Rhino and Gel are enjoying their Sunday at home with their pets. Specter and Mercury are currently pinning him to the ground while Gel is playing with Selena, when suddenly a deep loud 'thud' echoes from all around.
The changeling squeaks, quickly standing up and rushing over to a side window. "W-what was that?" She pulls the shade open slightly, leaping back at the sight. "...R-Rhino...w-why is there a glass wall outside our house?"
"What?" Rhino flips over as he approaches the window and looks out it. "Please tell me one of our neighbors just decided to build a greenhouse or something..."
She rushes over to the kitchen, throwing open the curtains there. She stares up at the sky, her jaw agape. "...n-not unless the greenhouse includes...a-all of Ponyville..." She points a shaky hoof towards the window. "...l-look..."
Rhino looks and sees she's correct. A giant dome of glass encompasses the entire town, it's edge landing squarely in their backyard. Even as they look, dark clouds begin to appear at the top of the dome. "That doesn't look good..."
Gel can only nod in silent agreement.
***
The two quickly leave the house, Gel disguised as Angel, and heads towards the center of town where everypony seems to be going. When they get there, they see the Element Bearers, minus Twilight, holding each other as a blue unicorn mare with a strange necklace goes around forcing ponies to do her bidding. She makes them hang up post, bring her things, and overall makes them miserable.
The mare steps over to a red-headed mare, sneering at her. "Where are the blue roses? The Great and Powerful Trixie demands you give them to her!"
The cream coated mare cowers from the loud unicorn. "I'm sorry! I don't have any! I have to special order those!"
The unicorn snorts, turning away from the poor pony. "Have them by the end of the day."
The mare raises a hoof after the blue pony. "But I can't! It takes them a week to get here!"
"Then I guess you'll spend time in the dungeon until they get here." She swiftly points at Rhino, frowning slightly. "You! Get to work on my dungeon!"
The stallion is taken aback, already frowning at the mare from how she was treating Roseluck. "What? Why would I listen to you?!"
She scowls at him, marching forward and glaring up at him. "Because, if you don't, I'll turn you into a foal and banish you!"
Gel grits her teeth and steps in front of her stallion, glaring daggers at this rude mare. "Nopony talks to him like that." She growls, narrowing her eyes dangerously. "No. Pony."
Trixie rolls her eyes, annoyed by the interruption. "You first, then." She blasts the white mare, grinning as the magic takes effect. Her smile starts to fade when the blonde pony doesn't stop shrinking, ending up the size of a tennis ball. "...well. That was unexpected." She turns and leaves, pointing a hoof at Rhino in warning.
Rhino growls as he watches the mare leave, one part of him screaming to go after her and hold her down demanding she turn Gel back. Another part makes him look at the little foal in front of him. He knows what he has to do and quickly takes little Gel in his mouth and heads back to the house.
They arrive quickly, Rhino shutting all the blinds and locking all the doors before going back to the living room and setting Gel down on the floor in front of him. His eyes are full of concern as he strokes her tiny mane with a hoof. "Couldn't let her turn me too... who would take care of you? I wonder if you're stuck as Angel or if you can still change..."
Almost as if answering his question, a cobalt blue flame envelops her tiny form. She looks up at him with vibrant, pure-blue eyes partly hidden by a short mane. She coos and takes his hoof in her smooth, navy hooves, nibbling on it with fangs no larger than their kitten's. She seems content with this, her short blue tail flicking behind her.
"Well, I guess that answers that." As she continues nibbling his face slowly changes to that of a fatherly figure. "I suppose this isn't so bad..." He picks up the tiny pupa and holds her in his forelegs as she continues chewing on his hoof. "Awww... just as cute as I thought you'd be..."
She squirms around in his grip, flipping over and climbing up his foreleg, her tiny wings buzzing in brief intervals, as if trying to take off. The whole time she coos and laughs, as if he was one big jungle gym.
He chuckles, unable to not laugh with the infant. "Well, at least you're happy." As she reaches his shoulder, he carefully lays down on his stomach to make sure she doesn't fall from too high if she slips. "What are you going to do up there anyway?"
She crawls to the center of his back and curls up, a small smile on her lips. Then she speaks up, talking in the most adorable little voice a changeling can. "...mister pony soft..."
"Awwww..." He coos due to her voice. "Now why do you have to go back there and say things like that? I can't hug you for them when you're back there..."
