Recovery and Rebirth

Ponyville

Date: 10th day of the 9th month of the 1120th year, time: 6th hour ASR

*Twilight’s perspective*

Twilight trotted through the streets of her beloved Ponyville. It had been half a moon since she’d gotten her wings, and her fellow citizens of Ponyville have mostly gotten used to her wings and no longer gawked at her. She had no particular destination in mind. She just needed a walk. In the town square, Twilight spotted Lyra Heartstrings reading a book. As she passed, Twilight glanced at the book’s title only to stop and read it fully. Hoomahn, the Truth. Is this what Pinkie mentioned?

“Can I help you, Twilight?”, Lyra asked.

“Sorry, I was just curious about your book. Would you mind if I ask you about it?”

“No, come take a seat.” Lyra patted the space next to her, and Twilight hopped up onto the bench. “Do you have any familiarity with hoomahn?”

“Some” The page the book was open to had an outline of a human that only showed the basic features, such as appendages, along with labels and what the author speculated each part was used for. She did get some things right, like humans being omnivores and walking on two legs, but she also got a lot of things wrong, like humans being solitary creatures. “What can you tell me about them?”

“Well, large corpses of these bipedal creatures have been occasionally found for hundreds of years. In most of the cases, nopony was able to figure out what killed them. Their biology is so alien that it’s hard to make heads or tails of it, let alone get anypony to take these reports seriously. That, along with finding one being so rare, is why you can’t find them in “reputable science journals”, but I assure you, they are real.”

“I believe you, Lyra. I want to learn more about them myself.”

“Really? Normally, it’s about now that ponies tell me hoomahn are a joke and to come back to reality.”

“Well, that changes today. Firstly, how do you know they’re called hoomahn, and why does the author think they’re solitary?”

“Oh, a live one was found once, and attempts were made to communicate with it. The report says it pointed to itself and said ‘hoomahn’. Since the author wasn’t sure if it was its personal name or the name of its species, she labeled the species ‘hoomahn’. And only one or two hoomahn have ever been found at a time, so they have to be solitary.”

Twilight was tempted to correct Lyra about that last part, but the princesses have labeled humans and anything regarding the portal as top secret. But how much knowledge of them is already out there. “That is really interesting. I’m interested in learning more. Do you know where I can?”

Lyra’s eyes sparkled as she closed the book and jumped up from her seat. “I have so many books on hoomahn at my place. I’ll show you. Come on.” Lyra bolted down the street, and Twilight followed closely behind. I need to tell the Princess about this.

Sunset’s room

Date: Sep 16th, time: 7:00 pm

*Sunset’s perspective*

Sunset grumbled to herself as she finished writing another stupid apology letter. She’d been forced to write down every way she’d wronged the person, something she knew painfully well, along with a bunch of sappy crap. She was sorry, she really was, but this sucked balls. Not only was she reliving all the crap while writing it all down, it was hard to think up the sappy crap. She was pretty sure that stuff would make her apology seem less sincere, but Anzhong wouldn’t hear any of it. She wished she could just say the facts, be blunt, and do the sappy stuff in person when she handed the letter to the person.

A knock came from the door, and Sunset was happy for the destruction. “Come in.”

Brigid came inside and looked over what Sunset was doing. “How’s it goin’?”

“Not great. Dad’s making me write a bunch of sappy stuff, and I don’t think the other students will take my apologies seriously with it.”

“Wha’ do ya mean?”

“Long winded, rambling apologies seem scripted. I’ve heard apologies given by the other students, and I’ve given a couple. We want to hear what you’re apologizing for then for you to get straight to the point and what kind of reparations or corrections will be made. This seems insincere.” Sunset handed Brigid the letter she was just working on.

“Hm, seems okay ta me, but Ah know dese sorts a’ thin’s change ove’ time. Write wha’ ya think is a sincere apology.” Brigid handed back the letter.

“And Dad?”

“Tell him Ah told ya to. Ya know yer generation bette’ dan us.” With that Brigid left.

“Yes”, Sunset said quietly. She spun back around and scrapped the letters she’d already completed and began writing again, skipping the rambling.

CHS cafeteria

Date: Sep 19th, time: 12:30 pm

*Sunset’s perspective*

“So, I weaved between them and shot. The puck sailed between the goalie's legs and into the net.” Rainbow regaled them with yesterday’s hockey play. Most of them were only half paying attention to her, with the sole exceptions being Fluttershy and Sunset for very different reasons. Fluttershy was making goo-goo eyes at her. Sunset, on the other hand…

“That was impressive, but that only had a forty-three percent chance of working. If I understand the situation correctly, the fighter-hawk maneuver would’ve been a better choice with a seventy-one percent chance of working.”

“Yeah, it would’ve, but it requires two people weighing over one-hundred-sixty pounds. We only had Tiny since you didn’t sign up. Speaking of which, why didn’t you?”

Sunset lowered her head. “Given recent events, I thought it best I take a break from all after school activities. Might as well save everyone the hassle of kicking me off the team.”

Rainbow stayed silent for a moment, looking like she was thinking, before nodding with a solemn expression. “Yeah, that was probably the right call. As long as I’m on this topic, Rarity, your ASL club teaches people how to sign, right?”

Rarity nodded. “Yes, it does, but why the sudden interest?”

“Because Sunset was the only hearing person that knew ASL on the team, and with her gone, we’ve been having to use a white board and charades or shout really loud to communicate with Meg.”

“Wait, Meg isn’t completely deaf?”, Sunset asked.

“No, she isn’t, but she can’t hear anything unless it’s, like, as loud as a jet engine or the game buzzer.”

“Well, we meet every Friday, so you can come today and start learning.”, Rarity said.

“Awesome”

“But you agreed to come help me at the animal shelter after school.”, Fluttershy said.

Rainbow’s eyes widened, and she smacked herself on the head. “Shit, I completely forgot. I’m sorry, Flutters.” She looked back over to Rarity. “Sorry, I’ll have ta take a rain check.”

“No, it’s okay. You’re doing this to help your friend. Go learn sign language.”

“Really, thank you.” Rainbow leaned over the table and kissed Fluttershy. “You’re the best.”

“I know.”

“If you need any help at the animal shelter, I’d be happy to help.” Sunset said. “I got nothing else going on.”

“Oh, thank you. That would be great. My mom can take us.”

“Cool, let me just let my mom n’ aunt know.” Sunset pulled out her phone and relayed the information to the needed parties.

Hey, I’m helping Fluttershy out at the animal

shelter after school.

Have fun. Be back before six.
Clean up as best you can before getting home,
please.

Will do

“Okay, I’m good.”

“Your mom really just lets you do whatever you want?”

“Well, I have to tell her what I’m doing, where I’m going, and be home by six, but yeah. So long as I’m not getting arrested or doing something that could seriously hurt me or someone else, she doesn’t care what I do.”

“Lucky. Meet me out front, after school.”

Lunch wrapped up, and Sunset didn’t see any of the girls again until after classes let out. She saw Rarity take Rainbow to the ASL club but didn’t interact with them. She spotted one of the students she had a letter for and hurried after them. “Hey, wait up.”

The student, Torch Song, turned around and fear colored her face but she tried to hide it with anger. “What do you want?”

Sunset reached into her bag and pulled out the letter. She handed it to her and bowed. “I wish to apologize for my actions against you. They were dishonorable. I truly regret the pain I’ve caused you.” Sunset straightened back up and examined her.

Torch looked uncomfortable, but Sunset couldn’t say what the exact cause was. “Um, thanks.” She turned on her heels and walked away quickly.

Was it the bow? Should I try a more traditionally American apology? Or was it the whole thing? As Sunset continued to ponder that, she headed out front. She found Fluttershy leaning against the statue and looking to the street. She approached her, extending her aura out as to not startle the shy girl.

Fluttershy turned to look at Sunset and smiled. “Hey”

“Hey, when is your mom going to get here?”

“Soon, she works at an office building in Canterlot proper, so getting here takes a bit.”

“Okay” Sunset leaned against the statue and waited next to Fluttershy.

“Where does your mom work?”

“She’s a professor at the college.”

“Oh, so, a smarty pants.”

“Yeah”

A car pulled up in front of where they stood, and Fluttershy stood up straight. “That’s my mom.”

“Okay” Sunset followed Fluttershy to the car and got into the back seat while Fluttershy got into the front.

“Oh, who’s your friend?”, Fluttershy’s mom asked. She was even quieter and even more meek sounding than Fluttershy, as impossible as that sounds.

“This is Sunset. Rainbow had to cancel last minute, and she offered to help in her stead.”, Fluttershy explained. It was bonkers watching her act somewhat normal, in comparison to her mom.

“Is Rainbow okay?”

“She is. She just double scheduled, and I said she could go to her other thing. She’s learning sign language to communicate with her deaf teammate.”

“Good on her, and that’s sweet of you, Sunset.”, Mrs. Forst said.

“That’s nice of you to say, Mrs. Forst, but I’m sorta the reason she has to learn it. I used to be the team’s interpreter, but I didn’t sign up this year, so they need a new one.” Sunset kept her voice as low as the Forsts had theirs. Maybe Mrs. Forst had extra sensitive hearing or something.

“You know my surname?”, Fluttershy asked.

Oops. “I must’ve picked it up somewhere over the years. I don’t remember where.”

“Okay”

Sunset remained quiet as Mrs. Forst drove them to the animal shelter. “I’ll pick you up a little after five.”, Mrs. Forst said once she pulled up to the curb of the animal shelter.

“Okay, see you then.”

The two of them got out and headed inside. It was the same place that they adopted Tomiju. Fluttershy walked over to the desk lady and began talking to her while Sunset stayed back. After a bit, Fluttershy motion for Sunset to follow. She led her to one of the rooms with the dog pens. The dogs all started barking, so Sunset pulled out her noise reducers and stuck them in.

“What are those?”, Fluttershy asked.

“Noise reducers, they’re like earplugs but with a small hole to let some noise through. I have sensitive hearing.”

“Oh, interesting. So, the water bowls need to be cleaned and refilled. Can you take care of that while I take care of the poop?”

Sunset looked around and saw a trough-like cleaning station that also had several hoses acting as faucets or leading from the same water source. “Yeah, I can do that.”

The two of them split to take care of their tasks. Sunset went into each of the dogs’ pens and took out their bowls. There’s a drain in the middle of the floor, so she emptied the water down it so she could just move onto the next pen without having water-filled bowls to carry around. Most of the dogs were friendly and willing to receive pets while others were more skittish. She left those dogs alone in case they were a bit more than skittish. Once all the bowls were collected, she brought them over to the trough and set them up to be cleaned. One of the faucet hoses had one of those attachments that allow water pressure to build. She turned it up to max and used it to blast off the nasty caked on drool and dissolved food mixture. It was stubborn, so she had to do a mixture of scrubbing with soap and blasting to get it all off. Once that nast was off, Sunset gave each bowl a thorough cleaning before filling them back up and returning them to the pens.

