> Daring Do and the Legend of the Kirinstone
>  by TheLegendaryBillCipher
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1: The Crimson Letter
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A.K. Yearling sat down at her desk and stared at the typewriter seated before. Her hooves itched with the desire to write, perhaps the start of her next novel, perhaps just an exercise, as long as it was something.

Things had been quiet for far longer than she liked. No new sources of information about artifacts, no word on Caballeron or any of his henchponies. The adventuring world and its great temples and tombs were all quiet.

The spinning gears in her mind were interrupted by a knock on the front door. With a huff, Yearling got up and flew to the front door.

“Yes? Who is it?” she asked, peering through her peephole. Experience told her never to trust any knocks on her door – opportunity or otherwise.

“Mail call, Miss Yearling!” came the friendly voice of Derpy Hooves, the local mailpony.

“Alright… um, anything fragile, Derpy?” Yearling asked, nibbling her lower lip.

“Nope! Just some letters,” Derpy replied.

Yearling sighed with relief – the first time the mailpony had delivered an artifact, Yearling had spent hours putting the pieces back together. She’d been sure to secure safer means of transport for her artifacts, but sometimes there were slip ups.

She cracked open the door and Derpy held out a small stack of envelopes with her usual cheerful smile.

“Thank you, Derpy,” Yearling said gratefully as she took the stack in her wing.

“You’re welcome, Miss Yearling! Have a nice day.” Derpy gave a salute and took flight from Yearling’s porch. The crash that followed after Yearling had shut the door behind her signaled that she had met with a tree or another obstacle.

Shaking her head, Yearling walked back to her office, sorting through the letters one by one with a quick scan of the addresses on them.

“Fan mail, fan mail, more fan mail, publisher…” She stopped and stared at the last letter in the stack.

It was an expensive-looking envelope, the material old and weathered. Yearling’s address was in a cursive font and written in a blood red ink. There was no return address for her to see who it was from.

Setting the other letters on her desk, Yearling reached for her letter opener and carefully cut the envelope open. She flinched back, but no sort of enchantment sprung forward. Inside was a folded up letter, the paper as old as the envelope had been.

Carefully extracting the letter and tossing aside the envelope, she unfolded and skimmed across the paper. Much like her address, the writing was in a fancy cursive and written in blood red ink:

Miss Yearling,

  It has come to my attention that you are a foremost expert in artifacts and their recovery. And unlike others in your field, you have a more noble heart and, shall we say, clean soul. I have a job for you, “Daring Do.”

  I am concerned about an artifact, lost countless years ago, that may now be unearthed by those with less noble intentions. You most likely know who I speak of. The object in question is known as the “Kirinstone.” It was last seen in the deep jungles of the Peaks of Peril.

  The best place to start your search would be with the chief of the kirin, Rain Shine. She may be found in the Kirin Village of the Peaks of Peril. Inquire with her about the Kirinstone, and I am sure she will be able to guide you.

  Once you locate the Kirinstone, this part is important: bring the relic to the depths of Tartarus without delay. I am afraid the museums will have to miss out on this find – it is far too precious to be left out in the open.

  I implore you, Miss Yearling, that this is a mission of utmost importance to not only me, but the kirin themselves. I trust you to keep your usual discretion with this endeavor. I would handle this myself, but it would mean Hell on Equestria, and we can’t have that now can we?

  I suggest setting this letter somewhere safe when you’re done reading it. I can’t afford to leave evidence behind.

  My best of luck to you, Miss Yearling. May it be an unforgettable book.

  -Concerned Party.

Yearling’s eyes widened. Casting the letter down to the ground, it suddenly burst into bright red flame along with the envelope. It was a quick, intense burn, enough to erase the paper trail while only leaving minimal scorching behind.

Yearling stared at the scorch marks for a minute, running over the words of the letter in her head again and again and tried to make sense of them. 

She’d never heard of the Kirinstone, but then again, that was on par for what the rest of Equestria knew about the kirin. She’d heard of a story shield from the great Rockhoof of his encounter with them and their nirik sides. They’d only been rediscovered by the Element Bearers recently.

And that had to coincide with the letter – this “Concerned Party” seemed insistent that this concerned the well-being of the kirin as a tribe. And that if she didn’t get started on this, Caballeron or others like him could beat her to it.

And if what the letter said was true, the entire tribe of kirin could be in danger.

It didn’t take her long to make up her mind, racing upstairs to pack.

But before she left her office, she plucked her pith helmet off its hook on the wall and slapped it on her head. She had a feeling she would be needing it.
> Chapter 2: The Kirin Chief
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The train rattled as it rumbled down the tracks. Yearling leaned against the window, looking over the arid landscape. As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but rocks and hardy shrubs that somehow flourished in the wasteland.

The empty train car around her, along with the passing scenery, were a testament to the sheer remoteness of the Peaks of Peril. No creature would waste their time coming all this way for some relic that no one had heard of.

That was the logical part of her brain talking anyway.

Her gut told her something different. It was a similar feeling to all the expeditions to the Tenochtitlan Basin and into the shady black markets of Equestria in the search for artifacts. There was something out here that much her gut was certain of.

It was just a matter of how buried it had become.

Yearling perked up at the sound of screeching brakes and the gentle lurch of the train as it slowed to a stop. The conductor stepped into her car and, seeing as he didn’t have anypony else to address, turned to her.

“Peaks of Peril, miss,” he said. 

“Right.” Yearling slipped on her saddlebags and got up. “Thank you.”

“Watch your step, miss, and good luck out there,” the conductor said as she walked past.

Yearling hopped down onto the old wooden platform and took in the sights. The first sign of anything more alive than a bush loomed off in the distance – thick trees and lush ferns amidst craggy peaks.

As the train gave a whistle and began to back down the tracks—Yearling only just realized the station was an abrupt dead end—she glanced at the lone building on the platform. It was either a ticket stall or the smallest stationhouse she had ever seen.

The crotchety old pony inside gave her a grin and a look that made her shudder. “Enjoy your stay, miss,” he said with a dry chuckle.

“Thanks,” Yearling replied flatly. 

She huffed, straightening herself out and began marching across a faintly worn path that weaved its way towards the lush jungle ahead.

When she figured she was far enough away from any prying eyes, she dropped her disguise. Sunhat, glasses, and shawl cloak were stuffed away, revealing her explorer’s shirt. She slapped her pith helmet atop her head and took flight towards the jungle.





Her experience in the Tenochtitlan Basin had prepared Yearling for what lay ahead, but what she hadn’t expected was the sheer humidity.

A light fog hung about her as she made her way through the ferns and foliage. Combined with the heat, it made the air feel stifling. Her Pegasus wings, used to dealing with clouds, felt damp against her sides.

Still, to her relief, there weren’t that many creatures lurking about to do her harm. Overhead came the many calls of tropical birds, and from somewhere in the bushes the occasional croak of a frog or chirp of an insect. She had to avoid the occasional spider web, some big enough to platter a wedding cake, but otherwise met little resistance.

The Peaks of Peril seemed to be misnamed, she mused, for nothing felt perilous about the lively jungle. A part of her thought that might put a point towards the vulnerability of the object of her quest.

Her ear flicked as a new sound joined the noise of nature all around her – singing. Not of bird or insect, but of something sentient. Amid the vocal chants were the occasional word that Yearling could make out.

“Hello?” she called as she pinpointed the direction of the singing and made her way towards it.

She stumbled slightly as her hoof caught something new in the undergrowth: a smooth, flat stone, about a foot in diameter. A series of them, mismatched, led on in the direction of the singing through a clearly made path in the foliage.

The singing got louder the farther down the path she got. “Hello?” she called again.

The singing stopped – no sooner than Yearling had figured she was nearly upon the singer. She abruptly halted when she heard the clop of hooves on stone.

A shadowy form appeared through the fog. As far as she could make out, it was some chimera of a unicorn and a lion. A curly mane surrounded its head and its tail was long and thin with a tufted end. But atop its head was a gnarled horn, like a tree branch. Its eyes seemed to glow through the fog, hinting at its demonic origin.

“W-Who are you?” Yearling asked, taking a step back.

And suddenly it leaped through the fog, dispersing it like some illusion, with a friendly wave of its hoof.

“I’m Autumn Blaze!” she said cheerfully. 

Yearling set a hoof to her chest, trying to get her heart to go back into its place as she took a few breaths to steady her nerves. “What… are you a kirin?” she asked.

“Why yes I am,” Autumn said, gesturing grandly to her floofy mane, stripe of scales, and gnarled horn. 

“Huh. I’ve never met one of you before,” Yearling said, ease falling over her as she took in the sight before her. Autumn was a lot more pony-like with a more solid look. The scales and horn were unusual, but otherwise she seemed to just be a fluffier pony.

“Yeah, I get that a lot. I mean, it’s not like we live right next door, ya know?” Autumn scoffed with a smirk. “At least we get rail service though!”

“I’m Daring Do,” Yearling said, stepping forward and offering her hoof.

“Pleased to meet you!” Autumn said, taking her hoof in both of hers and shaking it so hard it rattled the poor Pegasus like an earthquake. “What brings you all the way out to the Peaks of Peril?”

“I need to speak with your leader. Rain Shine?” Yearling asked. “Do you know where I can find her?”

“Of course! Rain Shine’s back at the village. Follow me!” Autumn inquired cheerfully, starting to trot back the way she had come. “What do you need to speak with her about?”

Yearling nibbled her bottom lip. “It’s… well it’s sort of private, and important.”

“Ah,” Autumn sounded out, winking back at her. “One of those top secret mission sort of things, gotcha. Don’t worry, my lips are sealed… well, not literally. Been through that once, not a fun time!”

Autumn gave a brief laugh and Yearling raised a questioning eyebrow at her before a shadow fell over her, catching her attention.

They were passing through what looked like a pass in-between two small cliffs. A boulder was dislodged off to the side like it had once blocked the passage. Now the gap was occupied by a wooden arch, hoofmade with logs, and covered in winding vines of blue flowers.

Judging from the craftsponyship, it seemed to have only been made recently.





The rest of the path that wound through the forest was both paved the same way, and marked with similar landmarks like the arch. Wooden poles, sections of fence, and lamp posts with hanging lanterns, all made from logs and with the blue flower vines curled about them.

“You kirin like these flowers, huh?” Yearling remarked.

