The Start of Something New

by Rhino


Chapter 9: Trials

The next morning starts off well, with Ruby actually only waking them up once during the night so that everypony actually gets a decent amount of sleep. The entire family is in the kitchen, Rhino making his and Gel's breakfast while the pets already eat theirs. A small noise from Ruby as she stops sucking her hoof and moves toward her mother expresses her desire for her own morning meal.

The nymph smiles warmly and picks her up, scooting back and placing her on her seat.

Ruby immediately pounces onto the source of her milk, latching on and suckling away.

Gel squeaks, eyes widening in shock. Teeth! She bites her lip, trying to keep herself from pulling away from the filly.

Rhino's ears perk up as he turns away from the stove. What?

She turns to look at him, a tear in her eye. She's starting to teethe...and bit my teat...

He winces. Oh... that had to hurt... He takes to food off the burner and walks over, concerned. Mind if I look at her and you? Or would you rather me wait until she's done? Is she at least adjusting her grip?

I-I can't tell if she is...p-please take a look... She leans back in her chair, giving him plenty of room to see what he needs to see.

He crouches down to get a better height to view to situation. Ruby appears to be nursing normally, but does seem to be stopping to adjust her grip every so often. Rhino takes a little bit of magic and scratches behind his daughter's ear a moment. "Hey Ruby..."

She stops suckling and looks at him curiously, a small bit of milk left on her face.

He takes a hoof and gently tickles her side with it, making her laugh and letting him get a good view of her mouth, and the four white dots inside. "Yeah... her front incisors are coming in." He looks at Gel to see if there was any damage. "She didn't break the skin, so that's good. It'll likely just be a little sore afterwards. Maybe put some numbing cream or something..." Ruby quickly gets back to nursing as he stands up, Gel wincing at the infant feeds. "If it helps, putting pressure on those teeth probably isn't fun for her either, so she'll likely try to find a way to suckle without pressing them. Not sure how long it'll take her to find it though..."

"I hope it's soon." She looks down at her daughter, grimacing slightly from the uncomfortable sensation. "...she won't get fangs, will she?"

Rhino shrugs. "You're guess is as good as mine. These are just her front teeth. Judging by where your fangs are, we won't know if she has fangs until her third set, which come in around six months or so." As Ruby continues nursing, he comments again. "We might consider getting a teething ring so she doesn't see you, me, or herself as a chew toy. Also, from what I understand, when teeth are coming in like this, foals tend to get fussy from the discomfort. So we'll have to deal with that..."

She nods, gently stroking the filly's mane. "That sounds fun..." She trails off as she realizes her hoof hasn't felt something. She looks down, confusion quickly forming on her face. "...why did she turn into an earth pony, now?"

He looks down as well, rubbing his chin with a hoof. "Well, it's probably instinct since she wouldn't know this fact yet but... earth pony pain tolerance perhaps?"

"Really?" She tilts her head to the side, considering this a moment. "I suppose that makes sense..."

He nods, stroking the filly's mane. "You know... I think we should take a trip to Twilight's after work today."

"To get her opinion on this?" She sighs in relief as their daughter shifts into a position benefitting both of them. "Much better..."

He explains. "Well, that and I know she'll probably want to see Ruby anyway. The big reason I want to go though, is that I want to see if she has foal books. I think it's time we start reading to her. My mother did it to me when I was this age and its supposed to do wonders for their mind as they grow."

She nods, tapping her chin thoughtfully. "Maybe...the books we have aren't for young ponies, after all...I think your rune books might be a bit too advanced." She playfully sticks her tongue out at him.

He chuckles as he pecks her cheek. "Not to mention gibberish to all but a few ponies."

"True." She pulls him close and rests her head on his shoulder. "Would you like to read to her first, love?"

He raises an eyebrow at her. "What? You don't want to help with the voices?"

Gel tilts her head to one side, curious. "I can copy voices I've heard...but making one up is quite difficult."

He waves a hoof. "Well, it's really only talking as you envision it being said. Maybe you'll be more inclined to help once you see me fail at trying to do female voices. Still, I'm looking forward to reading with her."

The nymph taps her chin, smiling coyly at him. "Maybe I will help, then...but you're going to be the main reader." She glances down at her daughter, tenderly stroking her mane. "Let's wait until she's done before we leave."