The floor in each of the pens was wet, but the poop was cleaned. Sunset had to step over a hose as she was taking another bowl to a pen and realized that Fluttershy was also using the blasting method to clean the poop residue and pee. It was then she also realized that she was walking in crap water. It wasn’t deep, just a thin layer covering the floor, but still. “Ah, gross! Couldn’t ya have warned me that ya were gonna be doin’ that?!” A bit of anger came out of Sunset’s voice, which she did not want. This isn’t unfixable. There’s no need ta be angry. We don’t want to scare Fluttershy. What would Nana say if I did that?

Fluttershy stuck her head out of the pen she was in and gave Sunset an apologetic, slightly fearful smile. “Sorry, I forgot. They have sanitary wipes at the front desk if you wanna wipe up after we’re done.”

“Yes, please.” Her voice was softer, but it still sounded like Anzhong’s ‘I tolerate your existence’ voice. Why is this so difficult? I didn’t have this kind of trouble in Equestria… when I was an adult pony and not a teenage human. Okay, I can still make myself feel an emotion even though I can’t stop myself from feeling a different one. Just feel happy. Oh, I hope this doesn’t come out creepy. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to snap.” Okay, not creepy sounding, but it didn’t sound right.

If Fluttershy had noticed the forced nature, she didn’t say anything. Either way, her fear did seem to subside. “I am truly sorry about not warning you.”

“Let’s just get this over with, so I can clean up sooner.”

Fluttershy blasted the remaining pens, and Sunset placed the bowls back in. Sunset made sure she turned the water off before leaving. I wonder if leaving it on would make it explode? I’m probably never going to be able to test that. Mom would get mad. “Was that everything?”, Sunset asked.

“No, we still got all the other dog rooms to take care of and then the cats.”

“How many dog rooms are there?”

“There’s one more medium, the two smalls, and the two large.”

“Sigh, okay, let’s go. I probably should’ve asked what I was signing up for.”

“Sorry”

They repeated the same process for the other medium room. One of the dogs apparently had nasty diarrhea, so it smelled way worse, and there was liquid poop on the dog’s little cot… and the dog… and the dog’s roommate. Poor little guys. Poor Fluttershy, that’s nasty. As bad as she felt for her, she wasn’t going to switch. Fluttershy ended up borrowing the soap to give each of the dogs a quick bath. Sunset cleaned the soap bottle too when she got it back. Once that was done, Sunset sniffed her hands to insure she’d gotten the poop off.

“At least it was only a medium’s crap.”, Sunset joked.

“Actually, mediums tend to have the biggest shats.”

“What?”

“Yeah, I once came in and someone in that room sprayed poop almost to the ceiling. It was a lot too. We call it the poopening of twenty-twelve.”

“The number suggests there’s been other ‘poopenings’.”

“Oh, yeah, twenty-o-nine, twenty-o-five, all of them were mediums.”

“Okay, that’s gross.”

Fluttershy chuckled to herself as they went into the first small room. It was way louder in there than in the medium rooms.

“Why are little dogs so much louder?!” Sunset had to shout to be heard over it all.

“Alarm dogs! Little yappy things bred to bark at intruders to alert guards!”

“Perfect”

They got to their jobs and worked quickly. There was a lot less drool caking the bowls, making Sunset’s job easier. They finished quickly and got back outside. Sunset took the moment of quiet to pull out her noise reducers. She hadn’t worn them much, so they’re still being broken in.

“Are you okay?”, Fluttershy asked.

“Yeah, my ears are just a bit sore from wearing these. They’re still sorta new.”

“Oh, okay. Are you good to continue?”

Sunset rubbed the inside of her ears. “Give me a minute.”

After a couple minutes, Sunset put her noise reducers back in, and they headed into the next small room. It was just as noisy as the other one, and so, they worked just as fast. They got out of there quickly. Sunset pulled her noise reducers out and rubbed her ears as they walked to the first large room. The dogs barked when they came in, but the lower pitch made it seem less loud. Sunset put her noise reducers back in, and they continued with their work.

As she collected the bowls, Sunset was greeted by an Irish wolfhound in one of the pens. It was apparently friendly as its tail immediately became a propeller, and it jumped up onto her shoulders. “Whoa, hi there, big guy.”

“Oh, that’s Julie. She’s an…”

“Irish wolfhound, I know. My grandfather had one.” She awkwardly tried to balance with a nearly two hundred pound dog on her shoulders. “Can you help?”

Fluttershy hurried over and helped Sunset get Julie off. “Your grandfather really had one of these. I hope he lived on a farm. That’s the only place someone would have enough room.”

“Actually, yes, he did, and I mean, what other breed of dog would a six foot ten Irish guy have? Pattycake actually looked normal sized next to him, at least in the one photo I’ve seen of them.”

“Six foot ten, your grandfather’s six foot ten?”, Fluttershy said in shock.

“He and his brother were, and my mom’s six eight.”

Fluttershy’s brain took a few seconds to process that before formulating a response. “How are you this short?”

“I’m adopted.”

“Oh” Fluttershy bonked the side of her head. “Duh, I forgot you’re a pony.”

“Yeah” Am I a pony? “I’m not so sure if I am still a pony.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I’ve been human for so long that I’m not sure if I’m still pony.”

“Remember Jack Scully from Project 097, the guy that got his mind transferred into his avatar?”

“Yeah?”

“Well, I’d say you’re both in the same boat, sorta. Even though neither of you are in your original bodies, your old selves will always be a part of you. You can also think of it like this. We’re biracial. We are both white and Asian. Being one does not invalidate the other.”

“Each makes up our whole, and that whole is beautiful.” Sunset’s mind briefly wandered back to when she was a filly. She’d just been teased because of her fangs and felt ashamed of her thestral heritage. She had run home and cried to her father about her struggles.

“I take it you’ve had a similar conversation before?”

“Yeah, with my biological father. That’s what he told me.”

“I hope this helped?”

“Yeah, it did. Thank you.”

They returned to their work and got done with both of the large rooms fairly quickly. Fluttershy brought them to the front counter and grabbed the package of sanitary wipes. Sunset was hesitant to walk inside with poop residue on her shoes, but that’s exactly what Fluttershy was doing. Fluttershy pulled out a wipe and tried to hand it to Sunset but became confused when she saw her still outside. Oh well.

“I take it you guys don’t care about poop on your floors?”, Sunset said as she walked in and took the wipe from Fluttershy.

“I mean, a cleaning company comes in at night to clean the floors, and poop is kinda unavoidable here. I’ll give you some more wipes before we leave.”

“Appreciated”

Sunset cleaned her shoes off, and then Fluttershy led them to the cats. The cats were kept in little condos structures. Instead of bowls, they had food and water dispensers on the outside of the cages. The cats were quiet enough that Sunset could put away her noise reducers and give her ears a break.

“The food’s in that cabinet over there.” Fluttershy pointed to some cabinets with a little kitchenette area. She didn't specify which one, but that would be easy to figure out.

Sunset grabbed the first set of dispensers and brought them over to the kitchenette. Unlike the dogs’ bowls, the cats’ dispensers didn’t need cleaning beyond a simple wipe down. Shocker, right? This was one of the reasons Sunset was never going to own a dog. She loves dogs, but she loves other people’s dogs. After a quick search, she found the food, filled the dispensers, and then put them back. She repeated the process with the rest and, due to her job being not at all reliant on Fluttershy’s job being done, was done much sooner. She debated cutting in to help Fluttershy but also didn’t want to have to deal with poop. Maybe I could make conversation.

“So, when did you and Rainbow start dating?”

“Oh, um, she asked me out after the whole… Fall Formal incident.”

Sunset’s mind flashed back to that dark void. Her heart twisted at the memory of calling out to her mother to only get no response. She shook her head to bring it back to reality. It was only then she noticed her hairs were standing on end and that she felt like she was being watched. She looked around, but there was only Fluttershy, the cats, and herself.

“Sunset, are you okay?”

“Yeah… yeah, I’m fine.”

“Sunset, please be honest. The girls and I want to help you, but we can’t unless you tell us what’s wrong.”

“Look, it’s nothing. I just… I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Sigh, alright. You’re just as stubborn as AJ.” Fluttershy finished up and took the poop bag over to a trash can. “Okay, that’s everything.” She pulled out her phone and looked at the time. “My mom won’t be here for a while longer though.”

Sunset shrugged, and they left the cat room. Fluttershy grabbed several wipes, and they headed out front. Sunset took her share of the wipes and went to go sit on the grass. She began cleaning her shoes as Fluttershy sat down next to her.

“Question,” Sunset said, “what races are you?”

“Hawaiian and various east Asians mix on my mom’s side and German on my dad’s. There was an agricultural boom in Hawaii some decades back, and many different peoples from Asia went over there to work. That’s how my mom’s family happened. You?”

“Mostly Japanese and Irish with some Greek, Roman, and other British isles races mix in there. I got a DNA test done some time ago. That’s how I know.”

“Right, pony. I keep forgetting.”

“We just had an in depth conversation about it.”

“I know. I’m sorry.” Fluttershy sounded genuinely sorry, so Sunset decided to cut the teasing short.

“Ahh, I’m just teasin’ ya. I get it. I sometimes forget myself.” That got a snort from Fluttershy.

“What did you look like, as a pony?”

“Hm, well, I kinda look the same as I do now, just pony-shaped. Equoesian ponies are a lot smaller than Earth ponies at only about a foot tall at the shoulders, but their heads are actually slightly larger than human heads, adding about another six inches to their total height. Yes, a third of our body mass is taken up by our heads. Here, I figured this would be a question you guys would ask eventually.” Sunset pulled out a folded up drawing of her pony self and handed it to Fluttershy.

Fluttershy looked it over and made a face one would make when a puppy did something puppyish. “Man, if you hadn’t described what you look like, I would’ve thought you… took quite a few artistic liberties.”

“Hence why I did.”

Fluttershy handed the drawing back, and they waited in the warmth of the sun until Fluttershy’s mom pulled up. They got up, disposed of their wipes, and got in to go home.

Sunset’s room

Date: Sep 20th, time: 2:00 pm

*Sunset’s perspective*

“So, what will it mean when I have your bone marrow inside me?”, Emi asked. The two of them were playing video games, and Emi had a plate of grapes she was periodically snacking on. Her appetite still wasn’t great, but she was eating more than she was a month ago.

“Well, if you ever get cut while committing a crime, the DNA would lead back to me.”

“Sooo, I could commit a crime and frame you for it.”

“There will be records of you receiving my bone marrow, so the police will know you have the same blood as me. If we play our cards right, we could create enough reasonable doubt in order to not get convicted. I think a pair of twins did the same thing once.”