“Yep! They’re called foal’s breath. Turns out, if you let them grow long enough, they climb like vines!” Autumn chirped. “I think they’re pretty.”

“Well, yeah, but do they hold any significance to you all?” Yearling asked. 

Autumn abruptly turned around. “Oh,” she sounded out. “You haven’t heard the tale yet!”

“…What tale?” Yearling asked cautiously.

“How we kirin regained our voices!” Autumn exclaimed, bouncing in the air. “Oh, it is such a great tale. Take my word for it – I was there!”

“How you regained your voices?” Yearling asked, frowning. “How’d you lose them in the first place?”

She regretted asking it shortly after the words came from her mouth. Autumn launched into a rambling song full of comedic tangents and complicated descriptions. But she was able to piece together the story at least:

The kirin turned into their fiery nirik forms when angry. When too many arguments destroyed their village, Rain Shine made the kirin take a Vow of Silence, taking a dip in the Stream of Silence and silencing their emotions. Autumn, tired of being cooped up in her own head, had accidently found the cure and taken it. However, she was unable to convince the other kirin to take it and was cast into exile rather than take the Vow again.

That’s when familiar names entered the picture: Applejack and Fluttershy were summoned to the Peaks of Peril and helped Autumn show the value of expressing one’s emotions, at least in a tempered fashion, and helped the kirin break the Vow of Silence.

By the time her song had ended, the two had finally arrived at the kirin village.

Some native villages in the Tenochtitlan Basin were located on the ground or in the trees, but the kirin had managed to do both. Wooden huts with leaf-thatched roofs—which Yearling inwardly noted were indeed highly flammable— lay among a grove of trees. Some of the huts were in the trees themselves, with wooden and rope bridges spanning between the trees to connect them.

A notable small stream flowed through the village like a great winding snake, ending in a fountain at the end, which seemed to be roughly the center of the village itself.

All around them were kirin going about their business – some carrying carts, some chatting with one another. Some were performing on small stages to small audiences. Some were singing like Autumn had been, either to themselves or to others.

“Hey Fern Flare!” Autumn called over to another kirin. “Where’s Rain Shine?”

A few of the kirin took brief notice of Autumn, some with looks of mild annoyance. Then they took a second, longer look at Yearling, staring at her quizzically. Some tilted their heads as if in thought.

The kirin Autumn had called to pointed to a large hut near the fountain. 

“Thanks!” Autumn called back before turning to Yearling. “Good news, Rain Shine’s home.”

“Thank you, Autumn. I’d best get this over with,” Yearling said, flashing the enthusiastic kirin a smile before making her way across a wooden bridge towards the hut in question.

As she stepped closer to the river, she glanced at it once, then twice, noticing the water was a richer hue of blue than normal. A few familiar blue petals also floated across its surface, which harkened Daring’s mind back to Autumn’s song.

Steeling herself, Yearling raised a hoof and rapped on the wooden door. The sound of hoofsteps could be heard approaching it from the other side before it opened inward.

The kirin that answered towered over Yearling and the other kirin, much like Celestia did over her own ponies. Her gnarled horn was similarly larger, and a simple golden tiara rested above her brow.

“Rain Shine?” Yearling asked.

“Yes. Who might you be?” Rain Shine asked, tilting her head at Yearling.

Realization hit Yearling and she took off her pith helmet, holding it to her chest and bowing. “My name is Daring Do. I came here seeking information about an artifact,” she explained.

Rain’s eyes narrowed. “What sort of artifact?”

“It’s called the Kirinstone. I was told you would know more about it,” Yearling explained.

A quiet gasp made Yearling look up. Rain’s eyes darted around at her kirin before focusing back on the Pegasus. “Inside, please,” she said in a quieter tone.

Rain quickly stepped back inside and Yearling was quick to slap on her pith helmet and follow her. She got one more glance at the kirin in the village before the door shut behind her.





“Who told you of the Kirinstone?” Rain Shine inquired as Yearling followed her into what appeared to be some sort of living room.

“Well… I don’t know, to be honest. I received a letter a few days ago telling me to find the Kirinstone and bring it to Tartarus,” Yearling explained. “The letter was only signed ‘Concerned Party.’”

Rain seemed to consider this, staring off in thought and nodding lightly. “I see.” She turned to Yearling. “I am afraid I don’t have much to offer you. I do not possess the Kirinstone.”

“Do you know where I can find it then?” Yearling asked. “Some sort of shrine or temple or something?”

“Perhaps. In the deeper jungle, but none of us have been there in many years,” Rain said. “I only know of the Kirinstone through stories, passed down through the generations.”

“Any information could help,” Yearling said, walking over to her. “The letter said it was a matter of importance for the kirin.”

Rain huffed. “The Kirinstone was believed to be a divine gift to the kirin for some great service they did in the past, but its exact purpose has been lost to time,” she explained, shaking her head. “I thought it was mostly a myth, seeing as no one has seen it in so long.”

“Whoever wrote to me sure thinks it’s real,” Yearling said, looking out a nearby window. “Chief Rain Shine, I’ve ventured into my fair share of ancient temples, and I was sent here because someone believed I could find it.”

“And return it to Tartarus… very strange,” Rain said, joining her at the window. She smiled fondly at the kirin going to and fro outside. “If this is an issue of importance to my kirin, then I shall allow you to search for the Kirinstone. I can’t guarantee you will find it, but I know where you can start looking.”

“Anything could help,” Yearling said with a sheepish chuckle. “You know more than I do.”

Rain smiled and nodded to her. “And I believe I have a kirin that will be able to assist you.”
> Chapter 3: Jungle of the Ancients
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yearling followed Rain Shine out of her hut and through the village. All of the kirin they passed gave a friendly wave to their leader and she bowed her head to them in acknowledgement.

Their destination seemed to be a wooden stage, larger than some of the other ones. Upon it stood a lone kirin, singing to a sparse audience before her. It immediately struck Yearling that her appearance was similar to that of Rain Shine’s, save that she was the size of other kirin.

As her singing came to an end, the crowd clopped or stomped their hooves in appreciation. Even Rain Shine stomped one hoof, which caught the stage kirin’s attention.

“Mother!” she exclaimed, climbing off of the stage and hurrying over to the kirin chief and being welcomed by a one-forelegged hug.

“Your singing is as beautiful as ever, Creek,” Rain said. “I hope I’m not interrupting your practice.”

“Never,” Creek replied with a giggle, before finally noticing Yearling, who gave a brief wave. The younger kirin pulled away with a curious tilt of her head. “Who is this?”

“My name’s Daring Do,” Yearling said with the tip of her pith helmet. “Nice to meet you.”

“Daring, this is Creek Shine, my daughter,” Rain introduced, turning back to her daughter. “Daring is here to explore the Jungle of the Ancients and—”

“Jungle of the Ancients?!” Creek exclaimed excitedly.

“Jungle of the Ancients?” Yearling asked simultaneously with a more inquisitive tone.

Rain nodded. “It is a denser part of the Peaks of Peril. It’s believed we kirin had many villages deeper in the jungle, but gradually moved towards the Stream of Silence over time, most likely because of our nirik forms,” she explained, turning to Creek. “My daughter and her friend are very interested in exploring it.”

She turned to Yearling. “And if you seek a temple, it will most likely be somewhere in there.”

“How far does the jungle go?” Yearling asked.

“Miles and miles,” Creek said. “My friend Rune Glare and I have explored a little ways into the interior, and while we’ve found some signs of villages, we haven’t seen a temple.”

Yearling huffed, rubbing her brow. “Bet it’s stuffed a ways in then,” she remarked.

“Why is a pony looking for a temple in the Jungle of the Ancients?” Creek asked, more to both her mother and Yearling than one or the other.

“That should be discussed in private,” Rain said, quickly turning to leave. “Come, we must prepare for your departure.

“Too bad Rune is out on a hike,” Creek huffed, but followed after her mother, a giddy grin spread across her muzzle. Yearling took a glance over her shoulder, towards the jungle that surrounded the Kirin Village and sighed.

It was always jungles, wasn’t it?





Explaining the quest for the Kirinstone to the young kirin only served to inspire her further – now she had a goal deep within that jungle. Yearling smirked at Creek’s enthusiasm. She felt like a chip off of her own block.

The rest of the day was spent gathering supplies for the expedition. Creek offered rudimentary maps she and Rune Glare had made of their past expeditions, while Rain secured them provisions for their trip.

The next morning, Yearling and Creek set off on their expedition. The entirety of the Kirin Village came to see them off.

“Take care in the jungle, Creek,” Rain cautioned. “We don’t know what our ancestors left behind out there. And Yearling.” She turned to the Pegasus, her expression sterner. “Please keep my daughter safe.”

“I will, I promise, Chief Rain Shine,” Yearling said, standing taller at attention. “And thank you for the supplies.”

Rain Shine nodded. “May you both have a safe journey,” she said.

“And tell us all about it when you get back!” Autumn chirped, waving enthusiastically.

Yearling chuckled and nodded, her and Creek setting off and waving goodbye to the Kirin Village.

“Alright, we should head up along the river,” Creek said. “It’s the quickest path into the jungle itself. From there, we can venture into the interior.”

“Right. We just need to see if we can find any signs of… well, whatever we’re looking for,” Yearling said.

“There’s one more thing that you should know: you should never dip into the river itself,” Creek cautioned.

“Why’s that?”

“The river feeds the Stream of Silence. While the waters of the Stream are cool, the waters of the river are frigid, and grow colder the further we get from the Kirin Village. It could chill you to the bone within a minute,” Creek explained.

“No swimming, got it,” Yearling said.

Their path led them up a steep embankment and soon the sounds of a roaring river could be heard over the cacophony of tropical life. It grew louder and louder until they found themselves on the river’s banks. Smooth gravel lined either side of the river, and a light fog hung over the rushing blue waters.

Yearling glanced at it with a grimace before looking upriver. “Alright, how long before we hit the Jungle of the Ancients?” she asked.

“It’s a good two miles up the river. The plants grow far denser there – and that’s when we’ll know we’ve reached the jungle,” Creek said, pulling out her map in her magic. “From there… I am not certain. We’ve only ventured into the jungle a little ways.”

“Well, let’s cross that wooden bridge when we get to it then,” Yearling said, tipping her pith helmet forward and adjusting her loaded saddlebags. She marched up the riverbank, followed closely behind by Creek, who kept looking down at her map.

