Luna sipped her coffee, reveling in the bitter bite on her tongue as the flavors burst through her senses. While Celestia preferred tea, the flavors were too muted, the scents too subtle for Luna, who had a far greater appreciation for bold, full culinary experiences since the procedure…

She grimaced, the last drops of coffee on her tongue now tasting a bit sour as she stumbled over that memory. She’d long since dealt with the changes and the fallout that happened, and she was grateful for the life she’s been able to lead since, but while it was happening…

Her introspection was interrupted by a shouted, “LUNA!” loud enough to be heard through the walls between her office and her sister’s. She smirked briefly, then schooled her features as first her sister’s door could be heard slamming open, then her own office door crashed against the wall as the Pack Alpha stood silhouetted against the light flooding into her usually dark office. Cradled in one arm was a laptop, the light managing to illuminate Celestia’s face enough to be visible even with the ambient glare that obscured her other features, showing a downright murderous expression.

“Good morning, sister.” Luna sing-songed glibly, somehow keeping from letting any of the mirth she felt show on her face.

Celestia stalked into the room, letting the door drift shut behind her. “I was just entering the training I did with Sunset over the weekend into her file. The file that, currently, only you and I have access to. I am, after all, in charge of her education. I am the chief educator of the territory…”

“Mnotarealtitle,” muttered Luna as she took a sip of her coffee.

The hand not holding up the laptop slammed against the surface of Luna’s desk, “Imagine my surprise to find myself not listed as her primary educational contact. Instead, I find you there!”

“Indeed. Your own rules dictate that a child’s primary educational contact cannot be a direct family member,” Luna replied glibly as she took another sip of her coffee, eye turning to the screen of her own computer, “‘Conflict of interest,’ your words.”

Celestia’s glare was so intense it would have had nearly any other pack member pissing themselves and begging for their lives. Luna simply raised an eyebrow after a quick glance up, set her coffee mug down, and resumed typing up the response to requisitions from Iron Will for the P.E. department.

The Pack Alpha huffed and snapped the computer in her hand shut then finally slumped into the chair usually meant for students. “Why is everyone trying to get me to be Sunset’s mom?” she almost whined.

Luna looked up from her computer to her sister, “‘Trying’?” she snorted in amusement, “Sister, we’re simply acknowledging what you and Sunset are already making a reality. An alien girl accidentally pack bonded to you and you just...kinda folded like a teepee made of toilet paper. It’s cute, just accept that you’re in a new phase of ‘mom-hood’ in your life and move on.

Celestia growled, but it was clear her heart wasn’t in it, “But I’ve got a pack to run, I don’t have time…”

“Redheart, Harshwhinney, and I have been trying to get you to delegate more responsibility for years. Imagine our surprise when it turned out that getting you to take in a cub was just the push you needed to actually do it. Pack Alphas have kids all the time, it’s hardly an excuse.”

The matter-of-fact statement was met with a glare, “She’s going back to her actual home in two and a half years.”

Luna shrugged, “Not necessarily, she’s banished from the capital, remember.” This had been a factoid that Sunset had revealed to the two of them after the Princess’ most recent communique. The mutually agreed lack of space in the journal for the messages meant that details often had to be filled in by Sunset. The girl had been thoroughly embarrassed and the full story of her dip into ‘the dark side’ had come out. By the time she was finished, it had been clear to both women that some form of regret had taken hold of Sunset and she had been in tears; tears that only slowed after Celestia pulled her into a hug, and the two had clutched for a good twenty minutes, giving Luna time to start on dinner while they worked through the girl’s emotions. “And also, she may not want to go back; two years is plenty of time to establish a full life, and if she does want to remain in our world, she’ll need a home.”

Luna picked up her mug while staring pointedly at her sister, “And what better place to call home,” she sipped her coffee loudly and swallowed, “Than with her chosen mother?”

They sat in silence after that for a while, Luna continuing to work while Celestia sat and brooded, an old grandfather clock in the corner ticking the time away. When the clock chimed the three-quarters hour, the Alpha sighed and stood, and with a nod to Luna returned to her office.

Sunset sat in Miss Cheerilee’s English class, heart still aching a bit from the previous night and nasal passages stinging from the menthol inhaler. Normally she wouldn’t have used it this early in the day, but after last night, she didn’t want to risk another meltdown because her instincts were reacting to someone else’s emotions via scent receptors.