“Since I’ll have the same blood as you, will that make me your blood sister?”

“Yeah, I guess you would.”

“Sweet, I get awesome, expensive blood. Will I have to get my blood drawn and stored like you?”

“Probably”

“But I heard having cancer makes you ineligible for that sorta thing.”

“Huh, let’s go check.”

The two of them paused the game and went over to Sunset’s computer. Sunset opened up Boogle and typed in ‘can you give blood after receiving a bone marrow transplant’.

“Okay, looks like you can after three months.”

“Cool, I like the idea of being a blood hero.”

“I like the idea of having more backup blood.”

“Who says any of my blood’s going in your body?”

“Your blood? That will be my blood. I’ll just be lending it to ya. Plus, out of the two of us, which one do ya think is gonna end up bleeding more?”

“Once I have my energy back, me. Do you think we could sell our blood?”

“I don’t think so. Oh, and don’t go around bragging that we have expensive blood. You’re more likely to get weird looks than anything else.”

“Yeah, okay. Let’s go back to playing.”

Sunset closed her computer back up, and they went back to Sunset’s couch and resumed playing.

Ribbon Tailoring

Date: Sep 21st, time: 9:00 am

*Brigid’s perspective*

Brigid pulled up to the curb and went into the shop. She rang the desk bell, and Royal’s voice came from the back. “Be out in just a moment.” Brigid pulled out Sunset’s drawing and Emi’s beanie. Wait, how did da portal know ta give Sunset clothes? How does it know ‘bout modern fashion? It certainly didn’t read ‘er mindta get da information. The beanie that once belonged to Sunset was well made. It was still in perfect condition after being worn by a homeless Sunset for about a month and then Emi everyday for three years. As bizarre as it was, the portal knew how to make good clothes.

Royal came out from the back with a warm smile on her face. “Doctor, how can I help you today?”

“Mo youngest found out wha’ ‘er symbol is, and wants it on ‘er beanie ‘ere.” She handed over the items.

“Oh, what a joyous occasion. When’s the party?” Royal took the drawing and looked it over. “Are the points supposed to be uneven?”

“Yes, Emi made it very clear dat’s exactly how it’s supposed ta look.”

“Alright, this is a simple one. I can have it done in fifteen minutes, but I have a time sensitive order that I need to finish up.”

“Ah c’n come pick it up before lunch. Ah have some errands to run.”

“That works.” Royal punched some stuff into her computer and turned the read out thing to Brigid. Brigid paid, and Royal nodded. “Okay, see you later.”

Brigid waved and left to take care of her stuff.

CHS

Date: Sep 22nd, time: 1:00 pm

*Sunset’s perspective*

Sunset closed up her locker, now holding the books she needed for her next class. The other students weren’t staring daggers at her anymore, but they still made their dislike of her evident, and Flash… Well, they haven’t exchanged anything more than an ‘excuse me’ when they bumped into each other in the halls. At least he doesn’t hate me. Why do I care so much about what he thinks of me? He broke up with me. Maybe I’m clinging onto whoever doesn’t want me in a ditch.

Sunset began the now familiar routine of avoiding the other students as much as possible as she made it to class. Maybe I can be homeschooled. But that would mean I couldn’t talk to Ms. Lance-Hart. I like talking to her.

As Sunset got close to her class, the annoyingly familiar voice of Lily grated her ears. “Oh, look how the queen has fallen.”

“Real original” Sunset tried to continue on but was stopped when Lily grabbed her arm. “Get off me!”

“You think you’re all that, but you’re not.”

“Lily, let go. Don’t you have another poor boy to assault.” She was real tempted to beat this bitch into a bloody pulp, but that would likely get turned around on her.

“You think you’re better than me. Well, now everyone isn’t too afraid to let you know just how worthless you are. And now, I’m queen of this school. I-” Whack

Sunset looked up and saw Flash. He’d just sent Lily to the ground with a solid hit upside the coconut, getting her to let go of her arm. “You okay.”, he asked.

“Yup” Sunset looked down at Lily, who was now clutching the side of her head and beginning to cry this high pitched baby cry. It was so painful to hear that the crowd that had been watching the whole scene cleared out within seconds and Sunset and Flash both covered their ears. The two of them looked at each other with ‘WTF looks on their faces as Daisy snuck in and literally dragged Lily away by her ankles.

“What the fuck was that?”, Flash asked.

“Uuuh, I think she needs psych help, a lot of help.”

The two of them looked at each other awkwardly before turning back to where they were originally heading and leaving it at that. The day went on like the new normal. At the end of the day, Sunset headed to Ms. Lance-Hart’s office. It had replaced her Monday student council meetings and Thursday hockey practice. When she’d get back into hockey was another question, and she had no intention of joining the high school’s student council. Inside Ms. Lance-Hart’s office, she had set up the chess board and was waiting for Sunset. Sunset turned the sign as she entered the room and took her usual seat, and they started playing.

“So, I heard about the incident in the halls earlier. Mind telling me what that was about?”

“What exactly did you hear?”

“That you got into an altercation with another student. I believe her name was Lily.”

“Lily Valley, and I wouldn’t call it an altercation. Neither of us threw a punch. Lily just grabbed my arm and we exchanged some words.”

“An altercation doesn’t have to involve physical violence. The word means ‘a noisy argument’. And I remember you mentioning Lily before.” She checked the notebook she had in her lap. “She kissed your boyfriend without his consent, tried to steal your phoenix whistle, and has been an overall bitch to you over the last couple of years. Do I have that right?”

“Yeah, I don’t know what her problem is. Her sister’s a decent human being. Though, after that crybaby fit, I think she might have some mental issues.”

“Maybe, I’ll see if I can get her to talk with me. So, what was your weekend like?”

“I spent it at home. My family’s the only people that want anything ta do with me.”

“What about those girls I’ve seen you with?”

“Twilight’s friends, they tolerate me purely because Twilight asked them to. They had a sleepover over the weekend and planned it all out last Thursday at lunch. They talked like I wasn’t even there. It’s not like I care. It’s stupid kid stuff.”

“It sounds like you care, and this sort of “stupid kid stuff” is important. Is your, um, birth species… Is that an okay term?”

“It is an accurate term, and I win.”

The two of them reset the board then continued playing.

“Okay. Is your birth species a social species?”

“I’d say we’re even more social than humans. We’re most similar to Earth’s ponies in both appearance and behavior, though much smaller and pastel colored. Instead of tight packs and tribes, we formed herds. These herds ranged in the hundreds to take advantage of our bright coloring to confuse our predators.”

“You were a prey species? Becoming a predator must’ve been a shock to the system.”

“Not as much of one as you might think. I was a mix of a regular pony and a subspecies that are the descendants of ponies that interbred with an omnivorous species, so I’ve always been a little bit omnivorous. It took longer to get used to how readily available meat is and how much more variety there is here. I grew up only eating fish and with a much smaller selection of spices. Don’t get me wrong, I love fish, but all the different options here are incredible. Not to mention, the vast array of cultures leading to dozens of different ways of cooking the same five ingredients and turning them into dozens of different foods with different tastes. There isn’t anything like that in Equestria.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Ponies aren’t the only sentient species on Equoes, so we’re pretty much confined to our one continent, thus, less diversity with our species. Change is slow in Equestria.”

“I see. As far as the sleepover, humans need some sort of companionship, and that goes beyond our families. You had that companionship with Flash and Meg, and now that they are gone, you’re craving new companions. Besides, no one likes to be ignored like that. You could try talking to them about how you feel.”

“I tried to kill them plus the years of torment I brought upon them. I caused Pinkie to backslide in her treatment. I have no right to their friendship. I’m lucky they haven’t shunned me too, and they haven’t only because they’re all crazy and have a misplaced loyalty to Princess Twilight.”

“You say their loyalty’s misplaced, why?”

“Didn’t you lot have an entire war to basically tell your king to screw off? The Equestrian royalty is based on lies. They tell us they’re the gods in mortal form, but that was a lie. They’re just long lived ponies with the ability to use all three tribes’ magics. There’s nothing about them that makes them inherently more fit to rule. Yet, they tell us the opposite.”

“How old is Twilight? She seemed younger than you.”

“That’s because she is. She’s actually about fifteen. At least, that’s my guess.”

“So, she wasn’t responsible for creating the system you grew up in?”

“No, I wouldn’t be surprised if Hilistau never told her. Her telling me is what caused me to run, so she probably hasn’t told Twilight. Let me guess, you’re gonna ask me to think of her not as a representation of theocracy but as her on her own merits. And you’re right, and I know it. I’ve just been too angry to think with a straight head.”

“Something like that. Now, I am afraid that we’re gonna have to wrap things up. I have another appointment.”

“Yeah, okay.”

Sunset checked Ms. Lance-Hart’s king, and then they cleaned up the board. Sunset turned the sign back around as she left. The nearly empty hallways were a blessing, even before the Fall Formal. Having to squeeze past dozens of stinky teens was never fun. Nearing the front doors, Sunset saw Meg walking down the hall. She waved to her, but Meg ignored her as she walked past. Sunset huffed when Meg couldn’t see and continued out.

I should think of this as a battle plan. Okay so, Twilight needs to be analyzed. She doesn’t seem to have the same facial and body language regulation skills that Celestia and I do, meaning she hasn’t been a princess for long. The nobles were never much ones for regulating themselves, and her accent is undoubtedly that of the nobility caste, likely lower nobility. Though, she smelled of fertile soil and plant life. I couldn’t get a strong enough smell of her to tell how deep it had seeped into her fur, but I’d bet she lives near farmland. Why would a princess live near farmland? Is she trying to rough it with the common folk to earn more favor with them? She has the element of magic. Who wields the other elements, and what role do they play in her life? Most likely the girls counterparts/ Stars know most nobles could never dream of being worthy of any of the elements. What I do know is that she’s more charismatic than first impressions would suggest and more altruistic than any other noble I’ve ever met. She might actually be worth getting to know, if I ever meet her again. She really could be a valuable ally.

Dr. Dusk’s office

Date: same day, time: 5:25 pm

*Anzhong’s perspective*

“Ah know ya don’t wanna be ‘ere, but y’re doin’ dis for Sunset.”

“I know, but I don’t have to be happy about it.”

Anzhong and Brigid exited the car, and she led him inside. He went to sit down while she took care of the paperwork. She then sat down next to him. Their wait wasn’t long as he was called in within a few minutes.

“Please, take a seat.”

“Am I to assume you’re Dr. Dusk?” Anzhong tapped his cane around to familiarize himself with the space.

“Yes, um, do you need help finding the seat?”

“If you can sit down in yours, Kiba can direct me to the open seat.”

