment. Finally, last chance, do you have anything else to say. If you want to confess, that will be taken into account when deciding your punishment, and could slash multiple years off of the term you receive."

He closed his eyes, shaking his head. "N-no! I didn't do this! I… Listen, I had two big cat mobsters chasing me. Big lion and tiger, I…" He closed his eyes and breathed out. "They were the ones who took me in and roughed me up after the incident with that goat I told you about, okay? Maybe it's them that did it!"

She nodded, slowly going back over some notes before pausing. "It says here that those were a leopard and cougar."

He closed his eyes and groaned. "Maybe I… They tranq'd me, I was angry, maybe I mis-remembered their species, okay…"

He looked up, squinting in fear, while Catano looked on, eyes narrowing. Finally, she shrugged. "Well, if you were lying there's no way of proving it," she said, eyes narrowed. "Given that these mammals might still be after you, you'll be provided with an emergency dial to call in case something happens. We will likely be in touch with further enquiries. You may go now."

Breathing in and out, he nodded, slipping off. Catano was left in the room with Basil and Dave, slowly turning to them. "So? How bad did I do?"

The two mice pulled back, blinking a few times before turning back to face her. "How bad?" Basil asked. "I wouldn't say you've been doing bad at all."

"Indeed," Dave said, walking over. "I think you've done a splendid job plotting out all the minutia of this case. Where everyone was, getting the theories all sorted out, cross referencing and so on. All excellently thought out."

"And yet we're still no closer to finding out who did this," she said, looking down. "Oates has done some looking around both the young silverfox's and Maisy's place and found nothing. And, from what I've seen of them, I'm confident neither of them was responsible. We just had Duke in, our 'good old lead'. Except he doesn't line up and we don't have anything there either. In fact, more than that, having read his profile and seeing how unhelpful he usually is, after seeing that I feel like he wasn't involved either. Even he has standards, and from his reaction this looked to be well beyond them. And then, the only thing I can come up with turns out to be completely wrong, and became the nail in the coffin of Judy and mine's professional relationship." She dropped down, holding her head in her paws. "Am I failing… as an officer?"

Basil shook his head. "No, no, of course not! Listen, you've worked hard on a difficult case. So what, you didn't find out the truth. Not all of us can strike lucky all the time."

Dave gave a snort. "I mean, speaking for the two of us, we happen to know two mammals who were at the very least quite wrong with our theories."

"As I've often said, sometimes the only way to find the truth is to rule out all probable explanations. Even if what is left is highly improbable, by process of elimination it is still the most likely answer. That's what you did there, you had a theory, you investigated it, you disproved it and ruled it out. One more step on to the truth."

Catano nodded. "Not that Judy sees it that way," she said, looking down. "She… -She thinks I have it out for her and her friends. She thinks that I'm brainwashed into these opinions by the DA and such, manipulated into these ideas, just tricked. As if I'm not allowed to come up with my own ideas! And that's her generous take, her ungenerous one is that I'm just plain speciesist." She breathed in and out.

Dave twiddled his thumbs. "Not to… -insult your integrity…"

"I have thought it through," the cheetah said. "I treated the Calrama's with suspicion, I used my authority to pressure them into an interview, I also stepped in to help their daughter when I felt she was being threatened. With the foxes, yes I pressured them when trying to run a warrant, but there was a genuine lead that I had to check. Maybe I could have asked for them to let me look through the room in private, though who knows whether they'd agree. I had some misgivings about the fox in question, I misjudged him a bit but came around, and I had to check him out then as there was a viable possibility that needed to be looked into. And I'm certain I didn't treat any of the other foxes I've met in this whole thing badly. Nick's been calm towards me, there were several vixens at that school I was happy to help. Looking back, even trying to be critical..." She trailed off and shook her head.

"So," Basil continued. "Anything else that might have provoked her?"

Catano shook her head. "I squicked out a bit on seeing something, which I'm guessing was the straw that broke the…" She paused for a second.

"-That one's okay," Dave said with a smile.

"-Camels back. But there's the thing, she had all the feelings towards me anyway, and laid it all out yesterday night. But I feel Judy has no right to call me that given that all this time she's defending a mammal who I know has done terrible things. Who's had an entire career going out and attacking an entire species. And Judy has introduced this mammal to vulnerable young minds, at their most vulnerable, and sees nothing wrong with it. She shouldn't be friends with this mammal at all, yet she is, and will defend her to the end."

