A Qirin's Teachings

Ryuu bounded along gracefully, her red hooves leaving small, elegant marks on the dirt roads of Ponyville. In hindsight, she should have been more specific when she asked for directions. She was in Ponyville, but where was she meant to go from here?

She followed a thin trail leading to the outskirts of town, thinking that someone so scholarly as to be a student of Princess Celestia would be introverted, and live away from other ponies.

She soon found herself in an apple orchard, rows of trees spaced perfectly apart filling her vision, and the scent of ripe fruit flooding her sensitive draconic nostrils. Her whiskers twitching in anticipation and wings spread for balance, she stood up on her hind legs and reached up to pluck an apple. The luscious smell was making her hungry, and she was so close to the perfectly ripe fruit. She could practically taste its sweetness. She opened her mouth and prepared to bite into the fresh, naturally shiny apple...

"Ah wouldn't do that if ah were you," said a gruff, male voice.

Ryuu gave a squeak and snapped her wings closed. This action knocked her off balance. She swung her tail in an attempt to avoid falling, but overcorrected and fell sideways. By the end of the process she was hanging upside-down from a tree branch by her tail, which was knotted around the branch in question.

With a snap, the branch broke, and the Qirin fell flat on her face. Shaking the dizziness off, she smiled sheepishly at the red stallion.

He glared at her and spoke, "Who are ya?"-he took in her features-"...For that matter, what are ya?"

Ryuu took the opportunity to try and find her way to her student. "My name is Ryuu, I'm a Qirin, don't question it. Would you happen to know where a mare named-”

"Twilight Sparkle?" suggested the stallion.

Ryuu blinked. "Yes. How'd you know?"

"Lucky guess," the stallion shrugged. "Mah name is Big Macintosh. Mah family owns this here farm, and we'll be wantin' ya ta pay for the damage ya caused. We need to treat this tree ta stop it dyin' and dispose of the branch. Ah'll give ya the bill later. As for Twilight Sparkle, she lives in the library in town. It's a big tree, ya can't miss it."

"I'll be leaving now, Big Macintosh, thank you, and I apologise for attempting to steal your produce and breaking your tree," said Ryuu hastily.

"Ya still have to pay us," Big Mac said flatly.

Ryuu's antlers drooped a little. "Right."

~~~

Ryuu approached the door to the Gold Leaf Library, and knocked on the door. A call of 'Spike, will you get the door please?', followed by the sound of books being dropped, angry scoldings and eventually the door handle being turned could be heard.

A small, pudgy dragon opened the door.

"Hi! Welcome to the Gold Leaf Library! Twilight's a little busy, but you can come back later and she'll..." he trailed off as he caught sight of his guest. Ryuu smiled awkwardly.

"Umm...so you must be Ryuu, right? I thought you were a pony, not a...dragon-deer thing," he commented.

"Spike! Don't be so rude!" said a light purple alicorn, glaring at her assistant. Spike grumbled and walked back into the library.

"I assume you are Twilight Sparkle, yes?" said the Qirin.

"I am, and you're Ryuu, right? Pleased to meet you!" replied Twilight, shaking Ryuu's hoof. "Please, come in!"

Ryuu did just that, wiping her hooves on the mat as she entered. Twilight had Spike make them some tea, and in a few minutes they were sitting down with steaming mugs.

"So, if you don't mind me asking, what exactly are you teaching me?" asked Twilight.

"My job is to teach you valuable history lessons. As an alicorn, painful as it may be, you are now immortal. That means that it is important for you to know which stories are true and which are false. You never know when an ancient threat assumed to be a myth could strike. Discord and Nightmare Moon proved that well enough. The chances are higher than you think, and the more you know, the safer you are.

"We Qirin are regarded as the keepers of secrets. Even Celestia didn't know the facts until a Qirin taught her. I'm proud to say that I am known as the wisest of all Qirin, though some of the others in my herd are older than me. My task here is to pass these secrets onto you, so that you know what to do in case of emergency. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst," explained Ryuu.

"Fascinating," said Twilight, sipping from her mug.

"Very," agreed Ryuu.

"Well, I think for today, you should just get to know your way around here, and we can start tomorrow!" said Twilight eagerly.

"Sounds like a plan," said Ryuu, extending her hoof. Twilight hesitated, but with a prompt from Spike, she bumped it.

As Ryuu walked put the door, Spike couldn't resist the opportunity to be snarky.

"That awkward moment when a millennium old creature knows more about social interaction than you."