//------------------------------// // Chapter 28: After Time // Story: The Start of Something New // by Rhino //------------------------------// It's bright. I can't help the sound that I make, rolling over and pressing more into daddy's chest. He'll save me from the bright. He's big. And nice. Mommy moves behind me, hugging daddy and doing that thing with her mouth on his ear. I like doing that too, and he never has that bad air coming off when I do. I lean in, but daddy stops me before I can do it, too. Oh, they're touching noses, now. Not as fun as mouth, but still nice. I can't move, so I just nibble on the hoof holding me. The bright is getting more bright. The fuzzy lump that is on daddy's side is moving, looking at me. I smile and wave at fluffy tail. His ears turn and he makes his funny noises as he smiles back. I wonder if he notices kitty behind him? Kitty jumps fluffy tail and they roll over onto daddy's face. I guess he didn't. Daddy's making even more funny noises now, maybe trying to get them off, but kitty doesn't want to move. Oh, he's rubbing my head now! It feels good… "Daddy…" I hug him tight, glad I'm bigger now. I'm sure I'll be able to hug him like mommy soon! Oh, but nuzzles are good too, so I nuzzle him in return, hugging his nose. Kitty and fluffy tail left to go somewhere else. They have a warm feeling about them. I like it. "Good morning, Ruby." Oh, he's talking to me! I smile and nip his horn, happy he's finally awake. It makes the bright less upsetting. His horn goes bright, and he says more. "Did you sleep well?" I nod, staring at the bright a little before touching it with a hoof. I take the bright, giggling as I bounce the little ball between my hooves. Daddy gets a silly look on his face. "I'm still not sure how you do that, but I'm glad you have fun with it, my little talented filly." What does that mean? I have no idea, so I hold the ball out to him. "Ba?" I wish I could say that right. Daddy picks it up, and I beam at him, clapping my hooves together happily. Maybe we can play with it together! He does some fun stuff with it, rolling it around on the bed and his body. Wait, is it coming towards me? It is! I squeak, letting the ball burst and knocking myself off his body and down the bed steps they made for fluffy tail. I suddenly stop in the air, daddy pulling me close and hugging me once more. I just smile and hug him back, enjoying his fluffiness. "Love? What's with the noise?" Oh, mommy's up! I turn and reach for her, telling her how much I love her. "Aww…" She giggles, touching noses with daddy. "Isn't she cute when she babbles like that?" He nods his head and presses his lips to her nose, though more importantly, he gets me close enough to rub mommy's chest. "She said daddy again, earlier." "That must be wonderful to hear." My belly does the rumbly noise. "Oh… want to feed her this time?" "Sure, if you don't mind me getting bit of bonding in while you're free." "I don't see why not." She shrugs slightly. "Just be sure she doesn't try to eat the spoon again." At this point, I tune mommy and daddy out, watching as Mercury walks out of the room with a smile on his muzzle. He's been going out a lot, lately. I squeak as my father suddenly picks me up, holding me close to his chest. "Time to get you some milk." I can only smile at some of the best words I've ever heard. A short time later, the basement of the house sees another pairing of a stallion and a small filly, but not the same ones as before. "And now we come to what was once my temporary jail cell." She steps forward, brushing off a bit of dust that had gotten on a sheet draped over something. "They call it a lab or something now, though. Hydro nods. "Yeah, Rhino's height thing always meant he wouldn't go for a tower lab, so the basement makes sense." "I wonder what he'd do if he had claustrophobia." Dior simply shrugs, then turns to face him. "Alright, so you probably have been wondering what I've been doing down here these past few months…" The red stallion nods, looking mildly curious. "I thought you had a bedroom down here for a while." "Nope, no bedroom." She giggles, nodding towards a nearby desk. "Don't think Rhino would let me sleep in his lab. Even with the couch." She turns to look at the sheet, blinking once and looking at it closer, eyes narrowed. "...something doesn't seem right, here…" "Huh? What do you mean?" He tilts his head, taking a few steps towards her. "Its… its height is wrong…" Quietly scowling, she takes the edge of the cloth in tugs it off. There is what was once a beautiful statue, half a foot taller than Hydro and apparently modeled after a mix of Celestia and Dior's current form. Now, however, the horn has been broken off, several sections had large gouges taken out and a limb snapped off. In addition, paint was sprayed all over it, as well as a message on the chest that said "False Friend". The small nymph falls on her rump, tears brimming in her eyes. "N-no… I… it was so close… so close to being done…" The red stallion gently scoops her up into a hug, his own ears folding. "Who would even know this was here to do this?" "I… I don't know…" She sniffles, hugging him tight. "...I can't afford any more marble… what am I going to do?" "Couldn't you mold it back together?" He asks, looking to see if all the pieces are around. "...the only piece they didn't take was the horn…" She despondently points at where it was apparently stabbed into the statue's chest. He winces. "It might take a bit to try and