When I reopened my eyes, the first thing I saw was Candid Diversion lifting his head and smiling down at me. I greeted him with a purr and, lacking mobility, tilted my head so he could pet me between the ears for being such a good kirin. He generously placed his hoof on my head and ruffled my mane, which I displayed my appreciation by raising the volume of my purr.

This was very much to the displeasure of the azure-mare holding his flag though. She galloped over and hissed at me, pushing her head between his hoof and my head so he was caressing her instead of me now. I immediately wanted to hiss back and roar, but now that I was closer to her, my nose informed me about her position and I hastily shut my snout.

“Symphonia…“ Candid Diversion said with a lenient tone while pulling her closer for a kiss. “How often do I have to tell you there is no need for envy? Hmm?”

“At least one more time, like always,” she replied. She also made sure to rub her cheek and throat against him, renewing her scent mark on him.

She may be his marefriend, but I had been a worthy opponent and deserved some caresses too! As such, I whimpered for attention. Weak and poisoned like I was, some caressing by our leader didn’t sound that bad.

Symphonia wouldn’t have any of that though as she roared at me and presented her fangs.

I tucked my tail in submission, but kept my whimpering audible. More so when a sharp sting pierced through my head. A series of visions flashed before my eyes, which I assumed were memories Candid Diversion was receiving from me due our new connection.

At first he had a small smile plastered on his muzzle. However, this quickly changed to doubtful and, a few seconds later, something drastically different. Shock and fear! His head flicked towards me and he grabbed Symphonia’s snout, pressing it forcefully shut.

“Don’t you roar at her!” He screamed in panic. “No roaring, no hissing, no dominance fights at all!”

She couldn’t really process these orders and needed some time. Unsure, she looked at him, back at me, then at him. “But…” she mumbled.

“No buts!” He shouted. “She is,” he pointed at me, “my second in command now! No questions! No dominance fights! No anything to challenge her!”

Symphonia freed her snout and inhaled in indignation. Her mane became stiff and a deep growl built up in her chest. “But she is just…”

A loud roar by Candid caused her, as well as every kirin in a hundred steps radius around us, to lay down and lower their heads.

“She. Is. Fortunas. Godchild!” His voice nearly broke due to how nervous he had become. He then proceeded to pull Symphonia up and give her a deep kiss, holding her gaze. “This has nothing to do with us! You are my mate! But we are all doomed if we treat her wrong!”

Now her head shot over to me. A pinch of doubt and fear was mixed into her expression.

Candid let go of her and turned around. He tore at his mane and stumbled around, mumbling to himself.

I whimpered apologetically. I didn’t want him to worry because of me!

“No!” He shouted and rushed to my side. “You did nothing wrong!” He sat down and pulled my head onto his knee and began patting it. “Everything is good!”

I doubted it, but wouldn’t dare oppose his statement.

Now fear-sweat was forming on his forehead. He even started nibbling on his free hoof, causing Symphonia to approach us and purr calmingly. He stopped nibbling and placed his other hoof in her mane, fondling her as well.

So the three of us laid there for a moment. The only thing disturbing the relaxed atmosphere was Candid’s heavy breathing and the panicked look in his eyes.

“Candid?” Another kirin approached us. “Congratulations on your victory, sire! Is everything alright with you?” He came closer and started to sniff the air.

“I… I am fine… just,” Candid started while softly placing my head down and giving me some more pats. “It is nothing." He started to pace around again.

“Sire, wouldn’t now be a good time to take care of the mercenaries and the villagers? The longer we wait, the more of them will be ready for a fight.”

“Yeah, right,” Candid replied without stopping his pacing. “The villagers. Dealing with them.”

While he spoke, two more kirins approached us, taking a seat not too far away. My instinct told me they were higher ups from a non azure perspective. I wasn’t that good at reading the merriment yet, but I had a vague sense for such a thing now.

When Candid didn’t react, Symphonia rose from her spot. “Desert Storm, take action to integrate our new kirins into our battleline, Forest Fire, you come with me while I reclaim our azures.” She turned to her mate and grabbed his hoof. “I’ll take care of the preparations, but you need to focus on the confrontation we’re about to have.” She rubbed her nose against his. “Focus, Candy! Focus!”

He passed his hoof through his mane and nodded.