His only response is some light snoring as the tiny blue changeling falls asleep on his back.
He sighs as he shakes his head. "And here I was starting to enjoy this..." He carefully stands up and starts to head upstairs. "Let's at least put you on the bed so you're comfortable." As he enters his room, all three pets already occupying it all turn to look at him. "Oh... right..." He slowly lifts up the nymph with magic and sets her snuggly on a pillow. "Can you three stay quiet for a bit? She needs to sleep."
Selena nods before turning to give the other two a questioning look.
Specter nods as well, but Mercury gives them both a look that very clearly says 'How are you two not more concerned about this?!'.
Selena rolls her eyes. 'Have you seen what's been going on, outside?'
Mercury tilts his head. 'No, I was asleep, what did I miss?'
Specter shakes his head. 'In short, crazy stuff.'
The kitten nods in agreement before turning to the ball of cute currently curled up in the middle of the pillow. 'Let's hope that whatever this is isn't permanent.'
Rhino carefully lays down with his head on the pillow next to Gel's. He exhales loudly. "Well... what do you three think about all this?"
Selena bounds over to her typewriter and quickly puts forward a single word - "uncanny".
Rhino raises an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that?"
She types some more. 'She smells like Mom, but she looks entirely different.'
The stallion leans back more into the pillow. "Yeah... that actually is your mom, dear... Some power-crazy unicorn did this and I don't know how to reverse it... but I figured we just needed some privacy for now."
The kitten begins to nod before stopping, staring up at his mane in surprise.
At that exact moment, a tiny pair of fangs sink into his horn.
Rhino's fur stands on end as he quickly grabs the tiny changeling and sets her on his chest. "Phew... you're lucky your fangs are tiny... that could have really hurt..."
She coos happily, rolling around on his fur before running up and tapping his nose. "Boop!" She leaps off the bed and runs out of the room, giggling excitedly all the while.
He blinks as he looks after her for a moment. "Talk about a power nap..." He quickly roll off the bed and exits the room to try and keep track of the energetic infant.
When he reaches the hallway, the little changeling is already out of sight, hidden behind a potted plant and peeking out at him when she thinks he isn't looking.
As he looks around, he spots the little bit of movement out the corner of his eye. With a small smirk, he puts a hoof to his chin as he speaks. "Now where could she have gone? I don't see her anywhere." He slowly starts walking down the hall towards her hiding spot.
She covers her mouth with a hoof, giggling to herself.
He stops, standing right next to the plant. "I wonder where I should look next... maybe..." he suddenly dips his head down and peeks around the pot, "here!"
She squeals and runs down the hall, laughing happily. She stops at the stairs, eyes wide in surprise at how large the steps are.
Rhino walks up and lays down next to her, just looking down the stairs like she's doing. After a moment, he nuzzles her affectionately, just because.
She smiles brightly, wrapping her forelegs around his head and hugging him happily. "Rhino fun."
His heart practically melts at this as he gently hugs her back with a foreleg. "Well thank you Gel, and you are probably one of the most adorable things I've ever seen." He looks down the stairs again. "Did you want to go down there?"
She nods, looking at him hopefully. "Yes, peas."
He picks her up by the scruff of her neck and sets her on his back before walking down the stairs, the pets watching curiously from the top of them. As they reach the bottom, he looks back at her to see where she wants to go.
She points to the door, smiling happily at him. "Outside!"
He flinches. "Oh, umm... that's not the best idea, little one... we can't let anypony see you..." He turns around and heads towards the back. "Maybe just the backyard?"
She pouts at him, upset for a moment before sighing. "...outside peas, Rhino..."
He cringes. "Please don't look at me like that... it breaks my heart. The backyard is still outside you know."
She nods, smiling playfully. "I know, Rhino."
He raises an eyebrow at her as they heads towards the back. "If you know, then what was the guilt trip for?"
She nuzzles the back of his neck, giggling happily. "Rhino cute when nervous."
Rhino rolls his eyes as he sighs exasperatedly. "Even as a foal..." He opens the door and walks out into the yard with his passenger. "Ok, now what?"
She points to the top of a tree, grinning excitedly. "Res!"
He makes sure the tree is leafy enough to cover them once they get up there before nodding. "Ok, hold on." His circles appear on both the bottom of his hooves and on his back under her. He starts walking up the trunk, side-stepping branches and before long they are at the top, his grip noticeably stronger than it was when they started.
