My headcanon:
The Bodiless Fox was created as a pet by a rare pre-Unification deep cooperation between Unicorn nobles and Earth Pony biomage contractors. They can not survive in the wild, because, among other reasons, even a minor cold can easily suffocate them on their own mucus since their nasal passages also function as their lungs. They also hop very slowly, and expend a lot of calories per distance moved.
The concept of letting the species die out has been raised more than once throughout the centuries, but the pet-ownership side of the debate has always won out. In the modern era ownership requires a special liscense, ensuring their specialized needs are met. Usually the testing and inspections are rigorous, but the clerk knew about Fluttershy’s accomplishments with animals, and simply filled out the license and hoofed it to her without saying a word. This confused and flustered Fluttershy, but she managed to recover after only a few minutes of “Umm…“ing and hesitant questions.
The Bodiless Fox was created as a pet by a rare pre-Unification deep cooperation between Unicorn nobles and Earth Pony biomage contractors. They can not survive in the wild, because, among other reasons, even a minor cold can easily suffocate them on their own mucus since their nasal passages also function as their lungs. They also hop very slowly, and expend a lot of calories per distance moved.
Edited