Fluttershy crosses her forelegs over her eyes, not wanting to watch these last few yards before the impact.  Her stomach feels like it's been pushed into her hind hooves and in her mind she just wants it to be over with.  The last thought that flashes through her is the image of her favorite unicorn.

I love you, Twilight... I'm so sorry.  She thinks to herself right before impact.  The pegasus feels the sting of hitting water at high speeds, and realizes that she's sinking deep into a pool.  She pulls her forelegs away from her face, looking around in her new, watery environment with no irritation to her eyes at all.  She takes a breath reflexively, but doesn't feel the sensation of drowning, and each time she exhales she releases a torrent of bubbles as if she had just taken a deep breath of air.  She looks down, seeing only darkness surrounded by the deepest, most beautiful clear blue that she's ever seen before.  As she looks up she sees the massive roots of her tree reaching down into the deep recesses of the ocean.  Everything is lit very subtly by a bright blue light that appears to be radiating from the center of the root system.  Fluttershy tries to swim forward, flapping her wings as if to fly, and moving at a slow pace.  There seems to be no end to this place, but she feels no danger; everything presents a very calming feel.  The water is warm, and the lights are very placid, even the roots seem to be swaying lazily back and forth like there were a breeze pushing them along.  The pegasus approaches the light in the center, noticing that there are many roots entwined around it that disappear deep into the abyss below her.  The light seems to grow smaller as she approaches, but no less brilliant.

Fluttershy isn't quite sure why she wishes to see what's behind the light, only knowing that she feels a general warmth from it and wants comfort.  For all she knows she lost, and Courage is currently doing Celestia-knows-what to hurt Twilight's feelings, so any bit of reassurance is welcome.  As she approaches her target, the light seems to position itself behind the roots.  This gives the silhouette in front of it a ghostly, but still beautiful glow around a very small opening in the twisted, gnarled roots.  Inside this opening Fluttershy can see the distinct, unmistakable visage of herself.  She gasps at the sight, reaching her hooves out and pressing them to the roots, trying to push them away but not moving them a bit.  The clone seems to be sleeping very calmly, with a smile on her face and her head resting comfortably on the back of the roots.  Her forelegs are crossed over her chest, with her hooves buried behind some smaller recess of the roots.  Just looking at her drives Fluttershy into a sense of calm, so she reaches her hoof out to gently touch the snoozing pony's face.  Just before her hoof comes in contact with the lovely pink mane of her clone, Fluttershy can feel a pair of hooves on her shoulders.  

The pegasus is forcefully spun around to see the scowling face of Courage floating right behind her.  Her mane has been completely tossed around by the water and so seems to float around her head in an almost aura-like projection of her anger.

"Oh that's cute, Co-pilot... That's real cute.  You couldn't work up the nerve to just fly away so you decided to change the world instead... is that it?  Well that kind of junk just don't work in real life you know..."

"H-How did you get here?"  Fluttershy freezes in the icy stare of her earth pony counterpart, immediately scared just by her presence.

"I live here you moron, I know every single nook and cranny and crevasse and abyss and dropoff and cliff and everything. There's nowhere you can hide, and nowhere you can run, so would you hurry up and give in already?"

"N-No!"  Fluttershy tries to wrench herself away from her attacker, but is only greeted with a knee to the stomach from the earth pony.  She gasps and exhales sharply from the blow, cringing in minor pain as Courage picks her back up and glares into her eyes.

"Then I'll just have to make you give in...  You're so not worth the trouble I'm going through for this..."  With this statement, Courage spins Fluttershy a full turn, letting go and throwing her to the side.  The pegasus feels herself exit the water and lands hard on the ground.  She coughs a few times, trying to catch her breath from having the wind knocked out of her.  She takes a breath and looks up to see herself in her old home, looking her father straight in the face.

"How many times have I told you to dry yourself off before you come in this house?"  The stallion speaks with a cold, unfeeling voice.  "You walk around drenched like that and you're gonna mess up the floor.  Why can't you just listen?"  Fluttershy shrinks away from the stallion, not taking very long to revert to her filly self.  Just the sight of him makes her want to curl up and cry.  He raises his hoof as he takes a few steps toward the cowering pegasus, "Look at me!"  She does not, so he uses his hooves to pry her head away from her forelegs and force her to look into his eyes.  She looks back, afraid of what she'll see, but notices that her father's eyes are a blue-green like hers, not the dark brown that they actually were.  It's Courage.