It was the first time she’d really sat down and vented her frustrations to another person in at least two decades, if not longer. Princess Celestia certainly wasn’t the one she could talk to, given most of Sunset’s emotional turmoil revolved around her mentor. Cadence, well-meaning country bumpkin that she was, had no hope under the sun by the time she came to the palace; Sunset had loaded up too much emotional baggage around princesses, destinies, and familial status vis-a-vis Celestia to be able to bond with the pink alicorn. The staff were great…as staff. She couldn’t talk to Kibitz about this kind of thing, even though he’d hinted that he would have been receptive. Sunset would always have a little nagging voice in her head telling her that Kibitz would run off and tell the princess every little thing she said the moment she left his sight.

And so it was that right around when they were supposed to be getting ready for dinner she’d found herself having to explain exactly why the princess had banished her from Canterlot. Principal Celestia had, apparently, requested information on why Sunset had so few possessions on her person when escaping through the portal. The princess replied with a very simple, “Banishment does not allow for a lengthy packing of belongings. What she left behind was to be shipped to her destination, wherever in Equestria that was to be. 2 in. not enough space for details, ask Sunset, I will clarify any details you wish.” Sunset knew that she had no chance of dodging or evading or lying. The version of Celestia she wound up spilling her guts to was simply too good at detecting things, from her sense of smell alone, like lies. So, the girl told the truth as best she knew it and left very little out. The two older women had some clarifying questions which prompted her to respond with some facts or observations she had forgotten about, but she left out nothing.

Along with the bare bones came the emotions, dragged along like a dolphin caught in a commercial fishing net (and hadn’t that been a disturbing revelation to find that some of her seafood came with the potential loss of life of one of the ocean’s most intelligent non-human animals, Equestria didn’t have enough of a demand for fish to have that knock-on effect). At first, the sting of her younger self’s experience of the emotions connected to rejection from a mother figure was dulled, muted by time and distance. A child is a child, however, and even with the benefit of an adult’s hindsight recognizing that adults have responsibilities that don’t always include the children in their care didn’t make the old hurt any less. The princess was the regent of the largest, most powerful nation on the planet, so couldn’t be a fill-in mom for a filly. After a while, she’d come to accept that Celestia just wasn’t going to be her mom, but she was a nice enough mentor to have, and over time she’d learned that being in her position as Celestia’s protege had its perks.

Royal perks without royal responsibilities led to entitlement, which was where the real schism began. Old hurts buried for years with no outlet started getting new offenses piled onto them, growing them like a particularly loathsome pearl. The pain of rejection became frustration at being denied, which then grew into anger at being held back. Eagerness to earn a place in the royal family became an expectation that it would simply happen, and a prophecy from a mirror became the only pillar to the foundation of her expectations for her life.

Being honest and truthful about her own actions turned out to be brutal. When forced to recite the track of her own life, especially given she was taught the principles of Harmony like every other filly and colt in Equestria (maybe even more so what with her status as Celestia’s protege), every time she had to admit some action she took that violated one of those principles was like a knife to her own heart…or more accurately like ripping the scab off the wound so it could be flushed clean. She’d actually damaged her soul by violating her own core principles decades ago, these weren’t fresh wounds, after all.

By the time Luna had to prepare dinner and left her with Celestia, Sunset was practically a waterfall of tears, weeping over the numerous times she’d betrayed someone’s trust, backstabbed, manipulated, lied, and bullied in an effort to get her own way. By the time she was finished, she fully expected Principal Celestia to turn her out of the pack lands and make her a stray Alpha by telling every other pack about her.

Even sitting in the classroom on the second floor of Canterlot High looking out on the sprawling city she now called home, she felt her eyes water at the memory of what happened next.

She had been sitting on the living room sofa, her hands in her lap, tissues crumpled up and scattered around her, the object of landing them in the trash long since abandoned when it had filled to overflowing nearly an hour before. She had taken to fidgeting with her inhaler, flipping it over in her hands repeatedly, a habit she had intentionally started developing to learn how to properly manipulate things with these digits called fingers nearly as soon as she started carrying the tube. She found herself unable to look up to see that look a second time in her life, the one that practically shouted ‘disappointment’ while being stern enough to let you know just how little of the sun you would feel for the rest of your days. I’ll just…stay still. I’ll sit here just a little longer, just to pretend I’m not about to pay for my mistakes all over again. I want…is it possible to want something you’ve never had? I want my mommy…

The thoughts chasing themselves in circles in her head were suddenly stilled when pale hands wrapped around hers. Startled, she was unable to stop herself from looking up, and was shocked to see tears in Celestia’s eyes as well. “Oh, my poor little cub…” she whispered so quietly Sunset wasn’t sure she’d have heard it if she’d been even a hooflength further away. Louder, the Pack Alpha said, “You had such high expectations placed on you, so young…” She then used her surprising Alpha strength to sweep Sunset into a hug, an embrace so complete Sunset was in the older woman’s lap and completely wrapped in her arms. Thanks to the comparative size differences with Celestia being nearly two meters tall and Sunset being in the body of a 12-year-old, she really did feel like a child in a parent’s embrace.