Basil ran his fingers along his chin for a moment or two. "Why does she defend this mammal so much?"

"Because she says she's changed."

"And has she?"

"That's… that's beside the point," Catano carried on. "I mean, even if she has, which you can never truly know, you can never truly be sure of, hundreds or thousands of mammals are out there thinking sheep are pure evil because of her and that's not going to change. I don't think anything can make up for the harm she's done. Do you?"

"Hmmmmm, I don't know. I don't know," the thinner of the rodents carried on. "But, consider this. Remember back when we were offering that kangaroo who'd worked with and spied on those cultists a deal?"

"Yes," Catano agreed distastefully, ears going down. "A deal that meant he practically got off free."

"But, we felt that it was worth it to come closer to the truth. To find the very root of the issue. Now, that doesn't mean we endorse him, right?"

"So… what?" she asked. "You're saying she's defending that honey badger, and all the pain she's caused sheep in the past, to help her find 'the truth'?"

"Not quite," Dave said, pushing in. "I know that we believe the most important thing in the world is the truth. Searching for it, finding it and so on. And you likewise believe in justice. You felt that kangaroo didn't get what he was owed, same for this honey badger. Right?"

"Right," she said, nodding.

"So, maybe Judy believes in something else she holds above all else. Something that makes her feel she has to defend this honey badger as it's the right thing to do!"

"Redemption…" Catano whispered, before closing her eyes and shaking her head. "But if this mammal hasn't changed, then I can't endorse or be around Judy, can I? I can't endorse Judy if Judy is endorsing her and, by proxy, the terrible things she did."

"Well has she changed?" Basil asked.

"I can't tell," Catano huffed. "And even if I could, I don't think that would be nearly enough for her to earn redemption."

"But would it be enough for you to work with Judy?"

The big cat drummed her fingers on the table. "I mean... maybe... But at the same time I still think that she's endorsing this mammal and what she did by proxy, even if she has changed! And I don't think that I should work with her if that's the case."

"Like you can't work with us because we're happy to let mammals get off lightly if it brings us closer to the truth?" Dave asked.

"I…" Catano began, her eyes narrowing. "I can work with you very professionally, even if I do get very annoyed with your priorities on occasion."

"Which sounds good enough," Basil carried on. "And would knowing that the Honey Badger had changed be enough to feel the same way about Judy?"

"I… I don't know," she said, shaking her head. "That bunny seemed to be speaking so highly of her, I've got the feeling that she won't take anything short of 'Honey is a reformed and totally good mammal with no problems' for an answer."

"And do you know that for certain?"

"I… The thing is she took things so personally. I don't think I could get in there either way before she starts picking up again, about this or that."

"So, why not have someone to moderate it?" Dave asked.

Catano's ears popped up. "Huh?"

"Well, didn't Nick say that he'd act as a go between. That could work. Filter out all the emotions, keep it to the facts, and work it through until you find the truth of the issue, and if you two can work together again. Sound good?"

Catano looked on unsure.

The mice, in response, looked at each other, nodded, and turned up, trying to look their absolute cutest. She grunted and nodded. "Fine... I'll try," she said, grabbing her notes. She paused, before holding out her paw for the two mice to jump on to.

"Good," Basil said, as they began to walk out.

Working their way back to the office, Catano stepped inside, pausing before leaning down. This room still hadn't been checked for bugs, a process that was due to take a long time for the entire ZPD. As a result, it was down to whispering. "What do you think about these 'other mammals'?"

The two mice looked to each other, then back up. "Well, it is very worrying," Basil said. "Though there's almost a slight comfort, knowing that that bat is involved."

"Wasn't he a worker for that crime lord you've spent a decade chasing?"

He nodded. "Yes. It's the first firm connection for years. But knowing it's probably him… that there isn't a maybe or a what if. I think I know what I'm up against."

"And do you think he's behind all of this? That he, or the bat, planted the stuff?"

"No," he said. "As you said yourself, all of these actions look retroactive to the fact that this crime was committed. Knowing him, knowing what he's done, knowing his style, he'd have already tried to talk to the father, he'd have already tried to scare off the big lawyers, he wouldn't need to go after that weasel. Yes, he's profiting off of it for some unknown reason, yes we will take him down, but he didn't start it."

