Chapter 5: Trip into Town
The next morning comes and proceeds mostly like the ones before it. As Rhino finishes putting away the dishes while Gel is on the tail-end of a rather large session of collecting her milk for later, he takes a look into the fridge. What he sees there gives him pause.
He looks over to Gel as she puts the last cap on the group of bottles she now has ready. "Well, a small bit of bad news."
The nymph glances up at him, curious. "Did you forget your mother's birthday?"
He blinks before shaking his head. "No no, that's not for another week."
"Learn something new." She turns the machine off and walks over, curious. "What's wrong?"
He points to the fridge. "We appear to be running low on groceries again."
She glances inside, silent for a few moments. "...we only have cheese and milk left." She looks up at him, confused. "Why did we let it get this low?"
He rubs the back of his head with a hoof as he looks off to the side. "Well... I have a tendency to use what we have... and I haven't really wanted to leave the house." He feels a tiny pressure on his hoof and looks down to see Ruby standing next to it and nuzzling it. "For obvious reasons..."
Gel sighs, gently kissing his cheek. "...go get some food, love...I don't want you starving on our account..."
He opens his mouth to argue that he isn't the only one that would go hungry, but remembers that Gel could technically survive exclusively on love. He closes his mouth and sighs as he lights up his horn and levitates his bags in. Once prepared he leans down to Ruby and kisses her. "I really don't want to have to leave you again... if only you could come with me..."
The navy nymph smiles, tapping her chin with a hoof. "Maybe we could."
Rhino looks at her curiously. "What do you mean?"
"I'm saying we could go into town together." She notices a certain trio looking up at them from their bowls. "All of us. It'd be nice to get some fresh air...and I was sort of hoping that we could show Ditzy our daughter." She nervously smiles, rubbing the back of her neck.
The stallion looks at the assembled group. "Well... that would be nice..." He sits and picks up Ruby, who giggles happily. "If we do though... we'll have to be careful, for a number of reasons."
His wife sighs, sitting down as well. "I have a feeling I know what they are...but please, remind me, just in case."
He looks at her seriously. "Are you sure? It might make you more worried..."
She frowns, quirking an eyebrow at him. "I'd rather know and be paranoid than not know and be unprepared." ^
"Fair enough." He entertains Ruby by wiggling a hoof in front of her as he speaks. "Well, obviously, because of her size, there's no way we're letting her walk around town because she might be stepped on or hurt. There's also the various responses her presence might get from any anti-changeling ponies we encounter along the way. Plus things like if she gets hungry or needs changing, and we don't even know how she'll react to suddenly seeing so many ponies."
Gel blinks. "...good thing I asked...I didn't even consider that last one..." She looks at their filly, who is currently gumming at Rhino's hoof. "...I think I have an answer for the first and third concerns you have..." She lights up her horn, bringing in what appears to be a sling from the other room.
He looks at the cloth curiously. "Not sure where you're going with this..."
She rolls her eyes and puts it on around her neck. "It's a carrier for her. I asked Port, and he was kind enough to give me one of the nanny-pouches they have lying around." She cinches up the sash-like article so it's snug against her chest. "With this, we could carry her easily. As for her other needs, I have a bag prepared just in case." She picks up one of the bottles. "I didn't spend time on these for nothing, after all."
He looks down to Ruby. "And here I thought your mom made those so we could each get a little more sleep when you want your midnight snacks."
"That too!" She strolls out of the room to go get ready.
The family prepares and soon they are on their way into town. Specter rides atop Rhino's head, as it is his favorite spot. Selena is curled up in the middle of the stallion's back, her eyes looking around as they pass everything. Mercury mirrors Selena by being curled up in the center of Gel's back, enjoying the smooth texture of her chitin. Finally, Ruby is in the cloth sling, not particularly visible at a first glance, and easily shieldable should anything happen.
Rhino looks over as Ruby lets out another string of noises, ending with a raspberry as she waves her hooves in the air to entertain herself. "Doesn't really seem to mind the trip, does she?
"Not really." She glances down, tilting her head to one side. "It's really quite curious...maybe it's because we're nearby?"
