Creatures and Magic

by EpicGamer10075

Chapter 2: Fight Fire With Fire

Pitiful whimpering and groaning.

That was what Twilight awoke to.

She was somewhat thankful, all things considered, as her nightmares of the myriad books downstairs coming alive and rushing at her was something she’d much rather never think of again.

Still the sound of pain wasn’t that nice to wake up to, and her brain stalled for a moment amongst the bleariness of just having woke up, before finally being able to place that noise; Spike.

It was easy to forget for her, but her adopted Changeling brother wasn’t part of a hive, and thus had no connection to other Changelings and a Queen who could lead them, and that came with consequences, ones that she hoped she didn’t have to deal with, but...

Twilight sighed and pushed herself up off the blankets she had laid on the floor--the large bed was far too soft for her tribal liking--and looked around the dim room to spot the even darker patch of chitin wriggling in pain on a pillow a short ways away. “Spike,” She called quietly to him, knowing just how painful loud noises could be through that type of head pain, and watched as one of his light-blue eyes popped open to peer over at her. “How.. much does it hurt?” She asked him after a slight hesitation to debate what exactly she wanted to ask.

“I...” Spike tried, his normally casual and youthful buzzing voice now broken and almost seeming torn apart as he heard the concern in his caretaker’s words. Grunting and breathing heavily, he tried again, “I can still.. sense things fine, but it’s... painful...”

“Okay...” Twilight muttered in response, then closed her eyes and took a deep breath, opening them back up before slowly moving over to Spike, who forcibly pushed himself up to a sitting position atop the pillow. “Let’s go to that forest, then,” She said to him while reaching a foreleg below his barrel to pick him, then slowly and carefully deposit him on her back, sans the saddlebags she wore the previous day. “Hopefully there we’ll find our friend.”

Watching Spike nod in agreement from atop her back, Twilight turned her head to before her and quietly trotted to the door to their bedroom, tentatively putting a hoof on the handle and turning it to make sure it didn’t squeak loudly before doing the same as she opened the door itself. She left it open as she turned and headed down the corridor, turning again at the top of the stairs before carefully descending each step, making sure Spike wasn’t jostled around too much from the movements.

Peeking at the window above the stairs as she passed it, Twilight noticed it was particularly late at night, about at the time when that late night turns into an early morning, so she at least knew too much sleep wasn’t robbed of the two of them. After slowly and laboriously climbing down the many steps to the ground floor, Twilight then trotted towards the entrance doors and opened one of them, went through, and closed it behind her.

“Alright, so where would a forest be around here?” Twilight muttered to herself, looking around the dimly moonlit streets of Ponyville for some sort of giant set of trees in the distance, but alas, it was too dark and the streets too nonlinear to see far through them. “Curse this packed maze, I only wish to know where to steer...” Looking up and thinking for a couple seconds, she recalled the one entrance she did know to this place--the one they themselves had used to enter--and that place was no forest, but given how they’d already got lost and turned around multiple times on their way to the Library, she had no clue where that entrance was at this point.

“You could just ask someone, you know,” Spike retorted from her back in his pained voice, spooking Twilight into a standstill for a moment, but even when that faded, the idea of talking with another creature, especially given the time and their previous encounters, wasn’t all that appealing. But, looking back to see her brother holding his head with a hoof, the hollow pangs undoubtedly echoing loudly through his head, Twilight resolved to do what needed to be done.

Taking another deep breath, she started forward through the labyrinthine streets once more...

Only to come to a screeching stop less than a dozen steps in when she spotted a strange equine-esque creature sitting in a very odd fashion on some sort of wide chair just near the street she was going to head down. They looked to be a female, with pale green fur, and her hooves were devoid of fur like Twilight’s own, but this creature’s were also cloven and darker than her fur. From her head, two odd horns sprouted and curled around her ears, their colour almost white, almost like the highlights seen in the creature’s mane, which seemed otherwise similar to a equine’s, and a base color a bit more blue than her fur.

“That’s a Goat, Twilight,” Spike informed the Zebra, wincing again in pain.

“Oh,” Twilight muttered dumbly in response, “I did not know. But... why is she seated like that, though?”

“No clue...”

