As the couple walk down the well worn path through the Everfree forest, Rhino's head and ears are constantly swiveling around. The fur along his spine has been slightly raised since the moment they entered and his teps have had a force more akin to marching than walking. How much further in do you think we need to go?
"Not that much more, love." She looks over her shoulder at him, smiling softly. "And like I said earlier, you don't have to worry. I can take care of anything that might pop up." She thinks for a bit before facing forward once more, hiding the teasing expression on her face. "Or is this about something else?"
He faces forward. If you are referring to my episode about my parents... I've gotten over that. Likely through a combination of denial, optimism, and rationalization that I don't care to know the percentages of. Secondly, even if you say that you can handle them, it will be much easier if we stay alert.
"If you feel that way, then I won't argue." The white mare slows down until they are side-by-side. She leans up against him, gently nuzzling his neck. "Could you please speak, though? She might think it's odd if it looks like I'm having a one-sided conversation..."
"Fair enough..." After a few minutes he lets out an imperceptible pulse of magic from his horn, as he had been doing periodically to scan for lifeforms. He sense a single pony-shaped form a short walk ahead of them. "We're almost there."
She beams, starting to rush ahead. "Great! I can't wait to meet her..." She slows to a halt, blushing brightly as she remembers herself. "...t-to learn about her trade, I mean...and see if she can make me some potions..."
He raises an eyebrow. "You're free to make friends with her too, you know. I assume that's what the initial enthusiasm was about."
"...um...y-yes..." She quickly resumes walking, ducking her head to hide her burning cheeks. "...s-so...do you have any potions you'd like to ask her about?"
"Not really..." He looks around them before amending his statement. "Ok,given our surroundings, maybe it would be prudent to see if she stocks poison ivy treatments... That and things like it are the only things I'm allergic to."
She quirks an eyebrow in confusion. "Wouldn't it be simpler to ask her for an antihistamine? Or something to impede the allergic reaction?"
He shakes his head. "Not really, I can get those myself. Even with all that it is still far from pleasant or short, I assure you. From what I hear though, if there's a potion for something it's usually much more effective than general medicine."
She slowly nods, cresting a hill. "I suppose that makes sense..." She looks forward, blinking in surprise at the sight before her. "...well...I didn't expect that..."
Before them lies a gnarled tree, not unlike the others of the forest. What makes this one stand out though is the fact that, similar to Twilight's tree, this one comes with a door and windows. There also appear to be various masks strewn about the base as well as potions hanging from a few branches.
Rhino crests the hill as sees the sight as well. "You know... I'm starting to think living in trees is actually not too uncommon and I just haven't seen them before I moved here."
She scratches her head, pondering this a moment. "...maybe...but I can't remember seeing any before, either..." She hurries down the hill, eager to see the building up close.
He follows dutifully, giving the masks a curious glance as they pass them.
The disguised changeling stares at a mask, tilting her head to one side. "...I feel like I'm looking at art...like this has some meaning that I just don't understand..." She turns to Rhino, smiling softly. "...you know what I mean, love?"
He stays silent for a moment before responding. "Art is subjective, it can mean everything to some and nothing to others. To truly know what an artist saw in something, you would have to be them. You can only see things to the limits of your own mind." He shrugs. "that's always been my opinion on art, anyway. This doesn't look like random decor though, so yes, I do think it means something."
She stares at him, jaw agape. "...um...w-wow...I didn't expect that thorough of a response..." She clears her throat, moving towards the door. "...is it bad that I wanted to try it on?" She knocks as she waits for his answer.
He nods. "Probably, these look more decorative."
The door is soon opened by the zebra they had heard about. She looks at the two quizzically, but with a smile. "Hello there, to what do I owe this visit from stallion and mare?"
Gel blinks, surprised. ...I could swear she just rhymed at us... She nervously smiles at her. "H-hi, you must be Zecora. M-my name is Angelic Grace, and this is Rhino. We were hoping you could sell us a few potions." She gasps quietly, having said all of that without thinking to breathe in her anxiety.
The zebra smiles again as she turns and gestures into her home, the light reflecting off her neck bands. "It appears my reputation precedes me, come in so you can tell me what your needs be."
She sighs in relief, stepping inside. "T-thank you so much..." She looks over her shoulder at Rhino, smiling playfully. Care to come in?
