• Published 2nd Apr 2018
  • 2,562 Views, 36 Comments

How To Raise A Kirin In 12,371 Steps - Soothing Stone



After tying the knot with Spike in the future, Twilight gives birth to a kirin--a dragon-pony hybrid. This sends both of them searching for answers about their child.

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Three Dragons, Two Kirins, One Pony, and An Egg Walk Into A Forest

Not long after Celestia received the news about Ember, she sent a letter to Twilight and Spike right away. With the sensitivity of the information, it was best that they knew about it as soon as possible. Naturally, when the Princess of Friendship received news like this, she took it quietly.

“WHAT? EMBER HAS A CHILD, TOO?” she screamed in the middle of the living room. “That’s awesome! It was just yesterday that I met her in the Dragon Lands, helping you answer Torch’s summon and discover that dragons do friendship after all. Now, she’s kinda-sorta married with a baby on board. Time sure flies, doesn’t it?”

Spike went over the letter himself. “Aren’t you forgetting something here? Celestia and Starswirl found another kirin out there. Figured you would be spazzing out and demanding we go over there right now. It’s the first one they found in centuries.”

“Oh, I’ve learned to see the big picture lately,” she squeaked. “It’s a big deal and I’d like to learn everything I can from this Wildfire, but I can be happy for someone else, too.” She fed Kunzite another spoonful of applesauce, something the little kirin was happy to have. “Aren’t you happy for her?”

“Are you kidding? It’s nice that she ended up with another dragon, and it’s not Garble! I mean, I’m happy for her and all, but I’m wondering why Wildfire wants us all to go over there to that forest. Judging from the tone in the letter, it sounds important. I can get everything packed for the trip if you want.”

“And we will. I just want a moment with Kunzite first.” She wiped the sauce from Kunzite’s face with a napkin. “After everything going on, I feel like it’s finally starting to come together. Of course, Cadence tells me it won’t stay that way for long, but it’s nice to have a moment like this every once in a while.”

Spike put the letter away and brought his chair next to the rest of the family. “It is. We shouldn’t keep them waiting for that long, but...yeah. I wanted a moment like this with the family.” He rubbed the top of Kunzite’s head and ruffled her mane a bit. She giggled and grabbed Spike’s claw to see what it was that messed up her hair. It was like she had never seen it before. He let her enjoy her food, but before he knew it, he felt Twilight’s head lean on his shoulder. She would soon feel his arm wrap around her waist as they watched their daughter act all cute. It was therapeutic, just letting the kirin be herself for once.

After she was finished eating, Twilight had an idea to take their daughter out for a walk. Spike pointed out that Celestia would be still be waiting for them. Hopefully, a letter asking for more time would take care of that. Once it was sent, they brought Kunzite out to the great outdoors, and despite the overcast skies, it would be a good day for a walk.

The dragon quickly remembered Kunzite didn’t like them stepping on grass, so he decided to fly by the clouds. Twilight brought Kunzite up to meet him, only to see her spread her wings out. Their hearts melted when they discovered she had no trouble staying that high up in the air. Then they decided to see how far she could fly, going a little past the castle. She had no troubles going that far, so they changed their plans for a walk to a flight.

Kunzite was absolutely thrilled to be doing this with her parents, and she laughed in pure ecstasy from the sights and sounds of Equestria surrounding her. Twilight made no attempts to hide her tears from watching her daughter fly. If this was what motherhood would be like, it would be an incredible ride Spike went through the same experience, thinking back to what it must have been like for his wife, watching him grow up. Oh jeez, the tears were coming for him, too.

After an hour of flying, Kunzite was spent and needed a nap. She cuddled herself into Twilight’s arms and fell asleep. Spike and Twilight let the moment sink in, and their eyes were red from all the tears. This was certainly a moment they wouldn’t forget.

“Hmmm….Mommah...Daddeh…” Kunzite mumbled, right before she fell into a wonderful dream.

------

Celestia paced back and forth in worry. She might have gotten a letter that they would be late, but this was Twilight she was talking about. That was a pony that would always be on time, punctual to a tee, and changed plans to make it to events like these. If Twilight wasn’t here yet, that usually meant something was horribly wrong.

“Does she always do that?” Wildfire inquired. “She’s so graceful, and a total worrywart at the same time.”

