Daring Do and the Legend of the Kirinstone

by TheLegendaryBillCipher

Chapter 6: Shadow of Klugetown

“…that’s the biggest, weirdest darn buzzard I’ve ever seen.”

“…Hey, get away from that! Wait… Miss Yearling?”

Yearling grunted, blinking her eyes open as a gust of wind blew across her face. She saw a great shadow ascend into the sky, only to be replaced by two more hovering over her.

And one of them was wearing a Stetson.

“A.K.! What happened?” a familiar voice cried.

“Wait… Rainbow Dash…?” she murmured.

“She’s sunstruck, Dash,” the other voice replied. “Let’s get her out of the heat.”

Yearling groaned as she felt herself be lifted up by her forelegs and half-carried, half-dragged across the dirt, and then up some steps and onto wood. Soon the harsh sunlight vanished, replaced by a wooden awning and much cooler shade.

“Here ya go, Miss Yearlin’,” the other voice said, bringing a mug to her lips. Cool water met her lips and she drank it down greedily. Soon she had enough sense to sit up, blinking her vision back into focus.

A very concerned-looking Rainbow Dash and Applejack sat before her.

“It is you… and Applejack.” Yearling groaned, rubbing at her eyes. “Where the hay am I…?”

“Appleloosa, Miss Yealin’,” Applejack said, almost proudly. “Dash and I were visitin’ my cousin Braeburn to see how he and Strongheart were doin’.”

“We saw a weird buzzard over by the tracks, and found you,” Rainbow added. “But what the heck happened to you?”

Yearling huffed. “I was thrown off a moving train in the middle of a desert,” she grumbled, forcing her mind to focus. How far was Appleloosa from the line that led to the Peaks of Peril?

Rainbow gasped. “Caballeron!” she snarled, shaking a forehoof.

“Yep.” Yearling sighed. “How far is here from the Peaks of Peril?”

“A great couple of miles, I’d reckon,” Applejack replied. “There’s a branch line near Appleloosa that leads out that way. What were you doin’ out there, visitin’ the kirin?”

“Sort of. I was sent looking for an artifact out there. And now Caballeron has it,” she said through gritted teeth.

“We’ve got to stop him!” Rainbow declared. “How can we help?”

“I have to figure out where he went first,” Yearling said, rubbing her temple. She began murmuring to herself. “What was it he said… something about a… ‘shady town out in the desert’?”

Applejack and Rainbow looked to one another. “Klugetown,” they said in unison.

“Klugetown?” Yearling looked up. “Where’s that?”

“Out in the Bone Dry Desert, it’s a shady town where just about everything’s for sale,” Rainbow explained.

“Almost includin’ us,” Applejack remarked. “We went out that way when the Storm King invaded. Not a friendly place.”

“But it sounds like a perfect place for him to sell his latest treasure to the highest bidder.” Yearling huffed, getting to her hooves. She wobbled, and Applejack caught her before she could fall over.

“You’ve been out in this heat for who knows how long,” Applejack chided. “Y’all shouldn’t be headin’ out anywhere until you’re rested.”

“Don’t worry, A.K., there’s a train line to Klugetown now,” Rainbow said. “It’s part of the line they sent out to Mount Aris.”

Yearling opened her mouth to protest, but what little strength she had regained from the mug of water was evaporating. Reluctantly, she let out a sigh. “Fine. I’ll rest here one day, but I need to get back on the trail tomorrow.”

“Don’t worry none, I’m sure we can find ya lodgings,” Applejack said, helping her off of the station platform.

“Just one thing,” Yearling said, stopping her with a raised hoof and looking between the two. “Can either of you contact Princess Celestia or your princess friend?”

“I’m sure we can get a letter to one of ‘em right quickly,” Applejack said. “Why?”

“Because once I’m done bringing Tartarus to Caballeron…” She frowned at Rainbow. “I’m going to need to visit it myself.”

---

To Yearling’s frustration, the train to Klugetown didn’t arrive until afternoon of the next day. Rainbow Dash and Applejack offered to help her in her quest, especially the former, but Yearling turned them down. She’d handled Caballeron and his thugs before, and she’d do it again.