They walked in silence for the most part of the journey, focused solely on the task at hoof. Slowly but surely, the foliage did grow denser around the banks of the river until the great trees overshadowed it with their interlaced branches and drooping vines. Yearling noted some, the ones closest to the water, even had a light sheen of frost.

Finally, the gravel gave way to moss-covered rocks and sheer juts of stone that they had to climb over. On the other side, they found the gravel completely buried under an overgrowth of moss and ferns. The air closest to the river had an ever-present chill, but grew more humid the more they turned from it.

“Welcome, Daring Do,” Creek said, gesturing grandly to the world around them. “To the Jungle of the Ancients."

“It’s sure an ancient jungle alright,” Yearling said with a whistle of appreciation, tipping her pith helmet back. Though they had been walking for quite some time—by Yearling’s estimate, over an hour—they had barely worked up a sweat due to the river’s chill.

“Where do we go from here?” she asked, walking over to Creek to examine her map.

“We’ve, uh, reached that wooden bridge you mentioned,” Creek replied with an apologetic smile. “Rune and I haven’t been able to venture very far into the jungle itself, and there’s been little sign of past life save for the old villages.”

“Let’s try the nearest one then,” Yearling said, pointing at a small green “x” on the map. “That should be, what, a few miles in?”

Creek nodded. “However, the way is very overgrown, and any path you chop down will be regrown by morning. We believe the ancient kirin’s natural magic is well ingrained in the land around here, hence why it’s so overgrown.”

“Right.” Yearling huffed. “Got a machete? Because like it or not, we’ve got to make a path through this jungle.”





It was even slower growing through the thick overgrowth than it had been the riverside hike. The route through the trees and foliage was rough with jutting rocks and dense vines and ferns. It took a great deal of hacking with a machete, both Creek’s and Yearling’s, to make any headway.

They crawled over logs and under low hanging vines as they went, swatting away a plethora of biting insects all the way. Eventually, Creek resorted using bursts of nirikfire to roast them, or at least scare them off for a time.

Away from the coolness of the river, they panted and sweated. The jungle had taken on the humid air of the forest around the Kirin Village, but notched up to another degree. They often had to stop and catch their breath, with Yearling fanning her face with her pith helmet.

As the sun began to set somewhere over the dense canopy—the trees were too dense for any sight of the sky, or for Yearling to even fly through their branches—Creek pointed excitedly ahead.

Had she not pointed them out, Yearling might’ve missed them. A series of wooden huts, still standing in the dense forest. The trees that grew around them were shorter and the underbrush thinner, but they were so covered in moss that they blended in with their surroundings.

“It’s getting late,” Creek said, squinting at the canopy overhead. “We can make camp here for the night and carry on in the morning.”

“Carry on in which direction?” Yearling asked, looking around. Sure enough, from this distance, there was no other sign of even an old beaten path into the jungle. 

Creek pulled out a compass and looked around the area. “We’re east of the river. If we continue to head north, we might hit something else,” she said. “Rune and I have roughly been able to figure out which direction the ancient kirin came from.”

“Which means that’s where we’ll find which way past villages were… and perhaps an old temple,” Yearling concluded. She glanced at the few moss-covered huts around them. “Still… if the other villages were older than this one, might not be much to find.”

“Well, we have to try, right?” Creek flashed a smile. “Let’s set up camp and rest for the night. A fire will keep away the jungle’s pests.”

“Like what?” Yearling asked.

And regretted it the moment the words left her lips.

A loud buzzing filled the air, growing louder as it barreled down on Yearling from above. Creek quickly reached out and pulled her out of the way of a navy blue blur. Yearling quickly whirled around, the machete in hoof.

It was a horned beetle, easily as big as a pony and standing on two legs. Two other legs seemed to be claw-tipped arms. Its golden eyes glared at the two, its elytra flaring open with a menacing buzz of its wings. The curved horn atop its head was easier longer than Yearling’s foreleg.

“Back!” Creek roared, a demonic tone entering her voice as blue-pink fire flared on her horn.

The beetle’s eyes widened in horror and it quickly complied, buzzing off into the night. Yearling watched it go with wide-eyed horror before turning to Creek, who snuffed out her flames with a huff.

“That… was the biggest bug I’ve ever seen,” Yearling croaked, slowly sheathing her machete.

Creek nodded. “The ancient trees of the forest, especially the bigger ones, provide large amounts of sap, and it would seem many bugs have grown large with them. Fortunately, most of the bugs are territorial, and not interested in you as a meal.”

“Most,” Yearling repeated. She shook her head. “Seems they don’t like fire at least. Let’s get a campfire started and hope none of his friends show up to evict us.”

Creek nodded, quickly turning to the forest floor and picking up branches in her magic. Yearling, glancing over her shoulders, made her way over to the huts to stow away her gear.

As she approached one, there was the clatter of what sounded like bone on bone. She jumped back as a tan bug of some sort barreled out of one of the huts. Much like the beetle, this one walked on two legs and had two, albeit skinnier, arms. A pair of beady, glaring black eyes sat above a vertical mouth full of sharp fangs. A pair of oversized, spiked pincers sat atop its head, which the bug was mashing together menacingly.

Yearling let out a startled yelp, catching Creek’s attention. The kirin dropped her bundle of sticks and charged over, eyes blazing. “Get away from her!” she roared, her horn alight with blue-pink flames.

The pincher bug seemed defiant of Creek’s charge, but as she drew nearer, it finally conceded and fled on foot into the undergrowth. The sound of crashing branches and shuffling leaves grew fainter and fainter.

Creek snuffed out her flames and sighed. “Seems we disturbed its home,” she said.

Yearling cautiously approached the hut, machete now in hoof. Poking her head inside, she looked around before turning back to Creek. “Looks like the coast is clear, he was the only one in here. Pretty strange bugs you have in these parts.”

Creek chuckled. “Unfortunately. Let’s hope we don’t run into further pests,” she said, going back to retrieve her discarded firewood.

“You and me both,” Yearling replied with a shudder.





A crackling campfire sat just outside the old hut they took refuge in. A lot of the forest floor debris had been cleared to ensure the fire didn’t spread. Occasionally, they heard the rustling of the underbrush as something drew closer, but then quickly scurried away. Both Yearling and Creek were curled up in sleeping bags safe inside the hut.

“So, you’re sort of the local history buff?” Yearling asked.

“Sort of,” Creek admitted. “I do find history fascinating, that’s how I met Rune Glare. We decided the best place to start was our own backyard.”

“Finding this Kirinstone must be a dream come true then,” Yearling said with a chuckle.

“It is. I didn’t even know it existed,” Creek remarked. “I wonder what it does, or at least what it meant to the ancient kirin.” She giggled excitedly. “Ooh, it’s such fascinating stuff.”

“Yeah,” Yearling said, sighing. “You and someone else it would seem.”

Creek quieted down, then hummed. “You mentioned you received a letter about this Kirinstone? From who?”

“Heck if I know, there wasn’t a return address on the envelope. I remember it was some vintage parchment, even the envelope looked old. The hoofwriting was fancy, cursive, and it was written in this ink that looked like blood,” Yearling explained.

“Where is the letter?” Creek asked, looking across from her.

“After I read it, it and the envelope just… burnt. They caught on fire all on their own. Must’ve been some sort of delayed enchantment or something,” Yearling replied. “I remember it was strange fire too. Like, not normal orange, but more of a red.”

Creek laid back and stared at the hut’s ceiling. “That is strange… what do you make of it?”

“I think whoever sent it to me was serious enough, wanting me to keep it secret and all,” Yearling said with a shrug. “I guess I’ll find out when I deliver it. Best get some sleep for tonight – we should head out at dawn.”

Creek nodded, curling up in her sleeping bag. “Night Daring.”

“Night Creek,” Yearling replied, lying awake even as her companion slowly drifted off to sleep.

She’d never been asked to find something like this before, and it bothered her. Someone knew more than her, but didn’t want to find it themselves. Why? What did they mean by “hell on Equestria”?

With a sigh, Yearling tucked the thoughts away at the back of her mind and curled up herself, hoping to get some sleep before their long journey resumed the next day.





They extinguished the campfire the next morning, had a brief breakfast, and set off again, heading due north into the dense jungle parallel to the river.

“We’re in new territory now,” Creek said with a frown as she looked down at her map. “I don’t have any markers down anywhere around here.”

“Well, I’d say that’s a good thing,” Yearling said with a chuckle. “Means you haven’t discovered anything here yet – and that might be where we find the Kirinstone.”

Creek nodded and they pressed forward, resorting to machete hacking to help clear the way.

However, as they went, jutting rocks and overgrowth became less of an issue – replaced by the towering trunks and imposing roots of the trees. Yearling gawked at the sheer size of them, each as thick around as a house and hundreds of feet tall.

“I’ve heard of giant redwoods,” she remarked. “But they’ve got nothing on these.”

Creek flashed a sheepish smile. “I told you the trees got pretty big. These are the ones the bugs love – a little tough to get into, but the sap makes it worth it.”

“…Let’s hope none of them show up,” Yearling said quietly. Creek nodded in agreement.

They scrabbled over and crawled under the arching roots. Vines, thick as their hooves, curled around some of the roots and up the tree trunks. Closer to the canopy, they opened up with vibrant flowers that filled the air with their sweet aroma.

And fluttering around the flowers were an assortment of butterflies and moths. Much like the beetle and pincher bug before, these too were much larger than their normal counterparts, but still relatively smaller than ponies. Their wingspans rivaled those of pegasi, but their bodies were barely bigger than a pony’s head.

They seem uninterested in the two travelers below, focused intently on the sweet-smelling blooms and occasionally each other.

“That’s really pretty,” Yearling marveled, pausing to watch them flitter to and fro. Creek nodded in agreement, pulling out a pencil to scribble something on her map.

They continued on their way, leaving the flying bugs to their business. Soon, the trees grew closer together, until Yearling and Creek had to squeeze between them single file. In Yearling’s gut, it felt like the trees were forming some kind of wall.

Then, they broke through a particularly narrow gap and found themselves in a much more open area.

The clearing was entirely surrounded by the towering trees, but was sparsely populated by smaller trees and shrubbery itself. Most of the ground was covered in mossy covered stones which seemed to be some sort of ancient pavement. Vine-choked statues and stone masonry littered the clearing.

