(Libra is sitting at a computer, browsing through images. Lark approaches from elsewhere and sneaks up behind Libra, peering over her shoulder at the screen. I watch from a short distance away, deciding not to engage just yet.)

Lark (20s me): Aha!

(Libra jumps in her seat, spinning around to face Lark.)

Libra (College me): Hey!

Lark: What are you looking at?

Libra: Nothing! Just memes…

Lark: Oh really? Because it looked like you were browsing furry art again!

Libra (flustered): I… Um… What if I was?

Mom (Present me): What are you girls up to?

Lark: Libra’s browsing furry art.

Libra (annoyed): I like furry art! I didn’t even know it existed until college. What’s wrong with furry art!?

Lark (smug): I grew out of it; that’s all. It seems kind of childish now. Doesn’t it, Mom?

Mom: Eh, I grew back into it.

Lark (shocked): What!?

Libra (triumphant): Hah!

Lark: Why!?

Mom: Exploring my furry side was my first concrete step towards gender transition, and I think it’s important to acknowledge that. I happily accept my furry identity nowadays.

Lark: I suppose furry *was* our first step towards transition, but … I just feel like I’ve grown out of it. I stopped dreaming of myself as an anthro fox and started dreaming of myself as a girl, after all. Now that I *know* I’m a girl, I think I’d rather leave the fur behind.

Mom: Really? You’re not interested in *this*?

(I snap my fingers, and suddenly an anthropomorphic red fox is standing beside me. Her fur shines gently as it catches the light and her body sports some rather suggestive curves. She’s standing still and staring straight ahead with a vacant expression. Both Libra and Lark flush red, but Libra stands up from the computer to investigate.)

Lark: Wh… What is that?

Mom: She’s our fursona — a red fox. Like us, she’s very much a girl.

(Libra stands before the fox and gently runs a hand through her soft fur.)

Lark (disbelieving): She’s not… Is she my sister too, somehow?

Mom: No, not quite. It’s more that the fox represents a sort of personality that we identify with; clever and mischievous, charged with a lively, whimsical, somewhat flirty and sensual energy. It’s kind of like… A connection to the cultural concept of fox.

Libra (awestruck): She’s pretty… But she seems… Vacant.

Mom: She is. This is just a replica — a shell of our fursona. She’s missing the most important part.

Libra: What’s that?

Mom: Shall I show you?

Libra: Yes please!

(Excited, Libra turns around to face me. I smirk back at her and push her into the fox before she can react. Surprised, she loses her balance and collapses towards the anthropomorphic vixen, but appears to fall straight through them. Instead of both of them falling over, Libra becomes one with the fox as she descends until the two are one in the same. Libra, now an anthro vixen herself, stands up and whirls to face me.)

Fox Libra: What was that for!?

Mom: See for yourself.

(I gesture to my left as a full body mirror appears out of the air. Libra sees her reflection and holds her arms up to her muzzle in shock. Lark’s face turns beet red — she’s clearly more interested than she would care to admit.)

Fox Libra: I… I’m the fursona!?

Lark (flustered): Whoa… That’s…

Mom: This fursona is ours — all of ours. It’s not something separate from us, it’s an expression of who we are. Think of it as another way we relate to the world.

(Libra continues to stare at herself in the mirror. After a moment she realizes she can move her tail, and wraps it around herself to give it a gentle hug.)

Lark (aggrieved): How come she gets to be the fox?

Mom: I thought you grew out of this?

Lark (timid): I… I can admit when I was wrong…

Mom (smiling): Fortunately for you, the real fox has been inside you all along. All you have to do is focus on her to bring her out.

(Lark closes her eyes in concentration. After a few seconds, her body shifts rapidly into another anthropomorphic fox, slightly older than the first. Sensing a change, Lark opens her eyes.)

Fox Lark: Holy crap it worked! I’m a fox!

Mom: Uh huh! We’re all foxes at heart. You can change yourself back in the same way when you decide you want to be human again.

Libra (grinning): This is amazing! I’m going to go run through a forest!

(Libra suddenly grins, releases her tail, and dashes off. Lark takes off after her.)

Lark: Wait up, I want to frolic too!

Mom (calling after them): Have fun, girls!