He nods, following her but standing back so that she can do most of the talking.
The two enter the household, it's insides filled with shelves upon shelves of potions and ingredients. In the center of the room is a cauldron of boiling water, as well as a few more masks scattered about.
The white mare steels herself for what she's about to say. "S-so we were hoping you could make...a poison ivy remedy..." She mentally facehooves. "Y-you see, he's allergic to it and other plants like it..." I can't say it...I barely know her!
So throw me under the bus huh? It's the reason we came here, love. Think of what will happen if you don't get it. He nods. "Yes, the normal medicines help, but I still would rather avoid two weeks of scarring and itching."
The herbalist nods. "An elixir like that, for some, may be tough, but for one such as me, it is simple enough." He goes over to one of her shelves and pulls down a medium sized pink vial. "Do note however, this is not a potion to drink, instead, locate the infected area and apply the pink."
She nods quietly, taking the vial. "Thank you..." She shifts her stance, increasingly nervous. "...t-there's...one other thing..."
The mohawked zebra patiently waits for her to finish.
Gel fights with herself for a moment before sighing, letting her head bow, embarrassed. "...I-I need a few potions to help prepare for my heat..." If they could see her face, they would've seen it was rose red.
Zecora nods knowingly. "Ah yes, for a young mare, nothing is quite as intense as that time, I know it was so true for me, sometimes I almost forgot to rhyme." She goes over to a locked cabinet and pulls out a key, reaching in and taking out a few familiar purple potion bottles before locking it again. "I have to keep these protected, for I must make sure I have them around for when I too, am affected."
Gel gratefully takes them, putting them in her saddlebags. She smiles kindly at the zebra, nodding a bit. "...thank you...h-how much do we owe you?" She pulls out a small pouch with her magic.
The zebra stops a moment. "Payment for services rendered... 80 bits, should be appropriate tender."
Gel nods, pulling five bits out of the bag and giving the rest to her. "There you go." She puts the rest in her bag, smiling kindly to her. "Thank you so much, Zecora. You have no idea what this means to us."
Zecora sets the bag on a shelf. "It is no trouble at all, if you and your stallion have any more potion needs, be sure to call." She walks around and opens the door for them.
She walks outside, her smile still on her face. ...we should leave. Quickly.
Rhino bows his head to Zecora, who returns the gesture. The stallion leaves, following the disguised changeling. Something up?
I-I'm not sure... She glances at the trees around them, nervous. I just...have the strangest feeling...l-like we're being watched...
He looks around. Do you want me to Blink us out of the forest?
...no... She sighs quietly, leaning up against him. ...let's just act natural...maybe they'll just go away...
His tail curls around hers as they start making their way down the path. His eyes are always scanning the path ahead as his ears rotate to try and hear anything.
Gel bumps his side with her shoulder, an amused smile on her lips. Are you sure being nervous is natural for you?
I was anxious on the way in, I can be anxious on the way out. The two make their way along the path, sticking close to each other. Though Gel still feels something watching them, they successfully get out of the forest without incident.
She giggles, gently nuzzling his neck. ...that went better than expected...
He nods, smiling now that they are free of the woods. Yep... now to tackle the rest of the day...
As they near the house, Gel pulls ahead and turns around, walking backwards in front of him. "So, we go, put these up and then we go pick up your parents. Correct?"
He nods. "Right, Dad's coming in by train and Mom should be flying in at around the same time."
They turn the corner, her still walking backwards towards the house. "Right. That sounds simple enough." Gel giggles, a hint of nervousness in her voice. "A-and how do we go about...sleeping conditions?" She averts her eyes, biting her lip in embarrassment.
He tilts his head. "Well, I figured we'd move all the pet beds into my room, which is more like 'our' room these days, and those two can have your room, since the guest bedroom is still more like storage at the moment. Knowing those two, some nights one of them will end up on the couch just because of their different sleeping habits."
She nods, smiling softly. "Sounds like a plan." She spins around, ready to run home, and promptly crashes into another mare, both of them falling to the ground in a tangle of limbs. "...o-ow...s-sorry about that..."