She cheers, flailing her forelegs happily. "Thanks, Rhino!" She turns and grabs one of the fruits nearby before biting into it, humming happily.
He chuckles. "Anything for you little one... I didn't know you liked pears though. I would have thought the love I've been giving you would have filled you up."
"Too young for love." She takes another bite, as if her response would be good enough, before continuing a few seconds later. "That's what daddy says."
"Oh.... good to know." Rhino looks back out over the town, frowning as he sees the still present dome, now filled with dark clouds. Throughout the town he can see red banners and even a few statues of the mare who did this to Gel.
She looks at him before turning to follow his gaze, frowning slightly. "...Trixie is a mean pony."
"Yes... yes she is... but she'll get what's coming to her, you'll see. Then you'll be back to normal." He nuzzles her again. "But in the meantime, I enjoy this little form of yours."
She giggles, gently nipping the tip of his nose. "Happy you say that."
He chuckles as he touches the tip of his nose to hers. "You are a little nipper sometimes, you know that? But maybe that's just the foal habit of putting things in your mouth."
"Pupa." She playfully licks his nose. "I like you." She glances out over the city before spotting a gray mare flying nearby. "Look, Miss Ditzy!" She waves happily, grinning widely. "Hi, Miss Ditzy!"
Rhino instantly tenses as he grabs Gel and tucks her close to his chest. He ducks down in what small leaf coverage there is and hopes his coat helps him blend in enough while his mane doesn't give him away.
Gel wriggles in his grasp, confused and a little worried at the action. She does hear the flapping of wings coming closer, though.
Ditzy smiles as she hovers next to the tree. "Hi Rhino! Why are you in a tree? Did Trixie put you there?"
Realizing he was spotted, but Gel wasn't, Rhino pops his head out. "Umm, no, she didn't, but I'm glad she didn't do anything to you."
The pegasus giggles. "Yeah, I think she was thinking about it but then my eyes crossed and when I uncrossed them she was walking away saying something about not tempting fate."
Gel tries to escape his grip, wanting to talk to the mare. "What did she mean?"
Ditzy shrugs before she puts on a thoughtful face. "Wait... who said that?"
Rhino quickly responds. "Nopony."
She giggles, shaking her head. "You're right, there..."
Ditzy wings flap faster for a moment, causing her to bob in place. "There it was again!" She narrows her eyes at the stallion. "Are you trying to mess with me?"
Rhino shakes his head. "Of course not."
The young changeling finally gets free and climbs up on top of his head, beaming brightly at the mare. "Hello, Miss Ditzy!"
The mare's eyes cross for a moment before she smiles. "Aww, hello cutie!" She looks down at the unicorn. "Rhino, who is this?"
Rhino panics for a moment before he comes up with a brilliant plan. "Well, this is... Angel. Trixie zapped her earlier and now she's... like this."
She holds up a hoof, giggling happily. "You look cute confused, Miss Ditzy!"
Ditzy giggles as she touches hooves with the tiny changeling. "Why thank you, it's nice of you to say that."
"You're welcome!" She then leans forward and starts nibbling on Rhino's horn once more.
The stallion winces once before he gets used to the sensation. "She can talk, and yet she still bites things..."
Ditzy giggles. "Yes, they do that. Well, I need to get back to my house to make sure everypony is alright. Good luck!" She flies off.
She waves at the mare before letting go, giggling happily. "That was nice."
Rhino waits another moment sticking the pupa back onto his back. "Yes, it was also too close for my liking. We can't chance anypony else seeing you." He starts back down the tree. "We're going back inside." A small random thought occurs to him as he turns back around to see her. "Just to make sure, you don't need diapers or anything right?"
She thinks for a bit. "...well...I don't think so..." She sticks her tongue out at him. "When I'm older, I'll explain."
"That... is a very strange sentence..." Rhino walks back inside and closes and locks the door, instantly relaxing as he completes this. "Well... I don't know about you... but I need a drink after that."
"May I have some apple juice?" She looks up at him, giving his doe eyes. "Pwetty peas?"
He looks away quickly. "Alright alright, just stop with the weaponized cuteness!" He sets her down on the counter as he digs the drinks out of the fridge. He pours himself his usual tall glass and pours a small cup of juice for her. "I don't have any sippy cups so just try to not spill as much as you can, okay?"
