01

first prom & then

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Thousands of years ago, the world was divided in two — predator and prey — then, overtime, society evolved and moved beyond such primitive ways of thinking and living.

And while this harmony can probably be said of countless mammals across the Tri-Burrows, little is known to the feelings and views of those with great standing in the proud city of Zootopia...especially the students of the prestigious Zootopia Academy. . .who regard it merely as some rite of passage. Zootopia students (at least those who consider themselves as some mammal who matter) don't go associating themselves with charity cases of the prey family. No, they can only rub and shake paws with future members of the high Zootopian society.

Which was why the majority of the predator students have become fixated on who gets accepted to their beloved school and, even more so, who stays. To attend Zootopia Academy, and to not know one's place, would be a terrible mistake and (not to mention) a scandal from which any young mammal would never be able to recover.

Imagine the chaos that erupted a few years ago, when a Mammal Inclusion Initiative Scholarship recipient not only snagged the most sought-after Oxcars for Best Original Song but showed up in a dress from Mousy's (the horror!) and even caught the eye of the New Yak Times reporter, who ended up putting her, and her music journey, on the cover of the Pop-Star sensation volume. To that point, most students tolerated at least two or three preys in each class — until they decided it was too much.

Only a few months after that last straw, the hazing began. Most of the mammal scholars couldn't even last more than a year. The program only continued because some members of the board of trustees were adamant about diversifying the student body (by that, they meant having prey students from all across the country) and boosting the academic record as well as extracurricular programs of the school. And given their circumstance, as well as the opportunities presented to them — mostly education wise — the handful of scholarship recipients try their best to put up with said unpleasant behaviors. After all, everything in this world has a price. . .especially to pay for the best teachers, resources, and connections in Zootopia. And that price — condescension taunts, pranks — got old pretty quickly.

It was anything but easy. In fact, it took the newest mammal scholar from Bunny Burrows only three days before she broke down in tears. Fortunately, she was alone in her room, and nobody saw her bawl her eyes to sleep. But it did happen...and Judy should know. Because that was her room, as well as her tears. She was but a meek prey of a scholar with a giant target on her back.

And she has to do 'everything' that's possible to avoid getting hit not only in the back, but more so in the heart.

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All major or minor characters and settings (even brand names) are owned and trademarked by Disney, and I do not claim ownership over them and the world of Zootopia (aside, of course, from my original characters and some fictional places that I added) - though I would like to thank Byron Howard and Richard Moore for giving us these anthropomorphic mammals that we love to hate (oh you bet I would include Jack and Skye) or hate to love (sorry not sorry for being a Nick and Judy shipper) because without them, this retelling would not have existed.

I also would like to give credits to Wolf Ya over at "home-gamer-com-tw" for the lovely artwork that I set as the cover image of this story. Please like and support their page (and do check out their other works - especially the GIF version of the photo I used).

On that note, please understand this is a reupload from my other platforms (not to mention that this site keeps declaring my story as unavailable or not found) and that all your previous comments, favorites, or follows were highly appreciated - I really just need to (unfortunately) publish the entire thing again.