Chapter 33: Foalish Fun
Watching over foals is easy - at least, that's what everyone says. When said foal can make solid light and run about like nopony's business, then it becomes quite a bit more trouble.
Dior can't help but ponder this as she rushes after the filly who hurried over to the door as it was knocked on. "Slow down, Ruby! I'm not as fast as Hydro!"
She stops at the door and scratches at it, blowing a raspberry in frustration.
Strangely enough, there's a light tapping from the other side, as if in response.
Picking up the filly around the barrel, the nymph sighs and opens up the door. "If you're selling something, I don't live here."
"I have an appointment." The grey mare at the door says with a kindly smile.
She blinks, looking over her shoulder for a clock. "Is it that time already?"
"Well, I think we're a couple minutes early. We can wait out here if you want." The purple-grey foal in the sling on her front babbles and waves a hoof.
Ruby beams and waves back, sparks coming off her as she tries to get free.
"...yea, I don't think that'd sit well with her." She steps off to the side and smiles wryly at them. "Come on in."
Ditzy smiles over her shoulder to her husband before walking in, looking around. "So, are you foalsitting today, or is this a day you set aside to hang out with her?"
"A little of both." She turns and stares at the stallion, then back to her. "Who's the guy with all the love?"
"Oh, right, you two haven't met." She points a hoof between them. "Dior, this is my husband and Dinky's father: Time Turner."
He smiles and holds a hoof out to the changeling. "Charmed."
She narrows her eyes at him. "...same. Forgive me if I don't shake hooves, though. I don't want to accidentally squish my granddaughter."
He blinks, surprised. "...how old is your daughter?" He scratches at his cheek. "How old are you?"
The mailmare leans close to him. "A magical accident made her look way younger than she is. They're working to fix it."
"Oh." He looks rightfully abashed. "Sorry about that." He gets bopped on the nose with a newspaper. "Ghh! What was that for?"
"It doesn't matter." She smiles slyly at him. "It's in the past."
He stares at her blankly as she walks back into the living room, then turns to look at his wife. "...somehow, I find it hard to believe she found someone."
"There's someone for everypony." She smiles. "She apparently found two." As Dinky looks up at her, she pecks the little unicorn's forehead." And I found mine."
He chuckles, kissing her head in return and leading them into the house. "So, it's been a while since you've seen her, huh?"
She nods. "I see her occasionally when Gel and I talk, but she has her own life."
"Well of course she does, it's not like you're living each other's-" He cuts himself off as he sees the other stallion on the couch. "...are we interrupting something?"
Dior gives him a flat stare. "Yea, we were gonna make love with Ruby in the room."
"There was snuggling, though." Hydro corrects.
Giggling, Ditzy unfastens her daughter's harness, setting her on the floor. "There you go."
The foal immediately goes over to Dior, smiling at her and Ruby.
Playfully rolling her eyes, the nymph sets the pink pony down. She barely suppresses a giggle when the filly tackles her friend in a hug, now actually the right size to do so properly.
Both fillies roll a few times, laughing as they play on the soft blanket the family has set out. A few toys are scattered about, but they manage to avoid them.
They land with Ruby on bottom, her eyes spinning for a moment.
Dinky touches the other filly's nose with a hoof. "Ruby," she says simply.
Dior blinks, looking at the gray mare beside her. "Was that her first word?"
The pink pony's muzzle scrunches up a little bit. "...D... Dee'ky?"
She shakes her head. "No, but it is one of the ones she's picked up. She gets excited when I ask her if she wants to see her friend."
Meanwhile, the filly is nodding excitedly at having her name said.
She smiles and points to a fox that has curled up around Ditzy's forelegs. "Me'cwy!"
Dior sighs quietly. "It looks like the little scamp is getting a bit too comfortable, there."
"He's just saying hi, nothing wrong with that." Giggling, the mailmare strokes his head.
Hydro snorts with a smile. "Just be careful if all of them say hi at once."
Mercury smiles, leaning into the hoof. "A little to your left, please?"
"Eep!" Ditzy jumps, her wings flaring out in surprise. "You can talk?!"
Watching her mom, Dinky sits up and spreads her forelegs like they're wings.
"For about... what, three days, now?" The fox looks at Hydro for confirmation, smirking as a certain white form makes its way towards the grey mare's tail.
