Hybrid Lives

by Ignimbrite

Rating: everyone
Tags: Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Other, Slice of Life
Length: 3067

A series of short stories looking into the lives of pony hybrids.

This is a series of short stories looking into the lives of cross-race hybrids and tetragametic chimeras. It is primarily an attempt at guessing how they might live and work, and what they would do.

Based on comments by Ace98 and Ralanost on my story A Pegasus Horn. Thank you guys for the idea for this.

I'm planning to add new chapters whenever a new idea comes along, but I can't guarantee that I'll be able to flesh them out at regular intervals. In the meantime, if anyone has suggestions for specific hybrids, let me know, and I'll see what I can do.

The cover image was created using a pair of ponies created here and combined via vector graphics.

Published 2023-08-09 02:40:00 UTC
Last updated 2023-08-19 16:40:17 UTC

The Gardener

Sun Flower flew from her home to the field of flowers she kept nearby. On her back were a small tank of liquified fertilizer and a set of tools.

The field was a mix of blues, reds, yellows, and purples, all inviting anypony who saw them to come stand among them. A few pegasi were doing exactly that, enjoying the sights and smells of the garden.

She was glad they were there. Sharing the beauty she saw here with the others in the town was one of the reasons she had planted it in the first place. The other ponies all meandered around from flowerbed to flowerbed, occasionally pausing to smell some of the flowers or take a closer look.

Most of the flowers here were a hardier type than what was common in most of Equestria. These types grew higher in the mountains and endured the cold better than most others. She had visited the mountains far to the north and had even visited the Crystal Empire once just so select flowers that would grow well in this climate.

She landed on a path among the flowerbeds, stepping gracefully around the clusters of different types of plants. One by one, she felt a flower from each cluster with her wing.

Moving though the flowerbeds, she stopped by one that was a little different. She felt it, and indeed, something was off. The flowers here were more limp than the others, and the color didn't look quite right. Besides that, there was a feeling to them that she couldn't quite explain, as if they were calling to her for attention.

Not to worry though, that was why she had brought her supplies along.

She reached into the clusters and gently spread the stems aside. In the center was a hidden sign bearing a single number. Upon seeing it, she took off and flew to the edge of the garden, then flew down beneath it.

Hidden in the clouds beneath the garden was old retired cloud factory equipment that she had gradually acquired at some industrial surplus auctions.

She angled her wings down to compensate for the extra lift provided by the updraft generators. It was these that kept the flowerbeds suspended above her. Flying among them without crashing took some skill, but she had plenty of practice down here.

Searching the numbers on the signs, she found the machinery for the waning flowerbed and checked the rainclouds. They had plenty of water, as evidenced by the spray being funneled into the updraft beside her, but the fertilizer levels were a bit low.

She took the tank off her back, attached a hose to the mixer, and opened the valve on top. The gauge on the mixer rose, and the rain traveling upwards took on a greenish hue.

With that, she detached the tank, and left to check on the rest of the flowers. It would probably take a few hours for the fertilizer to take effect anyway.

Soon enough, the sun was setting on her garden, and the other ponies were flying off back to their homes. She paused a moment to watch the flowers close for the night, then took off.

Author's Note

Earth/Pegasus tetragametic chimera

The Aerobat

METAR KARM 312224Z AUTO 14008KT 5SM- HZ BKN010CB 21/17 A2970

Flame Feather checked the report. It was less than five minutes before he would be going out, and the weather looked perfect.

Looking out, he saw the ponies scattered across the grassy field. Many of them were earth ponies, although he saw a few unicorns among them as well. The ground ponies were his favorite audience. They seemed to enjoy the thrill of watching his performances more than the pegasi did. The pegasi usually just preferred pointing out how "easy" and "entry level" his tricks were compared to the ones they knew.

He shook his head. That last part wasn't the thing to think about. Not now, at least. He needed to save those thoughts for later, when he needed them.

They resurfaced again. The other pegasi saying he'd never be a professional stunt flyer were annoying, and he'd proved them wrong after a lot more practice than they would ever know.

The ones joking about his parents, on the other hoof...

Oh no, I'm heating up again, I can feel it.

He employed the trick his mother had taught him. He counted while breathing in, counted to hold, then counted breathing out. Slowly, he calmed down again. It was just in time too. Glancing at the clock, he saw that it was just about time for the show to begin.

"Alright everypony, let's all thank Bell Tailslide and Falling Leaf for their performance." The ponies outside applauded. "And now, for our next act, please welcome Flame Feather, the Equine Torch!"

The ponies clapped as he stepped out onto the field. He shook hooves with the two last performers as they headed to the tent, then waved to the crowd. After that, he spread his wings and took to the air.

He set off into his barnstorming routine, starting with a few loops and hesitation rolls, gradually building into more complex tumbles and spins. It wasn't exactly Wonderbolt material, but the ground dwellers tended to enjoy it.