“It’s usually not this bad,” noted Starswirl. “She might be concerned due to the importance of this event. There is no telling what will occur, and she thrives on expecting any outcome. It can be terrifying to not know what is in front of you.”

“Meh, that’s life for you.” The kirin lounged in one of the tree branches. “Dragons, on the other hand, you never can tell what they’ll do. They have temper tantrums over anything, so who knows. Maybe they won’t show up--” His thoughts were interrupted when he caught two dragons coming in overhead. “OH COME ON! Right when I say it?” Judging from the egg in the blue dragon’s hands, there was a good chance they were Ember and Fizzle.

Celestia sighed in relief and bowed before the Dragon Lord as she arrived. “Dragon Lord Ember,” she greeted her fellow royalty. “It is an honor to meet you again, and congratulations on the child.”

“Dragon Lord? That still feels weird to say,” said Ember. “It might be a thing between you ponies, but we dragons really don’t care about titles unless we’re in trouble. Hey, where’s Twilight and Spike?”

“...Spike?” Fizzle balked. “He’s a prince now? I remember when I found out he won the Gauntlet of Fire. Garble won’t shut up that he got further than me to this day, let alone Spike. Do I really have to talk to him?”

“Ah, you must be Fizzle.” Wildfire got down from his perch and came up to see the dragons, still hovering above the floor. “Mate to Dragon Lord Ember. From what I heard, you’re the daughter of the previous Dragon Lord, Torch. Did he ever mention me?”

Ember smirked at the figure in front of her. “Wildfire. You were the only one to stand up to him in his lifetime. Well, without dying. So this is what a kirin looks like. Kinda cute.”

“Yes yes, I’m cute and handsome at the same time, but we’re not here for that.” He touched the top of the dragon egg and closed his eyes. The horns on his head started to glow. “Let’s see...any magic properties here? Hmm, not yet...almost...oh my gosh.” When he opened his eyes, they were almost completely white. “Yep, that’s the stuff. There’s a ton of magic to this egg.”

“What does that entail?” Starswirl butted in. “Surely, there must be more to it than simply magic.”

“Oh yeah, way more. It’s just as I thought. Most dragon eggs don’t carry this much magic, if they have it at all. I’m starting to suspect it wasn’t a coincidence you had this egg right when Twilight and Spike had their baby.” His eyes turned back to normal.

Ember and Fizzle looked at each other in concern. “Is that something we need to be worried about?” the Dragon Lord pondered.

“Not sure. We’ll know when the rest of the party gets here--oh hey. I have the best timing in the world. Right behind you guys. You’ll like this part.”

The dragons checked to see who it was, and they found Spike and Twilight coming in. The only company with them was Kunzite herself, fast asleep on Twilight’s back. Wildfire’s attention turned to the younger kirin, and he couldn’t believe what he was witnessing. There really was another kirin in the world, so they weren’t just pulling on his leg about it.

“Took you long enough,” Celestia said half-jokingly, but also half-not jokingly. “What took you so long? I figured you’d get here ahead of schedule.”

“We wanted to, but we got caught up in a moment,” Twilight responded as they came down next to the dragons. “It’s been hectic ever since Kunzite’s come into our lives, and we finally got a moment to relax and hang out as a family. That was a big deal for us.”

“Hmm, parenthood really is changing your life after all. I recall when Cadence got married, and her life changed drastically over time. It truly is beautiful, and I hope your life changes for the better, just as it did for her.”

In the meantime, Fizzle gulped when he found the other former Dragon Lord come up to him. He glanced down at the floor and tried not to say anything. Then he felt Spike give him a quick tap on the shoulder.

“Hey, how you’ve been, Fizzle?” said Spike. “You’re not making Ember upset, are you?”

“OH THANK TORCH!” Fizzle shouted. “I thought you were all gonna be like ‘hey, what’s the difference between me and you? One of us is a former Dragon Lord’. Why are you being so nice to me again? You realize I was a jerk when we met.”

“Why wouldn’t I be nice to you? I’ve heard a lot of things from Ember about you, and it sounds like you softened up. Still, why are you hanging out with Garble? He’s just gonna make you a jerk again if you’re not careful.”