He nods. "Yeah, sounds about right." Reaching out, the stallion tries to scoop up the nymph with a grin, curious where the matching grey form could be.
Mercury simply smiles and rolls onto his back, looking as adorable as possible for the visiting couple.
As he does this, the little kitten crouches, eyes narrowed and tongue sticking out in concentration.
Ditzy's wings fold as she relaxes, tail flicking. "Well... I think you're still the same adorable fox." Giggling, she reaches a hoof around and rubs his belly.
He hums contentedly, eyes drifting closed.
Turner just taps his chin, frowning a bit. "So he's a kitsune? How long have you known this?"
"There's a word for it?" Hydro barely manages to get that out before Ditzy squeaks once more.
The mare cranes her head around, spotting Snow latched onto her tail. Her eyes instantly go soft as she sees the hybrid kitten. "Daww... you're so tiny and adorable!"
He looks at her with wide green eyes, gripping the mass of hair firmly.
She giggles, waving a hoof at him. "Hello, little guy!"
He lets go and ducks underneath her body, much to the couple's surprise.
The chestnut-colored stallion scratches his head awkwardly. "Looks like he's a little shy." He pauses a moment before turning to the other couple. "This one's a boy, right?"
"Yep, there's a girl around here somewhere." Hydro peers around the room while Ditzy tries to get the little kitten to come out.
She gets a paw tapping her nose as a result.
As she laughs, her daughter turns her head, ears flicking towards the kitchen.
"Ash!" Ruby gets up and wanders out into the hallway, motioning for the other foal to follow.
When the parents turn to look, the white kitten jumps up and hides under one of Ditzy's wings.
"Ash?" Ditzy asks, hugging the kitten lightly with her wing.
"As?" Dinky echoes, tilting her head and getting up to follow.
Mercury is there in a flash, picking up both fillies and placing them on his back so he can carry them to the kitchen. "Follow if you'd like to see more adorableness."
"Fwuffy Foxy." Dinky says simply, hugging him from behind.
He looks back at her and smiles. "My name is Mercury." He gently nuzzles the top of her head. "Can you say Mercury?"
"Megwy." She smiles at him.
He pauses for a moment. "...good enough." He licks her cheek as they enter the kitchen, and he holds still as a gray cat darts underneath him. "Careful! I have passengers!"
A smaller grey form follows the in exact same path, though getting nowhere near knocking over the fox. It mews as it runs, making Dinky laugh. "Kitty!"
The fox gently lets them down, nuzzling both their heads comfortingly. "Go ahead, have fun."
Dinky looks at the other filly, confused.
She just smiles in return, pointing at the family having fun chasing each other. "Pway!"
As Specter darts by as well, the lilac foal laughs and tries to catch his tail, barely missing.
When Ruby joins them, Mercury lays down on the ground, smiling warmly at the cute sight.
He gets a little surprise when Ash dashes past, trying to jump over him but not quite making it. She ends up flopping onto his back, mewing in surprise.
He looks back at her, smiling wryly. "I guess Snow is better than you at jumping, right now."
She chitters at him, tail swishing behind her. Working, she gets up on her paws on his back, jumping a bit experimentally.
He regards her in confused silence, an ear twitching as the sound of paws skittering along the floor gets closer.
Walking a few steps forward, she headbutts him lightly before springing off his head towards the running cat.
He sighs and rolls to one side. "Well, it was nice while it lasted..."
The foals catch the squirrel, tumbling a bit with him between them. They eventually land as a group on the fox's muzzle, who doesn't move besides a small startled jolt.
'Sorry about that.' Specter says, patting his friends head as the foals giggle and squeeze him.
Meanwhile, as the adults watch through the doorway, Ash manages to hop onto her mother's back, squeaking in victory as she nuzzles her.
Selena skids to a halt by Ditzy's hooves, purring and gently licking her daughter's head. 'That's my girl.'
The fox sighs, his voice muffled by the ones on his face. "No, I probably should've expected this, somehow."
The grey mare tries to keep track of everything, eyes unfocusing before she wrangles them. "There's so much to keep an eye on, how do you do it?" Even as she talks, happy mewing from Ash tries to grab her attention.
"Very carefully." Dior glances to the side, noticing Snow trying to swat at the stallion's cutie mark from the mare's back. "I think your passenger wants the time."
