Somehow the news had traveled faster than their hooves could carry them. The waiting room was empty save for the two mares and the guardsponies that had met them at the door. Alpha lay low on her bench with her head on her pasterns; on the opposite side of the room Fae remained upright, but even as Alpha watched she leaned sleepily to one side before jerking upright with a grunt of effort. Each could almost hear the gears turning in the other's mind.
Soon, though, the fog of silence grew too thick for Fae's taste. “Did you brew this potion yourself?” she asked.
Alpha didn't look up. “Yes.”
“Then will you brew an antidote? I want my body back.”
Her muzzle looked more pinched than ever. “I couldn't brew it quickly enough for it to matter,” she said irritably. “It'll wear off in a few hours.”
Fae looked down her barrel and once again pressed her thighs together. “Are you sure?”
Alpha growled under her breath. “Yes, I'm sure! I wouldn't have taken the risk if I'd thought it would hurt you.”
“Don't get snippy with me,” Fae scoffed. “This is your own fault.”
“I'm not angry because I got caught,” she said harshly. “I'm angry because you're treating the worst part of my existence so dismissively, as if it's nothing more than some kink.”
Smugness and exhaustion lowered Fae's eyelids into half-moons. “What would you have expected of me, hm?”
“I expect you to know me better than that.”
“I see now who you really are,” Fae muttered.
Alpha glowered at her. “No, you see some perverted colt who only did this to get his rocks off!”
Fae looked at her in silence. “You told me that you are something else on the inside,” she said finally. “and though I can't be sure if you are mad or simply strange, I believe you. Still, it's an otherwise accurate assumption, is it not?”
“No,” Alpha argued, her voice uncomfortably close to a whine. “I'd say it's as far from 'accurate' as you can get.”
Fae rolled her shoulders in agitation. “Oh, will you stop being such a pissy little bitch?” she said sharply.
Her head spun on her neck. “Did you just call me...?”
“That's right.” Fae looked down her nose at Alpha. “You're a pissy little bitch. You are not special and you do not get to abuse my body and get away with it by spinning me a sob story. Get over yourself.”
Alpha's lips parted, closed, parted again. "I'm not trying to pretend I'm in the right, Fae. I know what I did was wrong."
“Don't pretend you didn't get your kicks before you went to the bar," she huffed. "I know how you stallions are.”
“And I know how whores are!”
Her jaw dropped. “Wha— Did you—” she sputtered. “I am—” Alpha turned her muzzle away. “Take it back,” Fae growled bitterly.
“No.”
“I said take it back!”
“No,” she repeated in the exact tone of voice. "You're the one who's always staring at other ponies, not me. You're the one whose first thought about gender transformation was fooling around, not me. I bet that's what kept you awake despite the spell of the potion, isn't it?"
Fae leaped from her bench. “I am not—”
Both guards' horns lit, bathing their corners in pink and periwinkle. “Back on your bench!” the one on her side ordered sharply.
After a tense but brief moment Fae growled in exasperation and plopped down; the old wood creaked beneath its padding. “I am not a whore,” she barked.
“And I'm not a pervert,” Alpha mumbled.
“Of course you are,” she sneered. “Just look at yourself!”
Alpha did just that. She stared down at her chest, covered by a rumpled red taffeta worn rough on the cobblestones. The strap had twisted and fallen from her shoulder. If she focused her eyes just so, she could see the darkness of mascara on her cheeks and the bridge of her own muzzle. Her wrist ached, her heart ached... Everything she'd held dear had slipped away. Her friends were gone. Her future, gone. Everything she'd worked for... gone.
“This isn't worth it,” Alpha said firmly.
Fae snorted. “Oh, now he sees it.”
“This is too high a price to pay for sex,” she continued. “I've done a lot of stupid things tonight, Fae, but I thought they were for good reasons. I would never have risked hurting you just for some momentary gratification.”
Fae shifted backward on her bench. “Horseappl—” She held a hoof to her mouth to cover a yawn.
“Don't say that! You know I care about you, don't you?”
The mares watched each other in silence as Fae tried to find something to say. Her eyes darted away and back so fast that Alpha almost missed it. “Yes, I know you do, but...”
“Then why do you keep treating me like some kind of monster?” Her chest finally rose from the bench.
“This isn't about you! Any mare would be horrified at the thought of some pervert having his way with her body!”
