Kirin And Changeling: The Firefly

by dudenotactive

A Bug And A Giraffe

Furious could not describe what Minion was feeling right now, she had been waiting for Lime at the bakery for hours and the star bread they were going to eat together was cold. And he completely stood her up!

So there she was, hunting the kirin down with an ice pack on the left side of her face. She didn't care about the ponies who stared, Minion only cared about finding Lime.

"Hey wait!"

Her friend Shamrock ran up to her side, he coughed softly as he tired of following. Minion chose to ignore him and continued forward, her eye scanned around for Lime. Since it is already dark, not many ponies are out in the streets, so spotting the kirin wouldn't be hard with his unique appearance. Minion was too prideful to ask for help, she wanted to find Lime on her own so she could pummel him without needing to thank anyone.

She promised that once she found Lime, she'd keep him trapped on the wall of their cave so she could drain Lime until he learns his lesson. And she wouldn't even stop there, Minion will make sure that he would never leave her side unless she wanted to be alone.

The reason why she was so angry with Lime is that he was supposed to feed her, they were in a symbiotic relationship, not just friends. It was his job to give her the energy she needed. It was part of the deal, she feeds and be part of Lime's circus, while he does what stupid thing he always does.

She looked around for him, her eyes scanned every building for any bright colors that came close to Lime's description.

And like she expected, the bright-colored mane of a kirin could be seen among the darker shade of this town. Everything was made of mud, so Lime stood out like a sore thumb. But something else caught her eye, a unicorn mare.

"Finally, you stopped!" Shamrock said with a tired sigh. "I'm sorry about the eye, and I want to make it up for you."

Her glare snapped towards him, Shamrock flinched as he met her furious gaze, her fury was so strong that the ice pack melted in her hoof. "You want to help?" She hissed. "Get me a net. Now."

Without question, he ran off in search of what she desired, a net for reasons unknown to him. And a bigger mystery to the universe is when he arrived seconds after with a large and neatly folded net as if it was there when he needed it.

"Good, you are forgiven." She blankly told him as she swiped the net with her magic.

Slowly, she crept towards her prey, a fiery hatred burned in her eyes as she dramatically approached.

---

"I actually had fun!" Lime said to Quill.

"Same, we should do this again sometime." She suggested. "Know any good fondue places?"

"I rather not go to any," He smiled awkwardly.

"Then what do you suggest? Don't really know much about this town."

"Well, there's this shawarma near the Town Hall."

Quill was about to speak, but then a heavy net fell on her.

Lime panicked, but was tossed into the air by the force of a very angry changeling. "Mini!?" He exclaimed.

"Nicknames aren't gonna save you," She told him. "So this is where you've been? You ditched me for some random mare you met in the streets?"

"That does not describe me well!"

"Oh shut it!" Minion snapped at Quill. "I can't believe you would do this to me, Lime, really love your priorities here."

"Oh, oh, oh..." A sharp breath as Lime realized his situation. "I forgot..." He hissed, his cheeks flushed red as embarrassment set in.

"Darn right you did, now you better follow me back home or I drag your butt to our place. And I already have you in my telekinesis."

"Can you get this net off me?"

Minion only spared a single glance at the entrapped unicorn. "Lime, there are many things you don't do to me, and one of those things is betrayal."

"I know, I know." He said as he floated in the air. Though it was an odd scene, no pony cared enough to give them a short look as Minion held Lime just above the ground. "I'm sorry, I just wanted to thank Quill for the help she gave, the scripts for the play are mostly done thanks to her."

"Did she now?" Minion arched a brow. She knew how much the theater was to Lime. His love for Torch Productions was only second to his friendship with Minion. She respected his business and tolerated him. But that was no excuse to just forget, he didn't even tell her about his little party. Well she did run off to do some pranks, so that is on her.

"Speaking of which, what happened to your eye?"

"Shamrock does not like bugs." That was all Minion said. "Ugh, fine, I'm glad you helped us make the scripts for the studio, Sharp Quill. But it is kinda late and it would be best that Lime and I go home before it gets too dark."

"What about the net?"

"Shamrock will be with you shortly, come on Lime, you owe me a meal."

"Wait, wait!" Quill called out as Minion pulled Lime away.

"You're just gonna leave her?"

"Like I said, Shamrock will help her, that's his net after all." Her brow furrowed. "Why does that guy have a net?"

"Must've been the one we used for The Fishermane." Limelight made a small guess.

"Right, I was sick that time..." Minion hummed as she recalled the day the Torch Productions had a play without her due to a problem beyond their control.

"You know that was rude of you, right? Going around and putting ponies in a net I mean."

She scoffed. "I know, I was just mad..."

