Thistle hesitated outside of the door to their room. She was afraid of what she was about to do, and she took a deep breath as the group of equines began to pass through the door. She took another deep breath when the first one didn’t work, and, finding that didn’t help matters at all, went ahead with what needed to be done anyway.

“Derpy, can we talk? Here in the hall?” Thistle asked.

“Sure, what about?” Derpy replied. The grey mare still looked a bit unsettled. It had been a long day and there had been something of an unsettling revelation during dinner.

Thistle began to have second thoughts and wondered if this was a good time. She intended to let it go but then other words came out of her mouth, much to her surprise.

“About our agreement,” Thistle said.

“Oh?” Derpy huffed inquisitively.

“I know that we talked, and we discussed what was best for me… and at the time, I thought it was the best for me, but I am having second thoughts,” Thistle admitted. She felt her breath catch sharply in her throat as Derpy’s ears folded back. She felt even more afraid when Bucky lingered in the hallway, and then he took a seat on the floor next to Derpy.

“Mare business,” Derpy said to Bucky.

“I see that,” Bucky said.

“So go inside. Leave us be,” Derpy said.

“No,” Bucky replied. “Thistle looks terrified. I refuse to go while she remains distressed.”

Derpy shut the door and the three of them remained in the hallway. Much to Derpy’s dismay, Berry Punch opened the door and stepped out into the hallway. Berry shut the door behind her and sat down next to Bucky. She then heard Thistle make a sound that was the unmistakable sound of a filly holding back tears.

“They all seem so happy… Sparkler is the same age as I am… and Loch is younger than I am… When I am taken into this herd, I want Bucky to be able to have me,” Thistle begged.

“But our agreement,” Derpy said.

“I know what I asked you to do… but when I asked for that, I was scared. And now I am realising that you can’t be my fellow-wife and my mother. I know you didn’t want me hurt, but I am hurting,” Thistle said in a strangled voice.

“What is it that you two agreed on exactly?” Berry asked.

“Not now Berry!” Derpy said forcefully.

“That isn’t important,” Thistle said. “What matters is, I made a mistake and I wedged myself into this herd… I acted like a foal but expected to be treated as an adult… and I allowed myself to be a scared little filly, which made Derpy want to protect me, and we both agreed to some pretty unreasonable things I think because we were both scared. But look at them. Look how happy they are. I want the same thing,” the kelpie explained.

Derpy groaned and sat down on the stone floor next to Bucky. “Thistle, we agreed… Bucky is hung like a barrel. And with your pregnancy-”

“I know what we agreed on. I requested some of those things, and you laid out what you wanted from me. And now I am begging you to reconsider… I did what I did out of foalish fear… and desperation to get into your good graces… I was so hurt already,” Thistle pleaded.

“Derpy, the truth is, as was previously stated, you can’t be her mother and her fellow-wife. Just like with Sparkler, you are going to have to let her grow up and get hurt. It isn’t going to be like how it was with you. Thistle is going to be loved and protected and we will never let go of her. Don’t rob her of something important out of a misplaced motherly desire to keep her safe,” Berry said in a low soothing voice.

“And it seems Thistle is showing some maturity in admitting that she made a mistake,” Bucky added. “Even though I don’t know exactly what went on.”

“I am very confused and overwhelmed right now,” Derpy admitted, stating her honest feelings.

“So am I,” Thistle confessed.

“We’re not leaving this hallway until this is settled,” Bucky said in his quiet authoritative voice.

“No plan ever survives contact with the enemy. When we got together, we laid down our own rules of engagement and look at us now. We’ve had to make a few changes. We all agreed to some things because we lacked the foresight to understand how much we would change. Thistle came into our lives. Bon Bon and Lyra joined our herd. We had to create new rules of engagement. But we can’t afford to squabble with one another. There are wolves trying to eat us. Some dark shadow looms over our family and wants to claim our husband. So we need to sort this shite out, get it over with now, and Derpy, you need to figure out where Thistle stands in this herd,” Berry said with her usual fine spoken eloquence.

“I want you to protect me… I am a scared stupid filly and I know that… I have made some stupid mistakes… just try not to protect me too much,” Thistle asked of the grey mare beside Bucky.

“You are not a filly,” Derpy said in a strained voice. The pegasus wiped her eyes with a wing and took a deep halting breath. “You’re a mare and deserve to be happy. And I was wrong to think I could protect you as a filly. And to be honest, part of me is probably always going to be a bit protective of you, because that is just the way I am… so call me on it when I do it.”

