Fluttershy was no stranger to taking care of carnivores. She had caught a great deal of fish for them in her time, as she understood the cruel necessity of such creatures needing meat to survive. For her, Simba was no exception. In fact, she was more than willing to provide for the little cub. Thus, she was glad that she bought milk, as there were no fish in Dodge Junction, when Simba’s stomach gave a loud rumble.

“Aw, you’re hungry,” cooed Fluttershy.

Simba briefly adopted a sheepish look on his face. “Yeah.” His expression then brightened. “I’m so hungry, I could eat a whole zebra!”

Fluttershy, to her credit, could honestly say that she was prepared for such talk, as Simba still had dietary needs, regardless of his intelligence and speech capabilities. Nevertheless, she failed to stop herself from wincing ever so slightly. Her friends, however, were far less subtle. Twilight’s eyes threatened to bulge out of her head from how wide they became; Applejack and Rainbow Dash cringed both audibly and visibly; Rarity put a hoof to her mouth and fought the urge to vomit, and Pinkie gasped so dramatically that it would’ve made Rarity envious if she were paying attention.

Simba’s face shifted to one of confusion. “What?”

Fluttershy realized that she needed to take control of the situation. Having had years of experience with similar situations, she knew exactly how to handle it. “Um, Simba? Could you please not talk about eating zebras? One of our friends is a zebra. I know you need to eat meat, but it’s not a very nice thing to talk about.”

Simba blinked. “Oh. Sorry.” She suspected that he didn’t fully understand, but the fact that he willingly apologized was good enough for her. “So, what am I supposed to eat?” he asked.

Fluttershy moved to a nearby saddlebag and pulled out the bottle of milk she had purchased. “Can somepony find a bowl? I mean, if you want to.”

The request snapped her friends out of their shock, as they were not remotely used to carnivores as she was. Pinkie was the first to respond, reaching into her mane and pulling out a small bowl. “It’s supposed to be for Gummy in case he loses his, but Simba can have it as long as he doesn’t try to eat Zecora.”

Simba stared at Pinkie, undoubtedly both confused and fascinated by what she just did. “Wow. Was that magic?”

Rainbow Dash answered before Twilight could open her mouth. “Sure, let’s go with that.”

“Okay, but why was she carrying an empty shell? Why wasn’t it on her head like Applejack’s?”

The mare in question raised her eyebrows. “What the what, now?”

Simba pointed to Applejack’s hat. “There’s a shell on your head.” Rainbow Dash snickered as she realized what the cub was talking about.

Applejack shot a glare towards Rainbow and everypony else, just in case they got any ideas about laughing at her. She then removed her hat and held it out. “Ya mean mah hat?” Simba nodded slowly. She allowed herself a small smile, though she didn’t want him to think she was making fun of him. “Aw, shucks, sugarcube, this ain’t a shell. It’s too soft.” She waved it about for a second to demonstrate her point. “This here’s what we call a hat. Ya wear it on yer head and it keeps the sun outta yer eyes.”

Simba eyed the hat curiously. “So, it’s not a shell? Is it way—? Uh, weave? Erhm…”

“Woven,” Rarity supplied.

“Yeah, that. From plants and stuff?”

“Basically.”

“Oh.”

“Here,” said Fluttershy, pouring some of the milk into the bowl, “We don’t have any meat, but this will help until we can get you some.”

Simba moved toward the bowl and sniffed. Leaning forward, he lapped up a small portion into his mouth. “It’s milk,” he guessed.

“Mmhm,” replied Fluttershy.

Simba frowned. “But only babies drink milk.”

“What are you talking about?” asked Rainbow. “Everypony drinks milk.”

“But I’m not a pony!” Simba protested.

Rainbow waved a hoof. “Every creature drinks milk. It’s good for you. I drink milk. You callin’ me a baby?”

Simba looked at Rainbow as if her mane had suddenly turned white. “But— But that doesn’t make any sense! Everybody knows you get milk from…” He faltered for a second. “From your mother until you get old enough to eat. I’m big enough, I don’t need milk anymore.”

“Actually,” said Twilight, “While you’re technically weaned, milk still has a lot of nutritional benefits. You could go without, but unless you have allergies, it’s not recommended. Plus, given how your diet is basically just meat, and that we don’t have any to give you…” she shuddered at the thought of how they would even acquire such a thing, “Milk is your best option until we get to Ponyville and Fluttershy catches some fish for you.”

