All good things came to an end, and their family had to return home. All pleased with the trip, and the adults recharged with the days of largely worry-free fun, they settled back into the normal flow of life, albeit more playful and happier.

Now knowing they could, magic lessons continued apace. The next spell the family tried to learn was to produce bubbles. This proved to be another simple one, and it amused the children to no end. "I want to make a bubble castle!" declared Dawn, spending most of her time making one. She did not manage to make one quite that big, but she came close.

That his unhorned children could cast spells too was delightful, if a little confusing. Winter could think of one pony that could, potentially, answer how that could be. He went into town to get at the phone and made a call to another small town in Equestria.

Elsewhere, a surprised unicorn answered a phone from a service she hadn't really used before. "Hello?"

"Twilight, hello." Winter nodded, not that Twilight could see the gesture. "Sorry for bothering you."

Twilight giggled. "It's fine. I'm not busy at all. It's nice to hear from you. How are you doing? Are you still living in Dodge Junction?"

Winter smiled at that. "Yes. Me and my family." He perked an ear, realizing. "Oh, we had children. They are why I'm calling, actually. We had one very obvious kirin and two ponies that are also half kirin, um, with me as the father and all."

Twilight blinked at that, intrigued by the development. "Well, that sounds wonderful! Congratulations!" She thought a moment. "But... well, I can't think of any other way than that would happen. But, I can look into it."

Winter snorted softly. "No, it's not a mystery. A kirin father and two wonderful earth pony mares loved each other very very much and foals happened." He couldn't see it, but he somehow could hear and feel Twilight's blush through the phone. "But back to the point, one of them has a horn, and the other two don't. But all three can, and are, learning magic."

Twilight clapped her hooves together with a sharp slap. "That's amazing! That means they must be very talented!" She sat up and grabbed some parchment, ready to take notes. "Is there anything strange happening when they use their magic?"

Winter mused over that a moment. "The horned one glowed in their horn, of course. I do too. The ones without a horn seem to glow in their head, around their forehead. Does that help?"

Twilight scribbled the details down. "Yes, it does. Very much so." She tapped her chin with a hoof. "It would seem all of your children grew the needed parts, but they didn't all emerge into view." She clopped a hoof against her own head. "Imagine they have little horns, but ingrown."

Winter furrowed his brow. "So my children will be normal kirin with no horns? Is there a way to fix that?" He chewed at his lip nervously. "They have not complained about any pain."

"Good! Good." Twilight shuffled something unseen. "If they are comfortable, and already practicing magic, I see no reason to be concerned. They may look odd, to a kirin, but they are not disabled in any way. I'd encourage them to be the best themselves they can be and to celebrate their bodies, unusual or not."

Twilight paused, thinking for a moment. "It is good to talk with you again, Winter. I have some new spells I think your children would enjoy. I'll mail them to you in the next few days."

Winter colored faintly. "I'll try them too. Learning magic has been fun so far, and it's become a family thing that we all learn together."

Twilight could not hide her joy at that. "That is the best way to learn magic! You're going to be a fine father to your kirin children."

"Kirin children," echoed Winter softly. "I will do my best. You should come visit, when you can. We'd love to have you, Twilight."

"Oh!" Twlight made a pleased noise. "Yes, I'd love to come. I'll try and schedule something as soon as I can."

Winter nodded at that. "See you then, I hope."

With their goodbyes shared, each hung up their phone on their cradle and returned to their usual days with a little more of a smile for the conversation.

With each passing day, their skill in magic grew. They mastered the next few spells they attempted, finding that learning new ones was quite simple. Some spells proved more challenging than others, but their confidence only grew as they learned from mistakes and their successes.

"Look at this!" Dusk wasn't Dusk anymore, at least, not a kirin. A similarly colored dog wagged their tail excitedly. "I'm a dog! Woof!" He licked his nose with a long pink tongue.

Dawn tilted her head, watching the display. "Yer still a weirdo." She reached over and gently pet Dusk's head, scratching behind his ear.