Yearling and Creek’s focus, however, was what lay in the middle of the clearing.

From Yearling’s expertise, she deduced it was some sort of pyramid. Not smooth like those of the desert, but stepped like those in the jungle. It was completely covered in vines and moss, and short trees grew around its base. The most striking feature, however, was that the entire thing was composed of some sort of black stone that stood out against the natural surroundings.

“I think… we found our temple,” Creek remarked quietly.
> Chapter 4: The Seven Trials of the Temple
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yearling and Creek climbed down the roots of one of the great trees and stepped onto the ancient cobbled path. 

It didn’t seem to be any sort of city, for there were no buildings still standing. The area seemed to be a place of worship, or perhaps reverence. The ruins of statues and arches could be seen all around the pyramid throughout the entire complex. Seemingly, the lack of the jungle had exposed them to the elements.

Creek and Yearling walked over to one ruined statue in particular, the latter giving a shudder at the depiction.

It appeared to be of some pony-like creature, but it wasn’t a kirin, based on the lack of a floofy mane or other such floofy markings. It had wings, but only one remained, great and leathery like a dragon’s or a bat’s. The creature’s head was partially gone, but a lone curved horn jutted from the side of it instead of from the brow. The tail was similar to a kirin’s, though reduced to a small, round stub from weathering.

“What sort of creature is that?” Yearling asked. “Is that what the ancient kirin looked like?”

“No… I don’t think so,” Creek said slowly, pulling out some paper and making a sketch of the statue. “This may have been what the ancient kirin worshiped.”

“I’d hate to meet that in a dark alley,” Yearling huffed, before turning her attention back to the pyramid. “If the Kirinstone is anywhere, I bet my helmet it’s in that place.”

“If the Kirinstone is believed to be some sort of divine gift, and the ancient kirin worshiped… something in this place,” Creek reasoned, glancing up at the ruined statue as she put away her tools. “This would indeed be the place to look.”

They made their way across the decrepit plaza, stepping through the bushes towards the great pyramid that loomed before them. The sun cast its imposing shadow across the land.

When they reached the base, they found a set of steps on the side of the pyramid that, while chipped and cracked from age, were still solid enough to climb to the summit.

“What sort of stone is this?” Creek asked, leaning down to examine it. “I’ve never seen anything like it in the Peaks of Peril.”

“I’m no geologist, but I’d say it’s some sort of volcanic rock. Like basalt or obsidian,” Yearling said as she climbed. “Been to a few volcanoes before, and rock like this is all over the place.”

Creek nodded, frowning with thought as they hiked up the steps.

When they reached the top, they found an opening that led to a spiral staircase deep into the pyramid. Beside it was a mural of some sort, with some sort of writing scribbled on it. Creek squinted at it. “What’s this say?” she asked Yearling.

Yearling examined it briefly and her eyes widened. “It’s Pony Latin,” she remarked. “All the way out here.”

“I’ve never seen anything like it either. Can you translate it?” Creek asked.

Yearling nodded, running a hoof over the writing as she read it slowly. “’Only one soul may enter the Temple.’”

“Only one soul…” Creek said slowly.

“One pony, or kirin,” Yearling said with a huff. “I’m not willing to find out what happens if we both go, Creek. I’ll go. The Kirinstone is my mission.”

Creek seemed hesitant, but nodded. “Be careful in there, Daring. There’s no telling what the ancient kirin put in there… or if…”

“If what?” Yearling raised an eyebrow.

“Daring, what you said about the pyramid’s stone has me thinking. What if… what if the ancient kirin didn’t make this pyramid? What if whatever they are—like those statues—made this?” Creek asked.

Yearling swallowed. “It’s nothing I can’t handle,” she said. “If the Kirinstone is in here, I’ll find it.”

Creek nodded. “Good luck, Daring Do.”

With a smirk, Yearling nodded, flapped her wings, and flew down the staircase.

Behind her, a stone lid rolled forward. Creek jumped in surprise and made a move for the sealing entrance, but stopped herself. She remembered what the sign had said, and like Yearling didn’t want to test it.

That didn’t stop her from squinting at the lid as it finally slid into place, walking over to it curiously.

“What is this symbol…”





With the shutting of the lid, Yearling found herself bathed in darkness. With a huff, she made for a flashlight in her saddlebags – only for the temple to beat her to it.

Torches flared to life on the walls, each one a flickering flame of blue-pink that Yearling recognized as nirikfire. The igniting torches outlined the walls and ended on the far side of the chamber Yearling found herself in. A stone door sat directly across from her, emblazoned with the symbol of an ornate fly.

However, before she could even take a step forward, innumerous glints of light caught her attention.

She was not alone in the chamber. Heaps of golden and bejeweled treasure lay scattered about the room, the light in the chamber seemingly growing brighter to highlight them. Everything from golden bits, to necklaces and rings, to even golden furniture were piled about the room. The only exception was a narrow, snaking vacancy that led to the far door.

“This seems… poorly laid out,” Yearling remarked to herself, glancing back up at the staircase and sealed entrance. “Why would you put treasure this close to the entrance and out in the open?”

As Yearling walked towards the path, she glanced over the piles of treasure. There was every chance the Kirinstone was a jewel of some kind, hence why it was so highly prized by the ancient kirin. It could be sitting here in the treasure just waiting to be found. And perhaps the rest could be sent to a museum.

But her gut smelled a rat.

It was too easy. Having been through innumerous pitfalls, she knew how the ancients thought. Sacred treasures were never out in the open, not without their traps or guards. The Kirinstone meant something to the ancient kirin, it wouldn’t be here. Which meant…

“They want me to take the treasure. That’s the trap in itself,” Yearling muttered.

Her attention turned from the treasure as she walked through the golden hills and towards the door on the far side. She was unsure what the fly symbol meant, but perhaps it marked the exit.

She stopped at a golden mirror next to the path and adjusted her pith helmet, smirking at her golden reflection before moving onto the door.

A quick examination showed no handle or divot that could be used to move the stone door. Yearling scanned the floor before it and found a stone tile slightly raised above the other. Gingerly pressing a hoof down on it, she winced, hoping it wasn’t a secondary trap.

The fly-symbol door rumbled and slowly lowered, revealing a dark hallway ahead. As she took her hoof off the pressure plate, another tile opened next to it. Inside was a small gap, holding a broken slab of stone, a few inches thick.

Yearling frowned, glancing back at the treasure room before picking it up. The surface was covered in some sort of scribbles, but they were in no language Yearling knew of. She did note the blood red coloration of the marks, and the fact that it was broken.

“Perhaps Creek will know what to make of it,” Yearling sighed, stowing away the broken slab into her saddlebags and heading down the hallway.





The hallway opened into another hallway that made Yearling pause. More nirikfire torches ignited along the walls to illuminate her way.

This new hallway was long, and had nooks along the walls of various rectangular sizes. Inside each was a mirror of some sort. Some were elegant floor mirrors, others were smaller, either to be set on a vanity or to be held in one’s hoof. The hallway seemed to split off in various directions.

“Alright… so what’s the trick to this room?” Yearling muttered, cautiously making her way down the new hallway.

A cursory glance into one of the mirrors explained it plain as day. Her reflection was nothing like her: it was dressed up in a beautiful evening gown with a well-pampered mane and tail. 

Yearling paused, tilting her head in confusion. Her eyes slid up the length of her body until they met her reflection’s—and her reflection’s eyes promptly glowed green.

Yearling gave a startled yelp as her elegant reflection lunged out at her, eyes blazing emerald. She only managed to duck at the last second. The mirror image smacked into an opposite mirror before leering at her. 

Scrambling to her hooves and running, Yearling glanced over her shoulder. Her mirror image was flying after her, a malevolent grin spread across her muzzle.

“Don’t look in the mirrors, don’t look in the mirrors,” Yearling quickly huffed to herself as she fled. 

She turned down one adjacent hallway, only to find it a dead end – a giant, floor-length mirror at the end reflected her. Yearling met its eyes without thinking and quickly turned and fled, dodging a sweeping hoof from her elegant double – which was joined by one dressed as a pirate, complete with a cutlass.

Yearling turned down another branching hallway, saw that it ended with a mirror, and shut her eyes before she made the same mistake. She ducked at the sound of whooshing steel out of instinct, managing to keep her head, only for another hoof to punch her in the gut.

She continued her mad scramble away, grunting at the pain of her bruised midsection. Each branching hallway she turned to ended the same way – with a mirror. Some she managed to avoid the gaze of, some she wasn’t so lucky.

Half a dozen different Daring Dos, each with glaring emerald eyes and a malevolent grin chased after her down the main hallway.

“There’s no door… is it one of the mirrors?” she thought aloud to herself, her frantic brain going a mile a minute.

Her eyes swept across the mirrored walls, looking for something out of the ordinary. She had to duck and dodge blows from pursuing hooves and weapons as she went. A flick of white caught her eye and she skidded to a halt.

On a shelf-like protrusion sat an upright, simple hoofheld mirror, green in color save for the mirror’s glass. She willed herself to meet the reflection’s eyes as the sound of hoofsteps approached…

And found herself staring back at her.

Quickly reaching out with a hoof, Yearling grabbed the mirror. It pulled forward like a lever, but wouldn’t leave its place.

The hoofsteps abruptly stopped, replaced by the sound of splintering glass. Yearling glanced the way it had come from, only to find nothing in the hallways. Mirrors near her that she could see reflected nothing back at her.

The section of wall behind the mirror creaked outward like a door, and another panel of stone at the base of the new doorway slid back, revealing another broken slab of stone with crimson markings.

Yearling quickly picked it up, wincing at her sore stomach, before marching through the doorway resolutely.





Yearling finally entered the next room—and immediately paused.

It was the smallest, simplest room yet, with only a hoofful of nirikfire torches illuminating it. A few murals adorned the room around her, depicting the kirin. On the opposite end of the room was another stone door, this one adorned with the image of what looked like a pair of scales.

Next to the door was another little sign like there had been at the entrance to the temple. Yearling leaned in and squinted to read it.

“’Swallow your pride,’” she read slowly. She looked about the room, scowling in confusion. “There’s nothing to eat in here though.”

Another examination of the room showed that, indeed, she was alone. Save for the murals of the kirin.

Yearling squinted at all the murals. This was the first time she had seen the kirin depicted in the temple, and they were all posed in a similar way. At first she thought they might be pointing at something on the ceiling, but a glance upwards showed that it was bare.