Simba blinked, obviously still confused. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, evidently trying to think of a counterargument. Eventually, he sighed. “Well, if there’s nothing else…”. He tentatively leaned toward the bowl once more, then began to drink. It was slow at first, but the speed at which he drank gradually increased, betraying the fact that he was starving. It did not take long for him to completely drain the bowl of its contents.

“Good stuff, right?” said Rainbow.

Simba shrank slightly in embarrassment. “Yeah, I guess.”

Fluttershy gently set her hoof on his back. “Just let us know if you get hungry again, okay?”

“Okay.” Simba then perked up as though he had just remembered something important. “Uh, Twilight?”

“Yes?”

“You said something about a place called Ponyville? Where’s that?”

“Oh, that’s where we live. It’s about a hundred and fifty miles west of here.”

“Wow! That sounds really far! I bet it took weeks to get here!”

Twilight chuckled. “Actually, it only took a couple of hours.”

“Huh? But how? More magic?”

“No, we took the train.”

“The what?”

Before Twilight could answer, Pinkie stepped in. “It’s a giant, iron pony that carries everypony places and goes ‘chugga-chugga-chugga CHOO-CHOO!’”

“It ain’t a pony, but that about sums it up,” said Applejack, following a brief moment of stunned silence.

“So, more magic?” asked Simba.

“Well, actually, the engine is powered by—”

“Twilight, darling,” Rarity interjected, “I don’t mean to be rude, but I don’t think Simba understands what an engine is.”

Hearing this, Twilight decided to take it upon herself to explain exactly how a steam locomotive worked to a lion cub whose culture had not yet invented the wheel. A great deal of questions abounded from both Simba and Twilight; his with intent to understand what she was talking about, and hers to learn more about his homeland and how its inhabitants could possibly survive without the technology that she had taken for granted. This went on for several hours as lion and pony shared details about their respective worlds with each other. While Simba willingly answered general questions, he closed himself off whenever they became personal. He refused to tell the Elements anything related to his family. “I don’t want to talk about it,” he would say. The adults could tell he missed his home, but they did not want to pry. He would be reunited with his loved ones soon enough.

After much discussion and a break or two for mealtimes, during which Simba begrudgingly drank more milk, the little cub started to yawn. It was quickly agreed that Simba could sleep in the basket with Fluttershy, Rarity, and Applejack in the room. The friends bade one another a good night and Fluttershy prepared to tuck Simba in.

“Um, Fluttershy?” he whispered.

“Yes?”

“I gotta go.”

Fearful of the cub’s safety, she tried to dissuade him from leaving. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to go outside at night.”

“No, I gotta go! Bad!”

Fluttershy was about to respond, only to realize what Simba was actually talking about. “Oh! Oh!” She felt a wave of discomfort as she also realized that she would have to show him how to use a bathroom. The needs of the child outweighed her own, however, and she had little choice but to steel herself.

Although Fluttershy felt incredibly awkward throughout the event, there were no problems and she was able to get Simba to wash his paws after showing him how. When all was said and done, she tucked him in and went to sleep in her hotel bed.

“Fluttershy?”

The yellow pegasus awoke to something poking her. She rubbed her eyes and saw Simba on her bed. “Hmm?” she mumbled, “What?”

The cub looked very ashamed of himself, as if he had done something he shouldn’t have. “Um…I…”

Fluttershy yawned. “Are you okay? Do you need to go again? Did you have an accident?”

Simba looked down. “No,” he mumbled.

Fluttershy could already hear the pillow calling her back. She hoped this was important. “What’s the matter?”

“I…I had a bad dream.”

She felt her heart go out to the frightened cub and her drowsiness dissipated. Sitting up in the bed, she reached out and embraced him. Her wings draped over him as he sniffled. “Do you want to sleep with me tonight?” Hesitantly, he nodded into her barrel, mumbling an affirmative. She let go of him to lie back down, then opened her forelegs to invite into another hug. He accepted and she pulled him close, his back to her as she held him. He sniffled again and she shushed him soothingly.

It wasn’t long before Simba fell asleep in Fluttershy’s embrace.

Author's Note

While Fluttershy is the best qualified to take care of Simba, I don’t want her to get all the mother/big sister moments with him. I probably could’ve filled this chapter with Simba and Twilight asking each other questions, but I figured that would be boring. I doubt we’ll ever get fanart of Fluttershy comforting Simba, which would look adorable, but I digress.

Concerning Simba’s reaction to milk, I wanted to establish that he’s still a child and therefore still thinks like a child. Children don’t want to do things they think they’re too old for.

Next chapter, to Ponyville we go!