“You're the one who thought it would be fun to try for a night!” Alpha cried over her. “I actually care about my new body!”
“It's not your body!”
“That's enough!” a third voice screamed.
Both mares turned to the open doorway to the Headmistress's office. The mare herself stood just inside and glared at Alpha. “Come in,” she ordered, tossing her dry straw mane toward the interior. “Both of you.”
Fae staggered to her hooves. To her surprise Alpha beat her to the door, but Fae nearly walked into her tail when she stopped dead in the doorway. “Go on, Alpha,” she said firmly, with a prod to her rump for good measure. “There's no point in...”
Her words trailed off as she spotted what—who—kept Alpha pinned to the threshold. “Princess?!”
The Headmistress stood with a hoof on the doorknob and her magic tugged at Alpha's dress to get her moving. Alpha's steps were uncertain, but she was quick to choose a bench just across from her Princess and sit down without a word. Fae followed slowly and stood just inside the room.
Princess Celestia rested on her haunches behind the Headmistress's desk and continued to read the book that lay flat before her. It was a picture book of some kind that held her attention, or perhaps a magazine. She looked just as she had when Alpha had seen her last, the day after the very same ball that had turned Alpha's jealousy into something more. She towered head and shoulders over the other three mares, yet was easily the most regal and graceful of them all. Her lips carried the hint of a frown as she turned to the next page, her eyes soft but firm as they scanned each page.
As Fae walked past, the Headmistress held something out to her in her aura: a familiar pair of dark gray glasses. Fae balanced them on her nose amateurishly, but with the Headmistress's help they soon rested naturally in the dimples they'd formed in Alpha's muzzle over the years. With a smile of gratitude she took a seat on the bench beside Alpha's.
The Headmistress swung the door shut and walked to her place beside the Princess. She looked no better than Fae; heavy lines crinkled the corners of her eyes and her shoulders drooped tiredly. She couldn't even muster up the energy for a preamble. “Alpha, I have rarely been so ashamed of one of my students,” she began. She rested her forehead in her hoof and sighed. “Every year around this time I expect to deal with mares and stallions doing something to get themselves hurt, but this?” She shook her head. “You broke a number of laws tonight and many of them would have earned you jail time on the spot had you not been here at school, under Princess Celestia's care.
“As it stands, we here at the School understand that the temptations of powerful magic are at times overwhelming, especially to a pony who chooses to enter the post-graduate campus. We hope that by the time you come into such power you will have the maturity to wield it as a unicorn should, but there are always stragglers.” Alpha's frown deepened and the slow burn of humiliation tightened her chest. “When the worst happens, we try our best to correct that kind of behavior through positive reinforcement. The School is a place of understanding and second chances, as our Founder intended.”
She leaned back onto her haunches and looked Alpha dead in the eye. “However, while you have done tonight did not result in the injuries I typically expect from the activities of restless students, that doesn't make it any less despicable.” She turned to Fae, who blinked rapidly and straightened her neck at the attention. “The pony you did hurt may never be the same. What you have done is the equivalent of rape.”
“No!” Alpha threw herself onto the desk. “I didn't do anything of the sort. I resisted every urge,” she exclaimed with eyes burning and mane shining in the light of the candelabras. “The stallion of my dreams was throwing himself at me and I resisted! Hay, I could have stayed inside and explored her body myself if I'd wanted that. Instead I did this.” She lifted a hoof to her crooked makeup and her rumpled mane. “This is what I wanted. I wanted to be beautiful, not sexy. I wanted to... to experience life as a mare, for once.” She lowered her eyes and gestured to her front. “This was the only potion I could find.”
“That's not what I meant, Alpha,” said the Headmistress sharply. “The real trauma of rape is not physical.”
She fell back onto her bench. “I know, but she said she wouldn't mind being a stallion for one night! I had to try.”
Fae let out a grunt of disbelief. “All I said was that it might be fun! I did not give you permission!”
“I know!”
The Headmistress steepled her hooves against her muzzle. “If Fairy Lights were to say that she wanted to try a new manestyle, would it be okay for you to cut it into the style you thought would look nice on her while she slept?”
“No, but this isn't permanent...”
“If she said she needed to relax, would you spike her drink with muscle relaxers and psychedelic drugs?”
Alpha blanched; the Headmistress couldn't have known, but her question hit too close to home. “No,” she squeaked.
