//------------------------------//
// Under the Eaves 
// Story: Princess and Pariah 
// by Taialin 
//------------------------------//

Tempest isn't easily impressed by anything, so seeing her even nod in appreciation of the kirin homeland really does emphasize how beautiful it is. It's unique enough that there's a lush forest in the middle of this otherwise barren caldera. It's even moreso that every home here looks as though Fluttershy had a hoof in making sure it didn't disturb the local biome. Applejack did mention the community was pretty, but her sparse and utilitarian words were no sufficient description.

At the same time, even seeing the place in the flesh, I can believe why Tempest thought this place was a legend. Even now, it looks like a place from legend. This whole settlement is one that shouldn't exist. The land all around here is dry and inhospitable, certainly nothing that could sustain a forest like this. What's more, while we're in the mountain's depression, we're still well above sea level. And yet, this place doesn't seem lacking for water—how did an entire running river get up here?

All this tells me there has to be more undiscovered magic here than I thought. Not just what sustains the Stream of Silence, but what makes possible this community in the first place. Is it natural magic that first made the environment, and this attracted the kirin? Or did the kirin settle on a challenging land which later turned fertile through their own magics morphing their environment? Of all pony species, only earth ponies have that ability, but kirin can also lift things like unicorns, so might they have both types? Even earth ponies can't make water run uphill, though.

There's so much to learn, so much to discover!

"So, who are we trying to meet with here, Princess?" Tempest says, bringing me back to the mission we came here for.

"Applejack's friend, Autumn Blaze," I reply. But even though she invited us to come meet her in her letter, she never mentioned who to go to or what to look for. I guess we'll have to ask around.

We enter the village. The few kirin out and about take notice of us but don't wave to us, say a word in greeting, or even smile. One of them is playing a lute, eyes closed, strumming gentle chords and arpeggios. She doesn't acknowledge us, either.

I frown. This all reminds me of the casual coldness of a city like Manehattan, but somehow set in a rural village. The moment somepony new walks into Ponyville, they're greeted with inviting words and friendly faces (if they're not accosted by a certain pink pony first). But here, I feel like a foreigner in hostile lands. True, we are foreigners, but . . .

Carefully, I walk to the kirin playing the lute. They flick their ears as we approach but don't open their eyes.

"Um, hi. I'm Princess Twilight Sparkle," I say timidly. I don't often invoke my title, but something's telling me to do so now. Almost like I felt like I wouldn't get a response if I didn't. "I'm looking for a kirin named Autumn Blaze. Can you direct me to her?"

The kirin opens one eye slightly, and it studies me. Their lute playing continues uninterrupted.

I offer a smile, trying not to look intimidating.

. . .

"I-if you don't know, that's alright too!" I offer, smile growing a little strained.

. . .

Or maybe it doesn't matter how I introduce myself. Am I being too intimidating? Do they think I've arrived with ill intent? Am I not worth their attention? Just as I'm about to ask another question, they turn their head ever so slightly. I turn to look at where they're pointing their head, and I see a treehouse in the distance with a tiny figure in front of it, frantically waving.

Looks like we've found our pony. Er, kirin. That'd be the first real greeting I've received since arriving, and if Autumn's letter was any indication of her countenance, it does fit. "Thank you!" I say, turning back to them.

The kirin merely closes their eye again, never stopping their playing. My smile twitches.

I thought the kirin spoke now. Applejack and Fluttershy said they were when they left, and they were generally a lot friendlier because of it. "Friendly" is not the word I would use to describe our welcome thus far. More "aloof." Very aloof.

What happened to them?

I don't have too long to think on the puzzle, though. I walk to the treehouse the kirin indicated, Tempest following close behind. Autumn runs to meet us halfway, a smile on her face that threatens to break her cheekbones.

"You must be the Princess Applejack was talking about, right? I've always wanted to meet a Princess of Equestria. Or, it's the Princess of Equestria now, right? Applejack told me you were promoted. Oh, it's so exciting to know someone who's friends with the Princess! Or, I guess since we're talking right now, to know the Princess! Is it really true that you raise the sun and moon now? That's so exciting that you make the entire world go 'round! Is it a big responsibility? How hard is it? I feel like I need to be extra nice to you now in case you, I don't know, decide not to raise the sun one day. Imagine that, right? I wonder if you'd call it a new day if the sun didn't rise. Or do you just call it one really long day?"

