//------------------------------//
// Chapter 14: Limit 
// Story: The Start of Something New 
// by Rhino 
//------------------------------//

The late night storm eventually subsides, as they always do. Celestia's orb peaks down onto a thoroughly drenched, but otherwise unharmed hamlet of Ponyville. Residents all start spilling from their homes, beginning the ritualistic tasks of cleaning up after the storm, an activity the town completely understands and encourages by allowing all the citizens to take the morning off. Over in the home of the Nexus family, things are relaxed as everypony finishes up a simple breakfast of eggs. As Hydro and Gel chat, Rhino is occupied by feeding Ruby some soft food in her little high chair. Today's menu includes some sweet applesauce from the family of the same name.

The unicorn floats a tiny spoon in his magic, hovering it in front of the foal. "Alright Ruby, open up for the next bite..." He opens up his own mouth to demonstrate. 

She watches him with her mouth open, giggling with every expression he makes. It does help him to feed her, though, and she doesn't protest in the slightest.

Gel sees this and rolls her eyes, playfully bumping her stallion's side. "You're making faces again, love." She glances at the filly, wistfully sighing. "I wish I could get her to do that..." She turns to the other stallion, a half-smile on her lips. "Every time I try, she just reaches for me." 

He responds as he dips the spoon back in the jar. "Well, admittedly you do have the disadvantage of being her other source of food. She only has one thing to focus on when I do this."

Hydro comments from the table. "You know, this is exactly what I pictured when I thought about you having foals, Rhino."

"Exactly?" The nymph gestures to the filly, who has exchanged her horn for wings. "So you expected that?" She covers her mouth, trying hard not to laugh as Ruby attempts to fly after the retreating spoon. 

"Ok, maybe not quite that..." Hydro admits. 

"Thought so." She stands, gathering her plate and fork before glancing at the red pony. "Would you like a second helping?" 

He shakes his head. "No thank you, I eat often, just not too much at a time." The stallion cracks his neck as he stands up. "So what are you guys planning on doing this morning?" 

"Well," she gestures to her stallion, "Rhino normally cleans up after storms, and I take care of Ruby." She shrugs a bit. "Last time we left her alone, we found Mercury colored bright green." 

Rhino mutters as he gives Ruby another spoon of food. "Still not quite sure how she managed that..." 

She giggles, shaking her head. "Neither am I. Frankly, I'm more surprised he let her do that."

The fox in question pads up, sitting next to Hydro's chair. His eyes focus on his plate, his tail swishing hopefully behind him. 

Hydro chuckles as he looks down at the fox. "Hey little guy, sorry, no more eggs, will toast work?" 

He yips, leaping up and putting his forepaws on his leg.

Gel laughs at this. "That would be a yes, Hydro." 

The earth pony hands the toast down to the kit. 

He eagerly scarfs it down, licking and nuzzling the pony's hoof to show his gratitude. 

Hydro chuckles, looking over to Gel. "He seems to be the more social of all of them. Where are the other two anyway?" 

She waves a hoof dismissively. "I honestly couldn't tell you. They eat and hurry off somewhere on our days off, and we rarely ever find them." 

"Well, at least they keep themselves entertained..." He looks out the window at all the branches that fill the yard. "Hey rhino, want some help out there?"

As he scoops a bit of sauce off Ruby's lips, the unicorn responds. "I'd appreciate that. Normally it takes me a good two hours or more to get it all stacked up and sorted into firewood and just sticks to burn." 

"I don't know why you burn the wet sticks." Gel gathers the rest of the dishes, taking them to the sink. "They create smoke. Smoke ruins fires..." She mutters the last part to herself as she begins washing the plates. 

Rhino looks back to her. "I've only done that a few times... I've learned to wait like a week before I burn them now." As Ruby makes her want of more food known, he turns back to feeding her. 

"Well, at least you can learn." She playfully sticks her tongue out at him. 

He sticks his own out at her, prompting Ruby to stick hers out as well.

Hydro just laughs at the whole thing. "You three are really something, you know that?" 

Gel giggles, shaking her head. "Thank you." She turns to him, drying a plate off with a clean towel. "Before you start cleaning the yard, I wanted to ask...were you always working in airships? Or was that a recent job choice?" 