The other mare, a bright red pegasus, shakes her head to gather herself. "I'm sorry, it was my fault, I was looking for somepony..." A green aura covers both of them and sets them back on their hooves. The mare rustles her feathers and brushes a hoof through her straight brown mane. "Oh thank you-" she cuts herself off when she sees the green stallion, a smile quickly growing on her face, "Rhino!" She promptly hugs the large stallion, who returns it.
He smiles down at the mare. "Good to see you, Mom."
Gel stares at this, one eye twitching a bit. ...I ran into Rhino's mom...bloody brilliant...
Rhino breaks the warm hug. "What are you doing here, Mom? I thought you were going to meet us at the station when we picked up Dad."
The red mare laughs. "I was, but then I thought I might surprise you at home! Of course, once I found you weren't home I let my thoughts wander and the next thing I know I'm one half of a pony pile-up."
Gel nervously laughs, rubbing the back of her neck. "M-my bad..." She holds out the hoof, sheepishly smiling. "H-hi. M-my name is Angelic Grace...b-but you can call me Angel, for short..."
The pegasus shakes the offered hoof. "Nice to meet you Angel. I'm Mist Scribe, but just call me Mist." She looks at the white unicorn a moment before turning to Rhino and then back. "I don't suppose you're the wonderful marefriend my son finally found and was telling me about? He seemed to forget to include a name." She peers over her shoulder at the stallion, who looks away.
She nods, glancing at Rhino curiously. "...I am..." Though I'm curious about why he didn't put a name... She directs her attention back to the pegasus. "...did he mention...how long we've been together?"
She shakes her head. "No, in fact he was very stingy on any details beyond how wonderful you were. Spoke like he dared Celestia herself to say otherwise."
The white mare blushes vividly, embarrassed. "H-he's the wonderful one. I-I'm just average." She quickly heads to the door, hoping to avoid further flattery for fear of passing out.
Mist giggles. "Oh, I don't know... He's a pretty good judge of character once he's known a pony. You've gotta be something special to catch his eye."
Rhino nudges his mother. "Alright Mom, let her go before she ends up as red as you."
Too late. She falls forward onto her cherry-red face, her leg twitching slightly. It appears as though all of the compliments were too much for her.
Rhino instantly teleports to her side as Mist asks, "Oh dear, is she alright?"
The stallion nudges the prone mare's head with his own. Love? Are you okay?
She doesn't seem to respond, but is definitely still breathing. Her eyes are rolled up in the back of her head, though, which gives a fairly clear indication of what happened to her.
He frowns as he lifts her onto his back. "She fainted. She should come back around relatively soon, it happens sometimes when she gets too flustered." He takes her into the house and sets her on the couch as the pegasus follows.
She too, frowns. "I'm sorry, I really didn't mean to make her do that... It was how you wrote the letter though."
He sits beside his marefriend. "I know, it's fine."
"I mean, ponies don't normally pass out just from compliments so I didn't expect-"
He cuts her off before she gets on a roll. "Mom. I know. Let's just wait until she wakes up, okay?"
It takes a few minutes before the white mare comes to, groggily raising her head. She looks between the two of them and sighs quietly, letting her head bow. "...I fainted again, didn't I?"
He smiles, kissing her on the forehead. "Yes, but at least it wasn't for long this time."
Mist coos from where she sits. "Aww... so cute..."
Gel blushes brightly, embarrassed. "...s-so...y-you wanted to know how long we've been together, Miss Scribe?" She carefully gets off the couch onto wobbly legs.
Mist waggles a hoof. "Ah ah ah, I said call me Mist. Yes, though, I do want to know, but I'm sure there's a reason Rhino didn't tell me in his letter." She looks at him out of the corner of her eye. "He always has these little ulterior motives to everything he does."
Rhino clears his throat. "Ahem, yes, well, I would rather do the inevitable question and answer session when both you and Dad are here so I don't have to repeat myself."
The red mare nods. "Fair enough, I'll let you have that one. It just means I'll have more time to think of things to ask."
The green stallion mutters under his breath. "Joy..."
Gel tilts her head a bit, confused by this exchange. I don't get it. Why does her thinking of questions make you so... She pauses, searching for the word. ...despondent? Is that right?
Because I swear they never stop, and half of them get repeated about four times... she is very persistent... He looks at the clock. "We should probably start heading to the station if we want to be there to meet Dad."
Mist nods. "Good point, we should be there to pick up Bio."
