“What are they?” Squeaks asked, unable to recognize the hoofful of small, fruit baring trees that Dream had been growing. It was the next day and everyone was finishing their packing. The presentation on what had been happening back in Equestria while the ponies of the village had been lost had gone on almost until dusk and, just like Rosemary and Spruce, left them all with a lot to think about. Every single one, however, had met with Midnight and First officer Mooring Dock the next morning and said they wanted to go back home to Equestria and were willing to go north rather than stay and wait for them to return.

“The closer to this Storm Clan, the safer it should be, right?” one of them had said, “so why should we wait?” Midnight had tried to tell them that safety wasn’t a guarantee, even with getting closer to the clan, but the rest quickly adopted the same mentality and resolve only grew stronger when another pony pointed out that, with Shoal as an escort, nothing would dare come near the ship. In the end she could only shrug and tell Mooring Dock to report back to Captain Smith to get berths ready. At least it would be one less thing to do on the way home.

“They’re supposed to be mangoes,” Dream said unhappily, tapping a hoof against a low-hanging, yellow-green, not very healthy looking fruit. These were in stark contrast to the red-orange, plump fruit the young thestral was used to seeing. “While they can grow in and around swamps, how far north we are and the weather patterns just don’t agree well with them at all. I’ve only gotten a few fruit to grow properly each season and this year looks like it’s in the outhouse. At least I won’t feel too guilty about leaving.”

While her mother and grandmother were helping the rest of the found family pack what little they had, Squeaks had volunteered to help Dream harvest whatever fruit had grown, which now looked to be none at all. “Mom says you should be able to grow something back home with a green house,” Squeaks said, trying to reassure her aunt. “I know there’s at least one pony back home that grows bananas that Miss Pinkie buys from.”

“A green house would help,” Dream agreed, examining another plant. “It would help keep pests away, too. Lose a good bit of actually harvestable fruit to them each season.”

Squeaks checked another tree herself, sniffing the undersized, wrong color fruit and wrinkled her nose. It didn’t smell anywhere near ripe, though it at least had a hint of the scent of mango. Thankfully her mother had gotten several of the small, personal watermelons she liked packed away aboard ship that she could have later, not to mention all the proper, ripe mangoes that the ship’s kitchen used as well.

She moved to examine another plant and decided to try and buck it like the Apples did to their trees. Maybe there was a good mango or two hiding in the leaves? She spun and kicked the tree, though she could tell she didn’t hit it as hard as even Applebloom could have. Even so, something did in fact fall out of it, landing on her back with a flop. At first Squeaks thought it was a thick, weirdly colored vine.

Then it moved.

The filly squeaked loudly and jumped away from the tree, getting into the air as whatever had been on her back flopped to the ground, wriggling slightly. “Squeaks? What happened?” Dream asked, coming over then looking at the thing on the ground. “Oh, one of those,” she said, her voice of a mix of tired and slightly disgusted.

What had fallen on Squeaks was a snake or at least something like a snake. It had bat-like wings half-way down its body and bat-like ears coming out of its head as well as a weird looking nose and was pale green-blue on top and white on the bottom. It wasn’t hissing at them, though, like Squeaks expected a startled snake to, nor was it really paying either of them much attention at all. The wriggling was more it curling and uncurling in what looked like pain. It was actually a rather sad scene to the filly. “A chirpent,” Dream told the filly “some kind of cross between a snake and bat. They eat pests so you’d think they’d be good to keep around but they also eat the fruit, so they can be just as bad. A young one by the looks of it and I guess it ate one that didn’t agree with it. Well, best not to let it get away to bother other crops.” Dream moved a hoof as if to step on the creature.

“Wait!” Squeaks said, flitting back down and putting herself in the way. “You’re just going to kill it?”

“Well, yeah,” Dream said, “like I said it’s a pest. I might not like how the kilins treat us but that doesn’t mean I want them to have a bad harvest.”

“Well, Miss Applejack runs a farm with her family and they let fruit bats stay in one of their orchards,” Squeaks said, trying to remember what Applebloom told them about the last family reunion. “And Miss Fluttershy says that “although they are considered pests they are important for the health of the entire farm”. Maybe letting it go and eat whatever fruit might still grow here would help all the kilins’ crops in the long run?”

Dream tilted her head as the filly recited what she heard the animal caretaker had said. It was certainly the first time she’d heard of pests being a good thing. “Even if you’re right, this one doesn’t look so good,” Dream finally said. “Putting an end to it might be for the best.”

