The Start of Something New

by Rhino

Chapter 29: What to do

Rhino's thoughts are a mental storm as he walks up the stairs and into the main part of their house. It's not so much the gem as the implications that bother him, and it's to no small amount. The stallion actually stops to take a breath before remember where he last saw his wife and foal.

He soon hears cooing, followed by his wife's concerned voice. "Ruby. Ruby, no. You don't put stuff like that in your mouth." He hears happy babbling, which he now narrows down to the kitchen. "Don't do that look. I'm standing firm on this."

Despite his disconcerting thoughts, he can't help but smile at the mental image of the scene. He quickly makes his way to the sound's source, curious what the little foal could be into.

The two of them turn to see him, and the now foal-sized pink pony takes the opportunity to suck on what she found.

Something that's glowing.

"Hey, love." Gel gives him a small smile. "Did you want a cookie?"

"As long as it comes with milk." He responds reflexively, walking over and giving her a quick kiss while he looks at the foal curiously.

As Gel goes to get the drink, Ruby smiles at her father, offering him the gem that she found. "Daddy ba?"

He can't help but smile at her, gently taking the jewel and giving it a quick scan. "Thank you, Ruby. I'm glad you found this." Leaning down, he nuzzles her lovingly.

She giggles and hugs his muzzle, covering much more space than she used to.

"You are?" Gel returns with a tall glass and a couple chocolate chip cookies. "Why? Is it one you lost?"

His voice is muffled by the foal on ti as he speaks. "It's not one of mine, but there may be more around the house and we need to find them."

She blinks, tilting her head to one side. "...you mean like a scavenger hunt?" The nymph brightens up. "Oh! Did Hydro or mom set this up for us?" She squeals in delight and rushes off. "I'm gonna get more than you!"

As she exits the room, he hears a familiar voice behind him. "I swear, she acts so silly, sometimes."

"Well... I guess if I don't tell her for a bit, she won't be worried." He sighs quietly, picking Ruby up.

She smiles softly, crawling around his body so she can lay on his back. The young unicorn hugs her father, nuzzling at his neck with the utmost faith and love in her emerald eyes.

"Aww..." Dior giggles, taking him by the hoof and walking around the kitchen. "So... how are you going to locate these? Just search for them?"

"Admittedly, I was going to do that, but now that you say it, it seems silly. I could... hmm..." He looks down at the jewel while magic gently strokes his daughter's mane. "I could whip up a crude gem using the leftover signatures from these to let me know when I'm close to one."

"Well... that sounds neat." She rubs her chin thoughtfully, smiling a little at the filly's coos. "Would that find all the gems, or just the ones with that signature?"

"Just the ones with this signature... do you think they'd use other ones?" He asks, wondering where she's leading him.

"They might've." She turns and points at the gem, stopping in the foyer. "It's just like me and my earth magic. I could locate my missing pieces, but there are still limits." The white changeling shrugs. "Just a thought."

He pauses thoughtfully. "Well... maybe we can just try and locate what we can and just keep our eyes out for more?"

"I suppose we can. How hard could it be to find another gray... jewel..." Dior trails off, looking around in confusion. "...where's Red?"

The stallion looks up, noting the lack of his friend's presence. "Wasn't he with you?"

"I thought he was..." She frowns, turning around as she tries to find him.

It is at this moment that Rhino feels a tug on his mane and the sound of chewing from behind him.

His neck crawls a bit before he chuckles and tries to turn his head to see behind it. "What, you suddenly got an appetite for me?"

Ruby says nothing, reaching out with a hoof to try and touch his nose.

He blows lightly on the underside of her hoof as Hydro walks in from the dining room

The filly brightens up, letting go of her father's mane and climbing up his head. Once there, she reaches a hoof out to the other stallion while hugging the former's horn. "Unca Haidwo!"

"Daww..." Rhino coos fondly as his friend chuckles and comes over, touching his hoof to the filly's.

She babbles happily, tapping his hoof a couple times before glancing over at the distracted nymph. Pointing a hoof at her, the filly looks at the red stallion curiously. "Hug?"

He chuckles once more, scooping up Dior. "The girl's got good instincts."

"And a little way of cheating." Rhino comments.

She looks down at her dad, confused, and misses the moment that Dior pecks Hydro's cheek.

"There wasn't a gem in the dining room." The red stallion whispers to the nymph, breath tickling her ear.

"Good." She sighs in relief, nuzzling his cheek before turning to look at Rhino. "I don't think it's healthy for her to be chewing on your horn like that."

"For her or me?" He asks, curious. "I'm not running magic through it."