"...um...y-you should go ahead..." She looks down at her unstable legs. "...I-I don't think I'll be able to make it there and back...b-besides, I need to put these away..." She nudges her saddlebags, causing the vials inside to clink together loudly.
His face morphs into one of brief panic before he catches it and puts it back to a pleasant smile. "Nonsense." He levitates the bags upstairs to their room before scooping her onto his back. "I wouldn't want to let them miss any time for getting to know you." And for the love of Luna there is no way I'm being alone with them until we can answer their questions. My mind can't take the interrogation!
She blushes brightly, embarrassed by how he's carrying her. "...o-okay..." She reorients herself so she's sitting sideways on him. "...l-let's go pick up your dad..." She silently prays that Mist doesn't notice the steam coming off her head.
The pegasus mare smiles as she follows them out the door. "Good to see I raised you to become such a gentlecolt. Though I do wonder if she's only half the reason you're doing this..."
He continues toward the train station, making sure to keep his eyes forward. "Just being considerate..."
The trio make their way to the station, only a few ponies glance at the mare being carried, but all of them shrug it off after a moment. Ponies carry each other for various reasons every now and again after all. Soon enough, they arrive and climb onto the boarding platform. Rhino makes no effort to put Gel down, perfectly comfortable with her where she is.
She wouldn't have gotten off him, anyways. She feels as if he was treating her like a princess, and was pleased with that idea. She glances around before turning to the other two, confused. "...s-so...how will we recognize him?"
As he continues looking down the track, Rhino responds. "Dark blue coat, dark grey mane and tail, thick mustache, unicorn, about half a head shorter than me, slightly more muscular build... oh, and a flaming biohazard cutie mark."
She blinks, surprised by that last detail. "...r-really? H-how did he get that?" She pauses before holding up a hoof, sheepishly smiling. "I-if you don't mind sharing, I mean."
Mist answers this one. "Well, from what he told me... he got his mark from when he kept his class safe and helped put out a chemical fire when he was younger."
"...w-wow..." She thinks for a bit, curious. ...how does one put that out, anyways? She stretches up, trying to look as far down the track as possible. "...s-so...is he a chemist, then?"
Rhino takes the answer ball. "In a manner of speaking, I suppose. He's the Chief of the Hazmat division of the Canterlot Fire Department."
Gel's jaw drops in shock. "...r-really?" She turns to the other mare, glancing at the stack of books she had for a cutie mark. "...s-so...a-are you a...lawyer for some fancy law firm?" She sheepishly smiles, embarrassed that she asked such a thing. What am I thinking? She's too nice to be a lawyer...
Mist laughs heartily at the accusation. "Oh my, hehe, no dear, nothing like that. I'm the office manager up at a physical therapy clinic in Cloudsdale." She turns to display her cutie mark. "This mark of mine tends to be multi-faceted for jobs like that."
Gel slowly nods, trying to understand how the two correlate. "...and...how did you get yours, Mist?" She did say to call her that.
The pegasus laughs. "Oh, you know... read a lot of books when I was little, had a nice grasp of book and record keeping, and spontaneously decided to organize the elementary school library when I realized nothing was sorted in any way... Pretty much the way one might expect."
The white mare smirks softly, shaking her head. "You should meet the librarian here. I think you two would get along splendidly." ...was that rude of me? She puts a hoof on her chin, thinking to herself as a whistle sounds off in the distance.
As the sounds of the train get closer, the machine itself soon comes into view as it rounds the bend. The marvel of technology chugs along smoothly as some of its passengers poke their heads of the windows to feel the wind in their manes. The group and the few other ponies on the platform take a step back as the mass of metal comes to a halt in front of them, a gust of air bursting from its brakes. The doors open and the usual flood of ponies begins spilling forth.
Gel clings tightly to Rhino's neck and back, using the extra height from sitting on him to crane her neck and see over the crowd. I-I can't see him, yet. C-can you?
Not quite, a few too many bodies right now. Rhino's size lets him stand still while the crowd parts around him. He has protectively reached over and brought Mist closer to him so nothing happens to her. The crowd washes around them and soon there are only a few ponies left.
The disguised changeling looks around curiously, before gently nudging the stallions cheek with her nose. I-I think that's him to our right...h-he's the only one here with a mustache...
Rhino looks over and sees the stallion. There he is. He walks over and hails the pony with a raised hoof.