She was shaken from her remembrance by a poke at her side, the sensation of the dull end of a pen poking against a rib through several layers of fabric. With a slight start, she turned to find the source, to see the concerned face of Rarity, sitting in the chair next to her. “Are you alright?” the beta girl silently mouthed. In response to Sunset’s confused look, Rarity gave a slight huff and handed over a hoofkerchief…rather a handkerchief (human terms were weird, even if this one made some sense), and gestured with her hand to mimic blotting under her eyes.

Sunset abruptly realized that she was crying again, her cheeks cool from tears shed while she was being introspective. With a shake of her head to indicate she couldn’t talk about it now but a smile to indicate thanks, she blotted her cheeks dry and attempted to hand the cloth back to Rarity, who just cupped her hand over Sunset’s and pushed it back.

“I know two of my students aren’t passing notes during my lecture.” cut in Ms. Cheerilee’s voice. They looked up to see the young teacher finishing up some notes on the whiteboard before turning to look both Rarity and Sunset in the eye.

“Oh, no ma’am,” spoke up Rarity almost immediately, “Simply assisting Sunset with a…ah…personal matter as quietly as possible.” So said, she removed her hand from Sunset’s, who simply opened her palm to reveal the kerchief, damp spots visible above an embroidered and stylized “R.”

Cheerilee nodded with a slight smile of understanding. “Very well, thank you for being considerate to your classmates, Rarity. Sunset, do you need to take some time in the nurse’s office?”

Sunset cleared her throat as she pulled the handkerchief over to her desk and Rarity similarly pulled her hand back to her own space. “No, thank you, Ms. Cheerilee. That won’t be necessary.”

Cheerilee just nodded again, “Very well, let’s continue,” she turned to address the class at large, “Loving Son wrote some of his best work at Mighty Ruler’s Pond, though his writings were very controversial in his day…”

Sunset gave a tiny wave to Rarity to catch her attention, then nodded while holding up the kerchief to communicate thanks. Rarity gave a smiling nod and then returned her attention to the teacher, a motion which Sunset chose to interpret as the interaction being over for the time being. Taking a centering breath, she turned her gaze out the window and glanced down at the courtyard, idly noting the statue she’d tumbled out of only a few weeks before. Ignoring the small stab of melancholy

She realized after a moment that she wasn’t just seeing the courtyard scenery; she was seeing a person out on the grass. It was a man, though she wouldn’t swear it without being able to catch his scent.

She spared herself a moment’s thought that she was already thinking along human identification lines more than how ponies identified others.

Sunset watched as the man held up his hands to his mouth, as though holding a megaphone of some sort, then shouted. The double-paned glass on the windows was proof against most of the sound, something she was sure the man knew as his volume was just enough, she could barely hear the muffled shouts. She saw others she’d identified as Alphas and omegas turn and take notice as well, and she didn’t think they had any more idea what he was shouting than she did, as the words weren’t coming through, just a bit of his tone of voice, rather like a trombone might sound from down the hall and through cotton earplugs.

Sunset raised her hand without looking away from the window, her attention mostly focused on this odd scene. When she heard Miss Cheerilee’s ‘Yes, Sunset?’, she lowered her hand and pointed, “Ma’am, there’s some guy shouting at the school out there.”

Cheerilee sighed, an exasperated sound. Confused, Sunset turned from the window finally to see the other students looking either at her or the window but almost none at Cheerilee. Seeing that her class was pretty much a lost cause by this point, she addressed the class. “Well, it looks like we’re going to be treated to something you don’t normally get to see during school hours. Go ahead and line up at the windows, but don’t shove and make sure everyone can see.”

As the class surged to their feet, the betas initially confused but then excited shouts coming from the students as they nearly all were looking out through the windows, Sunset found her view blocked and she was the only one still in her seat.

Cheerilee put her hand on Sunset’s shoulder. As the student stood, the teacher guided her to the end of the row of windows by the teacher’s desk. A few quiet words to some of the students and they suddenly had a bit of a gap and Cheerilee kneeled next to Sunset as they looked down at the courtyard. “I know you’ve never seen this before, so it couldn’t have been helped. I was hoping the entire thing could be handled without disrupting class…” she shook her head, “You’re about to witness a territory challenge.” Sunset’s head tilted as she glanced between Cheerilee and the scene outside.