He responds honestly. "Well, It's the job I got once I got out of school. I was actually really lucky that the first one I did was desperate enough to hire me, but after that I had work experience so it was easier and easier to get the jobs." 

"I see." She taps her chin, thinking a bit. "Thanks for telling me." She jumps at a loud thump, glancing outside to see a large branch just below. "...how strange...a tree limb fell off our roof..." 

Rhino pipes up again. "Well, at least it saves me from going up there to get it." He shivers. "Do not like going up there..."

Hydro looks to his friend. "Still doesn't have a taste for heights..."

"That's very true, but...since when did we have oak trees outside?" She scratches her head, turning to put the dishes up. "I could swear we only have maple and aspen..." 

The unicorn shrugs. "I don't know, maybe it blew over from the woods, maybe a passing pegasus dropped it from a bunch they were carrying... who knows?" 

"...if you say so..." She sighs and starts towards the kitchen door. "I'll be right back with some tools, love." 

As Gel leaves the room, the red stallion turns to his friend. "She really is just like everypony else isn't she?"

Rhino replies simply as Ruby refuses to eat more. "Nope. She's something special."

Hydro just chuckles and shakes his head. 

The navy nymph soon returns, two rakes and a couple shears floating behind her. She gives one of each to her stallion, smiling playfully. "Remember, dry wood in the wood shed..." 

"... and the small stuff in the firepit by the river." He finishes before lifting Ruby out of her seat, walking over and giving Gel a quick kiss. "I remember." 

"Good." She smiles, pulling him close and giving him a deeper kiss. "I hope your friend caught it, though." She gives the red pony a meaningful glance. 

He holds up a placating hoof. "Don't worry, I'm sure I'll see where Rhino puts it. This ain't my first time doing yardwork." 

She begins to respond but pauses, tilting her head to one side. "...'ain't'?" 

Her husband explains briefly. "Another way of saying 'isn't'. Surely you've heard Applejack say that before?" 

"...well, yes, but I didn't expect that from him." She sheepishly smiles at Hydro. "N-no offense." 

The earth pony laughs. "None taken. Coming from anywhere around Canterlot, ponies tend to think you'll talk a certain way. It's actually pretty fun to prove them wrong." 

"Actually, I didn't realize you were raised in Canterlot." She blinks, turning to Ruby and picking her up. "I thought you were from Manehattan." 

He tilts his head. "What made you think that?" 

"How you, um, carry yourself..." She hurries out the room, the fox rushing after the two of them. 

Rhino laughs. "Looks like you caught her being silly and she couldn't take it."

Hydro chuckles as well. "Eh, I think I'll stick to picking on you. You actually stand there and take it so I can keep going."

The unicorn smirks. "And then I eventually ruin your fun by ceasing to react at all."

His red friend holds up a hoof. "Which I still say is cheating." 

The two stallions laugh together as they head out the front and begin their work. They don't particularly work in any order, just picking up and stick or limbs they find and hauling them where they need to go, criss-crossing over each other's path so they don't miss anything. 

Gel watches them from the doorway, Mercury curled at her hooves. She waves at Rhino as he passes by, smiling warmly. 

He grins back, his horn lighting up as sticks rise from the ground around him and all float together as he brings them into a pile. 

She rolls her eyes, stepping out onto the porch. She rocks their daughter, looking at Rhino coyly. "Acting cocky in front of Ruby? For shame." 

"Who says I'm showing off? I'm just cleaning the yard." He walks over to the firepit by the river, setting the sticks down before coming back closer to Gel so he could still hear here. "How's she doing?" 

"She's asleep." She looks down at the little filly, gently kissing her forehead. "I suppose she's still tired from the storm, last night..." 

Hydro pipes up. "She didn't sleep well?" 

She sighs, shaking her head. "Poor Ruby was kept up by the thunder...it was past midnight before we could fall asleep..." 

Rhino continues from there. "Honestly, she's probably gonna be out for most of the day. It's a shame too, she's gotten better about actually letting us sleep all the way through the night lately."

The earth pony heaves a large limb onto his back. "Yeah, foals were never known for helping ponies get more sleep." 

"Hey, here's to hoping she doesn't become a night pony." She shrugs, gently nudging Mercury to wake him up. She turns to the two of them, smiling kindly. "Do you two want me to make you some snacks for later?" 

The green stallion looks to her. "Only if you want to, love. What are you going to do with Ruby while you fix them though?" 

