My Little Kirin: The Lost Tribes

by Soothing Stone

Everyone's Favorite Kirin

Since Fluttershy and Applejack went to Autumn Blaze’s village to tackle her friendship problem, it saw a lot more visitors over the last twenty years. Twilight was curious about them and visited often to note all she could about them. Once she published her book on them, a lot of ponies traveled to look at the fabled kirin tribe for themselves. With the sudden wave of visitors, their secrets were all out in the open. They got used to it, and one particular kirin took it as an opportunity to show them her home...through song.

In all that time, there were three guests they loved seeing more than anypony else: Fluttershy, Applejack, and Twilight. The first two need no explanation, but it felt like an honor that one of the four Princesses of Equestria enjoyed their company so much.

Late that afternoon, the town minded its own business, making preparations for the coming festivities. There were more kirin than usual, and they spent most of the day making accommodations for the extra guests. One kirin was in the middle of taking wood to the nearest fireplace, when she saw something on the road leading into the village. She gasped and dropped her stack. “Look, everyone! It’s Princess Twilight!”

Everybody in the village stopped what they were doing and looked for themselves. As it turned out, a company of ponies was coming their way up the road, flanked by a few Royal Guards. The princess herself was in the middle of the convoy, and she was accommodated by the dragon prince they got to know over time. They couldn’t be happier to see pony royalty, and they halted their work to go greet them. It wasn’t long until they formed a party to welcome their privileged guests.

Right when they got everything together, they realized the company wasn’t moving. It just stood there in front of them. That left the kirin wondering what was going on. Did Twilight and Spike make a wrong turn and came here by accident? That couldn’t be right. It was getting awkward for the ponies, too.

“Are you sure she’s coming? I don’t want to let these guys down. Look how excited they are to see us,” Twilight pointed out.

“You didn’t see her face when I told her that she could come,” Spike said. “We should give her another five minutes. She’ll want to see this.”

“I’ll give her ten. I really hope she’s not tardy.”

“She’s not going to be tardy. She is your daughter.”

“That she is,” Twilight chuckled.

Things got more unbearably awkward when nobody moved an inch for another minute. The guards messed with their swords to pass the time. The purple pony started to wonder if she gave Kunzite the right directions in her letter and not some terrible cookbook recipe again, until she heard someone gasping for air from the back.

“Mom! Dad! I’m here! That took longer than I thought…” Kunzite bent down and held her hands on her knees. She was winded after the long flight to get there. “Did I make it?”

Twilight shook her head, while the guards bowed before the kirin princess. “You made it just in time, actually. We’re about to go in right now. And I see you brought a friend with you.”

Moonstone remained silent next to Kunzite. In comparison to his friend, he wasn’t the least bit winded. His attention was more on Spike than Twilight. “Hello, Mr. Three Minute Dragon Lord guy. They still talk a lot about you back home. ‘The Friend That Helped Our Dragon Lord Get Her Throne’.”

“It was five minutes. But it’s still good to see you again, Moonstone,” Spike greeted him with a handshake. “I might have helped her become Dragon Lord all those years ago, but I can’t take credit for her reforming the Dragon Lands. That’s all her.”

The younger dragon shook his hand. It was still weird to do a ritual so pony-ish like shaking hands. “Yeah, I know she did a lot of wonderful things for the Dragon Lands, make it nicer, all those things. Something they remind me of on a daily basis.”

“Hey, she told me you got your own cave recently. You should be proud of that. Nobody can take that away from you.”

Guess Mom didn’t tell you that it was picked out for me. “Thanks, I guess. Um, what are all those guys doing, and why are they staring at us?” All the villagers staring away made him a little uncomfortable.

“That’s their welcoming party,” Kunzite explained. “They’re here to give us a big welcome. We’re kind of fan favorites here.”

The pupils in Moonstone’s eyes shrunk to the size of peas. “They’re going to do it with a song, aren’t they?”

“Some of the time,” Twilight corrected. “Don’t worry, they like you, too. Let’s go see them.”

See, she said SOME of the time, Moonstone. How bad could it be? It’s not like they prepared three songs in a row or anything, right? He tried putting on his biggest smile, but it couldn’t be more fake if he tried. Kunzite saw through his act and placed a friendly hand on his shoulder. Well, that made things a little better. At least he wouldn’t go through this alone.