“Okay”

Anzhong heard the doctor take her seat, and Kiba led Anzhong to the other. He sat down and leaned his cane against the chair. “I’ll be honest, I don’t want to be here. I’m only doing this to support my daughter.”

“That’s okay. Whatever your motivation is, I’m here to help you reach your health goals.”

“Alright, let’s get this over with. My wife says I’m holding onto a lot of guilt and projecting that guilt onto our daughter. I was a bully in high school, which is a time I do not look back on fondly, and we recently learned that our daughter has been bullying other students at her school.”

“That’s unfortunate. Mind telling me about what caused you to become a bully and what you did? This is so I can get a better idea of where your guilt comes from.”

“Very well, none of my victims died, but my actions were dishonorable. I was angry and lonely. My mother had died, and my father dragged me to this country, leaving my adult sister back in Japan. My father was also a recovering alcoholic, at the time, so I had no support system other than a friend that wasn’t the best influence on me. My teenage brain decided that the best way to deal with it all was to physically take it out on the other kids. I only stopped when my father found out and showed me what I was doing to the other kids.”

“Your father beat you?”

“It was the only time and well deserved. I did way worse to the other kids, but it scared me enough that I stopped, and I stopped hanging out with that friend not long after.”

“It sounds like you have a pretty good grasp on your situation. What do you do for a living?”

“I’m a lawyer, a prosecutor, to be specific.”

“Okay… You know how a person’s record is sealed after they become an adult?”

“A criminal record is different from a moral record.”

“We seal juvenile records because kids’ brains are still developing and they are bound to do stupid stuff. You were a kid, and I’m guessing you’ve learned and grown beyond it. And holding onto that kind of guilt is unhealthy and can harm both you and those around you, especially your daughter.”

“How do I fix this?”

“Forgive yourself. Though, that may be easier said than done. I would like to speak with both you and your father at some point.”

“I will talk with him. What time is it?”

“Five fifty”

“Is there any chance we can wrap things up early?”

“If that’s what makes you most comfortable.”

Anzhong gathered up his stuff and got up to leave. “Thank you and goodbye”, he said with a bow.

“I hope to see you again.”, Dr. Dusk said as she opened the door for Anzhong.

Anzhong exited the room and walked back over to Brigid.

“Y’re done early.”

“Yes, I am.”

“Ready ta go?”

“Yes”

Brigid got up, and they went out to the car. They got in, and Brigid began the drive home. “So, whatcha talk about?”

“To sum it up, I told her what I did, and she told me that I was young and that we all do stupid stuff when we’re young. She also wants to talk with my father and me together.”

“Do ya plan on returnin’?”

“Maybe, we’ll see.”

They got home and headed inside. Anzhong took Kiba’s harness off and hung it up with his cane and coat. He did a quick scan, and the girls were in their rooms, Anura was with Emi, and Minerva was in Brigid’s office. His girls undoubtedly could hear that they were here, but it was less certain that the Reads knew they were here. Tomiju came down the stairs, and Anzhong opened the door to let the dogs outside to play, then went to start dinner.

As the sound of Brigid’s steps went up the stairs, the sounds of much smaller feet came from the other side of the house. “Sunset”, Anzhong said.

“Hey, did you go to the therapist?”

“I did. I did not enjoy it.”

“Was it the therapist or the whole experience?”

“The therapist was good. I merely don’t like opening up like that.”

“You don’t have to go back if you don’t want to. I’m comfortable going to Ms. Lance-Hart.”

“Even though I don’t like it, I feel that it would be better for the family if I continued going. I don’t want to scare you again.”

Sunset didn’t say anything to that. Brigid’s footsteps came down the stairs, prompting Sunset to speak. “Hey, Mom.”

Brigid walked over to Sunset in silence. “Hey. Have ya talked with Nana dis year?”

Anzhong heard a smack that sounded like a hand hitting a bonier part of the body, like the forehead.

“No, Ah completely forgot.”

“Could Ah talk ta ‘er alone dis year? Ah have some questions Ah need ta ask ‘er.”

“I’ll go grab the ring.” Sunset ran back into her room and returned within a couple minutes. “Here” Anzhong could only guess she passed the ring off to her mother. He was still a bit weirded out by the whole situation, but he was the son of a centuries old fox spirit and, thus, was hardly one to speak.

“Thank ya”

Moonshine’s Bar

Date: Sep 25th, time: 5:15 pm

*Jiraiya’s perspective*

Jiraiya sat at the bar with a virgin tropic storm in front of him. The bar was filling up as normal people got off work. His date should be one of them soon.

“So, where’d ya meet this one?”, Jamal asked.

“She came into the hospital after a cooking accident. She seems interesting.”

“Hopefully, she can keep you interested.” Jamal went back to his other patterns while Jiraiya turned back to watching the door.

A short time later, Torta walked through the door. She was wearing a casual blue (It probably wasn’t blue. Ryoko probably would’ve called it sapphire or something, but as far as he was concerned, blue was blue.) dress that went down to just below her knees and black boots. She had blue eyes and fair skin. Her gray hair still had traces of its original purple. “Hello”, she said as she sat down. She placed her purse on the ground as Jamal came over.

“What can I get you?”, he asked.

“How are ze virgin drinks? I can’t drink alcohol on my meds.”

“They’re pretty good.”, Jiraiya said while picking up his own drink for emphasis.

“I’ll have what he’s having then.”

“Coming right up.” Jamal turned around to begin mixing the drink.

“So, were you born here, or were you born in Russia?”, Jiraiya asked.

“I was born in Russia but spent lot of time in Poland as kid as my father did a lot of business there. Unfortunately, we were there when the Nazis invaded and weren’t able to get back home. We did what we needed to survive, but that meant we couldn’t return to Russia so came here.”

“What do you mean?”

“Ah, my parents worked for those bastards ta get extra food ta feed us.”

“So, the Soviet government abandoned their own citizens because they did what they needed to do to survive. What bastards. They don’t deserve you.”

“That’s sweet.” Jamal gave Torta her drink, and she tasted it. “Hm, that’s good. So, Jiraiya, what is your story?”

“Oh, my story. Well, my family wasn’t so lucky. My father and brother, along with many of my cousins and my uncles, were all conscripted and died. My clan still hasn’t fully recovered. It was all that death that made me hate war and want to be a healer.”

“Aye, that is a lot.”

“Yeah, but we shouldn’t completely unload on each other on the first date.”, Jiraiya said, trying to brighten the mood. “You know what I do for a living. What do you do?”

“I owned couple restaurants down in Baltimore, but I sold them and moved up here ta be with and help my daughter with her kids after my husband died. I’ve been a stay at home grandma since then.”

“I remember them. What are your granddaughters’ names?”

“Raritiva’s ze older one, and Sweetie Belle’s ze younger one.”

“Raritiva and Sweetie Belle, cute names. I have three, correction, four grandchildren. I recently got a fourth. Still getting used to the change in numbers. Sunset, Anura, Emi, and Hikari, from oldest to youngest.”

“I hope I get to meet them one day.”

“I hope so too. Hikari and my daughter, Ryoko, still live in Japan, so meeting him might be a while into the future.”

“Hopefully not too far. I’m not getting any younger.”

The two continued chatting for a while, sharing stories and talking about their families. He couldn’t put a finger as to why, but there was something he really liked about Torta. Maybe it was her sexy, Russian/Baltimore mix accent, maybe it was their shared WW2 trauma, but there was something about her that made him think this could be long term.

Anzhong & Brigid’s bedroom

Date: Sep 26th, time: 10:00 pm

*Brigid’s perspective*

Brigid grabbed her family’s ring out from her nightstand drawer and put it on one of her fingers. If someone had told her she’d be communing with her long dead mother via her ring three years ago, she’d’ve written them off as some weirdo or recommended a hospital trip if they were particularly insistent, but this has become her new normal. Demons, spirits, alien unicorns, these things were just facts of life now. If some came up to her today and told her the president was part squid monster, she’d at least give it some thought before telling them they were crazy.

Her mother used to tell her tales of fantastical creatures native to Ireland. There were your well known ones, like the banshee, leprechauns, and fey, and then there was the lesser known bodach, fomorians, and faoladh. She’d always particularly liked the story of the faoladh, the Irish werewolf. Unlike their bloodthirsty English and mainland Europe counterparts, the faoladh were kind, benevolent protectors and have always been both male and female. Only in recent years have female common werewolves been a thing, hence the ‘were’ (meaning man as in male). The faoladh had always reminded her of her Nana and Mum. That was probably why she liked them so much.

She had once thought tales were all they are, but recent events have caused her to question that belief and look into the history of those tales. Like the story of King Aurther, it was hard to tell what could possibly be real and what was fake in those old stories. They have been retold so many times over the centuries that it was hard to tell where the original tale ended and the “creative liberties” begin. That, along with her own oddities, was her intended topic of conversation this night.

Brigid laid next to Anzhong, with Ailbhe on her chest, and let sleep take her. She opened her eyes and was greeted by the familiar sight of her childhood home and her mother. Many wonderful and painful memories threatened to make her cry, but she held them back. She was on a time limit.

“Brigid, it’s good ta see ya. Ah’m glad Emi’s doin’ bette’.”

“Let’s skip da pleasantries. We don’t have da time, n’ Ah have some questions.”

“Ask away.”

“Does our family have any history with magic?”

Mum looked surprised for a moment before looking annoyed. “Of course Pristine didn’t tell ya.”

“Tell me wha’?”

“Ya remember da stores Ah told ya ‘bout da faoladh?”

“Of course, dey were mo favorites. Why?”

“Ya remember da yer nan’s maiden name means ‘strong as a wolf’?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Eve’ wonde’ why ‘er family was called dat?”

“Because dey were great warriors?” The dots began to connect in Brigid’s head. “Y’re tellin’ me dat Nana was a faoladh?”

“Her n’ ‘er children.”

“Dat’s not possible. Ah got a DNA test done, n’ Ah’m one hundred percent human.”

“Faoladh magic allows us ta mimic wolves. We aren’t actually wolves… at least Ah don’t think. Ya were supposed ta be told all dis on yer eighteenth birthday, but ya weren’t. Yer nan’s generation was da last generation able ta use deir magic, but by da time she died, she could barely pop out a claw. Until magic returns, ya n’ Emi will just be abnormal humans.”

Brigid wanted to ask a million more questions, but the house started to fade.

“Times up. Ah love ya, Brigid.”

Brigid awoke, feeling like she’d been up the whole night. She’d just go back to bed and worry about her sleep schedule on Sunday, but she needed to eat first. No, Ah gotta take Sunset ta Great Apple Orchards. She sat up and rubbed her face to wake herself up enough to function. Ah’ll sleep afte’ dat.

“Did you have a good talk with your mom?”, Anzhong asked.