Catano nodded, slowly. "But then who did? I chose to pursue the fox kit when I found out he had a secret box and was good with chemistry. Maisy and Duke both had previous connections to the howlers. No cigar there. So where did they come from? How did they get here?"

The two mice looked on and nodded, before one noticed the time. "We need to be off now," Basil said. "But with this, sometimes you do need to make a leap of faith. If there's no motive, take a leap on the means. If there's no means, take a leap on the motive. I'm terms of your argument with Judy, I will say you're right in one area. Trust yourself." He gave her a light pat on the shoulder, before off he and Dave went.

Catano looked on and closed her eyes, breathing in and out. "Who… Who…" she began, before one of her ears ticked up, a claw tapping a name. "And if it was you, how the cuss do I prove it?"

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Ash slowly walked down into the park, checking his phone as he did so. This was where he'd be meeting up with Maisy, Jenny moderating the discussion.

He felt… okay.

He still didn't like thinking about what had gone down yesterday night, and the news in the morning hadn't fully comforted him either. Yes, it seemed that with the DA being… crazy… he'd be out soon and his cousin would be coming home.

But he'd still be in trouble!

And from what he'd heard, getting the weasel back wasn't going to help. All that was going on was that those other mammals were now after them for some reason. Part of him just wished he could stand up tall, fight for what was right, and defeat the bad guy and it would all be good.

That…

That was how it was in comic books, right?

That all made sense.

But instead the world was mixed up, confused, strange. He didn't know what to do and how to help. There was nothing he could do, other be carried along with it all…

And then he paused, looking up and seeing two figures standing in front of him. Jenny and Maisy, the former trying to hold on to the latter but the sheep looking scared and worried. Back up straight, breath in, he marched up right to them, past Jenny as she began telling him to back off and be patient, and took Maisy in for a big hug. "I'm sorry."

…

The sheep sniffed. "No...no, you don't have anything to be sorry about…"

"Maisy," Jenny began, gripping her paw.

"I'm the one who should be sorry…

"No Maisy," the wombat began.

"Because all this time," she sniffed. "I've just been such a selfish mammal, I…"

"No," Jenny said, her voice hardening. "Please, stop all this nonsense."

"Let her get it out."

"Huh?"

"Let her get it out Jenny," Ash said, holding her hoof.

She breathed in and out. "I… I know how selfish you must think I am. All this time you've been dealing with all the speciesism with Kris, and all the stuff bouncing onto you and… even before that, all your life, nothing but constant speciesism by society and everything else," she sniffed. "I know… or I try to know, just how terrible a place the world is for foxes like you. For preds like you. And how lucky I am to be born a sheep, a mammal that benefits from all of this! And to then go crying and making out like I've got problems, it's just so selfish I… It's mammals like me who are part of the problem all along."

Jenny frowned. "No Maisy, you're..."

"-YES I AM," the sheep sobbed. "I have it so much easier and so much safer than you Ash, and I've had that since the day I was born. I can't change that…"

"So it's not your fault," Ash pressed, grabbing her hooves and looking up into her. "If you were born with it, it's not your fault. That's… isn't that rule one of not being a jerk?"

"I… It's not my fault that I was born a sheep, but it is if I keep endorsing what it means," Maisy began to explain, fumbling with her hooves a little as she tried to figure out what she was trying to say. "If I just pretend it doesn't exist, that's endorsing it! That's just standing by while I let an evil go on, and I can't do that! That's how evil wins! It means I'm evil too! So I have… I have to try and reject it. I have to be antispeciesist, as just not seeing species isn't good enough anymore. It's letting the evil go on, which means you're just as bad as they are. But… But…" She choked back, her eyes closing, hooves coming up to cover them. "But there are some things I can't give up," she said, her voice cracking. "That I can't, which means I can't be a good mammal! I know what I have to do, but I can't…"

"Maisy," Jenny began, sniffing as she brought her friend into a hug. "The fact that you're so worried about this, thinking so much about it, trying so hard… That alone means you're a really good mammal! One of the best even!"

