The Bravest Souls are Those With the Most to Fear (A Them's Fightin' Herds Crossover)

by Piquo Pie

Rating: everyone
Tags: Other, Princess Luna, Adventure, Princess Celestia, Crossover, Main 6, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe
Length: 5822

The great creator of the two sister worlds could never have predicted that the heroes of the first world, Equestria, would help the heroes of the second world, Fœnum seal the prison that held predators that hadn’t been seen in a thousand years.

The prison on Fœnum is weakening and evil predators are once again on the hunt with more being sure to come as the barrier continues to weaken. The call has gone out to request the peaceful herbivore races of Fœnum to send champions to find the key, and reseal the prison.
But Fœnum has a sister world, Equestria. Equestria has chosen to intercede on behalf of their sister planet, and have sent six of their most accomplished champions to help six of the heroes of Fœnum.

This is an MLP crossover with Them’s Fighting Herds, Spiritual successor to Fighting is Magic. Lauren Faust, creator of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, lept to the rescue of Mane6, the production group, after a cease and desist order from Hasbro several years ago. Both worlds are designed by Lauren Faust and I acknowledge all characters, plot, and world from these Intellectual Properties as products of their respective owners.
Currently Them’s Fightin' Herds is on Indiegogo and is almost fully funded with a few days left. It has already been greenlit on Steam. Find out more at the following link and support them if you like what you see.
http://igg.me/at/ThemsFightinHerds/x/6170176

For those interested, I threw this cover art together and I don't like it. If someone ever feels inspired let me know or surprise me.
Edits by Asylum 1388

Published 2015-10-17 21:30:02 UTC
Last updated 2015-10-17 21:30:02 UTC

An awkward Hello

Early morning was Fluttershy’s favorite time of day, provided she had not had any nightmares, and this day started like many others. She felt her hoof slide to the form of Angel curled up next to her and she felt herself stroke the bunny’s fur. Though, to Fluttershy the fur seemed to be longer and more coarse than normal and Fluttershy vaguely thought about giving angel Bunny a bath while also wishing that she could wipe hew sleepiness away.

Then a soggy tongue slid across Fluttershy’s fur and she knew that something was very, very, wrong because bunnies did not have long slick tongues and Angel Bunny never gave her kisses. She tried to turn to look at the animal that had crawled into her bed but couldn’t. Instead of moving she heard a soft giggle emanate from herself and it did not feel quite right. She quickly came to the realization that she couldn’t move of her own volition. She couldn’t even open her eyes.

Fluttershy felt herself panicking, her mind racing, but she also felt her heart rate remain calm, serene even. It was as if her own body was betraying her, mocking her panic. Her head turned on it’s own and Fluttershy felt far too much fur moving much more than was normal. It was then that her eyes opened to reveal a small puppy with the cutest little button ears crawling on its belly toward her along a bed that was not hers. That was when Fluttershy realized that she was not home as the room was obviously not hers. It was much smaller with a curtain over the window to block the morning light.

Fluttershy tried to scream for help but there was no sound. She heard her scream echoed a second latter, coming from the odd mouth that she now possessed. Immediately the dog jumped to it’s paws and turned, scanning for threats to it’s master, only to turn back around as Fluttershy watched a pink woolen leg throw the bed’s quilt over her head and her body rolled into a quivering ball.

It was then that Fluttershy remembered. She remembered all four of the princesses summoning all six of the elements of harmony. There was a meeting concerning the somber news of a world about to end because evil was escaping the planet’s version of Tartarus, a prison so powerful it could hold dark gods. But Princess Twilight Sparkle had had a plan. As far as plans went it was good, good enough that even Fluttershy was excited and hopeful about saving their sister world, Fœnum.

All six of the elements, including Twilight, had voluntarily attached themselves to Princess Luna’s dream magic. Princess Luna, the Moon Alicorn, worked with the other Princesses. Twilight, Alicorn of Friendship and Element of Harmony, enhanced the spell with understanding, magical power, and focus. Princess Cadance, Alicorn of Love, had enhanced the spell to connect them with those who were most compatible. Lastly, Princess Celestia, Alicorn of the Sun, had woven her magic with Princess Luna’s to help connect the two worlds with the ancient knowledge that was split between her and her sister, Princess Luna.