"Yes, but what if you have to?" She gestures to the gem on the kitchen counter closest to the doorway. "Don't you need magic to find those?"

"Mmm... true... but she is enjoying herself." He looks up at the foal.

She squeaks, gripping his horn tighter in her teeth as the sudden motion makes her lose her balance.

"Careful!" Dior rushes over, taking Ruby and hugging her tight, slowly moving back over to Hydro on her hindlegs. "That could've been bad..."

The father folds his ears, looking a bit ashamed. "I didn't mean to..."

Ruby hears this and looks to him over the changeling's shoulder, holding a hoof out to him and smiling warmly. "Daddy?"

"I think she forgives you." Hydro remarks.

Sighing in relief, Rhino quickly catches up the the nymph, nuzzling the filly and trying not to knock his mother-in-law over.

"Hey, watch it," Dior says, wobbling a bit, "she's heavier than she looks."

He grins. "I could take her back."

"If you want to, be my guest." She holds her out to him. "But keep her away from your horn so we can search."

He gingerly takes the filly, cradling her against his chest as he nuzzles her belly.

Hydro just smiles. "With her being almost half a year old, I'm starting to have a hard time remembering any times you haven't been with her."

"There was that one time where Mercury helped us watch her," Dior points out.

"True, but you know what I meant." He smiles down at her.

Rhino speaks up as he talks to Ruby. "So, did you two want a scanning gem, too? I can whip up multiple."

"That'd be a good idea." Dior taps her chin, frowning a bit. "Think you could tune it to search for a certain enchantment, as well as a magic signature? Or just one of those things?"

He taps his chin. "Search for an enchantment... honestly I've never had to do that before. I'd have to do a lot of experiments to figure it out, but for now, all I have is the signature."

"Then I guess it'll do for now." She pokes his muzzle and frowns deeply. "But so help me if I find another one after this..."

"Hey, come on." Rhino's smile fades. "I'm worried about this, too. That's why we're trying to cut them off before something happens."

"...yea, I know..." She sighs, resting her head on Hydro's shoulder. "...sorry for being a downer..."

He nods solemnly. "It's fine, it's good one of us thinks about it instead of distracting themselves with their adorable daughter."

Hydro snorts lightly. "Oddly specific."

Ruby just rubs her hoof over the beginnings of her father's beard, not really paying attention to much of anything.

Dior curls up in Hydro's lap, nuzzling at his cheek. "So... how long will the scanners take?"

"Hmm... ten minutes?" He wiggles his muzzle.

"You should go do that." She smiles at him.

Gel rushes in, grinning brightly. "Found one!" She puts the yellow jewel on Rhino's nose and rushes off once more.

Now forced to balance it, Rhino's voice goes a bit nasally. "Well, there goes my theory that they were all gonna be red."

"Shouldn't you check to make sure it has the same enchantment, first?" Dior helpfully points out.

"I was going to." He responds before his horn lights up and he gives it a look.

"It's the same spell, but it looks like somepony else did the enchantment... not good."

"...sh-" She yelps around the red hoof shoved into her mouth, giving the stallion a questioning stare.

"As Rhino has reminded me before: language." He looks firmly at her.

She quietly pouts, but does nothing to move his hoof.

He moves it after a moment. "You do need to be a good grandma after all."

"Right..." She takes the moment to kiss him before heading back towards Rhino. "So, think we can make a better scanner with that one, too?"

"Well... I can make them track both signatures, so that's a little better." His ears fold a bit. "I'm trying to think of more I could do, but all I can think of is just that idea and finding ways to make the house safe from intruders."

"...hmm..." She frowns, crossing her forelegs as she ponders this. "...what would you suggest? An alarm system like Booksmart's?"

"Maybe... I could do something like that where I register the signatures of allowed parties so that an alarm would go off if an unknown came into the radius... I was thinking something more like a shield, maybe it could be tied into the alarm... or..." The enchanter's voice trails off into mumbling as he pursues these thoughts.

Dior blinks, turning to look at Hydro incredulously. "...he knows I was being sarcastic, right?"

"I don't think he does..." He blinks as his friend keeps muttering even as he nuzzles his daughter. "I'm a bit worried about what you started."

She grimaces, shuffling her hooves nervously. "...is it too late now to say sorry?"

"It probably won't be too bad." He smiles at her. "Just as long as he has someone around to bounce the crazier ideas off to tell him they're not great."

She glances at the stallion as numbers and symbols appear in the air that the filly tries to reach. "...think we can do that?"