The kirin depended on it.

Adding to her frustrations, the train took an entire day to reach the Bone Dry Desert. As Yearling looked out over the barren sandscape, even more deserted than the wastelands around the Peaks of Peril, she understood how it got its name.

Klugetown loomed ahead of the train. The only unifying architecture of the town could be described as “ramshackle”—everything was dusty, rusty, and seemed slapped together. It was the most destitute of the towns Yearling had visited in her career.

And finding a villain like Caballeron in a place like this was like finding a needle in a haystack.

As the train ground to a halt, Yearling adjusted her new saddlebags—a gift from Applejack, along with some provisions—and stepped off the train. She couldn’t help but notice she was the only one to do so.

Yearling only stood on the station platform for a moment before the engine gave a whistle and the train pulled away from the station, seemingly eager to get away from the town.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t another pony,” remarked a suave voice.

A well-dressed Abyssnian walked over to her and removed his top hat, giving her a bow. “The name’s Capper, Klugetown’s unofficial greeter, especially to ponies such as yourself.”

“Daring Do,” Yearling replied, adjusting her pith helmet. “What did you mean by ‘another pony’?”

“Another group of ponies came in yesterday. The head of the party was… less than friendly,” Capper admitted, replacing his hat.

“Did he have an accent and a golden skull cutie mark?” Yearling asked.

“Yes! That’s him,” Capper said. “Friends of yours?”

Yearling grit her teeth. “Hardly. He stole something from me, and I’m here to get it back. Do you know which way he went?” she asked.

“Well, can’t have any thieves here in Klugetown,” Capper said, looking out over the town. He added with a dissatisfied mutter, “Well, any more than usual.” He cleared his throat. “Your thief was asking about an antiques dealer over on Mud Street. A… sort-of pony.”

“’Sort-of pony?’” Yearling replied, squinting. “Wait… floofy mane like a lion, scales down their back like a dragon? Has a gnarled horn like a tree branch?”

“Yes! What do you call those?” Capper remarked, eyes widened.

“A kirin.” Yearling huffed. “I might have known. Can you point me out to Mud Street?”

Capper gently guided her towards a dirt street leading away from the station. “Take Broken Glass Boulevard here and take the second left. You’ll be looking for The Dusty Bin Antiques Dealership.”

“Thanks, I appreciate the help,” Yearling said, quickly making her way in that direction.

Capper stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. “A word of warning though, Miss Do. There’s been strange goings-on around here lately. They started yesterday when those ponies of yours showed up. Might be safe to ere on the side of caution.”

Yearling narrowed her eyes. “What sort of strange goings-on?”

“A few of the residents claim there’s been a creature with great, bat-like wings flying around scaring folks,” Capper explained. “No one knows what it is, or gotten a good look at it. They only remember burning red eyes.”

Yearling frowned, searching through her memories. She vaguely recalled those great wings and red eyes too, but her mission was clear.

“I’ll keep my eyes open. Thanks again,” Yearling said with a firm nod. She broke into a gallop down the street.

She quickly learned how the lane got its name, having to dodge a veritable mine field of shattered glass as she went. Yearling passed the first left, and promptly darted into the second, skidding to a halt.

Her eyes scanned across the various shops and stands on Mud Street, hooves stepping through muddy puddles as she went. She ignored the strange looks she received from the arguably stranger looking Klugetown residents.

When she reached the end of the street, she scowled and doubled back. It was only when she caught the scaffolding and walkways above her that she huffed.

Flapping her wings, she promptly took flight.

---

“So sorry to keep you waiting since yesterday, gentleponies,” the kirin said as he emerged from the backroom of his store.

He had a brownish-grey coat and a trail of brown scales from nose to flank down his back. His mane and tail were a grey blue color, and his eyes were a golden amber color. The bands on his horn illuminated green as he polished a pair of half-lens spectacles.

“Now, I was told you have something for me?” he asked with a smile.

