A Curious Kirin

by GraceW

Rating: everyone
Tags: Mystery, Adventure, Autumn Blaze, Drama, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 2076

A disguised changeling enters a Kirin village to be met by Autumn Blaze, who is suspicious.

A new Kirin enters the village to be met by Autumn Blaze, who soon becomes suspicious. This is because she starts a fight with somepony else, which Kirin usually try to avoid so they don't set on fire, so Autumn decides to question the Kirin.
Little does she know, she is not a Kirin at all, but a changeling.

This is an entry for the 2024 Non-Pony Writing Competition.
It is also my first story, so I apologize if it isn't very good.

Published 2024-08-25 17:40:00 UTC
Last updated 2024-08-25 17:40:00 UTC

New Kirin in Town

Author's Note

Please note that this is my first story, and it may not be great compared to experienced writers. Any constructive criticism is appreciated.

New Kirin in Town

Sunny Flare arrived in the Kirin village only a few hours ago, but many others were surprised to see somepony new in town. This started to worry her, as she wasn’t truly a Kirin, but a changeling searching for a new home. Her current disguise to find this new home had a pale yellow coat, and a mane and tail colored similarly to the bark of an oak tree.

Whenever somepony asked where she was from before she came to the village, she replied with, “My parents moved to Equestria and had me there. I decided I wanted to see where my parents are originally from.”

Her plan worked for a few days, until she found herself a bit lost and hungry in the middle of the village.

“Whatcha doin’ just standing there?” asked a Kirin with a cream-colored coat and a mane and tail the color of leaves in the fall.

“Ahh! You scared me. Who are you?” Sunny questioned the odd Kirin.

“My name is Autumn Blaze, nice to meet you! What’s your name?” The Kirin, apparently named Autumn Blaze replied.

The Changeling replied, “My name is... Sunny Flare,” She hesitated, taking a moment to remember her alias, “Nice to meet you as well.”

Autumn noticed Sunny hesitate on giving her name, but didn’t want to be nosy, so she ignored it. She also noticed Sunny looking all around, as if unfamiliar with the village.

“I hear you're new in town, would you like a tour of the village?” Autumn suggested.

Sunny thought about the proposition. She needed to make friends to get love soon. She was already feeling very hungry, and this Kirin seemed to be very interested in being her friend, so this tour sounded like a good idea. She could also meet others who could become friends with her and learn about the Kirin, as well as her way around the village.

Sunny said, “Thank you, I’d love to know the village better,” She also added, “And it will be nice to get to know you and the other Kirin here.”

Autumn took Sunny to all kinds of restaurants and shops. Sunny noticed everything was made using the advantage of nature. Many Buildings were round buildings made high up inside trees. Other buildings were made in hollowed out hills. There was also a fountain in the center of the village made from a lake. The only thing that wasn’t partially made from nature was the shopping stalls, but those were still made from the trees of the forest they lived in. Sunny imagined Kirin value nature greatly.

As they were approaching the shops, Another Kirin walked into Sunny because he wasn't looking where he was going. This made Sunny angry.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" Sunny yelled.

This made Sunny so mad she punched the Kirin in the face, hard enough to give him a nosebleed.

Autumn exclaimed, "Stop, Sunny, it's not worth starting a fire!"

Starting a fire? Sunny thought. She then remembered that when Kirin get angry or upset, they set on fire. She saw the other Kirin had set on fire after being punched by her as well. The Kirin became black with pink and blue flames. After remembering this she slowly set herself on fire too. She had looked away from the Kirin to look at Autumn when she was talking to her, and didn't see the fire was supposed to be instant.

Autumn saw many things wrong with what just happened. Sunny attacked the Kirin, who she recognized as Stormy Glow, when the Kirin do their best not to attack each other, so as they don't set things on fire. She also noticed that she only set on fire when Autumn mentioned it, even though she was clearly very mad. A Kirin can hold back their flame, but only if they hold back their anger. When she did set on fire, she noticed that it was slow, when it should be instantaneous. Added to the hesitation in giving her name, Sunny was suspicious, and Autumn had some questions.

Questions and Answers

Autumn helped both Sunny and Stormy calm down until they weren't on fire anymore. Now that she wasn't mad, Sunny got a better look at Stormy. He had a coat the color of storm clouds, and a mane and tail the color of the ocean. Stormy apologized, and said he shouldn't have given Sunny a reason to get angry. Sunny accepted his apology, and said she shouldn't have punched him.

Once that was over and done with, Autumn was still suspicious of Sunny and was ready to ask some questions.

After they left the shop they were originally aiming to go to, Autumn decided to ask some of her questions, so she stopped by the fountain.

"Hey Sunny, why did you decide to come to the village?" Autumn asked.

Sunny knew the answer to her question, but was sure there would be more, because during their time together, Autumn shared everything about her, like how she likes jokes and singing, and Sunny had shared nothing about herself. She prepared to be questioned, and then answered Autumn's previous question.

Sunny Answered with, "I wanted to see where my parents are originally from."

Autumn then said, "Why did you hesitate to tell me your name?"

Okay, a full-on interrogation it seems, Sunny thought to herself.

