“Would you care for a lift back to Canterlot, Miss Yearling?” Celestia asked as she climbed aboard her chariot.
“That’d be much appreciated, your majesty,” Yearling replied with a chuckle as she joined her. “I’ve been all over Equestria these past few days, and my wings and hooves could use a rest.”
“Chief Rain Shine?” Celestia asked in offering.
“No thank you, your majesty,” Rain Shine replied with a polite smile. “The Gates of Tartarus are only a few miles from the Peaks of Peril. I can manage the hike back by myself.”
“Huh. Guess that’s why Lucifer was able to get to the kirin so quickly to stop the—”
A bellowing roar shook the very earth. It rattled the kirin and ponies to their very core, and seemed to grow louder.
“…Hellbeast,” Yearling finished quietly.
The Gates of Tartarus smashed into a thousand pieces behind them. The Pegasus guards pulled the chariot clear of the debris and Rain Shine quickly followed them. A blast of crimson fire flared into the sky.
With thundering steps, a great beast lumbered out of the smashed entrance, easily twelve feet tall. It stood upright, and had thick scales like a dragon. The head was green, with a tan, fanged maw. Bushy red eyebrows and a tuft of hair—made of fire, the Equestrians soon realized—burned on its brow. It had two thick arms with claw-tipped hands, and thick legs with equally clawed feet, both orange. A spiked orange tail thumped the ground behind it.
Most noticeable was its shell, much like a tortoise. The belly of the shell glowed with intense heat, while the smooth, rounded back was green with three rows of ivory spikes down its length.
The creature gave out a bellowing roar, its crimson eyes burning with untold rage as they fell upon the ponies.
“Move!” Yearling snapped to the guards.
Rain Shine clambered aboard just before the guards could take off—and the spot they had all just been standing on turned to smoldering ash from a crimson fireball.
“That must be the Hellbeast from the tablet,” Yearling remarked.
Rain Shine’s eyes widened. “A true monster…” she muttered.
The Hellbeast growled, shooting up another jet of flame at them that followed close behind the fleeing chariot as it swerved and swooped to avoid the blast. Celestia flared up a golden shield, but the strength of the flames quickly caused it to shatter.
An ivory blur shot from the ruined Gates of Tartarus and square into the Hellbeast’s back, sending it stumbling to the ground.
The blur was revealed to be Lucifer, snarling and breathing heavily. Smoke curled around her fanged maw. Her suit was gone, replaced by great leathery wings larger than those of Malina’s. Her barbed tail flicked in anger, and crimson magic lit up her curved horns, which were as snow white as her coat.
She quickly darted down to grab the tip of the Hellbeast’s tail in both forehooves and flung the great beast against the wall next to the ruined Tartarus Gate. Its spiked posterior embedded it in the stone, causing it to bark in surprise and flail its arms, trying to free itself.
“Lucifer!” Yearling called as the chariot set down next to her. Rain Shine promptly disembarked.
“What has happened?” Celestia demanded.
“The Hellbeast has shaken off the Stream of Silence’s effects. I don’t know why,” Lucifer said, glaring at the flailing creature.
Rain frowned in thought, and gasped. “Did it have any of the foal’s breath flowers? From my bouquet?”
Lucifer’s eyes widened. “I don’t know, maybe… I didn’t see.”
“That has to be it, somehow,” Yearling said. “What do we do?”
“We defeat it the way we did before,” Lucifer grunted. “Dip it in the Stream of Silence and it’ll be too cooled off to do anything more.”
“We’re still a ways away from the Peaks,” Yearling said, shielding her eyes towards the sky. “Rain Shine, which direction are they from here?”
“Southwest, a few miles at most,” Rain Shine said.
“We have wings this time around. We can go ahead and prepare a proper welcome for it,” Yearling said with a smirk. “But how do we get it to go there…”
Rain Shine glanced at Lucifer, then the Hellbeast, and a hard frown set upon her muzzle. “I will lead it there,” she said, sparks of blue-pink fire flickering around the base of her horn. “I do not fear this Hellbeast.”
“And I will help you,” Lucifer said, nodding firmly. She turned to Celestia and Yearling. “Rouse the kirin. This creature is sturdy against fire, but Hellfire will still burn it.”
Celestia seemed apprehensive, but finally gave a sigh and nodded. “Very well, we shall see you at the village,” she said. “Best of luck to you.”
“And to you too,” Rain said.