"Oh? Hehe!" She giggles as she looks down at him. "Are you exploring the new ponies?"
He just looks at her and chitters quietly, paws kneading at the bubbles on her rump.
Time Turner actually looks a little put out by this. "Hey, those are mine, thank you very much."
"Oh, come on, Time, maybe he likes bubbles?" Leaning over, she nuzzles her stallion.
A paw promptly smacks one.
Feeling the soft touch, she giggles and looks down. "You aren't going to be able to pop those, little guy."
Another smack, noticeably harder and quite audible.
She yelps quietly, looking on her other side to see a silver paw. "Are you the one teaching him all this?"
"No, he learned it by himself." He rubs her flank with a paw, curious. "Why do females like that?"
"Getting smacked? Who said we like that?" She tilts her head at him.
"The way mom and Selena react when it happens to them." He points at her face with his free paw. "Yea, their face turn red, just like that, and they ask for more."
"... I suddenly see that pets know way more than we thought they did." Hydro says sagely.
Dior frowns for a moment before dawning horror shows on her face. "...we tried to do it in front of Selena and Specter..."
Hydro has a light blush as well as he pulls her close. "It's... probably not the first time they saw that, and they did have kittens so they've done it themselves."
Ditzy just looks away from them, her face beet red.
"That's not what I'm concerned about!" She flings her forelegs in the air, barely missing Turner's bright red face. "They saw me fall off you like that."
He pulls her against his chest. "And now you're revealing that to friends, so maybe just breathe for a second before you say more."
She blushes just as bright as the other couple, hugging him tight in return. "...sorry..."
"You know you're cute when you get flustered." He kisses her cheek, getting a giggle from one of the foals.
She pushes his muzzle away, clearly embarrassed. "L-later, okay?"
"S-so, umm..." Ditzy clears her throat. "Are Rhino and Gel at work?" A small thump makes her look down, seeing Ash had kept onto the couch and is now burrowing under her to get to her brother.
"Yea, they are." Dior taps her chin thoughtfully. "I think they have a griffin emergency, or something?"
A white paw bops Ash's nose as soon as it's visible again.
"Oh dear..." She ignores the commotion under her as a paw batting contest starts. "I hope it's not too serious."
"They didn't say much else." She shrugs a bit. "Patient confidentiality, I guess?"
Snow, starting to lose, yanks out a feather and starts tickling his sister with it.
The mare grunts, flapping her wings a bit. "I guess that's fair. Are you doing well, then?"
Ash sits up, trying to bat the feather away from her. However, she leans back too far, flailing as she falls off the couch, only to land on her attentive father's back.
"As well as I can be." She shrugs. "How about you?"
With his current target no longer in reach, the white kitten turns to the nearest body to him and starts tickling.
"Well, Dinky is sort of the main chaotic force is my life right now." She giggles, the sound going on longer than expected as she has to withstand her own feather. "Having a unicorn daughter when neither of us are one has been interesting."
Turner notices this and whispers something to Snow.
Dior looks more intrigued at what Ditzy is saying. "Interesting? How so?"
Neither of them notice the feather approach the spot behind the pegasus' ear.
"Well, mostly when she-" She cuts herself off as she begins laughing, arching her back and falling onto her side.
Dior blinks, turning just in time to see Turner join Snow in tickling the mare behind her ears with borrowed feathers. "...I would never have guessed you were sensitive, there."
"I-I don't... spread that around!" She says between laughs.
The kitten immediately stops and climbs on top of the mare, arms up in a victorious pose.
Hydro chuckles. "I guess he won."
"Looks like it." The nymph giggles, turning and gently nudging his side with an elbow. "Are you ticklish?"
"... I choose not to answer." He looks away.
"...well, uh..." Her hooves tap anxiously against the couch. "...anyone know where Dinky and Ruby are?"
Surprised she gave up so easily, Hydro rests his head on hers. "Weren't they just right there?"
"Well, I was distracted by the tickling couple right next to us." She looks at the ponies in question, the mare now held closely, tenderly to the stallion.
Snow suddenly jumps out of Dior's mane at Hydro, brandishing the feather like a weapon in his teeth.
"Whoa!" He ducks, catching the kitten on his head. "Are you trying to be the literal tickle monster?"
The kitten mews and starts tickling behind his ear.