Twilight looked back at Spike as he trailed off weakly, holding his head more firmly than before. Worry growing in her heart, she swiftly turned back to the Goat and approached her, putting down her disquiet and forcing herself forward towards the creature.

Soon enough, the Goat turned to her and opened her mouth widely, looking as though she was going to exclaim something, but her eyes must’ve caught on Spike, and her mood fell until she looked back at Twilight, asking her as she approached, “Is he alright?”

Twilight shook her head, “Not quite, but I know our friend Zecora can fix it. I’m trying to find her, but I don’t know where to find this... cursed thicket.”

“Cursed...” The Goat mumbled, seemingly trying to understand what was meant, but she then asked, “The Everfree Forest?”

“Strange as it may seem, she lives there,” Twilight replied with a nod, “And she has what we need for his care,” She gestured to Spike on her back.

The Goat looked a little wary, but nodded and looked around for a moment, then pointed to the road to Twilight’s right and said to her, “Westward, down that way; can’t miss it.”

Twilight nodded in gratitude and replied, “Thank you, miss...?”

“Lyra,” The Goat finished with a grin, and added before Twilight could head off, “By the way, once you’re done with this, I suggest you head down to that pink and blue place you may have seen on your way in.” At Twilight’s raised eyebrow, mostly just in bafflement, she continued, “It’s my love’s place; she makes candy and chocolate that are low in sugar so more species can enjoy them.”

“That’d be nice...” Spike muttered, grinning through his pain as his older sister looked back at him, who then sighed in assent.

“Alright, fine--thank you, Lyra, for this,” Twilight nodded to Lyra, “For both the sweets and the location of the forest.”

The Goat replied with an enthusiastic ‘Of course!’, and let Twilight turn around and head off towards the Everfree, hurriedly trotting through the streets and trying to see as far ahead as she could, but the cramped and disorganized layout of the town put multiple buildings in her path. Even when navigating around them and keeping her direction constant, she was still left with the darkened streets looming before her.

After many minutes of ‘power-trotting’, Twilight eventually started to notice the buildings dropping off in density around her, and presumed she was at the outskirts of town at that point, and after moving around another stray building, finally saw it. The Everfree Forest lay a ways before her, the air under its canopy far darker than the rest of the sky, even moreso than any other forest she had seen before. It truly did look cursed, in some manner, but something else soon caught her attention.

In front of Twilight lay a path off into the distance that ran through an open section of the forest at its edge, and at the path’s end, far enough away that she couldn’t quite tell what was there, was a light. It was a golden-orange in colour, and seemed to be rather contained with no smoke trailing above, so it clearly wasn’t a campfire or any sort of torch.

Continuing her pace forward, Twilight then managed to pick out the silhouette of the a building around the light, and she soon realized the light was coming from within the building, emanating out through an open window or door. The building itself actually looked rather odd compared to the others in Ponyville, Twilight also noticed as she kept going, with it seeming to be made fully of wood, with its roof covered in plants, likely moss.

Closing the distance even further, now about halfway to the building from where she first noticed it, Twilight then spotted a fenced-out area to the side of the building, with some stuff sprouting up within it, presumably plants in the area’s garden. Something a bit closer between the house and herself also caught her eye, and she soon figured it to be a bridge that likely went over a small river, one that she eventually started to properly see and hear as she moved closer.

Trailing her gaze downstream of the river, she soon spotted a yellow equine-esque creature working on something by the river, shimmering green scales cascading down part of their back while their voluminous pink mane wrapped around their head and even covered some part of their chest. A leonine tail swished about heavily behind them, and a burgundy curved horn looking almost like it was made of wood stuck out from their forehead, a light green aura surrounding it. Twilight had seen enough Unicorns to know that their magic acted like that, and that it was likely being used to levitate something beyond her own sight, but the rest of the creature looked so incredibly different that she had no clue what to call it... but someone else might.

“Hey, Spike,” She whispered back to the Changeling on her back, while her steps took her across the bridge.

“Uhg... W-what?” Spike grunted in pain, and then asked in response.

Twilight looked back at his wincing face in concern for a moment, then gestured over to the creature she had started trotting towards, asking him, “Do you know of that creature’s kind? I’m.. afraid here I’m running rather blind.”

