//------------------------------// // Prepare for the Frozen Abyss // Story: Diamonds of Stardust // by Lulamoon-Crystal //------------------------------// Trixie shivered as she trudged through the deep snow, snow was in her mane, clothes and fur making her colder. She stopped and saw her own breath, she then saw a shadow rush past her, she frantically looked around in fear wondering what it was. She looked to her right and saw Nightshade, but when she blinked, the said being was no longer there. For a few minutes, she looked around in fear and confusion. Before she saw a huge snowstorm go right towards her, she yelped in fright before closing her eyes and looking the other way, she would have normally run from it, but she needed to get up that mountain. It was tough and cold the snow pelted her body, she could feel thick bits of snow and seemingly some ice beat on her body occasionally, despite wearing her cape that was violently fluttering behind her. She had a hoof up as she walked towards the mountain to block any snow from getting into her face. The snow went deeper and deeper until it went up to her chest, it was hard to walk, her body felt tired and was begging for a break. As she endured the heavy snow she thought she saw another glimpse of Nightshade, she gasped in shock and wondered what was going to happen. She stood there, frozen in fear on what was about to happen, she looked around, her mane fluttered in her face. She snarled in annoyance as she looked around her. Then she came to a conclusion it was just her imagination, she walked on and dealt with the heavy snow in her face. As she walked deeper she had to hold her hat down with her hoof, so she wouldn’t lose it, it would be pretty tragic to lose her great and powerful magician hat. Trixie felt scared, cold and sad. She felt scared because she didn’t exactly know what dangers were up ahead, she didn’t know what was going to happen next. As she walked, she had a pain in her gut, like it was telling her to not go further. Trixie wouldn’t have admitted it, but she knows she would be galloping back to the Crystal Empire as fast as her legs could carry her, but she knew she couldn’t wimp out, or else Equestria was doomed. Trixie was trembling as she walked forward, not only because of the cold. The snowstorm was as strong as an earth pony stallion’s kick, but she kept going forward. Lucky for her, the snowstorm didn’t last much longer, but up ahead was a wall she had to climb. She took a big breath in and out, it was going to be a tricky climb. She gulped when she saw how high it was, she wasn’t exactly a good rock-climber. Soon enough, the rope in her saddlebags came out, engulfed in her pink magic aura. Trixie grabbed one end in her mouth and tried to throw it, as expected in landed in the snow. Then she had an idea, she remembered how Applejack spins a rope around and lassos things, Trixie is great and powerful, she would do that easily. Trixie scoffed before picking up one end, she tried to remember how Applejack did it. She started to spin the rope around using her teeth, but nothing happened, she grumbled as she stared at the rope. “Lasso!” She shouted, muffled by the rope in her mouth, “Like Applejack!” She then realised she was shouting at a rope, a normal, ordinary rope. Trixie tried again, she managed to get the whole rope spinning and twirling, but her victory didn’t last long, the next thing she knew her legs were all tied up. ”Stupid rope!” She grumbled as she untied herself. It was cold, she was getting more frustrated by the second, she looked at the rope with anger. “Why won’t you-“ she grumbled, she almost gave an annoyed scream but stopped herself. Soon, she packed away the rope into her saddlebags, she decided she might as well do it without a rope. She started to climb, placing her hooves either into holes or rocks poking out of the wall. It was cold and slippery, her heart raced as she placed each hoof where she thought it needs to go. This was her first time rock-climbing, her hooves shook in fear. She yelled when a front hoof slipped off, she thought she was going to fall. Trixie had no idea how high up she was, she didn’t even want to look, her focus was to the top, hopefully it was going to be more walking than climbing. Soon enough, she placed her hooves in different spots than before, she took a breath. ”Okay, Trixie, you only have to keep this up for... uh... the rest of the way...” She sighed annoyed. Then she put her front hoof on a ledge that broke immediately, she lost her footing and fell. It felt like her heart stopped for a second, she screamed on the way down till she hit the snow. The fall lasted shorter than she expected, she looked up and saw that she was barely a meter from the ground. “Oh-“ she said bluntly. Trixie grumbled, she decided she might as well look for a better way up, she started walking, hoping