“Then why is this any different?”
She opened her mouth and could say nothing. Because I wanted this to happen, she scolded herself. Because I didn't care about the consequences.
“I think I understand,” Princess Celestia said calmly. She leaned back from the desk and stared down at Alpha with no expression, neither the expected anger nor the usual benevolent twinkle in her eyes. “This is not a spur-of-the-moment decision,” she continued. “This took years to come to the surface.” Alpha nodded hesitantly. The Princess's magic slid the book slowly to rest between Alpha's hooves. “Tell me about these photographs.”
Alpha's eyes began to sting as she stared down at a familiar scene. There stood Fae in the forefront; some colt or another had his forehoof around her shoulder and his cheek against hers. Fae beamed at him with one eye closed, showing those perfect teeth to the camera. Her mane was immaculate, her coat straight and even; the fur on her ears was even brushed upward to create an illusion of size, giving her the youthful appearance of an adorable young filly who hadn't quite grown into her body.
In the background sat a pair of colts in conversation. One was gesturing animatedly at the other, who looked to be arguing back. The second pony's eyes couldn't be seen through the glare of sunlight on his glasses, but in spite of how unfocused the background of the photograph was, Alpha could have make out the waves of his mane and the gap where there once was a tooth fragment left on the streets of Canterlot.
Alpha remembered these details, though she couldn't quite make them out through the smears left behind by a red felt-tipped marker.
Her lips trembled as she stared at the photograph. “You found my yearbook,” she whimpered.
“Do you truly believe this?” the Princess pressed.
Alpha stared down at the photograph. The stallion's entire body had been washed out by red ink. Jagged letters floated above his horn: 'UGLY'. Her eyes shifted to the photograph, where she had carefully filled in Fae's form with blue ink. Sprawling beneath her was another word: 'Beautiful'.
She lifted her eyes to the Princess's. “S-sometimes,” she allowed. She hunched her shoulders defensively as Fae tried to peer over them.
“How often is 'sometimes'?”
Alpha turned back to the book. “Usually.” She sniffed. “A-always.”
The yellow light of the Princess's magic swept the yearbook away. “You altered every photograph of the two of you in this yearbook,” she noted. “It must have taken you a long time.”
“Two nights,” she said stiffly. Two horrible nights.
“I also noticed that you were careful with the blue ink,” she added. “You didn't cross over the lines once and you were careful not to mark her clothing.” She flipped through the pages to the collection of students' photographs – mugshots, as the class often called them – to find one in particular. The picture was of Fairy Lights, who had dressed up in two necklaces, a fine blouse, and a feather for her ear. Fae had turned blue. “I thought at first that you had meant the red ink for the bad and blue for good, but there's more to it than that, isn't there?”
Alpha turned her head away.
“You weren't just jealous of her beauty,” the Headmistress said softly. “You wanted to take her place.”
Fae gasped and shifted away from Alpha. “He what?”
“It's not like that!” Alpha cried, exasperation pushing her once more to the brink of tears. “I don't want to be Fae. I want to be like her!” Her hooves reached out for her friend, but Fae slapped them away in horror. “I want to be as beautiful as you are,” she moaned, her voice rough and uneven. “You are the perfect mare that I have always wanted to be! I don't want to be a stallion anymore. I just want to be like you!”
“Look at me, Alpha.”
She turned to her Princess, unshed moisture beading along her eyelashes.
“How did this happen?” Princess Celestia asked. “When did it start?”
She took a deep, calming breath. “It got really bad when the other girls started maturing.”
“And you didn't.” Alpha nodded. “You have had these thoughts for more than a decade.”
“Far more.” She twisted her hooves. “Even when I was a child I wanted to be like the fillies. If we were separated into boys' lines and girls', I tried at first to stand with the fillies. One year I almost asked my mom to buy me a Hearth's Warming dress, but I thought the colts would make fun of me, so I...”
Light, how she'd hated that sweater.
The Princess nodded and Alpha missed the flicker of empathy in her eyes. “Have you ever told anypony about these thoughts?”
Alpha's head fell. “Not a soul,” she whispered.
“Why not?”
She blinked and glared up at the Princess. “Are you k–” She nearly bit her tongue to hold the words back. “I'm sorry, Princess, but I couldn't,” she said more moderately. “I know what everypony will think. They won't really believe that I am who I say I am; they'll just see me as a stallion in mare's clothing. Even if they do believe me, they'll think I'm crazy!”