She tilts her head to the side, confused. "...sippy cups? What are those?"
He explains. "Spill-proof cups for young ponies to prevent messes."
She gives him a bemused look, gesturing to herself. "Rhino, I'm cup-size. We couldn't hold those."
"Oh..." He looks to the cup he poured and realizes it's actually slightly bigger than her. "Right... erm... oh!" He digs in one of the drawers and emerges victoriously with a straw. "Here we go." He angles the bendy straw and places its end in the cup.
She beams happily, sucking happily at the straw, her neck craned so she can reach it.
Rhino observes quietly how the changeling does a sort of licking and sucking hybrid movement that reminds him of a suckling youngling of many species. The sight makes him smile fondly.
She pulls away, wiping her mouth off with a hoof. "Thank you, Rhino!"
He leans down to the little one no bigger than one of his eyes. "You're welcome Gel." He nuzzles her again and she clamps onto his muzzles with her hooves. He chuckles as he lets her stay there. "So, what did you want to do next?"
She taps her hoof against his cheek, thinking a bit. "...I don't know...play make-believe?" She smiles winningly at him, hoping he will say yes.
He smiles at the tiny nymph on his nose. "I always thought that was a wonderful game." He stand up and lets her stay on his nose while he brings her over to the couch. "So what are we make-believing?"
"Maybe you can be a knight!" She giggles, hopping off his muzzle and onto the sofa cushion. "And I'll be a princess!" She does a little curtsy before falling on her face, laughing playfully. "Silly pupa."
"I see you still have your love of roleplay." He bends down in a bow. "What would you have your knight do, my princess?"
"The princess would like her loyal knight to..." She thinks for a bit before a sparkle comes to her eyes. "Bring her cream puffs!"
"I accept this quest gladly!" Rhino proclaims with a determined voice. He marches into the kitchen and quickly locates the pantry where Gel has kept a small supply of cream puffs since she found them at Pinkie's welcome party. He returns with one of them, easily about half Gel's current size, on a plate and sets it next to her. "I have returned, milady. Does this please you?"
"Verily." She giggles and bites into the pastry, a small amount of cream leaking out of one side. "Thank you, my knight. You may join me in feasting upon this..." She trails off and shakes her head, blushing softly. "...I'm not good with this...the words are having difficulty coming out..."
Rhino chuckles. "It's fine Gel." He takes a small bit of the treat and pops it into his mouth. "It's make believe, so you make the rules."
"...no, I mean..." She taps her chin. "...I'm having trouble with the words, themselves...in my...head..."
Rhino tilts his head. "I'm... not sure what you mean..."
She groans, shaking her head. "...I can't even explain it..." She picks up the light pastry and continues to eat it, upset.
The stallion gently grabs the pupa and her pastry, cradling them in his arms. "Shh... I've got you... it'll be okay..."
She blushes brightly, pulling the pastry out of her mouth. She opens it as if to speak but apparently decides against it, sucking on the treat once more.
Rhino waits patiently, simply holding her until she finishes the treat. He strokes her tiny mane gently as he looks at her questioningly. "Feeling better?"
She nods, patting her full belly. "Much better."
He nuzzles her. "And your head?"
"Still fuzzy." She sighs, resting her head on her forehooves. "...it's like my mind is having a hard time with words...I'm glad I could speak when I was this age..."
He playfully tickles her belly. "Me too, though the baby sounds are awfully cute." He takes note of her appearance. "As is the fact that you managed to get a good amount of that cream puff on you..."
She shrugs. "It's sweet and cold. I like it."
"Fair enough... but I do need to clean you up, especially before I put you on anymore of the furniture." He carries her in his foreleg and walks on his other three to the kitchen.
She tilts her head at this, curious. "What are we doing in here?"
"Cleaning you, like I said." He brings her over to the sink and sets her on the counter next to it before turning on the water and bringing out a washcloth.
"No! No baths!" She tries to run off, her sticky forehooves getting the counter messy.
Rhino neatly picks her up with his magic. "I know, no baths. I'm going to do something different." He runs the water until there is just short of an inch of it in the sink before he turns it off. He swishes the washcloth around in the water before bringing the pupa over and hovering her above the water. "See? It's more of a clean puddle than anything else."
She glances at it then back up at him, still a little hesitant. "...i-if you say so..."