The guards gathered their weapons and wrapped around the party, guest dragon included. As they made their way into the village, the welcoming party got even more excited. They separated into two groups to give the ponies a clear path into town, and a few of them raised banners of Twilight’s cutie mark and Spike’s fire breath into the air. The musicians played a welcoming and (to Moonstone’s delight) vocalless song, of drums and chimes. It was a pretty relaxing song, all things considered.

Moonstone was relieved at the lack of singing for now. All he saw were a bunch of kirin honoring the princess and prince that came to visit, and they didn’t seem to mind having extra guests along for the ride. “Hey, it’s almost like they don’t know I exist,” he whispered to Kunzite. “This is fine.”

“Only fine? This place is perfect!” Kunzite squealed like a fangirl. “Don’t you remember how ingenious their city planning is? They found a way to build a whole community around the jungle without destroying it. Look, they even have houses around the trees! That’s what I call a real treehouse!”

“Don’t you have some of those in Equestria?”

“We do, but they’re just for fillies and colts most of the time. You could live here if you wanted to!”

“If that’s the case, why didn’t you ever move here?”

“I’ve thought about it, but I love my family too much. That and I’m a princess. Mom and Dad’s kingdom will be mine one day. I don’t want to let them down by throwing it all away, just because I love nature so much.”

Moonstone snorted to himself. She really was his polar opposite. His train of thought was interrupted, however, when he saw it coming closer to him. It shook him to the core anytime he saw it. Maybe it wasn’t too late to run away? Oh no, it was running to HIM. It might have bangs around the eyes and be noticeably older than most kirin here, but it sure moved like it was half its age.

And then it came right up to his face. He couldn’t escape this anymore. This was a nightmare he had to face now. It reached out its hand of torture to his face and...booped him.

“I remember you! You’re that dragon from the Dragon Lands. That’s a redundant sentence. ‘Dragon’ twice in one go? Okay, getting off track here. What was your name again? Moonburn? Sunstone? Let me know when I’m getting warm.”

“It’s...Moonstone…” he whispered in fear.

“Moonstone! I like that name. I’m so sorry I forgot about it. You remember me, Autumn Blaze?” The middle aged kirin couldn’t stop grinning, and then she had to see Kunzite. “And you must be Kunzite! It’s amazing how your friend has a simpler name, but I remember yours. I just realized you’re half dragon, too. Does that mean you’re good friends?”

“We are! Moonstone’s my best friend,” Kunzite replied. “It’s not just because I’m half dragon, but it’s pretty cool that I am. Still, he’s a good friend to have around.”

Twilight recognized her kirin friend and joined in. “Nice to see you again, Autumn. Fluttershy and AJ wanted me to say hello for them. How’s it going?

“It’s been amazing. Almost all the tribes are here. Give it a day and you’ll see the whole family. I knew the reunion was a good idea.”

“If there’s anyone that can bring the family together, it would be you,” Spike agreed.

“What...reunion...are you...talking about?” Moonstone choked out. He was perfectly still, with a few drops of sweat going down his face. If he didn’t move, maybe Autumn wouldn’t recognize that he was there.

“He is so cute when he’s just standing still,” Autumn commented. Well, that didn’t work. “Twilight and Spike didn’t tell you about the reunion? Oooh, you know what this means? STORY TIME!”

Moonstone nearly fainted at the threat. If anyone could make story time terrifying, it would be her. Her stories weren’t even that depressing to begin with. Still, he was in for the ride at this point.

“I’m in. Do you want to come with us?” Kunzite asked her parents

“Not this time, sadly. We need to unpack and get everything settled,” Spike explained. “Go ahead and have some fun, but don’t leave anything out. I want to hear this when I get the chance.”

Kunzite nodded and hugged them both. “I’ll be sure to write everything down. I’ll be back before you know it!”

Twilight and Spike hugged her back and went on their way to their guesthouse. Once they were gone, Autumn couldn’t wait to show them what she had in store. She almost literally dragged them away to the spot she wanted to show off. Moonstone might have stepped in it this time, and he was terrified the whole time. Story time? With Autumn? What was he in for?

To his surprise, Autumn brought the two of them to her home, overlooking the entire village. It was calm and peaceful up here. Huh. That was the opposite of what he expected. She gave them a moment to let it all sink in. Kunzite took the hint and gazed around the village.

