“Run!” Aeon yelled with a shriek, before turning and fleeing as well.

Drifting ran with her, the sound of angry timberwolves behind them. She’d seen at least three, but it wouldn’t surprise her to find out there were more. Judging by the growls and howls she heard, it was a full pack. Neon appeared overhead, breaking through the tree cover and glancing down at them. “There’s a river ahead. It’d not very deep, but if you two can make it across they shouldn’t chase you!”

“Got it!” Drifting yelled, pushing herself with a small burst of speed, moments before the three broke through the trees and came to the edge of the river. She didn’t hesitate. She stopped for a moment, her horn glowing, before she crawled into the water as an alligator. She felt a weight on her back.

“I’m on, go go go!” Aeon called.

Drifting started gliding through the water. She became all too aware that there was definitely SOMETHING in this water with them, a bunch of somethings. And they were nibbling at her stomach. Fortunately, the thick hide of her form kept the creature’s from actually doing much more than tickle her. Aeon leaped off when they came closer and Drifting walked onto shore a moment later, before turning back into a pony again. She shook her head, wobbling a bit. “That’s REALLY not easy,” she said, before sitting down. “It feels different this time. Last time it didn’t make me feel so… tired.”

“Training exercises need to be realistic,” Neon said, before turning to watch across the river. The timberwolves came barreling out of the treeline… Only to come sliding to a halt in front of the river. They let out undignified yelps while crashing into each other, one even being knocked into the river and sent slowly downstream. The wolves growled at them, but then scattered.

“Will they be able to get across?” Drifting asked.

“Maybe, where the river thins and gets more shallow,” Neon said with a shake of his head. “We won’t be here when they do, however. Come on, let’s go. We’re almost to the retrieval point. Once we get in there, we’re done.”

Drifting nodded, trotting after the pegasus once he lifted from the ground and took to the sky. Today had been an almost completely different experience from last time. While the first try had been all about learning how the system worked, getting her hooves wet so to speak, now that she understood how it worked she was expected to help them test it. In this case, running some of the exercises with them. They were fun, at least. Though she truly wished she could do less running around and fighting strange beasts, and more relaxing and just enjoying being a mare.

Though she couldn’t deny the enjoyment of running around as a team with her friends.

“So, how’ve the hormones been treating you? Any side effects?” Aeon asked.

“Just happiness,” Drifting said with a chuckle. “Though, it’ll take a while for them to do anything. They don’t make me sick or anything, so they’re barely noticeable right now. I’ll admit I really was hoping there’d be… something. Anything. When I first took them. Some kind of feeling that just… hit me. That’d make me feel… all right. You know?” she muttered. “Kind of like I do now when I’m in here...”

“… I see. It takes time, Drifting. It--”

“I know it takes time,” the unicorn interrupted her. “Trust me. I know. I know probably better than most the ponies in this city. It doesn’t mean I have to like it. I don’t understand why there can’t just be a… some kind of spell that just fixes things. You know?” Drifting said with a shake of her head.

“I know. And I wish there was, too. How’s school?”

“… Good. I should graduate this year. They shifted my focus around so I can get out, sooner. I’ll have an official diploma in transfiguration. After that… well… I don’t know. Maybe I’ll try to join the lunar guard...”

“You shouldn’t force yourself to join, like this,” Aeon mumbled. “If you want to join, then do it. But don’t make a commitment like that just because you want to keep coming here.”

“Why not?” Drifting asked.

“Because it’s a lot of work, can be dangerous and there’s no telling if you’ll even get in here. Your focus is transfiguration, right? They’ll likely transfer you somewhere far away from here. Like the griffin lands or something. Maybe even the dragon lands. The chances of you getting into here are slim.”