She took a closer look at the kirin. They weren’t pointing, but their hooves were near their ears, but not on top of their ears to cover them. Yearling hummed and repeated the pose herself, her eyes widening.

“They’re listening for something, but what?” Yearling remarked, setting her hoof down. Her eyes fell to the sign and she rubbed her chin. “’Swallow your pride…’”

Yearling ran the words over in her brain. If you were prideful, what wouldn’t you do—or rather, what wouldn’t you say?

Her mind ran back over her misadventures with Rainbow Dash and her friends. She’d been rather prideful back then, so what had been so difficult for her to say?

The word left her lips as soon as it came to mind: “Help.”

She jumped as the door rumbled and slowly slid into the floor. The tile just in front of it slid back to reveal a third broken slab of rock. Yearling smirked and plucked it up, setting it with the others in her saddlebag.

“Well, that was easy,” she remarked as she stepped through the doorway.





As Yearling stepped through the next door way, she instantly reared back at the sound of party horns. She was surprised to see the large room filled with kirin, each wearing a party hat. Many were off to the side, chatting with one another and laughing, or playing some sort of party game.

“Welcome to the party, you made it!” one cheered.

“Have some cake!” another exclaimed.

“Uh… thank you?” Yearling stumbled into the room, guided by a few of the kirin as they took her on a tour of their party room.

The rational portion of her mind tried to remind her of her quest, but it was quickly overridden when the kirin introduced her to the buffet. It tried to speak up again, only to be drowned out by the many party games the kirin had.

It gave one last hurrah, only to be silenced when the kirin led her to the bouncy castle. Her jaw dropped. She hadn’t been in a bouncy castle since she was a little filly, and certainly they weren’t made for full-grown mares, but this one was!

With a giddy grin, she trotted towards the entrance. As she stepped onto the rubbery, inflated flooring, however, her rational mind made some headway.

What would all this be doing in the temple? Sure, it looked fun, and the food was probably good, but this was an ancient temple. And it hadn’t exactly been easy on the tricks thus far.

She was startled from her thoughts by an urging hoof. “C’mon! Don’t you want to play?” the kirin it belonged to asked.

“Well, actually—”

“But what about the food? You haven’t even tried it yet! Aren’t you hungry?” another insisted.

“That’s very kind of you to offer, but—”

“And there’s so many more games to try! And singing! And dancing” pleaded a third kirin.

Growling, Yearling shut her eyes and shouted to the high heavens: “NO!”

All at once, the sound in the room stopped, and Yearling opened her eyes.

The chamber was completely empty. Her hoof fell through air to touch the ground as even the bouncy castle was gone. Nirikfire torches illuminated the walls, along to a stone door on the opposite end of the room, marked by a trio of hearts.

Yearling huffed and marched over to the door, stepping on a raised pressure plate in front of it. The door slid shut, and another tile in the floor revealed another broken, crimson-marked slab.

“These are some weird traps,” Yearling muttered, looking back at the empty room, now quiet as a cemetery.

She adjusted her pith helmet and carried on into the next hallway.





Much like the previous trap room, Yearling didn’t get much of a warning before feathers hit the fan.

There was a rumbling noise overhead and some loose dust and pebbles fell around her. A glance up was all she needed, her wings flaring open and carrying her down the larger hallway.

With an earth-shaking crash, a large stone boulder filled the hallway and began barreling towards her. 

Yearling noted either the stone slabs she had been finding were weighing her down, or the boulder was moving abnormally fast—because no matter how hard she pumped her wings, the giant rock seemed to be right on her tail.

The hallway curved and sloped, turning one way and ascending before descending and twisting another. Yearling felt her lungs burn as she struggled to keep ahead of the rock. She’d been in situations like this before, but never with a rock that wanted her dead this badly.

Finally, the end of the hallway appeared before her—along with a shut door, marked with a symbol that vaguely looked like a mug. Her quickly scanning eyes found no pressure plate to hit, and instead there was a horizontal wooden lever along the wall.

Yearling quickly smacked with a hoof as she flew past, doing a barrel roll in the process. A broken slab like the others fell in front of her and out of instinct, she grabbed it and held it to her chest.

The door slowly slid down just as Yearling approached it. Extending out three of her hooves and flattening herself out as much as she could, she just managed to fly through the widening gap and fall to the floor.

The boulder, much too large, smacked into the door. The impact rattled the temple and shifted down some more dust from the ceiling.

Yearling lay sprawled on the floor for a few minutes more as she struggled to catch her breath. She looked to the tablet in her hoof, illegible as the others, and frowned.

“You… better… be… worth it…” she wheezed.

Stuffing it with the others, she shakily got to her hooves and marched onward into the temple. She hoped there wasn’t too much farther to go.





The next room hit her nostrils before she could even see what it was, and by the time she walked through the doorway she was salivating.

The illuminated room was full of tables, and the tables were full of food and drink. Everything from double-cheese hayburgers to Chicacolt-style carrot dogs to the most luscious fruits and vegetables she had ever seen. There were cupcakes in seemingly every flavor, and towering tiered cakes fit for a royal wedding. There were fountains of sparkling water and kegs marked “root beer,” with plenty of drinkware to spare.

Normally, the room should’ve set off the alarms in her rational mind, like the first one did and the one before the boulder of imminent doom. But she’d been punched, she’d been chased by a giant boulder of impending doom, and she’d been walking for what felt like hours.

Yearling tiphooved over to the nearest table, her tongue lolling out as the smells teased her nostrils. She reached out and picked up one of the hayburgers and sniffed it. Her stomach growled in anticipation, and almost drowned out the alarm bells in her head.

Almost.

With some effort of self-control, she forced her hoof down and backed away from the table. What little willpower she had left was directed at the fact that, yet again, this was an ancient temple. An ancient temple that had tried to deceive and kill her multiple times.

And there was no way in Tartarus that all this food would still be fit to eat… if it was fit to eat to begin with.

Now eyeing the sustenance with wary eyes, she made her way towards the opposite end of the room. She had to stop herself a few times from picking up something to eat, and even from dipping a wooden goblet into one of the fountains.

She forced her head forward to find a door marked with the symbol of three open mouths. Yearling slammed a hoof onto the pressure plate, forcing her gaze away from the tempting treats.

The door slid down and revealed another broken tablet fragment beneath a sliding tile at her hooves. With a grunt, she picked it up and set it in her tightly-packed saddlebags.

“This better be over soon,” she muttered under her breath, forcing herself forward and leaving the banquet behind.





In the next room, she was met with a crash as a large mass of solid stone crashed down inches from her face, the impact making her lift off the ground briefly. At first she thought it was another boulder—until her eyes followed the stone up when she realized it didn’t stop growing in size.

The stone was actually a massive hoof, connected to a massive leg, and belonging to a giant stone golem with glowing blue-pink eyes. Based on the manestyle and the gnarled horn, Yearling surmised it was some sort of kirin golem.

She took to the air again as another hoof slammed to the ground, shaking the entire chamber.

At first, she tried going around the giant stone kirin, and found a door behind it. It was marked with a symbol that looked like, for some reason, a spiked collar. A quick glance of the ground showed no pressure plate, and there were no levers on the walls.

So that left the hundred-ton kirin in the room.

There was no way to fight this thing, even if she had an army of herself. She flew up towards the ceiling, dodging a swatting stone hoof. So that meant there had to be a way to shut it off.

Yearling risked getting closer to the giant kirin as its head turned to face her. Another hoof reached up to smack at her, which she easily rolled out of the way of. She was glad that whatever was powering this thing didn’t also have nirikfire for it to use.

The stone the golem was made of was a dark grey, so when a flicker of red caught her eye, Yearling sped towards it. The kirin golem gave one final attempted swipe before Yearling landed on its head, just behind the horn.

It was a red “x” of all things, and it seemed to be raised like a pressure plate. With both forehooves, she pressed down on it, and had to grab onto the golem’s ear as it suddenly halted, its head dipping forward slightly.

Yearling took flight again, surveying the golem. The fiery eyes were out, and it now seemed like nothing more than some grand statue. A faint rumbling was heard far below as the door lowered down into the floor.

Flapping down, she found another broken tablet waiting for her, and struggled to cram it in with all the others. She was beginning to struggle with the weight of all the fragments.

“Please let this be the last room,” Yearling huffed, marching through the doorway into what she hoped was nearly the end of the temple.





As soon as Yearling stepped into the room, she got the feeling she had reached the end.

Of the temple or of her, she wasn’t sure.

Unlike the previous rooms, this one had a set of stone stairs that led deeper into the chamber. It had a high ceiling, and the entire room was drenched in darkness, making it impossible to tell what awaited her.

As she set her hoof down on the first step, torches flared up along the wall. These weren’t in the shade of the pink-blue nirikfire, but a blood red that cast a sinister red glare over the room.

On the back wall was a huge mural. Yearling recognized the seven symbols that curved at the bottom of it: the ornate fly, the green hoofheld mirror, the pair of scales, the trio of hearts, the mug, the three open mouths, and the spiked collar. And above them sat a far larger, far more obscure symbol.

It started as an upside down triangle at the top with an “x” through it. The two lower ends of the “x” crossed through the angled lines of the triangle. Said angled lines met and made a diamond beneath the triangle. On either side of this diamond were two curls facing outward.

Given its size over the other symbols of the temple, Yearling figured it must be important.

Her gaze turned down towards where she was walking. At the base of the stairs was a large stone pedestal, and behind it a vacant altar. She subtly noted that the pedestal had a large, rectangular indent in it.

As soon as she set foot on the floor of the chamber, a loud, booming voice reverberated around her, causing her to freeze.

“Halt! Go no further.”

Yearling blinked, looking around the room for the source. “H-Hello?” she called.

“It is time for you to be judged. Place the offerings on the pedestal. Take what you know to know what you take.”

Yearling frowned at the idea of being “judged,” but stepped up to the pedestal. She already had an idea what the voice—whoever or whatever it was—wanted from her. She rummaged through her saddlebags and produced the seven broken slabs.

It took a great deal of trial and error to figure out where the slabs went in the slot, but eventually Yearling had it fully assembled before her. The crimson markings on all the pieces were still as illegible as ever.

There was a click from the front of the pedestal, and a small slot popped out. Inside was what looked like a monocle, the frame ornate and black and the lens tinted red. Yearling picked it up and looked through it. After examining the room, she focused it on the assembled tablet and gasped.

