Sunset watched as the vast wasteland passed before them. Unlike the rest of Equestria, here was a true wasteland: sparse shrubs and craggy rocks for as far as the eye could see. If the Incident had extended to here, nothing would’ve been missed.
“I’m liking these reports less and less the more I read them,” Trixie said from the lone table in their cabin below the helm.
Sunset glanced at her, watching her shuffle the papers as she scanned through each, before going to join her. “Trixie, we’re not going to learn anything new from them. We read them a dozen times before we left.”
“Still, I’m feeling less and less confident about the garrison.” Trixie sat the papers down with a huff. “I don’t even know if we’ll be able to handle whatever is causing these fires.”
“Hey.” Sunset set a hoof on her shoulder and smirked. “They sent the best of the best for a reason. If we don’t nail them with the ship’s guns and a dozen guards, we’ll nail them with us.”
Trixie nodded with a soft smile, but it quickly dropped as she turned back to the papers.
A scouting mission had found the Peaks of Peril to be untouched, thankfully, years after the Incident. With such distance from any enemy movements and abundant natural resources, it had seemed like the perfect place to start a new settlement.
The railroad was sent first, and found building a line across the barren wastelands both arduous and relatively easier compared to other peril-filled corners of Equestria. A little heat and sun were nothing compared to hail and blood magic.
The line had been completed to its stopping point, and while work had started on a rebound loop—designed to allow trains to turn back around without the need for a turntable—the work had also started on the settlement. The first supply train had arrived just two nights ago.
And then the fires started to happen.
It was an unnatural fire, pink and blue in color. It burned at an incredible heat and only subsided when whatever it had engulfed was reduced to faint ashes. Not even iron or other metals could withstand the blazes. The best the workers could do on such short notice was resort to a bucket brigade from a nearby spring, but even then the majority of the camp was gone. The only good news seemed to be the lack of casualties.
There were also reports of a shadowy figure, vaguely pony-like, but completely engulfed in this strange fire. Its glowing eyes struck fear into anypony who saw it. And as soon as it appeared, it vanished into the underbrush, without so much as a smolder to the forest.
“Perhaps it’s some demonic creature,” Trixie pondered aloud, pacing. “There could be some sort of gateway in the Peaks of Peril for all we know. Or it could be—“
“Trixie, whatever it is, worrying about it isn’t going to do anything,” Sunset interrupted with a frown.
“You’re not worried?” Trixie whirled around to her. “We’ve never seen anything like this before, and we don’t exactly have many history scrolls at our disposal. This thing is dangerous. It’s lucky no pony was killed!”
“We’ll handle it, like we always do,” Sunset said, smirking proudly. “Don’t you remember that griffon brigade we held off with our bare magic? As long as we got each other’s backs, there’s nothing we can’t do.”
She patted Trixie on the shoulder as she walked past her to the door, the pale blue unicorn blushing softly before following her. They both squinted at the harsh sunlight from above – there was hardly a cloud in the sky.
The unicorns approached an Earth pony with an eyepatch towards the bow, looking out on the horizon with a telescope. He turned to them when Sunset cleared her throat.
“Any signs yet? We’ve been following the tracks for an hour,” she remarked.
“Yeah, we got a sign, but it ain’t good,” the sailor replied, and pointed a hoof over the horizon.
Ahead of them was a billowing white cloud extending from the ground and rising hundreds of feet in the air. However, it catered to the wind and fanned the way it blew. Trixie’s pupils shrunk.
“That’s some fire,” Sunset remarked, eyebrows raised.
“Nah, it’s put out by now, but it sure ain’t cooling off,” the sailor replied, looking back to the horizon with his scope. “We’ll be there any minute now.”
“Oh boy…” Trixie muttered, ears drooping.
Once the airship had landed, Sunset and Trixie observed the damage. The vast majority of the tents closer to the wood line had been torched beyond recognition. Even the metal support rods had turned into solid puddles.
“That was some fire,” Sunset remarked.
“Ma’ams.”
Sunset and Trixie turned to see another unicorn approach. She was charcoal grey with a fiery reddish-orange mane and tail streaked with gold. She wore the silvery armor of the Canterlot Royal Guard and stood at attention before them.
“Lieutenant General Beacon Fire, at your service,” the mare reported.
“Aren’t you an officer in the Royal Guard?” Trixie asked with a raised eyebrow. “What are you doing here?”
“Her Majesty’s orders. My company and I are here for support on this high profile matter.” She cleared her throat. “And it was in Her opinion that… we couldn’t afford to lose any of our high ranking scientists.”
Sunset nodded. “You can your company can follow us to the wood line. The reports said that’s where this creature retreated to.”