He sets her down in the water, the level barely reaching the tops of her tiny legs. Rhino brings up the wet cloth as he looks to her. "Ready?"
Her ears fold back against her head but she nods, closing her eyes to keep anything from getting in them.
The stallion gently wipes everywhere on the pupa, the cream coming off easily. He dips the cloth in the water a few times before going back to wiping her down. Within about two minutes, he is done. "There we go, that wasn't so bad was it?" He lifts her out and sets her on a dry towel.
She shakes herself dry, smiling softly at him. "...I suppose not..."
He brings up the towel and dries her more thoroughly so she isn't damp. "Good, but since you were mopey,what do you want to do next?"
"I want to play in the park." She frowns, her ears drooping slightly. "...but we can't go there, right now..."
He nuzzles her. "I'm sorry about that... you know it's dangerous... maybe I can bring whatever part of the park you wanted here?"
She blinks at this, confused. "...w-what do you mean, Rhino?"
He sits down in front of the tiny nymph on the counter. "Well, what did you want to do at the park?"
"Have a picnic, lay down in the sun, try and see if Trixie's there to give her a what-for...that sort of thing..." She smiles brightly at him, hoping he doesn't pay too much attention to her list.
Unfortunately for her, he does. "Well, you're pretty stuffed right now, we were already outside in the sun, though there seems to be less and less of it as those clouds build up, and I sort of agree with you on that last one, but I don't want to risk you for revenge, not when something worse could happen." He picks her up in his forelegs and hugs her again. "Gotta keep you safe now more than ever."
She sighs softly, gently hugging him back. "...you're right...I hope this ends soon, though..."
He smiles. "What? Tired of being tiny already?"
"...no..." She grabs his hoof, nuzzling it longingly. "...tired of not being able to hold you properly..."
He looks down at the pupa with curiosity. "Well... you were talking like a baby earlier, but I swear your speech is getting back to normal as time goes on... maybe that's a good sign?"
"...hopefully..." She sighs, her mind drifting and absently nibbling on the tip of his hoof.
The day slowly passes, the two staying in the shelter of their home and Gel slowly getting more and more well-spoken, though still retaining her form. After a while, the two find themselves in the familiar position of Rhino laying on his back on the couch with Gel curled up on his chest.
She sighs contentedly, nuzzling his fur happily. "...this was nice...a day alone..." She looks at one of her hooves, frowning slightly. "...wish it was under better circumstances..."
"Yes... hopefully our next one won't be quite so odd..." Neither of them notice as the glass dome over the city disappears.
"...you know...this would go great as another entry in my journal!" She beams before her smile falters slightly, a thought occurring to her. "...I wish I could use magic for that..."
He idly strokes her mane. "Well, I would offer to scribe for you, but I feel your journals are your thing so you probably want to be the one to write in them."
She shakes her head. "...no. You should help with them." She motions to herself. "At least, until I'm back to normal."
As soon as she says this, the light of the sun peeks through the blinds and hits her, showing the lack of clouds in the sky. As the pupa looks up at the window, there is suddenly a popping noise and she is back to her normal size.
She blinks, dazed from the sudden change. "...n-never mind..." She falls off him and onto the floor, the sudden change in blood flow getting to her. "...pretty stars..."
Rhino rolls off the couch next to her. "Woah there love, take it easy, let yourself adjust back to normal..."
She shakes her head, holding a hoof to her temple. "...o-okay, love..."
The two wait for a few minutes before he checks on her. "How are you?"
"...much better..." She slowly gets up, leaning against him for support. She stands quietly for a few moments before looking at him, smiling softly. "...you know...I remember everything from today..."
He raises an eyebrow. "Oh? And what have you to say about it?"
She smirks, tenderly nuzzling his cheek. "...you'll make a great father, love..."
He smiles, nuzzling her back. "Well, thank you very much... little one." He chuckles.
She blushes brightly but doesn't lose her smile. "...I feel bad for you telling a half-lie to Ditzy, though..."
"We'll just apologize when she finds out the truth, right? She seems sweet enough that she won't mind." This is probably the first time he's sounded optimistic about telling anypony.
She sighs and nods, climbing onto his back and simply laying there. "...if you see Trixie...ask her for an apology...mkay?" She yawns softly, resting her head on his neck. "...I'll just...sleep until then..." She's soon breathing softly, a small, content smile on her lips.