Spike looked over at the creature in the distance, squinting at it for a second before his eyes widened in realization. “That’s a Kirin... I’ve heard they.. can be pretty a-aggressive...” Coughing a bit from the pain, he closed his eyes and tried to rest again.

“Alright, thank you; I appreciate your insight.” Twilight replied and let him rest as she approached the Kirin, and started to notice the more feminine swoops of their form denoting her as a female, and she was working on a beaver dam in the river, her green magic moving about some twigs into it to help build it. Being only a short ways away at this point, she continued forward and asked of her, “Hello, may I--”

“In a minute,” The Kirin quickly and curtly cut her off in a distinctly young and female voice, only sparing a short glance to see her visitor.

Twilight blinked in surprise at the rude response, and stopped a few paces away from the Kirin and observed the concentrated, almost frustratedly focused look on her face as she continued her work. She knew she shouldn’t need that much information to find her friend in the forest, and so tried again, “Excuse me, but I just wanted to--”

“Shh!” The Kirin spat back, jerking her head to glare at her visitors for a moment, then turned her attention back to the dam.

Twilight gaped in offense; shouldn’t the Kirin be able to see the ill Changeling on her back, and at least show some level of concern about him rather than just cutting her off as quick as possible!? She stared at the Kirin in silence for some time, not even knowing what to say, or even if that would be a good idea given how little progress she’s already made.

Thankfully, she didn’t need to try again, as the Kirin soon enough let her horn’s magic fade before looking over the dam for a couple seconds, then sighing in what seemed to be relief before turning to her visitors. “What do you want?” She tersely asked of them.

Staring at her for a moment, Twilight just sighed in beleaguerment, knowing the creatures of this town were rather odd, and tried to ask politely of this one, “Do you know of my friend, Zecora? I believe she lives in this forest before us.”

“No, I don’t,” The Kirin stated in response, then turned away and started heading toward that nearby building, presumably her home, and added, “If that’s all, I’ll just be on my way.”

Blinking and gaping again in shock, Twilight watched her go for a second before shaking herself and calling after the Kirin, “Can’t you give at least a little help to us? My brother is already down with illness!”

Stopping in her tracks and sighing, the Kirin seemed to pause for just a moment before turning her head around and retorting, “I don’t know who the heck ‘Zecora’ is, so I won’t exactly be able help now will I? And,” She took in a deep breath and looked up the the dim sky above, still before any real semblance of dawn, “I haven’t really gotten any sleep, so I’d much prefer to catch up on that.”

Twilight herself sighed in annoyance, at least understanding the other creature’s point, but not why she needed to be so rude about it. “Some flowers found there may also do, so.. you could simply help us get those, too.”

Turning her head back to look down at the ground before her, the Kirin seemed to almost be seething, possibly just annoyed about being forced to do something she didn’t want to for someone she didn’t know, but there did seem to be some hesitation there. “I know you don’t see much in this for you, but--”

“SHUT UP!!” The Kirin screamed at her, forcing Twilight to backpedal, and Spike on her back to grunt in shock, holding onto his sister a bit more in fear.

Twilight tried to keep calm, but she too, caved to fear when the Kirin turned around and revealed her face to have blackened and her eyes glowing a pure, fiery white, to say nothing of the actual flames starting to emerge from her mane--or, rather, her mane was becoming that blue-and-red fire! The rest of the Kirin’s body then transformed into that monstrous form, the scales on her back turning into an ashen grey and her tail also getting set alight.

“I just want to be alone right now!” The flaming Kirin roared at Twilight and Spike, her voice a distorted and wrathful tone as she stomped forward. “I did everything I needed to, and then you came here with your stupid request! I’m not going into the damn Everfree Forest at night for you, and your stupid damned RHYMES!!” Each word she spoke was louder than the last, and accompanied by more forward steps as her hooves lit the grass below her on fire, her blazing eyes burning into Twilight’s own, and she looked like she was going to kill them!

At least, before the Kirin got forcefully stopped in her tracks and shoved down to lay on her barrel.

Pulling back more as she shivered in terror, Twilight looked up from the Kirin’s eyes to see a jade scaled foreleg pressing the creature down, and looked further upward to see another creature that was on fire, but these golden-orange flames looked far more tamed than those that came from the Kirin.