With a furious roar, the Hellbeast flailed loose from the wall. It snarled at Lucifer as it rose to its full height.
“Go! Now!” Lucifer urged.
The guards didn’t need to be told twice, taking off into the sky in the direction Yearling pointed out.
A low growl formed in Rain Shine’s throat. Blue-pink fire scorched her body, leaving her coat black and her scales charcoal grey. Her tiara became alight with the blue-pink flames as she bared her fangs against the Hellbeast.
Lucifer looked her up and down and nodded in approval. “How’s it feel to be reliving ancient history?” she asked.
“Like an honor,” Rain replied, hurling a jet of blue-pink fire at her foe.
The kirin of the village called out in alarm as Celestia’s chariot appeared in the sky, descending for the village square. There was a mixture of awe in their tones at the sight of such a vehicle, but also anxiousness in how fast it approached.
“Kirin of the Peak of Peril!” Celestia proclaimed when they landed. “I am Princess Celestia of Equestria. Your chief has sent us to forewarn you: a dangerous beast is heading this way, and she will need all the help she can get.”
“Daring!” Creek cried as she and Autumn ran forward. “Where’s mother?”
“She’s alright, I hope,” Yearling said as she disembarked the chariot. “That Hellbeast from the tablet, it got free from Tartarus.”
There was a series of gasps and exclamations from the gathered kirin.
“Chief Rain Shine is leading it here,” Yearling continued.
“What?!” Autumn exclaimed. “Why?!”
“The Stream of Silence, of course.”
Creek stepped aside as another kirin joined them. She had a darker grey coat and a trail of brown scales from nose to flank down her back. Her mane and tail were a mahogany color, and her eyes were a pine green color.
“Rune Glare,” she said, holding out her cloven hoof to Yearling. “I was out on a hike when you first arrived, but I’m caught up.”
“Daring Do,” Yearling replied, shaking her hoof. “Or A.K. Yearling, whichever. The point is, we need to be ready when it comes. Nirik fire isn’t going to do much, but it might be enough to drive it to the Steam of Silence.”
Rune hummed as she looked over Yearling and then Celestia. “Or,” she said slowly. “We could bring the Stream of Silence to it.”
“What do you mean?” Celestia asked.
“We have something the ancient kirin didn’t have: wing power,” Rune explained. “What if we were to bottle up the Stream’s waters into bottles and hurl it at the beast? It might be slower than dunking it in outright, but it might slow it down at least.”
“Brilliant!” Creek chirped. “Only… it’s dangerous to try and bottle it up. Even just touching the waters might cause the cooling effect.”
“Do the Stream’s waters work on ambient magic?” Celestia asked.
“Not that we know of, no. Just physical contact,” Rune replied.
“Then leave the bottling to me.”
“Everyone! Gather all the bottles and containers you can and bring them to the Stream of Silence!” Creek called to the kirin. “And think angry thoughts—our chief needs us!”
There was a rallying cry among the kirin and a mad scramble over one another as the kirin fled to their homes, scrounging for any containers they could come across.
“Creek Shine, lead Princess Celestia’s chariot to the Stream of Silence,” Yearling said. “We can use it as a flying ammunition dump once we’re done bottling.”
“Good thinking, Miss Yearling,” Celestia said.
“I’m going to head to the skies and see if I can see Rain and Lucifer,” Yearling continued.
“Lucifer?” Creek asked.
“Long story, tell you later! Now go!” Yearling quickly snapped, taking to the skies.
“Come on you beast! Come and get some!” Lucifer snarled. She took in a breath of air and let loose a crackling beam of blood red fire from her mouth. It bathed the Hellbeast’s face, causing it to growl in pain before returning his own fiery breath.
Lucifer rolled out of the way as Rain Shine stood upon a boulder, shooting her own blue-pink fire at the beast.
Just as the Hellbeast was turning to attack her as well, Lucifer swept in and landed a kick square on the back of the beast’s shell, just in-between its sharp spikes. With a bark of confusion, the beast tumbled to the ground, but tried swatting Lucifer as she flew past.
Around them, the forest was in smoldering ruin. Rocks were shattered, trees burned and broken, and shrubs barely skeletons of their former selves. All in a nearly clean path from the Gates of Tartarus to their present location.
“Are we close to the Peaks yet?” Lucifer asked Rain, landing beside her.
“It shouldn’t be much further,” Rain panted. “Our ancestors must have been mighty to face this thing.”