“I know…”

On the other hand, Twilight was more than eager to meet up with Ember. The dragon egg grabbed her attention right away. “Congrats on your first egg, Ember! You must be so proud. What’s it like knowing you’re going to be a mother?”

“I’m confused. Like, really really confused. Is that another kirin there?” She pointed to the sleeping baby Twilight was carrying. “Huh. It is. That makes the second kirin I’ve ever met. This is a weird day, but she is pretty cute.”

Speaking of Kunzite, Wildfire couldn’t stop staring at her. “It’s been...I can’t remember how long it’s been since I’ve seen another kirin. Is it okay if I hold her? Just for a second?”

“That’s fine by me. Just be careful with her.” Twilight handed her off to him, and she was still sleeping soundly. She extended her claws from the dream she was in the middle of having.

“This is incredible,” he marveled. “You might be here for answers, but if anything, I should be thanking you for this privilege.” He parted the mane over the baby’s face and smiled. “Little Kunzite, I only wish you will be better received in Equestria than I was. A lot of time has passed and society is likely different than it was in my youth. You have a bright future to look forward to.”

“Speaking of that, isn’t that why we’re all here?” Ember piped up. “Come on, we gotta get to the bottom of this. What’s with this ‘fates intertwining’ stuff Celestia rambled about? My dragon’s not gonna be a freak, right?. I don’t want her to get kicked out of the Dragon Lands...or him. I haven’t thought about what gender it’s going to be.”

“Nah, he or she is not gonna be a freak.” Wildfire cleared his throat and handed Kunzite back to Twilight and Spike. “One thing is for certain, however. When this kirin and this dragon grow up, their fates will likely collide. I dunno when and I dunno how, but it’s inevitable. Just to be sure, I’d like to cast a spell on both of them to check their magic. Would you guys mind if I did something like that?”

“Is it going to hurt the egg?” Fizzle asked. He was frightened at the thought of his egg having anything done to it.

“Not at all. I’m just gonna check both of them for magical stuff and make sure it’s not just a theory that they're connected.”

“Then go ahead. I want to know all I can about our hatchling before he or she is born,” Ember agreed.

“Likewise,” said Twilight. “It’s obvious that our little Kunzite’s going to be something special, but if we can find out more about her destiny, that would be a big deal to us.”

“You will be taking notes on this, I presume?” Celestia said to Starswirl.

“Already on it.” He had a notebook ready with his ink and pen.

“Very well. Bring the children forward,” Wildfire asked.

Ember and Twilight gave one last glance at their partners, just to be certain, and they brought their children to the older kirin. They weren’t sure how this would go down, which didn’t exactly help their fears. Wildfire stood in front of them, trying to look as professional as possible for the event. That would take a lot of effort to pull off, but he was no ordinary pony-dragon creature.

After they all came together, he unleashed his spell on Kunzite and the egg. Their body glowed from the magic coming over there, and they started to lift out of the arms of their mothers. Ember and Twilight reached out for their kin, but they stopped to let him finish his work The air around the garden felt like it was crackling with electricity as the spell continued on to the next stage.

A black aura started to go around the two children. Sparks started to fill the space around them, but Wildfire was calm as he started to examine them with the spell. Amazingly, none of the electricity woke Kunzite up. The aura swirled around them as the magic picked up in intensity. Wildfire grunted and started to sweat from the force it was inflicting upon him.

In due time, the aura started to leave the children and come to the space between them, forming a black orb of pure energy. The energy moved to go inside Wildfire’s twin horns. Once they did, his eyelids shot open. “So much energy...such intensity...I’ve never seen anything like this! How lucky am I to witness this!”

The spell stopped out of nowhere. Kunzite and the egg were still in his magical grip, but he pushed them forward, back into Twilight and Ember’s waiting arms. Once he did, he fell down with the biggest grin on his face.

“That was awesome!” he panted. “Never went like that before. So, where do I start with you guys? You’re gonna have a great future ahead of you. Just make sure you raise them right, and you’ll thank me later.”

“What does that even mean?” Ember questioned. “You got anything else to say other than ‘this is awesome’?”

“Yeah, I got a lot more than that. It was just as I thought. Their fates are intertwined, and whatever Kunzite’s birth is gonna lead to, your hatchling is gonna be part of it. I can’t quite figure out what it is, but they’re definitely going to be in each other’s business. So that’s kinda cool, am I right?”