Thistle nodded, unable to speak.

“So… when do I get to have a go at Thistle?” Berry asked as she waggled her eyebrows.

Thistle squeaked and looked at Berry. “You know, to be honest, there are times when the idea of you taking me scares me more than Bucky taking me,” she stated.

“Really?” Berry said, her demeanour changing to something far more gentle. “You need to tell me when I overstep my bounds.”

“Berry Punch is a shag-happy extravert,” Derpy said in a voice that was both happy and sad. “I’ll help you put her in her place,” she promised.

“Hey, Thistle is an extravert, I can tell,” Berry said. “And nopony can tame me, I am berry wild.”

“I made such plans to keep Thistle happy and safe,” Derpy said bitterly. “And I feel so bad about it right now,” she added. The pegasus heaved a sigh. “I feel so foolish. I thought I had everything figured out."

“Cheer up Derpy… you can still be a mama bird. There is a foal in the next room that is going to need you. Lyra is going to need you. I am going to need you. And Thistle keeps getting bigger, so she is going to need you for other reasons,” Bucky said in kind tones.

“I guess I still have some growing up to do,” Derpy said.

“We all do,” Berry said.

“Are we done? Because I have important business in the next room,” Bucky said.

“We’re done I think,” Derpy said as she gave a glance to Thistle.

“There is one more thing I want… what I was promised… when we… you know… do what needs to be done, I want to be with her first,” Thistle said to Bucky as she gestured to Derpy.

“I can give you that,” Derpy replied with a husky whisper.

Bucky settled himself into the straw by the bed and then looked at Lyra. “Bring her to me,” he requested.

Lyra moved hesitantly, clearly wanting to keep the foal close to her. She took a few half steps and her ears folded back against her head. “This is really hard for some reason,” she said in a pained voice.

“I know Lyra. Come here, lay by my side. We’ll share her,” Bucky said soothingly.

Lyra went to Bucky’s side and eased down next to him. As she pressed against his side, she felt better. Leaning over a bit, she kissed Bucky on the cheek and then pulled away blushing. She eased the foal down between Bucky’s forelegs, released her magic, and then rested her head upon Bucky’s foreleg, her snoot inches from the foal that she already so loved.

“Lyra Heartstrings, it is good that you are already so protective,” Bucky said in a low whisper to Lyra. He raised his other foreleg and stroked Lyra, brushing her mane from her eyes. He felt her sigh in contentment. He lowered his leg and stroked the tiny foal with his folded fetlock. “Lyra and I would burn down continents for you,” he whispered in the foal’s ear.

Lyra found herself giggling. This was an aspect of motherhood she had not expected. Her body was flooded with a crazy level of hormones after the spell she had used to start her teat milk. She could feel the foal breathing on her and could smell her milky breath.

Bucky continued to inspect the foal. She was tiny, her pelt was a faded indigo, and she had the orangest orange mane he had ever seen. A tiny nub of a horn protruded from her forehead. He heard a giggle from behind the privacy barrier as Sparkler, Rising Star, and Loch tried to clean themselves up a bit. He felt good about the giggles as he leaned down and placed his lips upon the foal, kissing her softly. He pressed his nose into the wild orange tuft of frizzy mane and inhaled her scent.

He felt a spike in his mood as he was flooded with oxytocin, his body rewarding him for fatherly behaviour. Dopamine raced through his slight frame, easing his many aches and pains from the long day of horror. The terrible visions of mutilated corpses and free roaming undead abominations were pushed out of his mind as serotonin went to work, changing his thinking and making him feel slightly drowsy. The triggered fatherhood response was a great natural antidepressant.

Bucky knew none of this, only that he felt better, and Lyra was feeling much the same. The two unicorns were letting go and allowing themselves to feel everything, life unfiltered and raw. Their herdmates stayed back, giving the both of them the space they clearly needed.

Overcome with strange new feelings, Bucky kissed Lyra again, nibbling on the corner of her mouth, and Lyra turned her head towards Bucky. The kiss intensified and both of them were quite overcome with emotion. After a few moments, they pulled apart and both of them snoot bumped the foal together.

“Bucky, I feel so funny,” Lyra whispered.

“Just let go and allow this to happen,” Bucky breathed.

“I’m scared Bucky… I’ve never felt this much emotion,” Lyra murmured.