"Maybe..." He watches as she sits up to better see around them. "Either way, I'm not complaining if she's happy."
She smiles, nuzzling his cheek. "Neither am I."
They continue chatting as they get closer to town. "So... how close do you think we should let ponies get to her?"
Gel considers this a moment. "I don't know. I guess it depends on how well we know them."
He nods. "Well, yes, but I meant mostly for the average pony."
She simply shrugs. "I guess conversational distance seems fair. What do you think?"
"That sounds about right..." They reach the first few buildings that mark the entrance to the main part of town, the usual amount of ponies bustling back and forth on their own errands. Rhino moves protectively closer to Gel. "Alright, let's head to Ditzy's place."
Gel nods, glancing around nervously. She entwines her tail in his, seeking some form of reassurance. "Y-you remember the way, right?"
He looks around before heading down a street. "I... think so. You know how bad I am with places I don't go often."
She silently nods, pointing forwards. "It's at the end of this street."
As they walk, the majority of ponies don't particularly pay attention to them. Over the year that Gel had started walking around as her true self, most of the population had come to see it as just another part of the town. Some ponies however, still aren't used to it.
As the mint unicorn Lyra walks out of a candy shop, she serves as a prime example of this. As she starts to walk down the street, her eyes widen as she spots Gel. She immediately takes a sharp turn to the far side of the road and continues her walk over there.
The changeling doesn't show a visible response to this, but she still feels hurt by this. She says nothing as she glances at the mare in passing, wishing that she would give her kind a chance.
Rhino notices this. "I suppose with what happened to her when she was a bridesmare at the royal wedding doesn't exactly help her not be nervous around you..."
"...I guess..." She sighs, closing her eyes and leaning against her stallion.
Ruby, bored with watching her own hooves for now, decides that Mom is the next thing she wants to play with. She reaches her hooves towards Gel's face and makes little squeaks to try and get her attention.
She smiles down at her daughter, the cuteness of her actions warming her heart. Sadly, a chill goes down her spine, nearly extinguishing that flame. ...no... She subtly looks around, wincing at the sight of a couple glaring at them. She steps closer to Rhino, trying to ignore the sheer amount of malice coming off the ponies in front of them.
The blue earth pony stallion steps in front of them, blocking their path. His eyes narrow when Gel tries to avoid eye contact. "I thought you left town, bug." He snorts derisively, sneering as the orange unicorn walks up next to him but stays silent. "I guess that would've been too easy."
Rhino steps protectively in front of Gel and Ruby. His eyes are narrowed and the fur along his spine is starting to stand up aggressively as he speaks. "And we thought you had something better to do with your time than harass us. Guess we were both wrong."
The stallion raises an eyebrow at this. "Why are you protecting her? Don't you realize she's just using you as a food source?" He steps forward, eyes narrowed. "Or are you truly under her spell?"
Rhino snorts as he draws himself to his full height to look down at the other stallion. "The love she gets from me is freely given, and there is no spell altering my mind. We have told you this before, and yet you insist on spreading these rumors."
"There's no way to know for sure, short of a scanning spell." He smirks, shaking his head. "After all, she could be telling you to say that. I wouldn't be surprised if she told you to attack those who get close to the truth!"
Watching the exchange, Ruby starts to whine a little as her father glares harder at the stallion whose words ooze pride, anger, and disgust. She huddles closer to Gel's chest as she continues making noises of protest at the situation. Unfortunately, this draws the eye of the orange mare.
"And what do we have here?" She takes a step closer to Gel as Rhino is occupied with the stallion.
The nymph takes a step back, covering Ruby protectively. "N-nothing to concern yourself with." She glances around, noticing that ponies were starting to stare at them. R-Rhino, please calm down. W-we're making a scene.
He doesn't take his eyes off the stallion as he answers. I... am calm... How long I'll stay though way though... I don't know... His ear flicks as he hears Ruby's distress, causing him to pause. Ok... make sure to keep me between you and them. The large green unicorn starts to walk around the aggressive couple. "Pleasant as it always is to see you, we have more important things to do with our time."
