Part 1
—This story was partially inspired by the Tintin comic The Seven Crystal Balls and the Batman comic arc Ten Nights of the Beast.
—Character note: my headcanon for Daring Do is that she's rather catty: sarcastic, irreverent, would prefer to be alone than with a large group of strangers. She only puts up with the public appearances because it's expected of her as an author.
—Some of you might remember Dr. Main Exhibit from previous story Secret of the Mare Lisa.
—Neigh Zealand: parody of New Zealand.
—Maorein: play on Maori, the native people of New Zealand.
—The Taverneigh Blue is a play on the Tavernier Blue, another name for the Hope Diamond, one of the world's largest and most famous diamonds. There is a rumor that the Hope Diamond is cursed, but this is mostly based off of unfounded claims made by the press. (I wanted to do a parody of the Blue Carbuncle from the Sherlock Holmes story, but couldn't think of a pun)
—Brumby Cloverpatch is an actual character from the Daring Do books by G.M. Berrow, specifically Daring Do and the Forbidden City of Clouds. He speaks with an Australian accent, but is an explorer, not a mercenary. Brumby is the name of a breed of feral Australian horse.
—Llama Sutra: play on the Kama Sutra, an ancient Hindu text on love that includes a section on sex.
—"Doesn't that one involve tying me to the bed?": who says that older couples can't be kinky? (They take turns, in case you were wondering)
—Ponytailian: play on Italian.

Part 2
—a griffon's jezail bullet: a jezail is a muzzle-loading musket made and used in British Asia, Central India and parts of the Middle East during the late 19th century, most notably during the Anglo-Afghan Wars. Sherlock Holmes' companion, Dr. Watson, was wounded by a jezail bullet during his time in the Army.
—Daring is a morning pony, used to rising before dawn. Phillip is not: if he had his way, he'd stay up past midnight and sleep until noon everyday.

Part 3
—Irene Alibi: play on Irene Adler, the cunning opera singer who outsmarted Sherlock Holmes in A Scandal in Bohemia.
—Charlie August Silvertongue last appeared in Secret of the Mare Lisa. For those who have forgotten, he is a rich art collector who also runs a ring of blackmailers and smugglers.
—Witch bottles are an actual thing, often used in England and the eastern United States.
—Equegyptian scarab necklaces: play on Egyptian. The ancient Egyptians considered the scarab beetle to be sacred, and it is a common symbol in Egyptian tombs.
—Kaimanawa: kaimanawa are feral horses in New Zealand, descended from European breeds brought over by settlers.
—Captain Juniper Cook: play on Captain James Cook, who first explored Australia and New Zealand.

Part 4
—"putz": a stupid or worthless person. Yiddish origin.
—Cuticles are hard, dead cells that hair and nails are composed of.
—Remember from previous stories, such as The Face in the Darkness, that Phillip is very pyrophobic.

Part 5
—While they are in the minority, there are ponies who know of Phillip and believe that he is a fraud like Iron Shield.
—Deleted lines: originally, the conversation between Phillip, Daring, Shield and Coonhound would include this Ghostbusters reference:
"And that's when dickless here tried to arrest us," Daring grunted, gesturing at Shield with her head.
The lieutenant turned to Phillip. "Is this true?"
"Yes, sir, it's true," Phillip replied, maintaining eye contact with Iron Shield. "This wanker has no dick."
Unfortunately, I couldn't fit that in.
—A coonhound is a hunting dog, bred and trained to use their scent to aid hunters.
—Jules Vanner: play on science fiction write Jules Verne. A vanner is a breed of horse that is often used for pulling carriages. The stories mentioned are parodies of two of Jules Verne's most famous stories, Around the World in Eighty Days, the main character of which is named Phileas Fogg, and Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.

The hyena
—I'm not really sure where I got the idea to use a hyena as a villain, although The Lion King may have had something to do with it. The inspiration for the hyena character themselves came from the Predators from the film series, as well as from my knowledge of ninja (I'm a martial arts buff, and ninja are one of my favorite subjects). At one point, I even considered giving the hyena magical abilities to simulate the Predator's technology, such as an invisibility cloak.
—For the hyena's design, I took inspiration from the spotted hyena, the most well-known species. Of the hyena species, only the spotted hyena is carnivorous; it's cousins, the brown and striped hyena, are scavengers. The spotted hyena is also the most vocal, and the one known for the distinctive hyena laugh.
—Despite what cartoons would have you believe, a hyena's laughter is a sign of aggression ("Hey, stay away from my food!"), not amusement. It's use as an intimidation tactic is my invention (but be honest: if you were out on your own at night and heard this coming from the shadows, I'd think you'd be a little freaked out).
—You'll also notice that the characters always refer to the hyena as an "it," never "he/she," to emphasize the fact that the ponies view the hyena as a monster, not another creature.
—In real life, hyenas eat wildebeests, zebras, giraffes, gazelles, fish, and even humans. Their bite is strong enough to crush bones, and it can digest bones as well. In African folklore, hyenas are viewed with fear and suspicion. Legends tell of hyenas robbing graves and stealing livestock and children.

