For a long time, Applebaum doesn’t even trust herself to breathe. A large machete rests on one of the tables filled with fruit, the honed edge gleaming in the bright sun where it isn’t stabbing into a large, ripe coconut. White milk drips down, spilling onto the table, such is the haste with which they left. She suspects a similar knife is at her throat. Dark shapes dart back and forth behind the trees, slinking ever closer. But out of curiosity or just to get a better angle to attack? It can’t be the latter, they already have them at their mercy.

They must see that they aren’t a threat! No matter what they gleaned from Tempest Shadow’s performance on the wall. Or the way their fearless leader glares daggers at everything and nothing.

Applebaum limps forward, drawing a fearful choke from the colt supporting her. “Hello?” she chances, breaking the silence. She gulps as the sharp blade presses against her, a few brown hairs fluttering to the grass. Still, she continues, smiling despite the danger. “We don’t mean y’all no harm. Promise!”

After a moment the pressure on her neck lessens, and she can sense relief from her companions. So far so good!

“I-it’d be a mite easier to talk to y’all if we could see each other.” Applebaum’s smile widens as her gaze sweeps from one shadowy tree to another. “Ya know. Face to face?”

At first, nothing happens. Then out of a bush steps a large Kirin, just shy of Princess Celestia’s impressive height. Her stern, expressionless face tilts downward, not quite daring them to make a move but watching in case they do. Around her wavy, two-pronged crimson horn rests a short golden crown of sorts, spiky like it’s made of leaves, and it doesn’t shine like Celestia’s. Her mane spreads out like a lion’s, a mass of wavy curls of sea green and rainy blue nearly as large as the young mare. Her coat is a light tan, with a lighter pattern along her back and down the front of her face.

Following their presumed leader’s example a dozen Kirin step out from behind trees or inside bushes. A dark brown and forest green mare even drops from above their heads, camouflaged in the branches; her light green aura collects the four machetes from their necks and whisks them back to the stalls where they were missing. They are a motley bunch, similar in size and shape to an assortment of ponies, though their shades have far more earth tones: tan, green, brown, with muted reds and blues that remind her of stone.

“Thank ya kindly for showin’ yourselves,” Applebaum continues, feeling emboldened. She hobbles away from Totem, much to the other’s muted consternation. “Ah’m Applebaum, and this here’s Tempest Shadow, Radiant Hope, and Totem.”

She waits a beat, but the Kirin surrounding them barely move a muscle, much less introduce themselves.

“It’s great to meet y’all,” she tries, growing anxious at their lack of response. “We were hopin’ to learn more ‘bout Gusty the Great!”

Despite her enthusiasm, all she receives are blank stares.

Now Applebaum is getting worried. “Y’all know who Gusty the Great was, right?”

She looks to her compatriots for help, and nearly misses the tall Kirin’s guarded nod.

“That’s great!” she exclaims. She bounds forward, then immediately thinks better of it, skidding to a stop on one leg and nearly toppling over. After all, if they were that threatened by the four of them just walking into the village, how much worse would it be if it looked like she might attack their leader? Except they don’t react to that, either! They just impassively watch, as if their faces were carved from the trees around them.

“Err…” Applebaum glances from one Kirin to another. “Can ya tell us ‘bout her? Ya know, Gusty the Great?”

She’s not sure what she did wrong, or possibly right, but something triggers the Kirin to break away. They silently turn, each to their own task, completely ignoring the four ponies struck as speechless as they are.

At least, for a moment. Applebaum turns to the others, and they huddle together. A few of the Kirin are close enough to hear, though they hardly seem interested. “W-was it somethin’ Ah said?”

“They obviously know something,” Tempest Shadow muses, ignoring Applebaum’s self-doubt. “The only question is where it is kept. Ideas?”

“Maybe it’s written down,” Radiant Hope suggests, thinking back to the Crystal Empire’s extensive library.

“We can’t hardly rummage through their stuff,” Applebaum counters.

“Watch me,” Tempest Shadow mutters darkly.

It’s enough to make Applebaum’s ears lay flat. “A-At least ask first?” She motions to the nondescript houses. “Ah don’t see no sign proclaimin’ ‘Books here!’ like we got back in Ponyville.”