"Oh, I'm sure." The earth pony rolls his eyes. "What are you planning on doing? Visiting another bug-lover?" He chuckles darkly. "Bad enough there's one of you. I can't imagine another."
Rhino barely manages to maintain a straight face as that statement is said. I guess with Luster traveling, Flick mostly flying around in disguise, and the few other changelings keeping to themselves, we really are their only targets... Good thing we usually only see our friends at each other's homes and sometimes businesses... I wouldn't want them to have to deal with this. "I'm not surprised you lack the mental capacity for imagination. Frankly though, I'm tired of talking to you." He and Gel are almost around the couple now.
The mare however, won't let them go so easy. "Oh? Are you doing something involving that thing you're hiding?" She points to the sling so that the stallion next to her and all the ponies who are watching can see it.
He looks closer, staring at the tiny hooves poking out before recoiling, eyes wide in horror. "Oh merciful Luna, what is that?" He scowls at Rhino, eyes narrowed in disgust. "What right have you to parade around with that unnatural...thing?!"
Gel stops in her tracks, her body stiffening. She turns to the earth pony, speaking with words that dripped with venom. "...what did you just say?"
Rhino’s hackles stand straight up, both in his own rage for that statement, and for the fear of his wife's response. He too, turns to the stallion, eyes alight in fury.
The earth pony stares in surprise for a moment, apparently not expecting this big of a response from them. "It seems as though I touched a nerve." He turns to the mare next to him. "What do you think?"
She smirks as well. "It certainly seems that way, but do you think they'll act on it with all these witnesses?"
"Witnesses?" Gel takes off the sling, putting it, and her daughter, on Rhino. "Let's talk about that. Ponies have witnessed us talk down Chrysalis. The princesses gave my kind citizenship. I have done nothing to you, and have gone about trying to live my life peacefully." She points at them, scowling angrily. "All you seem to do is harass us every chance you get. Don't you have anything better to do, or are you seriously that petty?" She points at the mare. "You even crashed our wedding reception. Who does that?"
The mare spits back. "We are doing our part to ensure ponykind never forget the threat you are! They may grow used to your presence, but we will never let them be in danger by being complacent."
Rhino's horn lights up imperceptibly. If you want, love, we can leave. I have a few good ways to make them not follow us.
Probably for the best. She takes a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. She rubs the side of her head, feeling the beginnings of a migraine. "You know what, we'll be the bigger ponies here. We're going to walk away and leave you to your foalish ramblings. All I can say is...I hope you two are happy with each other. And don't try to mess with my friends. I won't be held responsible for the consequences." She turns and starts walking off.
The silver form on her back uncurls, looking at the rude couple for a moment. He sticks his tongue out at them before rolling back up, resuming his nap.
They move to start following the couple as they walk away, but find themselves unable to move their hooves. On the ground underneath them is an arcane circle in green writing. As they look up again, Rhino turns around and grins at them with his horn glowing the same green. The two stuck ponies are ignored as Rhino and Gel leave the area.
As they walk, Rhino looks down to the still slightly upset foal. "Did all that not agree with you, Ruby? I'm sorry..." The glow from his horn illuminates her face as he leans down and kisses her.
She nuzzles his nose, whining softly. Her hooves reach out to him, gently hugging him.
He chuckles as she hugs him. "It's all fine now though... no one will hurt you..."
She coos happily, gumming on his muzzle.
Gel puts a hoof on his shoulder, stopping him in his tracks. "Sorry to interrupt father-daughter bonding, but you should probably watch your step."
He looks up and sees he was a few steps from running into Ditzy's mailbox. "Oh... thanks, love." His tosses a glance up at his horn. "I'll let them go once we're inside."
"Frankly, I would've used some slime." She shrugs and walks up to the front door. "Of course, they'd probably have turned that into an assault charge, or something." She knocks on the door, patiently waiting for their friend. "...you know, I'm glad you stopped me."
He looks at the door as well. "to be honest... I was tempted not to... I had the same reaction as you, but..." he looks down at Ruby, "she told me it was worth turning away."