She came up with, "I'm a bit shy around strangers, that's why I hesitated."

Autumn wasn't sure she believed her last answer, after all, she let her show her around the village right after. But even so, it was time for the questions she really wanted to ask.

"Why did you punch Stormy Glow? I know he bumped into you, but you only escalated things," Autumn said.

Sunny answered, "He just made me so angry, I had to take it out on something, and he was the one who made me angry."

Autumn replied, "That leads to my next question. If you were so angry, you would have been on fire the entire time. I also noticed that when you finally did set on fire, it was slowly, not instant like it should be."

Sunny knew she had no way out of this one. Autumn was on to her, and she had no excuse. The only thing she thought she could do is run. She looked at the deep woods, and made a run for it. Autumn called out to her, but she ignored her, trying to get away.

Sunny surprised Autumn, and Autumn couldn't keep up. She assumed she was hiding somewhere, so she searched far and wide for her friend. She didn't want to scare her away, she just didn't want her keeping secrets from her.

Meanwhile, Sunny had found an abandoned house made of logs, likely from before the village was formed. She hoped Autumn didn't know about it and went inside. She wished she could turn into a bunny or squirrel, but changelings can only turn into hyper-intelligent creatures, as those are the ones that are best to get love from. So, she hid in her Kirin form, in case she was found.

After searching the woods for a while, Autumn found the house, and decided to see of Sunny was hiding inside. When she went inside, she found her with a look of dread appearing on her face.

"What's wrong? Why did you run away?" Autumn asked.

Sunny said, "Well, you clearly know I have some sort of secret. I'll tell you the truth, I just hope you'll still be my friend."

With that, Sunny transformed into her real self.

The Truth

Sunny had transformed into a changeling. She had black chitin instead of a fur coat, and she had wings like an insect. She also had holes throughout her hooves and wings, and her horn was jaggedly shaped. Unlike typical changelings, however, she had a mane and tail, the color of sapphires. Her eyes, which matched her mane and tail color, were more ponylike than usual changelings as well.

She then said, "My Name isn't really Sunny Flare, it is Facade. I left my hive because I believe changelings can get the love they need by making friends, not just by taking on the identity of a pony's special somepony, and they did not agree. However, everypony fears changelings, so I had to have a disguise."

Autumn examined Facade's real features closely. Afterwards, she said, "I don't think you're that scary. Sure, I heard about what happened in Canterlot, but you don't seem like you were part of that, or at the very least you did it unwillingly."

"I wasn't part of it. I'm the princess, or was the princess, my mother Chrysalis disowned me after I admitted my beliefs. At the time, she believed me too young to join her in her plot," Facade answered.

"If you're ok with telling me, why did you really punch Stormy Glow? I feel like your original reason was a cover up," Autumn asked.

Facade replied, "Well, in the hive, we were expected to fight back at the smallest offense, including just bumping into someone. I guess I just naturally started fighting back because of my life in the hive, but afterwards, I felt bad."

"Well, knowing all this, I will most definitely still be your friend. Oh, and I bet the rest of the village will be too!" Autumn said.

Facade replied, "Can we hold of telling the rest of the village? They don't know me as well as you, and I want them to get to know me better first."

"Of course!" Autumn said.

*1 month later*

Over the next month, Facade got to know everyone in the village better in her disguised form. She also made up with Stormy, who said bumping into her was an accident and he shouldn't have egged her on. While Facade was usually very nice, she had bad anger issues due to living at the hive, so she also worked on that. By the end of the month, her anger was much better.

Autumn and Facade agreed that she should now reveal herself to the village. While Facade was nervous, she knew she couldn't keep faking forever. Remembering to set herself on fire whenever she was angry was tiresome. They told the village they had an announcement and everypony had to be there.

A stage was set up and Autumn and "Sunny" were on it. Soon, everypony was gathered in front of the stage.

Autumn then said, "we all know Sunny, right? kind, caring, a bit of a temper?"

After the last one, Facade Glared at Autumn while a few Kirin chuckled, and all said yes.

Autumn replied, "Well what if I told you Sunny isn't a Kirin at all?"

This statement caused a variety of emotions. some were worried about what Sunny really was. Others were intrigued. Still more Kirin didn't know what to think, they were friends with Sunny, but did this mean she was lying to them?

After Autumn said this, she looked to Sunny and nodded. Sunny then, in a blast of green light, transformed into her changeling self. Many were interested in how she didn't look like normal changelings, but much more pony-like. Many noticed she looked nervous as well.

Autumn explained, "Her real name is Facade, and she did not fake her personality or friendships. She came here because she believes changelings can get their love by being friends with other creatures, and it's worked. She told me with the friendships she's made in our village, she hasn't felt hungry for a month."

Facade asked them a question. Her voice sounded different, like it was vibrating, but other than that, it sounded the same as when she was Sunny. She asked, "Will you all still be my friends?"

Stormy was the first to answer yes, as he had been a close friend of Sunny, and now he could get to know who she really is. many yeses followed, until everyone in the village said yes.

Facade could still feel the same amount of love coming from them as before she revealed herself, letting her know they meant it. This is the perfect home, she thought to herself.