The spell was beyond anything that Fluttershy could describe, full of light and warmth. Then Fluttershy had awoken in this body. She should have remembered all of this as soon as she had woken. At least, that was what was suppose to have happened. But waking up had just seemed so familiar to her. She was comfortable, relaxed, rested, and as content as she only ever felt when she woke from her dreams of baby bunnies and birdies in her own bed. Even the smell of this room reminded her of her own bedroom in the little cottage she ownd just outside of the town of Ponyville. She even remembered her dream, playing with a puppy that, now that Fluttershy thought about it, must have been the puppy sleeping next to her.

For Celestia’s sake, Fluttershy had even thought the puppy was Angel Bunny. They were almost the same size. It even rested in the same spot that she often found Angel in when he slept with her. There was the petting, the leg stretched out to pet the puppy at the same time and in the same way that she would pet Angel in the morning. It was almost as if, well, it was almost as if she hadn’t been transferred into a random dreamer at all. To Fluttershy it felt more like she had been transferred into a near copy of herself.

Fluttershy was torn away from her memory and confusion as she heard the door burst open and an extremely large shudder encompass the form she now possessed. She heard the growls of dogs, the scrabbling of claws on wood, and then the sound of a deep proud voice quivering.

“Pom, Pom what is it?”

Fluttershy both felt and saw the pink woolen leg pull the covers down slightly. Only one eye peered over the sheets and Fluttershy saw a light red sheep of considerable girth standing in front of her, a concerned frown adorning his face. At least Fluttershy assumed it was a he. The lone eye sticking above the covers turned on it’s own accord and Fluttershy saw two medium sized sheep dogs sniffing around the room before one went up and snipped at the puppy.

“Daddy?” Fluttershy heard the voice from her own mouth. “I heard screaming. Didn’t you hear it, Daddy? It was so loud. It sounded like it was coming from everywhere at the same time.”

The male sheep cocked it’s head in confusion for a moment before adopting a smile and sighing. “No, Pom, dearest. I didn’t hear anysheep scream except for you. Maybe you had a nightmare, yes? It seems like more of those are going around these days. Yes, that must be it. You know what they say, ‘when it comes to fear we all baa together.’”

Fluttershy wanted to speak out and reassure the poor dear that she had terrified, but she didn’t want to scare her more in front of her father. She didn’t know what would happen and wished that she was more like Rarity, her best friend, able to deftly react to any social situation. Not like herself, scared little Fluttershy who use to be so shy that she couldn’t talk to new ponies.

But that was long ago, that was before Fluttershy had united with five other friends to form the Elements of Harmony. That was before she and her friends had faced down and beaten evil alicorns, changeling hordes, full sized dragons, and more. Fluttershy knew that she was not the same impotently shy and useless pony that she had been when she became friends with Twilight Sparkle four years ago. ‘Or at least,’ thought Fluttershy, ‘not as shy and useless as I use to be.’

That thought almost prompted Fluttershy to speak, to take action. But she was looking directly at the adult sheep, and she felt the courage fail just enough that she decided to wait until he was gone. Yes, that would be enough for Fluttershy to speak up.

“Yes, Daddy. That must be it.”

‘What?’ thought Fluttershy. ‘But, she must have heard me for her to have yelled like that.’

“There’s my good little lamb,” said the father. He patted her gently on her head before ruffling her wool. “Now, we have a big day today. We have to go to the town square and vote on not sending a warrior on that fools quest.”

“Yes, Daddy.” Fluttershy felt the girl smile and it seemed genuine.

The father left the room along with the two dogs. To Fluttershy’s surprise, Pom reached over to confidently pet the puppy that was now sitting peacefully on the bed.

“There there,” said Pom. “It was just a nightmare, or something. I didn’t mean to startle you, Woof.”

The puppy licked the leg and bounced around excitedly as Pom rose from the bed. Fluttershy realized that the girl must have only been about two thirds the height of her father. Assuming that girls were not significantly smaller than males in sheep of this world then this would put her in her mid teens. Pom was not one to dawdle and Fluttershy felt it hard to concentrate with her limbs seemingly moving on their own and her body experiencing sensations that she did not intend to experience.

One of the first things Pom did was walk to a dog bowl under the single window in the small room. The girl reached over and picked up a bag of dog food that had been left next to the bowl. Fluttershy was astounded that the energetic young puppy, which was now bouncing wildly around Pom, had not tried to get into the food on his own at some point. But the bag proved to be half empty and, as far as Fluttershy could tell, was void of any signs of puppy intrusion.