His flight style was odd compared to the other pegasi. Instead of relying on wing power for everything, he would rise higher than what was strictly necessary to start a trick, then dive into it, letting gravity do most of the work. He might not have been so good at hovers or the Ponychev Cobra, but he could certainly snap roll better than anypony else he knew.

He checked his watch. The time had come.

The time had come to think about all those things that he told himself not to think about in the tent.

Ground pounders. That's what they had called them. They called his mother that for not having wings. They called his father that for choosing to move to the surface just so they could be together. They even called him that just for being born to them.

He was getting angry again.

Good. Almost there. I just need to concentrate.

It had felt odd at first, deliberately making himself angry while doing something he loved, but it didn't take long for him to get used to it. In a way, it wasn't that different from the acting methods stage ponies sometimes used. One might even argue that that was exactly what he was, a stage pony, with the entire sky as his stage.

He concentrated again.

Come on, it's now or never...

He heard a heckler in the crowd. Looking down, he saw one of the pegasi who used to taunt his family. That did it.

A fireball sailed across the sky, leaving a trail of flames behind it. The fireball circled up into a barrel roll. It then looped through a Cuban eight and a couple snap rolls before flying through a set of water sprayers that had been installed near the landing area.

The crowd cheered as Flame Feather landed and shook the water out of his mane. He bowed to them, then stepped aside so that the next performers could begin their part of the show.

He smiled as he stepped into the tent and picked up a picture.

"Wish you could have been here to see that one. You would have loved it."

Author's Note

Pegasus/Kirin hybrid

The Child

"No, young lady, you are not going outside like that."

"But mom..."

"No buts. What will somepony say if they see you like that?"

"I think they'll like it. Please? I really really want to be an alicorn today."

"Alula Pluto Erroria, I said no." Her mother stooped down and looked into her eyes. "I know you have a gift, but other ponies might not understand it. I'm sure they'll come to understand in time, but until then they might hurt you. Could you please at least choose something a bit less conspicuous? At least for me?"

"Fine."

Alula closed her eyes. In a moment, her horn disappeared, leaving only the wings behind.

"Is this better?"

Her mother nuzzled her.

"Much better, even though I do recall you being an earth pony for most of last week."

"Awww... does that mean I have to lose the wings too?"

Her mother smiled slightly. Sure, ponies are bound to notice at some point, but she couldn't resist the pleading eyes before her.

"No, you can keep the wings. Go on. I think your friends are waiting."

As Alula skipped out the door and headed off to play with her friends, her mother called to her.

"I love you."

"I love you too, Mom!"

Her mother stepped back inside and shook her head, remembering the trouble she used to get into when she was that age. Granted, the trouble she got into generally didn't come with the risk of being called a monster, but fortunately, this town regularly had enough other odd goings-on that most of them didn't notice the slight oddity in her daughter.

She sighed.

Would they believe her? That her kid was just a sweet filly and nothing more? That Alula was just as much a victim as anypony else?

For a moment, a flash of anger overtook her. It wasn't Alula's fault that she was different. It was that... thing. It was that thing from the Everfree that just had to imitate her husband of all ponies.

She remembered the creature fleeing into the forest. She remembered organizing a search party to go in after it. She remembered finding her husband by himself, resting on a patch of packed earth with a matted mane and mud in his fur.

As she was forcing herself to calm down, the door behind her opened.

"Honey, I'm home."

She turned around to see her husband standing behind her. They nuzzled each other.

"Hi Sweetie. How was your day?"

"It was busy, as usual. How was yours?"

"About the same, although Alula wanted to be an alicorn today."

He chuckled upon hearing that. "That's my little princess, all right. Where is she?"

"Just out playing with some friends."

He nodded. He then looked at her, as if trying to read her.

"You're upset."

She nodded. "I just worry about her sometimes. About the other ponies finding out. Do you think they'll understand?"

He nodded. "They will. They will eventually, at least. I'm sure they'll understand."

She smiled, a little less worried now.

As his wife left the room, he frowned slightly.

Would she understand?

Would she understand that he had never left?

Would she understand that he had never replaced her husband?

Author's Note

Changeling/pony hybrid

So, after reading about Princess Erroria on TV Tropes, I just had to come up with my own explanation for her appearance. Amusingly, the best I could come up with fit with the concept of this story series, so I included it here.

I hope y'all enjoy.

Edit: 08/22/2023

I found out yesterday that I'm not the first one to come up with the idea that she's a half-changeling.

For anyone who wants a better story than this one involving that concept, check out Iota Force by The Iguana Man. It's a really good one.

The Officer

The sound of galloping hooves echoed through the streets.

"Get back here."

The officer charged through the streets after the suspect. The criminal had gone too far this time.

It had started as it always had, a shoplifting in a district where almost all the citizens were unicorns, only this time, Falling Star was there to see it. He immediately gave chase, but the criminal, a regular suspect who they could never apprehend, pulled something unexpected.

As he passed a building that was under renovation, he set part of the wooden scaffolding on fire, causing it to collapse in Falling Star's path.

That by itself wasn't what had angered him.