“Bravery goes a long way,” Lucifer said with a smirk. Her attention snapped to the Hellbeast as it got to its feet, letting out a bellowing roar and charging at them at full speed. It wasn’t very fast, but nothing could stand in its way.
Lucifer pushed Rain out of the way and took the brunt of the charge, pushing back against the Hellbeast with the beating of her wings as it drove her through trees.
Rain Shine got to her hooves and shot fireballs at the beast’s backside, only for them to glance off or extinguish against the indestructible hide of its shell. With a snarl, she galloped after it, flames burning from her nostrils with each exhale.
Lucifer managed to reel back one hind leg and land a kick square in the beast’s chin. It was just enough to stagger it and leave its midsection open. Another kick to the gut sent it sprawling onto its back.
Rain Shine arrived to see Lucifer stagger to the ground, panting. “Are you hurt?” she asked the demon.
“No… but I’m remembering why I locked this thing away… too strong…” she panted.
The Hellbeast barked in agitation, before tucking its limbs into its shell. The entire thing began to spin on its back, and a blast of fire from one of the shell’s holes sent it careening towards Rain and Lucifer.
With a grunt of effort, Lucifer grabbed Rain Shine and pulled her skyward just before the beast could hit them. It plowed on past them, destroying even more trees in its wake.
“Lucifer! Rain Shine!” Yearling called as she flew over. “Are you two alright?”
“Getting a little worn out,” Lucifer admitted. “Are we close to the Stream?”
“Actually, we had another idea—” Yearling began, but was cut off by what sounded like a firework.
A golden burst of magic shot up over the trees, crackling and sparkling in the sky. The small form of a chariot appeared over the canopy, heading towards her.
“What in my name do you plan to do?” Lucifer asked, snout wrinkling in confusion.
“Well, we were going to bottle up the Stream of Silence and toss the bottles at it, maybe slow it down,” Yearling explained.
“That would be fine, in theory, but—”
“Look out!” Rain Shine called.
Yearling flinched away from instinct as a massive orange fireball roared past her, swatting Lucifer and Rain Shine from the sky. Lucifer was able to keep her grip on the kirin leader and flared open her wings to slow the fall, but they still ended up tumbling to the forest floor.
As they got to their hooves, the earth rumbled to the beat of footsteps. The Hellbeast growled as it stomped over to them, fire and smoke billowing from its mouth as it glared down at them. Lucifer grit her teeth as she got between it and Rain Shine.
Then came more rumbling—not the sound of one set of steps, but of many.
Dark niriks poured from the forest, snarling. Blue-pink flames flared around their necks in place of their manes. They raced over to their fallen leader and Lucifer, grouping together in front of them and standing up to the Heallbeast with the intensity of the Sun.
The Hellbeast let out a bellowing roar that shook the very earth, but the nirik were undeterred. One by one, they fired off blasts of blue-pink nirikfire at the beast, sending it stumbling back. Lucifer looked on at the spectacle in awe as Rain Shine slowly regained her footing.
Then came the shattering of glass and the sting of something cool atop its head. The beast snarled as its attention turned skyward. Yearling smirked down at it, lightly tossing a bottle of the Stream’s water in one hoof next to Celestia’s packed chariot, full of similar vessels.
“Hey ugly, come and get some!” she taunted, tossing her bottle at the beast before fleeing with the chariot along next to her.
The Hellbeast swatted the bottle away and roared up at her. It gave one glance at the gathered niriks, snorted, then gave chase after the less guarded target.
“My little kirin… or should I say my little nirik,” Rain said with a smile, but it didn’t last. “We must not let that beast escape."
The niriks cheered in agreement, flames redoubled as they charged after the beast. Rain Shine looked to Lucifer, who nodded firmly, and the two followed after them.
Yearling dodged left and right as orange fireballs shot up from below. She turned and tossed bottles when she could and then reloaded, repeating the procedure several times.
The beast flinched away from the first few bottles, but a familiar scent caught its nostrils after one bottle broke over its nose. It shook off the feeling as it continued to give chase. Occasionally, blue-pink fire balls bounced off its shell, but it paid them no heed.
It had its target.
But now it was wary of the bottles. Those that didn’t break against branches or trees from a misguided throw, the beast swatted with its claws or incinerated with its fire. It remembered its previous encounter with that water, and it only made it angrier.
“Come on, you oversized lizard!” Yearling called down to him, darting right to avoid another wave of fireballs. She responded by another series of thrown bottles.