"And you're doing it so much it's hurting you," Ash continued, looking down. "I… I know what it's like! My cousin was taken and I was trying to do something, anything, and I thought, with you… I just wanted to help my cousin, do something, because by doing nothing you just feel like you're useless… That you're not important, and nobody cares about you." He looked down, fumbling the ground with his foot paw. "And it hurt me, seeing how I was hurting you. But I carried on, because I thought it would be worth it, to try and help Kris. But I was wrong. I was wrong, and I'm sorry…"

"But… but your cousin," Maisy continued. "That's nothing compared to a little bit of hurt on me."

"But it was still wrong," he carried on. "And you hurting yourself like this? It wouldn't have stopped whoever did this. It wouldn't have stopped that hippo. It wouldn't have stopped those jerks who got together and sung 'throw the fox down the well' at us." He threw out his arms. "The only thing it's doing is hurting me, seeing you like this."

She closed her eyes and looked away. "But… But it might change some mammals. What if it does change my parents! What if I convince them… I can't give them up, I still love them too much, but if they stop thinking the kind of terrible things they think… That predators tend to think they're better than prey, and predators are more popular, and prey should flock together for safety… I… I'm too selfish to cut contact with them, I can't even distance myself, but if I can convince them to be good sheep…"

"They won't go around singing 'throw the fox down the well'?"

"No… I mean, they'd never do anything like that anyway. But it's their attitude and beliefs that then enable the ones who do it to do it!"

Jenny shook her head. "Maisy, we all know jerks are gonna jerk."

"But it might stop a few of them…"

"Has all this started moving your parents?" Ash asked.

Maisy glanced away, cradling her horns in her hooves. "No, it's only making them dig in more!"

"So it's not working," Jenny said. "So please, stop hurting yourself…"

"But I've got to do something!" the ewe yelled. "To show I'm good, and not bad."

"But we know you're good," Ash said.

Jenny nodded. "Maisy? Is this about being able to feel you're not a bad person? Or about making sure others don't think that?"

"I… Both? They're probably the same anyways..."

"They're not," Ash said, looking down. "I wanted to make people believe I was something too. Maybe not good but, something, anything…" He began to shiver, and slowly looked down at the sweatbands over his wrists, giving them a soft feel. "And it can destroy you." He breathed in and out and looked up. "I know you want to be good. I want to be good too. I want to be a hero. I think we all do. People like heroes. With heroes, life is simple, good beats bad and everyone is happy, no mess or anything. It's why I don't think anyone cares if that banker wolf was going around, taking down murderers and other evil mammals." He stepped forward and held her hooves. "But life is messy. And I know it's scary. But we're gonna get through it. You know how? By looking after and listening to and caring for our friends. Especially when it get annoying. Try bringing kindness into this world, rather than beating yourself up about it."

Maisy looked on, silent for a few seconds, before finally breathing in and out. "T-thankyou Ash, I…" She sniffed. "I'm not sure, but… Can I just have some time alone? To think it through."

"You sure you're going to be okay?" Jenny asked.

"Yeah. I think."

The wombat nodded. "We'll just keep an eye on you, just in case," she said, as she led Ash off.

A minute or so later, they found themselves in a secluded area, up against a tree. Ash sat down, only to feel a paw on his own. He looked over to see Jenny, smiling. "Thanks Ash," she said, leaning forward and hugging him. He smiled back.

"Just trying to be a good friend, who doesn't want her talking about herself like that."

"Just being a good friend," she said, pausing as she felt a shadow cast over them. She paused, looking up, to see a trio of mammals standing over them. A coyote, a badger and a muskrat. The wombat looked up. "Hello?"

The coyote stepped forward, looking down at Ash, her head tilting slightly. "Was that sheep causing any problems?"

"No," he said. "We were trying to help her."

"Are you sure," the coyote pressed, Jenny's eyes narrowing.

"We're all friends here," the marsupial said. "All getting along and…"

"Keep out of this," the badger cut in. "This is a discussion between preds, we don't need prey butting in on it."

Jenny blinked, frowning. "Okay, first off, I don't care for any of that pred-prey crap, I'm…"

"Species blind? Don't see species?" the muskrat interrupted.

"Well, I was gonna say I was a marzie, but that counts too."

The coyote stepped forward, cutting between Ash and Jenny protectively. "Listen prey…"

"-Marzie."

"-Saying you don't see species is not good enough anymore, in fact it means you're speciesist."

Ash blinked. "She's not…" Only for Jenny to speak for herself.

"Hey! Don't call me that. You're the speciesist."