She watched as Cranky shuffled out of the school’s main entrance, then looked the stranger up and down. They watched as he gave a huff so indignant his whole body shifted before taking what was clearly a predetermined spot nearby. After that, Nurse Redheart moved to a similar spot in the courtyard, giving all the appearance of bracketing the stranger. “A territory challenge is always witnessed by one omega and one beta. It’s traditional, though there’s some theories that it dates back to Mesopotamian times as part of the precursor to the Healer-kin Codes.” Cheerilee explained, then waved her hands as though clearing away, “Neither of them is going to fight, and honestly Redheart would probably get slaughtered if she tried to intervene, and I’m afraid Cranky’s days of being a soldier are several decades past.”

Sunset nodded as she observed, seeing Celestia finally emerge from the entrance to confront the interloper. Sunset’s head tilted as she noted Celestia’s posture and gait were…different from her usual. It wasn’t something the young teen could put into words, but it was almost a distinct confidence, a projection of power and authority.

Whatever it was, the other Alpha clearly didn’t have it.

There were more words said by the stranger, but Celestia was almost ignoring it. Instead, she very carefully and deliberately, almost ritualistically, removed her jacket. To Sunset’s surprise, the principal also removed her shirt, revealing not a bra like she’d been expecting, but a stay.

When Celestia had taken her to get new clothes, the principal had insisted that she get bras. Sunset hadn’t really seen the use or facility of the additional and (to her) unnecessary undergarment. The principal had replied to Sunset’s objections by pointing out that her breasts were already fairly well developed for someone her apparent physical age and were likely to only get larger, and soon support would be absolutely necessary, so she might as well get used to it now, and a bra was the most common and (comparatively) most affordable solution Sunset would have access to while on this side of the portal. Naturally, the wording caught Sunset’s attention and, once she got home, she researched the history of bras, why they were needed, and what the alternatives were.

The stay was a piece of clothing technology that was positively ancient in comparison to the bra, which for reasons having to do with fashion (something Sunset only paid attention to enough to say it absolutely was NOT interesting to her, even if steeped in culture and technique and as much a fact of life as anything a social creature like ponies or humans did), the bra had almost eliminated stays, but there were a handful of people who kept the making and use of them alive, and Celestia was one of them. From Sunset’s research, there was apparently a debate among female Alphas as to whether the stay or the bra was better for combat.

Celestia was obviously the former, and after carefully folding her shirt and letting the challenging Alpha run out of steam in his attempts to taunt her into starting the fight on his terms, she carefully and deliberately stepped out of her shoes, revealing that she wasn’t wearing anything like hose or socks. She stepped onto the grassy part of the courtyard that with the deliberation that reminded Sunset a bit of how Princess Celestia sometimes would square off against some noble or other who had the temerity to challenge her authority in open court.

The principal cooly padded across the lawn, coming within feet of the man. Sunset heard the rest of the class gasping, some holding their breath. “She’s making a power-move here,” Cheerilee explained before Sunset could ask, “You’re supposed to keep your distance until absolutely necessary during a fight. Getting that close is either a rookie move or a demonstration that you think your opponent is so far beneath you in skill you don’t see them as an actual threat.”

Definitely like the princess, Sunset thought, Stupid nobles always treated her like she was a filly because she liked cake and spending time with students. Sunset snorted in amusement at the memory of Princess Celestia in Day Court facing down some blowhard. She loved watching Celestia work in those situations and found herself hoping to see similar with this version of the princess.

The principal leaned forward and said…something. She would find out later that even Cranky and Redheart hadn’t heard what Celestia said to the man, but his face twisted up in fury and his fist whipped up and slammed into the Pack Alpha’s face.

The class gasped almost as one, seeing Celestia twist and spin slightly on her heal. She caught her balance and slowly straightened, popping her neck first to the left, then right, before opening her eyes fully to see the faces of the students, not just in Cheerilee’s class but apparently from several others. Even as blood started pouring down her face from her nose, she grinned ferally, and something primitive and prey in Sunset quivered in abject terror. She realized she was seeing very much more clearly than she had moments before. The light suddenly felt so much brighter, and she could make out details that she hadn’t noticed just minutes ago. The higher functions of her brain were trying to analyze this moment, but her hind-brain was suddenly screaming at her. Pupils must be dilated, adrenal response kicking in, good for flight or fight, need to run, need to escape, get away…

Those details on Celestia that Sunset was noticing from a few dozen yards away and up one story in the building (behind a window, no less) were awe inspiring and terrifying to an equal degree. Celestia’s irises were a bright, bloody red, nearly the same color as the blood dripping from her nose. Her lips, normally painted a tasteful pink, were stained red with her own blood even as the peeled back in a grinning snarl that exposed a pair of dropped fangs, canines that jutted down over her lower jaw more like a wolf than the simian teeth that Celestia usually sported.