Summer inclined her head at the display of magic. "What talented little foals I have. Dusk, dear. Ya can turn back to normal, right?"

Winter stood by, watching with some nervousness as his child turned into a dog. It wasn't that he didn't trust his child, but it was rather new to him.

"Aw, mom, I'm not gonna be like this forever." Dusk nuzzled Summer, rubbing against her cheek before licking it.

Spruce burst out laughing at the lick. "Eww, gross!"

Summer hugged her canine child. "I still love you, even as a dog. And I'll take your kisses." She nuzzled into their wet nose. "But ah love you the way ya are. So show us you can go back to normal."

Dusk squirmed at the affection before pulling back. "Okay, okay. Gimme a second." They closed their eyes and focused on being their true self again. Their tail began to shift, returning to a proper kirin tail. Slowly, fur shifted, returning to a soft cream color that matched their skin. Ears lengthened from stubby ones, and hooves returned where there had once been paws. Dusk took a breath as they were finally normal again, waving their arms about.

The other foals clapped supportively at the show of magic. Spruce nodded. "Good. We're kirin, not dogs."

Dawn gave a sly smirk. "We can be dogs a little while, or other things. What a fun spell!"

Dusk wiped their nose, cleaning off the traces of saliva that remained on them. "That is kinda fun. And cool!"

Winter chuckled softly. "It's a neat trick, but you can still play all kinds of games with just yourselves." He put a hoof down on the book of spells to try that Twilight had sent them. "Auntie Twilight was very nice with all the spells she sent." Twilight wasn't his aunt, but to the children, it seemed a safe relation to use.

Summer laughed at that. She remembered Twilight visiting one day, a book in hoof and a wide smile. "She really does love ya'll."

Dawn gave a casual flip of her tail. "I want to try now. Not fair that only Dusk got to do it. Give me some room."

The foals did as she asked, moving back from her a bit to give her space. She looked over the spell book, finding the one she wanted. "Watch!" Her forehead glowed with the magic she was weaving, encompassing her in a bright flash. A cat fell to the ground where she had been. "Meow?"

Dusk smiled at that. "Aw, we've got ourselves a kitty." He leaned forward and gave Dawn a little pet on the head.

Spruce balked at that. "Well, you look nice, I guess." He inclined his head. "I never actually, um, been around a cat before." He reached for Dawn with clear uncertainty.

Winter raised a hoof at Spruce. "There's not much to it, really. They like to be stroked gently, and they don't like being left out of things." He scooped up the cat, who yowled at him in protest, but settled down into his arms, especially with the light pettings being offered. "Like this."

Summer snickered softly. "Now imagine if she was a bigger cat. This'd be way too cute." She ran her hoof over Dawn's back. "A lil' kitty, all snuggly. Or a big kitty." She put a hoof to her chin. "Ain't no expert on magic at all, but is that how it works?"

Winter shrugged gently. "I have no idea. Twilight did say that they'll always have those horns, though, just hidden inside." He snorted at that. "Or better put, they never had horns in the first place, they just used their head and made magic from there." He nodded, confident in that logic. "My turn."

He put Dawn carefully. "You be good, kitty." He winked before closing his eyes and trying the spell himself. His magic swept over him quickly and, with a flash, Winter became an animal himself. The sound of bells rang out in the room, followed by a pleasant smell that filled the air.

Dusk walked up to Winter and looked down at him. "Awe, look! Daddy's a reindeer!"

Winter stood up and looked over himself, turning to try to get a better view, though that had limited success. "Huh. I was thinking of hearth's warming." But Hearth's warming had no reindeer involved. It had been his distant past life that attached reindeer to a nearly forgotten winter holiday. Reindeer with bells.

He smiled as he wagged his new, short, tail. "I like it." He wasn't surprised, really. "Reindeer are neat animals. They're quite smart and can be very strong." He liked that his hooves made a distinct clop sound on the ground as he walked around.