“You notice anything different from last time?” Autumn asked.

Moonstone took a look for himself. It was crowded, busy, and the musicians were still playing their ambient songs. One of them took the stage to sing poetry. “It looks the same to me. Lots of kirin, lots of singing and galloping around,” he thought.

“Close, but there’s one thing you overlooked. See how there’s more of them? That’s because they’re from different tribes all over Equestria.” After she pointed it out to them, they realized that there were five times more villagers here than last time. Not only that, but they were different than the typical kirin. Some had different color schemes than Autumn’s kin, like icy hues or warm hues or things like that.

“Huh. How didn’t I notice that?” Kunzite wondered. “I usually have an eye for things like that.”

“That’s because they’re here for the first time in two decades.” She came up to a table and unrolled a scroll over it. The scroll had images of seven kirin, five of which had checkmarks next to them. “Before we took our oath of silence, there were six other tribes of kirin in the world. We got along and shared stuff with each other. The one to the south? They made a play that knocked ours of the park. I think it was called Much Hay About Nothing, and I’ve been trying to learn it recently.”

“Kunzite, wasn’t that the play you made me read that one time?” Moonstone balked.

“What can I say? It was entertaining. I...might have been inspired to write fanfiction about it…” Kunzite blushed.

“Awww, I’m so happy that it inspired you!” Autumn grinned. “Anyway, when we took our oath of silence, the tribes weren’t connected as much anymore. It might have been because some of them went through the same thing we did, turning into Niriks and destroying the villages. It was a really sad time for us.

“But when we broke our oath and got to talking all over again, I thought to myself, ‘We should get the band back together!’ So I’ve spent the last decade finding the tribes across Equestria, and we finally found enough to have a reunion.”

“I’m really happy for you, Autumn. It’s always heartwarming to bring communities together,” Kunzite noted. Still, something felt off to her when she took a closer look at the scroll. “I noticed you don’t have any checkmarks next to two kirin on this picture. What’s that for?”

“So you noticed that.” She shook her head and got a little emotional. “There’s five tribes here in the village right now, but two of them are missing. One of them was located over by the Dragon Lands, and the other was in the jungle right next to it. We’ve been looking over there for a while, but there’s no sign they were ever around to begin with. But we’ll keep looking, and we’ll find them one day. For now, though, we should be happy with what we found.” She pushed away the sorrow and slid down the tree, waving Kunzite and Moonstone on. “Come on down, let’s make this a festival to remember!”

“We’ll catch up later,” Kunzite replied. “Don’t let us miss anything!”

“No way I’m gonna do that. You’re my friends!” Autumn joined the rest of her tribe in the celebration.

Kunzite made sure her kirin companion was a long ways away, then she turned to Moonstone. “You thinking what I’m thinking?”

“Way ahead of you. You think those two lost tribes are our special destiny,” the dragon sighed. “Look, it might be the case, but you might be jumping to conclusions with it. We have to be more careful than that.”

“Even if it isn’t, shouldn’t we at least try to help her? You saw how upset she was when I brought it up, and she might need somepony to help find them. Or somedragon.”

He groaned and rubbed his forehead in circles. “Alright, alright. I’m not gonna be that cold-hearted jerk that wouldn’t rescue a puppy in a well. Don’t help them out just because it could be destiny, though.”

She nodded and smiled. “It is the right thing to do in the first place, but we shouldn’t keep her waiting. I’m sure she’s got a lot of fun things to do down there.”

“Maybe for you…”

After a few minutes of bracing himself, Moonstone came out of the tree and joined Kunzite in the village. His head was spinning from the crowds everywhere he looked. At least they were happy, and they didn’t seem to mind two dragons running amok. If anything, they were intrigued by Kunzite. It wasn’t often that they found another type of kirin in their midst.

Kunzite was a little shy when she noticed all those glances her way, and one kirin in particular stopped and stared at her. She gulped and offered a handshake to him, the universal sign of friendship(according to Twilight’s classes at her school). The villager kept looking at her two horns in confusion, but he went ahead shook hands with her. She felt so relieved that he didn’t make fun of her for her horns, but she still wondered if she stood out that much to them.