“Yeah, Ah learned a lot.” She needs to tell them. If that magic Sunset used reawakens the faoladh magic within Emi, they might have some issues on their hands. Hell, the same goes for her kitsune magic. Magic kiddoes, as if they aren’t already handfuls. I’ll tell them over dinner.

Sunset’s room

Date: Sep 27th, time: 6:00 am

*Sunset’s perspective*

Sunset’s alarm went off, and it took a couple smacks to turn it off. Six am, why did I… Oh, right. She rolled out of bed and sluggishly went about her morning routine. I promised Jacklyn I’d help her. She finished getting ready and went out to the kitchen to get some much needed caffeine. Neither Anzhong nor Brigid were out there, so Sunset started up coffee and breakfast for them all. The dogs rushed down the stairs and waited by the backdoor to be let out.

“I thought you were allergic ta mornings.”, Emi quipped. She was being carried down the stairs by Brigid followed by Anzhong.

“I am. I just want to make one of my classmates like me more.” She poured Brigid, Anzhong, and herself some coffee as she continued cooking.

“Thank ya, sweetie.”, Brigid said as she sat Emi down.

Anzhong let the dogs outside, and Sunset brought the plates and food over to the table. Everyone sat down and began to eat.

“So, what are you doing today, Sunset?”, Emi asked.

“The O’Apples are in the middle of apple picking season, so they need help with the normal farm choosers. So, while the adults are doing the apple picking, the girls and I are going to help the Apple kids around the rest of the farm.”

“So, that’s why you’re wearing your work clothes.”

Everyone finished eating quickly, Anzhong began making the animals’ food, and Brigid grabbed a thermos of coffee before they left. The drive to Great Apple Orchards was long, over thirty minutes.

“So, ya talked with Nana?”

“Ah did.”

“What about?”

“Ah’ll tell ya tonight. Ah’m too tired now.”

As they got close to the place, the road turned into an undivided two lane road. As in, there were no painted lines whatsoever but it was still big enough for two cars, barely. The roads branching off the road were dirt and gravel car-sized paths. The scenery was beautiful with expanses of farmland and the mountains in the background. Brigid pulled off the road onto one of the branching dirt roads. It wasn’t hard to figure out which led to Great Apple Orchards with all the apple trees. She pulled into the driveway of the farmhouse, and Sunset hopped out with her hat and bag.

“Have a good day n’ be careful.”

“I know. Bye, Mom.”

Brigid pulled out, and Sunset caught a whiff of Jacklyn’s scent so followed that to her location. She was sitting on the back porch, talking with an older boy that was only answering in ‘eyup’s and ‘nope’s. There was also a little girl and the lunch lady from school. Sunset didn’t remember if she heard their names or not.

“Mornin’”

“Mornin’, Sunset.”, Jacklyn said. She gave Sunset a smile, but she could tell it was forced. She wasn’t unhappy she was there but wasn’t excited either.

“I take it, I'm the first one here.”

“Yeah, ya are.”

Sunset nodded. “So, should we get started or?”

“Ah mean, if ya want.” Jacklyn got up from her seat and hopped off the deck. “So, what can ya do?”

“Well, I have experience with brick laying, crop care, horses, and livestock care.”

“And how do ya know those things?” She clearly didn’t believe her, which she couldn’t blame. For all Jacklyn knows, Sunset’s an ex-bully, city-kid that’s never been within touching distance of a barn.

“My mom grew up on a farm, and she’s been teaching me how to not get killed by farm animals. Neither of us want that on my tombstone.”

Jacklyn still didn’t look convinced but nodded. “Alright, follow me.” Jacklyn led Sunset to the barn. Inside were several stables but only one horse. The rest were filled with equipment.

“I take it, you want me to shovel out the stable?”

“No, actually, there’s a retainin’ wall that needs fixin’. The mortar n’ tools are just in here.” Jacklyn went into one of the stables and came back out with a wheelbarrow filled with bags, a couple shovels, and a five gallon bucket filled with tools inside. “Okay, let’s go.”

Sunset followed Jacklyn outside. Jacklyn brought her over to the retaining wall that sat at the edge of one of the fields and looked like it had been crashed into by either a truck, moose, or buffalo. Whatever happened to it, it’d been cleaned up and new bricks laid in wait nearby. There was also a mound of dirt that most likely previously resided behind the wall and a small excavator that was probably used to clean up the mess and that will likely be used to put the dirt back sitting off to the side.

“I’m guessing we won’t get to use that.”

Jacklyn turned to look at what Sunset was pointing at, and a sorrowful happiness filled her heart. “Yeah, Ah wish we could. Those things are fun. Ma pa used ta let me sit on his lap whenever he used one.”

“That does sound like fun. Is yer dad in da fields today?”

Jacklyn stiffened up at that, and a deep sadness emanated from her. Oh, shit.

“He’s dead, isn’t he?”

“Sigh, yeah, he and my ma died in a car crash some years back.”

Tears began to well up in Sunset’s eyes, and she quickly blinked them away before they could fall. What is going on with me? “Ah’m sorry for bringin’ ‘im up.”

“No, you didn’t. I brought him up, and I’m fine.” She shook her head and turned back to Sunset. “Let’s get to work. We first need water.”

“Okay,” Sunset looked around but saw nothing like a hose, other than the irrigation system, “where do we get da wate’.”

“Follow me.” Jacklyn emptied out the bucket onto the ground and began walking away. Sunset followed and was led to a nearby spigot. ‘Nearby’ was a relative term as it was a several minute walk away from their work site, and Sunset didn’t have to be a genius to know what Jacklyn was planning. As expected, she filled up the bucket with water. “Can ya help me with this?”

Sunset walked over, and she and Jacklyn worked together to carry the bucket back to their work site. They placed the bucket next to the wheelbarrow, and then Jacklyn took the shovels out.

“Okay, we just need to mix tha mortar. Probably should’ve asked this earlier, but do ya need gloves?”

“Ah’m good.” Sunset grabbed her gloves and got them on and put her backpack in a safe place.

“Great”

Jacklyn instructed Sunset on what to do, rip open the bags, dump their contents into the wheelbarrow, pour in the water, and use the shovels to stir. Once that was done, they began laying the mortar and bricks. That same strength she got when she helped rebuild the school entrance returned and seemed to be greater now, or that could just be because she was no longer injured. It took a while, but they were able to rebuild the wall.

“Dang, that was easy.”, Jacklyn said.

“Easy?”, Sunset said with a raised eyebrow.

“Well, relatively. It’s weird. Ah seem ta be stronger lately. Ah’ve also been eatin’ a lot more. But Ah haven’t changed anything.”

“We probably have some residual magic from… that night. Ah’ve also been experiencin’ an increase in strength.”

“So, magic can make ya stronger?”

“Among othe’ thin’s.”

“And you’ve been gettin’ stronger too?”

“It’ll probably be temporary, or maybe it will last da rest a’ yer life. That depends on how much ya use it and how much ya have. At da end a’ da day, yer body has no way a’ replenishing it, so ya got wha’ ya got n’ nothin’ more.”

“Ah see.” Jacklyn dumped out the remaining water, and they began packing up. “Sunset, are ya mockin’ ma accent?”

“Wha’?” It took a second for what she asked to register in Sunset’s head, but once it did, she rolled her eyes. “No, ya twat. My mom’s Irish, and she’s da one that taught me English. Yer accent jus’ brings out da one Ah got from ‘er.”

“Right, sorry. Ah didn’t mean ta offend ya.”

Then maybe you should not ask such offensive questions or think through what you’re about to say. Sunset took some deep breaths. You’re trying to get her to like you more and repair your image. You can’t sully the name of the Mac Carthaigh clan. “Let’s jus’ get goin’.”

They took the stuff back to the barn then returned to the house. The three people that were there before were gone, but there was a faint scent of the rest of the girls.

“Are ya thirsty?”, Jacklyn asked.

“I’m good.” Sunset waited outside while Jacklyn went inside. About a minute later, Jacklyn came back outside with a water bottle in hand. “What’s next?”

“The house and garage needs ta be cleaned.”

“Ugh, if Ah wanted ta do domestic work, Ah’d’ve stayed home.”

“Heheh, at least it’s only da outsides. Are ya afraid of heights?”

“No, why?”

Sunset and Jacklyn spent the rest of the morning cleaning and doing repairs to the outside of the house and garage. Given that Jacklyn’s afraid of heights, Sunset got to take care of the roofs. As it approached lunch, everyone began coming back to the house. There were a lot of them, dozens of adults and almost as many kids. Among them were Meg and her family. Sunset and Jacklyn finished up and joined the rest of them inside.

The lunch lady, along with several other women and older girls, were putting large bowls and plates of food on the dining tables. Extra tables and chairs were set up to accommodate all the people. People began lining up to wash up in the various bathrooms and the kitchen sink. As Sunset and Jacklyn lined up, they ended up behind Meg, who was talking with Rarity and Rainbow. Rainbow’s signing was looking good, for a newbie.

“Hey, there you two are.”, Rainbow said.

Meg looked behind her and flinched when she saw Sunset. Jacklyn was between them, but Meg still didn’t seem happy at how close they were. Sunset tried to give her an apologetic smile and waved. Meg merely turned back around.

“I thought you bailed on us.”, Rainbow continued.

“I’m assuming that was directed at me.”, Sunset said with glare.

Rainbow seemed to realize what she said and gave Sunset an apologetic smile of her own.

The line continued, and everyone eventually took seats at the table with clean hands. There were adult tables and kid tables. Sunset and the other girls sat at one kid table, and Meg sat at another. Sunset watched her as the food was passed around. Nobody around her even attempted to sign to her; they likely had no idea how to. She chose to sit away from the only people she could talk to because she didn’t want to sit near me. I get that I did something bad, but what the hell? It’s not like I did anything particularly bad to her. I didn’t do anything to her over those two years because she was the closest thing I had to a friend. It was just that demon that did something to her. She flippin’ kissed me, and I’m sitting next to five of the girls I nearly killed. Why is she being like this?

The food started coming around to her, and Sunset scooped herself heaping servings of everything, except for the broccoli. Emi called broccoli “doom trees”, and Sunset understood why. The texture, raw or cooked, was… unappetizing. Maybe I can bring some with me next time I go to Equestria. If I ever get to go back. That set many more questions rushing through her mind. She was likely wanted for high treason. For most, the punishment was banishment. For most ponies, being separated from the rest of pony-kind for the rest of their lives was the worst possible punishment. But Sunset wasn’t most ponies. Her rank and position made her too dangerous to be banished. The law demanded that she be imprisoned, one way or another. To her humanized brain, banishment was preferable. Ponies would sacrifice their freedom for a community. Humans do too, but they wouldn’t completely sacrifice their freedom. That’s likely because humans can form suitable bonds with non-humans while ponies can’t. Ponies need other ponies while humans can do without other humans. All these differences between the two species were fascinating.