“Yes, Mr…” Caballeron trailed off, eyes scanning for some form of identification for the kirin on the store’s counter. Biff, Rogue, and Withers stood by the door, occasionally glancing outside.

“Dust Glint, brother of Rune Glare,” the kirin replied proudly. “Though everyone calls me Dusty. Now, what did you want to show me?”

Caballeron reached into his saddlebags—on loan from Daring Do, he mused—and pulled out the strange crimson stone, setting it on the counter with the golden symbol facing the kirin.

Dusty set his spectacles on his snout – special magnifying lenses used for examining things such as this. “Hmm, quite nice. Uh… what is it?”

Caballeron blinked, ears drooping. “Uh, well, it is a kirin artifact, isn’t it?” he said, gesturing to it.

“Hmm…” Dusty examined the stone from different angles, gently tapping the stone. “Well, I’ve never seen stone like this before, that’s for certain, but… how are you sure it’s a kirin artifact?”

Caballeron blinked. “Well, uh… the symbol, of course,” he said through a forced grin.

Dusty scrunched his snout as he studied the strange crossed symbol. “No, I’m afraid not. I’m not sure what it is,” he said.

“But it is gold, correct?” Caballeron began to sweat. “It must be worth something.”

“Perhaps but… ah!” Dusty levitated a set of flip-out magnifying lenses onto the side of his spectacles and flicked down one that was tinted blue. “Ah ha!”

“Ah ha… good?” Caballeron asked.

“I can see a heavy mana trace on the symbol. This stone has an enchantment on it.” Dusty stood upright, putting away his spectacles beneath the counter. “Are you aware of what it is?”

“Uh… no, I don’t,” Caballeron said, rubbing the back of his head.

Dusty sighed and shook his head. “I’m sorry, but I can’t deal in magical goods unless I know exactly what I’m getting,” he replied. “If you find out the enchantment, I will be most happy to give you an appraisal.”

“That’s it?” Caballeron snapped. “You won’t even buy it?”

“No.” Dusty frowned. “And I think it best if you left.”

“Why you—”

“CABALLERON!”

Biff and Rogue were knocked aside as the door burst open with a kick from Yearling. She delivered another hoofpunch to Withers’ chest, sending him sprawling on the ground. She glared at Caballeron.

“You have something that doesn’t belong to you,” she hissed.

Caballeron backed against the counter, eyes darting around the antiques shop before a devious smirk crossed his muzzle.

“My dear Dusty, I apologize,” he quickly said, turning to the kirin. “You see, I was just trying to return this artifact to a reputable kirin after this mare stole it from your tribe.”

“What?” Yearling and Dusty snapped.

“Is it not true, Daring Do, that you stole this artifact from a kirin temple? That is why you were at the Peaks of Peril, yes?” Caballeron grinned.

“What? No—well, yes, I got it from the Peaks, but—”

“You thief!” Dusty snarled.

Caballeron edged away from the counter as Dusty rounded it, the first eddies of blue-pink nirik fire flaring at the base of his horn.

“How dare you steal from the kirin? Haven’t we lost enough from our own rage?” he growled, eyes glowing white hot.

“Wait a minute!” Yearling exclaimed. “Let me explain—”

She was cut off as Rogue shoved her to the floor. Caballeron snatched the Kirinstone and slipped it into his saddlebags. “Adieu, Daring Do!” he called as he fled out the door, his henchponies right behind him.

“He’s getting away!” Yearling cried, scrambling to her hooves. She made for the doorway, but was cut off by a blast of blue-pink fames.

“Why I oughta…” Dusty growled, his nirik transformation fully complete. He pawed his hoof on the ground like a bull preparing to charge.

Yearling glanced between him and the exit. She quickly flared her wings and shot out the doorway, a blue-pink fireball hot on her hooves. It flew past her, just missing singeing her tail.

“I’m sorry!” Yearling called back. “I’ll explain later!”

She was answered by another fireball that narrowly missed her and quickly opted for chasing down Caballeron. It would seem talking the nirik down would have to wait.