"Well, of course." He walks over to the stove and comes back with two plates of food. "There's still one or two things to do before work."

She picks up her apple juice, taking a sip of it. "And what would those be?"

Rhino picks up a fork in his magic as the smell of his eggs tempts him. "Well, for one thing, I'd like to eat. Secondly, I still need to shower. Speaking of which, we might consider giving her a bath one of these days. Washcloth cleaning is all well and good, but a good session of soap and water keeps the fur soft. That's for another time though, we don't have long this morning."

Gel grimaces, awkwardly shifting in her seat. "H-how about a shower, instead? That would work, right?"

Rhino quirks an eyebrow at his wife. "I thought we got you over your bath issues."

The nymph puffs her cheeks out, pouting at him. "That's not what I'm concerned about."

He tilts his head, ignoring the part of his mind that notices how cute her pout is. "Are you worried about her in the tub? Because I wasn't going to bathe her in that."

"No - well, maybe...but that's only part of it." She bites her lip, noticing their little filly finish and start to whine. "I think it'd be something to mention later, though...when we're talking with Twilight." She holds up the pink filly and carefully pats her on the back. "After all, I think she'd want to hear it, too."

"Hmm, well now you've got me curious." He watches the two until a small burp comes from Ruby, who giggles afterward. "Looks like it's going to be an informative day."

***

The day passes relatively normally, with Ruby only giving a bit of a fuss throughout the day. Luckily this is easily solved most times one she starts nibbling on one of her parents' hooves, and is solved more permanently with a quick store trip after work. Now, as the little foal gnaws on her new red teething ring, the couple approach Twilight's bibliophilic abode.

They stop on the stoop, and the nymph raises a hoof but stops momentarily, hesitant.

Rhino looks to her. "Something wrong?"

"...yes...I'm worried..." She glances down at their daughter, stroking her mane gently. "...what if we learn...something bad about Ruby? S-some problem with her biology?"

He sighs and nuzzles her neck. "There's always that possibility with hybridizing... but like you said, better to know, right?"

She closes her eyes, considering his words for a moment - but only a moment. She silently nods and, opening her eyes, knocks decisively on the door.

As per usual, a few moments pass before a familiar scaly figure opens the door and smiles at the couple. Spike looks to Gel teasingly. "Do I even need to comment on the fact that you still knock anymore, or is it more implied by now?"

The nymph waves a hoof at him, smiling playfully. "How else can I make sure I get to see my favorite little dragon?" She giggles, winking at him.

He chuckles as he steps aside so they can come in, eyeing the bundle around her neck curiously. "True. Good to see you again, Gel."

"Good to see you, too, Spike." She notices his gaze and smiles, walking towards a table in the center of the room. "Would you like to meet someone new?"

"Sure!" He looks towards the stairs but shakes his head as he mutters to himself. "Nah, I'll call her if we need her."

She pulls the sling off her neck with her magic and carefully places it on the table. "Spike," she gestures towards it as a tiny pink head with a red ring in its mouth peeks curiously out, "meet our daughter, Ruby Pinch."

The ring hangs out of Ruby's mouth as she looks up at the purple and green drake.

He chuckles as he smiles down at her. "Well, as a dragon, I whole-heartedly approve the name 'Ruby'." He carefully extends a claw towards her, which she bags away playfully with a hoof when it gets too close. This only makes Spike laugh more.

Gel smiles softly, laying down to look at the young dragon on his own level. "She is our little treasure. I was hoping you two would become good friends..." She glances at her stallion, tilting her head to one side. "...that is, if daddy Nexus is alright with that."

Rhino, who had kept his eyes on his daughter as the two friends chatted, snaps out of his little zone at the question addressed to him. "Hmm? Oh, yes, that's fine. Just be careful with her." He considers adding a sentence given Spike's gender, but decides with Ruby's age currently, there's no need for it.

A voice calls from upstairs. "Spike? I hear voices. Is somepony here?"

The dragon calls back. "Yeah, it's your favorite novel subjects!"

A few thumps occur upstairs before a lavender form trotts down the stairs when a bounce in her step. Her view of the foal obstructed by Rhino from this angle, she looks at the couple and smiles. "Well, good afternoon, you two."