The nymph smiles softly, gently kissing his cheek. "I'm glad she did."
After a moment, a golden-eyed pegasus mare answers the door. She smiles wide as swim as she sees who it is. "Hey guys! I was starting to wonder because I haven't seen you in town for a few days."
“I'm sorry, Ditzy." She sheepishly smiles, gesturing to their daughter. "We were a little busy taking care of our newest family member."
Rhino opens the sling a bit so she can see the precious contents better.
Ditzy's and Ruby's eyes meet, the latter staring just as wide-eyed as the former. "Oh my goodness... She's so tiny..." The pegasus quickly backs up to let the family in. "Come in, come in. Dinky's playing in the living room right now."
They walk inside, not noticing the tiny filly squirming inside of her carrier. As they enter the living room, Gel glances around, curious. "Did you change the wallpaper? I know it was a different color the last time we were here...I think I'd remember this shade of blue..." She mumbles the last part to herself.
Ditzy nods. "Yeah, we thought we'd make a little change. To be honest, I hated that patterned wallpaper we had before."
She turns to the mare, confused. "What was wrong with it?"
The pegasus looks at her seriously. "I can respect a pony's different taste, but really? Clovers? All over the room? Bleh!"
Gel blushes, averting her gaze. "...I like the color green..."
Ditzy giggles as she walks over to her two month-old foal. "I'm sure you do, but I kept thinking something was growing on my walls. Not the best thing it could have been."
"...I guess that makes sense..." She walks forward next to her friend, smiling down at the little filly and holding out a hoof to her. "Hello, Dinky. How are you doing?"
The purple-grey filly holds out a hoof. "Muffin!"
Her mother laughs. "That's all she really says right now..."
Gel giggles, shaking her head. "I suppose that makes sense...she is still young, after all." She glances over at her stallion, confused. "Aren't you going to come and see her?"
"Hmm? What?" He looks up. "Sorry, I was trying to see what's up with Ruby. She's squirming."
She blinks, making her way over. "Really? Why?" She stops next to them, checking on their filly.
Rhino looks back down at the now softly whining foal. "That's what I'm trying to figure out, but she isn't holding still enough for me to see."
Gel thinks for a bit before turning to her saddlebags, pulling out a bottle of milk. "Maybe she's hungry." She pauses, turning to look at him. "Would you like to feed her, this time?"
He nods as he heads over to the couch. "Yes please. I want at least one practice session before the midnight ones."
She giggles, giving him the bottle. "That's probably a good idea."
Rhino takes the sling from around his neck and folds it into a makeshift blanket under Ruby while holding her in a foreleg. As soon as he brings the bottle near her, she latches onto it with all four hooves plus her mouth, suckling greedily. "Wow, you really were hungry."
Gel nods, surprised. "I don't think I've ever seen her drink that fast..."
Ditzy raises a hoof. "Don't let her drink too fast, she'll get the hiccups."
Taking her advice, Rhino pulls the bottle away so Ruby will let go before giving it back to her and stroking her mane a bit so she relaxes. The actions serve to slow her down to a more normal pace. "There we go..."
The nymph turns to her friend, smiling softly. "Thank you for the tip."
The slightly more experienced mom waves the comment off with a wing. "No problem. That's what friends are for, right?" She looks down to where Dinky is playing with some soft blocks, stacking them then pushing them over and laughing as she set them up again.
Gel giggles, watching the filly play. "I wonder how they'll get along together...you know, with Ruby being so tiny, right now."
"I have no idea," Rhino responds, "she's really only interacted with us and the pets so far. Speaking of which..." He looks down to the kitten and squirrel that had curled up against each other on the cushion next to him when he sat down. "I take it you two are content?"
The blue-gray feline mews softly before nuzzling the black form next to her, purring contentedly.
Specter flicks his tail a few times before curling it around the two of them as much as possible.
The nymph can only smile, holding a hoof to her chest. "Aren't they just adorable?" She blinks, feeling the kit on her back move. She looks over to where he landed, confused. "Mercury? What are you doing?"