She caught sight of his henchponies’ fleeing tails and dove after them. Behind her, Dusty snarled as he charged out of his store, scanned the skies for his target, and gave chase after her across the gangways of Klugetown.

“Hold it right there, Caballeron!” Yearling called.

“That’s Doctor Caballeron to you!” he called back, grabbing a nearby bottle from a stall and flinging it at her. It spun wildly through the air off to her right.

Yearling followed them as they abruptly turned into an alleyway, but was forced closer to the ground from a series of dangling ropes and clotheslines. She spotted Biff and his procured frying pan almost too late. She barrel rolled out of the way of his swing. He promptly gave chase and threw it at her.

Yearling darted left and it sailed past her, nailing Rogue in the skull with a comedic clang. He went down in a daze, stars circling his head.

She darted up and snatched a blanket hanging on a clothesline, shouting a quick “Sorry!” to the owner. Withers glanced back just in time for his world to become shadow as Yearling threw it over him. It tangled his legs and he stumbled end over end.

Biff, so focused on the fleeing Yearling, didn’t notice his cohort until it was too late, and wound up tripping over the bundle of tangled pony and crashing to the ground. With a smirk, Yearling turned her focus back on Caballeron.

She followed him as he made a right turn and was surprised to find a street full of mists. It wasn’t until much later that Yearling learned, like other aptly named streets in Klugetown, this one was called the Misty Street of Klugetown. Various vents and ventilation exhausts belched humid steam into the street regularly enough for a light fog to coat the area.

A gust of wind overhead caught Yearling’s attention. A great shadow passed overhead, its wings spread out in a diving glide. Caballeron looked back at Yearling and caught sight of it—it was shooting straight for him.

He gave a startled cry as the shadow collided with him and the two were lost in the mists. Yearling skidded to a halt just short of the impact spot, only for Caballeron to come crawling back towards her, facing whatever had hit him. He was noticeably missing his stolen saddlebags, which Yearling saw laying nearby.

“S-Save me!” he cried. “Don’t let it get me!”

As Yearling stepped over Caballeron and to the saddlebags, she looked up as a shadowy figure appeared in the mists. It had the general shape of a pony, save for several glaring details. Two great leathery wings stood flared on its back, and its tail was long and thin with a barbed tip. A pair of curved horns jutted out from the sides of its head. The most glaring of all were the bright crimson eyes—which happened to be glaring at the two ponies.

Caballeron let out another panicked cry and scrambled to his hooves, fleeing with no thought of the saddlebags or the Kirinstone whatsoever.

For Yearling, the ruined statue from the temple plaza came back to her, and she figured whatever it was supposed to be was standing before her.

The creature didn’t move, save for the occasional flick of its tail or rustle of its wings. It seemed fixated on Yearling, a low growl emerging from its throat as Yearling slowly reached into the saddlebags and picked up the Kirinstone.

“Aha! I found you!” came a demonic voice from behind her.

Yearling believed it was subconscious instinct that she rolled out of the way, it must’ve been. She was so fixated on the horned creature that she paid little heed to the voice behind her, only the impending heat of flame.

A blue-pink fireball streaked past her—and into where the horned creature had been standing.

Yearling glanced back at the sound of approaching hooves, and found a nirik in his full fury standing there. It was only then that he looked past her, eyes widened with shock. Yearling looked too.

The creature was still there, unfazed.

The impact of the fireball had darkened the mists, obscuring it for a moment, but it was still there. The mists cleared enough for Yearling to get a better look at it.

It was indeed pony-like, with a white coat and a short, shaggy white mane. But the horns, wings, and tail were all black in color. The glaring red glow of its eyes came from crimson irises, and it had a sour frown plastered onto its muzzle. Adorning its flank was a cutie mark, which struck Yearling as odd.

Even odder when she realized it was a green, hoofheld mirror.

“Wha…” Dusty blinked, his nirik form slowly fizzling out.

“Calm down, kirin,” the creature grunted, its feminine voice having a demonic growl to it. She flicked her tail in annoyance and turned back to Yearling. She extended out a hoof to her, less of a point and more of an offering. “The Kirinstone. Now.”