Katon dining room

Date: same day, time: 7:00 pm

*Brigid’s perspective*

The four members of the Katon family sat around the dinner table as they did most nights. Brigid still contemplated on how exactly she was going to break the news to her family, like she had been doing since she woke up the second time that day. Just saying ‘hey, guess what, I’m a werewolf’ would likely not get the desired reaction. When Anzhong first told Brigid about his heritage, he said it as if it was something completely normal. They were at a cultural festival and perusing the Japanese section. One of the booths sold fox masks. She’d asked him if he wanted one, and he simply stated that he didn’t need one because his mother was a kitsune, making him already a fox. She’d humored him by asking more about it but didn’t believe him. She’d written it off as a joke as he was of sound mind otherwise and they were pretty deep into their relationship. Well, she’d been proven wrong.

“Is everything okay, Mom?”, Emi asked.

“Yeah, jus’ thinkin’.” Might as well start by telling her about the faoladh. “Have Ah eve’ told eithe’ a’ ya ‘bout da faoladh?”

“No”, both girls answered.

“It’s an interestin’ tale. Da faoladh are Irish werewolves. Unlike da werewolves ya see in popular media, dey aren’t weak ta silver nor have deir transformations dictated by da lunar cycle. Dey c’n transform at will, day or night, n’ are in complete control ove’ demselves in deir transformed state. Dey have all da classic powers, superhuman strength, speed, healin’, n’ senses. Dey’re seen as protectors.”

“They sound really cool. Anura would love that story. She loves wolves.”, Emi said.

“She n’ Minerva both. Stories a’ dese creatures have been passed down through mo family for generations, n’ Ah was reminded a’ ‘em when Ah was talkin’ with Nana. Ah also learned somethin’ new ‘bout mo family, somethin’ Ah was supposed ta be told on mo eighteenth birthday.”

“What was that?”, Anzhong asked.

Brigid downed the rest of her glass of wine to get rid of the nerves, earning odd looks from the girls. Why was this so terrifying? It’s not like it would be the strangest thing they’ve heard. Maybe saying it out loud made it real. She’d always thought herself only a slightly abnormal human. Three years ago, she didn’t even think she could be anything else. The fact she knew herself, knew what she was, served as her rock through all the craziness. For the first time in quite some time, she was questioning her very being. I have to say it. “As it turns out, Ah’m a faoladh.”

“You’re a werewolf?”, Sunset said in a somewhat disbelieving tone.

“N’ so was mo nan n’ mo mum n’ mo siblings n’ mo biological aunts n’ uncles n’ mo cousins n’ so is Emi. N’ like Anzhong, we lost our ability ta fully use our magic.”

“But the DNA test.”

“Our magic allows us ta mimic wolves, but we aren’t actually wolves, so no weird DNA. Ah’m still trying ta process dis meself.”

“That does explain a lot.”, Anzhong said.

“What does that make me, a were-kitsune-wolf?”, Emi asked.

“Ah guess. Sunset, da magic ya used ta help Emi, is it still in ‘er?”

“Eyuh”

“Could it possibly reawaken ‘er magics?”

Sunset scrunched up her nose as she thought, a weird little thing she does. “Possibly”, Sunset said slowly. She looked back to Brigid, and she could see the gears turning. “It’s too early to tell, and I don’t know enough about Earth’s magic. I’m trying to build a house only knowing how to put together a coffee table.”

“Ah guess we jus’ have ta wait n’ see if she starts goin’ wolfy.”

“There’s something else. When I was transferring the magic to Emi, some of her magic spilled over into me.”

“Are ya sayin’ ya have our magics in ya too?”

“At the very least, I contain some of your magics, like Grandpa contains some of Grandma’s, but there is the possibility I have your magics.”

“Ah don’t track. Wha’s da difference?”

“The difference is that simply containing magic means you can’t produce it on your own. Once Grandpa’s out of Grandma’s magic, he’s out, no refills, unless Grandma can somehow come back to life and refill it for him. Actually having magic means that you can recharge it by simply getting some rest and something to eat. Your body produces it.”

“So, ya could go wolfy too.”

“Possibly”

“Augh, okay, dis is gettin’ complicated.”, Brigid said as she rubbed her head.

“My take away from this is that Sunset and I are were-kitsune-wolf sisters.”, Emi said excitedly. She stuck out her fist, expecting Sunset to fist bump her. Sunset had the same ‘where has this world gone?’ look on her face as Brigid and just stared at Emi’s fist. “Come on, bring it in.”

“That’s not how that phrase is used.”, Sunset said as she reluctantly fist bumped Emi.

“Anzhong?”, Brigid asked. Being the dark, contemplative, silent type was sorta his thing, but Brigid really needed him to say something.

“Sorry, I was just trying to take it all in. I thought lycanthropy was just how the pre-modern world explained the rabid behaviors of people infected with rabies.”

“So did Ah.”

“That’s probably where the more violent and rabid ideas of werewolves come from.”, Sunset said. “Can you spread your… would it be called lycanthropy? You have nothing ta do with King Lycaon.”

“No, Ah c’n’t infect othe’s, at least not like dat, n’ yes, mo kind c’n turn inta wolves, so lycanthropy.”

“Are you scared?”, Anzhong asked.

“Ah’ve been usin’ da fact dat Ah know who n’ wha’ Ah am ta deal with all da crazy. Ah barely know dat anymore. Ah’m terrified.”

“Well, let’s go over what we do know.” Anzhong got up and walked over to Brigid’s side of the table, putting his hand on her shoulder. “You’re Brigid Aoife Katon, daughter of Riona and Nickolas O’Floinn, mother of Sunset and Emi, and my wife. You’re brilliant, kind, and beautiful.”

“Anzhong, ya have no idea wha’ Ah look like.”

“That doesn’t stop me from knowing you're beautiful. I can hear it in your voice. I can feel it when I touch you. And there’s one other way I know.” Anzhong bent down, hugged Brigid, and gave her a passionate kiss.

“Ew!”, Emi said.

“Should we stay over at Minerva’s?”, Sunset asked.

“That might be a good idea.”, Brigid said, pulling away from the kiss.

CHS cafeteria

Date: Sep 29th, time: 1:15 pm

*Sunset’s perspective*

The day had been the same as the rest of the school days since the formal. The only reprieve Sunset got was in class and at lunch. The other students tended to keep their glares to themselves when they had food to focus on. As a way of further protecting herself, Sunset sat as close to the middle of the group as possible. None of the other girls knew what she was doing. Today, she was able to sit one seat to the inside with Rarity acting as the only barrier between her and the students at the other table.

The girls talked amongst themselves for the most part, the missing Rainbow Dash being a topic they returned to about every five minutes. Sure, she was getting more comfortable with them, but nothing was going on in her life that they needed to know about. She was still trying to process last weekend's revelation and what it would mean going forward. First a vampire, then an alien, then a witch, and then a kitsune-werewolf, ugh, I sound like a wish fulfillment YA love interest or an eight-year-old’s attempt at a fursona. Imagine me trying to explain what I am to someone, hell, trying to explain this to my future mate. That would require some precision, patience on both sides, and evidence. But hey, whoever said being mixed race was easy? I just take it up a notch.

“What’s so funny, sugarcube?”

“Wha’?”, Sunset asked.

“Ya were smilin’. Whatever ya were thinkin’ about musta been pretty funny.”

Huh, I must be feeling more comfortable than I thought to let that happen. “My mom learned something interesting ‘bout ‘er heritage over the weekend.”

“Oh, what?”

“It ain’t for me ta say.”

“Wouldn’t it be yer heritage too... Wait, aren't ya from Equestria, like Twilight? How do ya have a family over here?”

“Ah’m adopted, you twat. Do ya really think a ten-year-old could survive on their own here?”

“Sorry”, Jacklyn said while putting her hands up in a defensive posture.

“That was unnecessarily rude.”, Rarity chided Sunset.

Sunset’s first instinct was to quip back at her, but she stopped. We’re trying to be better Shimmer. What would Nana think if she heard me speak like that? She put her utensils down and rubbed her temples to give herself a chance to think more clearly. “I’m sorry, Jacklyn. That was uncalled for. I’m trying to be better.”

Jacklyn gave Sunset a smile and nod. “Hey, that’s a start. You can also call me Applejack. You and Granny are literally the only people that still call me Jacklyn.”

“As you wish, Applejack.”

“Hey! Guys! Look at this!”, Rainbow said as she ran up to the table, holding something in her hand.

“About time you showed up, Rainbow. You’re going to have to eat quickly.”, Pinkie said.

“Forget eating, look.” Rainbow unrolled the thing in her hand, revealing it to be a poster.

“Canterlot High Musical Showcase, show your musical skills to your friends, family, and classmates, this October.”, Fluttershy read out.

“Do you even play an instrument?”, Sunset asked.

“Yeah, I play guitar. I just need to put together a band, and we’re gonna rock everyone with our awesomeness! Heh, get it ‘rock’?”

“Leave the humor to Pinkie, darling. It’s not your forte.”

“What was that about being unnecessarily rude?”, Sunset asked.

“I never said I was perfect.”, Rarity said with a shrug.

“Rainbow, get something to eat, and we’ll talk about your band more after school.”, Fluttershy said.

“Fine”, Rainbow said reluctantly. She rolled the poster back up and placed it in her backpack then placed her bag on one of the empty seats and went to grab some food. Given that there was no line, Rainbow returned quickly.

Before they could get back to their conversations, Sunset felt an unfortunately familiar presence approach, and she let her disgust, annoyance, and frustration show on her face.

“Is everything alright, darling?”

Before Sunset could answer Rarity’s question, it was answered for her by the arrival of Lily, and Rarity made the same face Sunset did.

“Y’know, you guys shouldn’t be hanging out with her. People that align themselves with demons are destined for Hell.”, Lily mocked.

Rarity turned in her seat to face Lily, clearly holding as much disdain for her as Sunset. “Sunset is trying to be a better person. You, however, haven’t changed one bit in four years, and that’s not a complement.”

Lily leaned over, putting her face right next to Rarity’s. “And you think you’re all that just because you fake a British accent.”, she said while poking Rarity in the chest.

No. Sunset sprang up, startling everybody, and leaned over Rarity to growl right in Lily’s face. However, it sounded different. Her old growl was something a human could make, if a bit more grumbly, but this one was deeper, more guttural, menacing. She also felt something bubble up and swirl inside of her, something dark and primal. Lily slowly backed away, looking like she was face to face with a lion, before turning to run only to trip over a chair. She scrambled to her feet and made a b-line to anywhere that wasn’t near Sunset.

Sunset sat back down only to see everyone looking at her with similar levels of fear and Fluttershy cowering behind the table. “Um, sorry about that.”

“What was that?”, Rainbow asked.

“I’m not sure.”