As Sunset was taking in her mentor’s…no, this wasn’t her mentor. This was a creature that shared her name, some of her mannerisms, even a bit of her appearance, but this was NOT the Princess Celestia Sunset knew. It’d been such an easy mistake to make, but Princess Celestia had never looked like she could eat someone’s heart in front of them. The principal’s muscles flexed, distinct lines on a well-toned body that was obviously the result of a great deal of work and not a little bit of good genetics, and she raised two fingers to her forehead in a salute to her students. The students at the window exploded into almost howling cheers, and Sunset could hear a couple other classrooms echo the noise.

In a single movement, Celestia pivoted on one foot and launched her other leg from standing to a power-kick to the man’s chest, a sharp strike that sent him stumbling back several feet before he managed to arrest his stagger.

Sunset gasped as Celestia performed what she could only describe as a charging punch combo. Her bare feet gripping the grass as she moved forward at almost running speed, all while executing vicious right-left jabs at the other Alpha. The man stumbled further back, barely able to keep his guard up as he reeled. While Sunset couldn’t see Celestia’s face, she could easily imagine what the man must be seeing with his one good eye; a nearly feral grinning face, sharp eyes burning with the need to rend and crush.

In moments, Celestia’s longer legs and greater height easily overpowered the other Alpha. She dropped to her knees, straddling his torso. In her left fist she gripped his shirt and with her right started hammering down on his chest.

Sunset realized suddenly she was almost pantin. She was predominantly mortified, a visceral disgust underscored with gut-clenching terror that she slept in the same house as this…beast presently giving absolutely no quarter in this purely physical contest. But at the same time, she felt…warm. She felt like she should be taking off her leather jacket and her boots and joining her Alpha on that lawn. Her fingers were arched, almost rigid. Her arms were almost vibrating with the desire to rush down and jump into the fight.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Cheerilee glance down surreptitiously, then move to put the bulk of her body between Sunset and the rest of the class. Sunset looked down, her sight almost feeling like it was burning from how much brighter it seemed right now, to see black talons extending out from her fingertips where her fingernails should be.

The sight terrified her, and she suddenly realized that the growing desire to go down to the lawn and join the fight was her “Inner Alpha.” She’d heard the term a few times but hadn’t yet managed to put together a coherent question on the subject. All the little snippets of conversation suddenly fell into place like interconnecting children’s blocks, forming a complete picture. The monster that had tackled and pinned the much larger girl in the cafeteria the previous week, the dominant voice in her head that was demanding she act in ways that she had never even had intrusive thoughts to do before, all that was this horrible aspect of her new form that was so foreign, so alien to everything she’d ever known of herself or other ponies all her life she had no good means of qualifying or quantifying it. A quiet, frightened whine escaped her as she started shivering at the evidence sprouting from her own fingers that she didn’t just live with the monster that was this universe’s version of her old mentor, she was one of those monsters, too!

Cheerilee looked down at her most unusual student, ignoring the now-obviously one-sided fight on the lawn, and took in Sunset’s state. The poor girl was shivering, and her pheromone glands were starting to excrete classic ‘panic’ scents (Rubbing alcohol with an undercurrent of ozone AND burning oil? she thought, how is she doing that?!) and clearly had no idea how to retract her claws. She quietly called Rarity over to her, fairly easy to do as the beta was, unlike most of the class, not plastered against the window but instead was watching with detached interest behind some other students.

“Ma’am?” said the girl in her oddly proper affectation. It made the girl stand out both as a student (understanding proper English made her language arts and writing skills top notch compared to her peers) and made her seem more mature than the others. Fortunately, the perception matched reality for the most part and Cheerilee was comfortable giving the girl responsibilities she normally wouldn’t give anyone else in her class.

“Would you mind taking Sunset down to the nurse’s office after all? Once you’ve got her situated, come straight back here so you can take her stuff down to the principal’s office, I have a feeling Sunset won’t be attending any further classes today.”

Sunset had almost folded in on herself, her hands tucked into her jacket, apparently to hide her claws. Rarity’s face pinched into a concerned mou and she nodded at the teacher, gently taking Sunset’s elbow and guiding the young Alpha out of the room.

The walk to the nurse’s office was quiet, most of the classes either focused on their work or, like Cheerilee’s class, watching the action through the north-facing windows. The entire way, Sunset’s face was a tight, uncomfortable mixture of fear and confusion that Rarity hadn’t a clue how to address.