Gel smiles, pushing her glasses up a bit. "Good afternoon, Twilight. Anything interesting happen since we last saw you?"

The unicorn taps a hoof on her chin before shaking her head. "Not really, things have been pretty quiet around here since Chrysalis went back to her hive at the beginning of the year and took Fluffle Puff with her. Oh! I did actually receive word that our book, 'The Truth About Changelings', did get through the initial hurdles, and should be on shelves in a few months!"

The nymph perks up, clapping her forehooves together. "That's fantastic!" She pauses a thought occurring to her. I suppose it's a good thing I didn't think to mention this before now...wouldn't want any extremists hearing about it...

Rhino thinks back to her. Somehow, I don't think the student of Celestia and Element of Magic will have any trouble getting publicity for her book...

She nods and clears her throat. "Twilight, could you please move a little closer? We'd like you to meet someone."

The student complies and walks around the table, her eyes instantly locking onto the small form in the center. They widen substantially as she looks between Ruby and her parents. "Is this..." She leans closer, but stops as she sees Rhino tense up while she does so. She leans back up and gives him a sharp look. "What did you think I was going to do? Take her in my magic and bounce around in excitement before zipping her down to my lab?"

The stallion simply gives her a flat stare as he raises an eyebrow.

Twilight blushes lightly. "Ok, fine, one part of me thought about it, but I wouldn't actually do it! She's just a foal after all!"

He continues silently staring.

She continues. "Plus... you'd probably never let me get far enough to do that anyway..."

At this, he smirks. I love how I didn't even have to say a word.

That certainly made things easier. The nymph takes a deep breath and lets it out, turning back to the lavender unicorn. "This is Ruby Pinch. She is our daughter, and..." She falters, noting the lack of a horn on the pink pony. "...normally a unicorn..."

Twilight looks at the first-time mother. "What do you mean 'normally a unicorn'?"

She sheepishly smiles, shrugging a bit. "Well...she was born a unicorn...is in that form most often...b-but she changes between that, pegasus, and earth pony every so often..." She rubs the back of her neck. "...I'm certain that's because of my genetics..."

Twilight moves her head down to the foal’s height to get a better look at her. "Fascinating... have any other anomalies presented themselves? And has she ever had both wings and a horn?"

"I haven't noticed anything odd..." She taps her chin, thinking a bit. "...and I'm certain she's never had both at once..."

One can practically feel the librarian's mind twitching at all the possibilities of the hybrid. "Limited transformation ability perhaps..." She clears her throat. "As much as i would love to find out absolutely everything there is to know about this little one, I'm sure you had your own reasons for bringing her here."

Gel nods and then hesitates, turning to her stallion. "...did you...want to ask her?"

He nods, facing the purple pony. "It actually would be appreciated to know everything we can about her so that we can be prepared. We were also wondering if you had any foal's books we could borrow." There was also that thing you wanted to ask her about that came up when I mentioned baths, but I assume that'll come up later.

"That's right. Also," she squirms slightly, embarrassed, "if you could check whether she will have fangs, that'd be helpful, as well...and, after all of that...I wanted to share some more information with you..."

Twilight beams as she claps her hooves together. "Oh, this is going to be so much fun! We're going to learn so many new things..."

Gel holds up a hoof, frowning slightly. "Be careful with her. I don't want her to be scared during your examination...and I want Rhino to be with you, to make sure you don't get too excited."

He quirks an eyebrow at her. "And where are you going to be during all this?"

She points to the shelves. "Looking for books, of course."

Ruby lets out little happy sounds as Rhino picks her up and puts her sling around his neck. "Ok. Where to, Twilight?"

She gestures with a hoof. "The basement of course, it's where all my equipment is." She opens a door and heads downstairs as Rhino walks over to Gel.

He nuzzles her gently. "See you in a bit, love."

She smiles playfully at him before she tenderly kisses his cheek. "You two have fun, okay?"

He chuckles before heading down after the mare while calling back. "We'll see."

She watches him follow Twilight down the steps before turning to Spike, tilting her head to one side. "Where are the books for young ponies, anyways? I never thought to ask, before..."