The dark blue stallion notices and walks over with a smile, only pausing momentarily to look at the mare on the green stallion's back with a curious expression. "There you are, Rhino!" The two embrace in that traditional one-armed hug males tend to do. "Good to see you, the passenger is a surprise though."
"H-hi." She holds out a hoof, shyly smiling. "M-my name is Angelic Grace...b-but please, call me Angel..." She tilts her head slightly, curious. "...y-you're Bio, right?"
He smiles and shakes the offered hoof. "Bio Blaze, at your service. It's very nice to meet you, Angel." He looks to Mist, motioning with his head towards the white mare. The pegasus nods and Bio smiles wider.
Rhino ignores this exchange, knowing exactly what it meant. "Well, since Mom decided to drop by early, I guess we're all here. Shall we head home so you can drop your stuff off?" He gestures to the suitcase his father brought.
The other stallion nods. "That'd be great."
Gel stays on Rhino's back as they head back off, the older stallion's suitcase in her magic. She glances at her stallion's parents before looking back at him, confused. ...they both seem really nice...but how did they even meet? I mean...don't they come from different cities?
They continue walking as Rhino recounts the tale. Well, Mom has worked quite a few jobs in a few different cities in her life. When she was younger, she worked as a waitress for a time. Dad and his friends visited the place often, and she was their server for a few number of times and eventually they hit it off.
She blinks, thinking about this a bit. ...huh. I didn't know she worked as a waitress, too... They turn onto their street, but Gel leans a bit more into Rhino, gently nuzzling his neck. ...you really are fluffy...I could stay up here all day... She smiles playfully. ...maybe I will...
Well, you are certainly free to, but don't you think the pets will get jealous? Rhino unlocks the door with a bit of magic and holds it open as his parents go inside, looking around at all aspects of it.
I suppose you're right... She blinks, a thought occurring to her. ...they aren't allergic to them, are they?
No no, they've both had pets before, and we don't have anything too exotic. Although, we should actually introduce them. Do you want to call the little ones? He floats the luggage upstairs to Gel's room.
She hears the sound of paws scampering on the floor, causing her to smile softly. ...I don't think I have to...
Rhino turns to his parents. "Remember how I said I had gotten some pets? Well, it looks like you're about to meet them."
The pets rush into the foyer, skidding to a halt in front of the ponies they see as strangers. The blue-gray kitten sits down, her tail flicking as she watches the ponies.
Meanwhile, the silver fox simply walks up to them and rolls over, pawing at the air.
Gel giggles at this, shaking her head a bit. He's just too cute, sometimes...
As Specter slowly crawls towards the pegasus, Rhino smiles. "Mom, Dad, meet Selena, Mercury, and Specter." He gestures to each pet in question as he says their names. "The smallest members of the little family."
As Mist scoops up the squirrel and kit to start cooing over them, Bio raises an eyebrow at Rhino. "I always saw you as more of a single pet kind of pony, maybe two, but definitely not three."
"I-I kind of influenced that..." She smiles as Selena moves up to her, leaping onto Rhino's back next to her. She gently pets her, enjoying the happy purrs of the feline. "...and I don't regret it one bit...we're just one big family..." She tenderly nuzzles the kitten, giggling softly. "Isn't that right?"
Selena mews happily, rubbing her body up against Gel's hip.
Mercury relishes in the attention he's getting, a content smile on his foxy face.
Specter, too, warms up to the pegasus mare quickly and enjoys himself, climbing up onto her shoulders.
"Speaking of family..." Mist begins, "I think now might be a good time to answer some of the questions yours has, since you weren't very detailed in your letters."
Rhino smiles, but not quite as nervously as he expected. "Well..." he turns to the mare on his back, "is that alright with you?"
"I certainly don't mind." She gestures to the chairs and couch, smiling cordially. "Perhaps you'd like to take a seat?"
Mercury climbs up onto the pegasus's back as well, pawing playfully at her wings.
Bio chuckles as he sees the couch. "I see you're still getting use out of that old thing."
Rhino laughs along with him. "Hey, there's a reason i said not to throw it out when you got the new one. This one still works its magic." He lays down in the center of the floor with Selena and Gel still on his back as Bio and Mist settle on the couch with the other two pets still on the mare.