"Uh." My face is stuck in an . . . expression. I don't know what it is because I'm still processing the tsunami of words that came flooding out of Autumn's mouth. Applejack . . . Princess . . . promoted . . . got it. Are you sure you're not related to the Pies?

I shake myself out of my stupor and regain some form of dignity. "R-right. I'm Twilight Sparkle, and it's great to meet you. I'm guessing you are—"

"Autumn Blaze, yep, that's me!" she says, taking my hoof and shaking it vigorously. Still holding onto my hoof, she looks at my companion. "But Applejack didn't mention you were bringing a friend!" She makes a move, swinging her hoof out to grab Tempest's. Quickly.

"Wait, don't—"

Too fast for me to get between them, the moment Autumn reaches out, Tempest's forehooves snap against the ground so strongly they tear a pair of divots into the dirt. She launches into a backflip as Autumn and I watch on in a mixture of surprise and horror. She lands a distance away, head lowered in a threatening gesture.

"Tempest, no!"

It happens all at once but plays out in front of my eyes in slow motion. As I reach out in an attempt to calm her down, a spark of light escapes Tempest's horn. It barely covers any distance, dissipating just one length away from her. That's all that's able to happen before she staggers backwards and falls to her belly, hissing in pain. Even as I run to her, she tries to get back to her hooves.

"Tempest, stop, please! It's fine, everything's fine, just stop casting!" I cry frantically. I dive towards her and hold her, trying to stop her from advancing or harming herself further.

My eyes start tickling as Tempest falls back down and holds her head, groaning. She's no longer channeling any energy through her horn, but I can still feel some heat pulsing through it. I don't know if trying to cast in her state advances her condition, but she and I have to know that she shouldn't be doing it at all until she's better. It was instinct and reaction that bypassed conscious thought.

I hold her tighter when she tries to get up again. "Please, Tempest, just sit. Autumn Blaze isn't dangerous, no one here is! I promise. You don't need to fight, and you don't need to cast. Just don't hurt yourself."

When she opens her eyes, I see a hint of the vulnerability I first saw when she first appeared in my chambers. It tells me that for all the strength Tempest has—and she has so very much—at the bottom, she's still a pony, one who can be as worried and scared as anypony else. She just does a much better job of hiding it.

"Are you okay?" I ask. I know she hates it when I ask that, but I can't help myself.

She grunts—or is it a groan?—in response. "I'll just . . . stay here." Her voice is not much more than a whisper.

I don't let go of her, not yet. The vulnerability in her eyes is gone, replaced with some familiar annoyance. But it's put on, a shallow veneer over her actual feelings. I want to ask her how she feels; I want her to be vulnerable. But I can't. I know there's a time and place to challenge her facade, and now isn't it. Much as I know the next time it is appropriate, that vulnerability will be buried by so much strength I'll never get through it. So much of her is that strength.

Who's at the bottom?

"Just, um . . ." I struggle to think of the right phrase. "At ease? Stand down?" I shake my head. "I'll take care of this. You just, yeah. Stay here. Sit and stay relaxed. And . . . let me know if anything else hurts?"

She grunts again.

I give her a half-hearted smile. I'm beginning to understand why Tempest never had traveling companions. She is a lone wolf, and for as much as I've tried schooling her in the ways of friendship and for as much progress as she's made, she'll likely always be one. Wounds leave scars behind, and Tempest's run very deep.

I school my face into something a modicum more dignified before turning around and facing Autumn again. Her own face is a mix of surprise, concern, and not a little bit of confusion. "Uhhh, should I be worried?" she asks.

I shake my head. "She's alright," I say, not because I genuinely think she is but because it's what she'd want me to say. Then I gesture to her. "This is Tempest. She's a friendly pony, trust me. She's just . . . sensitive when it comes to other ponies approaching too quickly or touching her without permission. So uh, be careful."

"R-right. Nice to meet you anyways?" she says, waving at Tempest but not moving from her spot. Tempest doesn't respond, only looking back with a gaze intense enough that anypony would think it a glare.

Autumn sheepishly returns her hoof to the ground. "Sorry," she stage-whispers.