His eye twitches, as does his ear. As a few snickers escapes and he rolls his shoulders, he speaks. "Sorry, that's not my weak spot."
He tilts his head, not understanding why he isn't laughing, and switches to his other ear.
This one flicks as well while Hydro reaches up to try and get the kitten. "Heh, come on, you."
He squeaks, lashing at the red appendage with his feathery weapon.
Hydro whips it away, laughing for just a moment. "Hey now, I'm just getting you down."
Snow, realizing nothing is working, darts off along his body and tries to bury himself beneath the stallion, much like he had for the mare before.
Hydro full on laughs at this, trying to stand up as the kitten wriggles along his ribs.
Dior's eyes narrow, extending her wing and slowly turning it to a stone facsimile of a pegasus wing.
Her stallion's eyes widen. "Dior... what are you doing?"
She just smiles sweetly, slowly dragging it along his side, incidentally shooing away the kitten in the same motion.
As the kitten finds his tail pounced by his sister, Hydro finds himself biting his lip as his sides heave.
She continues to do it, nuzzling his cheek affectionately. "Hydro~."
Snow turns and pounces on his sister, tumbling around with her and picking up their parents and the foals in the process.
As the red stallion slowly breaks down into laughter, the other couple keeps on eye on the rough housers.
They end up with Dinky and Ruby sitting upright, the pets all between them in one big hug.
Ditzy giggles. "Looks like they won... well, them and Dior." She glances over where the white nymph is now standing on the red stallion stomach as he laughs.
Turner chuckles, gently rubbing her belly. "Yea, I guess they did." He pecks her cheek and nuzzles her ear. "I think I won something too, though."
"Hmm?" She giggles, snuggling against him and nuzzling his chin.
"Hearing your lovely laughter." The stallion smiles, getting a collective aww from Dior and Mercury.
The latter tilts his head, thinking out loud. "I wonder if I could cuddle Mane like that..."
"I'm afraid you're too small." The nymph smirks coyly at him.
"I'm your size, you know."
"Never hurts to try." Hydro comments simply as he catches his breath.
Dior promptly goes back to tickling him.
As the foals watch him go back to laughing, Dinky touches her lip and tilts her head. With her other hoof, she touches Ruby's side, looking expectant.
She blinks, looking at her friend in curiosity.
Looking back to the couple, Dinky moves her hoof up and down Ruby's side.
She squirms a bit, but doesn't laugh. She tries the same thing in response, wondering if there's a point to it.
She ends up poking the other foal in the belly, getting a giggle from her.
Pouting a bit, she looks to the parents once more to find something to copy.
It just so happens she sees Turner and Ditzy kiss. So she turns and pulls the other filly close and kisses her on the nose, which is what she saw it as from that angle.
And Dior and Hydro stop just in time to see this.
As Dinky touches her nose and then Ruby's, Hydro whispers to Dior. "Okay, that was adorable, but do you think we should be worried?"
"...we should at least bring it up with Rhino and Gel." She taps her chin. "...and avoiding doing stuff we don't want her doing."
He nods. "Right, I'll watch myself." As he sees the foals petting the kittens, he smiles. "At least not everything is worrying."
"Yea, that's true." She smirks, tapping him on the nose. "Remember when Twilight's dragon caused havoc with those pets? That was pretty funny."
"Well yeah, but where did that come from?" He wiggles his nose.
"It wasn't something to worry about." She sticks out her tongue at him.
"Well... as long as he wasn't watching these pets it wasn't." He chuckles.
"True." She tucks her head under his. "...he did ask Rhino, though..."
He snorts. "Yeah, that wasn't going to work, remember how hard we all had to work to get him to leave Ruby with us the first few times? He holds onto things he loves."
"Yea, he did look pretty disappointed, afterwards." She shrugs, turning to look at the foals as they start to pet and love on the kittens.
Ruby ends up with Ash draped across her nuzzle, each looking into the other's eyes.
The unicorn giggles, hugging and nuzzling the cute critter. Snow, not wanting to to be left out, curls up against Dinky's barrel and actually nuzzles her side.
She laughs, gently hugging the white kitten and nuzzling him in return
The adults just chuckle, all settling in to keep an eye on the foals. Everyone either relaxes or plays, inevitable roping the others into whichever group they weren't in.