“… Well, it’s not like there are any other chances of--”

“You just need to be patient. Wait for them to develop this more, it--”

“All I AM is patient,” Drifting interrupted. “All I do is wait. Wait for the pills to take effect. Wait for mom to be okay with this. Wait until I can get proper treatment. Wait until I graduate so I can keep going. Wait wait wait. You know what? Other ponies don’t have to wait. They get to be born a mare or a stallion and not hate themselves for it. I’m just tired of losing all this time and… I’m sorry,” the unicorn said, noting the distressed look on her friend’s face. “I… I didn’t mean to get all… angry…”

The other unicorn didn’t say anything for a few moments. Finally, however, after giving a soft sigh she spoke up. “I’m sorry, Drifting. I didn’t mean it like that. This must be incredibly frustrating for you. I’m sure if there was a faster way, there’d--”

“Yes, yes, I know,” Drifting mumbled. “I’ll be patient. Really. Who knows? When I graduate, maybe this’ll all be ready. Or maybe I’ll be further along or--”

“Griffons!” Neon interrupted, descending so he was just over them. “Okay, arrow formation, I’ll take point. Let’s do this!”

Drifting set the thoughts aside, focusing on the task at hoof.

------

Drifting tried to clear her head while the three of them headed back towards the palace. She couldn’t shake the feeling of just wrongness, however. No matter how much she tried to joke and talk with Aeon and Neon about the fun adventure they’d had, the pain of not being RIGHT anymore just cut into her like a hot knife.

She was so distracted she didn’t notice that something was wrong until Neon lifted a wing to stop her path. “Oh crud muffins,” the pegasus mumbled.

“Huh? What’s wro… oh,” Drifting mumbled, staring at the castle. Despite it being so late, ALL of the lights were on, and soldiers were running all over the place. “Is it an alarm?”

“No,” Neon mumbled. “It must not be anything too serious,” he said softly. “We’d have been called back, otherw--” he let out an undignified eep when a pegasus in lunar guard armor seemed to almost appear in front of them.

“Miss Drifting?” the pegasus asked.

She quickly nodded. “Y-yes, sir. Am I in trouble?”

“No. Neon, Aeon, I presume? Head to the barracks, get your armor on and head to the kitchen, official duties. Sorry for the sudden shift, but we’ve encountered some issues and are a bit short hoofed. Drifting, come with me. I am to escort you to your room.”

Drifting let out a startled yelp when her friends seemed to almost vanish. She didn’t know how they could move so fast. She then nodded, following after the pegasus. “W-what’s going on? Wait...” When she walked in through the gates, she noticed something strange. All of the grass was now polka dotted and the trees were made of cotton candy leaves and chocolate bark. “How…?”

“Visit from Discord. Official visit, he’s requested an audience with the princesses. Standard operating procedures, all guests of the crown are to remain in their rooms during this time.”

“… Oh. OH! Wait, that’s all? Okay,” she said with a sigh of relief. So it was just a visit from THAT creature. She cringed. She hoped he wasn’t going to get her in trouble for hitting him with a bat. He REALLY deserved it. “So I’m not in trouble, am I?”

“Of course not. But for your own safety, please remain in your room until this event is over.”

“Okay. I’ll go ahead and just do my homework and head to bed, okay?”

“Thank you, that would be appreciated,” the soldier said, before stopping outside her door. She had two guards outside it now, standing at attention, though one pushed the door open for her.

She sighed and walked inside, closing and locking the door behind herself. As if she’d be able to sleep. She was already caught up on her homework, though, so she wasn’t sure WHAT she was supposed to do.

Of course, those thoughts were cut off entirely when she looked up at her bed and saw the strange spirit of chaos sitting on it, filing his nails. She gave a helpless squeak, looking up at him.

He merely smiled back. “Ah. And so the guest of honor appears. Hello, Drifting. Shall we have a talk?” Before she could object, the draconequus’ tail shot out, wrapping around her and turning the world dark.

Author's Notes:

And there we go. I bet most can see where it's going, though. Possibly. I'll have more to say in the next chapter, but here. I do hope you all enjoy.

And i am happy to say that I have officially finished the story. All I need to do now is edit the chapters, then it's all done. Wooo! I hope you're all looking forward to it. It should be out, before monday!