“With all due respect, ma’ams, I’ve instructed my company to guard the camp. I will follow you to the wood line,” Beacon Fire said, a small smile crossing her muzzle in spite of herself.
Trixie and Sunset glanced between one another. “Very well,” the latter said. “Just be on your guard.”
Beacon Fire nodded and marched after the two as the approached the forest. As Sunset and Trixie looked around for any signs of prints or disturbed foliage, there came a rustle from deeper in.
“Get back!” the general barked, charging forward. Her gold colored eyes blazed with the fire of the sun as her horn ignited. A flaming construct of golden magic, resembling a shield, was erected in front of the other two unicorns just as a bluish-pink fireball impacted against it.
Sunset and Trixie stepped back cautiously, igniting their own horns as Beacon Fire stood in-between them, flickering out her shield but not lowering her guard. They backed against one another, forming a three-way spread facing the forest.
“Come out and show yourself!” Sunset called.
They flinched at the sound of rustling leaves and snapping twigs. Out of a more open section of ferns and bushes stepped a pitch black creature. Bluish-pink flames licked around its neck, feet, and even the end of its tail. It seemed very unicorn-like, except for the glowing white eyes, gnarled horn, and fanged mouth.
“Leave this place!” the creature growled in a demonic tone. “Leave this place and never disturb it again!”
“Look, we didn’t mean to disturb you, whatever you are,” Trixie said. “Why did you attack our camp?”
“You trespassed in the Peaks of Peril, you trespassed in my home,” the creature growled, its flames flaring hotter.
“Well, how about you just cool yourself off there hot stuff and we can talk about it,” Sunset said. In her mind she was honing in a burst of magic, hoping to shoot it against the creature’s skull.
The creature roared and leapt at the trio, but Beacon Fire’s shield flared to life again, swatting it to the side. Sunset fired off her burst of magic, which narrowly missed the creature’s barrel. The resulting explosion sent the creature tumbling away.
It was soon back on its feet, startling some of the workers and guards in the camp, before charging the trio again. It left a trail of flaming hoofprints in its wake. Beacon Fire leveled her shield to block it, but it leapt over the obstruction.
Sunset and Trixie managed to fire their magic blasts at the same time, knocking the creature back and sending it tumbling against the ground. Before it could get up again, Beacon Fire pressed it back down with her shield.
“Cool off, buddy,” Sunset said, leveling her horn at her.
“Please,” Trixie said in a kinder voice. “We’re sorry for invading your home. We didn’t know you were here, we don’t even know what you are!”
The creature grunted, wriggling and struggling against the shield, but finally relented, panting. She glared up at the unicorns, growling. Cautiously, Trixie approached the creature and shut off her magic.
“We don’t want to fight, we just want to talk,” she said softly.
The creature stopped struggling, panting as it looked between the Trixie and the other two, before finally letting out an exhaling sigh. All at once, the flames extinguished, and took on a different appearance.
Her furry coat, which seemed furriest behind her front legs, was goldish grey in color. Down her back and the center of her face to her snout was grayish green scales like that of a lizard. A tangelo-colored mane curled around her neck like that of a lion’s. Her tail was long, with more of the tangelo-colored on the end like a brush. Atop her forehead was curved and gnarled dark crimson horn with bands on it.
She looked up at them with golden eyes, no longer glowing with anger. “Well, finally,” she said with a breathless chuckle. “I could always stand to talk with somepony.”
“So, your kind… they’re called ‘Kirin?’” Sunset asked once they and Beacon Fire were back aboard the airship. The general had been hesitant to let the fiery creature aboard, but yielded to the scientists’ insistence.
“Yep.” The creature, whose full name was Autumn Blaze, nodded. “My kind got real angry a while back and took what’s known as the Vow of Silence.”
“What’s that?” Trixie asked.
“Well, here at the Peaks of Peril, we got this place called the Stream of Silence. The waters cool all emotions when you step into them or drink them,” Autumn explained, gesturing grandly with her hooves. “Rain Shine, our leader, ordered all of us Kirin into it so we could never be Niriks again.”
“Niriks… what are those?” Sunset asked, narrowing her eyes.
“Well, if you’re clever, you’d realize it’s ‘Kirin’ spelled backwards.” Autumn snorted a snicker. “Anyway, it’s what happens to us Kirin when we get mad, like scary mad.”
“So, if your kind took this ‘Vow of Silence,’ how are you still talking?” Beacon Fire asked coldly from the room’s entrance. She was keeping a wary eye on Autumn, and her horn glowed faintly with magic as a precaution.
“See, that’s the funny thing: I actually found the cure! There’s these flowers called foal’s-breath that you can mix with water and it cures the Stream’s silence. I… actually got kicked out of our village because of it.”