As a veterinarian, one might expect you to just be dealing with animals. However, with the various sapient species all over the world having different biologies, it's actually quite difficult for a doctor to know all of them. Thus, vets can sometimes be a sort of more general practitioner able to adapt to varying body types and even hybrids.
Rhino is one of those ones that doesn't mind when this happens, after all, it's interesting. He just wished it wasn't sometimes just for injuries.
For instance, the griffin sitting in front of him with a cracked beak and bruised ribs.
Gel waits nearby, flipping through a magazine with a visible blush on her cheeks.
The stallion looks over his patient. "Are any other spots bothering you, too?"
Emerald eyes dart this way and that, trying to avoid eye contact. "Oh, you know, just... normal griffin stuff."
"...Rhino?" The nymph looks to him, eyes wide in surprise. "I hope you aren't mad... but I may have forgotten to mention something from a while before I met you..."
"How would that make me mad?" He asks, having just decided to do a manual search since the patient is being evasive.
She promptly opens the magazine to its center and turns it towards him. She opens up a couple flaps to reveal a shy, nervous white unicorn, one that looks very familiar to him.
He blinks in surprise. "You were a model?"
"J-just this one picture..." She squirms a bit. "...I needed money, and the magazine sold well, so-"
"Wait, you're Angelic Grace?" The griffin beams, getting up to move closer. "Amazing! I never thought I'd ever get to meet you!" There's a brief pause. "Granted, I didn't think you were a changeling, but still!"
Rhino chuckles. "It looks like you've got a fan, love." Keeping an eye on them, Rhino uses his magic to angle the magazine, getting a better look at the picture now that he wasn't distracted by the face.
As he looks at the revealing picture, the griffin hugs the nymph, nuzzling her cheek as she squeaks in surprise. "So cute!"
The picture draws his full attention for a moment as he registers the schoolgirl outfit and pose. "Oh... I umm... I'm glad I'm the only one besides Silk who's seen you in this in your normal form..."
Their patient looks at him, then at the changeling returning the awkward hug. "...those uniform colors would clash with her chitin."
Rhino turns his attention to the griffon once more. "Yeah... she said that too, but maybe we should get back to you." He puts the magazine back where it was, next to the nymph.
"...can I still hug her?"
"...for comfort?" Rhino asks, an eyebrow raised.
The griffin is silent for a few seconds. "...yes."
The stallion looks to the nymph. "Are you alright with being the metaphorical teddy bear while I treat this patient, Gel?"
"...only if I can get a kiss from you afterwards." She flutters her eyelashes at him.
"All you can stand." He promises, smiling back at her, motioning back to the examination table.
The two of them somehow make their way back to the table, and Gel glances at the griffin. "...you won't read and fly anymore, right?"
The patient grimaces, but nods their head quickly enough.
Rhino nods at this. "Good. I'd say something about the pictures, but not looking and flying would be almost impossible. Now let's try this again: aside from your beak and ribs, is there anything else you'd like us to look at?"
They blush brightly. "...n-no. I can't think of anything."
He looks at them a bit curiously at this reaction, but nods. "Alright, let me know if you think of anything. Let's get to work, then. First we'll do the beak." Getting the usual supplies he uses for creatures with shells or other similar parts, he checks the cracks to see how bad it is.
At certain angles he can see red, but it isn't actively bleeding.
"Okay, it doesn't look like it broke all the way through. We'll just put some stuff on it to strengthen it so it won't break anymore. Can you feel anything on the inside?"
"I'm not sure what you mean." They give a confused look. "Nothing feels different, I think..."
"That works, as long as you weren't feel any cracks on the inside." He nods, mixing the sealant together. "It might feel a little odd once it hardens, but it should feel better once you get used to it and it gets to work."
Gel snickers quietly. "You might want to work on your wording a bit, love."
"Huh?" He goes over his words as he applies a layer of sealant before clearing his throat. "Oh, umm... right. Well, would you mind lifting your wings so I can get to your ribs next?"
The griffin stares at him in confusion. "...you're going to apply sealant to my side?"
He chuckles shaking his head. "No no, I'm going to put some pain relief, a bit of cushion, and a small wrap to your ribs."
"...as long as you don't go too far south." Their face promptly gets buried in Gel's nape, causing her to squirm a bit nervously.
As Rhino mentally thinks it would let him finally tell what gender the griffon is, he nods. "I promise. Lift please."