Dawn ran over and headbutted Winter, mewing softly. She rubbed her head against him with a low purr, quite pleased.

Winter laughed and lowered down for her. Soon he had Dawn joyfully entangled in his mighty antler rack. "There you go. This is fun!"

Spruce ran forward and leaned against Winter's side. "Oooh! You're all warm!" He squeezed in against Winter's belly, pressing in close. "Wow!"

Dusk approached cautiously and hugged against Winter's other side.

Winter could do little but sit and enjoy the company of his children all around. There were worse fates out there, that he could see. "I should turn back." He lowered his head for Dawn to get free.

Spruce made a noise of displeasure at that. "Aw, really? Why?" He held onto Winter tightly. "You're all big and warm."

Dusk wrapped his tail around Spruce's with a laugh. "We like you this way."

Winter pawed at the ground with his altered hooves. "Be nice. You like me when I'm a kirin too, don't you?"

Summer reached down and stroked along his side. "Mmm, Winter, yer just lovely like this." She pushed her snout into his mane, breathing in deeply. "So fluffy and cute. The bells are an interesting touch. Do all reindeer have bells?"

Winter lifted his head slightly to display the red nose upon his face. "No, only special ones." He shuffled slightly as Summer ran her hoof along his back. "That's why they are called Rudolph, I think." He snorted at that distant memory. "But I'm ready to be Winter, a proud kirin father." He shook his head. "Get off of there, Dawn."

With a yelp, Dawn fell onto the ground in a heap, dazed for a moment before getting up with a few unhappy meows.

Spruce gasped at that and leaned into Winter further.

With his family intent on snuggling him, he performed the little magical snip. He popped back into being a kirin and grabbed up his wife and children in warm hugs. "Where's Maple hiding, by the way?"

Dusk tried to turn into Maple, but the spell was made for animals, not other ponies. He became a small pony, a horse pony, to his confusion. "Hey! No fair!"

Maple emerged from the bedroom. "Ah heard ya'll shouting about something." She walked up and gave Dawn a pat on the head. "Awww, Dawn, yer cute as a kitten."

"I am a kitten! Meow!" Dawn giggled with joy, batting at Maple's hoof with her new paws.

Spruce wiggled out of Winter's arms and pointed at Dusk. "No, it's you! Turn back to normal, geeze!"

Winter leaned in and kissed Summer softly. "Turning into a reindeer was an experience." He turned an ear back. "But I like me as me."

Maple glanced over and tapped Dusk on the head with a hoof. "Ya best change back or else." She laughed softly. "Ah mean it, it's too cute for my heart!"

Dusk returned to being a kirin. "I don't even know what I turned into. That was odd."

Spruce just giggled at that. "You were funny!"

Summer patted Winter on the flank. "That you were, dear." She nuzzled against his neck with a happy sigh. "Ah'll never get over how cuddly ya are. An' yer still mighty cuddly." Which she proved by cuddling him eagerly.

Maple snorted softly at the sight of the two of them cuddling, with Dawn butting in to enjoy the attention as well. "When ah thought this would be weird, ah didn't expect it to be so damn cute." She pet the feline carefully. "Now, ya gonna turn back?"

Dawn tilted her head back at Maple before rolling onto her back and flailing her paws in the air. "Meeeooooowwwww!"

Maple took a breath and sighed heavily. "That sounded like a no, in cat." She rubbed over Dawn's belly. "What if ah say please?"

Dawn swiped at Maple with a playful hiss, batting at her with one paw before twisting to scamper off. She arched her back and gave an impassioned meow before going still, except for the swishing of her tail.

With a pounce, she landed on something, but there was nothing there any of them could see. With a laugh, she returned to her usual kirin self. "That was fun!" She hugged Maple happily. "You're just as silly as the rest of us, huh?"

Maple touched her nose to Dawn's own. "Yep! We're all jus' a bunch ah sillies in one big family."

Author's Note

Well, this chapter felt just comfortable to me.

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