“Your wolf spirit,” Alice said, pointing her nose toward Justin, before pointing toward Amelia in turn. “... and your, uh, pony spirit? They needed a bit of time to grow and mature. But now that you’ve awakened, it’s time for you to meet them face to face. You need to confront them and make it clear who is the boss. This is important, Justin. It’s cute and fine that you’re happy to roll over for Alicia and me, but you need to be stronger than your wolf spirit. If you ever find yourself wavering, just remember how disapproving I’m going to be if you back down to him.”

“I guess that makes sense for a wolf, but what about me? Ponies don’t work that way, do they?” Amelia asked, turning to Justin.

Alice shrugged. “You know more about ponies than I do… I’m just hoping the same magic will work for you as will work for Justin. With a wolf, it’s simple. Justin, you just need to stare him down. Be confident, so that you will look and smell confident, and he will submit. Wolves seldom change their social order, so once you’ve established that you’re in charge, he shouldn’t be a problem. But if you submit to him…” she looked away, then shook her head. “Don’t.”

Justin looked a little confused. "Why can't we be partners?" He tapped at his canine snout. "We're both together, like it or not, so why not be friends about it instead of arguing?" His tail began to wag softly. "Being a dog is still weird though." Not that he was a dog, technically.

Alice thought about it a moment, wondering how to explain. “Do you think of us and friends, and partners?” she asked Justin sweetly, gesturing to be clear she was referring only to herself and her stallion.

He nodded quickly. "If your wife can't be the best friend you have, I think something went wrong somewhere." He moved to close the distance. "I'm your friend, right?"

“Who’s in charge?” she asked him quickly and sharply. The look of firm determination in her eyes made it really clear what the right answer was.

His ears went back. "I suppose you are…" He glanced back and away, already giving up that particular challenge that he wasn't even aware of. "Are all wolf things like this?"

“We can be great friends, as long as we both know who’s in charge,” she said, before nuzzling his cheek. “We don’t have to fight, we can be great friends. See? No need for me to be bossy, or mean.” She licked his cheek and nibbled his ear, emphasizing her point.

He gave a little growl of appreciation before he pounced for her, trying to wrestle with her and failing a bit badly, as only one who is not normally a wolf or prone to wrestling could do, but it's done energetically. "Alright, so what do I have to do?"

“We need to go into the woods,” Alice said from her new position atop her stallion, teasing him with her wagging tail. “I’ve found a pool of water there that will be perfect for what we need to do. And we need to go soon, so we can get there when the moon is at its highest. Once we’re there, I can work my magic and allow you to meet your new self. Simple enough?”

“Simple enough,” Amelia confirmed. “I just hope it works for me too.”

Justin pointed at Amelia. "If she has a pony, what's the rush? We're not the most confrontational sorts. Are pony spirits?" He moved where he was guided, despite his arguments, seemingly borne more out of curiosity than any genuine need to contradict.

Alice lead the way, taking them back outside, and away from the town, toward the nearby Ghost Haunt Woods, where Justin’s adventures had first begun. “It’s better for her to meet her new self sooner, rather than later. But you have a good point. A good ole’ stare-down is a good way to assert yourself with a wolf spirit, but what’s the best way to convince a pony that you’re in charge?”

Amelia followed along, quickly disappearing from their perception as soon as they reached the shadows of the woods. It just helped to highlight how dangerous the place could be. If Amelia was hidden somewhere in the nearby foliage, what other dangers were as well? Sharp wolf senses did much to reveal what was there, but could do nothing to prove that imagined dangers weren’t also present, hidden even better than a wolf could sense.

Alice’s confidence, however, did much to calm Justin’s fears. The veteran predator strode with pride and purpose, clearly unafraid.

Justin focused on his wives' presence as he strode along, loping as a wolf might, even if it was odd compared to his usual gait in so many subtle ways. "Then we should meet, and tell it you're going to take care of it and protect it." He smiled a little. "We like knowing we're being watched over, just as a stallion should her mares, even if, you know, my mares are both bigger and tougher than I am."

“You’re tougher now than you realize,” Alice said. “As long as you’re a wolf, your injuries will heal rapidly. As long as they aren’t caused by silver, or another wolf like me. Or possibly Amelia.. I’m not sure about her. Oh, and some kinds of magic can be bad… but most things? Still… pain still hurts, you know?”

“Do you think that applies to me as well?” Amelia asked, suddenly very obviously trotting right along beside them.

“Only one way to find out,” Alice pointed out.

“I’m, uh, fine not knowing for now,” Amelia said before getting lost among the trees again.