for an easy climb. She walked for a while, she was cold, but she ignored it, the snowstorm died down allowing for easier navigation, she moved on, hoping to get to the top, the snow went halfway up her legs, but she didn’t care. She looked up, upward were heavily hidden in the clouds, not allowing her to see the peak and a good chunk of the climb before it, but she still moved forward. It was a nerve-wreking trek, but she was the great and powerful Trixie. It was not going to be easy, but she was going to get up there, she needed to be at the top, that was where the next jewel was. Dang, It was going to be a massive climb, it was gonna take quite a while to get to the top indeed. Trixie didn’t know how long she was climbing for, but she knew she was almost halfway, she decided to take a breather and walk towards the edge. It was a vast view, she could barely see the ground as it was covered by cloud or hidden by the lower parts of the mountain. Looking out in the distance Trixie could just spot the shimming Crystal Empire in the distance, she sighed, knowing that’s where her friends were, hopefully not being trolled by Nightshade. ”Lovely sight, eh?” A familiar voice asked behind her. Trixie quickly looked back, “Discord!?” She shouted, “You’ve been following me this whole time?” ”No, actually,” He responded, “Just wanting to visit my favourite magician,” At the click of his fingers, a medal made of cardboard appeared around Trixie’s neck. She rolled her eyes and grumbled a little. “Oh, look at whittle Trixie, all alone, say, where’s the griff-“ “Gone,” Trixie said bluntly. There was a cold pit in her stomach, she kept in her tears, hoping Discord would at least talk about something else. “Gone because you had an argument, that’s why you’re on this mountain alone? Because you two had a fight?” He laughed as he flicked his fingers to make a bubble that was shaped to look like Gumdrop. Trixie gasped in shock as she looked it in the eyes, that were also bubbles, “G-Gumdrop... Discord! Take it down!” She shouted. ”Yep, you certainly had a fight, was there ever any doubt?” He chuckled, “Why else would you not want to see your little friend, I wonder what the argument was about, I’m sure the results are endless with someone like you!” Trixie felt her blood boil as she looked at him, she kept in her tears. She used her magic to zap the bubble, popping it on one hit. “Quit it, Discord!” Trixie shouted, hiding hints of her pain. ”Well, I’m sure she’ll forgive you, and you’ll see each other again, like some cheesy story... but hey! Friendship always wins, am I right?” He teased before flicking his fingers, making plushies of the Main Six fly around her. He did notice Trixie gritted her teeth and her ears were pushed back, but he simply assumed it as her being annoyed. “This is the most annoyed I’ve seen you been of my chaos,” He chuckled. “Discord...” Trixie gritted her teeth. Discord flicked his fingers again, this time she was on a teacup ride, going in circles on one of the teacup carts. “Woo!” Discord joined her chuckling, but he noticed something was off, Trixie looked sad, he was expecting annoyance. He crossed his arms as he watched Trixie look unamused. “Tough crowed, huh?” He shrugged and made the teacup ride disappear. Trixie was relieved when Discord vanished too, she smiled happily as she started walking up the hill. She found herself wiping a few tears as she walked up the hill. She couldn’t believe Discord, he was at his worse this time. A sad, lonely sigh escaped as she walked ahead, hoping there wasn’t going to be any more distractions. But her relief was short-lived when Discord’s head and neck poked out of her hat suddenly, she jumped back a little. Discord laughed and booped Trixie. “Did you miss me?” He joked, “Look at those tears, or are you missing Gumdrop?” ”Don’t talk about Gumdrop!” Trixie shouted in anger. Discord laughed again, “Do you realise who I am? Go on, just ask me to get her, and I will! But with a twist,” he chuckled to himself. He teleported out of her hat and hovered alongside her, eating tiny apple trees, the apples had a rock texture to them. He was grabbing them from a ball of yarn. Trixie grumbled and sighed, realising she indeed didn’t tell Discord about Gumdrop’s fate. ”It’s not possible...” Trixie sighed sadly. Discord chuckled and stretched his neck and face to be literally face to face with Trixie, but still walking beside her. “You’re scared of the twist, are you!” He chuckled, “I assure there will be a lot of chaos, but I see you’re too chi-“ Trixie screamed angrily as she marched away, leaving Discord behind. But then she heard the sound of his teleportation next to her. ”What do you want?” She grunted. “I’m sure Gumdrop would be happy if you went on this venture with a friend,” Trixie stopped when he said that, “Yeah, but not with you! Your first impression on her