He waves for her to follow him to a bookshelf near the door. "We keep them right here so that small ponies can always get to them." He gestures to the bottom two shelves. "Any of them spark your interest?"

The nymph tilts her head, thinking a bit. "...well...I don't really know..." She taps her chin, frowning in concentration as she examines the books on the shelves. After half a minute, she pulls a book out and shows it to him. "...what's this one like?"

He looks at the book for a moment before recalling. "Ah, I think this is one about going to the park, playing on a playground, then falling asleep for a nap. It's all simple words with big pictures like a lot of these kinds of books."

She considers the book for a moment before nodding and putting it off to the side. "I suppose that's a good one. Do you think you could recommend a few more?" She gives him a hopeful look.

He taps his chin with a claw as he starts looking at the shelf closely. "Well... I haven't really had to pick ones out for parents before, but I'll give it a shot." He picks another one out and gives it to Gel. "This one is about a puppy, his siblings, and his mom. It's supposed to be cute."

She nods quietly and takes it in her magic, looking at it for a moment. "I think she'd like that one." She glances at the shelf as she places this with the other book, pulling out another. She stops, staring at this one in confusion for a second before turning to him, confused. "...why is this Daring Do book on this shelf?"

The drake snorts as he takes the book and sets it onto a pile next to the checkout desk. "Because Rainbow Dash ignores the rule that says 'don't try to put books back yourself when you return them'. With how often Twilight reorganizes, it's just easier to leave them out until one of us gets to putting them back."

Gel taps her chin, considering the book he just put down. "...could I borrow that book? I mean, it must be good if it's something Rainbow's reading, right?"

"Daring Do? Sure, I guess. It's one of the most popular adventure series around." He looks at the book a moment before shaking his head and taking another one off a shelf. "Let's start you on the first book in the series though."

"That's fine by me." She giggles, accepting the book he offers her. "I prefer to do things in order, anyways."

He nods before walking back over to the young one's section. "Alright, let's see if we can find you more books..."

Later, the two unicorns and foal emerge from the basement. The mare is laden with stacks of papers with everything from words to line scribbles on them, while the foal snuggles against the stallion, looking at said mare a little uneasily.

Spike looks up at the two of them as he finishes checking out the last of Gel's fairly substantial stack of books. "Hey, everything go okay?"

Twilight is giddy as she answers. "Perfect!"

The nymph notices the filly's expression and turns to her stallion, quirking an eyebrow at him. "How perfect is 'perfect'?"

He nuzzles the filly, who whines a moment before starting to chew her ring again. "Lots of results, tests went fine, but... Ruby wasn't a fan of some of the noises the machines made, or the things where Twilight needed her to be separate from me."

She quietly nods, picking up the stack of books with her magic. "As long as she's safe, I'm happy." She carefully puts the thin books into her saddlebags. "So, what did you find out about her?"

Twilight starts sorting through her notes. "Quite a lot actually. Do you want me to just start down the list?"

Gel nods, finishing packing up. "If you'd be so kind."

As she consults her notes, Twilight begins. "Alright, let's just start here... So, as you know, breeding combines both the genes and magic of the parents to make the foal. For the different pony species, one type of a magic will tend to take the dominant role so that the pony can become say... a true pegasus, not one that only has half pegasus and say... half earth pony magic, though sometimes mixes can be reflected in interests and talents, but still, ponies are easily identifiable by what they are." She flips a page. "Ruby, however, is actually currently hosting a combination of both changeling and unicorn innate magic."

Gel blinks, stunned by this. "...so...she really is a hybrid, then..." She frowns slightly. "...wait...even when she's not a unicorn, she still has that type of magic?"

"Well, in a manner of speaking." Twilight points down at her notes. "As I said, it's innate magic, so she can't actually get rid of it, but that doesn't mean it's always able to be sensed. Changeling magic contains partial amounts of unicorn, pegasus, and earth pony magic. By bringing one of these to the forefront, you can have the abilities of that species. Well, since Ruby isn't totally changeling, this only manifests partially. Her species changing to earth pony or pegasus, does give her the traits of those species, strength and wings respectively, but since part of her natural magic is decidedly unicorn, the full amount of her magic cannot be transferred. So say... when she's a pegasus, since she has half changeling magic, she can grow wings, probably glide, but there's no guarantee she could actually fly. Likewise, she wouldn't have the full strength of an earth pony, but it would still be more than her unicorn form. Rest assured though, she is definitely a full unicorn when she wants to be."

