Another Way

Chapter 40: Change

"It's time."

Sue scooted a couple of paces away from the mother and daughter, unsure what was about to happen. Joy and Twinkle first scrambled onto her lap, then tried to catch her attention, and finally spotted the scene next to them, mirroring Sue's focus. Her green hand gently stroked the toothy girl's maw and the durable canvas of the ghost's new outfit as the silence deepened in the room. First shuffling, then Spark's quiet whines, and finally, only deep breathing.

And then, light.

The sight made Sue flinch, but Sundance only smiled. Spark began to glow, brighter and brighter, utterly unlike any of the previous psychics and spells Sue had seen before. Instead of just a glimmering sheen, her entire body shone white, enough to light up the room—and then, to force the onlookers to avert their eyes. It was so unlike any other biological process Sue had ever seen that a part of her wanted to bear through the light and satisfy her curiosity. Thankfully for her continued ability to see, her eyes weren't one of those parts.

Sue's psychic senses were similarly barraged, though the 'glow' they perceived was far different. Sundance's overpowering joy intertwined with relief, the little ones' boundless curiosity, Spark's relief as the aching faded from her mind. Those were bright, but something else at the center of Spark's mind was incomparably stronger; Sue's tattered imagination made her think of a supernova.

And then, it died down. Sue's eyelids were clenched so hard she needed a moment to realize they were no longer needed. Once she'd turned back to the foxes and blinked the remaining daze out of her eyeballs, she finally saw Spark again.

Alright, yeah, this very much looks like a young Sundance.

Her quadrupedal frame had elongated to a bipedal one, with every part of her body except for her head having grown substantially. She was more than tall enough to dwarf the rest of her immediate friend circle stacked on top of each other now. A feat that was also, notably, accomplished by most fences back on Earth. Her uniform, yellow coat had separated into several layers, and between the white of her arms and shoulders, the yellow of her torso, and the black of her legs, the former looked by far the softest. It was hard to tell with them shaking so hard, but size aside, Spark's new paws looked to be like Sundance's.

"Sp-spark!" Joy exclaimed, stunned.

"^She's evolved, sweetie, yes.^" Sundance answered with a mental whisper, before addressing her daughter directly. "Spark? I'm so, so proud of you, sweetie. Try to get some rest now, okay?"

It was only then that Sue realized that all that hadn't knocked Spark out. She watched, wide-eyed, as the freshly expanded fox shook on her mom's lap, fiery eyes prying themselves open to take in the world anew. The kit shook her head and tilted her body away from her mom, elongated legs shaking with every little movement. "N-nnnn-not y-yet, mom."

Sundance let out a drawn-out sigh at Spark's efforts, but despite her best efforts, she couldn't squeeze even a crumb of exasperation out of her throat. Instead, she gently grabbed her daughter's paw, and then another, watching intently as she tried shifting weight onto her legs. Sue's babysitting experience didn't include infants first learning to walk, but she imagined Spark's struggles were a dead ringer for theirs.

Including, of course, the bright glow of first focus, then excitement, and finally joy at making one's first bipedal steps. They were less than half a dozen in number and culminated with the little fox half-hugging, half-falling onto her mom, but what they lacked in their own quantity, they more than made up for in that of Sue's tears.

"I-I love you, mom." Spark whined, trembling arms burying themselves deep in her mom's fur.

Sundance was only doing slightly better than Sue. "I love you too, Spark. My big, big girl..." The red fur of her arms swaddled her daughter's back as she gently rocked her to the sides, before moving her back to her lap. Or at least trying to, with the freshly evolved fox resisting her efforts, however weakly.