"Let Mercury cuddle with her." Gel giggles, winking at him. "You know how much our family enjoys that." 

He smiles as nods. "Fair enough, love, fair enough." 

With one last wave, she walks back into the house, the fox happily following behind her. 

Hydro and Rhino get back to work, chatting a little as they pass each other. Topics flow easily from their lips, whether it be catching up, shooting the breeze, or just ribbing each other and trying not to be the first one to run out of comebacks. 

Eventually, the yard work brings them to opposite sides of the house. Hydro works his way over to where the woods border the yard, an obvious trouble spot when it comes to fallen branches. Using his mouth, he picks up the larger branches and piles them on his back, working around the perimeter. 

After a few branches, he picks up one that weighs more than the others. Its excess weight is immediately dropped and a small thud comes from the ground before him. "Fuck!"

He looks down to see the same filly changeling from before, rubbing at her fangs with a hoof. She appears to be in pain, but her silver eyes are focused solely on the stallion. She makes no move at first, every bit of her body tense in anticipation of something. 

Hydro's eyes rest on the young nymph, waiting to see if she does something. When she doesn't immediately act, he slowly leans down a grabs the branch again, bringing it back up and setting it on his back, never breaking eye contact. 

Her body slowly relaxes as she watches him. She shakes her head, moving to walk around him, stumbling slightly from exhaustion. "...not him..." 

As the strange changeling wanders down the treeline, Hydro looks at her curiously. He grunts as he quickly heads toward the shed and dump his branches there, making a beeline for the house afterward. 

Meanwhile, on the other end of the house, Rhino is busy dealing with the large oak branch that Gel had mentioned earlier. Almost a tree in and of itself, the branch forces the unicorn to take the shears and snip off as many of the connected branches as possible to lighten the load. Meticulously, he works down the monstrous limb, snipping away. 

As he does this, the young changeling peeks around the corner of the house. As soon as she spots him, her wings flare indignantly. "Hey, you!" She runs forward, heading right for him.

Then her leg gives out and she falls flat on her face a couple yards from where she started. She slowly stands, groaning in pain all the while. "...damn it..." 

Rhino looks up sharply at the shout, turning his head towards where it came from. Seeing the filly struggling to stand is not quite what he expected. He sighs. "Not you again... have you still not figured out I'm not the one you're looking for?" 

"...you can lie all you want..." She finally gets onto all her hooves, her eyes, once near-lifeless, now filled with fury. "...but that won't change your true self! And what was with that stallion?!" She growls, taking another step closer to him. "Is she not good enough for you, anymore? You're just going to toss her aside for some...some pony eye candy?!" 

His own blood getting riled, Rhino responds. "What are you talking about? There is no one else!" 

"That fucking green earth pony!" She stomps a hoof, wings flared. "The one who's cleaning up this stupid, sprawling yard with the stupid equipment that I tripped over!" 

Waiting to see when she would charge at him, because he's sure she will eventually, he keeps her talking. "First of all, there is no green earth pony, just a friend of mine that's over. Secondly, I do not swing that way." 

"What are you talking about?! I saw him clear as day!" She snorts, lowering her gaze to the ground. "And every changeling I know can 'swing that way'. You know that. We'd be terrible infiltrators, otherwise..." 

"Well, I guess that makes sense, but it doesn't really matter since  I'm not a changeling!" He stomps a hoof. "Get it through your head!" 

"LIES!" She leaps forward, slamming her head against his. "I'll make you tell the truth if I have to! I'm not losing her to someone like you!" 

Rhino reels back from the unexpected blow to his head. One hoof goes to the spot as he catches himself, trying to find his bearings again.

"So help me," she stands on her hindlegs, her horn glowing, "I'll let myself die before then!" She extends a hoof to her side, the shape of it morphing before his eyes. It lengthens and flattens, one edge becoming razor sharp. She grins maniacally, her eye twitching slightly. "Though I'm not going to be the only one falling, today, General." 

As he shakes his head and clears the last few stars from his eyes, Rhino locks onto the makeshift blade. He immediately tries a tactic to neutralize her. His horn lights up and his green aura envelops her body, lifting her from the ground and trying to hold her limbs in place. 

"Wha-" She blinks before her eyes narrow at him. "Not this again." A pillar of earth erupts from the ground, hitting him square in the jaw. With his magic disrupted, the young nymph falls to the ground, shaking herself. "You'll have to do better than that." 