The coyote began to growl. "Says the one claiming 'reverse speciesism', which is just a way for prey like you…"

"-Marzie!"

"You eat leaves, don't you," the badger shouted, only for the coyote to wave him off with a paw.

"Pause for a moment. Listen," she said, breathing out.

"Could you listen to me?" Ash asked, stepping forward in front of her.

She huffed. "In a moment," she said, looking up to Jenny again. "Preds like us shouldn't have to deal with this constant fragility from you lot. On top of always having to deal with the stress and discrimination you subject us to, why the cuss should it be on us to always have to explain the truth? Why is it our responsibility to do it? Why do we have to deal with you claiming that you're the victims here and refusing to even engage…"

"Well, you did just call her a speciesist," Ash said. "Can't she defend herself?"

Looking down, the coyote gave him a pitiful look. "I'm guessing you've been stuck around her a lot, being educated by prey and sheep ideology. We shouldn't have to explain it to her, given that her expecting us to is just low level speciesism, but I'm happy to educate you."

"Okay," he said, not sounding sure.

"When she said she was species blind, that she doesn't see species, do you know what she actually meant? She meant that in this world, which was shaped by prey, built by prey, is culturally and politically centred around prey, that she is happy to just ignore all the ongoing anti-pred injustices in this world. I mean, you're a fox, right? You saw what everyone did to that poor fox over the howlers? The second they had a chance, they jumped on all the old narratives and lies built into our culture about your species, and leapt on it. They dug in. Institutional speciesism…"

"Yeah, but lots of people came up to defend him," he said.

"Exactly," the muskrat came in. "Preds fighting for our rights, and prey like me who know this is a moral matter and that the only thing to do is to prove you're antispeciesist. Her saying she doesn't see species means she's happy sticking out of the fight, she's happy with prey supremacy and prey like her…"

"-Marzie!"

"-Staying in power, staying in control, she's happy with speciesism carrying on, so she is therefor speciesist."

"There is no centre ground," the badger added. "You're either fighting for pred rights, or siding with prey, sheep, ideology against us."

"Well, we're just trying to be good mammals," Ash said, breathing in and out. "And we do support that fox, more than you could ever know. But being good… it's difficult. I wish there was a good side that's one species or group and a bad side that's another, and you knew which to chose. But there isn't. Life isn't a comic... Which is dumb, but it's the way it is, and…"

"It's the way they want you to think it is," the badger said, giving a glance over at Maisy, the sheep looking over at them from a distance. "After all, they don't educate you on how they really treat us, how their speciesism seeps into and corrupts everyone and everything…"

"So, we're all mammals," Jenny cut in, not sounding happy. "If you'd have opened up with that then maybe we'd have got on better."

"Oh, both sides-ing now, huh?" the muskrat asked. "That's just you trying to erase your prey…"

"-Marzie."

"-Privilege, given that it gives you power. And us trying to equal things out tastes like discrimination to you. The fact remains you've picked up speciesism and sheep ideology from the second you were born a prey in this world…"

"-Marzie."

"-and all you've done to your friend here is helped the media in making him internalise it."

"I know what I know," Ash said, "and…"

"No, you don't," the muskrat cut in. "Have you ever wondered why pred food is more expensive? Have you ever wondered why the media labels preds as being more aggressive, more dangerous? Do you ever wonder why they created this social construct of pred and prey in the first place? Heck, you're a fox, why do you think that your kind is hit with so many cruel labels. I mean haven't you been bullied through any of this…"

"It's just jerks who…"

"Are part of a system," the coyote pressed. "Everything is part of the system, everything can be linked to and has been twisted by or helps to aid prey supremacy and pred discrimination. I mean, didn't you hear the recording of the DA. He says that the whole point of civilization was to stop 'predation.' There, since the dawn of time, society has been built to keep us down. To control us. Why should we pay it any concern? Our duty is to make the world a fair place, where beautiful pred mammals can prosper, and if that means taking everything apart and rebuilding it to be antispeciesist, then that's what we'll do! Why wouldn't any good mammal?"

"Yeah," the Muskrat said. "We can remove sheep ideology from it, root and stem. Redistribute all the wealth from the olibaarchs, kicking out all those Ayn Ram sycophants and screw those sheep by making everyone equal."

"Yeah," the badger added eagerly. "When those prey scientists try to lecture us about the 'sustainability of our food' and shame us by saying it uses much more space and that's why it has to be more expensive, then we can get rid of them and produce our own antispeciesist pred science."

