Years after the events which shook Zootopia and the relationship between prey and predator, animals still spoke of the orchestrations of one sheep – Bellwether. They often theorized and thought about what made her “go off the rails” and do what she did, but never could figure it out. When ZPD spoke to her family, they all agreed that her sinister behavior began long before she was chosen as the mayor’s assistant and when she was still a ewe lamb, so their initial thought of it being because of the mayor’s behavior towards her was shattered. ZPD – mostly Judy – attempted time and time again to question Bellwether and find her reasons, maybe even reduce her sentence after she went through a honest retention for her actions and apologized, but she never budged and grew unbreakably silent as soon as the subject was brought up, lowering her head almost bashfully.

 And yet, because no one was killed or seriously injured in her escapade, and because a sheep’s lifespan drags no longer than 20 years, which was a record in sheep history, Bellwether was released from her cell after seven years of paying for her actions. The exceptions to her early release were simple: she was to live in Bunnyburrow for the next two years, stay away from all outside communications, and be fitted with an ankle monitor during her stay there. After all, it was Judy Hopps who finally made Bellwether understand that not all predators are savages, so even if she merely succeeded in making Bellwether tolerate them, ZPD knew the bunny cop had an impact on the sheep’s behavior.

 Bellwether understood that, but after a week of adjusting to the new environment, she still found herself scowling down at the beeping device on her ankle every few minutes, the sound nauseatingly annoying. Yet, she knew she couldn’t be bothered. Groaning, she tore her green eyes away and shifted them back onto the newspaper in front of her, shifting uncomfortably in her seat.

“Four carrots please.” A bunny, one of what seemed to be millions, requested.

“Four carrots.” Bellwether repeated out of routine, placed the requested carrots onto the clean paper, rolled it up, took payment, and handed the supplies over. After only a week, the sheep felt as if she could do her work in her sleep, and yet, she oddly enjoyed it.

“Oh, Dawn,” Mrs Hopps interrupted, however, “I can take over for a while; you can go take a look at the rest of the festival if you like.”

As much as Bellwether enjoyed her new job, and not just compared to her previous one, she quickly shot upright in her chair and nodded enthusiastically, her thick glasses hopping on her nose and her wool wildly bobbing back and forth. “Thank you, Mrs Hopps!” She called over her shoulder, already making her way down the dirt road. After a long day of work, she was even more excited to visit the old festival again. She was still a lamb when her mother took her to Bunnyburrow for a day to see their annual festivities, but of course, she knew her mother couldn’t recall – it felt like forever ago.

“Stop it Gideon!”

Bellwether instantly froze, her mouth growing dry and her skin growing pale underneath her wool – she recognized that voice.

“No point’n sayin’ that, Sharla; ya know that.”

Bellwether frantically searched the crowd of strangers and bunnies, but to her horror, no one budged to help, not even Judy, who was a mere ten feet away. Instantly, Bellwether’s face broke into a scowl. I won’t let this happen again, she screamed inwardly, and she couldn’t! With agile hooves, she pushed through the crowed and dashed out behind the caravans, grabbing a thick stick from the ground along the way and hoisting it above her head to attack. “Leave her alone, you sava-“ She hollered a warrior’s cry in her run, but as soon as she reached the argument, her words escaped her. In bewilderment and underneath the laugh of another sheep, Bellwether once again halted in disbelief, the wooden club slipping from her hooves and colliding with the grass behind her in a loud thud.

In front of her, shoving each other playfully in the midst of laughs and giggles, Gideon Grey and Sharla Woolworth were fighting over a bowl of flower and eggs, the first trying to add more milk while the other tried saving the dough from mutiny. “We have enough milk in it!” Sharla insisted, but Gideon recoiled, “Again, no point’n arguin’, Sharla – ya know I’m right.”

No surprise to a bewildered Bellwether, they were already both coated in flour.

 “Bellwether!?” Sharla finally exclaimed in delighted shock when she noticed the company, a goofy grin pulling at her natural overbite – she didn’t even care to notice the fact that Gideon took her distraction as an opportunity to add more milk, but of course…

“Oh sweet cheese an’ crackers,” Gideon gaped down at the useless mixture, “Ya where right! I’ll be right back!”

Riddled with nerves, Bellwether actually wanted to command Gideon to stay and not leave the two of them alone, but she couldn’t move. Of all things that could happen to her on the day of the festival, she ran into the one sheep who allowed her to enjoy it the first time she was there – the sheep that was the cause for Bellwether’s entire uprising against the predator community in the first place. But now, she thought, dread flooding in, she’s friends with the same fox that attacked her? She wondered how it was possible after how Gideon treated her as a lamb, but she couldn’t give herself an answer – she was too occupied with the fact that her entire scheme was pointless.

“Bellwether?”

She wondered if Sharla hated her, too.

“…Bellwether?”

It would make sense if she truly befriended a fox of all things.

“Dawn!”

 Bellwether was suddenly ripped back into reality with a small yelp and forced to notice the black sheep standing only a few feet away. “Ah, sorry.” She apologized sincerely – she must have been staring, “Sharla, was it?”

“Ah-hah.” She nodded enthusiastically, “And you’re Dawn Bellwether – I suppose you don’t remember me from when we were lambs, huh?”

The white sheep’s ears drooped even lower in shock, her eyes widening behind her large spectacles. “I-I do, actually…” She mumbled in disbelief, “I didn’t expect you to, though.”

“Of course I do!” Sharla chirped before rounding the table to close the gap between them, “You saved me from Gideon, didn’t you? Just like Judy!”

Bellwether could only nod, her jaw visibly slacked. Honestly, she didn’t remember it like that at all – she tried to save the sheep’s beautiful wool from the fox’s sharp claws, but only to be picked on as well – did she remember it wrong? What she recalled was Sharla protecting her in the end.

“And you still tried saving prey afterwards, didn’t you?” She continued when Bellwether stayed quiet, shocking the white sheep even further, “Of course, you got arrested, but you were up to the same old tricks, right?”

Bellwether felt her face grow hot underneath her wool. She couldn’t believe how much Sharla has changed – all in a good ways, too. She was no longer the shy little sheep she used to be; she speaks her mind with confidence – maybe a bit too easily, in fact.

“I tried.” Bellwether spoke, unsure if she should bring up her criminal past, but also not wanting Sharla to add anything more embarrassing, “But I took the wrong approach. I judged all the prey by the few and ended up becoming even worse than that few,” her eyes darkened, “but as soon as I am free to move around as I please, I will try to help again – not just prey, but both predator and prey – and attempt to destroy stereotypes! I’ll stop-“

The moment Bellwehter realized what she was saying, she bit her tongue and fell silent, regret instantly overwhelming her, but unlike what she had expected, Sharla only smiled.

 “I think that’s a great plan!” She agreed, forcing Bellwether to grin back at her with relief, but unfortunately, she continued yet again, “but…”

Bellwether’s joy quickly wavered at her crush’s ‘but’ and pause.

“…will you let me help you?” Sharla asked sheepishly – pun intended – and hesitantly held out her hoof, “After how you helped me, I mean.”

Bellwether caught a tint of teasing at the last statement, but she didn’t care. Without wasting a second, she placed her own hoof in her new friend’s own, her green eyes beaming, “I wouldn’t have it any other way!”

She secretly wondered if she should tell Sharla that she was her motivation from the very start, but she quickly decided against it – all in good time. Maybe then… they could be more than friends?

Who knew she’d be right about both.

 (Requests: OPEN. Picture is mine – it was edited by me.)