Fairy Tale: The Ugly Duckling

Rated: K

Cast: Chopper, Luffy and Nami

A/N: You know, Chopper's past sounds like another version of the Ugly Duckling. I'm surprised I didn't realize that sooner.


Once Upon a Time…

In a herd of deer that grazed on the sparsely grown grass on drum island, a new generation of deer were born. Each newborn was born normal and healthy. Their mothers cleaned them and watched as the babies took their first wobbly steps.

One of the deer, a small male, grazed from a peculiar tree. He plucked a fruit from the tree and took small bites from it. But the fruit tasted horrible, so the deer left it in search of some new food.

But before long, the deer fell to his side and thumped in the snow. He breathed heavily and kicked his hoofs in an uncontrollable spasm. His mother licked her fawn in attempt to console him. But after a few minutes, the little guy stopped kicking and took shallow breaths.

The mother, worried about being left behind by the herd, gave one last cry and walked away from her helpless baby.

A day passed and the little male's eyes blinked slowly open. Memory suddenly washed into his brain, and he tried to stand up. He wobbled a bit and fell back down. He cried out for his mother. "Are you there? Momma, help me!" the little deer gasped to hear this strange new language.

He looked down at himself, his legs were shorter, his head much bigger. He tried to stand again, on two legs, and fell back down.

He lay there, scared, and vulnerable. Tears filled his eyes.

In the distance, a different herd grazed. One mother had three babies, and she had to keep eating to make sure she could feed them. When she heard the poor little deer's cries, she walked toward the source curiously.

"Momma?" Chopper called excitedly.

Did I have a fourth baby? He looks so strange… The deer said.

"No, I'm your son, please help me," He begged.

The mother deer nudged Chopper with her nose to try and get him to stand on all fours.

Chopper tried to stand on two legs, but fell forward and shifted to walk point. This spooked the mother but she still led Chopper back with the herd.

The other deer in the herd watched him wearily. Chopper tried to remain unnoticed, but it backfired. He was mocked, teased, and was often beaten by the dominant male of the herd. All the mother could do was try to console Chopper.

One day Chopper was minding his own business when the dominant attacked him again.

Chopper was hit by the male's giant rack of antlers, and was launched twenty feet backward.

"What have I done this time?" Chopper asked angrily, wiping blood off his mouth.

You need to get out, no one wants you here, He said.

Chopper gave up. Clearly he was not wanted among his herd. Maybe he wasn't a deer at all. Maybe he belonged with someone else.

Chopper backed away from the herd. No one would miss him.

He walked through the snow covered forests. He asked several different herds of deer if he could belong with them. Every time he asked, however, they would deny him, and even chase him away, calling after him "freak! Freak!"

One day, Chopper came across a small town. It was filled with strange upright creatures. Chopper shifted into heavy point in hopes that he could be among these people, but when he approached one, the person screamed and shot at him. Chopper wailed in pain and grabbed his wounded his left arm. He ran away from the people who came after him. "Get him! Kill the freak!"

Chopper felt all alone in the world. No one loved him. Everyone wanted to hurt him.

Until that one day.

"Look at that guy, he looks like a monster!" a boy with a straw-hat exclaimed.

"I'm not a monster! I'm a reindeer!" Chopper yelled back to him, expecting him to scream and run away.

To Chopper's amazement, it seemed like the straw-hat kid only got more excited about him.

"Luffy, let's just go, this guy looks like a freak show," Nami tried to pull her captain along.

Chopper sniffled. Luffy shrugged Nami's hand off his shoulder and approached Chopper, "No, he's going to come with us."

"What?" Nami and Chopper both squeaked.

Luffy grinned and gave the surprised reindeer a bear hug. "He's so cool! I love him, let's keep him!"

Chopper didn't know what to say.

Nami sighed," Oh alright, but he better be house broken,"

"I'm not a pet!" Chopper protested.

"Of course not, you're an awesome talking reindeer!" Luffy gripped the deer harder.

"Praising me doesn't make me happy at all!" Chopper managed to choke out.

The End.


A/N: I kept Dr. Hililuk out of the story on purpose because I would eventually sound like I'm just rewritting Chopper's past... Thanks for reading!