The kit walks over to Rhino and Ruby, hoping up into the former's lap and giving the latter a quick lick before curling up again.
Gel stares at this a moment, a blank look on her face. "...too cute..." She smiles sweetly, leaning down and gently kissing both the fox and the filly on the forehead.
"Lots of love in your family, it seems." Ditzy observes, now with Dinky in her arms and sucking one of her hooves.
She turns to the mare, smiling playfully. "What can we say? We focus on love."
The two mares chat and play with Dinky while Rhino finishes feeding Ruby. She lets out a small belch to signal that she's full. Her father smiles and puts the sling and bottle away before walking over to the mares. "Alright, shall we see how they get along?"
Gel smiles and nods, despite the anxiety clear in her body language. "Please, by all means."
The stallion sets the tiny pink filly down and all the adults watch intently to see what the two foals will do.
Ruby, seeing the other foal, slowly stands up. Cooing brightly, she totters over to the larger filly. At the last moment, her hooves slip out from under her, causing her to fall flat onto the floor.
Dinky, tilting her head at the foal smaller than her head, babbles some baby noises at her. She crouches down on the floor to be more at Ruby's level.
The tiny filly giggles and taps the other pony's nose, sticking her tongue out.
The greyish-purple foal laughs and sticks her own tongue out before reaching over to her soft blocks. She plops one of the plushy cubes in front of Ruby, who is about the same size as one of them.
She tilts her head to one side, grabbing it in her hooves and trying to pick it up. Of course, with her being the size she is, she can only pull it towards herself.
Dinky smiles and takes another block and hits it on the ground a few times, making a short noise similar to 'bah' every time.
Ruby, seeing the other foal's actions, tries to copy her, but she can't even lift it. She climbs on top of it, looking around at the edges of it in curiosity.
As Dinky stacks two blocks next to the one Ruby is on, Rhino decides to break the silence. "Well, I think they're getting along famously."
Gel giggles, shaking her head. "I suppose that's to be expected, given Dinky's mommy." She winks playfully at the mare next to her.
Ditzy blushes as she looks away. "Oh, you!" The three adults all have a good laugh until the pegasus looks back at the foals and scrunched her face up. "Um... Ruby was a unicorn... Right?"
"Yes, she-" The nymph blinks, confused. "...what do you mean...'was'?"
The mare points down at the tiny pink foal. Rhino and Gel look at her and see that instead of a tiny horn poking through her mane, Ruby now has a tiny set of fluttering wings.
Gel stares in shock, her mind temporarily shutting down. "...but...horn...she...wings...I don't...what?"
Rhino has much the same reaction, his eyes wide as he picks up Ruby. He gently looks through her mane. "No sign of a horn..." He takes a hoof and strokes her wings, which flap faster in response. "And the wings are real... but... how could..." He sets her down before looking at his wife. More specifically, he looks at her horn and wings.
She notices where his gaze and squirms slightly. "W-what? Did you figure it out?"
He puts a hoof to his chin. "Well... not definitively... but... I mean, you were the variable in this..."
"...so...she inherited my ability to shapeshift?" She frowns, scratching the side of her head. "...then why did she just gain wings?"
"I have absolutely no idea..." He scratches his head as Ruby looks back at her wings, but doesn't seem concerned by them in the least. "We don't even know if this is all she can do..."
"...can she even fly?" She turns to Ditzy, hoping for an answer. "Do you know?"
Ditzy shrugs. "I don't know. Baby pegasi only fly sporadically starting at about a month old. Eventually they start thinking about it too much so they can't fly as well and they have to be taught to get better."
Gel blinks, unsure how to take this. "...um...okay, then..." She turns and sees Ruby attempting to lift a block with her wings, but eventually gives up. The nymph's eyes widen as she realizes that she's on a stack of blocks five high. "...R-Rhino? She'll be alright, right?"
He gently lifts the filly and the block she's on and sets them on the blanket. "Of course she will."
She sighs in relief as their daughter is put closer to the floor. "Thank goodness..."
