Welcome Home

The next day went pretty similar. I got up in the morning, cleaned myself, ate my breakfast and went to work.

Today Creative showed me a new machine. Something that got filled with cotton and it weaved it into a fine thread. A spinning wheel in other words. Just that it was way more automatic again. You had to support the machine, but it was doing a lot of the work by itself.

“Yellow tea is also called snake tea. Kirins say it got the name because a kirin farmer once was busy collecting tea leaves when a snake emerged from the bush. He dropped the tea leaves and ran away. The leaves laid in the grass exposed to the sun until the kirin came back in the evening to collect them. There, the leaves had fermented slightly and developed this yellow colour when brewed.”

While I worked, I also talked with Creative a bit. Trying to tell a story but maintaining the main focus on the task in hooves.

In Hono I had been the only tailor. This meant that I often had worked alone. So, I was not used to talking while working, which lead to several pauses in our conversations. Still, I enjoyed it.

Creative and I talked about everything and nothing at the same time. Our family, the past (I skipped the part about the Stream of Silence), likings, the village, culture and so on. It felt like I bonded a bit with him. Of course, we had only known each other since yesterday, so we weren’t best buddies, but it was a start.

“Interesting. I can’t say I am much of a tea drinker. It is good but-“, Creatives words were cut off when the honk sound called for lunch.

“Oh wow? Already that late?”, I questioned.

But the clock was not lying and the ponies around us laid down their work or finished the current task they were doing at the moment.

“Alright, let’s go eat something. I assume you can find the cafeteria on your own now?”, Creative wanted to know.

“I will. I guess you'll go home again to eat?”, I asked in return.

He gave a nod. “Indeed. I will see you after lunch.”

Creative waved as he walked off and I made my way alone to the cafeteria. Again, the room was filled with ponies. But unlike yesterday, they weren’t staring anymore. Or better, they weren’t directly staring anymore.

Before, it was more like curious staring. The fact of having a kirin, a completely unfamiliar creature, in the same room. But this time it was… some sort of sideway staring? The focus was on something else but they still followed every step I took. It actually made me feel more uncomfortable than it did before...

But I didn't want to let this feeling get in my way. As I walked between the tables I looked for a free seat with access to some coworkers.

After a quick look around, I spotted two stallions sitting together and talking with each other. One had a green, prickly hedgehog mane and a red coat while the other had his dark brown mane styled to the left side and a light brown fur.

“Do you mind if I join you two?”, I approached them.

The two stopped their chat and looked at me surprised while they tried to catch themselves again.

“I mean sure. We don’t mind”, the brown stallion was finally able to get out.

But I could tell that it was not fully true. There was a reserved tone in his voice and a bordering aura coming from both of them. Separating me from the two. It gave me a feeling of not being fully welcome here.

Still, I didn’t want to turn down the opportunity and sat myself next to the red coated stallion and opposite of the brown one.

“Sooo… guess you are the new worker here? The kirin?”, the stallion next to me asked.

Word travel fast. I just started yesterday and today they already know that I am a kirin, went through my mind. But it only made sense to me that in such a small facility any newcomer is the word in town… or facility. Especially when the newcomer is a different creature.

“Yes, I am. Spring Frost is the name. Nice to meet you two”, I said. “And you two are?”

“I am Cloak, and this is Velvet.” This time it was the brown stallion talking who used his hoof to firstly point at himself and then at his friend on the other side of the table.

“Happy to finally meet that kirin who everypony talks about”, Velvet added.

I gave a nod. It seemed like the tension faded away a bit. But only a bit.

“Yea, guess I can get used to that name. The Kirin. Being the first kirin among ponies might make me famous just for existing”, I chuckled. “Anyways, sorry if I interrupted the chat, you two were having.”

“No worries. We weren't talking about anything special”, Velvet waved off.

“What was it then?”, I dared to ask.

“Oh, we were just planning about this evening. We two plan to meet another friend of ours and play cards together”, Cloak answered.

My ears perked up. “Cool. Could I join too? I don’t have much experience with card games, but I would love to learn. Besides, I don’t have anything important planned after work, so it would be nice to have some ponies to spend the evening with.”

The two stallions shared a short look with each other. Immediately the left out feeling fully returned and I already knew the answer before one of them spoke it out loud.

“I am sorry, but I don’t think we can. We would love to, but this is more something between us friends. We've known each other for years and it would be strange to bring somepony we just met”, Cloak said with a shy smile.