Applebaum can see it weighing on Tempest Shadow’s mind, whether she and presumably Totem are worth the extra effort.

“Please?” Applebaum tries, hoping her smile is enough.

Apparently it is. “You there!” Tempest Shadow bellows at the closest Kirin, who regards her without fear, or any other emotion for that matter. She stomps closer, not that you could tell by the Kirin’s expression. “We are looking for information.”

“I’d better keep an eye on her,” Radiant Hope says as the red-maned Kirin just stares back at Tempest Shadow. She hurries over to her fellow unicorn’s side, her soothing words doing little to loosen the Kirin’s tongue or quell Tempest’s.

“Come along, Totem,” Applebaum orders, hobbling ahead, not needing to use him in the flat, clear area of the village. He dutifully follows after. “We’ll catch more flies with honey than with salt.”

“We’d catch more with offal,” Totem remarks, drawing a roll of the eyes from Applebaum.

“Well, sure, but then we’d smell feces instead of flowers.” The retort draws a curious glance, or at least what seems like a curious glance, from the short-lashed Kirin they walk up to, male from the looks of it. “Excuse me, mister?”

He stares at her.

“Ah don’t suppose ya can tell us ‘bout your history?” Applebaum gives her best grin.

It doesn’t seem to have much of an effect. Then, surprising them, he shakes his head.

“Oh.” Applebaum sighs, disappointed. “Wait. Are you not supposed to tell us ‘bout your history? You know, you’re not allowed?”

Another long stare, then a shake of the head.

Applebaum’s face scrunches up. “Wait. You aren’t allowed, or you’re not not allowed?”

He stares at her.

“Your questions suck,” Totem adds.

“Shut it,” Applebaum mutters back. This draws a cock of the head from the Kirin. “Okay, no double negatives. Do you know somepony, or, somekirin who can tell us about your history?”

He nods.

“Great! Where is she?” Applebaum looks around, half expecting a Kirin to leap out of a bush and clobber them over the head with a book Twilight-style. Instead, all she sees is Tempest Shadow going from Kirin to Kirin, getting more and more exasperated as none of them respond the way she wants.

Also, he stares at her.

“Still sucking,” Totem contends.

“Urgh.” Applebaum rubs at her head. “Can you lead me to her? Or him? Or at least point the way?”

The Kirin points at an overgrown trail that leads into the underbrush and away from the village, opposite where they came in.

“Thanks, mister!” Applebaum hobbles away, Totem in trail. “See?” she says to him. “My questions don’t suck.”

“I’ll reserve conceding that point until we find this mysterious Kirin,” Totem replies, much to Applebaum’s annoyance.

They follow the path, which winds up to a taller portion of the wall they scaled. It doesn’t take long, although they aren’t going particularly fast, before they break out to a magnificent view. Hills roll off into the horizon in every direction, mountains further back - one of which has the gigantic skull at the top, the Arimaspi capital. A river cuts through the forest and hills, winding back and forth, aimed practically at them. It’s breathtaking, to say the least.

“Hello,” Totem greets, and Applebaum is more than grateful somepony is watching their back when she is distracted by something else. She’s less happy how he slicks his mane back.

The tan Kirin standing on their path looks like many of the others, with a two-pronged red horn and a curly auburn mane echoed along her tail. Green accents her hooves, back, and forehead, and she shares their blank stare out of golden eyes. Behind her and up the path must be her home, a single room building made of brick and wood with a thatched roof. There’s a cooking pit out front, a little garden, and on top is a little watchtower with a telescope of all things.

“Hi, there!” Applebaum says as she steps next to Totem. “Ah don’t suppose you’re the Kirin who can tell us about your history?” Because what kind of creature who has a telescope isn’t also interested in books and knowledge? Twilight sure embodies that, and she doesn’t know many other ponies with telescopes. Celestia and Luna?

Just like the stallion, the Kirin stares at her blankly. Then she shakes her head, dashing any hopes Applebaum has.

“Ah, fiddlesticks.” If she had a hat, she’d throw it dejectedly at the ground. “Do ya know where we can find her?”

She shakes her head.

“Ah well.” Applebaum sighs, then flicks her mane. “Come along, Totem. We gotta keep lookin’.”