“Well, something else the adults are doing is studying the animals we come across while we head up north. Mom said they couldn’t study anything in the swamp, so maybe I could bring them this? Miss Fluttershy will at least make it comfortable if it can’t get better.”

Dream studied her again but finally just shrugged. “You want to bring it to them then go ahead. They aren’t poisonous but it might still bite, so let me get a bag for you to put it in.”

As Dream went to get the sack they were originally going to use to collect fruit, Squeaks turned back to the chirpent, still wriggling on the ground. She gently poked it with a hoof and the bat-snake curled around the hoof. It didn’t hiss or bite and the slight pressure of it holding on didn’t bother Squeaks one bit. The filly hoped Fluttershy would be able to help it.

Midnight watched as another boat took off towards Return, filled with more ponies’ belongings. Only a couple more trips back and forth and every pony would be out of the village completely and packed away on the ship. Captain Smith had said he wanted to go over the emergency evacuation procedures again by which time it would most likely be nightfall, so it had been decided that the ship would actually begin heading northward again at first light the next morning. After what happened overnight while over the swamp they wanted to get back on track with the perceived protection of daylight.

Her family, both old and new, was already on board and getting squared away. She felt guilty about her grandparents and the younger kirins (she was having a hard time calling them her aunts as they were younger and smaller than her) being put into two of the smaller cabins on the lower decks and had asked if there was any way to get more beds into the suite or even pack their beds from their village home into it. “We’re not that old yet,” Rosemary had told her with a dismissive wave of a hoof, “we’ll survive in a bunk until we make it back to Equestria.”

“We have some couches in the living area of the suite,” Sapphire offered, “you two or the girls could take them.” Said couches were a bit small for kirins as they were meant to seat two ponies side by side and with Gold’s wings and Dream’s size Midnight was sure only Wind would be comfortable on them. She knew she wouldn't have been able to get a proper night's sleep on them. Her grandparents could take them instead, leaving the girls a cabin to themselves, something she was sure the teens would appreciate, but the idea of sticking the two older ponies on a couch to sleep for the rest of the trip felt even worse than sticking them with a bunk. If push came to shove they could break down the beds from their home and at least get the mattresses in through the balcony doors. At the moment everyone was in the suite, along with Violet Jessamine, to see if things could be moved around to even make the suggestion feasible.

“It would seem that every pony is almost aboard,” said a voice behind her and Midnight turned to see Rain Shine, Crimson Flare, and Autumn Blaze walking up to her.

“Just about,” the kirin agreed. “About two more trips and that should be it.”

“We are glad our neighbors are finally able to go back home,” Rain said. “They will be missed.”

Midnight fought the urge to raise an eyebrow at that. “I’m sure they’ll miss you, too,” she said diplomatically. “I know both their families and Equestria in general will be grateful for how you took them in after they were lost in the swamp.”

“Indeed,” Rain said and this time Midnight noticed a bit of tension in her face as she said it. “We also wish you luck on your own journey to the Storm Clan. I hope you are able to find what you are looking for there.”

“I as well,” Midnight said with a nod. "By the way, what will you do with the houses that the ponies built? It seems like all the kilin live in tree homes."

"We will keep them in fair enough shape for when the next pony wanders into our village," Rain told her. "Unless, of course, something changes when you report back to your princesses."

"I see," Midnight said. She noticed tension again, this time in her tone.

With a nod of her own, Rain Shine turned and started back to the village, Crimson right behind her. Autumn, on the other hoof, stayed where she was, wincing as Rain gave her a look as she left. Midnight held off on saying anything and instead watched as three figures with large, leathery wings dropped down from the back of Return and headed back towards the village. They were going to try and get the mattresses aboard after all it seemed.

“So…” Autumn finally said after a minute or so of silence. Midnight had wondered how long the kilin was going to just stand there and fidget before she felt it was okay to speak.

“Is there anything we can help with before we go?” the kirin asked as she spotted Shoal returning to her spot beneath the ship and wave a claw in her direction while holding something meaty looking in the other. The dragon had gone out that morning to hunt the surrounding area and had finally found something from the looks of it. The ebony kirin could go for a protein-only meal right about then and Shoal had promised to share some of whatever she caught. Midnight felt her mouth water a bit at the idea of a fresh kill and waved a wing back, then turned back to Autumn.