The trek was not all that far before they came to a small clearing, where a natural depression had made a pool of standing water, several yards across. It wasn’t deep enough to bathe in, but it was reflective enough to show the moon and stars above in all their glory.

Someone had taken the time to create two patches of smooth, even, soft grass leading up to the water’s edge, devoid of weeds, roots, stray sticks, or any other inconvenience. Alice stepped between the two before turning back to address her mates. There was a small sack there at her feet, woven from leaves somehow. “Alright, my loves. Take a seat here, where you can see your own reflection.”

For just a moment, he felt the urge to ask which would have his reflection, but the thought was swallowed and he moved up to settle on one of the spots. With wagging tail, he looked between her and the water with nervous anticipation.

Amelia took up the other spot, prancing about a bit to see herself from various angles. She gave a small sigh of disappointment when she got a view of her blank flank, but then finally settled down onto the grass, looking into her reflection’s slitted eyes, wavering with the motions of the water.

“Thank you, both,” Alice said, before reaching into her sack and drawing out what appeared to be a dandelion, carefully. “Now, Amelia… focus on the reflection before you. Look her straight in the eyes and think about what you have to say to her…” Green magic began to wrap up the stem and infuse the white spores before she drew in a breath and blew sharply, spreading the plant bits into Amelia’s face. The lunar pony sneezed once before sinking to the ground, snoring lightly. Alice took a moment to check her work, before drawing a second dandelion from her sack. “Your turn, my stallion. Ready?”

He raised a paw. "One thing. Don't look so sad, hon. You're still a new pony! You have to learn your special place before you get your mark, but you will, I'm sure of it." He grinned lopsidedly. "I wonder if it'll stay when you're a human. That'd be interesting…"

Alice glanced at Amelia, about to point out that she couldn’t hear him, but the sleeping mare smiled in her sleep, so maybe she had? At the very least it was probably going well so far. “Yours stayed when you became a wolf, so it probably will. But first things first…” She drew in a breath, wreathing the second dandelion with her magic and blew it in Justin’s face.

When Justin sneezed, the world shifted suddenly, disorienting him for a moment. The surface of the water was vertical now, like a mirror propped up for a pony to observe himself, and within stood the wolf, looking him over curiously. A stray glance showed Justin that he was a pony again, another showed the patch of grass he was on, and the mirrored copy the wolf stood on were the only ground visible, the rest of reality vanished into an undefined darkness.

Justin perked his restored ears. "Oh! Hello. So you're me, right?" He put a hoof to his chest. "You should appreciate a logical approach then. Ponies are going to expect a pony when they're talking to me, so I need to be in charge of things. That's not to say we won't have fun as a wolf and wag our tails around, but this is a pony village and a pony house, so I'm in charge, got it?" He took an upright stance as he talked, hoping against hope his spirited speech worked properly.

“I should be in charge,” the wolf countered, drawing himself up to try to look bigger. “I’m stronger, faster, and braver than you.” He raised his hackles and growled deeply, looking Justin in the eye, daring him to meet his gaze. “You can be my pet science pony for when there’s boring chemicals to mess with.”

Clop went the hoof as Justin stomped the blank ground before him. "We can't have a wolf running around Canterlot. We need a nice and friendly pony to not only guide, but protect our wives." He held out the same hoof. "I'd like your help, but I need to be in charge."

The wolf flinched, his eyes darting to the source of the sound, and the moment it did he was defeated. His hackles lowered, and he looked back at Justin, not quite meeting his eyes. “Fine, I’ll help you. Protect you,” the wolf said, before walking through the shimmering column of water, sniffing at Justin as he circled him. “But you can’t neglect me. You have fine wives… that’s good. And that snake was delicious… maybe this won’t be so bad.”

Justin smiled a little, quirked to the right. "We'll have fun, together. Have you seen them? They're good wives. We're both lucky to have them, and we'll do right by the both of them…. Do you know how to wake up from this?"

“I’ve only seen them sleeping before tonight, but I.. remember them. Through your eyes. Though even with my own eyes they’re both beautiful, especially now,” the wolf replied. Images of the two appeared on the wall of water, as though projected there. “I can’t wait to enjoy them… but first.. waking up, waking up.. you’ve been in a lot more dreams than I have, how do you wake up?”

As they discussed the subject, the air started to fill with individual dandelion spores, floating loosely through the air around them, but not close. Barely possible to reach from the small bit of ground afforded them.

Justin's eyes went up to the floating bits of plant stuff, and his alchemist nature came to the fore. "What plant did you come from?" He reached out a hoof, trying to reach one, only to fall from the dreaming world.

Author's Note

Surely that was too easy? Nothing bad can happen from it being too easy, right?