She slowly nods, a thoughtful expression on her face. "I suppose that makes sense..." She turns to Ruby, smiling warmly. "She really is unique, isn't she?"

The mare nods. "She is, and actually I think you had a hoof in making her what she is, at least partially."

Gel snaps out of her thoughts, turning to the librarian. "What do you mean by that?" She glances at the stack of notes, quickly becoming concerned by what she sees. "...you...you haven't said everything, yet...have you?"

The student beams. "Of course not! I told you, we learned a lot, and theorized a fair amount." She shifts a portion of her notes to the side. "But what I just told you did cover a decent amount. Now, what I mean was, according to Rhino here, you two predicted what Ruby would look like with startling accuracy, correct?"

She nods, slightly confused. "We did...why do you ask?"

"Well, such predictions are unheard of. I mean, one can make reasonable guesses based on both families, but here, I think something different happened." She points to a new page. "Again, the concept is built around changeling magic and innate magic. Foals are reliant on their mother's magic for a time, as they are completely encompassed by their bodies and thus surrounded by that magic. Changeling magic though, is naturally fluid and much more adaptable than ponies, and excels at changing their own body. As such, I believe unconsciously, you willed your foal to look as you had hoped, and your magic responded in kind, shaping the growing form inside you. Not to say you forced it on her, as changeling genetic material has enormous potential for what the foal would look like, so it was more like you guided it in a certain direction."

She can only stare in stunned silence. "...I-I had no idea...t-that's amazing..." She shakes herself, adopting a neutral expression. "...a-anything else you'd like to share?"

"A few more things, yes." She consults her notes yet again. "As you well know, changelings react to and feed on emotions. Obviously, Ruby is too young to actually feed on emotions, so we can't know if she actually can yet, or not. However, from a few small tests I performed while we were down there, she does seem to have a very heightened sense of empathy, as well as being affected by the emotions around her. She doesn't like to have negative emotions around her, for instance, and she gets upset because of it."

She tilts her head to one side. "That does explain why she was whimpering the other day...though, honestly, I assumed it was because of the other ponies..." She nervously giggles, rubbing the back of her neck.

Twilight takes her face out of her notes a moment. "Other ponies?"

Rhino clears his throat as he stands there, shifting his weight from side to side in a rocking motion as Ruby's eyes close. "Just some ponies who aren't taking the transition very well."

Gel turns away, muttering to herself. "...more like anti-changeling activists..."

Twilight's ears perk as she just picks up what Gel said. "Oh dear... do you want me to write to the Princess about it?"

She sighs, shaking her head. "It's fine. We just ignore them...besides, if the Princess took action..." She scratches the side of her head, confused. "...wouldn't that make them more enthusiastic?"

Twilight sighs. "It's difficult to tell most times... politicians are much better at predicting these things than I am... Just, let me know if thing get bad, okay? You guys are my friends, and I don't want to see you hurt."

She nods, smiling softly and putting a hoof on the mare's shoulder. "Thank you. That really means a lot to us."

"It's no problem..." Twilight clears her throat before going back to her notes. "There's just a few more things that you need to know about... From what I saw from a few x-rays I took, she likely doesn't have fangs."

Gel laughs, shaking her head. "That's good. I would not want to worry about those poking me."

"Well... you might not be so lucky if you have any more... remember, this was only a single case of your hybridization. As with all foals, there are a number of factors that can change, so... it is possible any future ones might have fangs." Twilight smiles sheepishly at Gel.

The nymph facehoofs, groaning softly. "...right..."

The mare continues, although a little more hesitantly. "Now, lastly, there was one thing I found that was slightly concerning..."

She frowns, noticing the apprehension in the air around Twilight. "...w-what is it?"

"Well... while I was taking the x-rays... I did notice that her bone density seems lower than it should be. I asked rhino if she was getting all the nutrients she needed, but he told me she'd been feeding fine, so it's not that." She scratches the back of her head as she consults her notes. "It's possible, and likely, that it may just be the results of the fact that you have an exoskeleton, while your husband has an endoskeleton. The mix of genetics may not have given her all of the ones necessary to have perfect bones, you see."