The lines and markings seemed to shift in her view through the monocle, so much so that she had to check outside its tinted gaze to make sure she wasn’t seeing things. This had to have been the most intricate ciphering spell she’d ever seen.

She gazed through the lens again and her eyes skimmed the tablet’s surface. Her eyes slowly widened as the story before her unfolded.

“Now!” The booming voice caught her attention, her head snapping up to watch the walls around her. “Step forward to the altar.”

Yearling swallowed, gently setting the monocle with the tablet and stepping around the pedestal. She walked up to the altar until she heard a click at her hooves and looked down. A pressure plate beneath her depressed.

“You who stand before the altar, do you know what it is you seek?”

Yearling swallowed again. “Yes, the Kirinstone.”

“Do you know the weight of what you ask?”

Yearling glanced back at the pedestal, and the tablet. “Yes I do.”

The temple remained silent. Yearling looked around the walls, half expecting some sort of swinging axe, or blow darts, or another boulder to come barreling down on her at any moment. The temple had tried to trick her thus far – what was this, its final security measure?

“Behold. The Kirinstone.”

Crimson flame swirled before her on the altar, radiating intense enough heat for Yearling to shield her face. When the flames subsided, Yearling cautiously peeked at what was left behind.

The rock was barely bigger than an apple. It was shaped almost like a little mountain, with the pointed peak rounded off. It was made of some unidentifiable reddish-pink stone that had round cracks running through it. Emblazoned on the front in gold was the large, triangular symbol that loomed over her.

“You are worthy to take it. Return it safely, for the price of failure is grave.”

Yearling nodded, though she wasn’t even sure if there was anyone to witness her. She hesitantly reached out and touched the stone and, despite the intense fire that had spirited it into existence, it was cool to the touch. 

Gently, she picked the stone up and stopped. A quick glance at the altar showed there was no pressure trigger, and the continued stillness of the room hinted at no further objections.

Setting the stone in her saddlebags, she adjusted them to make sure they didn’t slip or come loose, and made her way back to the entrance. Seeing as there was no other way provided for her, she surmised she’d have to go the way she came.

She only hoped the boulder had been moved.

Yearling paused next to the pedestal, looking over the tablet and the lens. Glancing back at the altar, she gently picked up each piece of tablet and then the lens, stowing them away as well.

Creek Shine was going to love this.
> Chapter 5: A Blessing and a Curse
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

To her relief, Yearling found the stone lid had rolled back as she flapped up the staircase. Creek Shine peered over the edge, smiling when she saw the explorer approach. The sky overhead had turned golden with the coming evening.

“You’re alright!” Creek chirped. “Did you find it?”

“Yep. And I found out what it’s for, too,” Yearling replied. She touched down next to the entrance. She opened the flap of her one saddlebag, revealing the broken slabs and the lens. Creek took the latter in her magic and peered through it curiously before replacing it.

“And the Kirinstone?” Creek asked.

Yearling nodded, opening the other saddlebag. As Creek peeked in and tried to lift the stone with her magic, Yearling raised her hoof. “I think… it’s best we not touch it until we get back to the village. I’ll explain to you and everyone else why, I promise.”

Creek tilted her head in curiosity, but nodded. “Alright then,” she said as Yearling shut her saddlebags. “We’d better make camp soon, the sun’s setting. And I don’t want to think of what sort of bugs are active in the jungle at night.

Yearling grimaced. “Good point. Perhaps we can set up our tents here in this plaza,” she offered. 

Creek nodded, and the two descended the temple’s stairs. Yearling watched every step, cautiously eyeing the saddlebag that held its precious cargo.

Unseen to both of them, a shadowy figure flew across the setting sun, held aloft by great leathery wings.





An uneventful camp next to the temple and a long trek later, Yearling and Creek Shine found themselves back at the Kirin Village. One of the kirin gave an alert and the others came running, headed by Rain Shine.

“Creek!” she called out.

“Mother!” Creek ran over and hugged the kirin chief, nuzzling into the floof that looped around her neck. Rain held her close in one foreleg.

Yearling smiled as she walked over to them. “Chief,” she said, taking off her pith helmet to give a brief bow.

“Daring Do,” Rain said, releasing her daughter to address the explorer. “Thank you for bringing my daughter home safely. Were you able to find it?”

“Yes, I did. And I found out what it is,” Yearling replied, replacing her pith helmet. As she reached into her saddlebag, she paused and smiled sheepishly at the chief. “And… if you pick it up, please be careful with it.”

The kirin watched in anxious silence as Yearling slowly pulled out the Kirinstone, holding it aloft in both forehooves. Gasps and quiet murmurs sprung up among the kirin as they beheld the ancient object. Rain gently took it up in her magic, examining it closely.

“This is the Kirinstone?” she asked Yearling.

Yearling nodded in reply. “And I found something else, if you’ll carefully put it down, I’ll explain why it’s so important,” she explained, reaching into her other saddlebag. Rain carefully set the stone down by her forehooves.

One by one, she pulled out the tablet fragments and laid them out before the kirin chief. The other kirin, including Creek Shine, gathered around the assembled tablet, though there were quickly some confused murmurs as to what it said.

“Look through this, chief,” Yearling said, offering the monocle to the tall kirin. “And read it aloud for everyone else.”

Rain took the monocle and peered through it towards the tablet. She gasped in surprise, lowering the monocle to observe the tablet for herself, before peering through it again. Yearling chuckled.

“Yeah, it startled me when I read it too,” she remarked.

Rain focused as the marks and symbols formed into words. Slowly, she read them aloud:

“Many years ago, a Hellbeast broke free from the depths of Tartarus. It is a creature of uncontrollable wrath that breathes fire hot enough to melt stone. I was tasked with bringing the beast under control and returning it to its prison.

  “The creature fled to what is now known as the Peaks of Peril, and besieged the kirin that dwelled there. When I arrived, I found the kirin were trying their best to fight the beast, and I could see their desire to help. I was quick to come to their aid.

  “With my power, I forged what they called the Kirinstone. Made of stone from the depths of Tarartus and branded with my symbol, it enabled the kirin to harness the power of Hellfire itself to fight back against the Hellbeast alongside me.

  “It was not fire that ultimately defeated the Hellbeast, but something the kirin called the ‘Stream of Silence.’ Its waters cooled emotions, even of the mighty Hellbeast, and brought the creature under control.

  “After returning the Hellbeast to its prison, the kirin took to worshiping me, and I allowed them to keep my gift. However, I did not foresee the cost of my gift, and how it could very well become a curse.

  “Hellfire feeds on sin, and negativity is just as good kindling. Enough anger or rage proved enough to set the kirin alight into what they call ‘niriks.’ Rather clever naming. It takes considerable willpower to calm them down, or the Stream of Silence to cool them permanently.

  “The Kirinstone had one other defect that I unfortunately did not realize in the heat of the moment. Should the Kirinstone break or shatter, the kirin will turn to stone forever. So please, be careful my little kirin. Keep it safe.

  “Signed…”

Rain Shine frowned, squinting through the lens. “I don’t understand what that symbol means.”

Creek Shine took the monocle in her own magic to study the symbol, scanning down the tablet.

“It’s the same symbol as on the Kirinstone, and it was on the wall of the room it was in,” Yearling explained.

“And it was on the door to the temple when it closed after you,” Creek reported, turning to Yearling. “What does it mean?”

“Well…” Yearling glanced back at her own flank. “Maybe it’s like my cutie mark – it’s the symbol for whoever or whatever made the Kirinstone.”

“The tablet reads from the perspective of someone from Tartarus, a warden,” Rain noted.

“Or a ruler, in charge of their prisoners,” Yearling said with a nod. “And if they’re worried about the Kirinstone being found and getting broken, and the kirin all turning to stone…”

“They would want it back safe in their possession to prevent that,” Rain concluded, her gaze serious. “I see now that your quest is much less mysterious.”

“Aside from who gave it to me, yeah.” Yearling opened her saddlebag. “Which means it’s best I get this stone to the depths of Tartarus as soon as possible.”

Rain nodded, levitating the Kirinstone up and gently setting it in the open saddlebag, shutting it for good measure. “Thank you very much, Daring Do, for finding a piece of our history.”

Yearling smirked. “It’s what I do, chief. Now, I need to be getting on the next train out of here.” She looked to the tablet and monocle. “I think those will be safe here in the village at least.”

Rain nodded with a smile. “Then I think it only proper that we see you off.”





Yearling climbed aboard the train, looking back at the procession of kirin lined up just past the station’s rickety platform. The pony inside the booth looked on in wonder, his gaze shifting between Yearling and the kirin.

“Visit again soon!” Autumn called, waving.

“And tell us about Tartarus when you do!” Creek called.

“And thank you again,” Rain called to her. “Safe travels!”

Yearling tipped her pith helmet before stepping inside the passenger car. The kirin waved and cheered as the engine gave a whistle and began backing down the line. Yearling waved from her seat until the kirin were nothing but colorful dots on the horizon.

Yearling sat back in her seat, breathing a sigh of relief. She slipped off her saddlebags and set them on the seat next to her, lightly patting the stone through the fabric. 

In all her questing for ancient relics, it was rare she found such a satisfying conclusion to an adventure. And for once her find was destined for more than just a glass display case in some museum. 

She stared out the window as she ruminated on her next move. Yearling herself didn’t know how to access Tartarus, or even where to start looking for the gate to it. Even if she found it, she’d read about the magic seal on the gate, and she was no unicorn.

If she could get an audience with Celestia, perhaps she could explain to her the importance of her mission. After all, the two sisters had sealed away Tirek there once upon a time, so they’d know where to find it.

Yearling’s thoughts were interrupted when one of the other passengers gave a cough. She turned to look about the car, and was surprised to see she was not alone like she had been on the trip to the Peaks. And all of them seemed to be reading newspapers…

Suddenly, a lasso shot across the back of her seat and snared her around the middle. She jumped to her hooves in surprise, only for the rope to coil around her legs. She stumbled into the aisle—and at the hooves of a familiar gambogeish gray stallion.

“Caballeron!” she snarled, glaring up at him.

“That’s Doctor Caballeron to you, Daring Do,” he chuckled. “Out treasure hunting and you didn’t invite me? You hurt me.”