He nods. "Yeah... one surprise is enough for right now."
***
They leave the house soon after and go about buying groceries. Gel waves goodbye to the visibly tense flowermare as they leave her tent. She sighs quietly before glancing around, thinking out loud to herself. "...next should be the applecart..."
Rhino, who volunteered to be the baby carrier, nods as he puts the supplies in his rapidly filling bags. The two make their way to the familiar cart, worked today by the orange Apple mare.
She tips her hat at them as they approach. "Hey you two, been awhile since ya'll both come to the stand while Ah've been working. How've ya been?"
"A little tired, but happy." The nymph giggles, elbowing her stallion's side. "We ran out of apple juice, and he couldn't stand being separated from Ruby."
"Ruby?" The stetson-wearing mare asks.
Gel nods, giggling softly. "That's right." She gestures to the sling around Rhino's neck and the tiny hooves poking out in an attempt to touch his face. "Applejack, meet Ruby, our daughter."
AJ leans over to get a good look at the filly, who had returned to being a unicorn before they left Ditzy’s house. "Well now, ain't she the cutest little thing ya ever seen? Heh, the size of her kinda reminds me of the time Ah got on the wrong side of some poison joke..." She looks up the couple. "Congratulations you two!"
"Thank you." She nods before pausing, a couple of the mare's words standing out at her. "I'm sorry, but...what's poison joke?"
The Apple mare, fiddles with her stetson. "Erm... well, it's a bit of an embarassin' story, so suffice to say if ya ever find yourself in the Everfree and see a small blue plant... don't touch it."
She blinks but slowly nods. "Okay..." She glances at Rhino, curiosity getting the better of her. Love, didn't we see something like that on the path to Zecora's, once?
I think so... I guess we got lucky. If that's what it was, anyway. He adjusts Ruby slightly as he wiggles a hoof in front of her. "So, mind if we get some apple juice?"
She nods. "Not a problem!" She laughs a second. "And, um, does the little one want anything?"
Gel shakes her head, smiling as their daughter starts sucking on the unicorn's hoof. "I think she's good, for now. I would like to get an apple pie as well, if you have any."
Applejack ducks behind the stand. "Shoot, we always got apple pie. It's one of our best sellers!" She sets a covered pie on the counter before setting a gallon of apple juice next to it. "Here ya go. Anything else I can getcha?"
She glances at her stallion before responding. "Maybe a couple of dumplings or fritters we could eat now?"
Quicker than they could blink, a plate with a couple of apple fritters appears in front of them. "Always keep some to spare. They ain't steamin' like they were earlier, but they're still plenty warm."
"That's perfect." She picks one up in her magic and bites into it, humming delightedly. Feel free to start eating yours, love. She playfully winks at him.
He chuckles as he levitates the bits to Applejack before biting into his own fritter. Hmm... apple taste is more subtle than I expected, I like it. He grabs the apple juice and stows it in his bag, but leaves Gel to take the pie, since he doesn't want it to get squished with everything else he's carrying.
AJ just laughs as she sees their faces. "Yep, they're that good. Don't be strangers now, ya hear?"
Gel kindly waves back before turning to face forward. I'm glad she's an open-minded mare. Maybe I could try investing in their farm...
Maybe... He notices a bit of whining come from the sling below him and looks down to see Ruby trying to grab the fritter. "Now now, Ruby, no solid foods for you yet." He pulls the fritter out of her sight and she blows him a raspberry for his trouble.
The navy nymph giggles, tenderly nuzzling his cheek. Good job standing up to her cuteness. I knew you could do it.
She just wanted it because I had it, she wasn't going all out yet. He looks back down at the filly, who is now content with sucking on her own hoof. We'll see if I hold up in the future...
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feel like this could use a "dark" tag given the racism, although i'm not sure how much that's going to be an issue
other then that this is fantastic
HOW CAN THE HUMAN BODY CONTAIN THIS MUCH DIABEETUS!?