“Oh, no, it’s just… I want to apologize for how the kilin have acted, both since you came and since ponies have first started arriving in our village. See, way back when ponies first arrived in Equestria the kilins were already living there but when the ponies came they also brought the windigos and a lot of folks weren’t happy about that but even after the windigos were driven off our ancestors still didn’t really trust the ponies and then after the kirin started being born everyone, every kilin I mean, got some kind of bad feeling and decided to just leave Equestria and we ended up here and then the swamp became bad so we kinda figured we’d never see ponies again but then sometimes a pony or two would find their way here and while we, the other kilin I mean, didn’t like that they were here it didn’t feel right to send them away because that would definitely be a death sentence.” Here she took a deep breath and before Midnight could say anything she launched back into it. “So we begrudgingly let them stay but in a way it’s kind of worse since we don’t let them really become a part of the village so they’re still really lonely and I feel really guilty that we let things happen that way and now a lot kilin are worried that you being able to go back to Equestria and let ponies know about us will mean more ponies will end up coming here but the whole reason we left was to get away from ponies so now it’ll feel pointless that we left all those years ago but at the same time you’re heading to the Storm Clan so there’s hope that you’ll just forget about us but I don’t want to be forgotten because I really think us kilin would be better off if we actually get to know other species and I was hoping that I could come with you to hopefully see the princesses and help start stuff like trade between us even though none of the other kilin are really happy with the idea but since I know that there’s so much more to see out there the idea of staying in the village for the rest of my life just makes me want to scream!”

Midnight blinked slowly at the information dump. “So… you want to come with us?” she asked slowly.

Autumn nodded. “I really think my people would be better in the long run if we actually interacted with others rather than hiding away like we have been. Oh, also, a fun fact about our two species which you can confirm with the Storm Clan since some of them were actually there is that your species got its name because when the first of you were born one wyvern was trying to say that they looked sort of like a kilin only they had some sort of speech impediment so they kept saying “kirin” instead so everyone just started calling you all that.”

“I’ll be sure to check with my grandfather when we see him,” Midnight said. She’d never really wondered where the name of her species had come from and doubted any species remembered how they were named. She’d thought that their two species had similar sounding names due to sheer coincidence. It would be an interesting talking topic to keep in her saddle bag for when they reached the clan. “Like I’ve told the others, you understand that we’re going north to the clan first, then coming back south, and that we can stop here on the way back?”

“I’d like to speak with the Storm Clan as well,” Autumn said. “They can help the kilins interact with other species on this side of the swamp in the mean time and maybe we can get them to come down this far more often and burn back the swamp every now and again!”

“Well, if you’re sure,” Midnight said, looking back at the boat now docking with the ship. “First Officer Mooring Dock mentioned that we still have cabins available even after all the ponies get aboard, so one more won’t be an issue. Just a heads up, there’s a good chance the three scientists we have with us will want to interview you, sooner rather than later. If you don’t feel comfortable talking with them just let me know.”

“I don’t have a problem talking,” Autumn said with a smile. “In fact I don’t get to talk enough since all the other kilin are kinda going for that silently stoic type and when I try to talk with ponies the other kilin all give me this disapproving look but I’ve never understood why we can just be good neighbors at least and also…”

Midnight turned back to look at the boat, partly to try and hide the eye twitch she could feel coming on. Autumn was a lot friendlier than the other kilins and was always the exception when the local ponies had talked about how they felt about their kilin neighbors, so that made her a good one in Midnight’s view. The kirin could also easily picture being stuck next to the her has she chatted away with Puzzle and Pinkie. It wasn’t nails on a chalkboard, but she wished she had packed a pair of ear muffs right then.

Midnight fiddled with her pendent nervously, the five pairs of eyes looking back at her expectantly not helping one bit. It wasn’t that she couldn’t teach them but that she didn’t really know what to teach them. It wasn’t like she’d been taught, after all, just given a few pointers by her mom who’d learned them from her dad.

All six known kirin were currently out on deck, sitting together after Return had gotten underway that morning. The plan was to try and make up for lost time by sailing all day, then getting back to the original plan of making stops for scientific observation once a day until reaching the clan. Midnight had also gone down to the brig to make sure Eve was secure and the ghoul was where the kirin wanted her to be, her face a mix of boredom and annoyance. “I know you don’t like her captain; I don’t like her either,” Umbra Shroud, one of the two on guard duty there at the time, said quietly to the kirin as she was leaving, “but since you control her, maybe she can be useful in some way? Like, you order her to protect one of the bearers and she has to do it. Just a thought,” she added hastily when the kirin glowered at her. It was a stupid suggestion to even let her out of her cage, let alone protect a bearer. That said, what Shroud had said about using her still wriggled in the corner of Midnight mind. She’d think about it.

