Winter remembered. He had never been from any town of kirin. He had been from another place entirely, with different creatures. The train ride was a fine time to ruminate on that. They didn't have fur. They didn't have armored plates like he had. Poor things, they didn't have horns.

But... He had been one of those? He thought? 65% odds. He had... been playing something, something fun, and then he was here, being introduced to Summer. He smiled mildly at that memory. Meeting her had been a good thing by all measures.

"What are you thinkin' 'bout?" Summer had noticed him. "You look happy."

Maple clapped her hooves lightly. "Bet he's excited to see all those other kirin."

That was as fine an answer as anything else. He nodded, but went back to thinking. He wasn't always a kirin, but he had become one, and he was a good one! He hoped. He followed the instructions given to him, to be a strong and silent kirin, to be a good partner to Summer...

Would the other kirin agree? Would he be celebrated, or scorned? He had no idea what the other kirin thought of things, but they should agree that he's been a good kirin... right? But he'd already been told they may not all be quiet.

Maybe not as quiet? Maybe they were still quiet, compared to the average pony, but not silent? Winter mused on the varying levels of quiet they may or may not be. Would they respect his silence as a good thing... or a bad thing? Would he be a pillar of stoicism, or just some snob that's being standoffish and rude?

Being rude wasn't the idea... He wanted to be friends. Quiet friends... But still friends.

He jumped with a hoof landing on his side. Summer had reached over and touched him, offering silent support. She knew him. She understood his words without them being said. His love for her only swelled larger and he leaned in to rub noses in a moment of shared bonding.

Whatever happened, he had Summer and Maple at his side. They would help and they loved him. Confidence rebounding with these facts, Winter settled on the seat for the journey.

The train pulled up to a gentle stop at the end of the line. Not everycreature on it was getting off. Some were bound for stations back the other way, waiting patiently for the train to start back towards them. But that was where Twilight, Applejack, and the new family disembarked. Twilight looked to Applejack.

"This way." She waved forward and got to a steady walk. "The kirin seem to like their privacy. Ain't so close to much anythin' else."

They liked their quiet? This made sense to Winter. Maybe they'd get along...

"Hey!" They all looked up to see a kirin waving excitedly down at them. "Is that you, Applejack?" Autumn Blaze had spotted them and looked happy about it. "And some new ponies... and..." She squinted. "Who's that? One moment!" She ducked out of sight.

Winter flipped his ears back. They had only seen one kirin and they were already very loud! Would the entire town be that loud? Had he been lied to?! His steps became stiff with worry as the group advanced. What had he signed up for?

"I said to wait!" Autumn popped out from around a corner in front of them. "Alright, I guess I didn't exactly say to wait, but I meant it." She went up to Applejack, delivering a firm but brief hug, but moving right past her. Her target was not subtle, moving right up to Winter. "Now, as I was saying... Who are you? I know every kirin around, but I don't know you." She didn't sound angry about it, curiosity bubbling out of control.

Winter inclined his head at Autumn, barely resisting the urge to retreat from her loud presence.

Autumn inclined her head right back, the two staring at one another a moment. "Oh! Wow! How did you get away?" She turned to the others. "Poor thing's still silent? We can fix that! One more dip in the river and he'll be singing with the rest of us."

They sang?! Winter shrank away, just to bump his butt against something. He looked over his shoulder to see Maple standing behind him, barring his retreat. "Don't be scared. We're here."

Applejack tossed her head at the new kirin. "He's awful quiet, as ya noticed, but he's also the happy husband of those two there." She pointed at Summer and Maple.

Autumn colored vividly. "W-wait....Both of them?!" She looked from one mare to the other. "Wow. Wow! I didn't even know you could do that. Neat!" She clapped with a big smile. "I'm not sure I could get one pony to put up with me for the long haul. Two?" She frowned with new thought. "Maybe two would help, they could share... If I'm too much for one, two may be just right..."

Twilight coughed into a hoof. "We're not here to change up your marital patterns."

Autumn whirled on Twilight. "Hi there! I'm Autumn Blaze and it's great to meet you. What's your name?"

Twilight blinked at the sudden introduction. "Oh, sorry. I'm Twilight Sparkle. Applejack's friend, and hopefully soon yours?"

"Pleased to meetcha!" She thrust a cloven hoof out and soon was shaking Twilight's hoof vigorously. "A friend of Applejack's is probably already a friend of mine."

"Who are you shouting at?" Another kirin stepped out, male, but effimate. They were not as effimate as Winter. Were the girliest mare a -100 and the manliest stallion a 100, he rated a -30, whereas Winter as down at -80. "Oh, hey." He could see the visitors. "What's up with the--"

"A new kirin," burst Autumn, answering before the question was finished. "And they're still silent!"

"You going to make your tea?" The kirin stallion considered Autumn. "You should talk to Rain Shine first."

Maple stepped up next to Winter. "I'm detecting a pattern right there."

Summer perked an ear at her. "What pattern?"

"The kirin, they have a name pattern going." She looked quite proud to have spotted it. "Cool, hot." She turned to Winter. "Winter, cool. Flame, hot." She loop about to Autumn. "Autumn, cool. Blaze, Hot. Rain, cool. Shine, hot, or at least warm feelin'. Am ah off?"