The wing goes up, and drapes over his head as the muscles of the barrel twinge. Claws scrape at the table in response to their owner's pain.
"Is your wing hurting too?" He asks, gently rubbing some numbing cream on the area.
"Just hurts to extend it." The griffin groans, rolling sideways slightly and taking Gel along for the ride.
Rhino keeps an eye on them. "Hey now, be gentle with her. She's very precious to me."
"...sorry..."
"Good." Placing some padding on the injured ribs, he starts wrapping bandages around the griffon's side. "You should start to feel the pain going away."
"I sure hope so." They huff, looking at him with a frown. "...so... you're the guy who works with changelings like her?" A claw pokes Gel's nose.
He nods, watching his wife for signs of discomfort. "I am. As you can see, I work on other species as well, but I guess I've become a bit of a changeling specialist."
"So..." The claw now scratches a feathery cheek as the griffin thinks. "...are you the reason for all those signs about changeling-friendly stores?"
"Huh? No, those just sort of started popping up." He shrugs as he ties off the bandage. "I'm not really sure what's up with it, but I prefer it to what other options there were."
"...other options?" Their patient looks back and forth between them, confused.
"The group of anti-changeling radicals." He snorts. "We've had run-ins before."
"...oh." Those emerald eyes dart about once more. "Sorry to hear that?"
"Don't worry about it." He smiles. "Well, unless you had more injuries or concerns, you should be good to go.
"No, I'm good." The griffin smiles and lets go of Gel, hugging the stallion tight before hurrying out the door.
The nymph blinks, then looks at Rhino with a small smirk. "Should I be jealous, love?"
He scratches his head. "I'm thinking that was just a very huggy griffon."
"Ah." She tilts her head to one side. "...was that a guy or a girl?"
He rubs his head. "Could you not tell? I had no idea."
"Not a clue." She shrugs helplessly. "They weren't poking me, so..."
He narrows his eyes. "Good, that's for me." His point said, he walks over and gives her a smooch.
She lays down completely on the table, hugging him close and deepening the kiss.
As they do so, the door sounds out, announcing ponies having arrived.
Gel blinks, looking at the doorway. "...is that Mane? Isn't she a bit early?"
"Maybe they decided to eat lunch here?" He asks, unsure as he holds her.
"Manila? Where are ya?"
At the deep voice, Gel relaxes slightly. "Oh, it's Big Mac."
"...should we get up?" He asks her in a whisper.
"I don't know." She pecks his cheek. "Do you think we should?"
"Umm... hmm..." Conflicted, he calls out towards the hall. "Her shift doesn't start until later, Mac!"
"But she said she'd meet me here fer lunch!" There's a quiet thud. "Ah brought her favorite food and everythin'!"
"Oh... she'll probably be here soon then!" Sighing, Rhino moves to get off the table, glancing to the nymph. "Which means we don't really have time."
She pouts, lifting him back onto the table with her magic. "I want to snuggle before we have to leave. They can eat out there, right?"
"Well...alright, you know I have trouble denying you love." He brings her against him. "Gotta keep my changeling nice and full."
"It's not about the love, love." She smiles softly at him. "I just want to spend more time with you. It's rare when we can, you know?"
"These days alone, yeah, I get what you mean." He kisses her head. "I'm sorry about that."
"Yea..." She sighs, snuggling up more firmly against his side. "...I miss being able to get lost in your fluffiness..."
"You can still do that when we're playing with Ruby." He strokes her mane soothingly.
"But I still have to stay aware to make sure she doesn't get hurt." She points out, pointing a hoof in his direction.
"I can do that. I can be the watchful parent while you... nap on me or something. We've done that." He kisses the hoof.
"...maybe..." She smiles, touching his cheek with a hoof as she leans in.
The door opens and the couple freezes in their tracks. "Manila wants t' know if ya wanna join us."
Rhino looks to Gel questioningly. "Do we?"
"Depends." She gives the farmer a questioning look. "Any strawberry applesauce?"
He blinks. "...eeyup?"
"Worth it for you?" Rhino asks, smiling at her.
"You know it's for you." She smirks and climbs onto his back. "Let's eat!"
Laughing, he nods and nuzzles her before heading out to join the other couple.
Although normally they head home fairly quickly after work, today the Nexus couple decide to swing by the library to check on how their local princess is doing.