"Oh, so now science is speciesist," Maisy grunted.

"I thought science is science," Ash agreed.

The coyote looked down and held him. "That's what they want you to think. But everything is speciesist and everything can be tracked down to how it was used to put down us preds. Their so called species blind science was done by mammals under, and used to promote, sheep ideology. It resulted in skunks having their scent glands be taken out, meant that when a disease was wiping out Tasmanian devils they let it happen, using it as an excuse to villainize their customs instead. Their science created nighthowler and is used to shame interspecies couples, especially pred prey ones, by claiming it's just our old hunting instinct."

"That's…" Ash began.

"Everything you've been told is all part of their narrative," she said, glancing up at Jenny. "She'll probably go on about history and 'bad stuff preds did to prey in the past', but that's just her trying to distract from the big issue right now, as she loses from us trying to fix it. That and us preds were usually forced and tricked to do it from the crushing pressure of sheep ideology. You don't have to be a sheep to uphold it or be an agent of it, after all. So liberate yourself, unlearn it. Unlearn everything. I mean heck, you're a fox, right? You know how much of a sham that fox officer was, don't you?"

Ash blinked. "Nick Wilde?"

"Yeah," she said, distastefully. "We all know that was a way to rehabilitate that speciesist bunny of theirs, wasn't it? And they just had to stick it in there and let the rumours circulate that he had a 'less than savoury past.' They want all the prey to think that they'd saved him, that they'd uplifted him from what foxes 'really are'. He was their nice and tame pet now, joining the ZPD, an entity solely designed to keep preds down, keep them in line, to make prey think they need protecting from us. They're not gonna let him do anything or bring in any more foxes, we all know that, right? And heck, that bunny's speech was filled with covert speciesism too. 'We're all flawed', 'Life is messy', 'All sides have a point', 'Try'." She snorted. "Try prey, try everything and run around, smashing preds down like you always do because of your privilege. It was all written by someone who doesn't understand that they have privilege, that can't accept that their victims have only ever been victims, and is just there to pacify and make the next generation complacent. The only thing worse than that heaping pile of sheep ideology out of that bunny's mouth was how many mammals who claimed they were anti-speciesist just went and cheered it on."

…

"No," Ash said, breathing in and out. "I know Nick Wilde, I know Judy Hopps, I know the anonymous vulpine, and…"

"Oh," the coyote hissed. "I see. You're just an Uncle Tom Cat."

"Was that an insult?" he asked. "I don't like insults, I don't like bullies…"

"That's what you're calling us, huh," the badger accused, pointing at Jenny. "So you can be one of their good ones?"

Spiking the ire of the wombat. "He isn't anyone's 'good one', he's..."

"-Not your discussion, prey," the badger yelled.

"Marzie…" Jenny cut in, followed by Ash.

"It wasn't yours either," he said, standing tall against them. "But you listened in, and you came up to us…"

"Because this is speciesism we're talking about," the coyote yelled, getting in his face. "Our children will have to live with this, and their children, unless we stop it! It's the most important issue of our time. It's the most important issue ever. It should be put in everywhere to make people know, and if they complain well then they're one of the bad ones and they deserve it. You're a fox, why the cuss aren't you on our side!?"

"Because…" he began, only for the badger to cut him off.

"You said it yourself Marla, he's just an Uncle Tom Cat."

The coyote nodded and spat at his foot. "Yeah, and I'm pretty tired of all your sheep-apologist stuff."

"You really think Bellwether-Senpai will like you for it," the muskrat jeered.

Jenny snapped. "Get lost! Stop being jerks!"

"We're not being jerks you prey enabler," the coyote lectured. "We're combating your sheepiness."

"Sheepiness!?"

"Yeah," the muskrat said. "It isn't just sheep who act like sheep. I mean look at you! You're sure acting like them though, probably following that one's orders. Acting like if you actually followed along you'd be accepted by the flock. Or just happy to play second fiddle if it meant taunting others weaker than them." He scoffed. "What sad and disgusting mammals. All sucking up into sheep ideology, trying to be model mammals for their woolly betters. Not knowing that they'll be turned on, their time will come."

"What even is 'sheepiness'?" Jenny yelled. "What the cuss is 'sheep ideology?'"