Everyone in the group gave each other looks, ranging from confusion, frustration, anger, or open relief. “It’s one step closer to knowing what will happen,” Celestia commented. “For that, we are grateful. I only worry if this is a sign of disaster to come.”

“If there is, Kunzite and this little egg will be able to stop it together. At least, that’s what I’m seeing,” Wildfire shrugged. “If you ask me, it’s probably best that they get to know each other when they’re growing up. I dunno how exactly their future will be like, but it will make things smoother for whatever purpose they have.”

“That is a good point, and it could potentially bring our two kingdoms closer together,” Twilight thought. “Spike, what do you think about it? It’s not like it will be the first time we got to meet a dragon.”

“I like it, and it might just keep Fizzle away from Garble,” Spike whispered into Twilight’s ear. “We’re on board with Wildfire’s plan if you guys are. What do you say to a kirin-dragon hangout?”

Ember paused to give it some thought. “Kunzite is pretty cute, and she’s half dragon, so maybe we can get along. Still, we shouldn’t force it. Just have them get to know each other and go from there. After all, these dragons do friendship.” She nudged Fizzle on the side to get him to agree with her.

“Right!” he said. “We totally do friendship. It’s a nice thing, magical and all, and...okay, this is just weird. We thought we would just have an egg, everyone would be happy, and now I find out that there’s two types of kirin, I’m in the same forest as the oldest Equestria princess ever, and there’s a sorcerer that might be over a thousand years old! Is it that big of a deal when we have children?”

“Yes,” Twilight stated plainly. “Your life is never going to be the same.”

“Understatement of the century,” Spike added.

“Well, guess we better get started right away on getting ready for dragon parenthood,” Ember commented. “We’ll keep in touch on how it goes, and good luck with your little kirin baby. Sounds like you’ll have your hands full.”

“Thank you, and I’m sure your baby will be just as cute as you,” Twilight cheered.

“Like it will be that hard to do. I’m not that cute.”

After a little while, Ember and Fizzle said goodbye and departed for the Dragon Lands. Wildfire spent a little more time getting to know Kunzite, as he was still blown away that he wasn’t the only one of his kind. It was getting late in the day, however, and Kunzite was wiped out for the day. After the elder kirin found out he was free to visit Equestria as he pleased, the rest of the party started to make their way back to Equestria.

“Hey, before we go, there is one thing we wanted to say,” Spike spoke up to Celestia and Starswirl. “Thanks for everything you’ve done for us. It means more to us than you can imagine.”

“What did we do to deserve such a compliment ?” Starswirl pondered. “It felt like a waste of our time, if I must be forward.”

“Oh, how about trekking through an ancient forest, finding the first dragon-pony kirin seen for over a thousand years, and helping us find out more about our daughter?” Twilight pointed out.

“That sounds like a lot to me,” Celestia grinned. “And you thought you did nothing productive this week.”

“Hmmphf. I suppose more was accomplished than I thought. Still, best of luck to you two. If Wildfire’s right, you’ll have a lot to deal with in the coming days.”

“Like we’re not used to that already,” Spike sneered. “We’ll be fine in the end. We’re doing this together, after all.” He kissed Twilight on the cheek to prove his point.

“Very well. Farewell, Princess Twilight, Prince Spike, and Princess Kunzite,” Celestia bowed. “May the future bode well for you.”

“And for you as well, Your Majesty,” Twilight bowed back.

After everything was said and done, the dragon and the purple alicorn spread their wings and flew up into the sky. Spike made sure Kunzite didn’t fall out of his hands as they went on home, leaving the sun princess and her former teacher in the forest. It wasn’t long until the royal family disappeared off to Ponyville.

“You don’t think Wildfire was full of it, do you?” Starswirl noted. “He strikes me as a trickster, not unlike Discord.”

”I heard that,” Discord grumped in another part of the universe.

“Wildfire may be full of himself, but he doesn’t strike as a liar,” said Celestia. “Either way, we should keep an eye on Spike and Twilight. If I have to go with my gut, I’d say it’s going to be a wondrous future for them.”

Author's Note:

Welp, nearly done with the story now. This chapter should conclude a lot of arcs the story was building up to, but we're not finished yet. Just one more chapter left to go. Whew, what a long ride this has been.