“Boiling Temperature, you take care of her.” She pointed at me. “She needs medical care and is not to be challenged! I mean it! Whatever she does, don’t let any other azure challenge her! That is an order directly from Candid!”

Said stallion nodded and made attempts at picking me up.

“Candid,” Symphonia looked over her shoulder at her mate. “You should inspect the new kirins. From what we saw in battle, they are not as skilled as our kirins. Their style is more luck based.” Her eyes flicked towards me for a second. “Which makes sense in a way.”

“There are also these undetectable kirins in her former ranks,” another kirin offered. I think it was Desert Storm. “I still can't feel their presence in our merriment. What about them?”

The four of them except Candid looked at me, then, when I didn’t react, over to Candid.

“They are still bound to her, not me,” he explained. He took a seat and inhaled deeply, covering his face with a hoof. “What have I done…” he mumbled.

Instantly, Symphonia was at his side, comforting him. I also did my best to crawl towards him, despite Boiling Temperatures attempts at picking me up.

“I claimed Fortuna’s godchild… “ Candid whispered to his mate. “She wasn’t just a champion or someone the goddess had an interest in. Her godchild Symphonia, her god-child!”

“I know.” she whispered back. “I know." It will be fine though. She looked at the sky. “See, no goddess is smiting you, and the ground hasn’t broken apart to swallow you either. Whatever you did, the goddess isn’t taking issue with it.” She grabbed his face and looked him straight in the eyes. “Who knows, maybe this was even part of her plan!”

“Part of her plan? You are being ridiculous! How would me claiming her godchild to be part of her plan?” He snorted. “She even has two priests in her… I mean, there are two priests in our merriment now as well.” He looked to the side and started to giggle as his eyes slowly drifted in opposite directions and his pupils shrunk slightly.

“Candid!” Symphonia shouted and gave him a little slap on the cheek. Out of instinct, he growled, but as soon as he realized what he was doing, he stopped.

“Thanks,” he said and covered his face again with a hoof.

“Focus! F-O-C-U-S! Candid! This is not over yet! You need to get it together and lead us to another victory, or at least scare these townsfolk off!”

“I know,” he sighed.

She pulled him out of the half seated position he had taken. “You go and see what exactly the deal is with these strange kirins while I get our merriment in order.”

“I’m possibly going to die while stumbling over my hooves,” he mumbled.

“That is nonsense! And you know it!”

“Yeah, yeah, you are right,” he started to pace around nervously again.

Watching him for a moment, Symphonia started to whip her tail impatiently. “ ’ts not going to work...” She shook her head. “Candy,” she grabbed him by the mane and pressed her nose against his, forcing him to take a deep breath along with her. “How about you take her to one of the medical tents and make sure she gets treated while I go and inspect your new followers, hmm?”

“Shouldn’t I be the one who…”

“You are not able to do much at the moment, love,” she explained. “You are not thinking straight.” She stroked softly over the side of his mane. “You go and make sure Fortuna’s Godchild is well taken care of, while I take care of the administerial stuff for the time being. When you’ve calmed down again, you take over as soon as you feel like it. Sound good?”

“Sure…” Candid turned around and approached me. I whimpered a bit, half due to being sorry for worrying him, half for the chance of getting some more caresses. I was the second in command after all, I should get some praise and attention from our leader!

He ignored my craving for caresses though and just picked me up, throwing me carefully over his back, and started trotting towards what I assumed was the direction of the medical tents his, our, merriment had.

He only stopped after a few steps when Fertile Desert came galloping over. She stopped in front of him and lowered her head.

“And who are you?” He wondered. He tried to focus on his azure connection, but it seemed he was having trouble with it at the moment.

“Fertile Desert,” Fertile Desert introduced herself. “I am one of Fiery’s, I mean now your doctors. Or sort of, I am more of a herbalist. I am responsible for her treatment.” She scratched the ground with a hoof. “That is if you don’t give me other orders, of course.”

“No, I don’t mind. I think I should carry her to our doctor, though. A proper doctor might be more useful.”

“Not in the case of poisoning,” Fertile Desert said. “It may be better if I take care of her. I already started the curing process. It may also have a calming effect on her family if I continue with that duty.”

Unsure, Candid looked to where Dad still was and then at the sky. I noticed his tail was still tucked for some reason.

“Leader?” Fertile Desert asked after a moment.

