April 20th, 1001 Domina Solaria

“Hey. Wake up.”

Applebaum grunts as the metal shoe digs into her ribcage, hard and unyielding and forceful enough to flop her from her stomach to her back if she doesn’t comply. She winces against the pain and the too-bright sun and Tempest Shadow’s gruff tone. Yet it could be harsher, she knows, and she’s never been the easiest to wake, and as soon as she shows signs of stirring the shoe retracts.

“Didn’t get enough sleep on the train?” Totem quips, his barrel pressing against hers. It’s casual, she tells herself, nothing more.

They boarded the red-eye from Canterlot to Los Pegasus, the southernmost major city on the west coast. Las Pegasus, the aerial portion of the vibrant city, was visible long before the grounded half, full of bright lights and - according to her dam - lots of exciting (but not too exciting!) activities for both great-grandmares and foals alike. Massive explosions of colorful fireworks, magically molded to the A-list performers and talents of Grin City, lit the sky as far as she could see. If she didn’t have a prior engagement she would have gladly spent her entire weekend there! Sadly, she only got to spend the better half of the night craning her stiffening neck higher and higher, cutie mark pulsing with excitement, while the others slept huddled against the cold desert air.

She left one letter with Dig Root for Mr. C and Withers, and another for her dam. She hopes Applejack doesn’t worry, and hesitated about including how dangerous the journey might be. She ended up writing just the basics. Dig Root gave her two sticks of her Cutie Special, geared for excavating, and a hearty slap on the flank about finally getting a crew together. Applebaum carefully packed the sticks of dynamite deep in her saddlebags, protesting to deaf ears that she wasn’t getting a crew together.

“Ugh.” She begrudgingly opens one eye. Totem stares out over the ship’s wrought iron railing, watching the shoreline roll by, ready to go at a moment’s notice.

After getting to Los Pegasus, the only transport anywhere near their price range was hitching a ride aboard a gargantuan cargo hauler bound for the Storm Realm far to the southwest. It looks repurposed, and smells it, too, fresh coats of teal paint accenting the otherwise harsh steel exterior and poorly masking the stench of sulphur. ‘Shorebreaker’, stenciled along the side in bold, sharp letters, and she has little doubt the shore would yield before the steel and teal.

Speaking of shore, the lightly wooded beach recedes as their transport crests the Bay Peninsula and leaves the Bay Bay for the greater South Luna Ocean. The Palomino desert lies to their northeast, and they’re bringing enough supplies in case they lose their rented boat and need to make the trek. Better safe than sorry, though she would be sorely missing the bits to replace the boat, and might even need to write a letter home. Their destination is due east, the highest of the craggy red rocks that stretch above the nearby jungle.

Two bulky Storm Creatures, leather tunics covering white manes and dark coats, heft their dingy boat as easily as she might lift a crate of apple. They secure it to a winch as Tempest Shadow and Radiant Hope watch, the latter fascinated while the former has her ever-present look of boredom that you hope remains that way.

“Come along, Totem,” Applebaum orders as she gets to her hooves, her saddlebags bursting with packaged food and bottled water. Simple fare, but she has spices, and it doesn’t need a preservation unit or anything fancy. Their packs get tossed in first, then the red youngster; Totem offers her a hoof that she takes, even if he holds on a little too long. Radiant Hope gingerly steps in, nearly losing her balance, but she had been unsteady even since they boarded the hauler. Tempest Shadow, meanwhile, eschews any help and leaps aboard like she had been born on the seas.

She looks back on the massive transport she is about to leave, and shudders at the thought of how many troops might have crammed inside. Rows upon rows of burly hedgehogs, clad in heavy plate with their tower shields and long spears, jammed like apples in a crate. A thousand? Two thousand of the creatures that stand taller than her sire, taller than Princess Celestia? She’s glad they aren’t at war, or even antagonistic, and only got friendly smiles and waves from their seemingly gruff exteriors. Their accents are hard to make out, though.

Strong paws lower their craft down the side of the board, and as soon as they touch down Totem slams the oars into the water, spraying brine over her coat while rowing a fast clip away from the hauler. Applebaum feels a bit queasy, the rocking of their sixteen footer in the choppy wake far worse than aboard the six hundred foot cruiser. Radiant Hope looks far worse, her light purple coat taking on an unhealthy green that only improves when they are clear of the heavy waves. At least she can swim, if worst comes to worst, but she isn’t sure about the unicorn.

“So,” Applebaum excitedly asks over the dip of Totem’s steady strokes and the drip-drip-drip as he readies for the next, “what do ya think we’ll find once we get there?”

Radiant Hope nervously plays at her bright red life preserver, torn between sitting on the edge of the boat to better watch the waves and laying as low and centered as she can, nestled among their packs. “Hopefully they’re friendly,” she gets out between gulps.

“If they’re there at all,” Tempest Shadow callously remarks, standing at the front of the boat and making sure Totem takes them in the right direction. “Perhaps a marauding griffon tribe took them out to the last, or an Arimaspi scouting party.”

Applebaum frowns at the possibility. “That’s be so… wrong,” she states, tears threatening to surface at just the thought.

“Nah,” Totem objects, loud enough for Tempest Shadow to hear. “They’re tougher than that. At least, according to that journal we found. I mean, what if they send those nasty Nirik against whoever comes after them?”

“Wreathing your body in flames is hardly a sound defense,” Tempest Shadow counters.

“You’re telling me,” Totem asks incredulously, “a griffon would charge a pony ablaze with nothing but a wooden spear, their claws, and their beaks?” He scoffs. “I sure wouldn’t.”