Her eyes were focused on the Hellbest—to ensure she didn’t become a roasted Pegasus—but occasionally she glanced back over the horizon. Faintly, she saw a white shape waving its forelegs at her. She was getting closer to it.
As she reached for another bottle, her eyes fell on the supply. It was dwindling fast—her having to throw bottles through a thick canopy at a moving target while also trying not to get hit had made her wasteful.
She glanced down at the Hellbeast, who didn’t seem to be any closer to calm than it had been when it had first emerged. As a distraction ploy, the bottles were great, but it looked like the Stream of Silence would have to do most of the work.
And as she nearly collided with the flying form of Celestia, Yearling realized she wouldn’t have long to wait.
“It’s almost here,” she reported. “But we’re nearly out of bottles.”
“Get it to the Stream then,” Celestia said.
Spheres of golden magic appeared around Celestia, and she hurled them down at the Hellbeast. They shattered on impact against its form, not even slowing the rampaging brute down. It responded with another fireball, its gaze focused on the floating ponies…
Until nothing was beneath its feet. Comically, it floated in the air for a second, gawking downward at the Stream of Silence. It flailed its arms and legs helplessly before crashing into the Stream, disappearing beneath the waters.
Celestia’s quick thinking with a magical shield prevented the tidal wave splash the Hellbeast generated from cooling anyone else’s emotions. The Stream bubbled and steam hissed from its surface for a solid minute before abating.
The nirik skidded to a halt just short of the Stream itself, breaking into cheers at the sight, their flames extinguishing as joy replaced rage. Rain Shine and Lucifer followed up the rear, the former panting as her fires extinguished.
Celestia and Yearling landed next to the grouped kirin, who just now noticed the oddity in their midst. They stared curiously at Lucifer, heads tilted, while the queen blushed at the attention.
She quickly cleared her throat and stood up a little straighter. “I am Lucifer, Queen of Tartarus. You have my profound apology for letting this Hellbeast get loose again, and once again I must thank you, the kirin of the Peaks of Peril, for your help.”
The kirin murmured excitedly, Rune and Creek staring at her with wide-eyed wonder. Autumn, meanwhile, sneaked forward and booped Lucifer on the snout.
“Welcome back, your majesty!” she cheered. And the other kirin joined in.
Rain Shine smiled down at the demon and nodded, as she giggled along with the cheering kirin.
It took both Lucifer and Celestia’s magic to haul the Hellbeast from the depths of the Stream of Silence. Thoroughly soaked by the Stream’s cooling waters, the beast gave barely a grumble as it was towed out, its flaming hair long gone. It lay slumped on its belly on the ground, limbs spread out.
“I’ll be getting this beast back in its cell,” Lucifer said, tugging the Hellbeast by the tail in her magic. “My other demons are at work now repairing what has been damaged in Tartarus—and preventing any other beasts from getting similar ideas.”
“And we shall try to keep the foal’s breath flowers away,” Rain Shine replied with an amused smirk. “Thank you for your help, your majesty. Perhaps we will meet again?”
“Hopefully,” Lucifer said, flashing the chief a smile. She turned to Yearling. “Looking forward to your book, Miss Yearling.”
“I as well,” Celestia said with a chuckle.
“Just as soon as I work up a believable plot,” Yearling said, chuckling sheepishly and rubbing the back of her head with a forehoof.
“Until next we meet then,” Lucifer said, giving one final wave to the group before tugging the Hellbeast off into the jungle towards the Gates of Tartarus. The assembled group of ponies and kirin all waved after her until she had vanished.
“I think we shall be off then,” Celestia said, turning to Rain Shine. She offered the kirin a forehoof. “I do hope you will join us for the next Friendship Summit at Canterlot. All the other creatures will be there, and I wouldn’t want you to miss out.”
“Consider the invitation accepted,” Rain Shine said with a nod, shaking her hoof.
As Celestia and Yearling climbed aboard the former’s chariot, Rain Shine and the kirin waved them goodbye as they took off into the sky, vanishing across the trees.
“So, Miss Yearling, where shall I drop you off?” Celestia asked.
Yearling flopped onto the floor of the chariot with a groan. “My house, please. I need a week just to process all of this. Don’t get me started on actually writing all of it.”
Celestia giggled. “Yes, I could do with a little relaxing myself,” she mused.
They spent the rest of the trip in a comfortable silence, flying off towards the setting sun.