The Rehabilitation of Dawn Bellwether
is a Zootopia fanfic written by WastedTimeEE. Taking place four years after the events of the movie, the story focuses on the newly-paroled Dawn Bellwether as she tries to re-integrate herself back into Zootopian society while struggling to atone for her prior misdeeds during the Night Howler scandal during the events of the film. Though the majority of Zootopia isn't willing to give her a second chance, Dawn finds support in some animals like her parole officer, Don Polaraski, and her new co-worker and long-lost childhood friend Vernon Hunter. Unfortunately for Dawn, her criminal past comes back to haunt her as she finds herself involved in a new conspiracy that makes the Night Howler scandal seem like child's play, forcing her to confront her past and prior transgressions while trying to prove to the world she is a changed sheep.
The fic is arguably Darker and Edgier compared to the film, largely due in part to divulging in Dawn's past that led to her becoming what she was by the time the film took place, the psychological and emotional damage Dawn is coping with throughout the film, and the villains of the story proving to be far more monstrous than Dawn was in the movie.
It can be read on Fanfiction here or on A03 here
A "semi-sequel", A Lamb Among Wolves has been written that takes place sometime before the events of the story's epilogue that involves Dawn meeting Vernon's family, which can be read either here or here
The Rehabilitation of Dawn Bellwether contains examples of:
- Abusive Parents: Dawn's father, Aster Bellwether, is described throughout as having been an abusive alcoholic who had absurdly high expectations of Dawn, constantly pushing her to get top grades in school and forbidding her from fraternizing with predators under pain of severe punishment. And this is before he's revealed to be a mass-murdering lunatic willing to flood Zootopia with Night Howler gas to instigate a citywide massacre as part of a long-term plan to turn it into an all-sheep city.
- Affectionate Nickname: Vernon and Dawn affectionately call each other "Puppy" and "Floofy".
- Adaptation Expansion: Since Dawn's backstory was not touched upon in the movie, the story provides a more detailed explanation of how she ended up getting involved in the Night Howler scandal.
- Dawn's family is described as being one of the founding families of Zootopia, with Dawn herself being expected to carry on the family business after her father, Aster, was unable to cut it in the political scene like her grandfather. Aster himself was an abusive drunk who expected nothing less than perfection from Dawn and would beat her whenever she failed to meet his expectations, with his wife and Dawn's mother Clover being treated just as poorly.
- Beary Friendly: Donald "Don" Polaraski, a polar bear who works as Dawn's parole officer who is a kindhearted and open-minded individual who doesn't take Dawn's prior transgressions against predators personally and is all too determined to help Dawn re-integrate back into society once she's paroled. It's his kindness that makes his death at the hands of Aster and his fellow conspirators all the more tragic.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Dawn's miserable childhood is chiefly due to her abusive drunkard of a father, Aster Bellwether, who sought to groom her into becoming Mayor of Zootopia after he himself couldn't cut it in politics.