“Oh, yeah, sure. That may be the best,” he agreed. “Lead the way then. And it is sire, not leader.”

“Yes, sire,” Fertile Desert bowed before taking the lead. And with this simple change of plan, the disaster to follow was set in motion.

*

It took us a while to reach my former merriment’s medical tents. First, because we had traveled on hoof, and second, because we had been interrupted several times by some of Candid’s guards. These guys were in quite bad shape! Bliz hadn’t lied when she said they had messed them up! They wanted to join us to protect Candid, as they should, but with them covered in bandages and some of them only able to stumble forward, he immediately sent them back to the infirmary.

The good thing about this was that it gave Candid some time to recover from the shock my claiming had caused him. Though it also gave the townsfolk more time to gather their forces. With pride, I noticed that he cared more about my well being than that other army.

I was important after all!

“We are almost there,” Fertile Desert said and pointed at the tent her mobile herbalist room was in. “That’s where I mix up most of the medicines.”

Candid just looked at the mass of kirins running around and vanishing into, or appearing out of, a dozen huge tents. A lot of kirins needed medical care after the battle after all.

“Sire, this way,” Fertile Desert clarified as she tried to get his attention back. She moved ahead and into a tent, holding the tarp aside for him.

Before he could make it into the tent, however, Mom had spotted us and was quickly flying over.

“Fiery!” She shouted. “Fiery, are you alright?” Without paying Candid any thought, she grabbed my claw and laid her other hoof on my cheek. “Big Softy told me what happened. Are you going to be okay? Is there anything I can do?”

“I will be okay, Mom.” I replied. “Just need some rest.”

“Oh sweetie…” Mom pulled me off of Candid’s back and held me in her forelegs, making an attempt at trotting into the tent.

“Ma’m,” Candid raised a hoof. “I should intro…”

“Later,” Mom harshly cut him off as she proceeded into the tent with me in her forelegs. “Which Bed, Fe-Dee?”

“This one,” Fertile Desert pointed at said bed and moved over to her area of the tent, already gathering some herbs and preparing more antidote for me by the time Candid had followed us inside.

“Since you already heard what happened-” he started, but was cut off by Mom again.

“My husband already informed you what would happen if something were to happen to our daughter,” she said sharply while cooling my forehead with a wet washcloth. “You better make sure you keep her out of any danger!” Mom softly stroked my mane with this motherly caress while her eyes held a look of caring that starkly contrasted with what she had just said.

Candid cleared his throat. “As I told your husband already, it is on me to decide about which tasks I will assign to your daughter and which not. I am the leader of the merriment now.”

Mom turned her head to him and he froze in place, not daring to even drop the hoof he had just raised to step closer.

“You would be fortunate if my husband got to you first if something were to happen to Fiery,” she said calmly, nearly emotionless even. Whatever Candid saw in her eyes told him Mom was not to be messed with.

I whimpered. Candid was our leader now. It was not right for Mom to intimidate him.

“It’s alright sweetie,” Mom said, now in her usual motherly tone. “Just told your new head of merriment to behave.” She once more made sure my forehead was well cooled and the bed was comfortable for me.

Candid shook himself to get rid of the shiver that had traveled down his spine. “Well,” he stated and rubbed a hoof over his face a few times. “It has been a long day, we can speak about this later.” He turned away from Mom and over to one of the kirins working in the tent, one with a feather bush around their head. He tilted his head and sniffed a bit, his muzzle scrunching up in confusion.

“Oh, you must be one of the swamp-kirins with the protection magic on you,” he said. “That is sure interesting.” He walked around her while looking her up and down. “Well, I am your new leader since I claimed Fiery Leadership if you haven’t heard yet.”

The mare, Floating Anchor, if I remembered correctly, just looked at him, a growl forming in her throat.

Candid raised an eyebrow. “Stop that,” he demanded, but obviously to no effect. More surprised than annoyed, he straightened up his posture.

Floating Anchor, however, lowered her stance and displayed her fangs clearly, raising the volume of her growl.

“Stop that.” I whispered, but she didn’t really hear me. Only after Mom repeated what I had said a bit louder did she fall silent, but kept her aggressive stance.