As they near the library, the nymph frowns, tilting her head at the sign attached to the library's sign. "...her, too?"
"They really are popping up everywhere." He hums in thought. "Maybe they're just doing it obviously to ease worries about PALS?"
She looks at him curiously. "You think this would ease their worries?"
"Well, maybe they wouldn't worry as much if they knew they were in a safe place." He offers.
The changeling considers this for a moment before nodding. "Yea, I could see that."
"You think Twi knows?" He asks as they head for the door.
The door opens and the dragon walks out, holding a hammer and grumbling quietly.
Gel looks at him in concern. "...maybe?"
Noticing them, he brightens up. "Oh, hey guys!"
She smiles and picks him up, hugging him happily. "How's my favorite dragon?"
He hugs her back, careful of his tools. "I'm just fixing a sign real quick."
"Oh, maybe I can help you?" She glances at the extraneous sign, tapping her chin thoughtfully. "Surely there's something I can do?"
"Well, Twilight just told me to change it so the wording's a bit better." He shrugs.
"Then I'll be your ladder." She giggles and flies off towards the sign, holding him securely to her chest. Halfway there, a thought occurs to her. "Is there anyone who would be jealous of me doing this?"
"Nah, I don't really get lifts that often." He smiles appreciatively.
"Hmm..." She taps his nose with her mane. "What about a certain apple farmer?"
"Applejack?" His tail wags a bit as he speaks, starting to work on the sign. "Nah, she can't exactly fly to give me a lift like this."
"Fair enough." The nymph giggles quietly, nuzzling the back of his ear.
He laughs, prying the sign off. "Twi says we just need to rewrite the sign and we can put it back up."
"Alright." She looks around curiously. "Any paint or anything?"
"...you know, I didn't ask how to change it." He admits, rubbing his head.
"Hmm..." She considers the signs for a moment and brushes her hoof over it, carefully burning a pattern into the wood. It eventually ends with a slightly darker shade of brown before she looks at him expectantly.
Spike touches it careful, fire coming out of his own mouth. "Huh... I've never seen fire burn wood with control like that."
She smiles with a bit of pride, tapping her temple with a hoof. "That's what happens when you have fire as your element."
He blows a small breath. "Do you think I'd be able to burn words into it with mine?"
"Mmm... only if I guide your flame, right now." She sticks out her tongue teasingly. "Who knows? Maybe you'll be able to do it by yourself, eventually."
"Hopefully Celestia doesn't get showered with bits of wood..." He mutters.
Gel blinks, considering this a moment before a snort of laughter escapes her. "That sounds hilarious."
Spike thinks it over for one more moment before he laughs and nods quickly, starting up his fire. "We need to write: safe for all species."
The nymph nods, smiling warmly. "You breathe, I'll direct. Deal?"
"Deal!" He breathes out his fire slowly, looking at her expectantly while Rhino watches from the ground.
She directs them to form the letters necessary, containing them within the shapes as they darken those spots in the wood even further.
After a few minutes, and a few breaths, Spike cuts off the flame once more. "There!"
The words are perfectly formed and easy to read, much to their delight. She turns it to Rhino with a grin. "What do you... think..." She trails off, staring at the back of the sign.
On the back of the sign is a strange symbol and the simple message: 'you're welcome'.
Unsure what to make of it, she slowly places it back where it was, then looks at her friend. "...any idea what that was about?"
"I have no idea... I didn't know that was on it." He scratches the back of his head. "I should probably tell Twilight."
"Think we should copy it down, or just bring it to her?" She stays hovering next to it, awaiting his response.
"I can draw it for her, we can put the sign back up."
"Gotcha." She holds him close and zooms through the door, barely missing the new princess.
Her head whips, trying to track them. "What the- Spike, did you get the sign done?"
"Yep! Sign's fixed!" He calls back to her.
"Getting him ready to go see Applejack, now! He needs to look his best!" Gel calls as well, much to the dragon's embarrassment.
"Wait, what?" He looks to her, having not expected that.
"I'm setting you two up on a date!" She grins at him. "I could feel the love between you, you know."
As Spike blushes, Twilight exclaims, "What?!"
She turns to the alicorn, a hoof held in a placating gesture. "Just a bit of teasing, I assure you."
"O...kay..." She blinks owlishly as Rhino walks in.