Good chapter as always, I wonder what you will do with this new ability of Ruby's and how it will further affect her integration into pony society when she goes more into public. And also, what will her first word(s) be? Something cute, shocking, exciting? We will see. And lastly, will Rhino and Gel's mental link be extended to Ruby, or will a new one be establish as to avoid any, underage comments, even if they are hidden behind normal conversations, if that makes sense.
So. Cute. HNNNNNNGH *ded*
The amounts of feels cannot be contained
Don't mess with the hive, or deal with the swarm. ~ Honeycomb Protocol 101
Use "bored with" or "tired of". Never "bored of".
Here's how it works. When you write out the sentences without contractions and with any implicit words made explicit, you get these fragments:
"Of" specifies an indirect object here and, when used with forms of "to be" like "being" and "am", "bored" acts reflexively (the one doing the action and the one being acted on are the same. Becoming bored is something you do to yourself.) and doesn't take an indirect object. (It's like saying "connect plug #3 to the third of the two sockets.")
"With" lets you add context to pretty much any sentence without that problem so you can use it with "bored".
"tired of" bypasses this problem because it affects the subject (I tire, I am tired) while leaving the option open for a separate object (I tire of this BS.)
(If you don't remember subjects, direct objects, and indirect objects from English class, here's a quick way to remember which is which. "I give the box to him". I perform the action, so I'm the subject. I act on the box, so it's the direct object. The indirect object (him) is specified with a preposition like "to" or "from".)
I used to think that changelings were absolutly evil and messed up but now I have about three interspecies stories with them in them.
Oh and love the story so far.
3372900 Agree there should be a dark tag with the racism and the hate out there.3373536 Glad that maybe you're changing the way your thinking about changelings. Never hated them myself just thought they had it rough.
3373837>>3372900
Tags are more meant for what the overall feel of the story is to be about. While the racism is there and provides one source of conflict, it is by no means overwhelming the slice, comedy, and romance.
Also, I don't do dark. Brief bouts of action and tense scenes designed to invoke specific intense emotions, yes, but not dark.
3372900 Racism doesn't necessarily mean the "Dark" tag should be here. As far as I'm aware "My Little Civil Activist: Equality is Magic" doesn't have a Dark tag (though that story focuses on Sexism, not Racism).
3373864>>3373919
alright fair enough
Retaining the transformation capability could be an important asset, as a disguise removal spell won't reveal she's a changeling so obviously.
Keep going! ;)
[quote"Well, I think they're getting along famously." ]
DOLLA DOLLA BILL
360 FaZeSCOPE
I'M FAMEOUS UWOT
Pleasw understand
3373864 well you got the intense emotions down. this is my third time reading this and it still makes me want to hit something with just that one scene alone
EMERGENCY! EMERGENCY! TOO CUTE!! TOO CUTE!! SHIELD YOUR EYES, OR YOU'LL-erk! Not again 'thump!'
5169387 *begins rubbing two kittens together* 1...2...3...CLEAR! *put them to your chest shocking you with static* 1...2...3... CLEAR! *repeats two more times*
I'm going to have a heart attack from the cute.
Hmm, so maybe she's more of a pony that can switch between pony subspecies.
7037242
ruby used Cute Charm!
entire planet falls over mumbleing about the cuteness.
a voice fills the air "never have i seen such a super effective hit like that one!!!"
I See my body and I think I am a ghost now.
Yepyou killed me, with cuteness overload.
Damn racists; sure, a lot of changelings did invade Canterlot, I'll grant you that, but not all of them wanted to - those who didn't want to were forced into it by Chrysalis. If anything, be angry at her.
As for the here and now, let changelings live - if you see them plotting nefariously, or attacking somepony, then report it to the authorities (and don't take it into your own hooves), but if they're doing the same things you do (shopping, spending time with loved ones, working, etc.), leave them alone.
I cannot believe racism can be justified - it's stereotyping an entire species just because of one incident, and one group. Harassment should be illegal, except that'd be considered 'limiting free speech and expression'; I believe the two should be separated (you can have the right to say anything you want, except if it's demeaning someone else for something they either have never done, or have repented for).
I'm not he insulted a baby that pony should be BEATEN INTO THE GROUND