I swallowed my disappointment because in the end I could understand them a bit. If you had something planned with your best pals it should continue to include just that group.

“Alright, I do get it. But what do you say if we do something together another day? I’m still new here and I don’t know anypony.”

“Maybe. When we have time”, Velvet said to my words.

I gave a nod and took out my lunch, leftovers from the fried noodles, along with two chopsticks. Unlike yesterday, I brought some food with me. I chuckled a bit when I saw the confused look of the two ponies.

The rest of the work day was uneventful. Just me and Creative chatting and before I knew it, it was already the end of todays shift.

Since I again had nothing special to do, I decided to go shopping. I could use some vegetables and fruits along with some plants for my garden. In Hono we had markets where we got our groceries (or we visited the kirin at home since we all knew each other) but Creative told me that markets were not too common in Maren. Instead, they had shops to go in and buy the needed products.

Sadly Creative was busy this evening and couldn’t accompany me. But at least he pointed me in the right direction, where I would find the most shops. And indeed, not long after I stood in front of the first ones.

Unlike when you had a market and already could see what the kirin (or here pony) would have to offer, I could only see as much as I could spot through the showcase window. Sure, I doubted that in the shop with the name “Featherbrush’s pen and paper” were any groceries but I was still curious what these ponies had to offer. My muzzle was pretty much glued on to the glass whenever I walked past one. But when the sun slowly went down, I was reminded that I had to hurry a bit or else I might miss the opening time.

The plants I will get another time. Let’s just focus on the food for now.

Luckily the grocery shop wasn’t too far away anymore, and I swiftly went in.

The inside made me once again speechless. A huge room filled with shelf after shelf, filled up with all kinds of food. Vegetables, fruits, milk products, oils, spices, herbs, eatable flowers, straw and hay, in all kinds. Everything was presented in a way that seemed to scream: “Take one of me.”

There was also a hoof full of ponies walking around and buying their products. But the sight wasn’t like anything I would have expected from ponies.

Everypony was minding their own business. Avoiding each other and keeping a big distance from the next. Maybe it was because this was a shop and not a market but for us kirins the marketplace was the number one hotspot to chat. In here, everything was dead silent.

There was even a unicorn filly, looking interested at an avocado on the shelve but even she wasn’t saying anything. No surprises since the whole aura here felt like you should look for yourself and not interact with somepony else.

This whole atmosphere in here gave me the chills and I didn’t want to stay longer than I have to. I quickly grabbed everything I needed and was standing in the queue for the cashier in record time. In front of me was the little filly from before together with her mother.

The small one was fully focused on me. Sanding in front of me and looking up with her large eyes that only a foal at such a young age could have.

I could tell that she was a playful, adventurous filly. Not backing away even when such a strange creature like me stood there. I gave her a smile. With magic I took a carrot out of my bag and let it float around, showing the filly that we kirins were able to use magic, just like a unicorn. She was stunned by it and followed the carrot with interested eyes. Then with a swift motion I booped her on the snoot with the pointed end. The filly was taken by surprise and just stared at the carrot like it was the most unnatural thing ever.

I had to chuckle a bit but stopped when I saw the look on her mother. She didn’t say anything, but her look seemed to go straight in my soul. I quickly dropped the carrot back in my bag and waited quietly in the queue until it was my turn.

As soon as it was my turn I paid the cashier (who, of course, was also dead silent) and left the store in record time. Never ever had I done my shopping so fast.

Why was everypony so in there was so… standoffish towards each other, I thought while taking a deep breath.

As I walked home, the bag with groceries in my magic grip, I couldn't help but notice that this feeling in the shop was something I had felt before. No wait, felt multiple times before. This aura of scepticism, distance and shyness towards each other… But I could only recall one event and that was when I was talking to Light, my neighbour.

He had also been very shy, barely able to talk to me. Firstly, I had thought that it was because I was a kirin or because I maybe had approached in the wrong way, but after being in this shop, I realised that this wasn’t because of that. These ponies were also very sceptical towards other ponies.

I shook my head. This was nonsense. Ponies were kind, open and valued friendship. Applejack and Fluttershy were the best proof for such. The lone reason they came to the kirin village was a friendship quest! And they weren’t scared of us even while they were surrounded by kirins. (Alright, Fluttershy was, but even she was not so standoffish with us) Not to forget all with the books that I read about ponies and their culture.

I was most likely just a bit impatient of making friends here.