“Oh my, I’m so sorry,” Trixie said, setting a hoof on the Kirin’s shoulder. Beacon Fire tensed slightly.
Autumn smiled fondly at her. “Yeah, well, it was between keeping my voice and living with them, and I don’t know about you, but I couldn’t go another day without talking. Yeesh, all the things I thought about that I wanted to say and couldn’t? No thanks.”
“So there’s a whole village of silenced Kirin in the Peaks of Peril?” Sunset asked. “Is that why you said we were trespassing and attacked us?”
Autumn nodded. “I didn’t know what you ponies were going to do. The Kirin can’t defend or explain themselves as they are, so… I decided not to take any chances.” She sighed. “I’m sorry I attacked you.”
“Eh, we all do crazy things when we’re scared sometimes,” Trixie said, patting her on the back.
“But… I was wondering,” Autumn said, tapping her front hooves together sheepishly. “Maybe you ponies could help me convince the Kirin to get their voices back? I mean, it’s not that hard to control your emotions.”
“Well, I see their point – you guys are dangerous when you get angry,” Sunset pointed out. “We’ll come with you and see what we can do.”
She let out a grunt as Autumn Blaze managed to snare both her and Trixie into a tight hug. “Oh thank you so much! You’re going to love them when they get their voices back!” she squealed.
“Heh, don’t mention it,” Trixie grunted.
Beacon Fire sighed and shook her head.
Beacon Fire shook her head again as she watched from next to a tree in the Kirin Village. It had been a lot easier to convince the Kirin than Sunset and Trixie had first thought. Once the creatures had seen the logic behind not hiding one’s voice and that one could leave to cool off – in their case literally – they happily took the cure.
She watched as Sunset and Trixie were introduced to the singing, cheerful creatures by Autumn Blaze. Her trust of the creatures was growing by the minute, but the soldier in her kept her alert.
She noticed the tallest Kirin, wearing a simple golden tiara, approaching her.
“I see you have not joined your friends,” Rain Shine said. She held out a hoof to Beacon Fire. “I am Rain Shine, leader of the Kirin.”
“Beacon Fire, lieutenant general of the Royal Canterlot Guard,” she briskly replied, shaking her hoof and averting her eyes.
She glanced curiously at the Kirin as she leaned in and smiled fondly. “Ah, I see you burn for someone,” Rain Shine remarked. “And a strong fire it is.”
“And what’s that supposed to mean?” Beacon Fire asked coldly.
“Ah, my apologies. It is a Kirin expression – to burn for someone means to devote yourself to them. Your every goal is their happiness, and you burn your brightest to attain it,” the Kirin leader explained. “I can see it in your eyes.”
Beacon Fire cleared her throat. “Equestria has two princesses,” she said quietly. “One whom I serve, and one whom I am dedicated to.”
“And you desire to see a smile on this princess’s face?” Rain Shine tilted her head.
Beacon Fire looked away. “She deserves happiness,” she muttered, nearly too quiet to be heard.
Rain Shine smiled and nodded, satisfied, before turning to the approaching Autumn Blaze, Trixie, and Sunset. “General, Autumn Blaze has agreed to return with us to Equestria with Rain Shine to make an alliance with Equestria,” Sunset reported.
“Very well. Let’s get our hooves off the ground pronto – I imagine Her Majesty will want to hear all about this,” Beacon Fire replied, before turning and leaving for the camp and airship. Rain Shine flashed them a kind smile before joining her.
“Now this princess… what’d you say her name was?” Autumn asked as they left the village after them.
“Princess Nightmare Moon,” Trixie replied.
“You sure she’s alright? Because she sounds about as friendly as a Nirik hoofshake.”
“Don’t worry.” Sunset gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. “I think she’ll be very interested to meet with you.”
Author's Note
Date of Creation (D.o.C.): 04/17/20
Behold: the first ever appearance of Lieutinent General Beacon Fire, star of the recent Ponyville Noire: Frost and Fire!
Beacon was originally designed as a stand-in for Shining Armor, which is how she got her shield spell. Her pyromancy prowess comes as a part of her devotion to Celestia in this universe - with fire matching Celestia's solar abilities. She's a little colder in this world due to the circumstances, but remains devoted to seeing her princess one day smile.
And in the same vein as "Queen of Shadows," this story is intended to give the reader the state of the Kirin in this Equestria. Still under the Vow of Silence, but now as a potential ally to Equestria when they need it most. And perhaps as an integral component for Nightmare Moon's plans.
The song I listened to for this was "Torch Man Stage" from the game Mega Man 11. I like to think of it as the unofficial theme for Beacon Fire.
-yours truly,
The Legendary Bill Cipher, Equestria Enthusiast