The stallion curled an arm to point at himself. "Evening Spark."

Autumn burst into merry laughter. "You caught us. We kirin are dual creatures, cool and hot. Have you seen our hot side? It's hard to forget."

Twilight smiled gently at that. "We have very similar names."

Evening inclined an ornate ear at Twilight. "We do?"

"Twilight Sparkle." She pointed at herself. "Which is almost Evening Spark."

"Neat." He didn't argue that, the words were synonyms. "Are we friends now? I thought I'd have to work harder to make my first pony friend."

Autumn threw an arm over Evening. "I told you! It isn't just Applejack and Fluttershy. A lot of ponies are super friendly. They told me stories about them, and these are their friends." She waved at the collection of creatures visiting. "Which means they're all friendly, which means they want to be pals with us all, and I'm signing up for that. Hello new friends!"

Winter dared to walk up to Autumn, meeting her gaze and staring at her. She stared back at him. There was quiet, blissful quiet. He could feel his nerves relaxing in that calming hush. He just had to make eye contact, talk without words. It was working...

Autumn blinked. "Aw, dang it. You win." She laughed as she turned away, abandoning the staring contest that Winter didn't even know he was in. "Let's go visit the town!" With joy, she led them into the kirin village. Eyes turned towards them curiously as they came in.

"What's this?" Rain Shine was guided out by several excited kirin. "Oh." Her eyes fell on Winter right away. "I don't... Who are you?"

Winter flipped his ears back. Rain didn't have the loud jangle of Autumn, a plus, but she was talking, and he didn't have the words to reply. He looked to Summer, who was already advancing. "This here's Winter Flame, my husband. He really wanted to meet other kirins like himself."

Rain considered Winter. It was quiet, other than the curious murmurs of other kirin about them. She knew how to watch and listen. Maybe he could be friends with her? "Thank you, for the introduction." She lowered herself until her head was even with his. "But I would like to hear from you."

Winter took an unsure step backwards away. He didn't have words to share!

"Can you speak?" she asked in the gentle tones that Autumn entirely lacked. "Or do you choose not to?"

Winter inclined his head left and right in slow motions. Kirin were supposed to be quiet! He was a good kirin! Why were the others all talking? Tears stung at his eyes, not a bawling, but they were shed silently as his confusion grew uncomfortably. Was he a broken kirin? Either he was wrong, or they were all wrong, and there were so many more of them than him...

"It's alright." Maple flopped against him, sinking to sit on his left side. "You're upsetting him."

Summer nodded at that, moving between Winter and the large Rain. "He's my stallion, and I will protect thim."

Rain turned her attention on Summer. "You are easier to talk to, so I will ask you. Does he not talk because he can't talk, or because he would rather not talk?"

Summer raised a hoof behind her head. "I know he's really uncomfortable right now. He just wanted to meet other kirin... I bet he thought they'd be quiet too."

Twilight was watching the whole exchange with rapt fascination. "That was true, before. Some tea or another addressed it?"

Autumn nodded firmly. "I can make some up. Rain Shine, should I? I'll get right on that!"

"Hold yourself." Rain sat up instead of laying on her belly. "You are not one of mine. My words only go so far, but I think you understand them at least. Autumn here can make a special tea. A few sips will banish the silence from your throat. But I will not force you... We were wrong to force silence on others. I won't force sounds on them now."

Winter curled on himself with a little whimper. His mares closed in between him and Rain Shine. Maple waved at the Celestia-sized kirin. "This is a lot to put on a creature all at once. Can he jus' be himself fer now?"

Rain simply nodded at Maple. "Of course. You are all welcome here. Please, see to their lodging. We have guests." The kirin began chatting louder and scattering back to their business, some of which seemed to include setting up things for their new guests.

One kirin, a stallion, was watching Winter curiously. "You're..." He looked instead to the more talkative mares. "He looks like a mare." Blunt, simple, but also true.

Applejack considered the kirin in kind. Compared to ponies, that stallion was also mare-y. -20? Androngynous. On some levels, kinda pretty. Exotic? No, that was a keyword for anything out of the normal. Not helpful. Applejack shook those thoughts free. "Ah noticed that mahself, but girly or not, that stallion managed to fetch himself not one but two mares." She smirked at that. "Reckon he's secured his stallion card."

The kirin hummed softly, turning instead to Rain. "Will you be my mare?"

"I will not," she gently, but firmly, denied. "You keep asking that." She sounded more amused than offended.

"I don't want any other mare." He snorted softly, but smiled. "So I keep hoping."

Rain tapped the hopeful stallion on the nose. "Silly thing... Now, he didn't ask to be what he is. Let's not make fun of a stallion for being mare-shaped. We don't get to pick these things, and a pretty stallion isn't an awful thing."

It was Summer's turn to darken. She had chosen it. She had literally drawn what she thought the ideal kirin should be, based on her love-addled, or maybe lust-addled, thoughts of one other kirin she'd ever seen. She'd drawn a kirin that was not like all the other kirin she could now see.

What had she done?

Author's Note

Time to loop around. Face our original mistakes...

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