"She'll forgive you," I say, though I'm well aware Tempest has a hard time forgiving anypony. For that matter, sometimes I still wonder whether she's actually forgiven me. "Anyway, you said in your letter that kirin did actually have their own script and that you could help translate?"

"Oh, right!" Autumn says, peppiness returning to her voice like it never left. "We know how to speak Ponish because most other creatures know it. But we do have our own language and our own writing system, too. A more fun writing system, if I do say so myself." She chuckles to herself. "And I do say, and so do the rest of the kirin! Thanks for that, by the way."

"Don't thank me, thank Applejack and Fluttershy. They were the ones who did all the work," I reply. I also retrieve the encyclopedia, open it to the passage about the Stream of Silence, and pass it to her. Autumn Blaze picks it up with her own magic, the striations in her—horn? There's no other word I have for it but a horn—lighting up blue with a power unfamiliar to me. "Do they actually, though? I heard you administered the cure to everyone, but the first kirin I met here didn't seem to speak."

Autumn's eyes scan the characters of the page, up and down. "I definitely did. I had to use up all the flowers we found to make sure of that. We had just enough." She turns a page. "But not all kirin actually know Ponish all that well. And not all kirin want to speak it, either."

She frowns, the first time I've seen that expression cross her face. "You see, after so long under the Vow of Silence, some kirin liked the peace that came with it. No speaking means no arguments and no fire. It's definitely less exciting, if you ask me. But some kirin actually prefer it that way. It's gotten kind of political, to be honest. Silenced versus sounded kirin." Autumn Blaze twirls a cloven hoof. "Of course, there's only so much politicking you can do when you, well, don't want to talk to get your point across."

I hide a sigh. Of course no friendship problem is ever that simple to resolve. Applejack and Fluttershy accomplished a lot in one day, but it was, after all, only one day. I have to think that the kirin are in a much better state now than they were before, but they obviously still have a ways to go. I haven't started any diplomatic relations with the kirin since they haven't been causing Equestria any problems, but maybe I could under the guise of starting friendship relations. "Well, I hope all kirin of all types are making friends with each other!" I say optimistically.

Autumn doesn't respond; she keeps frowning at the pages. She flips the same page back and forth a few times, looking as though she missed something. After a few more moments studying the characters, she puts the book down and sighs. "Gee, well this is embarrassing. I'm sorry, Twilight, but I actually can't read this."

My heart falls. "Y-you can't?"

"Well, I can read about a third of the words here, not enough for me to make much sense of it.Like any language, Chinese has evolved over the years, but one particularly poignant "evolution" is one that is still happening now. Today, Chinese has two different writing systems representing the same words: simplified and traditional characters. Unlike a more organic evolution, the move to simplified characters in mainland China was imposed by China's Communist Party. Characters in both systems can be so radically different that it's often not possible to read traditional characters if all you know are the simplified ones. It's largely agreed that whatever the benefits of simplifying an admittedly complex script, it was partly done for political reasons (i.e. "erasing the past"). Something about a great founder and her family? I don't really understand it. Where'd you get this book, anyway? It's ancient!"

"The Crystal Empire Archives. It's the only kirin-language resource I could find, and I don't know where it came from. The librarians don't know either." I shake my head. "It's a long story. It's fortunate I was able to find this book at all. They were about to throw it out, much as I hate libraries throwing out books. But they didn't have much reason to research it or hold onto it since, well, we can't read it."

"Honestly, I probably wouldn't have held onto this, either. This book is before my time. Before anyone's time. Except . . ." Autumn puts a hoof to her chin. "You know, I don't know how old Rain Shine is, but she's the village leader, and she's the eldest, and she does know a lot about these sorts of things. You'd be amazed how much random stuff she knows about botany. If anyone would be able to read this, it'd be her."

I close my eyes and suppress a sigh. I'm hopeful, right? We'll find something. But I can't help but feel like this is a game of Who Said What with one too many degrees of separation. There's Tempest's condition, which I don't know a lot about. There's kirin magic, which may or may not be helpful. There's a volume about the Stream, but I don't know exactly what information it contains. And it's written in a script I don't know if anyone can read.

I'm . . . no. I'm still hopeful. I'm still hopeful. This is just one lead. And we've already come so far—we'll get the bottom of this. And we'll find a solution.

I open my eyes and ask, "Where can I find her?"