Transference

Fluttershy ducked away from behind the couch and hastily made her way to the door. A look of concern on her face before she stepped out of the cottage, not saying another word to me.

I was able to hear her whisper something to Rainbow Dash outside, but the voices were too faint through the closed door for me to understand. All I could tell was that Fluttershy seemed upset while Rainbow tried to calm her down. Fluttershy must have realized I was responsible for Winona's injuries.

My vision was blurry and I felt as if I had been awake for days already. And that was despite the tense situation I found myself in. Adrenalin should have kept me awake at that moment, but I could barely keep my eyes open. The tiredness felt unnatural to me. After a short struggle, I started to doze off.

When I woke up, I found myself back at the farm. The oversized apples made it clear it was Applejack's dream again.

Walking around the empty farm, I suddenly heard a window open at the back of the house. When I investigated it up close, I saw Applejack climb out the window.

Shaking my head, I watched the scene unfold, hoping to be wrong about what was about to follow.

Applejack made her way to the ground and as she was halfway to the orchards, Winona came running up from the side.

"Here, Winona, come here to me!" Applejack called out to her pet. "Good girl, good girl!" She praised as she petted the head of Winona, who was happily wagging her tail.

Positively surprised, I started to hope for a different outcome, at least in her dreams. I knew it wouldn't change reality, but I was glad she could at least have some peace in here.

Applejack turned around, still looking at Winona.

She bucked the dog like one of her apple trees with her hind hooves, bones breaking, yet again. It looked intentional from a distance. The dog howled out in pain, but Applejack didn't stop there. She was enjoying it.

Applejack walked calmly to Winona and picked her up gently by her neck, only to swing her around aggressively, smacking her to the hard ground several times until the unholy sounds of Winona finally stopped.

She then looked in my direction with a blank stare. It almost seemed as if she was able to see me now after I had entered her body before.

That's not how it happened... it was an accident! I turned around and ran away from the scene with tears already flowing. That's not how it happened! I ran back to the entrance to the family farm and beyond as fast as I could, not daring to look back at Applejack even once.

This wasn't the colorful show I remembered. It all started to become more like the old world of pain and sorrow I had already experienced.

"Applejack, wake up already!" Rainbow Dash said while shaking her friend with both two hooves.

Applejack was on the floor, twisting and turning in her sleep.

The animals had come out of their hiding but were still keeping their distance from Applejack. Angel Bunny had told Fluttershy about the change they all felt in her just a moment ago.

"Wha..?" Applejack opened her eyes looking at her friends standing before her. "What happened, why am I in your cottage?"

Fluttershy looked away and whispered, barely audible, "Applejack..."

"I had a terrible dream but it all felt all so real..." Applejack visibly shivered.

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were unable to answer. They switched from looking at each other, and back down to their hooves multiple times, searching for the right words.

Looking at the open door to the familiar back room, where Fluttershy examined all her animals, Applejack stood up, looking back at Fluttershy again.

As she noticed that Fluttershy's eyes teared up, Aj knew instantly. She slowly walked into the backroom, looking at the table with a small body covered by a white sheet.

She walked up to the table and lifted the sheet to confirm what she already knew. Applejack closed her eyes and put her head to Winona's to say goodbye, not holding back the tears any longer.

Rainbow walked up to Aj from behind and put a hoof on her shoulder, "We have to go, Aj. Celestia has summoned all the elements. But don't worry, you don't have to right now. The princesses will surely understand. We will figure out together what happened when we come back."

"No!" Aj said in a firm tone. "I'll come with you. Something made me do this to Winona. I must inform the princesses. There was somepony there in my dreams before I woke up."

Luna was aware of all the judging eyes on her. It didn't bother her too much as she was used to it by now.

Celestia explained the situation to the gathered elements and her fears she had of the humans, not involving Luna in the process.

After Applejack shared her story of what had apparently transpired with her pet today, everypony seemed to silently accuse Luna as well.

She was also at fault, for bringing an allegedly evil spirit into this world. At least, that was what she thought they were thinking of her looking down on them. The whole situation made her remeber the days before her banishment.

It had truly been a mistake to leave the soul unattended. The fact alone, that the human was able to enter the dreams of others surprised Luna. That he then was also able to possess the body of the one dreaming almost made her feel a bit jealous.

Looking to the side at her sister she thought of the potential of such a rare power. Could it be that Celestia was more afraid for herself than her subjects? Or the possibility of Luna having control over such a tool on her own alone? Did she know something about this? Was there more to the story about her former student?

Celestia concluded, "Twilight, Luna will come to you and your friends in your dreams tonight. She will guide you all through the dreamscape and lead you to the human. As the respective Elements of Harmony, you should have the necessary power to free this spirit from our world and return the balance."

Free the spirit... Luna knew what that meant in this case. She had tried talking her sister out of it, but Celestia was adamant that the foreign being had to be removed sooner than later. One foreign soul was a small price to pay for the secured safety of this world.

"Princess," Twilight, being a princess herself, addressed her former tutor. "What do you mean by freeing the spirit? What will happen to the soul Luna brought here after?"

Luna was now also looking at Celestia, wondering about the answer that would follow. Celestia's face was completely unreadable to her.

"I expect you to make the right choice when you all encounter it," Celestia said with a warm tone in her voice, not answering the question.

Celestia looked at Applejack in the back as she continued. "Today, one of you here has lost a loyal pet. What will you lose tomorrow?"

That hit. Applejack looked up at her with panic in her eyes, imagining Apple Bloom the same way as Winona on the table earlier.

"Let's go to sleep, it was a long day," Applejack said as she walked out leading the way.

The other elements, being somewhat uneasy about the task given, followed suit.

Luna looked after the elements as they left. She would surely take her time gathering them tonight, for she had an offer to make to the former biped first.