Despite this realization, the pegasus still cowers in fear from the large figure.  The stallion raises his hoof away from her face and brings it down, slamming it into Fluttershy's cheek hard enough to make her stumble to the side.  She realizes that she's standing, and brings her forelegs away from her face, looking around and finding that she's on a stage.  The seats appear to go back forever, and she must be standing in front of every pony in Equestria.  She looks up and sees Courage working the lights, flashing her a single wink before cuing the 'show' to start.  Fluttershy has no clue how to react, and so prompts derisive laughter from every single pony in the audience.  She feels her cheeks turn a deep red at the embarrassment, even though she knows that this isn't real.  The prying eyes of everypony shoot daggers into her heart, and make her step slowly backward, trying to escape their gaze.  In this desperate struggle to escape, she steps between the curtains and off the back of the stage, falling into another horrid scene.

She plummets once more toward the earth, this time seemingly above Ponyville, with no cloud of butterflies to save her this time.  She tries to fly but feels her wings once more pinned to her sides, though this time by something physical.  She looks over her shoulder to see Courage sitting on her back, forelegs wrapped around her wings and keeping them from snapping open.  She keeps her trademark evil grin on her face as she watches them both plunge toward the ground.  

"Get off of me!"  Fluttershy yells as loud as she can, struggling to try and shake the pony off.  Her twisting and turning sends them both into a spin, barely clung together only by Courage's forelegs.  The earth pony actually seems to admire the effort from her grunts and chuckles, though she never does let go.  

"Not gonna happen, Co-pilot.  It's only a matter of time now before you literally hit rock bott--"  Fluttershy interrupts her cocky speech by kicking her straight in the stomach with both of her hind legs.  Courage finally releases the pegasus and falls independently, allowing Fluttershy to unfold her wings and catch the air.  She's a little late, though, and they both still hit the ground.  Fluttershy slides a few yards in the dirt since she had just caught forward momentum, Courage, however, impacts with a muffled thud.

Fluttershy stands shakily and spits out some of the dirt that found its way into her mouth during the slide, turning around to see Courage writhing on the ground and clutching her ribs.  She walks slowly over to the earth pony, who shakily stands and faces Fluttershy with the same fire in her eyes as before.  Fluttershy tries to hide her fear, knowing that anypony who could stand up after that kind of a fall must be tough.

"Con... Congratulations, Co-pilot... You learned how to fly..."  Courage's sentences continually get interrupted by a horrible cough.  Fluttershy breaks eye contact with her, not in a show of deference, but to observe her surroundings once more, trying to find out where they are now, and anything she could possibly use to her advantage.  She can see her home in front of them, as well as a large plain surrounding the ponies.  "Heh...  You're doing a whole lot better than I thought."  Courage lifts one of her forelegs and wraps it around her side once more, taking a few deep breaths and then producing a large, gold key.  "This is the key to your home, Fluttershy...  Your little friend is in there, so if you can get this from me, all will be well...  But that's a really big 'if'."  

The pegasus looks toward her counterpart with a tired and frustrated countenance.  The only thing that keeps her going is the thought of keeping this horrible part of her away from Twilight.  She sniffles a little bit, realizing that her nose is bleeding, but continues to walk anyway.  She keeps her head high and her walk consistent, moving with conviction toward the mocking earth pony.  

"Here we go!  Little Fluttershy finally grew a pair!  She's gonna fight me!  Hey everypony!  Fluttershy, the nicest pony in Equestria, is gonna fight me!"  Courage doesn't actually address anypony around, but still showboats as if a stadium were around to witness this.  She whips her head toward Fluttershy and laughs a little bit, swallowing the key and then cringing as it goes down.  "So how d'ya wanna do it?  Boxing? Kickboxing?  MMA?  Wrestling?  Karate?  Neigh-Jitsu?"  Every single time she mentions a specific fighting style she emulates a small stereotype about it in her body motions, gaining a strange wealth of energy after her hard fall.  "Or maybe you just wanna go no-holds-barred dirty grappling...  I'm down for a good romp, maybe I'll slam your pretty head into the dirt a few times... C'mon Fluttershy, look who you're dealin' with here."  She mocks the pegasus every single step she takes.  Fluttershy tries her best to keep her mind clear, realizing that this situation reminds her a little bit of the manticore that she and her friends had to deal with some time ago.  "Here... I'm feeling charitable... I'll give you the first hit!"  Courage tilts her head to the side, exposing her cheek and lower jaw for Fluttershy to punch, presumably.  "I can take whatever you dish out, so go ahead, take the first swing!  I dare ya!  I double-dare ya!"

