Random Kirin thing


                                            Waking up in Equestria was a dream come true, no doubt. But you always *assume* you'll end up somewhere you recognize. I'll squash that misconception right now.


                                            When I arrived in Equestria, but a few lifechanging days ago, I was not, in fact, anywhere I recognized. As least, not at first.


                                            You see, when you arrive, all you're focused on are the landmarks. Where's Canterlot? Ponyville? Is it snowy? Or maybe near water? No. It took many days for me to recognize a lone patch of flowers to get a general sense of where I was. No, not poison joke, though I imagine that would make a more entertaining story. The flowers I stumbled across were *Foal's Breath*, a good ways away from any signs of civilization.


                                            At the very least, I knew where I must be- the Peaks of Peril. Yet the titular perils yet eluded me. For days I searched for anything recognizable, and for days I found the bog standard animals and plants of this particular corner of Equestria.


                                            Until yesterday.


                                            Yesterday, a grove full of tall trees topped with huts finally graced my tired eyes. The promise of food, water, and company was too sweet to ignore. So I entered the vaguely familiar village of the kirin.


                                            Of course, things couldn't be so easy. The kirin were still mute, and I felt a particular sense that altering the course of history was ill-advised. Regardless, I attempted to communicate with them.


                                            It wasn't until an hour in of charades that Autumn came chattering in out of nowhere, apparently her brief stint with her voice returned yet to be concluded.


                                            It was with her help that I was able to secure some shelter, water, and food for the evening. Though I wasn't too humbled to forget the glances of ire being shot towards Autumn.


                                            The night passed swiftly, the most comfort I'd found since my arrival.


                                            That night was last night. This morning was... confusing, to say the least. Autumn had gone missing, and the villagers became more cold. I felt as if I'd done something wrong to warrant their ire, but nothing came to mind.


                                            This sense of unease came to a head when the village leader, Rain Shine, approached me. Another game of charades ensued, but this one was not nearly as long.


                                            She raised to me the same options she had raised Autumn. I could stay with them, should I adopt their way of life, or leave like Autumn and be left to fend for myself.


                                            Already low on energy, and hopeful I could find a way back to Equestria, I asked for directions to the train station, but they didn't even know it existed. They pressured me further to choose.


                                            I tried to press further regarding finding a way back to civilization, but I suppose they saw this as stalling.


                                            That leads me to now. They forced a bottle of some elixir down my throat, and everything that had ensued has been vicious.


                                            Organs shifting, digits merging, I felt like clay being molded by a hand unseen. It wasn't until a gnarly maroon horn began violently sprouting from my forehead that I understood their true intentions.


                                            It was clear they understood I was not native to these lands, and as I had expressed my otherworldliness, they knew I was without a home.


                                            This, I assume, is their solution. Their anger directed not at me, but at Autumn, who must be at that scenic cliffside by now.


                                            A scream of pain leaves my lips as the horn finally grows to its full length, the girth of the base enough to draw tears from my eyes.


                                            The kneading hands pushed and pulled elsewhere- my knees too bent to support my bipedal stance any longer, and my digits now cloven hooves, complete with snowy white fetlocks that continues to grow upwards, covering me in a thin layer of fur.


                                            Whatever hideous half-transformed mass I was didn't have the strength to scream, the kirin afforded a brief respite from my anguish.


                                            As I feel the pinching and kneading of my torso and its organs begin to hit its stride, an overwhelming warmth overcomes me. As though I was filled with a burning fire, waiting to be unleashed.


                                            I can not afford the energy to question the villagers any further. My drained, fluffy form lays twitching in the dirt trail, as my tail finally grows- followed by a vibrant gradient of colors that make up my mane and tail.


                                            The kirin stare fascinated at the writhing mass in their presence, but their leader takes purposeful strides forward.


                                            The warmth that had begun burning in me feels hotter the closer she gets.


                                            She did this to me.


                                            She never suggested this would be part of staying.


                                            And to top it off, I never agreed to stay with them!


                                            The thoughts boil over into an angry growl, the fire leaving my chest and burning out of my body, fury taking the wheel as I attempt to leap at Rain Shine.


                                            But she elegantly catches me in her magic. With a simple, disappointed shake of her head, I begin to feel movement.


                                            The babbling of a stream of water reaches my ears and my thoughts finally catch up to me.


                                            She's going to silence me.


                                            The fires fade, and I swiftly begin apologizing. Frantically pleading my case of unfamiliarity with my own body.


                                            It isn't enough. The Stream of Silence roars in my sensitive kirin ears.


                                            Without hesitation, she lowers me into the water. Her magic keeping me still as the stream water rushes by.


                                            The water feels almost calming, but it's a facade. My fear being taken could be mistaken as calming, but it's so much more.


                                            Apathy overwhelms me, and I no longer feel the urge to flee.


                                            Raised from the water, Rain sets me besides the other villagers, with whom I share an identical expression.


                                            They look at me cautiously, ensuring I've been calmed. Yet all I can manage is to tilt my head.


                                            This must be enough, as Rain leads us back to the village. Our village. The place I call home.