A loud banging from the front door got me to pull my hooves free of my Earth-Keyboard. "We're open, aren't we?" I was baffled at who would bang on an open door to a public building.

I emerged from my room to find Spike standing defensively in front of Twilight, barring much of the view of her. "Uh?" I had one bubble, so I used it, putting up the temperature shield up around me, for what little good that'd do when I was already fire resistant. "Should I be worried?"

"Yes." Spike glared at the front door behind me. "I can feel it..."

"Spike, cut it out." Twilight tried to get around Spike, but he kept cutting her off. "Somepony's at the door!"

Figuring Spike might be overreacting, I went to fix the problem and get the door. "Coming." I willed the door open to find myself face to face with another kirin. My emotions died. "Hello. Can I help you?" My voice was flatter than usual, and it was already flat half the time.

"There you are." The other kirin scowled, a male of the species, though that was easy to miss. Kirin had a female leaning to them as a whole. We had softer lines than a pony, overall. "Uck... Look at you..." His horn glowed, casually picking me up and floating me right out of the library. "False Kirin, you have many crimes to answer for."

"Hello. Can I help you?"

The kirin put me down, the glow of his horn ebbing away. "What spell are you casting? It is nearly impossible to subtly cast as a kirin, are you not aware of this?"

I glanced up at my glowing horn. "Yeah, sorry." I canceled the heat bubble, leaving myself vulnerable to such attacks, not that I could be hurt by them? "Just a defense spell, forget it."

"It is time for real answers." He slammed a hoof beside my face and I flinch fearfully. A tear runs down my face without prompting.

This seems to surprise him. "You may be an infidel, but I have not struck you. Why do you cry?"

"Sorry."

"You apologize a lot." The kirin scowls at me, as he had done from the start. "I haven't even gone over what you have done wrong yet. False kirin, what were you before? The rumors say you were an earth pony. Is this correct?"

"Yes."

"Stop giving me one word replies." He stomped the ground instead of next to my head. "You are a false kirin. Let me explain it, as you do not seem to grasp it." He raised a hoof, a haze of an image appearing of an earth pony and a pegasus flying side by side. "Land ponies are born as this, or that." He angled his head towards either of the two. "Neither will become a kirin, that is simply not their fate. They will grow in earth or air magic, perhaps both... But not fire."

The image faded and a new pony appeared with fins and a smile, across from them, a kirin standing tall and proud. "Water and fire are different. A kirin makes a kirin. A sea pony makes a sea pony. A kirin does not become something else. Something else... does not become a kirin." He leaned in, heat washing over me. "But you did."

The angry kirin glared, accusations piercing my pretenses. "You're no true kirin," he pronounced harshly.

I cringed under his stare. "Didn't choose changing," I mumbled, gesturing at the sky. "Just happened."

He hardly relented, doubtful my excuses placated pride in pure elemental lineages. Sparks flickered warningly from his horn. "Meddling with reality without elder blessings risks turmoil until amends manifest."

I winced, not liking the way he was aggressively pushing at all. "Look, magic gone weird dragged me here, um... I think it's my own people."

He suddenly perked. "What people? You said you were an earth pony."

"Before that."

"Before that?" He frowned thougthfully. "What was before that?"

"Human, alien. Fire set them apart. Fire let them do miracles. If they had to pick an element, I'd pick fire to represent them. Their mastery over other elements, um, fire. Fire lets them do it in the end."

The kirin sits suddenly. "That... changes things... If you are a fire creature, your bring a kirin is understandable, but you were an earth pony first. Do you practice earth magic?"

"Yes?"

He grunted. "Impure... A kirin is just fire. Do you not understand me?"

"I am something new." I crack a little smile. "I was odd before. I'm odd now. Why would I be normal suddenly?"

"So cocky." He shaked his considerable mane, tail lashing with equal vigor. "Abandon the earth magic. That is all we require. Purify the fire within you, and the rest can be forgiven."

On one hoof, that was, relatively, an easy request. On the other, I hated that he had asked it. I hated being told what to do or not do. "I'm not hurting anything. Go away."

With a sudden rush of heat, he went full nirik. "I was trying to be kind!" he roared out, eyes white, purple-red flames burning brightly. "Whelp! I will burn you to ashes."

I doubted that specific part. As warm as he felt, I wasn't burning from the flames. That did nothing to help me when he basically punched me, and my vision sparkled from the aftereffects of it. I hadn't been punched since I was a child. I was stunned.

So he hit me again, driving me back into the wall of the library. "Good, die," he snarled, lashing with flailing hooves. The fire did nothing, but sharpened hooves were quite capable of bruising and cutting flesh.

At least, that was true until I erupted in stone, encasing myself into a statue that stood as still as ever I had, staring out, unfeeling and unknowing. I was on complete lockdown, and my magic was helping me flee the suddenly hostile world. He couldn't hurt me.

But my mind was just as stuck. I lost all track of time, just focused on being still and quiet, as if that might make the problem go away.