Fluttershy stops just a few inches away from Courage, who smiles wickedly out of the corner of her mouth, waiting intently for the pegasus's attack.  In one single move, Fluttershy leans forward and kisses Courage right on the cheek, leaving the earth pony dumbfounded and blinking in her position.  "I'm sorry for kicking you, Courage...  I hope you didn't hurt yourself too much in the fall."

Courage can't help but start laughing after a few more seconds of dumbfounded confusion.  She sits back in the dirt and tilts her head back, cracking up completely at the ridiculous gesture of affection from Fluttershy.  "You're too much, Co-pilot...  Before I kick you into the dirt you mind telling me just why you kissed my cheek and apologized to me?"

"Well, sometimes even the most frigid hearts just need a little kindness."  Fluttershy sits back and smiles as Courage realizes just what she's done.  The gesture doesn't have the effect that Fluttershy quite thought it would: Courage seems to actually break apart a little bit, becoming small particles of loose dust, still somehow bound together into a coherent earth-pony shape.  She picks her forelegs up to look at them, leaving a small trail of her dust behind, prompting her to scowl and grit her teeth.  

"What the fuck did you do to me?!" Courage stands up and steps back a few feet, watching small yellow flecks flutter off of her and dissipate into the air.  She looks over to see Fluttershy smiling contentedly to herself, watching the situation unfold and Courage grow even more and more angry.  "I'll kill you!"  Fluttershy takes a deep breath and a few steps back as Courage says this.  The earth pony charges forward with a murderous scowl set in her face.  Just before reaching the pegasus she jumps in the air, letting Fluttershy see just how much of her has dissolved in the run.  Courage lifts her hoof to punch Fluttershy right in the nose, swinging it forward at full force.  The pegasus calmly lets her breath out, blowing gently on Courage's hoof, causing it to dissipate completely and become a disordered cloud of yellow steam.  Soon, the rest of the pony's body follows, being pushed back and mixed into the atmosphere by Fluttershy's breath until nothing recognizable as a pony remains in front of the pegasus.  She stands for a minute, surrounded by the yellow and pink steam, admiring its warmth before inhaling from her lack of breath.  The steam follows, filling her lungs and moving into her body, causing Fluttershy to close her eyes and accept the very essence of Courage into herself.  She finishes breathing and holds it in, standing solemnly and feeling a new sense of conviction and bravery take over.  Fluttershy opens her eyes to see the key laying on the ground in front of her, but otherwise no sign of Courage anywhere in her world.  

Fluttershy leans down and picks the key up in her hooves, looking side to side to see a lovely natural world around her.  The sun is shining, birds are singing in the trees, and even the ground seems alive.  She happily trots forward stepping up to her doorway and manipulating the key in her hooves to get it positioned right.  Not knowing what's going to be on the other side, she takes a deep breath and cautiously inserts the key into the lock.  She listens intently as each of the pins falls into place, turning the key and hearing the lock snap open.  She doesn't open the door, but looks down at the key while she takes her hoof away from it.  

Fluttershy tilts her head as water slowly beginss to trickle out of the lock.  Soon, every crack in the house seems to leak with water, so the pegasus backs away very slowly.  Almost as soon as she gets out of swinging range of the door, the house bursts open and sends a small flood of water in all directions, washing over the pegasus as well as the land.  She keeps her eyes open even as the water pushes her away, breathing in the warmth that is within the fluid.  Once more she doesn't feel the sensation of drowning, only of being in absolute comfort.  The water levels around her soon fade away, leaving only the sky above and the ground around her.  Sprouts of plants already begin to grow in the dirt, leaving Fluttershy surrounded by small, leafy things with the same massive roots where her home used to be.  

The pegasus stands up and stretches her wings out, flapping them a few times to dry them off as she walks forward, training her eyes on her sleeping clone.  The pegasus reaches the large structure of roots and reaches her hoof out, gently touching them just to get a feel for how dense they are.  To her surprise they all begin to shift, some twisting and others pulling away, eventually opening up and releasing the pegasus that they kept locked away for years.  She falls to the ground, barely able to stand, so Fluttershy leans down and helps her up.  All the while, the roots twist together, grow, and move until they resemble the very large tree home that Fluttershy used to have.  Small adjustments and growths continue to develop, though at a much slower pace once the general shape has been taken, so Fluttershy focuses her attention on the now semi-conscious pegasus before her.  

