Rhino walks back to the front of the clinic, having just finished taking inventory of a few things. He looks to the desk with a smile as he sees Gel and the pets. "Having fun?"

The white mare looks up at him and giggles, her hoof continuing to rub Mercury's tummy. "I'd like to think so." She smiles kindly, nodding at him. "How about you?"

He shrugs, motioning to his clipboard as he sets it down on the desk. "Statistics, not the most engaging thing in Equestria."

She playfully pouts at him. "Aw, poor Rhino." She nuzzles him, letting out her fangs for a moment to teasingly nip his neck. "I could see about doing something special to help you feel better, if you'd like." Kind of like last night. She winks at him before turning to the clipboard.

I don't know whether to be scared or impressed that you're still up for anything after a night literally filled with it. He looks to the door. "I'm never sure how to feel about slow mornings like this."

Honestly, my mind and body are satisfied...if a little exhausted. She starts typing on her typewriter, Selena mimicking her with her own smaller one. "Well, it does give you time for catching up on the tiny things you miss, right?"

He nods. "I suppose so... Speaking of tiny things, you never did tell me where you managed to find that little typewriter for Selena."

"Oh, your mom and I got it at a school supply store." She waves a hoof nonchalantly. "Fillies and colts use them for the paper, and they had a few extra ones. So we just got it at a discount, too."

"Ah..." He looks at the kitten enjoying herself. "Heh... she sure does look like she's having fun... has she written anything interesting today?"

She shakes her head. "Not really. She's just copying what I write." She taps her chin, thinking about this a bit. "Maybe she's trying to get used to the smaller keys?"

Rhino shrugs as the door to the clinic opens and a familiar lavender unicorn walks in with an owl on her back.

Gel brightens up immediately, waving a hoof at her. "Hello, Miss Twilight!" She cranes her neck slightly before calming down a bit. ...aw...Spike isn't here with her... She clears her throat, smiling sheepishly. "H-how may we help you?"

Twilight smiles as she recognizes the two ponies. "I'd heard you worked here from Applejack, Rhino, but I didn't realize Angel worked here too. Nice to see you both again. I'm just here to get Owlowiscious a checkup." She motions to the owl on her back.

The white mare nods and turns to the filing cabinet, pulling out a folder with the lavender unicorn's name on it. "Here we are. Twilight Spar-" She pauses, staring at the name on the file. "...why is your assistant's name here, Miss Twilight?"

The librarian giggles nervously as she scratches the back of her head with a hoof. "Well... Spike may have been feeling a bit under the weather one day... and I may have checked pretty much every medical facility in town to try and find out what was wrong... The other doctor helped me that day."

She quirks an eyebrow at this but doesn't push it. "O-okay, then." She starts typing on a piece of paper, the kitten next to her copying every motion. "I-if you'll follow Rhino, he can help you with the checkup."

The two unicorns head to the back. As they get into the room, Rhino motions to a stand they have for bird patients and the owl promptly flies to it. Rhino gets out a few items as he starts to speak. "So, did anything prompt this visit?"

Twilight shakes her head. "Not really. Spike found a few of Owlowiscious' feathers and wondering if he was losing them, but I told him he was fine. This lead to Spike asking when was the last time Owlowiscious was ever seen by a vet and I couldn't answer so here we are."

Rhino nods as he puts the stethoscope on the bird's chest, causing it to shuffle its wings before settling down. "I see..." He takes the ends of the stethoscope out of his ears and shines a flashlight into the owl's wide eyes as he looks into them.

The mare watches for a time before speaking again. "So... I wanted to talk about what happened in the library last time we met."

Rhino remains casual as he raises one of Owlowiscious' talons and checks each claw. "What about it?"

Twilight continues. "Well... you know that alarm that went off and spooked that stallion?"

Rhino nods. "I do."

She tries to word her sentence carefully. "Well... that was a changeling detector that he set off... so he wasn't a stallion at all."

Rhino puts his acting skills to the test as he looks up in surprise. "He was a changeling?"

She holds up her hooves. "Don't worry, it hasn't gone off since, so i think he left town!" She clears her throat and composes herself. "I've adapted the detector now, it doesn't make that siren anymore since it's far too obvious... plus you know.. it tended to disable ponies..."

Rhino doesn't have to fake the wince he does as he remembers the evening of being mostly deaf. "Yeah... improvement was necessary. Out of curiosity though... how will you know when it goes off if it doesn't make a sound?"

Twilight explains. "I'm actually working on setting up a network of detectors strategically place around the town. When one of them goes off it will alert a central hub and tell me which one went off. I have a mini-scanner to carry and tell me when I'm close to one." She smiles at him. "Don't worry, no more changelings will be sneaking into Ponyville."

"Ah... good to know, Miss Sparkle." As the vet begins checking the bird's wings, he changes the subject. "Additionally Twilight, if Spike has any issues again, you might considering looking up a specialist. Dragons being as rare, secluded, and potentially dangerous as they are, general vets aren't trained for them."

"Oh!" Twilight's ears perk up at this new information. "Thanks, I'll be sure to do that!"

The stallion finishes up his examination quickly. "Alright, everything seems to be in top shape. A picture of perfect owl health... textbook, one might say."

The mare seems particularly fond of this complement. "Thank you very much. Do we just go up front to handle payment?"

Rhino nods. "Exactly." He brings his clipboard with him as he follows her back to the front.

Gel looks up as they return, smiling brightly. "Hello again, Miss Twilight. Everything go well?"

The purple unicorn nods. "Yes, everything went by the book." She giggles a little at her phrase.

She smiles at this, nodding and glancing at Rhino. "Glad to hear that." How much does an owl checkup cost? I don't think I've had to deal with one of those, before.