The Kirin surprises Applebaum by opening her mouth. “Aww, don’t give up that easily!” She grins at the ponies’ exasperated looks. “Sorry, sorry! That was too good. Oh, you don’t know how much I’ve missed jokes. Hi-larity! Am I pronouncing that right? Some words I haven’t said in a will. While! While. Hi, I’m Autumn Blaze. You’ve just arrived, and perhaps you’re tired or hungry or horny or reflective and want to sleep and eat and buck and journal? Which you should do, of course! But first. Oh, oh what joy to talk with other creatures! It’s been so long! You must tell me everything about you! There’s so much to say, so much to do! Oh, look at me. I’m going on, and you’ve just started to see the sights! So just, I, yeah, I will ju-, follow me!”

With the last stuttering words Autumn Blaze bounds the paces to her home, leaping up a log placed as a ramp to get to the second story.

“That…” Applebaum starts, her face scrunching up. She followed the whole tirade, having spent time with Pinkie Pie. “That was somethin’ all right.”

“Did she say she wanted to buck?” Totem asks, looking both hopeful and confused.

“Stallions,” Applebaum spits out, knowing full well it was included. “Do ya only pay attention to one thing?”

“I don’t understand the question,” Totem answers.

Applebaum rolls her eyes. “Of course ya don’t. Now come along.” She hobbles up the ramp, careful not to slip, and joins Autumn Blaze in staring out over the picturesque landscape. “Sure is amazin’.”

“They sure are,” Totem says, ogling the Kirin’s shapely flanks.

“Consarn it, Totem, look out over there.” He dutifully looks at the mountain she is pointing at. “Yeah, they’re pretty.”

“Oh, you think so, too?” A wistful look fills Autumn Blaze’s golden eyes. “The way the light shimmers off everything, like, like it all suddenly woke up the moment you saw it. And you realize maybe the water and the mountains and the forest and the… yes, the rainbow and the stars and the sky are all looking back at you thinking the same thing? That we are a part of the everything. That maybe there’s just one thing and we are all it.”

“...Yeah,” Applebaum says, breathless. At least, for a moment. “Totem! Stop it!”

“Stop what?” Totem says, his eyes again on Autumn Blaze.

“Don’t worry about it,” the Kirin chides Applebaum with a lascivious grin. “If that’s the stop he wants to take on this journey of amazing things to see, smell, tiptoe through? Then let him. There are so many more things out there, don’t get caught up with what somepony else wants.”

“Oh?” Applebaum is taken aback. “I mean, if ya don’t mind, then…”

“Are you foaling me?” Autumn Blaze titters, which quickly devolves into fully-belly laughs that would rival Celestia’s in pure, unadulterated mirth. “Oh, I haven’t had this much attention in forever! Since they all took that vow of silence. So it’s a lot for me to pro-cess. Process? Uh, deal with.”

“Forever?” Applebaum gulps. “Ya mean, like, months? Years? That ya’ve been out here, all alone?”

“Years,” Autumn Blaze confirms, wiping a tear from her eye. “Ever since they asked me to leave. On account of my propensity to fill empty voids in conversations with complicated descriptions, comedic tangents, and lengthy explanations that double as exposition.”

“Err,” Applebaum hesitates, scratching at the wooden roof with her good hoof. “Ah hope it ain’t a sore subject. But do ya think they’d mind if’n ya went back? See, we’re lookin’ for information about Gusty the Great.”

“You are?” Autumn Blaze’s eyes light up, evaporating the tears instantly. “Well, come on, then! I love history! Especially if you get into speculative alternative histories, like if we had decided to settle on that mountaintop instead of this one, or what would have happened if the moon caught the sun instead of the other way around, or if there really is a wrong side of the bed to wake up on and how much different your day might be if you just fell through the bottom of your bed instead of having to pick the right or the wrong side every day.”

Autumn Blaze takes off for the village, stopping only to make sure Applebaum and Totem are following, then doubles back and prances this way and that and taking such a circuitous route that Applebaum has to double check that there isn’t a pink pony wearing a tan Kirin suit. She isn’t sure which is more worrisome: that she can’t find evidence that it’s Pinkie Pie, or that it isn’t Pinkie Pie.

Next Chapter: Ch. 106 - Fireborn, Part Two Estimated time remaining: 15 Hours, 13 Minutes