"Are you alright?"  She asks gingerly as the mare stands up.  Fluttershy looks her over to make sure she's not hurt, and notices, once more, the cutie mark on her hip: only a single butterfly.  

"Hah...  Never better... Nothing quite like sleeping for... twelve years is it now?"  She stretches her shoulders and neck, trying to get her bearings as she looks Fluttershy over a few times.  "I really like what you've done with the place."

Fluttershy can't help but smile, not knowing quite what else to say as she slowly begins to realize that she actually won.  "Uhm...  So, what now?"

"What do you mean?  You absorbed the other two...  I think you probably need to absorb me now."

"Well... how would I do that?"

"I'm not like the mean one...  I actually want to be absorbed, it's best for you and probably best for Twilight.  So you're not going to have to find my weakness or anything... Kudos on that by the way, a really smart way to handle that little fight... Couldn't have done it better myself."

"Thank you... she wasn't easy... but wait, how do you know all this?"

"Hah!  Darling, I'm you...  I know everything you know... I thought the smart one and the mean one would have made that pretty clear by now."

"Well... they did... but you've been sleeping for twelve years."

"Yeah...  This is all takin' a little getting used to, but I'll manage."

"Well... how did I know how to deal with Courage?"

"You just followed your insight sweetheart.  You know a lot more than you think you do, so you can act on either instinct or insight...  You knew what you were doing without even knowing it."

"T-thank you...  I know you probably had a hoof in all of this..."

"I may have helped a little when I could."  She smiles and winks at Fluttershy as she steps closer to her.  "But for the most part it was all you.  You're a smart filly, and I must say Twilight is a lucky gal to have you."

"Thank you..."  Fluttershy smiles and looks away, blushing a little bit at the compliments.

"Now c'mere."  Fluttershy's clone reaches around Fluttershy's back and picks her up, holding the two of them very close.

"W-what are you doing?"

"I'm the part of you that helps you with love and kindness...  Put your hoof right there."  She takes Fluttershy's hoof and places it on her hip, while pressing herself up against the other pegasus.  "There, doesn't that feel better?"

"I-I guess it... d-does."  Fluttershy, though embarrassed, isn't totally uncomfortable with the idea.  She does her best to keep her wings under control, which the other pegasus clearly picks up on.  Fluttershy's counterpart stretches her wings out, showing them off to the timid pegasus.  "Oh wow... those are... way bigger than mine..."  Fluttershy looks down and tries to break eye contact, giving up on fighting her own wings as they stretch out to be around half the span of the other's.

"Don't be too jealous, sweetie.  They tend to give me back troubles sometimes."  She follows this with a giggle and gently nuzzles Fluttershy's cheek.  "Come on, you're almost done."  Fluttershy looks up and gazes deep into the happy, calm eyes of her ideal self.  She feels more comfortable than ever in the embrace and allows her cheeks to turn a deep red as she feels the warm breath on her neck.  "Good job, now just... a little closer."  Fluttershy moves with her counterpart's beckoning, slowly pressing their lips together in a very soft, and very intimate kiss.

A familiar feeling of euphoria fills the timid pegasus as she feels every fiber of her being grow warm.  Each second feels to her like one laying on a warm beach, soaking up the comforting heat from around her and basking in a heavenly glow.  She can feel her hooves grow closer together, but doesn't dare open her eyes.  The pegasus never feels her forelegs stop touching a body, but eventually does feel a lack of lips pressed against her own.  Finally opening her eyes, she sees that her ideal self is gone, only leaving her forelegs wrapped around herself.  Even in her absence Fluttershy feels a kind of serenity in her mind that she hasn't known in all her life.  She sits down, looking around at the beautiful, fertile land, growing once more and seeming to reinvent itself; even the tree has grown to its full size and grandeur.  The only thing that isn't completely natural in the setting is her antique clock sitting just a few feet in front of her.  Fluttershy blinks a few times and steps toward the thing, picking it up and looking at the time.  The minutes needle twitches and sets off the alarm, prompting the pegasus to look around and eventually reach to turn it off.  The instant her hoof comes in contact with the button, she wakes up.