The Princess had the gall to smile kindly at her. “I don't think you give the city of Canterlot enough credit,” she said certainly. “I have lived through many civil and social revolutions and every one of them began with a single voice.”
Alpha snorted. “Unless that voice gets squashed before it can be heard.”
Celestia lowered her eyes to her hooves. “Alpha...” She sighed heavily and climbed to her hooves. “I once knew a pony like you, almost a thousand years ago.” She turned her back on her three subjects and stared out the window toward the great disc of the moon. “She didn't share your distaste for her body, but like you, she thought that nopony understood her and nopony ever would. She felt such resentment and anger, but she kept it all bottled up until one day...” When she turned from the window her eyes had fluttered shut. “One day that resentment overwhelmed her. She lost herself to it and became something else, something so hateful and violent that even I could not save her.” It was with heavy hooves that she returned to her place at the desk, and her voice was just as heavy. “Every night since, I have regretted not asking her to speak to me about it sooner. I thought that all she needed was time, and space. I know now that some problems cannot be solved with hope.”
Alpha jerked in surprise as the Princess placed a forehoof atop her own. “But I have learned more than that over the last thousand years,” she continued. “I know that the ponies of Equestria would have understood her plight if she had only given it voice. She blamed them, and me as well, for the ill will that she bore in hear heart, but it was not our doing; it was her own. If she had not allowed her fear to rule her, she would have known that we cared about her. She may have been different from the rest of us in some ways, but deep down we are all the same.
“I offer you now the advice that I wish I could have given her,” she said finally. “Alpha, I know it can be hard to open up to another, but the only pony keeping you silent is you. Equestria has seen more scandalous ponies over the years than a mare who looks like a stallion. I know that if you give them a chance, they will come to understand you as well.”
Alpha sighed heavily. "Thank you, Princess," she said. "I'll try."
"While there is much more to discuss," the Headmistress declared from her place at the Princess's side, "our Princess and I have already agreed that there is no use in trying to conclude this matter tonight."
“Indeed,” the Princess said with a nod. “Why don't you return to your chambers, Mistress Sharp? I can take things from here.”
"Thank you, Princess." The Headmistress stood and trodded toward the door. "Will you be alright tonight, Fairy Lights, or do you need someone to talk to?"
The Princess raised a hoof. "Leave her with me for now, please."
With a grunt the Headmistress twisted the doorknob with her violet magic and pushed. “We will discuss your punishment tomorrow, Alpha,” she said pointedly. Alpha nodded with a resigned half-frown.
“Sleep well, Mistress Sharp,” said the Princess as the door closed behind the Headmistress, but her eyes were on the mare in the blue stallion's body. “Fairy Lights, do you think you're ready to discuss this matter tonight?”
“Do we have to do it like this?” Fae asked quietly.
"Not if you aren't ready," she replied kindly. “We could wait until the morning if you prefer, but there are—”
“Wait,” Alpha exclaimed. “This can't wait until morning.”
“But...”
“I've already told you why I did this,” she clarified. “The rest of that can wait, but this can't.” She stood and closed the distance between herself and Fae. “I want to say that I'm sorry, and I want you to listen to me this time.”
Fae stared up and down the form of her own body, in her own dress, and flinched. “I, um...”
“I tricked you, Fae, and I took advantage of our friendship. If I could take it back, I would.”
“Mhm...” Her brown eyes peered down at her borrowed body through Alpha's glasses and she began to shiver.
“Nothing is more important to me than those I care about. You know that...” Fae lay flat on her bench, all four legs tucked neatly beside her and her eyes locked on the marble tile below. “You know that, don't you, Fae?” she said slowly. Her friend nodded, but still wouldn't meet her gaze. “Fae?”
Fae looked up for a brief portion of a second. Her cheeks were flushed with shame. “Yes, Alpha,” she said quietly.
“Then what's wrong, Fae?”
A hoof on her shoulder made her look up into the steely magenta eyes of the Princess. “Alpha, take off her dress.”
Alpha jerked and spun to face the Princess. “N-now? In front of...”
“Fairy Lights has seen herself undress in the mirror before," she reasoned.
“Yeah, but...” Her hoof slid upward to the strap and hesitated. “But you're the Princess!” She blushed and looked at her hooves. "I can't undress in front of the Princess. It's disrespectful."