“Calm yourself, Fluttershy,” The new creature spoke with a calming tone despite her foreign and draconic voice, her ruby red eyes focused down on the Kirin’s own, who seemed to look back up and listen to those words. “Take a deep breath, and understand these visitors do not deserve grief for your own frustration.”

As the two creatures looked at each other, the Kirin’s angry, seething breaths slowly calmed down, and soon enough the flames that wrapped around her faded back into her mane and tail, the rest of her form following suit. Her went back to normal, and due to the flames of the other creature, could be seen as a vibrant green and were... filled with tears?

Pulling her hoof off the Kirin, the scaled creature let her slowly push herself to her hooves and look back towards Twilight and Spike, who were both still almost paralyzed, but now it was more in surprise than fear. Those green eyes were lacking the flaming wrath the Kirin possessed just moments ago, and were now drowned in sadness and regret, tears starting to overflow as she repeatedly mumbled, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry...”

All of a sudden, the Kirin turned around and bolted for her home, sprinting to the door and opening it with her magic, flying inside and slamming it shut behind her.

Still gaping in silence for multiple seconds, Twilight eventually managed to regain her senses and looked towards the flaming creature beside her, noticing how her red eyes gazed up towards Fluttershy’s home with sympathy.

“Uhm,” Twilight then started, but her dry voice forced her to clear her throat as the other creature’s attention was pulled to her, “What just happened to her? I... haven’t before seen flames replace fur...”

The creature nodded in understanding at the question, and replied measuredly, “Fluttershy here, as a Kirin, has a rather poor temperament. It is a part of their physiology, and when aggravated, their emotions can quickly spiral until they transform into that wrathful beast of flames you just saw, and it is known as a Nirik.”

Tilting her head slightly in comprehension, Twilight still had to ask, “So, that’s rather natural then? I cannot say.. she looked all that.. zen.”

“The Nirik is natural, but directing her anger towards you was not,” The creature spoke in response, “And I do believe she’ll need time to recover from her guilt.” Looking back towards the house, Twilight following her gaze, they saw many small animals roaming around it that weren’t there before, likely awoken and scared by the Kirin’s flames. “Do not worry, though, she is friends with these critters, and they will support her in a way that not me nor either of you could.”

The three of them were then left in relative quiet as they watched some of the animals enter the open windows of the home to presumably comfort the Kirin, while others merely wandered off to head back to sleep. However, this arrangement was problematic for one Changeling, and he soon spoke up, “Hey, uh--”

Twilight looked back to Spike on her back as he started coughing again, and held his head with both forehooves to try and curb the pain. “Right, um,” Turning to address the jade creature, she asked, “Do you know of a friend of mine? She’s.. named Zecora, and is another of my kind.”

“Zecora?” The creature replied, and turned her eyes skyward for a second in thought, then nodded. “I have heard of her, and that she lives within this Everfree Forest right here,” She gestured to the dark woods nearby. “I presume you do not know how exactly to find her?”

“Yes, that’s right,” Twilight nodded in affirmation, “We’ve only arrived here before this night. May you lead us to her? We’ve heard this forest is cursed.”

Glancing again to the forest in question, the creature replied, “That is rather accurate, but it is hardly a threat to me, so I will certainly oblige.” Giving the other creatures a small smile, her eyes looked up to the Changeling on Twilight’s back, and she added, “I see your friend is already in a lot of pain, so let us go about now.”

“He’s my brother,” Twilight corrected, “And Spike is his moniker. For courtesy, I’ll also give you my own; Twilight is how I am known.”

Raising a hoof off the grass, and revealing the flames that came from her fetlock just before extinguishing it and holding her hoof out, the creature spoke, “And I am Tianhuo of the Longma Empire.”

Tentatively raising one of her own hooves to firmly shake the Longma’s, Twilight stated with determination, “Then let us go, for time is our biggest foe.”

Comments

[AstralFlare42]

Might want to put the Them's Fightin Herds tag.

[EpicGamer10075]

11577499
I suppose that’s fair.
I’m honestly not too sure if I should be including stuff like that, as Tianhuo (and Goats like Lyra here) aren’t too important to the overarching ideas of this story and won’t be in it for that long.

That being said, I am going to include her for likely the entirety of next chapter, and may have other TFH species implemented, like Reindeers and Classical Unicorns, in the future, so I’ll add it for the time being.