Yearling looked down at the crimson stone in her hooves. She looked up and frowned, slowly setting the stone securely in her own saddlebags. “No,” she firmly stated. “I have a job to do.”

The horned pony narrowed her eyes at Yearling, eyes subtly flicking about as if studying her. Finally, she let a sharp exhale out of her nostrils. Whether it was steam or smoke that jetted out, Yearling wasn’t sure.

“Fine. Do not keep the Queen waiting,” the horned pony said, raising its wings and flapping them once.

The gust of wind was strong enough to make Yearling and Dusty flinch back. When they looked back, the creature was gone.

The air was still and quiet moments after its departure, until Dusty broke the silence. “What… was that?”

“Not entirely sure, but I think I know where it lives,” Yearling replied. She turned to Dusty. “I want to apologize, I meant to explain myself, but everything happened so fast I couldn’t.”

“I apologize too, I sometimes have a… short fuse,” Dusty said with a sheepish grin. He held out a cloven hoof. “Dust Glint, brother of Rune Glare, but everyone calls me Dusty.”

“Daring Do,” Yearling replied, shaking his hoof. “Rune Glare, that’s Creek Shine’s friend.”

“You know Creek?” Dusty said, eyes widening. “Then… then I guess you didn’t steal that stone… right?”

Yearling nodded. “I was asked to find it by… well, I’m starting to think it was the Queen that pony mentioned. Someone sent me a letter anyway. I went to go see Rain Shine, and Creek and I went out to a temple in the Jungle of the Ancients to find it. It’s called the Kirinstone,” she explained.

“What’s it do? It has some enchantment on it,” Dusty pointed out.

“It was a gift—again, I think from this Queen—that allows the kirin to turn into nirik. And if it breaks… the kirin all turn to stone,” Yearling said with a grimacing frown.

Dusty gasped. “Good heavens! No wonder you were sent to find it. One careless accident and… oh, horseapples, I almost…” He swallowed. “I apologize, again. Really.”

“It’s alright. Caballeron can be deceiving like that sometimes.” She huffed. “So, a kirin out here in Klugetown?”

“My sister and I both share a passion for old things,” Dusty admitted. “While she and her friend Creek looked inward, I decided to look outward. Some studying here and traveling there, and I wound up here.”

“Noble profession,” Yearling chuckled with a tip of her pith helmet. “Well, if you’ll excuse me, I need to find a way to Tartarus. That’s where the stone’s supposed to go.”

“Best of luck, Miss Do,” Dusty said with a nod and a smile.

Yearling turned to go, then stopped and looked to the kirin. “Oh, and Dusty? You should head home when you get the chance. This rock wasn’t all I found in that old temple,” she said with a knowing smirk.

Dusty gasped, and the sparkling look in his eyes as Yearling had her feeling lighter as she left.

---

As Yearling returned to the train platform, she was surprised to see a crowd of Klugetowners, including Capper, around the platform itself. After Yearling had managed to squeeze her way through, she gasped.

A gilded chariot sat next to the station platform, flanked by Pegasi in golden armor. And standing between them was Princess Celestia herself. Yearling quickly made her way over, removing her pith helmet and bowing before the princess.

“Your majesty,” she said.

“Miss Yearling,” Celestia said with an amused tone. “I understand you are looking for a way into Tartarus?”

Yearling looked up, and at Celestia’s raised, inquisitive brow, she gave a sheepish smile.

“It’s a long story. I can explain along the way.”

Author's Note:

My second kirin OC, and definitely made for this story, Dust Glint! Dusty for short. I was reading Tolkien when I wrote this, so I wanted to give him a Tolkienian way of identifying himself for a bit of character. Much like his sister, he likes the past, but his eyes wandered out the village.

Misty Street is an inadvertent reference to a noire story I had the pleasure of writing in-universe for. I meant for it to be a dramatic setting, but the wording is just now hitting me.

Figured out what those symbols mean yet?

Gsv gsrmth R wl uli uollu. -N