They entered the office without preamble, Rarity glancing about to see the miniature clinic empty of personnel. “Nurse Redheart must still be out monitoring the fight.” She took Sunset’s elbow and directed her to one of the darkened bays. “I’ll just get you settled here, then go get your things.” Putting words to action, she helped Sunset up to sit on the exam bed, casting her eyes about the room to see if there was anything she more she could do. She came to the disheartening conclusion that she simply lacked the skills needed or familiarity with the facility to do any more than she had.

She gently patted the young Alpha’s shoulder, “You sit tight, Sunset. I’ll come by and check on you after I take your things to your m…the principal’s office.” The other girl gave an odd shudder that Rarity couldn’t work out the reason for and just nodded without looking up.

Rarity gave her newest friend’s shoulder a squeeze and left the bay, leaving the light off and closing the partition to grant a small measure of privacy. She didn’t think Sunset needed any more stimuli than she was already dealing with.

Sunset felt bad for not speaking to Rarity, but she felt like she couldn’t trust her voice at that moment. She was afraid to open her mouth and a row of fangs popping out, or pulling her hands from her jacket to find them completely replaced with griffon’s talons. I’m not a monster, I’m not… the refrain kept circling in her thoughts, the only thing keeping the…other thoughts at bay.

Sunset hadn’t been paying any attention to the world outside her own head, so was completely surprised when she heard the nurse’s office door slam open and what sounded like at least three sets of feet storm in. She jumped nearly out of her skin, her eyes fixed on the partition that separated her from the alien world she was trapped in.

“Get him in one of the bays, yes, that one’s fine.” She heard Redheart order. A snap of nitrile gloves accompanied the sight of two pairs of legs bracketing a form being dragged between them. With a disconcerting start, she recognized the parts she could see around the bottom of the partition as the challenger that had been fighting Celestia. She saw small patters of blood fall to the tile as he was dragged to the bay directly across from the main entrance to the office. Once the dragged form passed out of sight, she heard the competing sounds of Redheart gathering supplies and what sounded like a clipboard or two and the man being hauled up onto a clinic bed. She saw Redheart’s feet hurry across the floor, completely heedless of the blood she was tracking on her shoes. She heard the beta complaining quietly and apparently to herself as she made the noises that Sunset could only imagine was some sort of examination. Sunset cringed as she heard the man moaning in pain.

Not even a full minute later, the door to the office slammed open again, this time accompanied by a voice she clearly recognized. “…don’t need a medic, just let me clean up and we can get back to our day.” It was Celestia’s voice, but not like Sunset had ever heard. It had a deep, throaty quality to it, a slight rumbling rasp on the lower notes that made it sound like she practically growled the words out.

“Uh-huh,” came her sister’s sarcastic reply, “Tell me that when you can keep your fangs in your mouth.”

“Quiet out there!” snapped Redheart over the renewed groaning of the man she was working on, “Luna, did you have to bring her here? Her presence is agitating my patient!”

“See?” barked (Barked!!! thought Sunset) Celestia, “Redheart thinks I don’t need to…where’s Sunset?”

“Luna!” snapped Redheart, “Control her or by goddess I’ll give you both an unhealthy amount of tranquilizers!”

A sudden sense of presence flooded the room, “Sunset won’t have seen a territory fight, she won’t know what’s happening. Let me find her!” this last part was definitely growled, causing Sunset to start shivering, eyes almost bugged out as she watched the closed partition like a mouse watching for a cat.

Abruptly, the overwhelming, crushing not-weight seemed to double. Her instincts were telling her that it wasn’t the original source getting stronger, it was two apex predators vying for dominance. “Celestia, calm down!” snapped Luna, “This isn’t the time to be playing mama wolf!”

“Luna! Get her into a bay! And keep her there! All we need is some idiot teacher or ignorant student getting in the way of a fury’d Alpha!”

Sunset heard a scuffle and some squeaking of shoes before she heard the sound of a partition being slid closed.

I…I gotta get out of here… the thought came even as she gingerly pulled her hands out of her jacket (observing with only the tiniest portion of her attention that her claws had somehow retracted while she’d been nearly curled up in a panic) and used them to, as silently as possible, dismount from the exam bed and put her feet on the floor. That she was using some of what Celestia had taught her the previous weekend to move to the partition as stealthy as possible wasn’t lost on her, but at the moment her priority was escape using whatever tools were available.

Extremely carefully she tugged the partition open and peeked through the crack. She could see the other two occupied bays, leaving three others dark and quiet. In the open bay with the hostile Alpha she saw Redheart’s back, the stranger’s torso and face mostly blocked by the nurse hunched over his form in some part of her exam, and the shoulders of the other two people peaking around the door jam to the bay. They were facing the challenger, rather like two of Princess Celestia’s guard might monitor an untrusted dignitary of a hostile nation.

