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// A Day In The Life Of A Kirin 
// Story: The Next Generation 
// by MercilessKing 
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	Raiju Oshe spent most of his time re-shelving books. As opposed to his teacher who would often allow the books for get disorganized and have to take an entire day to reorganize everything, his system had him replacing the books in their proper places as the books were turned in. Trotting around the library on his claws, his horns lit up with magic as he placed the books in their proper places. “Iron Claw Clan History,” he muttered, “Potion Making for Dummies, Legends of Tartarus, Anatomy and You…” He paused looking at the anatomy book again. “How can any pony ready this…?” He placed the book on the shelf and continued on, but paused when he noticed the sound of a book moving away from him. He turned around and found Dinky with the anatomy book in her grasp. “And what are you doing, madam?” he asked with a wide grin.
“I-I was just curious as to what it was,” she said quickly, hoping he’d buy her lie. When his grin widened, she deflated. “My teacher said I should study more anatomy for my test on Friday… This is the only beginner level anatomy book in the library…”
“It’s also wholly inaccurate to dragons, Kirin, and sea serpents,” he informed, taking the book from her. His horns lit up as he searched around. After a moment, he pulled a thicker book from the shelves. “This is much better than this swill.”
“If you don’t like it, then why do you have it around?”
He opened his mouth, but couldn’t find a reasonable answer. “Shut up, I keep it around for cataloging…” His teacher was intent on having every book in Equestria. He simply wanted a copy of every book in his possession. He sighed as she giggled. “Just use that instead of this. …And, as a friendly tip, next time you and your boyfriend sneak off to explore each other’s mouths, be sure to keep it down.” He grinned as she blushed heavily.
“Oh, shut up!” She turned and went back to work, though she kept the book nearby. She hated that he was so astute sometimes. It was impossible to sneak anything by him!
The Kirin trotted around with a grin. She made it a little too easy to get revenge for snide remarks sometimes. He continued putting books in their respective places as he trotted around. He was able to get some walking time in with this method of re-shelving. It was much more than his teacher did. …Though he was much less prone to muscle deterioration considering he was half dragon. This time, paused when he found Scootaloo flying around. “Scoots, I put up with your vulgar language, your thrill seeker behavior and even the way you’re always late to work despite being one of the fastest fliers in Ponyville, but I will not put up with you flying around the library and knocking books from their shelves.”
“Hey! I don’t knock books from the shelves,” she stated defensively. She turned her back to him in a huff, but squawked when her wing clipped the books, not only knocking them off the shelf, but knocking her out of the air, too! She quickly tried to recover, but found Raiju levitating her instead. She sighed in relief. “Thanks…” She looked down at the books he’d let drop in favor of catching her. “Uh… Sorry for the books…” She started flapping again, letting him get back to levitating the books. “Okay, I don’t knock the books over very often.”
He rolled his eyes. “Just be careful. Dinky, Belle and I won’t always be around to catch you when you nearly kill yourself.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever freckles,” she teased, grinning as he glared at her. Of all things, she knew that he hated when ponies pointed out the freckle like scales on his cheeks. It was apparently really obnoxious to him. She went back to work, only narrowly escaping a scolding. She’d taken on so many of Rainbow Dash’s mannerism that she even started escaping trouble like the rainbow pegasus.
He shook his head and went back to work. He looked down to the ground floor of the library and spotted Pipsqueak checking in more books from the patrons. Ever since he’d taken over the library’s primary workings, the Golden Oaks Library had become much more popular amongst the inhabitants of Ponyville. He sighed. “At least he’s working when he’d not off somewhere with Dinky…”
“But she doesn’t do her work either.”
He flinched and looked around only to find Sweetie Belle nearby. She was a really sneaky pony sometimes. She had a habit of sneaking up on him, despite his own impressively enhanced draconic senses. “Well, she does more than most,” he stated, “And she works with her boyfriend. I kind of expect them to flirt on the job…” He stored more books as she helped a nearby patron. He was silent until she was alone again, putting some of the books a pegasus had left behind back on their respective shelves. “Besides, Belle, if I was as strict as other bosses, I’d have fired Scoots, Pip and Dinky by now. …You and Bloom are the only ones that really do your job all the time…”
“Not as much as you,” she stated simply, “You work so much that you don’t even sleep.” She grinned when he absently rubbed the bags under his eyes. She loved pointing out how much she noticed. She was one of the most observant ponies, even if she didn’t catch on as quickly as others. “You really should get some rest sometime, boss.”
“I sleep enough,” he crooned, but immediately yawned. His bodily functions really liked undermining his more confident proclamations. “…Okay, maybe some extra snooze hours wouldn’t hurt… But, only after work.”
“Alright, boss!” With that she went back to work, trying to get things done faster so he could take a nap. She was one of the only ones that could convince him to take breaks sometimes. It was her vote that had made him stop drinking coffee and start sleeping more. If necessary, she would use a sealing spell to lock him out of his study!
“Don’t you go into your study after work?” Apple Bloom asked, announcing her presence. She ignored the way he flinched and purposely didn’t call attention to the way he silently gazed at Sweetie Belle.
“M-mostly, but other times, I go and do some frivolous reading in my room,” he stated, putting more books away, “Besides, I’m getting sleepier every day. Pretty soon, I’m just gonna go ahead and sleep in for once.” He paused before turning to her. “Purposefully sleeping in, I mean,” he added.
She nodded with a grin. “If you slept more, you’d be more attentive.” She couldn’t see why he’d need sleep for that. He was already attentive enough. “And, if you sleep more, you’ll be in a better mood. What ever happened to that special pillow I got you?”