Fluttershy was equally astounded when Pom filled the puppy bowl to it’s limit. The mound of food must be half as big as the puppy. As soon as Pom had started pouring the food, Woof sat next to the bowl, tail wagging, and contentedly watched until Pom had finished filling it. He did not leap at the food and gorge himself like any other puppy but instead turned to look at Pom as she placed the food aside and turned to the puppy, bringing their faces nose to nose as he simply waited. After a moment the puppy cocked it’s head and stuck out it’s tongue.

“Are ya ready, Woof?”

“Arf.” The puppy jumped in place.

“I can’t hear you.”

“Arf,” repeated the puppy as it bowed to her and wagged it’s tail.

“Oh, really,” mocked Pom playfully in a singsong voice. “Well then, let’s see you run around the room clockwise three times, jump over the bed, and land BUT you need to practice pivoting. So, you will get your breakfast after doing this without sliding.”

Woof stood up from his play bow and began wagging his tail furiously. They continued to stare, eye to eye, and the puppy's tongue stuck out as far as it could go. Neither one of the pair blinked, or otherwise broke eye contact.

“Arf!” cam Woof’s challenging, yet adorable, bark.

“Alright,” said Pom before continuing in an increasingly quiet whisper. “On three. One, two… three!”

Immediately Pom lifted her head and Woof sped off between her legs. Fluttershy watched through Pom’s eyes as Woof completely circled the room clockwise three times before launching himself over the single wide bed that was more than four times his height, and three times his length. Fluttershy could clearly make out a look of fierce determination on his face and was surprised to see his teeth slightly bared, tongue no longer sticking out.

The puppy cleared the bed by less than an inch and tried to turn his body to bury his rear legs into the wooden floor but he did not complete his rotation, instead landing sideways and sliding. Woof huffed and growled, seemingly annoyed at himself for being unable to properly land.

“You almost got it, Woof,” said Pom fiercely. “I bet you can get it in three more tries if you turn sooner. If you turn sooner, your body will be shorter and you won’t have to jump as hard and it will make it easier to land.”

Woof turned to her and nodded. He walked over to face her again and Pom lowered herself to his level as they physically pressed their noses together.

Fluttershy noticed that while the dog was taking deeper breaths, it wasn’t panting. ‘The puppy must be very fit,’ thought Fluttershy.

This time there was no countdown. One moment Pom and Fluttershy were looking the puppy in the eyes, the next Woof was launching himself over her as she dropped to the ground. Fluttershy was as taken aback by the coordination of the pair as she was startled at the sudden movement.

Fluttershy continued to look through Pom’s eyes as Woof ran around the room three times and jumped over the bed. This time Woof twisted sideways as he launched himself and passed sideways over the bed. Unfortunately he overturned and landed sideways, facing away from Pom, and slid. He huffed in frustration and returned to Pom who bent over and met him eye to eye, breathing harder, almost panting, but obviously more determined than before.

They didn’t speak and there was no acknowledgment of the previous failures, only a determined focus on the task assigned by Pom.

Suddenly Pom rolled to the left, throwing Fluttershy’s world into tumbling chaos. At the same time Woof diving forward and to his left so that he passed her. Fluttershy’s vision focus as Woof tore around the room clockwise three times. This time he leapt but had slightly less power in his turn. His body finished the one hundred and eighty degree twist so that his hind legs could dig in and this time he did not slide.

“Oh, wonderful job, Woof!” cheered Pom.

Woof raced over to Pom and turned over so she could rub his tummy furiously. Woof kept turning, rolling from side to side as she rubbed. His ears flopped around wildly. Afterwords Woof shook himself and trotted over to his food bowl and began eating quickly, though he chewed his food properly before swallowing.

While Woof ate, Pom picked up his drinking bowl with her mouth and took it out the door and to a bathroom immediately to the left. She emptied the bowl and refilled it before bringing it back. Woof was about halfway through his meal by the time Pom had placed his drinking dish. Woof took a several drinks of water before continuing.

“Um, excuse me,” squeaked Fluttershy quietly. She had been thinking about how to start a conversation. Fluttershy had tried to speak out loud, and though no sound came from the body that she was sharing Pom obviously heard something. The lamb turned around quickly and stepped away from the door.