“That is new,” Candid commented. “Not only did I not feel her presence, but no will to command her or even any anger about her defiance. It is like the Call never hit me.” He placed a hoof on his chin. “No, actually even a step further. Even under normal circumstances, I would not take it well to be approached this way by any kirin. Here, however, it is more of a curiosity to me.”

Floating Anchor just snorted, stopped displaying her fangs, and turned around.

“Hey, wait a moment,” Candid said and laid a hoof on her back scales.

He shouldn’t have done that.

With a roar, Floating Anchor turned around and struck him right in the snout. And with that, havoc broke out! Every kirin nearby who wasn’t protected by Hades rushed to Candid’s aid, me included. Or better said, kirins like me, who were in no condition to do so, tried their best to accomplish this. Mom held me back while a fair number of the wounded kirins attacked Floating Anchor to defend Candid. This in turn caused every kirin protected by Hades to rush to Floating Anchors aid.

You can see where this was going!

Of course, I tried to call them to order, but I was too quiet to be heard, more so with the commotion that was going on!

“Stop it!” Candid roared out, one hoof on his bleeding nose. Nearly half of the kirins did as he commanded, while the other half still distributed some punches and kicks before noticing what was going on. Angry growls and hisses were exchanged from both sides, but the actual fighting died down.

Candid took a seat and sighed. Instantly, somekirin appeared by his side and cared for his nose. He, however, just took the cloth from them and shooed them away. “What have I gotten myself into…” he mumbled with a sidelong glance at me. I shrunk under his gaze, whimpering apologetically, causing Mom to turn around and look at Candid. “I mean, I am fine, totally fine!” He quickly added before coming over and gently patting my head. “Good kirin,” he said, and I instantly felt better.

“Now,” he took the cloth off his nose and looked at the blood on it before placing it back. “Okay, so you can control them, right?”

It took me a second to notice that he was speaking to me. “Yes, yes I can control them,” I quietly replied, eager to show how useful I was to him.

“Tell them to stop fighting and listen to me,” he requested, and I did just that. It took a moment for my words to be given from kirin to kirin so they could reach everykirin, but in the end, Candid had everyone's attention.

He sighed again. “Alright, listen up. I am the leader of the merriment now! That means Fiery Leadership is listening to my orders, so I am the boss of your boss now! I expect you to follow my orders like everykirin else in this merriment!”

A wall of growls and hisses were directed at him. This was followed by a reply in kind by the rest of the merriment.

“They really do not like azure-kirins,” I whispered. “It is a major part of their culture.”

He scowled. “But they follow your orders?”

“They die if they disobey my orders.”

That took Candid by surprise.

“I know…” I took a moment to gather my breath. “Wasn’t my idea. You should speak with Calamitous Blossom about it. Or with Caustic Mercy. They can explain it to you in detail. I…”

“You need some rest,” Mom declared with her hoof on my snout. “You can explain it to him when you feel better.” She turned to Candid. “I would prefer it if you tell her to rest and sleep instead of keeping her awake and exhausted.”

“In a moment Ma’m. First, I need her to keep my merriment in order.”

Mom rose from her seat next to me and moved to face Candid directly. “I am sorry if that sounded like a request,” she said. “My daughter needs rest, and since you claimed her, it is on you to guarantee her well being!” Her voice had transitioned into more of a growl towards the end.

“As I said,” Candid replied. “In a moment, Ma’m.” He held Mom’s gaze. “Right now I need my second in command to keep order in my merriment. As soon as this is archived, she can have all the rest she needs.”

“I don’t care what mess you caused in your,” Mom sarcastically pronounced the word, “merriment! My daughter needs rest! And she needs it now!”

“My azure-kirin is needed to lead the merriment at the moment! And I decide about her duties! A short moment will not hurt her and she can rest all night long afterwards!” A dim blue light emitted from Candid’s forehead.

Some of the kirins nearby also moved closer and started to growl at Mom.

I whimpered in fear. If Dad was to see this…

“If it wasn’t some scoundrel using poison on my daughter,” Mom stated pointedly, “it would be her, not you who would be ruling this merriment now!” Tiny flames started to ignite on Mom’s back.

“Mom!” Panic now slipped in my voice, giving me the strength to shout.

She and Candid turned to me. “Mom, don’t turn Nirik, please!” I attempted to stand up, but Mom rushed over and pressed me back down.