A couple of bays over and nearly directly across from hers was another lit alcove, this one with the privacy screen covering it. She could see what she recognized as Celestia’s bare feet and Luna’s shoe-clad ones. She could hear Luna arguing with an increasingly recalcitrant Celestia, mostly continued invectives to stay put, sit down, and “pull back on the dominance aura, damnit!”

As quietly and carefully as possible, watching the other two occupied bays for any sign she’d been noticed, she slid her privacy partition open just enough to squeeze herself through silently. She padded as quickly across the tiled floor as she could, grateful for once that she didn’t have hooves anymore as they’d have made a tremendous racket on the tiled floor. Her shoes barely squeaked, once, as she made the traverse, and even that was covered by the sounds of Redheart’s procedures.

Opening the door to the clinic was a challenge as she wasn’t sure how to dampen the sounds of the mechanism that controlled the latch, but once through she eased it shut.

She wandered the halls at that point, not knowing where she might go or what she’d do once she got there. Her head felt like a chorus of ponies were swimming around in it, some demanding that she find the source of her current turmoil and rip its throat out, some urging her to run, run as far and fast as possible to get away from the predators surrounding her. Her higher reasoning functions were chiming in, trying to convince her to go back to the clinic to seek out the help and potential comfort of the people who’d shown her so much care and support.

Unbidden, her mind recalled the previous night again, after she’d been pulled into Celestia’s lap she’d been unable to contain the last of her pain from her fillyhood; she’d bawled with renewed tears, this time the emotions flooding out of her were a sense of relief, a feeling of belonging and home and (if she were completely honest with herself) of coming home and finding your mom waiting for you. Celestia had simply held her, rocking her gently, purring to sooth her in the way the Alphas (and omegas, from what she’d read) of this world did to comfort their young. She could recall hearing Luna quietly working in the kitchen, preparing dinner and setting the table.

After a bit, her crying jag tapered off, and she pulled out yet another wad of facial tissues to blow her nose and blot the tears from her face. “Sorry,” she’d said once she had regained full control (well, maybe 90% control, her vocal cords were still a little tight) of her voice, “I…you shouldn’t have had to see me like this.”

Celestia had just chuckled, gently taking a clean tissue to a couple of tear tracks Sunset had missed, “Don’t apologize, cub. You’re dealing with so very much more than anyone could possibly demand, and learning, I think, to let go of what hurt you in the past. That’s a far greater task than anything else you’re doing, and I find you’re very brave for doing it.”

Luna inadvertently chuckled, interrupting the moment. The other two turned to her in confusion and Luna, who’d been leaning in a bit with obvious interest, had merely waved their curiosity away, “No, don’t mind me, I’m just cooking here.”

The moment was broken, though, and Sunset took a shuddering, though eased, breath as her feet touched the floor, “What was that do you think?”

Celestia leaned forward, elbows on her knees, as she stared at Luna. “I…don’t know, but I suspect my sister is planning something, and it’ll be harmlessly frustrating or frustratingly harmless, or both.”

Luna clearly knew she was being observed and discussed, she started whistling a tune that Celestia seemed to recognize, a slight smile quirking her lips. “Stellar Quest: Lower Decks, eh? Well, it’s on, sister.” she muttered. Sunset’s eyebrow went up at the word salad, Celestia noticed and clarified. “One of Luna’s favorite sci-fi shows, the tune she’s whistling is the show’s theme tune.” She glared toward the kitchen in ‘accepted challenge,’ a look Sunset knew well from her Equestrian mentor and for the first time took comfort in the similarity. “The challenge,” Celestia continued, “Will be figuring out if that’s a red herring or a clue, and if it’s a clue what the clue means…”

They went on to eat, and something had seemed to have changed since the previous night’s dinner. Sunset felt like she was now fully part of the dynamic, like she’d been invited into the…pack and accepted. She felt, during those hours of dinner and getting ready for bed and even a comfortable restless time while she was in bed but unable to sleep, like she could stop running, and whether it was to or from something, she wasn’t sure.

And here she was, not even 24 hours later, running away. She realized she’d put her hands in her jacket pockets and her right hand was clenched around something. She pulled the hand out and examined what she found; it was Rarity’s handkerchief. A small token, a gift from the beta girl to her for no other reason than she’d needed something to wipe her face…and a friend.

Sunset smiled, carefully re-folded the kerchief, and put it in the inside breast pocket of her jacket. She looked around to see where she’d wandered to and was surprised to realize she was fairly close to the P.E. storage shed she’d stayed in the first week of her time in this world. She turned, taking a deep breath, and froze.