“I’m scared out of my mind Lyra,” Bucky confessed under his breath. “We need to break the cycle of what was done to us and allow ourselves to feel this.”

“This much emotion is dangerous,” Lyra whimpered. “I can feel it just behind my horn.”

“I know,” Bucky said as he kissed Lyra’s cheek again.

“We owe it to her to love her completely and hold nothing back,” Lyra whispered.

Lyra pressed her face into Bucky’s neck and began to weep, letting go of a flood of emotion.

Bucky, feeling Lyra’s tears, gently nudged the foal closer to her. He could feel the small warm body and treasured the sounds of the foal breathing in and out. The foal tumbled over onto her back and Bucky pressed his snoot into her belly, once again breathing deep of her scent. He caught the faint scent of blood from the dangling remains of the cord and his muscles tensed as though they were flooded by some electric pulse. Some deep primal instinct took over and he licked the foal, tasting her on his tongue, and his body flooded with even more hormones. He cleaned away traces of dried blood and then licked away traces of gunk from her ears. It was not a conscious action, Bucky was no longer fully aware of what he was doing. He had slipped into some sort of primeval equine state, and this, coupled with the physiological changes that had been done to his body when his teeth had changed, now steered his behaviour. He continued to lick the foal until it was clean, and each touch of his tongue upon the foal’s body strengthened the bonds between them.

Sentinel watched the whole thing as though he was hypnotised, his eyes wide and almost unblinking as he sat, still as statue, fixated on Bucky’s interaction with the foal. When Bucky raised his head, Sentinel approached, moving oddly, his head low and his tail tucked between his hind legs. His wings drooped and the tips dragged over the stone floor. He approached slowly and when he drew near, he dropped to his belly and crawled forward through the straw.

The equines in the room fell into silence, realising they were seeing something new and unknown.

As Sentinel approached, Bucky’s remaining eye narrowed. He growled, and it was not an equine sound. It was a terrifying sound, a deep throaty rumble. And Sentinel replied with his own growl as he continued to approach. The lunar pegasus’ eyes were strangely glassy. The lunar pegasus colt sidled up alongside Bucky and then rolled over on his side, exposing his throat to the much larger male.

There were gasps as Bucky’s head dropped and he licked Sentinel’s exposed throat. The tension in the air grew thick as everypony watched, waiting for whatever happened next. Even Lyra was transfixed, realising that she was near two creatures that were no longer entirely ponies.

Sentinel rolled onto his belly and lifted his head, and the colt foal bumped his head against Bucky’s. There was more savage growling between the two. Whatever exchange was taking place, it was no longer wholly equine. Bucky nosed the tiny unicorn foal towards Sentinel, and the colt foal lowered his head. He too licked the infant a few times, and then pressed his face into the damp unicorn newborn. A deep throaty rumble emerged from Sentinel as he inhaled deeply, taking in the infants scent.

Bucky licked Sentinel’s ears as the colt bonded with the infant.

Lyra dared not speak. The two savage creatures beside her had slipped past the need for speech. She felt a surge of emotions and her heart began to race. She felt safe. She was secure. She was near two equine apex predators, something not natural to the equine herd structure, but welcomed by Lyra’s inner equine because of the feeling of protection the two of them brought. Trembling, realising she was in the presence of something completely new to her, Lyra cautiously extended her tongue and licked the side of Bucky’s face. She squeaked in fright as his foreleg lifted and then fell over her withers, pinning her down. Lyra had never been very strong. For a moment, she worried that she had set off whatever terrible beast that Bucky seemed to have become, but her fears turned into feelings of mild disgust and confusion when she felt the rough gritty texture of Bucky’s tongue along the side of her face and her ear, licking away her salty tears. Lyra, always the scholar, allowed the experience to happen and didn’t move. She closed her eyes and let go, letting the experience take her.

As she felt the broad tongue brushing over her face, Lyra felt awash in a powerful new sensation of love. She felt her muscles relaxing, even as she came to the realisation that there were dangerously sharp fangs so very near her soft and tender flesh. There was nothing left to fear, and nothing could possibly harm her.

Lyra Heartstrings was now a mother, and her foal was safe.

Author's Notes:

And now we begin to see the real changes brought about during Bucky's transformation. A lot more than just his teeth changed. I am surprised that nobody commented on his change of eyesight in the daylight. I was so hoping that somebody had noticed.

Anyhoo, see a typo? Let me know.