“I’ll do a lot more than that when I get out of these ropes!” Yearling snapped.

“I’m sure,” he said, smirking at her saddlebags. As he reached into the flaps, Yearling’s eyes widened.

“No! Don’t!” she pleaded.

“Mmm, must be a good find,” Caballeron chuckled, pulling out the stone. He hummed, admiring the luster of the strange golden symbol on the front. “No precious stone, but perhaps I can find a buyer for it.”

“Caballeron, listen to me!” Yearling hopped so she faced him. “This isn’t a game this time! That artifact is very important to the kirin! If something were to happen to it—”

“Yes, yes, it’ll end the world or something,” Caballeron said in a mocking tone. “I’ve heard the excuses before, Miss Do. But the kirin you say? Hmm, I may have a buyer for this after all.”

“Stop—!” Yearling was cut off as Biff approached from behind and slipped a mail bag over her. One of the other henchponies walked over and tied up the mouth of the bag.

“Where we heading, boss?” Yearling heard Withers ask.

“That shady town out in the desert, the name escapes me,” Caballeron mused. “But first, let us dispose of our loose ends, hm?” 

Yearling squirmed in the sack, working to free her hooves from the ropes. She felt herself get hefted onto the back of one of the henchponies and heard a door open—and suddenly the sounds of the moving train were much clearer.

She had worked one leg free when she heard Caballeron announce: “Farewell, Daring Do!”

Suddenly, she was weightless, then crashed to the ground hard, tumbling end over end. She curled up into a ball to minimize her injuries, but still wound bruised and banged up. Fortunately, the impact served to loosen the rest of her restraints. She fought to open the bag…

…Only to see the train backing away from her, now well in the distance.

“Wait!” she called, struggling free from the bag. She took to the air and tried flying, but crashed to the ground again. Her one wing was bruised, and every flap produced a sharp ache.

She took to running after the train—she at least had the tracks to follow back to civilization—but soon found it fruitless.

Her gallop became a trot, then a stagger, then a collapse to the ground.

“H-Help…” she croaked out, before rolling onto her back.

As the heat slowly claimed her, a shadow flew across the sun. Yearling blinked once, then again, but by now her vision had grown hazy.

The last thing she heard and saw were the flap of great wings, and a pair of glaring eyes, burning crimson.
> 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.”
> Chapter 7: The Depths of Tartarus
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“And that’s the story so far, your majesty,” Yearling said, seated next to Celestia as the pegasi guards pulled the chariot through the skies. It sure as heck beat flying on her own.

“I see. Well, Miss Yearling, I’ll be sure to keep your little secret safe from my sister,” Celestia said with a smile.

“Oh? Princess Luna reads Daring Do?” Yearling blinked in surprise, looking up at the alicorn.

“Yes, but I think she’s more interested in the temples you visit.” Celestia cleared her throat. “Now, on the topic at hoof: if things are as you say they are, then I will help you get into Tartarus. The depths, if need be.”

“That’s where the letter said to take the Kirinstone, but… I don’t get it, your majesty. I know Tartarus is where you keep monsters and Tirek locked away, but what’s in its depths?”

Celestia sighed, her gaze shifting to look out over the horizon. “Seeing as they contacted you, I think it only fair to let you in on the truth about Tartarus.” She glanced at her sideways. “Provided you can keep it secret.”

“On my word, Princess Celestia,” Yearling said, placing a hoof on her chest.

“Good.” Celestia’s focus returned to the clouded skies. “Neither I, nor any other pony, made Tartarus. It was here in Equestria when the first ponies arrived.”

“Well… who made it then?” Yearling swallowed, remembering the horned pony back in Klugetown.

“Demons. That’s what they call themselves. Usually, they take the form of ponies or other Equestrian creatures, but they can shapeshift. When we ponies encountered the monsters of Equestria, we turned to Tartarus to lock them away. The Queen of Tartarus permitted it, as long as we only used the upper levels. The lower levels were meant for worse,” Celestia continued.

“I guess it’s this Queen that wanted me to find the Kirinstone,” Yearling remarked.

Celestia nodded. “Most likely. She herself never leaves Tartarus unless it is absolutely necessary. Her subjects, those who serve under her, however, are a different story. They are permitted in Equestria as long as they don’t cause trouble.”

“Back in Klugetown, I saw this pony-like creature with horns, bat wings, and a strange tail. I think I saw a statue of it at the temple,” Yearling said. “You said they usually take the form of ponies… is that what they normally look like?”

“When they wish to appear threatening. From what little I know of them, that is as close to their true forms as they will allow,” Celestia replied.

“You don’t know much about them? But you’ve been to Tartarus many times,” Yearling remarked.

“I rarely interacted with the demons, for they inhabit the lowest levels. The only time I even met the Queen was when my sister and I imprisoned Tirek,” Celestia said with a sigh. 

Yearling hummed, frowning as she stared over the side of the chariot. Celestia took notice, setting a gentle hoof on her shoulder.

“Something troubling you?” she asked.

“I don’t get it. I mean, I get why she couldn’t make it—whatever ‘bringing hell to Equestria’ means anyway—but why did she send me after the Kirinstone? Especially if she has other demons,” Yearling said.

“Well, I cannot speak for her, but…” Celestia smiled. “In my opinion, I think you were the best pony for the job, if your books are anything to go by.”

Yearling nodded, then blinked with realization and looked back up to the princess. Celestia just gave a knowing smile and a wink before turning back to their flight path.

A range of mountains loomed in the distance. At first, Yearling thought a thick fog had descended upon them. As they grew closer, however, the air became thick with the smell of sulfur and ash. A great many smaller vents around the mountains breathed smoke into the air.

As they began to touch down at the base of what seemed to be the tallest of the mountains, Yearling was surprised to find someone waiting for them.

Rain Shine stood before the Gates of Tartarus, wearing her own pair of saddlebags. She looked up at the sound of approaching wingbeats and smiled. She watched the royal chariot land a short distance away.

“Chief Rain Shine?” Yearling asked as she and Princess Celestia disembarked. Celestia waved to her guards to stand down as she and Yearling approached the kirin.

“Hello again, Daring Do,” Rain said with a bow, before turning to Celestia and bowing again. “I am Chief Rain Shine of the kirin.”

Celestia did her own bow in return. “Princess Celestia of Equestria. A pleasure to meet you.”

“Chief, how did you get here?” Yearling remarked, looking around at the desolate landscape. The mountains seemed devoid of life, save for the occasional barren tree or dead shrub.

“A funny story,” Rain admitted with a chuckle. “It would seem you didn’t check the back of the tablet you found.”

“What?” Yearling exclaimed. “There was something on the back?”

Rain nodded. “A map. And it appears my daughter was correct.” She turned towards the gate. “It does indeed lead to Tartarus.”

“So the Queen left a map for the kirin too…” Yearling muttered to herself, rubbing her chin.

“From what Miss Yearling has told me, the Queen of Tartarus quite favors the kirin,” Celestia remarked.

“Yearling?” Rain Shine raised an eyebrow at the Pegasus.

Yearling let out a nervous chuckle. “’Daring Do’ is my on-the-job, undercover name. My real name is A.K. Yearling,” she explained. “I didn’t mean to deceive you.”

“No apologies necessary,” Rain said with a smile. “Shall we enter Tartarus?”

“Let’s,” Celestia agreed. Her horn flared with golden magic. The diamond-like seal on the gates glowed golden, the four smaller diamonds turning in unison until there was a click and the gates rumbled open.

An air of dank decay fell over the trio, and Yearling grimaced. Celestia stepped in first, followed by Rain Shine. Yearling swallowed and bravely followed after them.

The second they set hoof inside, there came a terrible racket of barking. A golden shield of magic was all that stopped a towering, three-headed bulldog from snapping at them. Rain Shine’s eyes widened and Yearling nearly jumped a foot in the air.

“Down, Cerberus,” Celestia said in a soothing tone. “They’re with me.”

Cerberus let out a snort from each of its noses as Celestia lowered the shield. She reached up and gave each head a light pat before continuing on. Celestia’s reassurance didn’t stop the three-headed dog from giving the other two visitors curious sniffs.

“Heh heh, h-hey there, big guy?” Yearling said nervously, forcing a smile.

Cerberus replied with one big lick that knocked Yearling off her hooves and some happy panting and tail wagging. Rain Shine giggled at the antics.

Celestia, meanwhile, walked over to an inconspicuous gap between the raised platforms that held the caged creatures of Tartarus. A flicker of golden magic was cast from her horn, a series of stone steps formed, leading into the abyss below.

An abyss that was now glowing a faint red.

“This way,” she said to the others.

Rain Shine followed after her while Yearling wiped herself clean. She shot a frown at the giant guard dog before quickly hurrying after the two leaders.

The air quickly grew hotter the further they descended. Yearling briefly paused to reach up and wipe her brow before continuing on, while Rain Shine seemed indifferent to the heat. If anything, she looked around and seemed to marvel at it.

Soon, a rocky path appeared at the base of the steps, winding its way into the red, hazy abyss around them. Faintly, below them, Yearling could hear the bubbling of lava… and what seemed like the occasional scream.

But she prayed she was hearing things.

Celestia’s magic flared up, creating a golden aura around her and her companions. Rain Shine looked at it quizzically.

“I am fine against this heat, Princess Celestia,” she remarked.

“Just a precaution. I can’t say I’ve ever been down here before,” Celestia replied, scowling as she studied her surroundings.

“But you said you’ve met the Queen before,” Yearling said.

“She met me,” Celestia said grimly.

They walked along the stony path, much like the ones high up above that led to the various cages where the worst offenders—like Tirek—were stored. The path soon reached a craggy stone wall, with a more gothic version of the Gates of Tartarus set into it.

And before that, of all things, was a desk. It was carved into the stone. It had a name plate set on top of it that read “Pandemonica,” and another placard beside it read “On break.”

“That… is not what I was expecting,” Yearling remarked, before freezing.

A cacophony of barks and yips filled the air and grew in intensity as it approached. The gates opened, and a trio of dogs barreled out towards the group. They were stopped short by another shield from Celestia, but it didn’t diminish their enthusiasm.

They were each a little bigger than a pony, with snow white fur and crimson eyes. They seemed to be nearly more wolf than dog in appearance. Each wore a spiked collar around their necks, but all Yearling could focus on was the razor sharp fangs in their mouths.

