As the rising sun brightened the apartment, Thud was fast asleep, though his tummy kept making rumbles. Suddenly he was shaken awake.
"Sun's up!" - Shout Sonata from one side of the raptor's head -"Time for school!" She zipped back to her room, changed into her usual attire, then zipped to the kitchen.
Thud merely growled before going back to sleep. Thirty minutes later he was shoved again, he looked up and saw Aria.
"C'mon, its time to go." Aria crossed her arms and began tapping her foot.
Thud hissed at her as he closed his eyes again. Aria grabbed onto his long trench coat before being kicked in the stomach. If her gem wasn't destroyed in the Battle of the Bands, this would be a peace of cake. Still, there were other ways to skin a cat.
"All right," - Aria drew out her belt -"want it that way?" Aria caught Thud's attention with a snap of her belt.
Behind a closed door, Sunset just pulled up one of her boots when he heard several crashes from outside her room.
"What is going-?!" Sunset found Aria tightening her belt around Thud's neck. The siren looked at Celestia's former student while the raptor kept clawing at her jeans. With an unamused look on her face, Sunset merely scoffed.
"Come on, lets go!" Aria pulled the stubborn dinosaur out the door.
Sonata, holding a lunch box with the characters from Invader Zim, walked past her.
"I think he likes her." Sonata giggled, not noticing the weird look Sunset gave her.
Over at school Cosgrove was with the rest of the Maximals regarding Dapplewood's whereabouts when he felt a tap on the shoulder. He turned around and saw the two Sirens, Unicorn, and raptor.
"You're turn to watch him." Aria loosens the belt, leaving a red band on Thud's green neck.
"But beware," - Sonata hissed - He doesn't like tacos!"
As the three Seniors left the cafeteria, Cosgrove gave Thud a look before noticing his friends moving away from the two.
"I don't want to know what happened between you three." Said Cosgrove as he took one massive bite of breakfast sausage.
Two morning bells later, Cosgrove and his chaperone are at his first scheduled class, ecology. Mrs. Moynihan drew down a board.
"Now, as a predator ascends on the food chain, the more specialized it becomes. That does come at a price, for if any of the lower chains become disrupted, the apex predator cannot adapt any further and will go extinct." - Moynihan flips to the next slide - "A cheetah, for example is specialized in taking down swift prey, but if such prey is displaced by more heavily built creatures..." - She switches to a slide of an elephant - "Like the elephant, then the cheetah will be replaced by more powerful predators-"
Suddenly Thud leapt at the screen. His nails tore into the material before the lights turned on. Thud turned to the teacher as she fidgeted her glasses.
"Of course such things are constantly disturbed by human encroachment."
Cosgrove face palmed, "And I thought Pinkie Pie was random..."
A few hours later was gym class. Thud was out of place among the younger students, seeing as he was taller. The class was playing a game of football. Button Mash was in the lead charge when Featherweight grabbed the ball and started going the opposite direction. Thud’s predator instincts kicked in and chased the scrawny boy down, opened his mouth and bit down hard on his shoulder. Bulk Biceps blew hard on his whistle, catching Cosgrove's attention.
"Thud!!" Shouted Cosgrove
Thud sat on a chair next to the principal's office, the girls stood there as they watched Cosgrove defend the new student against Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna. Zecora, in their world a school councilor, stepped out.
"Girls, the situation is not right, please remove him from our sight."
Thud stepped out of the office with the Rainbooms and began walking down the hall. As they neared the front foyer, they heard arguing.
Turning to another hall, they saw the Diamond Dogs pestering Sonata and Aria, with the latter defending her sister. Thud screeched and charged at them. When he was close, the raptor leapt onto the Fido and began scraping his face. Rover and Spot, having dealt with this beforehand, ran up to the Rainbooms.
"Help! Help!" Spot begged "Make the freak stop and we'll stop!"
In a amazing feet of strength, Applejack lifted the raptor with one arm and pushed him to a locker. The gang left the hall. Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie approached the two sirens.
"Are you..." Fluttershy whispered as she stretched her hand.
"I'm okay," Aria smacked her hand away "wouldn't say the same to Sonata."
"Hey, I helped!" Sonata bounced back
Thud glared at Applejack as Sunset came from her right side.
"Thud, you can't just attack people ...I should know" finished Sunset as she rubbed the damaged locker. She looked at the raptor again and noticed something odd about him. Thud's two-mohawk hairdo was gradually becoming red.
As she pondered why this is happening, the group turned to find Cosgrove, his head hanging low.
"Thud is not to be on school grounds till further notice." The sophomore gestured Applejack to let him go. "I need to have a word with our good friend." Cosgrove grabbed the raptor's upper arm, took him into his car and drove away.
Sunset began walking away from her friends towards the library.
"Where are you going, darling?" asked Rarity.
Without turning away Sunset answered, "To gather some research."
Meanwhile at the Natural History Museum, Cosgrove and Thud sat in silence near the lobby centerpiece, an Apatosaurus skeleton.
With a deep breath, the sophomore asked, "Okay, what are you really?"
Thud remained silent, cocking his head as he tried to understand what he was asking.
"Whether your another Siren, a Unicorn, or... whatever," - Cosgrove placed his hand on his shoulder - "we're here for you, just as we have for Sunset and the Dazzlings."
Thud began eying the fossil hall and walked inside. Cosgrove followed him and when Thud stopped at a skeleton of a birdlike animal, he rubbed his chin.
Back at Canterlot High, Sunset Shimmer had a few books open regarding the breeding behaviors in animals, birds in particular. Just as she focused on the text regarding the frigate bird, she turned to the sound of a pigeon cooing. Walking up the stairs to the top of the the building, she found a male pigeon stretching his wings in front of a group of female pigeons. Sunset placed a finger on her chin as she studied the mating dance. Realization began to strike as she widened her eyes.
"He couldn't be..."