What had angered him was that a red unicorn mare with a cartload of fabric had been pinned under the wreckage.

He pulled away the material as quickly as he could, not bothering with trying to use telekinesis for it. He had ripped almost all the boards off the pile with his bare hooves by the time reinforcements got there. He and the reinforcements pulled her out as quickly as they could, but it was too late to save Miss Shirt.

"Forensics are on the way. We'll control the crowds here; the rest of you go catch that guy."

Thus, Falling Star ran through the streets after the career criminal. Thankfully, he had a couple pegasus officers on the way from a nearby district to aid in the pursuit.

Slowly, he gained on the criminal, his gallop holding as steady as his breathing.

When he had first joined the academy, the other unicorn recruits had teased him about his magic. Sure, it was weaker than that of the others, but the teasing ended after the first few physical tests. He had out-lifted, out-pulled, and outrun all of them.

Now, he was putting that last one to the test. It made him wish his father was still on the force, that stallion had twice his endurance, but a leg injury had forced him into early retirement. Nonetheless, so long as he kept gaining on the criminal at this pace, he'd catch him before he got too winded.

The criminal looked back, then darted into a restaurant. There was a series of loud screams, and suddenly, the restaurant was on fire.

Falling Star stopped in shock as the criminal ran back out, then lit up his horn and fired a bolt of magic high into the sky. The bolt flew upwards for hundreds of feet, leaving a trail pointing straight back to him, then exploded in a vibrant orange visible across the entire city and most of the surrounding area.

Pegasus first responders who saw the bolt immediately began pushing clouds in that direction. The orange flare told them that whoever had launched it was witnessing a fire that needed to be extinguished immediately. They made it to the building just as the tail of the flare was fading away and immediately began dumping as much rain as they could onto the building. Meanwhile, the other officers made sure the building was evacuated.

As soon as the fire was under control, he made his way to the nearest pegasus law officer he could find.

"It's arson sir." The pegasus looked at him as he continued. "Earth pony. Red coat, tan mane with a matching tufted tail. Wanted suspect for at least 60 counts of shoplifting, 40 counts arson, and 1 count negligent homicide, along with destruction of private and public property. He was creating a diversion to prevent further pursuit."

The other officer nodded, then called some of the officers from his district over.

When he had finished relaying the information, several of the the officers took off to the air.

Falling Star watched them leave, then resumed the chase himself.

This wasn't over yet.

Author's Note

Earth/unicorn tetragametic chimera

The Criminal

"Get back here!"

The chase was on.

Shadowfire jumped a couple boxes and bolted into the alley, a unicorn officer behind him.

He loved this part of town. Nothing here but unicorns, which meant nothing that could ever catch him. Unicorns had their fancy magic, but they could never outrun him.

Granted, that didn't stop him from giving himself a slight head start at the beginning. That scaffolding was ugly anyway.

He'd faced off against everything: telekinetics, stunners, and even a couple teleporters. None of them had ever caught him.

The unicorn behind him was a runner, apparently. He chuckled a little. Unicorns thinking they could outrun an earth pony never failed to amuse him. The officer wasn't even trying to use any speed enhancement spells like the others. Even now, the other pursuing officers' speed spells had worn off, leaving just this one remaining.

He dodged trough the alleyways and streets that he knew like the back of his hoof.

Looking behind him, he saw something he didn't expect. The officer was gaining.

But that didn't make any sense. He clearly wasn't using any spells, and earth ponies ran faster than unicorns anyway. Granted, he wasn't completely an earth pony, but he still had more earth blood in him than that officer... unless...

He looked behind him again. That officer was still gaining.

And the officer was mad...

Not good...

Time for plan B. He ran into the nearest building he could find. It didn't matter what it was so long as there was something that could burn. What was this place, a restaurant?

Perfect. Panicking ponies would just make the cops take longer.

He concentrated, focusing on every angry thought that came to his mind.

Everypony screamed as he erupted into flames. He dashed around the room, brushing up against as many tablecloths and curtains as he could, then doused himself and ran back into the streets.

Just as expected, the cop had stayed behind to evacuate the building. He smiled as he made his way into the night.

He made it to his hideout and emptied his saddlebags. Inside was enough jewelry to get him at least five packets of poison joke extract.

As he was stuffing everything back into the saddlebags, there was a knock at the door.

"This is the police."

He crept over to the window and looked out. A pair of pegasus stallions stood outside.

He facehooved. The district had joined with another one that had pegasi in it. They must have been tracking him from the air the whole time.

He galloped to the back, opened the window and climbed out. Immediately, he was caught in a levitation field that held his hooves together so that he couldn't run.

Looking up, he saw the face of the stallion that had been pursuing him.

"He came out this way."

As the pegasi flew over the roof to reach him, more officers approached from the other corners of the house.

The unicorn pulled a set of cuffs out of his saddlebags and attached them firmly to his hooves.

"You, young colt, are under arrest."

Author's Note

Earth pony/kirin hybrid