He was silent, Lime wanted to apologize but he knew that everything was already forgiven. Though she was practically fuming, both knew that there was no reason to be mad. Of course she was bitter about Lime forgetting their plans to eat some bread, but she couldn't stay mad at him for plenty of reasons. Both had their own thing going, two different individuals with their own needs.

She's a bug, he's a mammal.

Yet the two were alike in many ways. Both were two odd ones out in a small town of ponies. If anything, they brought personality to this dull place, and thanks to Stoic, unicorns are accepted by the town.

Lime remembered the day he first showed up, the town was silent as the dead, they only stared at him throughout the day as if he was a fairy. Or a fae, those are much scarier than a fairy.

Limelight and Minion stood out in this town, too much if you asked Lime. Sometimes he wondered what kind of world is out there, what ponies are like. Would they accept him? Him and Minion? That was a question... He was tempted to just dump it all, but Lime had something in this town, Torch Productions was his dream and he couldn't just throw that away.

"You're awfully quiet..." Minion commented.

"I was just thinking." He told her, Lime was so deep in his mind that he had not realized that Minion released him from her telekinesis. Yet he cared not.

This piqued Minion's curiosity. "About what?" She inquired.

"What is it like, out there?"

"Far better than this town, if you ask me. There's this city built on the side of a mountain, I kinda wanna see it one day."

Lime hummed. "I think that place is called Canterlot, Stoic said that's where Princess Celestia lives and where the Institute he works for is."

"That's Canterlot?" She looked at him surprised. "Huh, never thought it was the capital of Equestria. Everyone at the hive didn't really say much."

Something caught his attention, she mentioned a "hive" which he had some interest in. He doesn't know much of the hive, but he did know that Minion ran away with a plan to start her own. It was an interesting plan too, he had no place to explain but Lime claimed it was an appealing idea.

Still, he wondered about the system of a hive, there were things she had not told him yet. A few things she did tell Lime was how she worked, her body was shapeless when their magic was involved. Stoic even confirmed that changelings have the strongest form of shape-shifting magic in Equestria.

And though they looked like ponies, they are in fact insects. Also, some changelings are named after parts of bugs and arachnids. Such an example was- in her words- a runt of a changeling named Thorax.

"Hey, what exactly do you do in a hive?" He asked her.

"I was a worker drone, we dig tunnels and build defenses." A scowl found itself on her face. "Wanted to be a warrior, but I was too short apparently."

"You seem tough enough, I bet you'd make a great warrior!" Lime said. "I mean, you almost beat me that one time..."

"Right, I actually think I'm stronger than you."

"Well you can surely beat me as a kirin, but my nirik form has this strength boost."

She stared at him weirdly. "What is this, a game of Ogre and Oubliettes? I can just transform into a giant elephant and stomp on you."

"Can't stomp on something faster than a giant animal, Minion. Besides, you'll catch on fire."

Their laughter filled the empty forest as they walked home, a few critters awoke to their loudness and glared in their direction, yet the two did not notice.

"So what about you, what did you do back in your hive?" Minion asked.

Lime chuckled. "Well back in my village, I worked on a small farm where I grew dead roots."

Her eyes went wide as dinner plates. "Wait, don't those use living things to grow?"

"Well yes, but we kirins have magic strong enough to accelerate and nurture plant growth. With it, I grow furniture and utensils to sell." He explained with pride, in truth, no one else in the village bothered with the seeds. Lime was an expert when it came to dead roots.

Which scared Minion a little, it was odd for someone like Lime to have such dangerous plants hidden beneath his mane.

"Your turn, tell me about your family."

With a groan, she lowered her head down, and a sharpened scowl appeared on her face. "Ugh, I'd rather not."

"That's okay, I could tell you about mine!"

He then spent the rest of the trip talking about his family with glee. Minion thought she'd lose interest quickly, but she found herself focused on his words. It did not take long before the two got home to their little cave.

Minion had already forgiven Lime, and he had plenty of time to make up for forgetting their plans. It was a small mistake, easily ignored as well. Though Minion was quick to act on her emotions, she still could understand her friend Lime. It was just a new friend for Lime, she was not against that. He'll make time for her, he always does.

Especially for all his friends.

Author's Note:

Minion is described as a normal changeling by appearance, while Lime was supposed to resemble the kirins on the mural in the mlp episode Sound Of Silence.

But both characters have something to set them apart, such as Lime having brown scales. (But then I found out that there's an unnamed kirin with the colors of the mural kirins.)

Minion only has her scarf, shades, and scar to make her different in appearance.

Basically, the two are supposed to be common by design but have traits that help them stand out.

Comments

[Light Ascend]

A fascinating read worth waiting for.