Suddenly, he directs a wave a magic to crash into her side. It has a bit more power behind it than usual, simply because he reflexive sent it when she hit him. Her small body goes flying.

She collides harshly against the ground, bouncing and rolling for a few meters before slowing to a stop. She struggles to stand, breathing heavily and coughing. "...I'm not...through, just yet..." She blinks, blankly staring down at a short, silver cylinder in front of her. She lifts her left foreleg up to eye level, finally noticing that part of it had broken off. "...you broke my hoof off...I didn't think that was possible..." 

"I what!?" He looks in horror at the shortened limb a moment before blinking and staring at where it came from, noticing a pack of something very important. "No blood... Why... What..." 

"My legs are stone. Of course, you wouldn't know that." She touches the separated section with her broken leg, the material fusing together on contact. "A little gift I gained from you." She turns to him, glaring fiercely. "I waited eleven years to get my revenge...to find that you actually went through with your threat..." She walks towards him, her very aura causing immense pressure. "...how dare you soil her...how? How did you get her to agree?" Her horn lights up, a branch rising up next to her. "Hypnotism? That has to be it. She would never love someone with such darkness in his heart." 

Rhino's horn lights up as well, a green crystalline dagger arising from an arcane circle that appears in the air next to him. "I am not who you think I am. You're obviously unhinged, why don't you just leave? Leave us alone!" 

"Shut up!" She takes another step but her leg buckles beneath her. She collapses into the mud, gasping in shock. "...n-no...I can't go...not when Gel needs me..." She looks up at him, her eyes betraying how exhausted she is, how weak she's become. "...I promised her...I'd be there...you...you won't make me break my...word..." She falls forward, one last nearly-imperceptible sound escaping her lips.

"...Mi..."

She lands in the mud, still as a statue. 

The stallion's weapon dissipates back into the magic it was made from. He stands in place, looking at the prone creature, unsure of what to do. Finally, he slowly begins to step toward her, pity for her arising in him as naturally as it would if she were anypony else, despite all she had done to him. He stands over her, but still she does not move.

"Rhino!"

He turns to see his nymph running toward him, concern clear on her face and Hydro not far behind. "I heard yelling. What happened?" She glances at the small, mud-covered form in front of him, brow furrowing in confusion. "...and...what is that?" 

He looks back down at the form. "I... Well, it's that small changeling, but I'm not even sure if that's what it really is..." 

She blinks, tilting her head to one side. "...w-what do you mean by that?"

He tries to explain himself. "Well, first of all... its leg came off... and it put it back on..."

Gel gapes in shock. "...h-how is that possible? No species I know of has that kind of...of magic!" 

"I have no idea..." He nudges the limp form, but it remains still. "That's why I said I'm not sure what it is..." 

She looks at her, her concern and curiosity quickly overtaking any fear she had. "...w-we should bring it inside...m-maybe clean her off..." She glances at him, noticing a dark spot in the fur of his chin. "...a-and then restrain her..." 

Hydro speaks up. "Yeah, but then you get to a problem I always had when Rhino and I would spar: how do you restrain something that has magic?" 

"...well...I think I have an idea..." The nymph clears her throat, gesturing to Rhino. "...c-could you clean off her face, please?"

"Umm... sure..." He looks around a moment before his horn lights up and brings over the water hose from where it is attached to the house. Turning on the water slightly, he lifts up the creature's face from where it was in the mud and directs the stream so it washes away the muck. 

Gel leans in, her wings buzzing to keep her in the air. When the first bit of the changeling's carapace is cleared, the navy nymph adopts a thoughtful expression. "...that shade seems...very familiar..."

As the last of the mud is washed away, her eyes widen in shock. Her wings actually stop moving, causing her to drop ungracefully into the mud. She doesn't seem to notice this, shaking her head fearfully. "...there's no way...but there's no denying it...but it..." Her voice trails off into a whimper. 

Turning off and dropping the hose, Rhino darts over to Gel as Hydro does the same. The unicorn ignores the mud as he lifts the blue nymph out of it. "Gel? Love, what's wrong?" 

She doesn't answer him, holding a hoof out toward the gaunt young changeling. Hope shines in her misty eyes as a single word escapes her lips.

"M-mom?"