"While we're around, sure, if he decides to actually pitch them." He motions with his head. "Maybe have him focus on the immediate goal?"

She just stares at the unicorn for a while longer. "...dibs on not interrupting him."

"You sure? I bet you could do it." He grins mischievously.

A ball of light smacks him in the forehead, the foal's laughter coming soon afterwards.

"...let's just say I'm not going near that."

The ball serves to be the distraction however, the stallion blinking and laughing before he summons a bit of magic himself, waving it in the air before her.

She squeals happily, reaching for it as well, emerald eyes sparkling with delight.

He chuckles, touching her hoof with it. "I bet you grow up to like magic."

Ruby pulls it close, staring at it in wonder. Then she opens her mouth and brings it closer.

"Now now," he gently pulls it up so it rests on her nose. "You don't need to eat it."

Her eyes cross to keep it in her sights, her tongue sticking out to try and lick it.

Rhino laughs, his aura enveloping the filly. "Come on, let's go make a few enchantments and see how long Mommy can go before she realizes we're cheating in the scavenger hunt."

"You do that. Red and I have something we need to do before joining you." Dior gives her son-in-law a small smile.

As Rhino leaves to go down to his lab, Hydro looks at the small nymph curiously. "We do?"

"Yep." As soon as the door closes, the stone changeling grabs him by the cheeks and pulls him into a long kiss.

He leans into it, smiling and closing his eyes.

When she finally pulls away, she quietly pants, a satisfied grin planted firmly on her face. "Finally got a good one in..."

"Worth the wait?" He asks cheekily.

"Absolutely." She sticks out her tongue, then gently embraces him.

He nuzzles her softly. "Are we giving up on the hunt and instead doing this?"

"Of course not." She nips his nose and hops off his lap. "I just wanted to lighten the mood a bit."

Snorting, he nuzzles the nap of her neck form above her. "Well, want to search together?"

"Sure." She opens the basement door and sneaks inside. "Let me grab the search thingy first."

"I'll be waiting." He takes a seat, looking around on his own.

"...I can't come up with a retort." He hears her huff quietly. "...you win this round..."

---

In another part of town, a tense battle takes place. "Two opposing forces converge on the field of battle, their commanders' faces grim as they size the other up. One opens their mouth, barking out the next order.

"B6."

"Miss."

"Darn..."

A soft scratching at the door causes the two of them to look up from their game.

Mane looks to her sister across the Battleclouds board. "Wow... twelve on the dot." She rises from the couch, stretching. "I'll be right back." With that said, she heads for the front door, leaving Manila to ponder her next move.

As soon as the door opens, a familiar silver blur rushes in and weaves around the doctor's legs, barking and yipping excitedly. Upon spotting her sister, it rushes over and bowls her over onto her back, licking her face happily before rushing back to the former and leaping onto her back.

Both sisters laugh, one left on her back and the other smiling at the silver fox on hers. "Well, hello to you, too, Mercury!" She gently nuzzles his head.

He murmurs, nuzzling her right back and curling up against her nape.

"Daww..." She plants a kiss on his head.

"So is this your mystery visitor that's been keeping you in a good mood lately?" The other mare asks, getting a nod.

He looks at her, sticking his tongue out briefly. When he turns to lick Mane, his gaze falls on the game, and his expression turns curious.

The doctor chats to him as they walk back over. "We were in the middle of a game, would you mind if we finished?"

He seems to shrug, laying down on the mare.

"Well, thank you." She smiles, settling back down. "Now... where were we?"

"D7." Manila says simply.

"Ugh... hit."

Seeing this, the fox thinks a bit before tapping Mane's back three times with one paw, then twice with the other.

She looks back, confused at him before she looks forward once more. "C... 2?"

Manila sighs. "Hit. You and your random guesses."

Mercury grins at this, hiding it by nuzzling the mare's neck.

She glances back at him, looking unsure. Still, she proves to take his advice as the game continues.

In the middle of one turn, he falls off her back in the middle of tapping it, landing on his own. He writhes and struggles, paws swiping at the air as he tries to get back on them.

She can't help but giggle, rubbing his stomach with a hoof. "Got you now."

He stops squirming, his eyes closing and his muzzle forming a small smile.

Manila snorts a bit. "He's been hopping on your back a lot, is he giving you a massage or telling you secrets or something?"

Mercury immediately pops up and rushes over to the younger sister, kneading at her back with his paws.
She rolls her shoulders as they continue to play. "Now how would a pet even learn to do this? Such a smart boy."
He chuckles, tail wagging at her words before rushing back over to Manila and doing the same, taking the time to lick her cheek as he passes.