Later.

When she was bored.

If she didn’t want to play a game with Squeaks or do something with Sapphire.

And didn’t have something important to do.

Like meeting with the other kirins.

Both Norik and Ember had come to her before dinner the night before and had asked if they could have their first lesson on being a kirin the next day since she shouldn’t be that busy. She’d agreed, remembering that she basically promised back in Ponyville to make time for them, and had arranged for the three of them to meet the next morning. When she’d told her family what she was doing, Rosemary suggested that Gold, Dream, and Wind join them.

“If nothing else it’ll be good bonding time for you,” she’d said, so the three of them had joined in as well. Midnight could sense a bit of tension between Norik and Gold and Dream but chalked it up to teenage hormones. While she wasn’t sure of who the young male kirin had interacted with during his travels, she knew the girls hadn’t met anyone else their own age before; anyone who wanted to be around them, anyway. A few days of acclimating (and several watchful eyes) should get any ruffled wings smoothed out.

“So what are these “Kirin Lessons” again?” Dream asked.

“Well, “Kirin Talk” would be more accurate,” Midnight said, “and since Norik and Ember haven’t really had anyone who can even try to teach them things about themselves, I’ve volunteered to help. While he wasn’t around long, my father did tell my mother about what the clan remembered about kirins, such as their diets.”

“And hunting!” Ember said hopefully.

“No, I learned that on my own,” Midnight corrected, “and that isn’t one of the lessons, young lady, at least not the hunting you’re thinking of.”

“You mean for gems?” Norik asked.

Midnight nodded. “There’s tips and tricks to finding good deposits in the ground, in Equestria at least.” She looked over to the three newcomers and raised an eyebrow.

“We never went far from the village,” Gold said, guessing that Midnight was asking what they did for gems. “So when we did find gemstones, we horded them as much as we could to make them last.”

“I never thought you could grind them up over food like that,” Dream said wistfully, patting her stomach and licking her lips. The princesses had allotted a crate of gems for the trip for them, and now Midnight suspected in case they found more kirins, as well as the stashes that both Midnight and Eden had collected and brought aboard, so there were more than enough to share around. Midnight had crushed some and spread them on their dinner, which had been cuts from the slab of the meat Shoal had returned with. “Odd creatures,” the dragon had said while all the meat-eaters from the ship cut off their portions, either to cook or eat raw. “Large, spiked bodies with long necks and tails. I had to take one of the younger ones that had wandered a ways off and even then I had to be careful. You’ll probably see them when you hunt, yourself.”

“If they have spikes on their bodies I hate to think what they defend against since the clan doesn’t come this far south,” Midnight noted and Shoal hummed in agreement. It would behoove them to keep dedicated eyes above to spot any large predators approaching the ground team. This trip was shaping up to be as dangerous has Marina and the others and said it would be. Thank the makers for the ship.

“I always found mine near cave openings,” Norik said, bringing the older kirin back to the present.

“I never found any,” Ember chipped in, “but I was able to get a lot of chickens by myself!”

“And how much trouble did you get into for that?” Dream asked with a chuckle.

“None!” the smallest kirin said proudly, then deflated a bit and gave Midnight a grumpy look. “Until Midnight came and caught me.”

“Well, when you keep stealing, you’ll eventually get caught,” Gold pointed out.

“I wasn’t stealing, they were wild chickens!” Ember yelled.

The nervousness Midnight had initially felt began to ebb as she watched the others of her kind interact with each other. It didn’t go away completely as she recognized that, as the oldest (and only adult) she had a responsibility to help guide the five younger kirins. It wasn’t a role she had ever envisioned for herself but, then again, she’d never expected to be a captain of the guard, have her own family, or a whole lot of other things that were the norm to her now. And, as visiting the kilin village had taught her, this voyage was going to continue to shake up that norm all the way to and after meeting the Storm Clan. She could only pray to the makers that it would be a net positive change by the time they made in back home.

Author's Note

And after two more chapters than expected, we're back on track to get up north.
Also, chirpent:

I've got three / three and a half more encounters before we actually reach the clan planned so we'll see how they play out. Now that I'm realizing that I haven't fleshed out some of the new characters before introducing them I might drop one of the encounters to focus on character interactions. Two of them I'm hoping will stay about a short as this chapter.