"Look in a mirror," the badger said, his companions breaking into a chuckle.

"You think you can join big groups and not be responsible for all they do," the muskrat pressed. "You think you can defend what your 'friends' think. You go along with everything, you try and distract your critics by pretending to get lost in a big herd, washing your hooves of the suffering you cause innocent preds. You believe a passive majority has the right to dictate everything, and prioritise non-confrontation, unified thinking and passivity. You might allow one or two preds to be around you, but it's all for show. Same for people who aren't straight, or the same religion, just lighter echoes of the same thing. You like eating grass and greens, extra plain and mild, and think flinching away from mammals with sharp teeth is acceptable. You valorise big family groups, subservient females who stay at home and bland homogeneity, choking out anyone who is different, scapegoating single parents and non-tradition families. You act big and in the right, and when mammals confront you about what a terrible person you are, you get all defensive about it."

"Why wouldn't I be?" Jenny asked, thumping her foot hard on the ground. "Maybe you should listen to yourselves, you mega jerks!".

"See, there!" the coyote said. "Fragility. All defensive, just like a suck up sheepy prey would be."

"I'm a marzie! And…"

"Distracting your critics by pretending to get lost in a big herd," the badger said. "Marzie this and marzie that. The fact you're a marsupial is irrelevant against the fact that you're prey."

"Yeah, and even if you were a marsupial…" the muskrat began.

"I literally am," Jenny yelled, pulling up her shirt and opening her pouch for them to see. "So take that thing about our girls being subservient and stick it up your belly birth scar."

The muskrat threw an accusing finger at her. "You're still ignoring the terrible things that prey marsupials did to their pred marsupials. Heck, you're not less guilty, you're way more guilty!"

"Yeah," the coyote yelled.

"Right on!" added the badger.

Jenny just stood there, blinking. "What… What!? When? When did us marzies, who figured out this pred and prey thing waaayyy before you lot, do something bad!?"

There was a long pause, the three other mammals pausing to look at each other, before the muskrat snapped his fingers. "What are the big marsupial preds?" he asked.

"The tazzies," she explained. "Tazzie tigers and tazzie devils, then there's…"

"Yeah, exactly!" he said.

Both his two companions, and Jenny and Ash, seemed lost for a second. "What exactly?" she eventually asked.

"Tasmanian, huh? A giant continent, but they mostly live down on this tiny little island at the bottom. Now why is that?"

He crossed his paws as his two companions leant on. "Yeah! Why's that?"

"Genocider," the other claimed.

Jenny looked between the two in surprise and shock for a second, before she yelled out. "Because on the mainland they were driven back into the rainforests and way into the outback when the dingoes arrived three millenia ago! The dingoes were kept out of Tasmania, so they picked up that name as that was where most of them were! Then when the plassies from Europe came, the dingoes were hit with distemper plagues and the tazzies started moving back up! See, us marzies had it all sorted, then in came you plassies. Just like here, everything going on nicely then you come in and mess it all up!"

She stood, panting in and out as she glowered at the three.

The coyote spat at the ground. "Typical sheep like response. Blame the preds. Blame the dingoes."

"It's what literally happened."

"No, it's your sheepdipped version of history," the muskrat butted in. "Cleaning out the crimes and anti-pred systems your lot put in place, that genocided predators off an entire continent, and still exist in legacy forms today. Or are you going to deny that Devil Facial disease, and the apathetic victim blaming response, happened too?"

"Of course I know about DFTD, and…"

"-And they'll probably all say the prey realised they were wrong and speciesism was ended and it was happily ever after, the end," the muskrat carried on, pointing his finger at her. "Because the history you've been taught is shaped by sheep ideology, for your viewing pleasure it's cleaned of the crimes by prey against preds, both here and in Australia."

"Listen," she frowned." you don't think I know my own…"

"No, you don't," he spoke. "and from the sound of it you want to make sure others like you don't learn it either. So grow up. Preds are forced to experience speciesism every day. I'm happy for rodents like myself to learn about speciesism, so you can grow up and let prey like you learn about it too."

She blinked, frowning. "But we do know about it. We do know that dingoes…"

"There you go again!"

"How can someone miss the point so much," the badger whined.

"Because she's a bad mammal who believes in sheep ideology," the coyote said. "Just listen to her. Scapegoating. Refusing to acknowledge her prey complicity…"

"I'm a MARZIE!"