Woof picked up his head and chewed as he looked around the room. Fluttershy felt terrible about scaring the little lamb, but Fluttershy knew that she couldn’t sit quietly in this girls head forever.

“I’m, I’m sorry to bother you,” added Fluttershy, even more quietly than before. Fluttershy began to feel a little dizzy as Pom’s eyes began to sweep around the room faster and faster. Woof had stopped eating and was now looking at Pom with a cocked head.

“He-hello?” asked Pom, equally as quiet as Fluttershy had tried to be. “Is anysheep there?”

“Oh, no,” replied Fluttershy, gaining a small amount of confidence. “I, I’m sorry. But, well, I’m not physically there. I’m, well, I guess I’m using a friends magic to talk with you. I’m so very sorry to bother you, I can only imagine how awkward this is.”

Pom’s stopped looking around the room and walked over to the window, looking under the curtain to peek outside. Woof slowly wagged his tail, head cocking to the other side.

“I’m not physically there, Pom. I’m, well, in your head I guess is the best way to explain it.”

Pom backed into the corner by woof and shrunk down, though she raised her head. Pom stayed in the pose for several seconds before Fluttershy came to a realization. “Um, I can’t hear your thoughts, if you’re trying to talk with me that way. But if you talk I can hear you.”

Pom scanned the room again, before speaking. “But then why can I hear you in my head?” asked Pom quietly. She continued to look around, as if afraid that someone could see her talking.

“I don’t know,” replied Fluttershy honestly. “I’m afraid I don’t know much about magic. I’m sorry,”

Suddenly Pom scampered to the door and closed it before looking to the window, which was already closed. again she backed into the corner by Woof.

Woof began whining pawing at Pom’s foreleg.

“It’s okay, Woof. At least, I think it’s okay. Go back to eating.”

Woof slowly stepped back to his food, eating as asked but much slower than before. After taking each bite in his mouth he would lift his head to look at Pom while chewing slowly.

“W-why did you choose me?” asked Pom in a slightly louder, pleading voice that had begun to shake.

“I didn’t choose you,” replied Fluttershy. “It was the magic. It was suppose to help us contact the people on your planet that we match most closely with. We didn’t have the ability to contact a specific person so they added a seeking aspect to the spell. At least that’s what Twilight said.”

Pom walked slowly over to her bed, continuing to look all around as she began to talk. “I, I don’t understand. Your planet, seeking spell, Twilight, I… I don’t know what any of this means.”

Fluttershy felt absolutely terrible at what she was doing to Pom. The poor lamb probably thought she was going mad. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. It’s, well…”

Fluttershy was interrupted as Woof walked over and butted his head into Pom’s leg, whining repeatedly. It pulled the heartstrings of both the sheep and the pony in the sheep's mind.

“Come here, Woof,” said Pom shakily as she patted the bed. Woof jumped on it and rubbed his head into Poms before she crawled into bed and under the covers. Pom lifted the edge of the blanket and beckoned Woof to crawl in with her. He did and cuddled up next to Pom who wrapped her arms around him.

“I think I should start at the beginning,” said Fluttershy. She felt like she wanted to cry, tormenting this child like this. “Please, would that be okay?”

Pom nodded but didn’t speak.

The silence was horribly uncomfortable and it was made worse by the inability for either to flee. Eventually Fluttershy was forced to start.

“Well, I guess I’ll start a week ago. You see, um, I’m from Equestria. It’s a country in a world far away from here. If you look up in the night sky you might see the light from our sun as a distant star. Anyway, Equestria is the sister planet to Fœnum. We were created in tandem long ago but I don’t know why or by who. Apparently only the Divine Sisters, the two princesses that have ruled us for more than a thousand years, know much about any of this.

“Um, well the two sisters found out that a terrible threat was coming to your lands and and that prison that was suppose to keep your planet safe from predators was slowly unlocking. We can’t go to your planet, it’s too far away, but we wanted to help.”

Fluttershy paused as Pom closed her eyes. Woof was craning his neck so he could lick her chin. But the lamb wasn’t responding, she continued to hold the dog tightly.

Fluttershy felt like she was failing, losing her connection, but she didn’t give up. “Your people are a lot like us, we’re herbivores,” she said desperately. “I’m a pegasus, a pony with wings, and I can fly but I don’t like heights. I take care of animals too, though I’ve never seen a puppy trained as well as Woof.”