“Candid, if you make my mom angry, she will turn Nirik!” I panted, gasping for air, but I had to tell him. “You will feel forced to claim her then, which… she will refuse… and then…”

“Shh,” Mom made and softly sealed my lips with a hoof. “Take a breath, calm down.” She removed her hoof from my snout and stroked over my cheek. “Don’t worry, I will tell him.”

“Tell me what?” Candid was even more confused. “You can turn into a Nirik? How? You are a pony!”

“It is a long story,” Mom grabbed the cloth from the clay bowl next to my bed and placed it back on my forehead. “In short, yes, I can turn into a Nirik when I am angry, and, as we recently found out, that triggers azure instincts.” She looked at Candid. “You would be inclined to claim me, which I would fend off, but, what Fiery fears is, if you try, my husband will kill you. No questions asked. You fight with me, he comes in and kills you no matter what else is going on.”

One of Candid’s eyes started to twitch.

“We are no ordinary family, I know,” Mom stated, already calming down. “Look, I understand how this azure-thing works. I saw it first-hoof with my daughter. There are god’s and dragons involved as well as many other unusual circumstances. If it is too much for you to bear, I get it.” She exhaled deeply, calming her nerves. “You see, with how my daughter’s acted the last few weeks, I understand a little how this Call works, and that you are not completely evil and the bad guy here. Still, you need to understand that my daughter just turned eighteen, and we still care deeply for her wellbeing. You may feel forced to order her around and be in command of your merriment, but as her mother, I feel very much compelled to stomp you into the ground here and now for causing her harm. It may be better if you let things settle in a little before you decide to do something risky by having a negative impact on her wellbeing.”

When Candid showed no signs of reacting to my mother’s words anytime soon, the nearest Kirin started to purr and rub her head against his side in support.

He shook his head and snorted forcefully, sprinkling some blood on the ground. “And so my bad luck starts…” he whispered to himself, causing the mare, Twisted Parallels, to rub her head more intensely against him, purring compassionately.

“Alright,” Candid finally said. “Alright, yeah, I will not argue with a protective mother about her child who is also the godchild of Fortuna to top it off. Just let us clear this up and then she can take a good long rest. Fiery Leadership, tell the swamp-kirins they shall follow my orders as if they were yours and then sleep and recover.”

The good kirin that I was, I did as I was told. I told the kirins under Hades protection to follow his orders as if they were mine, and then I curled up a little to rest. That was till I noticed something off now that things were settling down around me. First my tail twitched a bit, and soon my nose began to tingle. Being new to this whole subordinate thing, it took me a moment to realize what was tickling my senses. Either that or it was the poison suppressing it. Finally, I put two and two together though and raised my head to look at the unclaimed kirin across the tent. Like Bliz had reacted a few times in the past, my ears suddenly stood erect and I even rolled on my belly to focus better on the kirin in question. It was one of Candid’s kirins who had been hit by an a’a’r and been wounded during Calmatious charge.

I also noticed that Candid could feel it as well, throwing a glance in the same direction a few times. He had it better under control than I thought.

“No,” he said, placing a hoof on my back and pressing me back down. “I will handle this, you get some rest.”

I couldn’t place my talon on it, but I had a very bad feeling about it for a whiff of a second. Something important was on the verge of my consciousness. But then the moment passed, and I laid back down, satisfied that my leader would care for things and I could rest safely.

Or he would have if not for the sudden blue aura that enveloped him as he received some news from the other azures. Being so close, I could feel something along the mental strings floating around. The moment I curled up to take a nap as Candid told me to, I also felt some turmoil going on in the merriment. At first I thought it was some more trouble with the swamp-kirins, but then I got a better grasp on it. It seemed Symphonia was having some trouble at the frontline!

“No!” Candid, as well as Mom, said, with Mom also pushing me back into the bed when I made an attempt to rise again.

“You get some sleep!” Candid ordered. “There are enough azures remaining to lead the merriment efficiently, even without you. I will come by and check on you later!”

And with these words, he hastily made his way out of the tent. Whatever he had received, it seemed to have been important.

So, unable to be of any use at the moment, I did what I was told. Under the caring hooves of Mom and Fertile Desert, I took a nap. Only a vague feeling of one or two kirins getting added back to the merriment interrupted my slumber.

***

Author's Note

Edits: My friend Schattendrache
Pre- read : QueenChrysalisForever
Artist: Lightmare