In the meantime, Moonstone still felt a little cramped in there. It didn’t help that the musicians were getting louder with their singing, and their songs rang in his ears. It wasn’t unpleasant, but his eardrums were pounding from their volume. And it never stopped. He thought fifteen songs would be enough for anyone in a day, but they were still going.

Autumn was acting as a host in the village, and she greeted every visitor with snacks and drinks. In the middle of it, she noticed how dour Moonstone seemed to be. “This not your style?” she asked from behind.

He jumped away from the surprise. “It’s just...so much to take in. They’re not this loud in Equestria. It feels like I’m in a wooden cage at times. It’s not for me, sorry.”

She rubbed her chin and thought about the best way to address that. Then she snapped her fingers. “I know just the trick.” She grabbed another table and plopped it down between them. It went up to her waist, and she brought her right arm down on it. “You like tests of strength? Then what could be better than ARM WRESTLING?”

Moonstone couldn’t believe what he saw. Did she...understand his love of tests like these? “Autumn, I like the way you think.” He leaned over and stretched out his arm. “Nobody’s ever beaten me at this, just so you know.”

“Nobody’s ever beaten me, either. Wait, that could be a great tagline. The battle of the undefeated arm wrestlers, going toe to toe. Or in our case, claw to hand!” She gripped his hand and got ready. “Ready, set, go!”

Kunzite was almost finished sketching a flower in her sketchbook, one exclusive to this part of the world. RIght when she put on the final touches, she heard a commotion going on. A bunch of the kirin gathered around in a circle to see something go down on the other side of town. With how excited they were getting, she went to catch it for herself. It had to be some ancient ritual, some kind of craft, or…

...it could be Moonstone and Autumn arm wrestling. She rolled her eyes and chuckled. If anyone was able to get Autumn wrestling, it would be Moonstone. To her astonishment, they were neck and neck and strained to get any edge on the other. He grunted and pushed back on Autumn’s arm, but he couldn’t get anything going after a minute.

“Why are you so strong?” he grunted.

“Dumbbells, baby! Lots and lots of dumbbell exercise!” Autumn yelled.

A lot of the kirin were cheering their hometown hero on. No surprise given where they were. Kunzite would be lying if she said she didn’t want Moonstone to win, but she didn’t want to hurt Autum’s feelings, either. She remained still and watched quietly.

However, Autumn was starting to slip. Another minute of arm wrestling would do that to her. “No, not yet!” Before she could push back, he gave it another push and laid her arm flat on the table. “There goes my year long streak.”

“And my six year streak continues!” Moonstone grinned. He flexed his arm to show off all the muscles in it. “Who’s next?”

As it turned out, his little demonstration made several villagers want to take a crack at it. Many stepped up to the plate to beat him at his own game. They all failed, one after the other. As things progressed, he warmed up to them and chatted before and after every match. Kunzite didn’t think this would be the way he’d warmed up to the village, but she would take it.

“He’s got a mean arm to him,” Autumn commented. “Is he always like that?

“No, but I’m happy when he is,” said Kunzite. “I don’t see this side of him enough. He might be a bit of a bragging type…”

“Nobody can beat me, kirin or pony!” Moonstone roared. “If you think you can take me out, first, you’re wrong, and second, I’m willing to prove you wrong!”

“...but I can tell he’s happy when he’s like this.”

“Then I’ll leave him to it. Thanks for coming, by the way. Twilight didn’t tell me you were tagging along, but the more the merrier, I say.” She hugged Kunzite and went on her way.

Once she left, Kunzite smiled and joined Moonstone on his side of the table. “You still regret coming here?”

“Are you kidding? This is my idea of a good time,” the dragon replied. He leaned back and held his hands behind his head. “I think I beat every kirin here.”

“Well, I’m a kirin, too. You haven’t beaten me.”

“Yeah, but you’re an Equestrian Kirin. You’re not like the rest, for reasons like…” He pointed to the sides of his head, where Kunzite’s horns would be.

“Oh. Yeah.” She winced on the inside and tried not to let it show. “I am different, I guess.” She held one of her arms and looked off to the side.

“Hey, you okay? I just mean you have magic like a unicorn, and they don’t. That makes you different from them.”

“I know what you mean,” she sighed. She parted her mane off to the side. “And it’s okay, really. I’d probably beat you with my magic, anyway.”

