Twilight’s horn flares, a crushing burst of magic shattering the last of the golems. She levitates up the small red crystal that remains, dropping it in the crate with the twenty of its former brethren. “This is so fascinating!” Twilight exclaims, prancing around like a little schoolfilly as she searches for paper and quill. How could she have forgotten something so important!?
Spike groans to himself as he watches Twilight’s efforts get more and more frantic. He’s seen this dance before. He reaches back, pulling both out of his tail. Ah, what a practical and convenient storage place! He should really thank those gargantuan dragons; how else would they transport so much treasure around? Their short, stubby arms? “Here you-”
Twilight pulls Spike into the air in her haste to grab the paper, the dragon landing on his rump as he lets go. Twilight spins, bounding over to Fido. She observes him pulling the poles out of the ground and passing them to Spot, who wraps each crystal to the end of the pole. Twilight eagerly records this and their previous activities, grinning as she inspects the crystals.
Kole’s voice raises, “But pony good at drag! Take cart, yes?” He lifts up the harness again, his eyes squinting at Trixie. “J’mare drag cart when need!”
“But that harness is all rusted!” Trixie complains, her high pitched voice raising as well. “Trixie highly doubts that Rarity stoops to using that old thing! Trixie has worked very hard to keep this glorious luster on her coat! She just had it brushed, and she is not going to get it scratched up by that filthy thing!”
Kole grunts in pain, his ears dropping down as he hunches over. “But, pony get gems. Take gems, yes?”
“Yes, Trixie can see the gems. She is sorry you don’t care for how she delegates the duties available to her, but she is not going to strain herself digging these gems out of here. Now, if you will be so kind as to show her the exit?”
Kole weakly motions to the gems, “But, we dig gems. Now we drag cart, and show where go?”
“Yes!” Trixie happily exclaims, nodding and patting Kole on the head. “Trixie certainly appreciates that on Rarity’s behalf. Now, if you would please show her the exit, she will gladly take all these gems off your paws.”
“Okay!” Kole grins happily, pushing the mine carts laden with gems.
“Trixie is also hungry,” Trixie complains as she walks along the mine cart. “And thirsty.”
“We have apples?” Kole offers, yapping at one of the nearby dogs. “And water?”
Trixie sighs, “That will have to do. Such meager fare for such a great and powerful mare!”
Kole nods eagerly, “Fine. Fetch, dogs!” The closest dog barks, long, four-legged strides taking him away. Trixie grins, flipping her mane over her shoulder as she walks away.
Spot jumps up as the three dogs finish packing the poles, barking, “Now we get gems! Pony find gems, yes? Find jewels?”
Twilight nods, watching Trixie and Kole leave. “Oh? Yes, I suppose we can do that. Where are we going?” She looks around her, “There are lots of gems here. Can’t we use those?”
Spot shakes his head, “No, these gems growing. Outside, find more gems! All the jewels!”
“Okay!” Twilight says eagerly, marching forward. Spike sighs, his short legs struggling to keep up as Fido lifts the crate of poles.
The seven arrive outside the Diamond Dog warren. Trixie walks off to get their wagon while Kole returns inside to bring out another cart of gems. Rover leads the rest to a field abutting the Everfree Forest, motioning to a series of blue tipped poles. Fido brings out the poles, motioning towards the rocks strewn about.
Rover speaks, “Forest make rocks mean. But strong. J’mare like strong rocks.” He motions further to the west, away from the Everfree, “Lots gems by Ghastly Gorge. We hunt gems?”
Twilight’s eyes shine as she looks to the Everfree Forest, nodding at the scene in front of her. The whole area is alive with magic, much like the Forest itself. But she feels uneasy, as if dozens if not hundreds of eyes are on her, constantly shifting even though she cannot detect any movement. “This place feels off,” she weakly offers. “Like the magic is… isn’t right.”
“Maybe same magic that make Timber Wolf. Make alive.” Rover shrugs.
Fido walks forward, driving one of the poles into the ground. Near one of the blue poles a rock shifts, a small dark rock charging him. A single heavy blow from a pole shatters it, but the rock quickly reforms as he backs away.
Twilight grins. “Can you do that again?”
Fido shrugs, walking forward and bashing the rock again.
Hours Later…
“Twilight…” Spike moans as he gathers up the pitiful remains of yet another golem. “I thought you said we were leaving after one more spawn!”
“But there’s still so much more that we can learn from this!” Twilight exclaims, motioning forwards to the many piles of rocks. Many of them, if one watches long enough, slowly shift about, as if waiting for something to come close enough. “It’s so… so… fascinating!”
“That’s what you said the last two times, too!” Spike huffs, crossing his arms across his chest. “I still don’t see the point of crushing the same crystals over and over. We’re just waiting for them to respawn and then the dogs whack them. Then we put the crystal back in the ground, and the whole thing repeats.”
“That’s not the point!” Twilight shakes her head, her eyes closing. “We’re learning more about the crystal’s behavior, gaining valuable experience. And maybe we’ll get another rare drop!”
“A rare drop.” Spike sighs, his heaviest yet. His claws go to his head, pulling on the green ridges. “Twilight, I think we’ve had enough grinding for today.”
“Aww.” Twilight looks over at Trixie. The azure unicorn is fast asleep, yet her hoof keeps pressing the same spot of dirt over and over again, muttering, “Lightning bolt. Lightning bolt.” The wagon rests behind her, full of crates of gems, the fruits of her, Spike, and Kole’s efforts when she wasn’t too busy watching the small golems get crushed over and over. “Just one more rotation?”
“No! I’m putting my tail down!” Spike grunts as he roughly pushes Twilight towards the wagon. She slides along, coughing a little as she kicks up some dirt. “It’s nearly dark, for Celestia’s sake! You have to sleep at some point, right?”