made her upset!” ”Oh I get it,” Discord chuckled, “Don’t talk about Gumdrop!” Trixie rolled her eyes with annoyance, “What do you really want, Discord? Or are you here just to annoy me?” ”I am basically the master of chaos, I can teleport us to the top, lickity-split!” He said proudly. ”No,” Trixie said bluntly. ”Friendship is magic, and you won’t be able to get up to the top without a friend,” Discord muttered. ”Well I would have a friend! I found four friends on the way here, and guess what!? They didn’t come with me because they left me because I wasn’t able to save Sunburst’s antiques! I keep losing my friends on this adventure, I’m going solo!” Discord nodded, “More friends? Hmmm... I can teleport them here, where are they?” ”Crystal Empire, if they haven’t left on their own ways...” Trixie grumbled. ”I need more info, like, are they ponies?” Discord explained. Trixie grumbled, “None of your business, you’ll just mess with them!” She accused. ”That’s who I am...” Discord grumbled, “Well, I’m following then, Fluttershy will kill me if she finds out I left someone in such a dangerous area,” Trixie started walking again, Discord flew next to her. He summoned some bubbles that floated around Trixie and made tunes when popped, he also made the snow a bit bouncy, so Trixie would be bounced high into the air every few steps. Discord giggled at her yelp when she was suddenly bounced into the air the first time. “Discord!” She shouted. He laughed, “That’s the Trixie I know and love,” he smiled. Discord decided to miss with her more and summoned a green cloud above her that dropped anvil-shaped popcorn that disappeared after a few minutes on the ground. It didn’t hurt Trixie, just made her annoyed, but she put up with that and bouncing into the air every few steps. Soon he clicked his fighters and Trixie was on a huge, purple bouncy ball that had stars on it, just like it cape. It doing a few small bounces before doing a large bounce and bouncing up the mountain at a fast pace. Discoed also joined in, but on a Discord themed bouncy ball with handles. He sped up till his was next to Trixie, the balls raced up the slope. He chuckled a bit at Trixie’s screaming. Trixie was hanging on for dear life as Discord’s got faster and faster, till it reached a rock at the top of the slop they were on, the second his touched the rock both bouncy balls vanished. He laughed as Trixie face planted on the soft snow behind him. ”Who’s a winner? It’s Discord!” He cheered proudly as he wore a medal and did a goofy dance with a trophy. Soon he picked Trixie up by a back hoof, he chuckled a bit as he did so, Trixie had an unamused face as he dusted her off with his paw. ”Aww, don’t be a sore loser, you did great on your first try, I bet Gumdrop would have loved to join us!” Trixie rolled her eyes but stayed silent. He let her go, and she just flopped on the floor. “Pretending to be a rag doll, now?” He asked her jokingly. ”No..” She said sadly. ”C’mon, you gotta admit that race was fun, sheesh,” He crossed his arms. Trixie sighed, “I... no... it wasn’t, the great and powerful Trixie has her own way of having fun,” Trixie sighed, “And after this, I have things to say to my team,” ”Like telling them about your argument with Gumdrop instead of keeping her a secret and forgetting about her?,” Discord said, letting it slip, “I’m sure she won’t forgive you if-“ Trixie gasped and slowly then sighed, “I am not trying to forget her! I’m just not ready to talk bout it!” She shouted in his face, “You’re just trying to be centre of attention! Leave me alone, Discord, this isn’t your story!” Discord shouted, “Wait! Shouldn’t you at least give you another chance? I sure she would be willing to give you another!” He smiled, “We both were-“ ”She’s dead...” Trixie interrupted softly. Discord’s expression showed surprised, which was rare for him, “What did you say,” he asked, hoping he misheard her. He had to stop himself from making a joke about having snow in his ears, as he knew this wasn’t the time. Truxie looked at Discord, eyes watering, “She’s dead! Okay! Are you happy now!? I’m sorry that she’s dead, but you don’t need to make jokes and humour out of it!