He thinks back to her. Standard pet fee chart, subsection: birds, subsection: predatory.

She nods and closes her eyes, quickly recalling the chart. She opens her eyes and smiles, nodding satisfactorily. "That will be thirty bits, Miss Twilight."

Twilight pays the required bits and waves goodbye as she leaves.

Rhino waits about a minute after the lavender mare exits before thinking a single sentence to Gel. We've got a problem.

***

Later, they're back at their home. Gel sits on their couch, eyes wide in shock and staring at the stallion standing in front of her. "...s-she...i-improved the detector?"

"Well... 'altered it' but yes..." He sits down next to her and puts a comforting hoof around her.

She trembles, leaning into the embrace. "...t-this isn't good...I-I mean, it is good, for them...b-but not for us..." She groans, holding her head in her forehooves. "...w-what are we going to do?"

He holds her tightly as he answers. "I don't know love... I have no idea what to do for the long run... In the short term though, Twilight was very specific about how her machine worked. Plus she said it isn't set up yet. We've at least got some time to think."

She sighs, pulling a hoof away to look up at him. "...I-I suppose that's always a good thing..." She closes her eyes, resting her head on his shoulder. "...we could use all the time we can get..."

He rubs her back with a hoof as he looks down at her with concern. "What do you think we should do?"

"...I-I don't know..." She bites her lip, trying to think. "...m-maybe...w-we can get somepony else on our side?" She rubs the side of her head. "...t-to attest to the fact I'm not dangerous? I-I don't know...t-the stress of this development is getting to me..."

He embraces her again. "Shh... it's alright, we'll get through this... We just have to think it through. We have to make sure we do it right. But... what do you mean, 'get somepony else on our side'? You mean reveal yourself?"

"...m-maybe..." She groans once more, shaking her head. "...I-I don't know...it sounded good when I said it..."

Rhino sighs. "I guess it was going to happen someday... Maybe we can ease a few ponies into it? Like Mane and Manila? They know you, and they're nice ponies."

Her ear twitches at this, and she looks up at him. "...m-maybe...i-it'd be nice to let some others know..." She flicks her tail, thinking a bit. "...b-but...w-what if they freak out?"

He looks down. "We can only try to talk them down... I'm worried about this because it's a gamble. We can't predict how ponies will react... even the ones we know best..."

"...s-still..." She sighs, gently nuzzling his cheek. "...i-it's better than just sitting around doing nothing, right?"

"Right..." His voice and face betray his worry. "But we shouldn't rush into this... there are precautions to take for everything."

"But we can't wait too long, love." She sits up, looking at him in concern. "Who knows when Miss Twilight will get her system running?"

"I know, I know..." He rubs the bridge of his nose. "But not preparing is just as bad as waiting too long... and we don't know when the perfect time is... Regardless, I think for now it would be best to avoid Twilight if we see her, and I mean at all. She's supposed to have a portable version of the detectors that can home in within a small radius... there's no telling when she'll have it on her..."

She quietly nods, sighing once more. "...you have a point, love...though I suppose she didn't have it on her, earlier today..."

He nods. "Yes... at least we got that grace..." He thinks for a bit. "What if we told Mane and Manila next Friday?"

She taps her chin, thinking about this a moment. "...I suppose that would be a good day...you promise you'll stay with me no matter what happens, love?"

He kisses her before answering. "Nothing can take you away from me."

She blushes softly, gently kissing him back. "...and I'll stay with you...you have my word on that..."

***

The group of five changelings finally see their destination in sight. What was normally a one day flight had been extended to a multi-day walk as 273 and 314 carried their three comrades for the first day until they could walk on their own. The Sergeant Major had to scrounge together a medicinal herb collar to place on his injured neck, the bright green makes a striking contrast to his dark chitin. After a few days of trekking, they had arrived at what appeared to be a spire of rock no different than any of the other sandy-colored rocks in the area.

But things aren't always as they appear.

The changelings instead see past the illusion because they know exactly what the tower really is. As they close in on it, the tower appears to shimmer in their eyes before becoming a glossy and dark monolith of chitin. The group walks into the opening on the lowest part of the tower.

Inside, sitting at a table, they see a changeling similar to many of the highest ranking officers in that he is an elite. His overall appearance has a yellow tinge to it, his wings are noticeably larger than those of normal changelings, though his horn is smaller and his frame is thinner.

The soldiers salute their superior. "Brigadier General Flick, sir!" The Sergeant Major doesn't say anything due to his injury preventing him from doing much other than gurgle.

The changeling salutes them briefly before smirking, tilting his head to one side. "It appears the target has more spunk than you expected, hmm?" He motions to the Sergeant Major, chuckling a bit.

273 looks down. "It... wasn't just him, sir. His capture was actually going fairly smoothly when there was a... complication."

"Oh?" He quirks an eyebrow, the smirk dropping from his face. "You have me intrigued, Sergeant. Tell me, what is this complication of yours?"

He nods. "It's the Colonel, sir. She wasn't under her target's control. In fact, it appears she fell for him and is there of her own free will. Astoundingly sir, it appears he feels the same for her, as he wasn't surprised when he saw her normal form."

He stands there quietly for a moment before nodding. "That is...unfortunate. We'll have to relay this intel to the other Generals before we can decide what needs to be done." He turns away, sighing quietly. "Good work, soldiers."

273 coughs lightly as a bruise on his ribs pains him. "Umm, sir? If I may ask, we were wounded in this last battle, some more severely than others, might we take a few days to recover here at the outpost before heading back to the hive?"

He quickly spins around, smirking slightly. "You can recover here, but you aren't going to leave. Not yet." He walks over to the opening, tapping the side of it with a hoof. "We might need you to debrief us on everything that happened. Is that understood?"

"Yes, sir!"