“Are you okay?”, Fluttershy asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” That was definitely a wolf’s growl. Must be the faoladh magic. Was that other thing kitsune magic? I should ask Dad.

“Is that a, er, left over from your demon transformation?”, Rarity asked.

“Definitely not.”

“Are you sure?”, Pinkie asked.

“Are you the magic expert or am I?”

“Sorry”

The six of them got back to eating, Rainbow having to rush to finish hers before the bell. The rest of the day continued as normal. When Sunset talked with Ms. Lance-Hart, she still left out her family’s magic, which now included Brigid’s, and she was now walking back home at the expected time. She tried to bring the power back up to the surface, but all she got was some gurgling. It felt entirely different from unicorn magic. She had no idea how it flowed or how to move it. “Well, I know one way.”

Sunset came up to Pinkie’s house. The only way she knew it was her house was because she’d seen Pinkie coming out of it on her way to school. If she hadn’t seen that or met the rest of her family, she would’ve never guessed it was hers. It looked nice from the outside with a brick red roof, forest green walls, and a large yard. It just didn’t have that Pinkieness to it. One would be forgiven for thinking the all pink house next door was hers.

Sunset walked over and rang the bell. Cloudy Quartz answered the door. She wore a plain, gray dress and looked like one of those overly strict middle school English teachers you see in movies and on TV but less mean. “Hi, Mrs. Pie, is Pinkie home?”

“Pinkamena is in. Please, come inside. I shall fetch her.”

“Okidoki”, Sunset said unassuredly. Mrs. Pie’s old-timeyness was off putting. Sunset wasn’t sure how she should act but went inside and waited in the entryway while Mrs. Pie disappeared up the stairs.

Pinkie soon came down the stairs with a confused look on her face. “Hey, Sunset, what are you doing here?”

“I need your help ta do a little experiment. Wouldja be willin’?”

“Depends on the experiment. We can talk more about this in my room.” Pinkie was still cautious, which was comparable to anyone else’s normal.

Sunset nodded and followed Pinkie to her room. While the rest of the house was fairly normal looking, albeit with more grays and washed out colors than typical, Pinkie’s room was bright, bright-bright. The lights themselves weren’t brighter, but every color was a bright pastel. One could be looking at a herd of Equestrians, and this room would still be brighter. The glitter that was absolutely everywhere didn’t help. There was also an overwhelming smell of sugar. “Man, Pinkie, you need to open a window.”, Sunset said while covering her nose and mouth.

“Eh, sure.” Pinkie walked over to her window and opened it up.

“How in the world can you breathe in here? I’m pretty sure the only place with more sugar in the air would be a sugar factory.”

“I still have no idea what you’re talking about. I don’t smell any sugar.”

Sunset waved her hand, trying to get some air flow and the smell of sugar out. “You’ve likely gone nose blind to it.”

“Maybe. So, what’s this experiment?”

“Remember that fear aura thing I did earlier? I wanna see if we can replicate it. I need you to piss me off.”

“You promise not to hurt me?”

“Call it penance for the crap I’ve put you through.”

A somewhat menacing looking smile crept its way onto Pinkie’s face. It wasn’t at all intimidating to Sunset as she’d seen far worse in her time, but it was odd to see such a thing on her. “Oh, that sounds like a plan.”, she said, clearly enjoying the idea. Pinkie sprinted to her closet and, after rummaging around and causing various noises that should not be coming from a girl’s closet, pulled out… a cannon, a pink cannon on wheels.

“Pinkie”, Sunset said worriedly.

“Oh, don’t worry. It doesn’t shoot cannon balls.”, she said as she held up a pull string.

“Then… what does it shoot?”

“This!”

Sunset barely had enough time to shield her face before getting sprayed with its contents. Only once everything calmed down did she dare to peek out from behind her hands. She was now standing in a pile of confetti, and the question she didn’t realize needed asking of ‘why is there glitter everywhere?’ was answered. “Pinkie”, Sunset growled.

“You told me to piss you off.”, Pinkie defended. Sunset glowered and growled at her. It took everything in her not to jump her. Pinkie backed away with a similar look of fear to earlier. “And it looks like it worked.”

“When I said piss me off, I didn’t mean cover me with glitter.”, Sunset said through gritted teeth.

“It’s biodegradable. Just wash your hair with oil, use oil on a cotton pad to wipe down your skin, and use a pet hair roller to get it off your clothes.”

Sunset took some deep breaths to clear her head and reign in her fear aura then shook herself off as best she could and stepped out of the confetti pile. “Okay, at least we got that taken care of. Given that the aura doesn’t project my anger and where I suspect it originates from, it is most likely a defense mechanism.” Sunset began pacing around the room as she pondered. “If it is a defense mechanism, it should also activate in response to fear. Pinkie…” Sunset looked back to said pink woman only to see her looking completely lost. “Did you catch any of that?”

“Nope”

“I need you to try and scare me.”

“Why?”

“To see if fear also activates the fear aura. Now, I’m not easily scared, so you’re going to have to try hard.”

“Yeah yeah, just go stand over there and turn around.” Pinkie pointed to the far corner of her bedroom.

Sunset shrugged and did as instructed. As she waited, she tried to focus solely on herself to give Pinkie the element of surprise. She waited a while before a hand was put on her back and a very fake knife was put to her throat. Sunset turned to look back at Pinkie, who was wearing a black and white striped shirt and a ski mask.

“You scared?”

“I find this more comical than scary, and I’m not amused.”, Sunset deadpanned.

“Drat” Pinkie ran back to her closet, and Sunset turned back to the wall.

“Aha”, Pinkie said, as if to startle Sunset. Sunset looked over to her side to see Pinkie holding up a handheld cutout of a clown. “Isn’t it scary?”

“No”

“What? You can’t possibly tell me that you don’t find clowns even a little bit scary.”, Pinkie said indignantly.

“I mean, yeah, they’re creepy, but I don’t find them scary. Don’t tell me the class clown is afraid of clowns.”

“And you can’t tell me that whoever thought these things would be good children’s entertainers didn’t have a few screws loose or even a whole panel missing. The white face paint, the oversized lips, it’s all so unnerving, and the existence of John Wayne Gacy certainly doesn’t help.”

“I can agree with you there.”

Pinkie disappeared again, and Sunset was left waiting again, and waiting, and waiting. Pinkie was talking so long that Sunset started counting the grains of glitter on her arm. She felt something sliding up her back and onto her shoulder. She looked over to see what it was only to be greeted by the face of a snake. If there was one similarity between the human and pony parts of her brain, it was that snakes were absolute NOPES, and a snake being anywhere near her was an even bigger nope. A snake being on her body and so close to her face was the nopiest nope that ever noped.

“Aaaaghh!” Sunset spun around as she swung herself every way she could to get the snake off her. Her entire body went into panic mode as her heart sped up to what was probably a borderline unhealthy rate and everything else in her body began moving quicker as a result. She dislodged the snake and oriented herself to examine the room and the situation. She was ready to grab Pinkie and get them the heck out of there, but what she saw was Pinkie on her butt and an unmoving snake on the ground, not unmoving as in dead, unmoving as in inanimate plastic. It was a toy. “Okay, you scared me.”, she said as she calmed down.

“I knew that would work. I don’t care how brave you are. A fear of snakes it built into our monkey brains. Oh, and yes, your fear aura activated.”

Sunset stepped over and helped Pinkie up. Even though she now knew it was fake, she stayed clear of the realistic toy snake. “Thank you, Pinkie. You were of great help. Do you need help cleaning up?” Please say no.

“Nah, I got it.” Pinkie bounced over to her closet and pulled out a plastic tote half filled with confetti and glitter and a handheld dustpan and broom. “I got the process down pact.”

“Good, see yeah.” Sunset got out of there quickly in case Pinkie changed her mind on wanting help.

She was soon back out on the street and continuing her walk home. She brought the memories of the second test to the front of her mind. There was definitely magic inside her, but it moved and felt completely different from her unicorn magic. She probably wouldn’t have even registered it as magic if she didn’t know better. She would have to completely rethink how she approached magic, but now, she had an idea of what to do.

Walking inside and heading to her room, Sunset passed Emi and Anura doing their school work together. Now that the latter was home schooled, the two of them always did their work together, and it reportedly was having immediate positive effects. They each have completely different ways of going at a problem, and they were teaching each other their methods. Brigid and Anzhong weren’t due home for another two hours, so Sunset was going to use that time to learn more about her new magic, after she’d cleaned herself.

After setting her clothes aside for later, wiping herself down as best she could, and changing into new clothes, she sat on the floor and began meditating. A pony’s wellspring is a physical organ that’s located in the chest cavity. The exact location differed by tribe with the unicorn wellspring being located close to the heart, the earth ponies’ being closer to their core, pegasi’s begging in the middle and further back, close to their wings, and alicorns have all three. It was the location of their wellsprings that denoted crystal ponies and thestrals as subtribes instead of distinct tribes. Needless to say, no such organ existed in the human body.

She searched her body for a large concentration of her new magic. She found seven of them. Just one of them was the same size as her old wellspring. Granted, they would be considered small for a creature of her size back on Equoes, but that didn’t change the fact she had seven times as much magic. She couldn’t tell if they were the standard size for humans or if all her training to enhance hers carried over. Evidence to the latter is that the magic contained was just as dense, which she had to train to achieve. Humans have seven times as much magic as ponies. Wait, the burning sensation, pony bodies can’t handle this much magic, unless they’re an alicorn. Trying to use Earth magic on Equoes must’ve caused an overload. That makes a lot more sense, but how to test it. Worry about that later. Back to focusing.

Sunset refocused and went about finding the exact locations. The first wellspring was located at the base of her spine, the second was located in her “sensitive region”, the third was located in her stomach, the forth in her heart, fifth in her throat, six in her forehead, and seventh further back in her brain and slightly higher up.

“Oh, you gotta be shitting me.”, she said with a mixture of mirth and irritation as she realized the correlation. The Hindus got the right idea, but they weren’t located perfectly along her spine. They were located inside the actual organs. Three out of seven ain’t bad.

Sunset looked at the time on her phone and realized it had already been an hour. She wasn’t ready to bring her latest revelation up to her parents. She’d wait until she got a better idea of the whole thing. She highly doubted these human wellsprings actually had all that was attributed to them.

Sunset went back to meditating. Ponies have a dedicated network of artery-like tubes to transport magic from the wellspring to whatever part of their body it’s supposed to go to. Humans most certainly don’t have that. That begs the question, how does magic travel through the human body? If she could just get her magic flowing, but it was stubbornly not moving. Whether that was because she wasn’t doing the right thing or because it was her magic was hard to say. She tried every way she knew to control magic, but none of them worked. She could feel it but couldn’t willingly move it.