Manila speaks up as he does this. "So... does he spend more time here than his actual home now?"

This actually causes Mane to pause, looking at the kit curiously.

He blinks, tilting his head to one side and twitching his ears. He gives her his best inquisitive look as his paws continue to work her back.

"Well, I don't actually know, and he's not giving it away either." Mane calls her next shot. "They don't seem to worry as much when he wanders over, though."

He rests his head on her haunches, ears perked to better hear their conversation.

"Hmm... well, I guess as long as he stays safe." Manila makes her move. "Oh, did I tell you the news about the literal Apple household?"

"Last I heard, you were just a big happy quintet over there." Mane smiles, but tilts her head curiously.

"Well, it seems like it's going to be two households soon. As Big as the place is, Mac and Applejack decided it might be best to build another house for myself and him. They're thinking of putting it on one of the edges of the property close to town, that way it's good for privacy and to help deal with the slowly growing fields."

"So you two get your own little lovenest?" Her sister asks, grinning.

Manila just blushes. "There's that, too."

Mercury sneezes and huffs at the transparency of her statement.

"Oh shush, you." The younger sister says quickly.

He sticks his tongue out at her.

"So, any luck on your end, Mane?"

The older sister sighs. "No, but I've taken a break from all that anyway, remember? Just enjoying being myself without all that." Her smile is there, small, but there.

She swiftly finds the fox nuzzling her cheek, giving her a small whine.

"Aww... you're sweet." She nuzzles him in return.

He smiles and licks her face.

"Oh, look out, he's sneaking kisses." Manila titters.

He narrows his eyes and slowly licks Mane's cheek once more.

The mare blows a small raspberry. "Sneaking nothing, he's obvious about it."

His ears fold back and he nudges her cheek with his nose, his eyes wide and apologetic.

"Aww, it's okay, I don't mind you licking my face when you're being sweet." She gives him an affectionate pat on the head.

He smiles, gently nuzzling her once more, tail wagging behind him.

At that, Manila blinks and speaks up. "Umm... Mane? Mercury only ever had one tail, right?"

The veterinarian tilts her head, looking at her sister. "Well, of course, he wasn't born with more than one." Out of curiosity, she turns back to the fox, wondering why she would pose such a question.

Looking at the base of the tail, she can't see what she means. Even going up, it just gets thicker, much like a normal fox tail. However, when they get to the tip, they are surprised to find two, growing more defined by the second.

Mercury himself looks over his shoulder at his new second tail, mouth falling open in shock.

"...what?"

Mane jumps, looking around. "Who said that?"

"What do you mean? Who said what?"

Now Manila is looking around as well, equine ears flicking as they try to find the source. After a moment, they both look to the fox, who is also searching.

The fox huffs, setting his paws in the carpet as he furtively scans the area.

"Whatever it is, I'll protect you!"

"Mercury... is that you?" Mane asks, gently touching his head.

He leans into the touch, even as he gains a confused look. "Is what me?"

"The... voice." She looks closely at his mouth.

"...you mean you can understand me?"

As the voice comes, she can see his mouth barely moving, looking more like he's giving a canine whine instead of talking.

She nods slowly, Manila doing the same. "I've never heard of an animal spontaneously gaining a voice..."

"We always have voices." He huffs, laying down right next to Mane. "You just can't understand our language."

"Well, Fluttershy can." She protests, but still looks curiously at him. "But why can we now? Is it you that changed or us?"

"Bring in another pony." He shrugs, turning to lick the older sister's cheek. "That should solve things."

"I don't think we can really do that off the street, hmm... When's the next time we work?" She looks to her calendar.

"You know..." He rolls on his side, looking at the game. "...I have to watch out what I say around you two, now... I can't just say my secrets willy-nilly, if you can understand me." His eyes dart to the younger mare. "...I can't read past your rear. What does it say?"

"We work tomorrow." She answers, looking back at him. "And what secrets would we have to worry about?"

"Oh you know, stresses of the day, family trying for kits, my cru-" He suddenly cuts himself off, starting to sweat a bit. "...crystal collection?"

Manila looks like she's ready to pounce. "Foxy secrets... hmm... what could they be?"

Mercury rolls over and buries himself beneath Mane, peeking out at her sister and shivering a bit.

"Come on, Manila, you're spooking him." The vets coos, rubbing his head.

The younger sibling sticks her tongue out.

Mercury does the same right back, then closes his eyes and hums happily at the attention he's getting from the doctor.