Pom sniffed, and Fluttershy realized that a tear was sliding down the lamb’s cheeks. Suddenly the lamb spoke. “You, you saw me training Woof?”

“Oh yes.” Fluttershy latched onto the connection. “The way you two could look into each other’s eyes and then just know what each other was going to do, I’ve never seen anything like it. It was amazing! Are you a dog trainer?”

“No,” came the meek reply. Pom began to pet Woof, forcing the puppy’s head away so that he couldn’t lick her anymore.

Fluttershy felt the small connection slipping away and tried desperately to think of something to bring it back. “Well, you're better than any dog trainer that I’ve ever seen. How old is Woof, about six month?”

“Yes.” Pom sniffled. “He’s a little under six months actually. Woof’s a good puppy.” Pom leaned her head down and gave woof a kiss, though her eyes were still closed and Fluttershy could feel a steady wetness run from Pom’s eyes to the bed. Fluttershy didn’t know when the tears had started. “I, I’ve been thinking about applying to be a sheep dog trainer, when I’m old enough. My dad is a sheepdog trainer, one of the best. That was him, well, that was him earlier, if you were the one who screamed.”

“It was,” said Fluttershy quickly. “But I didn't mean too, it was the spell. It was… different from what I was expecting. I’m so sorry, Pom. I didn’t mean to scare you like that.”

“Did it hurt?” asked Pom. She opened her eyes to the dim light under the blanket.

Fluttershy was feeling more confident again. Pom was asking more questions, and the tears were slowing down. “No, no it didn’t hurt. It was just… well. The magic that we used to get to this planet was dream magic. We could only travel to your world through dreams. When you woke up, it felt like I was waking up. Woof was even resting in the same spot as my Angel Bunny does when he sleeps next to me.

“I was just really surprised when everything was suddenly different. I mean, your room is similar to mine in a lot of ways. The sun creeps in just far enough to warm up my bottom hooves, it’s cozy just like mine, and it even smells similar. So when you wake up in the same position that I always woke up in, with Woof in the same spot as my pet Angel Bunny, I thought I was waking up at home. Then I suddenly realized that I wasn’t at home and I couldn’t move. It scared me. I’m afraid I’m not as brave as Rainbow Dash or Applejack. Oh! Umm, they’re my friends,” explained Fluttershy quickly. “They came with me to your planet. Anyway I screamed because I was scared and confused.”

Pom had started taking deep steadying breaths and Fluttershy realized that the poor Lambs heart was slowing down from a very fast beat. ‘Oh Celestia,’ thought Fluttershy, ‘If her heart was beating this fast after calming down, what was I doing to this poor baby.’

“If you’re not brave,” began Pom unexpectedly, “then why did they send you to help us?”

Fluttershy would have smiled if she could have. Instead she felt herself speak in what she hoped was a reassuring and proud tone. “I came with my friends because we are friends. We’ve helped to save our world several times, and have been helping others ever since we were brought together.

“Sometimes my friend Rainbow Dash has been the most help. She’s a pegasus like me. But instead of being scared of heights like me she’s the fastest flyer alive. She’s brave and strong, if a little prideful, but she is always there for her friends. She knows karate, and someday she is going to be the leader of the Wonderbolts, our countries greatest flying team. She has rainbow hair, and a rainbow tail, and when she flies she leaves a rainbow afterimage behind her.

“Sometimes my friend Rarity is the biggest help. She is one of the most majestic ponies that I have ever met. She makes the most beautiful dresses, has talked to some of the most popular celebrities, and everypony in the country would love to have one of her designs. She’s a unicorn, a pony with a single horn coming out of her forehead, and she uses it to cast magic and help her make dresses and to make everything pretty and nice. One day, she will be the most sought after tailor in Equestria, but she isn’t greedy. She simply takes pride in her work and likes to make other look their best. She wants everyone to be happy and will happily help those less fortunate than herself. She is almost pure white, but she has just a hint of silver in her coat. and her mane and tail are a lovely shade of dark purple.”

Fluttershy felt Pom continue to relax as she told her about her friends. Woof had even calmed down and was now wagging his tail meekly against the blanket as Pom pet him.