Celestia nodded her head to hide a sly smile. “My little pony, I have been alive for over a thousand years. I've seen plenty of ponies disrobe and plenty more in more compromising situations than this.” A yellow glow from her horn brightened the room. “Up on two hooves, Alpha,” she ordered.
Alpha frowned and slowly lifted herself onto her back legs.
"Several hundred years ago, before Equestrian culture became what it is today..." Her zipper chased a nervous tingle down along her spine. "...it was considered more disrespectful to ask a stranger to undress than for one to do so unasked. In those days, pulling your dress up over your eyes amongst company..." The shoulder strap snaked around her foreleg and slipped down, allowing the chest piece to fall and bare her chest. “...was a show of trust. Life was more dangerous back then; one could easily expect a dagger between their ribs in such a vulnerable position. Forehooves up, please.” Unable to deny the request of her Princess, Alpha raised her forehooves to the ceiling and closed her eyes as the dress was pulled upward and away from her frame. “For modern ponies to be ashamed to undress in front of me would be quite a contrast to what I consider good manners." Alpha's legs trembled in shame. “Thank you, Alpha.”
She opened her eyes again to see Fae glaring jealously at the space between her legs and the two mounds hidden there. Instantly her hooves darted down to cover them. “I'm sorry, Fae,” she said again. She fell onto all four and sidestepped closer to the Princess. “I mean it. I'm sorry!”
Fae turned her nose up. “'Sorry' does not put the cookies back in the jar!” she spat.
“Fairy Lights.”
Fae's eyes widened and she spun away from Alpha. “Yes, Princess!”
The Princess stood casually with the dress lifted high into the air and spinning slowly in the golden grip of her magic. “This is a fine garment,” she said appreciatively. “Where did you get it?”
It took her a moment to find her voice. “O-Oh. I found it in... in a shop on the outskirts of the Marigold District.”
“Do you know who designed it?”
“N-no.”
“Then I will be sure to pay the Marigold District a visit soon,” she smiled. “I don't have many reasons to wear something so flirty, but even a Princess should have a few nice dresses for special occasions.”
Fae giggled nervously before she could stop it with a hoof to her lips. “You would wear something like this?” she asked, the disbelief clear in her voice.
The Princess didn't even blush. “Perhaps for very special occasions,” she said wistfully. “I am expecting some friends soon. What do you think, Alpha?” The gown folded itself against her chest. The strap didn't reach her shoulder and the heart-shaped neckline would have split if she'd tried to stretch it over the expanse of her chest. “Do you think I could pull off such a style?”
She felt a crooked smile crawl across her muzzle at the thought of the supreme ruler and matriarch of all of the land in a sexy ensemble, and was unable to stop it. “Maybe in a nice dark green...” She hid her chuckle in a cough. Fae was less successful.
The Princess nodded. “Perhaps,” she said thoughtfully as she levitated the dress toward Fae. “Up on two...”
Fae stood upright without hesitation. Alpha wordlessly smiled at the Princess; while the red taffeta covered Fae's head Celestia gave her a quick wink. “Does that feel better, Fairy Lights?” the Princess asked as she lifted the shoulder strap into place and pulled the zipper as far as it would budge around her stallion's frame.
Fae looked down at her chest. “Much better,” she sighed, “though these lungs will be happy to be rid of the dress soon. Thank you, Princess.” She shifted her forehooves nervously. “And, um... Thank you too, Alpha, for caring about my feelings after all. It doesn't change what happened, but...” She bit her lip and glanced at Alpha. "But it's a start."
Alpha beamed at her with all of the love in the world.
Celestia looked from one mare to the other. “I think we could all use some time to cool off,” she sighed. “I'm willing to let the matter lie until tomorrow morning, but I expect to see you bright and early, Alpha,” she said sternly. “Fairy Lights, I will speak to your professor personally to make sure you are excused from taking your History of Creation test.” A hint of the tension in Fae's shoulders was lifted.
“Now, come with me,” the Princess said as she walked around the desk. “If the two of you don't mind, I would prefer to have you sleep in the guests' chambers I have had prepared for you. While Alpha's marks show an aptitude for the brewing of potions, I want you both close at hoof so my staff and I can check on you periodically in case of magical feedback or unforeseen side effects.”
Fae whined through her nose. “We can't sleep in our own rooms?”