“Now that’s just cheating.” Before he could say anything else, he heard someone else come up to the table. He gulped when he recognized who the invader was: A purple dragon, at least one foot taller than him. Judging from the grin on his face, he meant serious business.

“So you like arm wrestling?” Spike butted in. “Me too. I found out that I’m really good at it recently, so I practice here and there. It’s been a long time since anyone beat me. If nobody’s beaten you, either, can I take a crack at it?”

“Daaad, please don’t. He’s been doing this for an hour straight. He has to be getting tired.”

“It’s fine. We dragons have a lot of stamina. I’m sure he’s willing to take me on. What you say? You ready for one more match?”

Another drop of sweat went down Moonstone’s face. Spike’s arms had to be twice the size of his. The chance of winning this was very slim. Yet, that only stoked the fire inside him, and he brought his arm down on the table. “You’re on, old man.”

“Old? I’m like a kid in dragon years.” Spike took his jacket off and locked arms with Moonstone. Moonstone locked his arm around Spike’s, and it was on. They strained against each other for a good while, and the crowd around the table picked back up. Suddenly, Moonstone was their champion, and they chanted his name as he kept up the fight. Kunzite looked on in terror; no matter what happened, someone she cared for was going to lose.

And that was when Moonstone’s arm laid flat against the table. It was so sudden that he didn’t know he lost at first. Right when it registered, he grunted from the impact on his arm, and he looked up in shock. “But...what…”

The crowd was just as surprised as he was, and Kunzite covered her mouth with her hands. She knew it had to be destroying Moonstone on the inside. After a while, the villagers started clapping for Spike, while the blue dragon was still processing that he just got his tail handed to him.

“Huh. That was still the best match I had in years,” Spike replied. “It just comes with age is all. If you keep getting bigger and stronger, you’ll be able to beat me one day. Besides, your mother could take me out without breaking a sweat. She was always stronger than me.”

“Yes, my mother,” Moonstone sighed and clutched his arm. People always mention her when I’m in the room, don’t they. “Thanks for the pep talk. Hard to believe I still have a lot of growing up to do.”

“Don’t worry. You’ll be a lot bigger before you know it. I should know.” He patted Moonstone on the shoulder and went to join the rest of the village. That left the dragon and Equestrian Kirin by themselves.

Kunzite shook her head and sat down next to her friend. “Sorry about that. He just got carried away back there. Every now and then, he gets carried away with competitions like that.”

“I can see that,” Moonstone snorted. “Can I ask you something, since it’s just you and me?”

“Sure. You can ask me anything.”

He pulled up a chair and sat down with her. “Would you still be friends with me even if we didn’t have this special destiny crap going on, and I wasn’t Dragon Lord Ember’s son?”

She openly gasped from the question. “I mean, it was how we met. But why wouldn’t we be friends? We still get along, and I like hanging out with you. You’re different in a good, fun way.”

Moonstone nodded and looked a little relieved. “That’s good. And you’re not too bad yourself.”

“Awww, that’s really sweet of you,” she gleamed. “But why were you asking about that? I’m a little worried about you if that’s on your mind.”

“It’s nothing to worry about. Guess it’s just nice to hear that every now and then. I don’t know about you, but I hope they have some gems here. I could use a bite.”

------

The sun was nearly setting by then, and that sent her paranoia through the roof. She wouldn’t be able to see under the cover of the night, and they could use it to their advantage. There was no way she could slow down at this point, but she was so tired. For hours, she had been running without end.

The foliage kept hitting her in the face as she continued, and her body was coated in dirt and sweat. Still, she raced through the jungle, panting for air. She had to be close by now. If she wasn’t, she was going the right way at the very least.

I can’t go back there. They can’t find me. I have to keep going. Just a little further. Keep going.

She used the sun as a reference point. As long as it was behind her, she was going in the right direction. Hopefully, it would still be there. She remembered her mother telling her about this village when she was younger, and there was no reason to think it vanished in the years since. She needed it to be there.

If the kirin village was still there, she would have one hay of a story to tell to them when she got there.

Author's Note:

Well, that didn't take as long as I thought it would. Not that I'm complaining...

That aside, Autumn finally enters the story, and she's going to be a crucial part of the story. As for what was going on in the last bit...I guess you'll have to wait until next time