"Well... in any case, at least we can talk now. I think there's an obvious first subject." Mane gently reaches down and strokes his tail, well, tails now.

"...what do you expect me to say?" He huffs once more. "I'm just as surprised as you."

"Well..." She begins inspecting them. "Are they both usable? Do you have individual control over them? Does one feel any different? Are they tender after splitting?"

"...I... that's too many questions..." He closes his eyes as he tries to recall them all. "So... yes to the first one... I don't know to the others?"

Manila speaks up. "Can I play with one?"

"...please don't tug on it." He stays hidden under Mane but offers up a single tail.

"I'm not a foal, you know." She comes over, looking at it curiously before gently batting it with a hoof and giggling. "Still bushy."

He chuckles, turning his head and nuzzling at Mane's chest. "You sure you're not a foal? Because Ruby does the same thing." The tail moves to tickle her nose.

"I just wanted to make sure it felt like the first one." She says with a smile, stroking it.

"Does it?" He looks back at her, legs stretching as he tries to get ready for more playing.

She nods. "It's a bit thinner, but it's poofing out to how the first one was."

Mane looks down at them both. "I still wonder what caused all this."

"Maybe Miss Fluttershy would know?" He shrugs and stands up, promptly pouncing on Manila and assailing her sides with his tails. "Tickle attack!"

"Maybe... we should ask her in the morning." Mane casually answers while her sister bursts out laughing as she tries to return fire.

The fox lets loose a few barking laughs before jumping onto the doctor's back to escape. "Does that mean you're sleeping over there, or I'm sleeping over here?"

"Will they worry if you're gone overnight?" She counters, nuzzling him.

"...you're sleeping over, then." He nods decisively, then leans in to muzzle into the crest of her mane. "...aww... you changed your shampoo... I liked the blueberry scent..."

She blushes as her sister looks curiously at them. "I just wanted to try something different."

"Well... I guess roses are alright, too..." He nuzzles her cheek. "You make it work."

A certain sister's eyebrow raises as she watches the two.

"Oh you.." Mane laughs. "You sure your family has room for me to stay?"

"We should have a spare bedroom, now that mom's mom is living with Hydro." He smiles at her, licking her cheek playfully.

"That's still adorable to think about." Manila chirps.

"Yep!" Mercury chuckles, laying himself along Mane's back, clearly enjoying himself.

"Well, we'll need to clear it with them first..." Mane puts a hoof to her chin.

"Does that mean I'm kicked out?" Manila asks.

"Depends." He shrugs. "Can you share a bed, or sleep on a couch? I hear ours is magical."

She nods. "I can do couch. I sleep over at Mane's all the time. Wait... Did Rhino actually enchant the couch?"

He opens his mouth, pauses, then frowns as he is forced to think about this. "...not that I know of?"

She looks a bit hesitant, but nods once more. "That works. Now we just need to clear it with them."

"Alright, then." He looks to Mane and gently licks her cheek. "Carry me?"

"Like you were going to get down." She grins at him. "Let me just grab a bag."

"No problem." He smiles, then notices the look her sister is giving them. "...what?"

She taps her lip a bit before offering her thought. "I'm just curious if you talking will change things."

"What do you mean?" The fox tilts his head at this, and he folds his ears against his head.

"I dunno... just a thought." She shrugs. "At least you can both talk and totally understand each other now."

"Hey, I understood her just fine before." He pats her croup with a smile.

"And I mostly understood him." Mane smiles.

"See? She gets me." He chuckles, nuzzling her cheek in the affectionate way he always does.

Rolling her eyes, Manila walks past. "Alright, well, let's go on so you two can get to snuggling on the couch or something."

"...I think I'd like that."

Comments

[FullMoon]

Huh... So Mercury is a kitsune now, interesting.

[Bronzedragon]

A tail or two more and anypony, or thing, that messes with that family is in for a very rude awakening.

[Dravkwn]

Thousand year fox?

[Traveling Soul]

A kitsune
My all time favorite creature!

[Supremechief]

Was Mercury being able to talk was something you had plan for sometime as in since the beginning? Or was it something you just came up with in the past year.

[Rhino]

8330347
Been planned for a while.

[lunashonorguard]

8329758
and then some. let the fun begin

[tsaukpaetra]

Mercury was always a highly intelligent fox. Interesting to what caused the change.
Keep going! ;)

[Razzy]

Suddenly kitsune!

'foal on ti as' - it

'battle takes place. "Two opposing' - remove quote

'Still, she proves to take his advice as the game continues' - continues, chooses, etc.

[era0012]

Yay! You're still alive and one of my fav stories got an update