“ Trixie shrieked as her eyes filled with tears, making them appear misty. ”How would you feel if you were having a nice walk in the city and the next thing you know, your best friend was shot with a gun!?” She shouted loudly, “And before you say it, no! You don’t know how that feels because it never happened to you!” She shouted before running away. She ran away, tears in her eyes and running down her face. Discord had realised what he had done, but he didn’t chase her. Trixie kept running, tears in her eyes and a pit of guilt haunting her, she couldn’t believe she had started crying. She cried in front of Discord! That’s something she will never hear the end off, if only Gumdrop was still alive. She didn’t care if Discord was chasing her, or was going to surprise her again, she just wanted to collect the last three jewels and end this story! She ran, she jumped over rocks and around them, she didn’t stop. Faster, she ran as fast as she could until she hit a wall, she fell back and onto the snow. Nothing would have stopped her from doing a frustrated scream, getting up and kicking the same wall she crashed into. ”Why did it have to be at the top of the mountain!?” She screamed. Trixie dusted herself off and studied the climb, steep and looked nearly impossible. She would surely fall and get hurt, she grumbled tiredly. “Well... I’m the great and powerful magician, not the... strong and sporty climber...,” She stated as she walked through the lane of snow up head, hoping for an easy climb. No hope, it was too steep, easy climb for the first few seconds but was impossible without skill. Trixie wasn’t an expert, but she could clearly see that she wouldn’t have been able to. Trixie started to grumble as she walked away, she walked around hoping for an easy climb but with no luck, she went back to the wall and looked up. It was the lowest cliff available. “It’s so high! How am I supposed to get up there! It’s not like I can-“ Trixie’s eyes wided in shock. There was silence, only the wind howling as it carried snowflakes in the breeze. No animals stirred as Trixie stood there looking st the wall. ”Oh,” She realised as she came to a realisation. ”Ahem,” She cleared her throat, “Why didn’t you think of that!?” She shouted as she accusingly pointed at her reflection seen in a pane of ice. She relaxed on the spot and took a breath in and out before focusing on her magic and her body. Trixie needed to have her whole body in her magic, it was easy once learnt, self-levitation is just like levitating an object. But needed more focus and to be careful, she didn’t want to accidentally drop herself. Soon Trixie felt all four legs leave the ground, she opened her eyes and looked down. Trixie’s body was engulfed in her pink glow she watched the ground and focused on lifting herself higher up, she went up and up. She didn’t think of anything other than getting herself to the top of that climb. Soon enough she was above it, all she had to do was levitate herself forward. This was supposed to be easy, but unfortunately, Trixie was so excited that she sort of threw herself. She landed on her face, unharmed, but she did have to spit some snow out. Trixie wiped it from her face and continued on her way. “Alright mountain! You better not have any more annoying nonsense!” She shouted. Trixe walked onwards up the mountain with a proud posture, she hummed a bit as she went on her way. “I’m on my way,” She sang, “And no one can stop me!” She chuckled proudly as she ventured further, the peak was in sight, she was so excited! Trixie felt she could just walk straight to it! The sky was clear, a clear afternoon sky, no clouds, but there were clouds surrounding her and the peak, they looked just like freshly laid snow. The peak was so close, she walked towards it, unaware of any possible dangers laying under the clouds that hid the ground. What happened next made Trixie wish she was being more careful. Before she knew it, she was hanging on the edge of a cliff, she couldn’t see the ground below her, clouds were blocking the view, so no idea how high of a drop it was. She tried to pull herself up, but she heard cracks, the part of the cliff she was hanging on was just ice! Trixie’s heart raced as she wonders what to do next, she felt beads of sweat run down her face, she whimpered, hoping somepony, any pony was out there! Even Discord! Sure, he wouldn’t exactly help her without adding chaos, but she did regret running away from him! She was on a cliff, miles away from any spark of hope for help. “Breath in, breath out, breath in...” Trixie told herself as she did so. But before she knew it, her saddlebags were gone! They must have fallen off during that race with Discord! She screamed as she realised that meant lack of rope! She was starting to pant in fear, trying to lift herself up, but it only cracked more, making her situation worse. Her chest went up and down quickly as she hung on the cliff, her forelegs shook as she tightened her grip on the ledge. ”If only Discord followed me,” She thought. She closed her eyes and waited, she imagined herself falling onto some silly bouncy castle that was flying! Or even a trampoline, field of marshmallow, a water- no- a milk-slide into a milk pool! Or even falling onto a flying pig, or into some jelly! She thought of many countless silly ways Discord would help. ”Discord!?” She called hopelessly. There was no response, no locals nearby, now ledge she could grab on, the one she was on was weak and breaking! the only way was down, to her doom, the seemingly abyss below her. She shed a tear.