“Pinkie Pie is as pink as her name. Pink coat, curly pink tail, and the curliest pink mane you could imagine. She’s an earth pony, which mean she has no wings to fly, and no horns to cast magic. But earth ponies are strong and brave and she will even laugh at the scariest things. She has the best laugh. It’s a fun, happy laugh. And she never laughs if it would hurt someone or make them feel bad. She has more energy that any pony I’ve ever met, and she loves to make ponies smile and laugh with her. She throws the best parties, and she works in a bakery. She is the happiest pony I know, and also one of the strangest. Sometimes she seems to know things, or do things that seem impossible, but that’s just Pinkie. Nothing is impossible with Pinkie, and though she can sometimes seem unreliable, things always work out when Pinkie’s there. She can even sense the future, in a way. Like, when something is about to fall, her tail will wiggle. She won’t know what’s falling, but she has helped us so many times, even just helping us stay positive when things look hard.”

“Applejack is an earth pony, like Pinkie Pie, and one of the strongest ponies I know. She’s orange with freckles on her cheers and a golden mane and tale. She works hard, tending her family's farm, and they have the best apples in the world. She is the most honest and reliable pony that I know. While she isn’t as worldly as a lot of my other friends, she helps keep us grounded. A lot of time it might seem like she is in the background compared to some of my other friends, but that’s just because she’s humble and practical.

Pom was now completely calm and so was Woof. She still held him, but it’s was a loser hold than before and she wasn’t petting him.

“My friend Twilight Sparkle is the smartest pony I know. She is Lavender and has very practical dark purple mane and tail with a streak of pink in them. She loves reading, and learning, and other than her friends, loves nothing more than a good book or an interesting discovery. She use to be a unicorn, the strongest unicorn that Princess Celestia had ever seen.

“Princess Celestia is one of the Divine Sisters that leads us. She chose Twilight to become her student and eventually sent her to Ponyville to learn about friendship where she met the rest of us.

“When darkness came to Equestria, Twilight was the one pony besides the Celestia that saw it coming. This was when she came to Ponyville and met us, becoming our friends very quickly. We worked together and defeated Nightmare Moon, an evil alicorn goddess, by using an ancient magic called the Elements of Harmony that can only be activated by very special ponies. Me and each of my friends represent one of the Elements of Harmony and it was our friendship that activated the elements.

“Rainbow Dash is the Element of Loyalty. Rarity is the Element of Generosity. Pinkie Pie is the Element of Laughter. Applejack is the Element of Honesty. And Twilight is the Element of Magic and the spark that ignited the elements within the rest of us. Eventually Twilight mastered the magic of friendship and became an alicorn. An alicorn is a pony with the wings of a pegasus, the horn and magic of a unicorn, and the strong body of an earth pony. When this happened she became a Princess. The Princess of Friendship.”

“What’s your element?” asked Pom sleepily. She yawned and closed her eyes, leaving Fluttershy in contemplative darkness.

Fluttershy would have smiled if she could have. “I’m the Element of Kindness. I raise and take care of the animals in Ponyville, where we all live. It’s a small town, but it’s a good town, with good ponies.”

“What’s your name, Element of Kindness?” asked Pom weakly.

“My name is Fluttershy.”

“Fluttershy,” muttered Pom. “I like that name.”

“And I like yours too, Pom.”

Fluttershy felt the darkness shimmering and a sudden numbness took over her senses as Pom’s breathing slowed even further. ‘Good,’ thought Fluttershy. ‘This has to have been hard on the poor thing.’ Suddenly Fluttershy could open her eyes, her own eyes. Fluttershy blinked of her own accord and held up her butter yellow hoof to look at it before looking around slowly.

“Ah, Fluttershy, you’re awake.” Celestia’s voice was calm and warm. Fluttershy looked to see her stepping toward Fluttershy with a glass of water held magically in the air. Fluttershy took it and drank it slowly. She suddenly realizing how thirsty she was.

“You’re the first to wake up, did everything go well?” asked Celestia.

Fluttershy stood up on all fours and looked at the ground. She didn’t know how to answer.

“Tell me about it.”

“I was in the mind of a girl, a lamb. She had light pink fur, and she has the most amazingly trained puppy.”

“A girl, a young girl? Are you sure?” asked Celestia taken aback.

“Yes, Princess. She is very timid, very shy. I gave her quite the scare because, well… Oh, it’s all my fault.”