Part 6
—Redcoat's name is kind of a mean joke: it's a play on "redshirt," a name taken from Star Trek for a character that is killed off soon after being introduced.
—Repeating crossbows, which are designed to be loaded, primed and fired in one movement, date back to ancient China. Some designs could fire as many as 10 bolts before needing to be reloaded.
—It might seem a little odd for the monster to be introduced through an encyclopedia entry, but to be fair, Sherlock had to refer to his encyclopedias a number of times in his career.
—"It's a living, breathing thing...": I almost had Bronze Leaf say, "If it bleeds, we can kill it," in a reference to the first Predator movie.
—The "Mysterious South" and "Unexplored West" are regions of Equestria, according to the latest version of the official map of Equestria.
—Think about it: that disastrous jungle trip may be the reason why Daring prefers to work alone.
—Lunastar: play on Lunesta brand sleep medication.
—If you're wondering why the hyena chose to run when Daring attacked, two reasons: one, she needs to stay alive for purposes of the plot. Two, the hyena is a hunter, an assassin, not a fighter. It had lost the advantage of surprise, and Daring is a trained and experienced fighter who, unlike hyenas, can fly, and she was pissed off. The hyena decided that it was better to retreat and live to hunt another day than try pressing a bad situation.

Part 7
—And that makes three stories in a row where Phillip has wound up in the hospital. He's really not having a good run, is he?
—...if there was a Hell...: my headcanon is that Daring Do is an atheist, or at least strongly agnostic.
—It is also my headcanon that Daring is the kind of person who lashes out at others when she's really upset.
—Once again, the hyena displays it's skill in stealth and combat, as well as it's genre savviness when it decides to cut and run when the odds shift against it.

Part 8
—"I don't make guesses, Lieutenant. It's a bad habit.": paraphrasing Sherlock Holmes in The Sign of the Four: "I never guess. It is a shocking habit—destructive to the logical faculty."
—The conversation between Smoke and Mist lampshades the unrealism of Daring Do being able to conceal her secret identity from the world if her adventures are real.
—It's well-established that Daring Do is an expert at escapology.
—Character note: in many ways, Daring Do is very emotional, and can be very irrational when she's angered or upset. She's also even more into revenge than Phillip is.
—"Is trapping yourself in here with me what you really wanted?": I originally was going to have her quote Rorschach's famous boast from Watchmen: "I'm not trapped in here with you. You're trapped in here with me." I felt like the line didn't work the way I wanted it to, though.
—"You are one ugly motherbucker": parodying Arnold Schwarznegger's famous line from the first Predator film.
—The hyena choosing to commit suicide via blowing itself up parodies the ending of the first Predator film.

Part 9
—The method used to steal the Taverneigh Blue, of using a box with a false bottom, was inspired by the short story The Duchess of Wiltshire's Diamonds by Guy Boothby.
—Charlie August Silvertongue has some of the best lawyers in Equestria under his employ: it's how he's been able to keep out of prison for so long.
—For those who haven't studied law: put very simply, hearsay evidence is testimony about what someone else allegedly said or did: for example, saying that your neighbor told you that they saw the defendant breaking into someone's house would be hearsay evidence. It cannot be used in court against a defendant except in rare circumstances, because it would violate the defendant's right to be confronted with witnesses against them.
—Despite the lawyer's claims, the warrant was actually valid, if based on admittedly shaky evidence: however, the threat of a lawsuit from a rich and politically well-connected individual was enough to force the City Guard to back off.
—Charlie has seen Daring Do enough times to recognize her in costume: however, he wasn't stupid enough to try something while there were still Guards nearby.
—Again, Daring Do is a believer in revenge, even more so than Phillip: however, while she has killed before, she's not a cold-blooded murderer: like Phillip, she will only kill to defend herself or another.
—Beerenauslese is a variety of German late harvest wine made from individually picked grapes.
—"Vengeance is mine...I will repay.": quoting the Bible, Deuteronomy 32:35. Another indication of Zugzwang's god complex.
—Whatever Zugzwang has planned, it's not good.
—"But be honest—you'd have done the same thing.": he would. That's why he doesn't argue with her.
—One of my goals for this story was to show that Phillip and Daring's relationship is not purely physical: both of them really do care about each other, even with all the dangers of their lifestyles. The development of their relationship in this story is also an important part of their characters.

Author's Notes:

Chapter notes from the story.