It took her a moment to realize the dogs weren’t aggressive. If anything, they seemed excited to see them, with fluffy tails wagging. No, not them—they seemed to have their attention focused on Rain Shine. And Rain Shine, in return, didn’t seem scared by their presence.

“Down, Cerberus,” came a casual command from the gates.

The three dogs each let out a huff and backed away, sitting on their haunches at attention. Celestia cautiously lowered the shield as her focus turned towards the source of the voice. 

The sound of hoofsteps on stone seemed deafening. A figure appeared through the doorway. Yearling wasn’t sure who she was expecting to be living down here, but this certainly wasn’t them.

The figure was a pony, a unicorn to be precise. Her horn curved forward rather than straight. Her coat was a pristine white, unblemished save for a mole under her left eye. Her mane and tail matched, both white and long save for a row of evenly cut bangs over her piercing crimson eyes, with a hairband atop her head lined with black spikes like a tiara. She was dressed formally: a red collared shirt, a black tie, and black suit jacket.

But what struck Yearling was her lapel pin, and, as she approached, she realized her cutie mark. It was that same angular mark from the temple, and the one that had signed off on the tablet.

“The Queen of Tartarus, I presume?” she asked, swallowing a lump in her throat.

The unicorn smiled, a cool, knowing smile that made Yearling shudder. It seemed she was looking right through her.

“You presume correctly. Please, call me Lucifer,” she purred. “Allow me to welcome you all to the depths of Tartarus.”

“Your majesty,” Rain Shine said, giving a bow. Celestia and Yearling glanced at one another before following.

“Malina tells me your quest has been successful, barring some… bumps in the road,” Lucifer continued, focusing on Yearling.

“The demon from Klugetown?” Yearling asked as she stood up along with the others.

“Once you had the Kirinstone, I wanted to make sure you and your cargo stayed safe. It would seem my concerns were well founded,” Lucifer said. “You can see now why I asked you for this task I’m sure.”

Yearling slowly nodded. “But still, why me? You have demons down here, don’t you?”

Lucifer sighed. “They’re useful for many things, but I wouldn’t call them accomplished… ‘relic divers,’ we’ll say.” She let out a bemused chuckle. “Your other friend, Ahuizotl, actually offered to help find the stone, but I turned him down.”

“What did he want with it?” Yearling growled.

“I would hope, for his sake, to bring it back to me, but I couldn’t trust him. You know how cats are, always knocking things over for one reason or another,” Lucifer stepped forward and held out her hoof. “Now, the Kirinstone, if you please?”

Yearling slowly reached into her saddlebags and pulled the stone out. Holding it in her hoof, she realized the stone really did resemble that around her. She ran a hoof over the golden symbol one more time before offering it to Lucifer.

Crimson magic sparked along Lucifer’s horn as she gently picked it up and floated it over to herself. She held it next to her, so that the golden symbol stood alongside her lapel pin. She let out a sigh of relief.

“Thank you, truly.” Some sincerity slipped into her voice as it softened. “I don’t have much of a reward to offer, but I’m sure the book will be worth it.” She flashed a knowing smile.

Yearling chuckled nervously. “Yeah. Heck of a story.”

Lucifer turned towards Celestia, her expression turning neutral as she stood a little taller. “Good to see you’re doing well, princess,” she said. “Though I still think you should’ve given me Tirek.”

“If his brother could be redeemed, there is still a chance he may be reformed. That is my ruling,” Celestia said. The firmness in her tone showed this was not the first time she’d spoken on it.

Lucifer gave a shrug. “Very well, figured I’d offer. You know where to find me should you change your mind.” 

She turned to Rain Shine, who gave another bow. “Queen of Tartarus, I was hoping I would meet you when I came here,” the kirin chief said solemnly. ‘It is an honor to meet you, a piece of our history and legends.”

A faint blush tinged Lucifer’s cheeks and she cleared her throat. “Yes, it is good to see a kirin again,” she said softly.

As Rain stood back to her full height, her magic reached into her saddlebags. Lucifer’s eyes widened as Rain produced a slightly battered bouquet of flowers, tied together with a teal-colored ribbon. Yearling recognized most of them as coming from the jungle around the Kirin Village, and above them all was a large cluster of foal’s breath.

The kirin offered the flowers to Lucifer, who gently took them in her own magic. The queen gave them a sniff. “…Thank you,” she said quietly. “They’re lovely.”

“A token of gratitude, from me and my kirin,” Rain said with a nod.

Lucifer looked down to the Kirinstone, then to the ground. “You know… my spellwork has greatly improved. I can… remove the enchantment, if you want.” She looked to Rain Shine. “No more need to fear the wrath of Hellfire on your home or others, nor to fear you may turn to stone.”

Rain smiled softly, and shook her head. “The kirin have come to accept your gift, your majesty. It has taken quite some time to overcome ourselves, but we have. As long as you keep the Kirinstone safe, we shall use your gift.”

Lucifer gave a soft smile. Yearling cleared her throat, catching the queen’s attention, and a brief frown of annoyance.

“Considering I’ve seen one recently, are you sure Hellfire is all you gave the niriks?” she asked.

Lucifer gave a small chuckle. “Hellfire is more than just magic flame. It imbues the wearer with a little of my strength and… shall we say, intimidation. I meant it as a defense tool, to scare off or burn away threats.”

“It’s scary alright,” Yearling said. “If it’s all the same to your majesties, chief.” She tipped her pith helmet. “I’d rather get out of here.”

“Yes, of course.” Lucifer huffed, smoothing out her suit with her magic. “Usually those who visit don’t have the luxury of leaving, but seeing you are esteemed guests, you shall remain as such: guests.”

“Thank you for your time, your majesty,” Celestia said tersely.

“Until we meet next,” Rain Shine said with a nod.

“And keep that stone safe,” Yearling pointed out.

“Yes, yes. Adieu,” Lucifer said, waving them off with a hoof. She turned and stepped through the gates.

The three dogs looked to the ponies and kirin and gave big fanged grins. “Come visit again soon!” they exclaimed at once, tails wagging, before they bounded off after their queen.

Yearling stood there for a few seconds, blinking, as she contemplated what had happened. She shook her head and quickly followed Celestia and Rain Shine as they headed for the stairs.

“The sooner I get out of here, the better…” she muttered.





Lucifer hummed to herself as she walked past a row of barred rooms, like giant jail cells, admiring her new bouquet and with the Kirinstone floating at her side. Many of the creatures contained within roared or snarled at her, or shot jets of flame at the demon, only for her to brush it off like a breath of fresh air, but keeping the flowers and stone away from it.

She paused in front of one cell where the creature inside was neither snarling nor shooting flames. It lay on the ground, a shadowy, spiked lump, slowly breathing but not asleep. 

“Well, no more harming the kirin for you,” she remarked smugly, glancing at the Kirinstone.

Another creature from across the hall shot a jet of flame at Lucifer. In her bid to keep the bouquet and stone from the blast, she held them closer to the quiet creature’s cell. A single blue petal fell from one of the foal’s breath flowers and into the cell.

"Rude beasts,” she muttered, brushing off the flames and continuing on her way.

Behind her, the silent creature took notice of the petal. It leaned forward, sniffing at it curiously, before inhaling it into its mouth.

A rumbling growl began in its throat as flames ignited, forming brows and a tuft of hair atop its head. Its eyes burned crimson with renewed rage.
> Chapter 8: Adventure's End
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“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.
> Epilogue: Among Us
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

At Berry Punch’s tavern in Ponyville, an unknown unicorn staggered through the saloon doors. 

She was an unusual pony, at least for Ponyville. A snow white unicorn, her horn curved forward instead of straight. She had a short, messy white mane and a similarly messy tail. She had crimson eyes, and a sour expression plastered to her muzzle. She wore a red button up shirt, its sleeves wrinkled, and a black vest buttoned over top of it.

And her cutie mark was a green, hoofheld mirror.

She slumped onto a stool at the bar with a groan. Berry Punch, polishing a mug behind the bar, eyed her up and down.

“What can I get for you, stranger?” she asked.

“Strongest stuff you got,” the unicorn muttered.

Berry hummed in thought, disappearing beneath the bar. She reemerged with a bottle of amber liquid and a glass. The bottle had a green label on it, adorned with a red apple. Berry poured a glass of the drink and slid it over to the unicorn.

Berry’s eyes widened as the unicorn took the glass in her crimson magic and downed it in one swig. Setting the glass back down, the unicorn smacked her lips, squinting.

“Strong apple taste… what even was that?” she asked.

“Apple Family Cider, one of the last bottles we got,” Berry replied. “Good?”

“Good enough,” the unicorn replied. “I’ll take the bottle.” She reached into her vest pocket, set some bits on the counter, and slid them over to Berry. “Keep the change.”

Berry’s eyes widened further, but she nodded and slid the bottle over to the unicorn. As she went to attend to some of the other patrons, the unicorn poured herself another glass and downed it too.

There came a plop and the sound of a squeaky barstool spinning, and the unicorn’s peripheral vision in that direction became pink.

“Hey there!” Pinkie Pie chirped. “I’m Pinkie Pie. I’m sort of the town greeter, and I’ve never seen you in town before.”

“Malina. And that’s because I’m just passing through,” the unicorn replied dryly, pouring another drink. “Don’t plan on staying.”

“Aww. Well, that’s ok. Sometimes life’s like that, ya know?” Pinkie kicked her rear legs as she leaned back against the bar. “Rough day at work or something?”

Malina huffed. “You could say that,” she said, downing her third drink.

“I’ve had those before. They’re the worst!” Pinkie exclaimed. 

“Not as bad as this,” Malina grunted. “First the freaking errand run to that backwater town, then the breakout… ugh. I have a headache just thinking about it all.”

“Well, I’m here if you want to talk, Malina,” Pinkie said, beaming at the unicorn.

“Uh… thanks,” Malina said slowly. Her eyes slid to the mostly full bottle, then back to the pink pony. “You, uh, want a drink?”

Pinkie reached into her puffy mane and produced her own glass. “Yes please! Applejack’s family makes the best apple cider.”

Malina chuckled softly, pouring Pinkie a glass. “Not what I’m used to, but… yeah, not half bad.”

“Here’s to better days!” Pinkie cheered, holding up her filled glass.

Malina sighed, smiling softly for once. “Yeah, to better days.”

And she lightly clinked their glasses together.