"You are nothing but a speciesist prey!" she yelled back, "fleeing from conflict, conflating the issue, scapegoating preds, refusing to accept your own privilege and complicity."

"LEAVE HER!" They turned to see Ash, standing in front of her once more. "She is my friend, you are not. Leave us alone."

"You're even worse," the coyote said, jabbing Ash in the chest. "You are not a real pred. Real preds agree with us. Fight with us. Yet you side with mammals who hate you? You don't fight for our liberation? You're scum, you hear me, scum! My children will have to live with this when you grow up, because of mammals like you two. Tell me, what do they do, huh? What do those prey and sheep offer that means you side with them? That you don't want to make things right."

"When will things be right?"

"When it is," she said, paws crossed. "And the only way to get there is to get equity, and the only way to get that is to make sure the sheep know their sins and who and what they are, and never forget it."

…

"So you'd never accept us?"

The three paused, turning around to see Maisy, standing there.

"We'd… we'd never be good enough for you right?" she carried on, her voice quiet and a distant expression etched on her face. "You say it's about equality, but you just enjoy bullying them like those speciesists did… You just want to be on top, and get to put us below…"

"Oh look, a both sides are the samer," the muskrat jeered.

"Fragile widdle sheep," the coyote mocked, walking up to her and burrowing her paw into Maisy's wool. "Don't like that, don't like that huh?"

The muskrat and badger joined in. "We're not supposed to do this, right?"

"Stop it," Jenny yelled, only for the coyote to dive in, teeth bared, snarling. The wombat shrieked, flinching back into Ash, the larger canine growling.

"Speciesism right there," she said, turning to Maisy, pulling her paw out her wool. "You're anti-speciesist? Join us!" she yelled, fist up, closing in on her face.

Maisy flinched but held.

"Join us!" she did again, the other two joining in.

"Join us!"

"End speciesism!"

"Stop Pred suffering!"

"Join us!"

"Call out sheepness!"

On they went, crowding around Maisy, the sheep at first flinching but slowly standing up tall, defiant.

Their cheering faded, the coyote growling, before finally grabbing Maisy and tossing her out, over to Ash and Jenny. "There. Have fun with you slaves, wool head."

And with that, off they went, complaining about how the group they were leaving were probably going to talk about how both sides were bad and gloat at being enlightened centrists, all while ignoring the true reality of the world.

The three left behind were quiet for a bit, before slowly holding each other's hands and hooves. "Maisy?" Jenny asked, sniffing. "You okay?"

She closed her eyes and shook her head. "I just wanted to be a good mammal," she sniffed. "I thought they were the good mammals, but…"

"No, they're jerks," Jenny said.

…

"I know," Maisy sniffed. "But if not them, how should… how should I be good?"

And to that, Ash had an answer. "You just were."

They held themselves in silence for a second or two, before a new voice called in. "Yeah, she was…" it said, almost melancholic.

"Mind if I join in?"

They turned, spotting a small brown mammal, standing nearby. "Duke?" Ash asked.

"Wet… -You," he said, before pausing as he saw Maisy. "Okay, yeah, think I get that now."

"Get what?" Jenny asked.

"Nevermind," he said, walking in and sitting down.

Ash slowly sat down next to him. "What are you doing here?"

"I was walking, thinking," he said, giving a shrug. "Maybe for the first time in my life."

The others slowly sat down next to him. "What about?" Jenny asked.

"He and his friends," the weasel mumbled. "Thought I was a jerk who planted those howlers for laughs I…" he took a breath in and out. "I know I'm a jerk, right? I know… I know mammals think that about me, always have, why should I do anything different, yadda yadda… And then… And then I find out what they think I actually did! And… And I…" He closed his eyes, head in paws. "Part of me hates me for bein' such a jerk that mammals thought I would even… 'nother part hates them for thinking that. But… On the way back, there were two mammals. Two mammals who cheered me on, and cared for me, and treated me… treated me like I was a regular joe. They treated me… nice. And fox boy here is right." He pointed at Ash while looking at Maisy. "That is how you do it. And how do I do it? How do I be nice, or…" He took a breath in and out, before turning to Ash. "I didn't do it. But after those two mammals, I want to help! And I been thinking. I don't know how to prove it, that's probably where you and your friends come in, but I think I know who did it."