Rhino doesn't say anything as he continues rocking the now dozing foal, but one can tell he had heard or at least assumed the diagnosis from what Twilight had asked him. The way he had adjusted his grip to hold his daughter closer to him is a telling gesture.

Gel's ears flatten against her head, a small whimper escaping her. "...y-you mean...she's fragile? I-is that it?"

"It's, not exact at this stage..." she continues, "but it's not as bad as it could be. Her bones just won't ever be as strong as they would be normally. She could still do all the things that normal foals can do, there's no need to worry about that. However, under extreme stress, or in cases where other foals' bones would barely not be affected, hers would crack or otherwise. A high-calcium diet would help with this, but they still won't ever be standard... I'm sorry..."

The nymph trembles, lowering her gaze to the floor. "...if she can live normally...still be happy..." She sniffles, rubbing her nose with her hoof. "...then that's all that matters..."

Twilight looks down as she sees Spike hugging her. She smiles softly and hugs him back. Rhino walks over and puts a hoof around his wife, unshed tears shining in his own eyes, but held back. Everypony takes a few minutes of silence before they get back to things.

Gel wipes her tears away, smiling softly as she leans into her stallion's embrace. "...anyways...i-is there anything else you want to say?"

The student shakes her head as she puts her notes to one side. "No, that's everything. Didn't you say you had something you wanted to speak about earlier though?"

She nods, rubbing the back of her neck. "I did, and I do. It's something I didn't mention, before...about my kind."

Twilight's eyes flick over to Spike, who already has quill and parchment prepared. The mare nods at Gel to continue.

She sighs, closing her eyes. "My kind has an issue with...water. Most of us, anyways." She crosses her forelegs, shrinking in on herself slightly. "We can't submerge ourselves for any amount of time without consequence...much less when trying to get love..."

Rhino raises an eyebrow. "So it wasn't just a thing for you..."

The librarian looks at Gel curiously. "What do you mean, without consequence? What consequences are there?"

She squirms, clearly uncomfortable with the subject. "...o-our magic...m-more specifically, the one centered around...emotions...b-bodies of water interfere with our ability to...s-sense and absorb them..."

Twilight translates all this in her head. "Water acts as an insulator for your magic? It can't pass through it well?"

She shakes her head. "It can't. For every one of us...except one."

Rhino guesses the exception with a single word. "Port?"

She turns to him, nodding silently. "That's right."

As Spike scribbles all this down, she mutters to herself. "The ambassador is the only one they know of that isn't affected by this weakness... fascinating..."

The stallion continues looking at his wife. "Is that why you were worried about giving her a bath?"

She nods once more. "It is..." She turns back to Twilight, nervously smiling at her. "I hope you understand why I didn't tell you before...f-for your book, I mean..."

Twilight waves a hoof. "I understand. It's not really a great thing to be going around shouting weaknesses when there are bigots out there..." She looks to where she has just finished scribing and levitates the paper out of his claws. "I'll have to decide if I want to include this in my first book... probably not. Maybe it'll make volume two." She stows it away in her stack of notes.

Gel solemnly nods, turning to her stallion. "Was there anything you wanted to say, love?"

He looks up from where he had been watching his daughter again to make sure she was sleeping well. "Hmm? Oh, thank you, Twilight. For everything, I mean."

The lavender unicorn waves a hoof. "Just helping out some friends."

The navy nymph giggles, bowing respectfully. "We're lucky to be your friends."

Rhino carefully stands up so as not to disturb his passenger. "I think we should probably be heading home so the little one can have a nice long nap."

Gel nods, rising to her hooves as well. "Probably a good idea." She turns to the lavender mare, smiling warmly at her. "I hope to see you soon." She turns to the dragon, leaning down and gently nuzzling his forehead. "Both of you. Don't forget my little request, alright?"

Spike salutes. "Can do!"

The couple smile as they head out the door and on their way. After the door closes, Twilight turns to her assistant. "What did she mean about a request?"

He simply smiles at her. "Just agreeing to be a good friend."