“I sleep on it,” he informed, “I also tend to find it on top of my head when I’m sleeping really heavily…” He sighed. “I’m not sure if the pillows from Haven were really such a great investment. They’re soft and everything, but they seem a little over rated…”
“What?!” She spun around to him. Coupled with her sister’s Stetson, she gave him a glare comparable only to the world’s most honest—and most stubborn—pony. “That pillow was really expensive! What do you mean it’s overrated? It’s made of clouds for cryin’ out loud!”
“I’m just saying,” he began, trying to calm her down. She was being really loud for working in a library. “It seems really expensive for paying for a really soft cloud…” He shrugged. “I guess I just need to sleep on it more and figure out what every pony sees in them.”
“You’d better,” she threatened, “I got that pillow just for you, so you’d better use it more!” She turned away and went back to putting books on the shelves, the same as him. “An’ sleepin’ in your study ain’t helpin’ any pony, ‘nether…”
“Bloom, your accent’s getting thick again,” he informed. After the five months of accent coaching, he could always tell when she was angry on account of her accent thickening when she was particularly upset. He’d admit that her accent was cute, but it was just concerning since it only came out when she was angry. “Don’t worry your pretty little head about it. We’ll close up early today and I’ll get some sleep, okay?” Considering he was part dragon, it was astonishing that he was so intimidated by her. She was one of the only ponies he could speak candidly with about just about anything, but she was also one of the strongest willed ponies he’d ever met.
She glared at him again. Sometimes, he was the most astute pony—or half pony—around, but at other times, he was also one of the most negligent. “Fine,” she said before going back to work, “And don’t say anything about my accent when it gets bad like that. It, uh, makes me kinda nervous…”
“Deal,” he crooned, “I’ll sleep more and I won’t point out your accent.” He grinned as she rolled her eyes at him and went back to work. Even if they were a bit odd at times, he really had the best friends a pony could ask for, especially since he was such a mess sometimes. He placed the last of the books in his repertoire. However Twilight got by with re-shelving days, he’d never know. He’d have to ask Spike about that sometime. He yawned loudly. “Maybe I can ask him after a nap…”


After a long day at work, it was easy to see how the six of them kept the library in such fine working order. They always opened and closed at the same hours—save for the days that Raiju didn’t wake up in time—and they always closed up on time, too. Some days they closed earlier, other days they closed later. Some days, it was just Raiju working and other days it was all six of them putting in effort. After all, Apple Bloom had the orchard, Sweetie Belle had the boutique, Scootaloo had the weather team, Pipsqueak had his volunteer work at the school and even Dinky worked in her garage on new gadgets. They all had their own pursuits, but they all came together to watch after the library Twilight entrusted to her student.
With a heavy sigh, Raiju locked the library’s front door and tucked the key into his bag. The brown bag had been with him since he’d first come to Ponyville. It was so old that the gold buckles had begun to tarnish, even despite the numerous times he’d cleaned them. “Okay,” he began, “We’re officially off the clock. …Where are we going for dinner tonight?”
Ever since befriending the Kirin, the group had an odd ritual of going out to eat after getting off work from the library. Before, it was just something they suggested, but now, it was the norm. They’d often go to new and different restaurants around Ponyville, but there were some places where they’d become regulars.
“Hm… There’s a place that opened up that serves Buffalo grub,” Scootaloo stated, “I hear they’re alfalfa salad is really good, and they even serve turquoise there for dragons, too.” Ever since Spike’s negotiations with the dragons from the far off lands of the Fringe, dragons had become an ordinary sight in Ponyville as well as most of Equestria. They were on better terms than they were with griffons!
“Oh! Or we could go to the Hay Burger! It’s been a long time since we’ve gone there,” the pinto colored pony cheered excitedly.
“You’re just saying that so you can share a shake with Dinky,” he stated, leading the way down the street, “And I know exactly where we’re going. There’s a place opening up called Yama Tsukami. Tonight, I shall introduce you all to the foods of my people! …Or at least the ones my dad resembles…”
“Your dad is from Yoketo, isn’t he?” Dinky questioned. After hearing about the way his family moved to Equestria, it was a bit odd to meet a foreigner of his kind. Even despite his dragon heritage, he didn’t even know normal Equestrian as his first language.
“Yup, and they named the restaurant after a city, too. I grew up on food like that. …Plus a large quantity of jade, but that’s not the point.” He was happy to share more of his culture with his friends, even if it was only the food he didn’t have the materials to cook for them. “It’s odd, but you’ll like it.”
“If you like it, then I’m not so sure,” Pipsqueak stated, “You do like a lot of stuff that we can’t eat, you know.” After the time Raiju offered a sapphire to him when he was sick, he was certain that they’d have a lot of cultural differences as well as racial differences.
“That was an isolated case,” he said quickly, “And I’m better about stuff like that. I know what ponies eat and what dragons eat. …I’m just not trying to get you all to eat what I eat…” His diet was the oddest of them all and he knew they couldn’t handle what he ate. Whenever they went out to eat, he made sure to remain sensitive to that ever-present thought. He came to the front of the small restaurant, grinning when he read the sign.
The restaurant was modeled after the old houses and structures in Yama Tsukami, though there was a heavier influence on dragon shaped accents. The sign out front was meant to draw attention and they had plenty of business today. There was plenty of business and the Crusaders were only a small portion of the customers.
“This time, for sure, you all with like this. And it’s something we can all enjoy,” he said confidently.