//------------------------------// // Carrots And Oranges // Story: Kirin And Changeling // by dudenotactive //------------------------------// Kirin was awake, the only issue about that was the fact that he was hungry. Not having dinner played a role with that, he had nothing to eat and plus he was currently trapped in some solid material. He could only hope that it was some sort of cement like substance, and not some kind of gross nature feature that Minion has.  Speaking of the changeling, just recently Kirin had managed to learn her true name, Minion. It was odd, he would never have thought that a parent would give their offspring such a name. Kirin could only wonder what they would be like, perhaps they paid Minion no attention, or perhaps they simply saw her as a "minion". "My parents are dead to me." Minion's words echoed in his mind, how she sneered as she spoke that day.  There was definitely something in Minion's past that Kirin has no knowledge of. He did just meet her a day ago, so there's a large gap between him and Minion. A lot of negativity and bottled up emotions, Kirin was sure of it.  Sadly, his hunger was starting to annoy him, Kirin's stomach was growling like a dog whose bone was about to be taken away. "Minion?" He called out to his captor.  The changeling poked her head through the hole above and groaned deeply. "What!?" "I'm hungry!" "So? I'm not your mom!" "You can't just let your prisoner starve, that is frowned upon by society." He huffed.  "Fine!" Minion buzzed down from the hole and snatched the rabbit, who was minding its own business, and brought it over to Kirin. "Eat." She ordered him.  Kirin quickly recoiled away in disgust. "Ew! Why would you want me to eat a rabbit!?" Minion tilted her head to the side, confused by his reaction. "But you have teeth of a carnivore... Why wouldn't you?" As if he didn't know, Kirin poked one of his canines with his tongue and got a bit too familiar with the sharp and pointy tooth that could be used as a weapon. Something that would never cross his mind at all. "Well to tell you the truth, we can, but we chose not to!" "Why's that?" For once, Minion was honestly curious about his people.  "Religion, or a law... I can't remember. Anyways, every kirin in my village sees the importance of life, it is a rule that we follow and should never be broken. We respect all forms of life from the smallest mice to the biggest elephant, even the grass below our hooves. My kind have always used our magic to help nature grow, and would be awarded for our work." "So you're just another pony, but you can eat meat if you feel like it... A glorified unicorn if you ask me." Minion sighed. "Listen, I need you to be as healthy as possible so I'm gonna go back to town and buy you something to eat." "Aw, I knew you were nice!" "Shut up, I'm just making sure my prisoner is taken care of. Nothing more, nothing less." She scowled at him before leaving the Kirin to himself.  "Wait, I got some requests!" Minion entered the village in her unicorn disguise, Golden Star. A beautiful mare with golden locks of hair and a clean white coat that was clear of any speck of dirt. On her back were Kirin's sale bags containing most of his stuff, books and his bits, which would be put to use today.  She strolled through town earning a few curious gazes from the townsfolk of Mud, they were wary of Star and her "brother". Which was understandable, she just popped out of nowhere just like Kirin and tried to integrate herself into the community. But they were just too distant towards her, friendly like any other ponies, but still distant.  It was wise of them to be so, but it was hard for Minion to even get a source of love that she needed, she was lucky to even meet Kirin. A friendly face far friendlier than the town itself, and the best part, he was gullible. Minion was able to feed yesterday thanks to him, but it wasn't enough, the love he produced wasn't aimed towards her but was the love for theater stage play. Maybe she could ease her way to his heart and slowly break him.  "Yeah, that's a great idea." She muttered to herself.  Step one would be to give him a good meal, like her teacher always said "The best way to a stallion's heart is through his stomach." Speaking of which, she had just entered the market area where farmers would sell their produce. Naturally grown and healthy to eat, no bugs or worms and clear of any pesticide. Her first destination was at a tomato stall selling not only tomatoes, but a can of tomato sauce as well. After that she would need to visit the potato farmer, next get a head of lettuce, preferably a small one if she could find it. There were a few more things on the list, all of it were requested by Kirin and hopefully it would shut him up.  As Minion was speaking with the tomato vendor, a carrot farmer was carefully watching her from the safety of his stall. "Hey," He spoke to the mare in the neighboring stall that sells oranges. "it's one of the unicorn twins, she's buying tomatoes." "So?" The orange vendor asked.  "How long has it been since those twins moved in?" He inquired. "Four days? Five?" "Where is this going?" "When was the last time have you ever seen them shop in the market? Never, that's what." "You're right." She gasped. "Then why is she here now?" "No idea, probably that kirin gal- I mean guy. Anyways, I think the guy is hungry, that's all." "You know what I think?" The mare asked a rhetorical question. "I think those unicorns are gonna eat that kirin." "Now why would they do that?" The carrot salespony questioned not just her theory, but her sanity as well.  "Listen, how long has it been since he showed up? No signs after he had followed that unicorn back to her home and now here she is, buying ingredients for kirin soup." "You have such a wild imagination." The stallion scoffed.  "Look, I'm not crazy or something, but that's what I suspect! See that? She is buying garlic!" The orange pony pointed out. Minion was indeed buying garlic. "That doesn't look suspicious to you?" "Of course not you idiot," The carrot pony sighed. "I'm worried about those unicorns as much as the next guy but I'm sure they don't eat meat." "Well don't come crying to me when she and her brother puts you inside a large cauldron and starts boiling you alive." "You just don't understand unicorns, do you?" "Do you?" She shot back.  "I don't, but- hold on, she's coming over, let's talk after she's gone." Both farmer's were quick to become silent as Minion approached the carrot farmer. "Good morning!" Star greeted them gleefully and with the brightest smile the two vendors had ever seen. "May I have some of your produce, sir?" Both farmers were taken aback, this was the first time they had ever spoken with or heard from the unicorn directly. The stallion was the one who was affected the most, his heart just started racing as he was captivated by her beauty. "Of c-course!" He stuttered out. "The finest carrots you will ever see in Mud! Just take your pick!" "Gosh," Star sighed meekly. "they all look so fresh and nice, but I don't know what to choose." "That's easy, hold on!" The stallion ducked down under his stall for a second then came back with a box of nicely grown carrots. "These are my best! And let me tell you, you would really enjoy these in any way you want it!" "Those are perfect!" She smiled warmly. "I'll have four please!" "That'll be 20 bits!" The orange farmer, who shall now be known as Orange, couldn't believe what she was seeing. Some may not have known the carrot farmer like she does, but she knew that this isn't how he usually acted. She waited until the unicorn had paid for the vegetables and left to who knows where.  "Carrot," Of course that was his name. "what in Equestria was that!?" The stallion was unsure of whatever she meant. He gave her a look of confusion, not knowing what caused Orange to ask such a question.  "You sold some of your personal carrots, the one you grew for yourself! With so much love and care! Why!?" Then that was when it hit Carrot, he had just indeed sold the carrots he was keeping for himself to snack on throughout the day. The carrots that he had given care and love, so much that they were the tastiest of all carrots that existed, which he was sure of it.  "What have I done?" He spoke deeply as he collapsed on the stool he sat on, unable to keep himself upright with the weight of regret upon his shoulders. The world itself felt like it was crumbling around him, no matter how many times he denied it, he had already sold those carrots away. Those scrumptious carrots... How he would never be able to sink his teeth on them...  "Now I'm starting to believe that unicorn is some kind of enchantress." Orange said with her eyes narrowed towards the unicorn that was shopping.  "And I feel like I'm starting to believe you..." Carrot weakly said.  Minion hauled all these vegetables she had just bought from the market, all inside a giant paper bag since it was too much for the sale bags she wore. It floated just to her right and she tried not to spill some as she made her way back to her home. Her disguise was off, she wasn't worried of being seen right now since she was already far from town. None of the ponies from Mud would ever venture this far deep into the forest, there were monsters and predators, nothing a changeling can't handle though.  She entered the cave that leads to her home and made herself known, she called out to Kirin and informed him of her success with her task of buying food for the prisoner. But something was wrong, there was no answer, a sudden dread filled her chest and the bag was released to the solid ground as she started running, leaving everything she had just bought.  She ran as quickly as she could, her insect-like hooves tapped the stone surface of the cave in such a hurry that her saddle bags fell off during her run. And just as she entered the area where she kept Kirin, the changeling became absolutely stunned. Kirin was still there, but the oddest thing was that he was currently building a bed. That's right, a fricken bed. He was free from his cocoon prison and was literally making a bed.  She snaked back to the tunnel and made sure that she was well hidden. Minion stared at him as he worked, trying to understand him as he built the bed. The bed itself was made of sticks and leaves which were obviously from the forest, held together with roots coming out of the stone floor. Minion had to take a second look at it, it was indeed roots, but it grew out of the stone somehow and created a few cracks as it formed the frame of the bed.  She was absolutely confused, the bed wasn't the only thing around as well, there was a table just to his right made of the same materials. The table had a cooking pot on top of it and some buckets of water. There were also a few bowls and knives as well as a shiny ladle; Minion had no idea where those came from.  But the thing is, why didn't he just run? "Where did all this come from?" Kirin turned away from his work to find Minion coming back from shopping, she carried with her the ingredients he had requested. He stared at her before glancing over to the table he built, then back to her. "Well, I was getting cramps inside that slime thing so I decided to just go on for a walk. As I was just leisurely strolling through the forest, I realized how we don't have a pot to cook with. But then I found a house, so I just went in and asked for one!" Kirin explained. "Strange thing is though, the house was empty and dusty, like it was abandoned for a while now. There was even a big hole on the wall. So basically no one lived there for so long, I decided to erm... borrow it." "Wait, is it the house north from here?" Kirin answered her with a nod. "Weird, I thought that place had someone in it..." "Never mind that, I see you got what I asked for! Just leave those on the table and I'll start cooking soon." He said as he returned to the bed he was making.  Seeing that there was nothing else to do, Minion decided to just go on with her own business right after she placed the paper bag on the table as well as the saddle. She glanced at Kirin one last time before leaving. Unsure if she should allow him to roam freely, she couldn't trust him, yet she was thinking twice about if she should cocoon him again. Truly the oddest creature she had ever met.