//------------------------------// // Trixie Reaches the End of the World // Story: Chasing Winter // by Raging Mouse //------------------------------// Chapter Four: Trixie Reaches the End of the World 2:5:2: Luring and Capturing a Windigo The most common theme in any plan to capture a windigo is utilizing its aversion to friendship and attraction to warm-bodied sentients. Empire crystal can be given a small charge of the fire of friendship, making a cage of charged crystal the likely ideal containment unit, probably rendering the windigo unable to escape even in the eventuality that windigos don’t have a physical body. Getting the windigo into the cage is faced with many more uncertainties. A risky proposal, but one also considered most likely to work, is to use a volunteer as bait to lure the windigo into the trap. That pony would ideally possess a crystal enhancing and projecting negative emotions (refer to ‘Empire Crystal and its uses in thaumaturgy’, 1st ed, pg. 225, by T. Sparkle) and would wait in front of an opened and prepared cage. When a windigo shows up the pony would carefully retreat into the cage, trying to lure the windigo into following. Once the windigo is inside other ponies would close the front gate and allow the volunteer to escape out of a small back door. This assumes that the windigo possesses only animal cunning and intelligence and while it is true that the legends show no indication of higher reasoning it is still only a hypothesis. Great care should be taken if this method is attempted. Some legends suggest Windigos are scared by normal fire, like most animals would be, but as this holds less truth for the magical animals such as the salamander this should be considered an untested and unreliable fall-back plan should something go wrong but could be considered due to the ease of testing it beforehoof and comparably low risk in doing so. ****** Trixie magically held the orb aloft for all six ponies to see. The enchanted crystal within pointed in the same direction it always had but the expeditionary group appreciated it in an altogether new manner from their current vantage point out on a crystalline balcony jutting from a tower of the Crystal Empire. They all gazed in the indicated direction. In front of them, hazed by distance and partly obscured by snow-bloated clouds, was a wall of mountains. After a short moment, Terra Incognita spoke. “The crystal mountains might look impassable, but I’ve led expeditions to the glaciers beyond three times already. I know a route that could be paved into a highway. It’s not the shortest nor the quickest but it’s the one that will get us all there with the minimum of fuss.” Crystal Brightfeather kept facing the mountains but glanced at Terra out of the side of her eye. “How long does that route take?” “Two or three weeks, including three to five days of travel from here to the base of the mountains. It depends on the weather and how much ground we can cover. I know you all have some measure of physical fitness but it’s untested as of yet. That goes double for you, actually.” Terra turned to look at High Life. The unicorn stallion pursed his lips and snorted before grinning arrogantly. “Miss Terra, I trust a mare who’s seen as much of the world as you knows what it means to participate in a rhino run?” Terra flinched as if hit and stared wide-eyed at High Life. “You’ve... done that?” High Life nodded and grinned as if he was about to lay down a winning hoof in a high-stakes game of cards. “Five times, Terra. And twice against a bull.” Terra looked as if she’d swallowed a lemon. Then her expression relaxed suddenly and she chuckled. “That’s deliciously ironic considering what I’m asking you to do. High Life, do you think you could do something like the rhino run but with a windigo?” High Life’s face snapped into a picture of suspicion. “You’re pulling my leg.” The large Earthen simply nodded at the orb hovering above their heads. “That’s what this is tracking. We’ve got orders to find that windigo and capture it. Alive. But it involves having a pony luring it into a cage. It’s all right, I can do it if you don’t...” “No! I’ll do it.” High Life grinned again, causing Trixie to shudder. She already detested that grin. “Good! We’ll head out tomorrow at dawn. You each should spend what’s left of this day and evening to choose or buy some personal items to bring along. I’ll be dining at the ‘Corundum Café’. Ask around town if you feel like joining.” Crystal Brightfeather and Visi Vidi took to the air without even saying goodbye to the rest of the group, though Visi did look back before turning her head and speaking to Crystal. Trixie watched them descend below roof level of the nearby houses before turning away from the translucent balustrade. Boiling Broth was discussing something involving provisions with Terra as they slowly walked towards the doorway into the tower. High Life was sitting on his haunches in front of Trixie and grinning at her, making her very conscious about the ten story drop behind her. “My apologies: I somehow failed to catch your name when I was introduced.” Trixie opened her mouth but managed to prevent more than a little squeak from emerging. She felt biting High Life’s head off would probably be a bad move at this point. She chose instead to walk around the stallion and towards the pair of Earthen. “You may call me Trixie.” “Trixie? I like it. Is it prophetic? Are you a mare of many tricks? Or perhaps you are a tricky little pony?” High Life had risen and was walking a bit behind and to the side of her. Trixie suppressed the urge to aim a buck at his direction. “It’s Trixie’s name, not a word puzzle! Was