track all these pieces down…" "...track them down?" She pulls away, looking up at him in confusion. "You… you think it's possible?" He nods. "Maybe… think you could sense the pieces?" "Well… they're of a specific type of rock, not native to the area, not to mention a specific mineral flaw in it, so…" Dior taps his shoulder, quiet for a moment. "...if I was close enough, I think I could." He smiles at this. “Well, that could be what we do after we deliver the bad news to Rhino and Gel. Maybe she’ll be able to keep him from going… too paranoid.” His face morphs into a grimace for a moment. "Like how they apparently broke into the house to destroy property?" Her eyes suddenly widen. "Oh, shit, they came in here… what else could they have done?" "Exactly." He says, nodding once more. "Should we figure out if they got anywhere else?" "Probably a good idea." She holds up a hoof. "But we need to be subtle. No need to get them upset before we make sure we're safe." "Right, subtle… not one of my strong suits." He frowns. "Let's just…" The nymph turns and rears up, placing her forehooves on his chest. "...just find whatever looks out of place. Say you're looking for something." She smiles wryly. "It's not a lie, right?" Hydro meets her eyes. "I can do that. Think they'd do anything else down here?" "I don't know." Her mouth straightens into a flat line. "If this were a military, I wouldn't have prioritized sabotage, I'd have tried to…" Her voice trails off as she notices a glowing gem in the stack of Rhino's enchantment jewels. "...gather intel." "Hmm?" He follows her gaze. "What, were they trying to figure out his secrets?" "It might be more the family's secrets." She hops off his lap and walks over, scowling at the light. "...we need to make sure there's no more of these." "Isn't that just one of his gems?" His eyebrow raises. "These are his unused gems." Dior looks over her shoulder at him. "Why would he put an enchanted gem in there?" "Oh, good eye." Coming forward, he looks closely at it. "Think they'll all be gems?" "Not sure." She looks up at the door, smirking a bit. "But I know someone who might be able to help." He turns just in time to see the other stallion open the door and come down, looking surprised to see them. "Oh, hey you two." "Hey." The stone changeling points at the glowing red gem. "Can you look at this real quick?" "Hmm?" Rhino quickly trots over, picking up the gen in his magic and immediately frowning. "This doesn't feel like one of mine." Dior stares at him in blank confusion. "What exactly do you mean by that? How can you tell?" "Each magical field feels different, and I know mine." He looks at the gem closely. "Like a changeling?" Dior looks up at the ceiling as she thinks. "Different signatures, different numbers…" Her eyes widen and she glances at the statue. "...we can use it to track down who made them… possibly unravel their entire corporation…" "... unless this was bought and just used by someone." Rhino says. "But how did it get here, what does it do?" "I don't know. I don't handle enchantments." She shrugs, then gestures to him. "You're the expert. What's it do?" "Hmm…" His horn flares a bit as he probes the gem. "Sound and visual projection at range." His jaw sets as he looks at it. "Someone is spying on us…" The nymph bites her lip, directing him towards her statue. "It's not the only thing they're doing." Spotting it, his eyes go wide and he looks to her sadly. "Dior… I'm so sorry. It looked lovely." "I know. I put the finishing touches on it this morning." She gives Hydro a knowing look. "I was certain that you'd love it…" He smiles softly at her. "I'm sure I would have, but I know you wanted it, too." She just walks over and embraces him, pressing her muzzle into his chest. Rhino just keeps staring at the jewel, lost in thought. "Told you he'd get like that." Hydro reminds the small changeling as they hug. "Yea, you did…" She sighs, looking up and smiling at him. "But now we have stuff on them. Stuff we can get them arrested for." "If we can figure out who did it, how, and when." He says, nodding. "...I think we can guess the when, at the very least." She slowly nods, glancing at Rhino. "When were you all gone, today?" The green stallion thinks. "Well, the usual morning shift at work, with a little extra time after to pick up groceries." "And I left at nine to go meet Red, here…" She glances at Hydro, then back to Rhino. "So… about three to four hours of a window of time…" "We don't really have neighbors we can go ask if they saw anyone." Rhino comments. "No…" She frowns, crossing her forelegs. "...we have a thick treeline, a path that they can go down, and houses on the other side of that path. Oh, and a monitoring system by a certain student of friendship, which can apparently match things to magic signatures, if I'm not mistaken?" He blinks. "Well, yes, but it's… wait… huh. Could it really be that simple?" She shakes her head. "Depends on if this gem is homemade or not." "True…" he sighs. "Not sure how Gel will react to this… security breach." Dior grimaces, nodding towards the stairs. "Well, there's only one way to find out…" Hydro pats his friend's back. "All on you." Rhino snorts and smiles at him. "Thanks for the support." With that, he places the gem back down and moves to head up the stairs. As he goes, Hydro whispers to Dior. "Are we still going to be scouting the house to discreetly get rid of the rest?" "What kind of question is that?" She smiles wryly at him. "Of course are."