Trixie moans up as well, groggily looking to the two. “Trixie’s back is sore, and she wants a better pillow.” She smacks her lips a few times. “Are we finally ready to leave?” Trixie says as she gets to her hooves. “Trixie feels like she has been asleep for hours.”
“That’s because you have been asleep for hours,” Twilight says as she inspects their haul. Not bad for the trip, but they should have gotten more gems for this amount of time. Maybe she shouldn’t have been so intent on grinding the golems. But how could she give up the opportunity to study such an intriguing phenomenon?
And there are so many interesting mysteries and creatures around here, too! The three start walking along, their pace slowed by the gem filled wagon. Twilight whistles along to the beat of her hooves, lost in her thoughts as she thinks through all the weird and curious experiences she has already had.
The walk back is fairly uneventful until the three get close to Ponyville. Twilight’s ears perk up at a faint sound. She stops, glancing over to the right, peering as far as she can into the Everfree Forest. Trixie and Spike glance over as well, raising their eyes as to the delay. Twilight shoos them onwards, a curious, “Huh.”
“What’s that?” Spike asks cautiously.
Twilight takes a few steps towards the foreboding forest. An echo of her warbling tune rings out from deep inside. Twilight turns, offering Spike a quick smile. “Just some music. I think.” She shakes her head, chuckling to herself.
“O-okay,” Spike says, turning back to Trixie. The azure unicorn continues walking to the Carousel Boutique, looking forward to dropping off the gems. He glances back, Twilight still staring off into the Everfree. “You coming?”
Twilight turns her head and smiles, “Oh, don’t worry, Spike. I’ll catch up!” Her gaze returns to the path leading into the Everfree Forest, close to Fluttershy’s cottage. Did she hear a wayward filly in there, or is Zecora wandering around? Ooh, she should go see Zecora! Maybe she knows more about the various anomalies surrounding here! And she can get some of the tea the zebra made after the whole incident with the fillies! She remembers the path Zecora told them, it isn’t that far inside.
Rarity shrieks with delight at the sight of the gems, almost high pitched enough to make Spike think it is the Crusaders. Speaking of, the three fillies appear at the top of the stairs, watching the mares carry the crates to Rarity’s storeroom.
“Cutie Mark Crusader Gem Sorters!” they exclaim in the exact same pitch as Rarity, tumbling down the stairs. They bump into the walls, each other, and Spike as they race to get closer to the sparkly jewels, jumping up to try to peek inside.
Fluttershy walks out from the kitchen, munching on a bit of salad. She smiles at the sight, “You need any help, Rarity?”
“With these three? Gladly,” Rarity says with a smile as she drops one of the crates off. She turns back to the wagon waiting outside, the three fillies diving into the open box and tossing the gems out. As Rarity walks out of earshot she remarks, “I have a large order I need to fill, and getting them out of my mane will certainly be a large help. You don’t mind, do you?”
“Oh, no, that’s fine,” Fluttershy says as she and Rarity both heft another box each. “I don’t mind looking after them at all!”
“Good, good,” Rarity says absentmindedly, looking back to her workroom. Several seconds pass in silence until they get back to the storeroom. They drop off the crates, watching the four youngsters hard at work.
Scootaloo is on top of the crate, both hooves tossing gems to Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Spike. More than one gem disappears into Spike’s mouth as they sort the gems into various piles. Rarity slinks away, leaving Fluttershy to watch them.
Scootaloo beams as she pulls out a large diamond, tossing it to Sweetie Belle. She eagerly glances back to her flank, sighing at the lack of cutie mark. “Aww,” she moans, hopping down. “I guess I’m not getting my cutie mark in gem sorting.”
“Me neither,” chorus the other two fillies, sighs traded around. They all line up to leave, though Spike is laying on the floor snoozing, a long thin topaz half eaten in his claws.
“Now, dears, just because you didn’t get your cutie mark doesn’t mean you can leave the job undone.” Fluttershy blocks their exit, her wings spread.
“But Fluttershy,” the three mournfully exclaim, hooves pointing towards their blank flanks, “we need to keep trying other things, or we’re never getting our cutie marks!”
Fluttershy offers a stern smile, “Now, girls, just because you didn’t get your cutie marks after five minutes doesn’t mean you won’t get your cutie mark there. Do you think Lemon got her cutie mark the first time she helped somepony out?”
The three fillies sigh, shaking their heads. “No, Fluttershy.”
“It’s okay,” Fluttershy says, her smile growing larger and softer. “Now, sometimes I find that making a song of things helps get through some of the tedious times. Any ideas?”
“You sing?” asks Scootaloo incredulously.
“Um,” Fluttershy says, instantly hiding behind her mane. “Well, um, sometimes my birds sing. And I like to sing along with them.”
“Maybe we can be Cutie Mark Crusader Rock Performers!” Scootaloo exclaims, jumping back on top of the crate. She bangs a few gems on whatever surface is closest to her as she tosses them to her sisters. She growls as she slams gem after gem into each other, scratching more than a few of the softer varieties.
“Ah thought we could be Cutie Mark Crusader Bluegrass Pickers!” Apple Bloom demonstrates by tapping the gems on the edges of the boxes. The gems jingle against each other, a cacophony of sound rivaling Scootaloo’s guttural rumbling.
“Cutie Mark Crusader Vocal Harmony!” Sweetie Belle yells, doing her best to match her voice to the Scootaloo and Apple Bloom’s roars.
“My ears!” Spike yells, clasping his claws to his ears as he darts out of the storeroom, up the stairs and into Sweetie Belle’s room, slamming the door behind him.
“Huh,” Scootaloo says flatly. “Wonder what his problem was?”