She was brought back to reality by the sound of the back door opening. Sunset jumped up and ran out to the living room. Brigid was busy with a bouncy Emi, and Anzhong was putting up Kiba’s harness and his cane. “Dad, something interesting happened to me at school today.”

“Oh, and what’s that something?”

“I growled like a wolf and emitted some sorta fear aura.” That got the attention of all present. “Was the fear aura kitsune magic?”

“Yes, it’s a defense mechanism that is activated when we are scared or angry.”

“Yeah, I figured that.”

“It’s also why the people of Amigata look at me the way they do. I had difficulty controlling it when I was younger. Ryoko has always been more naturally talented with her fox magic than me, so that’s why she doesn’t experience the same.”

“Oh”

“What’s this about growling like a wolf?”, Anura asked.

“Anura, could ya go get yer mum?”, Brigid asked. “Dere’s some stuff we need ta update ya on.”

Anura got up and headed upstairs.

Sunset looked to Brigid, who was still holding Emi. “Have you ever growled like that?”

“Ah’ve always been growly, but mo growls have sounded mostly human, like how yers do… or rathe’ did.”

“If this is happening to me, it will happen ta Emi.”

“Yes! Cool wolf powers!”, said rejuvenated ball of energy cheered.

“What’s this about ‘cool wolf powers’?”, Minerva asked as she and Anura came back down the stairs.

“Ah learned somethin’ ‘bout mo maternal grandmothe’ recently, n’ it turns out Ah’m less human den we thought.”

“What?”, Minerva said in that tone that communicated that what was said was heard but not fully processed.

“Come sit down. We’ll explain everythin’.”

Everyone took seats in the living room, Anura and Emi sharing the latter’s beanbag. Brigid regaled the Reads with the story of “The Nana in the Ring”, the contents of her last conversation with her mother, what a faoladh is, what Sunset did to save Emi, and what that meant for the two of them.

“You’re a werewolf?”, Minerva said.

“Technically, but Ah don’t have mo full powers, like Anzhong.”

“Well, that explains why you put peanut butter on your Creamios.”

“It’s chocolate n’ peanut butter. Dere’s a whole brand dedicated ta dat combo.”

“Then why don’t you just eat that?”, Minerva teased.

“Because deir peanut butter sucks balls.”

“Ah-huh, werewolf peanut butter connoisseur.”

Brigid glared at the witch, which only made her grin.

“In all seriousness, that is really cool.”

“Y’re jus’ saying dat because wolves are yer second favorite animal.”

“And because werewolves are cool, especially the heroic ones.”

Brigid smiled at her surrogate sister.

“I do have something else I wanna ask.”, Sunset said.

“Shoot”, Brigid said.

“You said faoladhs are inherently good and protective. Could that be affecting me?”

“Wha’ do ya mean?”

“A couple of times today, I acted unusually protective over two people I don’t really know that well.”

“Who were dese people?”

“The first was with Rarity. Lily Valley touched her, and that’s when I growled and created a fear aura. The second time was when I thought a snake had gotten into Pinkie’s room. I’d stopped by on my way home from school. I was ready to grab her and rush her out.”

“N’ who are dese girls ta ya?”

“They’re two girls that Princess Twilight, the owner of the Element of Magic, asked to help me. She asked them and their friends to help me learn the “magic of friendship”. If ya ask me, she just wanted them to keep an eye on me and make sure I didn’t go back to my old ways. Either way, they’re the only other students that aren’t afraid or actively hate me. Well, maybe except for Flash, but he’s complicated.”

“So, dey’re your friends?”

“No, they just don’t hate me.”

“Close enough. Now, ya say ya acted “unusually protective” ove’ ‘em. Wha’ makes ya say dat?”

“I barely know them, and that’s not how I used to act towards them.”

“Ya may barely know ‘em, but dey are da closet thin’s ya have ta friends. Besides, Ah’d bet ya barely knew da majority a’ da people, er, ponies a’ Equestria when ya were in da military.”

“What are you getting at?”, Sunset asked with suspicion.

“Ya’ve always been a very carin’ n’ protective person by nature, long before we even met. Ya’ve jus’ been too wrapped up in yer anger n’ resentment f’r does traits ta fully express themselves. Dis isn’t a side effect a’ da faoladh magic. It’s a sign dat y’re healing.”

Sunset looked down at her feet. She still felt angry and still had a lot of resentment towards the nobles and Celestia. “I don’t think that’s true. I still feel those things.”

“But who are dey pointed at? Are dey pointed at da school n’ yer classmates?”

“No, it’s pointed at the nobles and Princess Celestia.”

“N’ why do ya resent ‘em?”

“I resent the nobles for being corrupt and Celestia for letting it happen.”, Sunset angrily spat.

“N’ dey deserve yer resentment f’r does thin’s. Da difference between ‘em n’ yer classmates is dat yer classmates were on da receivin’ end a’ emotions dat weren’t caused by ‘em. Yer emotions are valid. Ya jus’ gotta stick dat spear in da correct target.”

Sunset mulled over her words. She was probably right, but she just couldn’t internalize them. “I’m going to go back to my room.” Without waiting for an answer, she retreated to her room and into her bathroom. She looked at herself in the mirror. She still felt like a monster. What would Mom and Dad think? Could they even accept me as this monster? Hang on. Sunset snorted to herself as she thought how people would view Brigid as a monster, even though her bio-(magilogical?) even though her basic nature makes her a better person than most humans. Maybe being a monster isn’t a bad thing. As if a switch had been flipped, pieces began falling into place inside her head. Things became clearer. “I may be a monster, but I’m not evil.”

Dr. Dusk’s office

Date: Sep 30th, time: 5:30 pm

*Anzhong’s perspective*

“Anzhong”, Dad said.

“Hello”, Anzhong said.

The two of them entered the doctor’s office and sat on the couch.

“Hello, gentleman. I take it you’re Mr. Anzhong’s father.”, Dr. Dusk said.

“Yes, my name is Jiraiya.”

“It’s good to meet you. I’d like to start by talking about your relationship. How would you describe it?”

“My son and I were never close when he was growing up, and it became even more strained after I started drinking, but I’d say we’ve done a reasonably good job at repairing it over the last few years.”

“I’d agree.”, Anzhong said.

“That’s good to hear. What about the time you found out your son was bullying other kids? What went through your mind then?”, Dr. Dusk asked.

“I was angry. If that happened now, I wouldn’t do what I did. I’m not sure what I would do, but I am truly sorry for what I did, Anzhong.”, Dad said.

“Your actions that day were correct. There wasn’t any other punishment you could’ve given me that would’ve gotten through.”

“They may have been correct, but that doesn’t make them morally right.”

“Your father is correct. Parents should never lay hands on their children.”, Dr. Dusk said.

Has she not been listening? “I too do not generally support corporal punishment and would not use it with my own children, but I do find that there are rare, exceedingly rare, cases where it is called for, and mine was one of them.”

“But parents shouldn’t hit their children. Your father shouldn’t have done that to you.”

She’s not listening. She’s just seeing this as black and white.

“I think we should wrap this up.”, Dad interjected as he stood up. “Thank you for meeting with us.”

“But we’re not even… ten minutes in.”

“I think we should wrap this up.”, Dad said more firmly.

“I agree.”, Anzhong said as he stood up. The two of them left and went to stand out on the loggia. The air out there didn’t smell good being inside the city, but it was refreshing. “Thank you for getting us out of there.”

“I could tell you were getting angry.”

“She wasn’t listening.”

“I hear you… You really don’t hate me for what I did?”

“Sometimes, the correct choice is the morally wrong choice. Besides, all I got were some bruises. I know you were fully capable of doing much worse. What you did was scare me straight.”

“‘Were’? Try ‘are’.”

“You’re only human, Dad. I’m younger and more than human.”

“Don’t get big for your britches. I may be old, but those are years more of experience I have on you… Anzhong, I don’t think therapy is a good fit for you, at least not this one and not now.”

“I’ve been thinking about that. Sunset says she’s okay with her councilor and that I don’t have to come back here, but I also don’t want to scare her again.”

“That might be something you’ll have to work out with her. Therapy isn’t for everyone.”

“Hm, do you think you can help me convince Brigid of that?”

“Of course. Is she in the car?”

“She should be.”

“Okay then, let’s go.”

Brigid’s office

Date: Oct 1st, time: 1:00 am

*Brigid’s perspective*

Brigid stared at her open computer with her DNA test results up on the screen. She should be in bed with her husband, but her uncertainty with recent revelations were keeping her up. She and Ailbhe, who sat next to her on her desk, were the only ones awake. She didn’t know if her cat could sense her distress or even cared but was happy for her company either way.

Her DNA was mostly normal. She was no geneticist but had learned enough since Striker’s betrayal to read what she was seeing. She was missing the genes that coded for some of the common antigens. She compared her code with the standard human code and Anzhong’s code and noticed that, for what she was missing, she had something extra. There was something in her DNA that was also present in Anzhong’s but not the standard human’s. It could easily be written off as junk DNA, along with the bits of viral DNA that had been incorporated into the human code over the centuries, but deductive reasoning along with her gut was telling her this wasn’t junk.

She started to wish she’d gotten Emi tested when she could. A bit of extra data would be useful right around now. She wished she had her clan to help her understand. She wished her clan still had their magic. If they had their powers, they wouldn’t be dead.

Rage like she hadn’t felt in a long time bobbled inside her. What was rightfully theirs was taken from them, and they died without it, and the more she thought about it, Aoi probably would’ve been able to heal herself if she was still at full strength. None of ‘em should be dead!

Brigid slammed her fists on her desk and let out a demonic growl, scaring Ailbhe into the corner of the room. Something deep within her swirled, attempting to get out. It was too weak to do so, but her rage was strong and kept it swirling. If only they still had their magic. It was rightfully theirs! She had enough of others taking what belonged to her people! Whoever took it from them needed to pay! If she had her magic… she wouldn’t be where she was. Yes, she’d still have her clan, and Anzhong would have his mother, but they wouldn’t have each other. They’d both still be in their homelands. They’d never have met each other. They wouldn’t have what they have now. They wouldn’t have their life, their children. The people they are today wouldn’t exist. Emi wouldn’t exist. Sunset would’ve ended up with other people or no one at all. It was tragic, unfair, and shouldn’t have happened, but it did, and everything she has now exists because of those events.

Brigid calmed down, and tears made it to the edge of her eyes as she stood u. She found her frightened kitty and comforted her, swaddling and stroking her like she did for Emi not that long ago. “It’s okay. Ah’m sorry.” Not once did Ailbhe hiss at her. She was a sweet kitty. Brigid stepped out into the hallway and looked around at everything she had. Things were tough, but they were happy. She will always mourn what she lost, but what she had now couldn’t exist without that loss. It was a complicated set of emotions, but she was happy, her husband was happy, and their kids were happy. That’s all that mattered.