Celestia placed a hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder and pulled her into a hug. Fluttershy rubber her face into Celestia’s chest and began to cry silent tears. “There there Fluttershy, I’m sure it’s not as bad as it seems.”

“No,” said Fluttershy through her sobbing. “It’s worse.”

Fluttershy spent the next fifteen minutes telling Celestia all about the poor little lamb, and how she had scared her. “Celestia, how am I supposed to help a lamb, a helpless little lamb, fight off the evils of a world so far away.”

Celestia rubbed Fluttershy’s head gently. “Let me tell you a story, Fluttershy. It’s about a scared yellow Pegasus who stared down one of the most ancient and powerful dragons in the world. She convinced him to leave peacefully where complementing, partying, and even direct confrontation had failed.”

“But, Princess,” said Fluttershy as she wiped the tears from her eyes. “That was different. I used the stare, and the dragons have a treaty with Equestria.”

“It is no different,” said Celestia with a steady, confident voice. “Anypony that had known you even a year ago, years after you had faced down that dragon, would find it hard to believe that you could be so strange and so brave. Remember how I left it to you to reform Discord, one of the most dangerous beings in the world? Nopony other than my sister and I thought you could do it. But you did. Even you thought you couldn't do it, but you did because you are far stronger than you seem.

“Of all the ponies that I have ever know, Fluttershy, you are perhaps the strongest in ways even I can’t fully comprehend.”

“I am?” asked Fluttershy, her eyes wide in amazement.

“You are.” Celestia poked Fluttershy’s chest gently with a hoof. “I gave you a task that nopony I have ever met could have accomplished. No me, not my sister, not the other elements of harmony, not even my own parents would have been able to do what you did. And now, you have been sent to this girl. You were sent by a very special magic that sought out the being in that world that is most similar to you. Yes she is a lamb, but she is not that different from you. Perhaps she is stronger than anypony could possibly guess and she might surpass even the most open minded of dreams. I know this because I know you, Fluttershy. And she is similar to you.”

Fluttershy thought on that in a long silence before shaking her head slowly. Celestia let go of her and Fluttershy walked over to the bed and got on it to lay down. She spoke as if she was suddenly tired. “Okay, Princess. I’ll do my best.”

“I know,” said Celestia.

Suddenly Fluttershy went completely limp on the bed, and Celestia knew that the lamb, Pom, must have woken up. The spell connecting them pulling Fluttershy’s consciousness to her as she woke.

Celestia turned to look at Luna, her sister. “How are you doing Luna.”

“I am doing well, sister. The spell does not take much energy to maintain, though I wish to monitor it for a full day before resting. Go get some sleep, you will need to take the watch after me, and the Equestrian court might need your guidance when you wake.”

“Yes, I will do that. Can you see to the others as they wake while you monitor the spell?”

“It does not require very much mental effort to monitor, and I can be strong when needed.”

Celestia nodded and turned to walk away when Luna stopped her.

“Sister, it’s Twilight. She’s about to wake… wrong.”

“Wrong, what do you mean wrong, sister.”

“Just, wrong. Doctor!” shouted Luna at one of several doors around the large room. “Bring a restorative.”

“Yes, Princess.” Came a call from behind the door.

Celestia rushed to Twilight. Twilight came out of her sleep screaming, her cries of terror and pain turning to sobs as Celestia pulled her closely. Twilight flailed her hooves, wings, and tail frantically. Celestia had to place a hoof over her horn to keep her from using magic or accidental gouging Celestia herself.

“It’s okay, Twilight. It’s okay. It’s me, It’s Celestia.”

“Celestia!” shouted Twilight as she weakened her struggles and looked around. “Oh, Celestia!”

Twilight threw herself at her mentor, sobbing into the Alicorns shoulder and clinging to her.

“What’s wrong, Twilight? What happened?”

“It’s wrong! It’s all gone wrong. The unicorn, the book, there was so much evil and hate.

“Unicorn? Book? Twilight I don’t understand.”

Twilight wailed and clung to Celestia, trying desperately to pull her closer, even though she was already clinging to Celestia. Celestia sat on her hind legs and pulled Twilight in as closely as she could. She had never seen Twilight this afraid before, and she found her glance wander to Fluttershy as Twilight sobbed.

Celestia noticed her sister staring at them but could only form one question. “What have we done?”