I only became unstuck slowly. I realized I was standing in front of the library. I was not being attacked. It still hurt. I could feel the stings of opened wounds and throbbing sores. Just standing hurt. I let the stone fall away and a new smell could reach me, burning wood and paper.

With a squeak, I whirled back on the library to find it was entirely intact. "G-good...." Breathing hard, I pressed inside. "Twilight? Spike? You two alright in here?"

Spike growled like a threatened, or threatening, dog. "I didn't let them in..."

Twilight hurried up to me. "Where were... David..." She felt over my injuries with all the softness the kirin didn't have. "Go sit down. I'll bring some bandages..."

"T-thanks." I just obeyed her, heading to my room. "Sorry."

Spike perked up. "Sorry? What'd you do?" He trailed after me. "That jerk seemed ready to fight, for real. How'd you not get hurt even more than you actually did?"

I winced lowering onto the bed, pains registering as adrenaline faded. Cuts and bruises stung badges of shame where anger left marks. Fighting back never tempted though - fleeing failures loomed larger.

"Tried hiding under stone but that just delays problems..." I muttered. Spike's querying stare sparked flickers of insight as Twilight wrapped bandages. "Standing against hate takes real courage. He assumed wrongly but violence just breeds more violence."

Twilight nodded. "Enduring hostility hardly seems just, yet striking back often perpetuates harms..." She squeezed my shoulder gently. "Rest now. We'll unravel this confusion later respectfully when you've healed."

I sagged into her supportive embrace as Spike kept sentry, resolve glimmering. Confronting fear with empathy proved hard but hatred multiplying ended only when someone finally stood unmoving against those sweeping tides. My wounds would mend given care. "Not fair." I flopped on the bed. "I haven't felt this helpless in forever, and I hate it."

Spike turned towards me, looming over the head. "I used to be smaller." He flapped his wings lightly. "It was nice, when I got larger... I don't let anyone pick on me, or Twilight." He reached to stroke along my side, soothing even if it was also painful. "If you had stayed, I would have protected you too."

"Aw, thanks." I kicked weakly. "Is there a healing spell?"

"Hm?" Spike considered that a moment. "I think Twilight mentioned that was a water trick, and none of us have water, so..."

Maybe I had some water in there, somewhere? I decided reaching for it right then would be a bad idea with fire purists already furious at me. "I didn't know ponies had such strong feelings about the elements."

"Most don't." He lowered, resting his head on my side. "But some do... Like those kirin. Jerks." He nuzzled into my pelt, then perked. "Oh, your scales did good. Not a mark on them."

I chuckled at that. "Good... Kirin are tough. Shame I had parts that weren't covered in those scales... Should I give up being a kirin?"

"Can you even do that?" Spike shrugged softly. "Never heard of a pony going backwards before. You're a kirin, the best you could do would be adding to it. Winged kirin! Winged sea kirin, oh wow, imagine how annoyed they'd be." He chuckled at the very image of it. "Can you do that? Please! I wanna see them flip their stupid heads all the way."

I chuckled softly, closing my eyes. "I like the way you think. That'd show them..." I sat up with a huff. "Does Twilight know how?"

Spike flashed dangerous teeth. "That's more like it. You sound less dead about it. So, uh... what'd they do? You came in somehow... more..." He cycled his hands helplessly a moment. "Hard to describe it, but you were super shut down."

"Sorry."

Spike hummed. "You didn't do anything wrong, besides go out there in the first place. What are you sorry for."

There was little but awkward silence. "Hello?" Spike curled his tail up and wrapped it around me. "You're feeling things, even if you aren't sharing them. Can you tell me if you want me to shut up and be here or drag them out of you, kicking and screaming?"

"That... is actually a very nice offer, either way, Spike. Thank you." I pondered the two options. "It means a lot that you want to know, and not because you're angry at me." I took a slow breath, sides swelling out before I let it all out in a gust, some flames licking with it. "Go ahead and drag them. I'd like to share."

"Alright!" He put a hand down on the bed, making it lean to the side easily under his considerable weight. "So, getting right into it." He pressed his sharp claws against either of my sides and began dancing them up and down.

As it turned out, I was pretty ticklish. My stoic facade became struggling laughter as I swatted at him helplessly, unable to escape the tickles despite my complaints. My attacks were nothing against him. "I give, I give!"

"Do you?" He drew his dangerous hands back. "Then get talking, or the tickling resumes."

"What do you want to know?"

Spike sat up, off the bed. "Really? Okay, since you're just letting me ask anything..."

I hiccuped, an odd reaction, but the one that came to me. "About this... Look, that guy was angry at me, for existing. It set off a lot of things, especially with him being ready to hurt me about it. I feel stupid now. I should have.... fought... But I don't like fighting, so I froze instead... I feel dumb, and weak, but I froze up pretty well. There."

"There." Spike pondered the words. "Thank you. That does cover most of it, but you still need something."

"What's that?" I ask guardedly.

He hugged me gently. "You were very brave, and we're proud of you."

Author's Note

The fire nation's attacking! Nothing will be the same!

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