“A foal doubts the courage of a griffon,” Tempest Shadow contends, “or their desperation.”

“Not their recklessness,” Totem argues. “Just bait them into a charge and give ‘em the ‘ole one-two!”

“And find yourself disemboweled for putting your belly at risk,” Tempest Shadow retorts, drawing a sickened look from Radiant Hope. “If they want a quick kill. Perhaps they are more interested in an exhilarating hunt and start with a light scratch. Or, should they feel particularly cruel, a deep gash along your tendon, so they can watch you try to hobble away, crippled, before taking their kill.”

A chill goes down Applebaum’s spine as she remembers her dam arguing with Apple Bloom about going through the fire swamp and the many dangers that lie within. She didn’t bring fireproof boots, though they would be nice if she had to buck a Nirik or two. Or a lion-tamer’s chair to hold a griffon at bay. Or even a whip. What would they do if they have to defend themselves, or worse, subdue one of the Kirin?

If the discussion bothers Totem, he doesn’t show it. “And if you’re so good, what would you do?”

“Against a griffon?” Tempest Shadow pulls out an apple-sized chunk of rock. She glances at Applebaum. “Your dam taught you to buck, yes?” The small brown mare gives a reluctant nod, though her accuracy and power are nowhere near Applejack’s. “Aim for their head.” She acknowledges Totem’s earlier remark, “Best when they’re charging at you, using their momentum against them. If they successfully dodge, you’ve stymied their assault. And if you do connect and stun them? Stomp until you feel their skull shatter.”

“But it won’t come to that,” Radiant Hope begs, a pleading look in her eyes.

Applebaum certainly shares the sentiment, but dungeoneering with Mr. C and the others taught her a bit about the dangers they might face and the necessity of dealing with those dangers aggressively and utterly. No sense in knocking a monster out and leaving it, just to have it flank you later on.

Tempest Shadow sighs. “Nopony can force you to defend yourself. But that will not stop them from taking what they wish.” She motions to the trees along the rapidly approaching shore. “This is no longer Equestria. Nopony will come to our rescue.”

She looks like she wants to say more, but stops, ears twitching.

“What’s-” Radiant Hope asks before immediately being shushed.

“Quiet.” Tempest Shadow’s low, fast voice gets all of them to perk up. Totem keeps rowing, if cautiously, his pace slowing as they run aground. “There.”

Only a slight tilt of the broken horn gives any indication of where. Sandy beach stretches for twenty feet or so until turning into solid underbrush, a steep incline broken by the occasional piece of driftwood or seaweed and little else. The trees aren’t as foreboding as those of the Everfree Forest, but no less tangled, thick vines draping over criss-crossing branches.

At first, Applebaum can barely make out shadows. Her pulse quickens; the other ponies lock in place, only the slight bob of the waves pushing them up and down. She wishes she got her stick of dynamite, or at least had one close to hoof.

“We can still back out,” Radiant Hope suggests, though she doesn’t sound hopeful at all.

Tempest Shadow looks left, then right. The rest of the beach is just as overgrown as this section, and whatever is hiding in the brush could just as easily follow them wherever they go. She turns to look Radiant Hope in the eyes. “Can you patch me up during a fight?”

“It doesn’t work that quickly,” Radiant Hope responds, shuddering. “But, we need to get to the Peaks…” She hems and haws, clearly uncomfortable with the prospect. “Yes, I can.”

“Good. Be ready to catch whatever they throw.” Tempest Shadow flicks her mane left, then right, as she straps on one of her packs. “Applebaum, stay to my left. Totem, my right. If anything happens, do your best to distract them. Whatever you can think of: shout, scream, kick sand in their face. Don’t be too aggressive.”

“Sure,” Totem answers, eager to get ashore.

“Err,” Applebaum stammers, still trying to find what set the broken-horned unicorn off. “Ah guess.”

Tempest Shadow takes a deep, fortifying breath. “Hope, how many heartbeats?”

Radiant Hope’s horn flares a bright blue, her head sweeping a wide arc from left to right. “Too many insects, more than a thousand. Two dozen or so squirrel-sized. Five pony sized, none larger.”

Tempest Shadow grimaces. “Not counting us?”

“Of course not.” Radiant Hope, not normally that flippant, or that nervous, points a shaking hoof at five different spots. “There, there, there, there, and there.”

“Jeez,” Applebaum mutters. “Ah bet nopony liked playing hide-and-go-seek with you.”

Totem snorts, quickly quelled by a glare from Tempest Shadow. He rolls his withers, then hops out of the boat and drags it onto the beach. Tempest Shadow leaps off and takes an imperious step forward, holding her head high as if to look down on the trees ahead. Radiant Hope slinks behind, warily watching for any danger.

Then, Applebaum spots it: a crest of bright red and orange and brown among the green foliage! It’s a billowing mane, just like the picture on the shield! Glassy eyes stare forward, unblinking, as though any motion might give away her presence. And there, a wavy brown horn! They’ve done it! They’ve found the Kirin! “That’s-”

“Silence.” Tempest Shadow’s order is harsher than before, even at just a whisper.

Applebaum grumbles to herself, but stays silent; she does not care for the tone, not at all.

Sparks shower as the battle-ready unicorn bellows, “Show yourself! All five of you!”

At first, the Kirin’s head just shifts back and forth, as if checking with her comrades. Then she rises, but more than she should, sending a jolt of horror deep into Applebaum’s core.

From inside the wide open mouth of the Kirin’s severed head stares a single yellow eye.

Next Chapter: Ch. 102 - Combustibles, Part Two Estimated time remaining: 15 Hours, 51 Minutes