The red mare leans back. "So, would you like to volunteer any information up front or do you want to wait until I ask for it?"
Gel looks at Rhino, curious. ...what do you think? Do you have anything you'd like to say, first?
Nothing that I feel wouldn't bias them in some way for anything I say afterwards.
...I don't understand, but okay... She turns to the other mare, shaking her head. "We can't think of anything, at the moment..."
Mist nods. "Well, first, you said that you two and these little ones are 'one big family'. Do some of them live with you, Angel?"
She blinks, confused by this. "...well...yes..." She glances at Rhino, tilting her head a bit. "...they don't know?"
Bio simply smiles as he puts more fuel on the fire that is Mist's interrogation. "We don't know much at all, other than how he described you to us, and even then he didn't give any physical description."
The pegasus leans forward. "So then... what don't we know?"
Rhino adopts a sheepish expression as he looks down at the floor.
She rubs the back of her neck, slightly nervous. "...um...w-well...we sort of...live together..." She blushes softly, a little embarrassed.
Bio's eyebrow raise. "Wow."
Mist tilts her head. "At that point already?"
Rhino scratches the back of his head with a hoof. "Well, actually, it sort of started out like that... I rented out the spare bedroom to her and well... things happened... and we started dating..."
"...and while it's a little unusual..." She leans over and tenderly nuzzles his cheek, smiling softly. "...I'm happy it happened that way..."
The parents smile at the affectionate display. Mist brings Mercury down to her lap and tickles his stomach with a wing as she asks the next question. "And when exactly did this happen?"
Rhino opens his mouth to respond, but furrows his brow as he turns back to Gel. "Erm, how long has it been? It's a bit distorted for me..."
"We've been together for three weeks and five days. Living together for four weeks, three days." She pauses. "Sorry, eidetic memory."
Rhino thinks cheekily at her. Yeah, now.
Mist looks incredibly at her son. "You waited a month to tell us about her?!"
The stallion simply distracts himself with one of the paintings on the wall.
"To be fair, we were a little distracted with everything." She waves a hoof. "You know, pets, losing my job, him helping me get a new one...all of those type of things..."
Bio decides to ask a question. "What do you do for a living anyway, Angel?"
"Well..." She taps her chin, thinking a bit. "...I was a waitress...now I'm an office manager at the veterinary clinic..."
The red are raises an eyebrow. "As in... Rhino's veterinary clinic?"
The stallion nods.
Mist hums to herself. "Well, you two are together all the time aren't you?"
"Of course." She shrugs, smiling happily. "It's a welcome relief from active duty." She freezes, an eye twitching slightly. ...did I just say what I think I said?
Rhino's head twists around to give her an incredulous look.
Bio's eyes widen. "Wait... you're a military mare?"
"...um...I-I was..." She turns her head away, ashamed. I'm so stupid! What was I thinking? "...I-I was more of a...field medic, though..."
Mist eye's are just as wide as Bio's and Rhino's. "Wow... I really didn't see my son getting together with a military mare... but I suppose if you're not in active service that does make you more his type..."
Rhino laughs nervously. "Yeah... it was a bit of shock to me too when I found out..." He clears his throat. "So umm... are those all the questions?"
His mother answers without skipping a beat. "For now."
Thank goodness. Gel collapses on the floor, falling off Rhino's back. "...ow..." She gets up and shakes herself off. ...so...what do we do now? Do we show them their room?
Yes. He nuzzles her as he stands up with Selena still on his back. "Why don't you two come with us and we'll show you where your room is."
The parents nod as they get up, Mist setting the two male pets on the floor, where they scamper quickly over to Gel and onto her back.
She smiles at them and follows Rhino, making sure to stay right up against him, if only to feel his coat against hers. They all walk up the stairs and Gel moves forward, opening the door. "Here we are. I know it's not that fancy, but the bed should be big enough for both of you."
They looks around the room and soon locate their suitcases. Mist turns back to the couple. "This is will do nicely. Though, if I'm not mistaken, this is your room, isn't it Angel?"
"...um...i-it was..." She blushes brightly, shrinking in on herself a bit. "...R-Rhino and I...um...s-share a bed..."
At the looks his parents give him, Rhino blushes. "What? It's comfortable..."
His mother and father give a knowing smile. "I'm sure it is."