Mountain glacier, icy wind…and flop sweat. Her mental analysis of the scent caught by her enhanced senses came right before a maudlin recitation of, “Well…well…well.”

Sunset turned to find the source of the voice and spotted Gilda stepping out from the other side of the shed. The taller girl took the cigarette out of her mouth she’d been smoking and flicked it to the ground, stomping on it without looking. “I think I owe you for that shit you pulled in the cafeteria last week. You didn’t even challenge, you just jumped me and pulled out those freak claws, and I don’t even what to ask what kinda birth defect those fangs are, but I think I’d better put you down, you know, for the sake of the pack…but mostly ‘cause you just piss me off.” As she spoke, the girl almost strutted, youthful menace practically radiating off her.

She was also over a foot taller than Sunset and clearly had muscle definition going on under that faded letterman jacket that had apparently replaced the leather jacket Sunset had damaged with her claws. Sunset estimated the girl probably weighed twice what she did, and most of that was likely to be the mentioned muscle.

“Gilda…it’s Gilda, right?” having her name spoken just seemed to anger the other Alpha, so Sunset tried continuing, backing away slowly, “I’m sorry for what happened on Friday, I…well, I can’t really say what it was about, but I promise I didn’t mean to~grkhhhhh…”

Pain exploded from her abdomen as she collapsed to the ground. Her adrenal responses, seeming to have been tapped to exhaustion earlier during the events surrounding Celestia’s fight, finally hit her system and her brain realized she needed an explanation for what just happened before she could respond in any way.

She realized she had seen Gilda move, it was just so quick that her conscious mind had seen it happen and simply dismissed it as impossible, right before Gilda’s fist collided with her stomach.

It wasn’t that fast… some part of her observed, noting additionally that she, herself, had moved faster the previous Friday. Great, she thought, how about we do more of that now? Like, right now? Before that foot that’s about to collide with our head hits?

Unfortunately, Gilda’s booted foot slammed into Sunset’s forehead causing stars to blanket her vision. By the time they cleared enough for her to see, Gilda had given her two more kicks, one hitting her sternum and another practically crushing her hands into her own stomach.

Pain was now nearly all of Sunset’s existence, locking up her muscles and dominating her thinking. As her thoughts were consumed by a rising tide of the dull roar of agony, a single coherent conviction bubbled to the top; I’ve fucked up again…badly…

Author's Note

So if you follow my blog, you'll know I kinda blew myself out last September while I was having sleep problems so severe I was suffering sleep deprivation. I've managed to recover from that a decent amount, but per my doctor's and coach's recommendation, I'm taking things slow. I'm quite proud of being able to get this chapter up and posted, and I felt like overcoming a bit of writer's block (right around where you read about Cheerilee going full "teacher mode" with Sunset about the challenge fight) was a huge step for me in getting back into writing.

My next big goal is to finish Chapter 1 of a fic called "Lost in the Dark."

A huge generation ship floats silently in the space between stars, silent, dark, and abandoned. After a thousand years of drifting, all systems shut off or in "sleep" mode, the ship is in remarkably good condition...save for a completely destroyed engine mount and damaged fuel stores. In another 10 thousand years or so the ship would have wandered into a gravity well and fallen in, eventually getting incinerated by a star or crushed by a black hole, or just colliding with enough space debris to render the entire hulk unrecognizable as being crafted by intelligent beings.
There's one, singular system still in operation; in a large bay connected to the engineering compartment, a portal machine sits idle. Powered by the energies of the multiverse, it doesn't need any other energy source to operate, but there's nobody on the ship to operate it.
Until one day, it flares to life, for the first time in 1,000 years. Through this open portal stumbles two beings, super-soldiers who have been in pitched battle for years and only stop fighting when they realize they're suddenly not where they had been. Adora, Princess of Power and wielder of The Sword of Protection and Catra, Force Captain of The Horde, declare a ceasefire until they can find a way home. They set about exploring their surroundings to find some hints or clues, but are interrupted when the portal fires to life again and disgorges...Adora, high school student and football team captain and Catra, high school student and lead guitarist for the grunge metal garage band "The Horde." A while later the portal opens again and spills out Adora, intern for the Eternia Colonization Project and Katrina, fully normal human and struggling college student.
The portal has locked onto Adora and Catra, specifically, and is pulling in variants from across the multiverse, and the device doesn't seem to have an off switch or a reverse...

If you've followed my progress at all for the last couple of decades, you'll know I tend to stop-start projects, but I almost never abandon them. Deviation is absolutely still on the "active projects" pile and I'll be coming back to write Chapter 7 before you know it.