She quickly turns and whispers into Spike's ear. "I know you like each other, though."
He blushes more. "H-hey Twilight! There was a weird symbol ont he back of the sign!"
Gel pouts quietly. "Spoilsport."
Rhino just chuckles at all this as Twilight looks interested. Quick as a flash, Spike draws the symbol and shows her. "Hmm... I've never seen this before, but I'll look into it to see if it's been used in other things."
"The sign also said 'you're welcome'," the nymph points out.
"Was it spelled correctly?" The princess asks.
Gel blinks, then sighs, setting Spike down and heading towards the door. "I'll go get it so you can see for yourself."
"It's fine, it was." Spike stops her.
"Oh, good." Twilight smiles. "I can't stand when they used the wrong 'you're'."
"Oh." The changeling felt a little silly, now. "...so... how's the thingy coming along?"
"The signature tracking?" She asks. "Well honestly... it could be better. I'm having a small amount of trouble separating the signatures without breaking the seal of your... goo. And if I do that, we might lose them."
The nymph blinks blankly. "...oh, right, it would make things harder... and you probably couldn't teleport it out..." She thinks for a bit before sighing, heading over to the basement and taking Spike with her. "We'll be back. Magic-proofing a room."
"Wait..." Rhino starts. "Doesn't that mean you're going to produce a lot of that at once? Won't that wear you out?"
She stops in the doorway, awkwardly standing there in silence and hugging Spike for a bit of comfort.
"Maybe we can do it on a smaller scale?" Twilight suggests. "We could make a magic proof container or two and just transfer the gems between them so I can isolate the signatures."
"...you can do that?" The nymph looks at the alicorn princess, surprised. "Wouldn't it still be hard to get at?"
"Well, if we design the containers right, perhaps with one inside the other or attached in a way that we can ensure the jewels are never exposed..." The alicorn goes on, pulling over a small desk and starting to scribble on a scroll.
Rhino looks to his wife with a sheepish grin. "We might be here a while."
"Yea..." She carefully pulls Spike out the door with her. "We'll be right back. We're going to get some food!"
Rhino sighs, rubbing his head. "I hope Hydro and Dior don't mind hanging out with Ruby a bit longer."
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How important is it that we reax this book's prequell? It looks interesting, but i would rather avoid clop, if possible.
Yay Griffies!
D'awwww, so young and kissing already.
It's the Assassins!
8393487
The clop sections are clearly marked, so they're easy to skip. I would definitely read the prequel first, since there's a lot of backstory that's referenced. That, and it's just a really good read.
Somehow I just knew this was going to be an issue for her. Granted, it is for me too.
Im looking at the sign with the burning and the hidden messages, and Im thinking, if rocks, why not signs, and how painful is it for the changeling and did Celestia recieve wood or chitin?
any word on if this will be able to continue yet?
8519984
Oh, a few chapters are done, just need to edit
8520214
YAY! id love to see this continue. been missing this fic
Hope we get more of this story sometime. I miss it.
8713535
There are actually more chapters written, I just need to edit.
8713947
If you're looking for an editor or proofreader I'd be willing to help you out.
I do hope this fic continues. I really enjoy it.
I don’t know if the author knew this... but Ruby Pinch is an actual character. She’s even got her own tag on this site.
*sigh* I'm sorry, but I'm only halfway through this chapter. I've been trying to catch up for so long, but something about this just isn't interesting to me anymore. Combined with being apparently dead, this family slice of life is just tough to finish. I'll continue holding it in a bookmark, and I'm commenting since I know it might be a while more before I finish this chapter. I don't want to give the impression your work would ever be not worth reading. I would want this to continue, but seeing as chapter 33 was posted a week short of a year ago; opportunity costs indicate spending time on a dead fic is wasted time.
I've thoroughly enjoyed these characters and their story to today. I just am having a hard time bringing myself to read through this last chapter.
*sigh* Alright, I'm done. After another week, I reached the end; thankfully it got more interesting once the segment about Ruby and the talking fox passed. I must really not like children.
I much enjoyed the portion of the chapter from the gryphon patient to the end. I can't say I'm on the edge of my seat waiting for the next chapter, seeing as classes are starting, but I still want to know the end of the arc.
Although the post date of this chapter is worryingly a year old...
I've been reading this whole thing and loving almost all of it but that's just personal preferences. Good work cant wait for more!