The Princess's lips drew together just a hair, but that was enough for the two to know that she was displeased. “I would prefer for you two to stay here, but if you must...”
“No no, it's fine.” Fae smiled nervously and lined up behind the Princess with Alpha at her side. “It's only for one night.”
"I wouldn't want anypony else to see Fae in this state," Alpha muttered. "I've done enough damage already."
Fae gave her a pained but grateful smile.
Princess Celestia nodded and turned back to the door. “You won't be disappointed,” she assured them as she led them out into the empty hallways. “These rooms were built for scholars and dignitaries during a time of far-reaching political cooperation and colonization efforts. Within them you will find everything you may need in the night, from extra pillows and blankets in the linen cabinets to drinks and snacks in the cupboards to a full-sized washroom.”
Finally they reached the opposite corner of the floor. “Here are your chambers.” She opened their doors for them with her horn and stood aside to allow them to pass. “As I said, my staff and I will be back check on you every few hours in case you need anything. If your beds are not to your liking, the linen cabinets are in the corner beside the door; the pantry is in the opposite corner, between the sofas. The door next to the bed leads to the washroom.”
Alpha peered through the doorway and whistled softly at the expanse of golden carpet that crawled across the floor; the flickering light of no fewer than six candelabras and a small glass and brass chandelier made the creamy wood paneling of the walls and ceiling look almost alive.
Just as she was about to cross the threshold she was stopped by a faint sound from deep in Fae's throat. She was sitting in her own doorway, staring at Alpha and chewing her lip. “Do we have to...”
“What's wrong, Fairy Lights?” asked the Princess.
Her forehooves kneaded the tile. “N-nothing.” She shifted awkwardly and glanced up at the Princess without lifting her head. “Good night, Princess.” With that she rushed into the room and closed the door firmly enough to shake the frame.
The two mares that remained shared a glance. “Give her time,” Celestia replied to Alpha's unasked question. “If you prove to her that you are a mare worth forgiving—” Alpha's heart skipped a beat. "—then she will forgive you someday. In the meantime, Alpha, is there anything more I can do for you?”
Alpha took the first few steps into her temporary quarters and stared from one side to the other. “Do you know any time travel spells?” She chuckled under her breath. “No, Princess, you've done enough for me as it is. I've made this bed, and it's time to lie in it.”
“Alpha, I can't tell you that everything will be alright, but I can tell you that making it so is up to you.” The Princess's eyes twinkled above a half-formed smile. “While your intentions don't make your actions right, I know you didn't mean any harm; perhaps Fairy Lights and Mistress Sharp will understand in the morning. While Fairy Lights does deserve some recompense for what you've done tonight, I will recommend that the headmistress treat this matter with care for the both of you, not a simple punishment.”
Alpha shrugged. “I don't care what Mistress Sharp does,” she said bluntly. “She can expel me if she wants to, or fine me or throw me in prison to rot. It won't do a thing to help Fae. All that matters to me now is that she is alright in the end.”
Celestia's little grin broke open wide. “With your help, she will be.” She rested her haunches on the carpet and opened her hooves to Alpha, who collapsed into them gratefully. “Thank you, Alpha.”
Alpha rested her cheek against the broad expanse of her Princess's chest. “Thank you, Princess, for understanding.”
Celestia broke the hug and pulled away slowly. “I meant what I said in the headmistress's office, Alpha,” she reminded her. “I know it will be difficult, but I want you to talk to somepony about your feelings. You must release some of the poison in your heart before it turns you into somepony you are not.”
Alpha nodded. “I feel like I already have.”
“Alright, Alpha,” the Princess said with heavy lids and a kind smile. “I'll be back to check on you both in a few hours. You've each been through a lot tonight, but I'm sure you both will be stronger for it in time. Get some rest, my little pony; tomorrow will be a busy day. ”
Finally alone once more, Alpha walked slowly to her temporary bed. She crawled atop the comforter without bothering to slip beneath them and rested the back of her head upon two satin-encased pillows. Her eyes crawled over the grain of the wood above her head as she doused one candle after another until only one was left. By its flickering light she looked down at herself. She studied one last time the curves and lines of the female form: the beauty of her hips, the smooth field of her belly. Alpha sighed to herself as she rolled onto her side and burrowed into the pillows. Goodbye, marehood...
She could tell that sleep would be a long time coming.