there something you wanted? Trixie wishes to speak with Terra.” “What’s with the third person? You an automaton or a golem of some kind? Just kidding! It’s charming.” Trixie stopped, sighed and turned around to stare down her nose at High Life. “Look. Trixie is here to do repairs, prepare and fire incendiary rockets and do a little morale raising. That’s all. Now, do you mind? Trixie has to talk to Terra!” They had reached the doorway. A wide circular stairwell occupied the entirety of the tower. Terra’s and Broth’s voices echoed from below. High Life sat down and smiled at Trixie. “Go ahead. I’m looking forward to seeing you raise our morale. Until later.” Trixie turned around and increased her pace to a canter down the stairs before rolling her eyes. ****** The Expedition Journal of Bellatrix Lulamoon, Day 1 Terra Incognita, our expedition leader, has explained the purpose of these journals and though I, the Great and Powerful Trixie, have entertained the idea of writing my memoirs I must confess to being unused to this. Nevertheless: Trixie shall bedazzle you all with her writing! Earlier today, the eve before our departure from the Crystal Empire, I asked Terra Incognita to let me inspect the supplies she’d purchased for me. Whatever pony she’d consulted for the fireworks ingredients knows their alchemy. Metals, salts and even some magical ingredients abound. The amount of black and white powder she’s purchased is frightening. It was all stored improperly, too – all in one great pile! Trixie had the powder kegs separated and packed onto different wagonloads. When the others found out they complained that I was just trying to lighten my own load. The nerve! The Charitable and Magnanimous Trixie shut them up by offering to carry more of the spare cage parts instead. Anyway, Terra seems to gamble on the fireworks being effective. This warms Trixie’s heart! I shall mix and conjure up rockets fit to scare an ursa major to death! After making some additional purchases for noise effects I headed to the cafeteria Terra had mentioned and managed to get there early enough to find her alone. I asked what a ‘rhino run’ is. She told me in great detail. Rhinos are big, heavily armored and very stupid. They are barely sentient, in fact. The zebras of Buckswana and Zebrawe consider them sacred messengers of the spirits and give them offerings of fruit and vegetables. It is perhaps unsurprising then that the spoiled nobleponies of Canterlot have developed their mistreatment into a sport. A rhino run is organized by word of mouth. A group of noble brats with nothing better to do travel down to the Zebra lands and try to find a rhino travelling the wilderness. Once they see one they wait until nightfall, sneak up to the sleeping rhino and cast a spell upon it to deepen its slumber. Then they erect an obstacle course of sorts with magically conjured or pre-made parts of lightweight wood they’ve carried with them. The course begins at the sleeping rhino. Two tall walls are erected parallel to each other, creating a lane leading away from it. These walls have holes large enough for a pony to duck through interspersed at even intervals, alternating between walls. In front of each of these holes the ponies put up smaller and weaker walls at right angles to the larger walls so they block almost all of the lane, leaving only a pony-sized opening opposite where the hole in the lane wall is. Thus anypony moving down the lane has to constantly weave left and right in order to move forward. A typical lane built like this is about a hundred to two hundred meters long. The rhino is kept asleep while all of this goes on. The idea is that one pony moves to the start of the lane and uses a weak shock spell to startle the rhino awake. The rhino, understandably, charges the pony in a mixture of anger and fright. The pony then runs away down the lane, trying to keep far enough ahead of the rhino so that when his or her stamina or courage runs out he/she can safely duck out through one of the small side holes without the rhino seeing this. Although a pony can normally run much faster than a charging rhino that is only true when running in a straight line. The rhino, on the other hoof, isn’t notably slowed down by the smaller walls erected across the lane – it plows straight through them. If the pony successfully leaves the lane the rhino charges on without noticing until it grows tired. If the pony is too slow or exits too close to the rhino: well let’s just say that Zebras don’t bother writing laws punishing dead foreigners. This apparently is a very popular betting sport among certain groups of nobles. The ponies taking part decide who gets to run by bidding on the length of their run. Whoever bids to run the longest gets to actually do so. After that bids are made on whether the run will actually be that long. The runner is penalised if he or she quits before the correct distance has been run but is also awarded bonuses if he or she dares to run longer than that and manages to survive. Celestia is highly outspoken against the practice, of course. It’s cruel, barbaric and just plain stupid but she can’t do much to stop it unless she’s willing to ban all travel to Zebra lands. The Great and Powerful Trixie is stunned by the delightful company she is keeping together with High Life! That he is a Blueblood should have been horrible enough, but no! When I literally said this Terra only sighed and mumbled something about not looking gift horses in the mouth. Come the hour come the pony, Trixie supposes. We didn’t have more time for a private discussion as the pegasi of our team appeared right then. While on the topic of the pegasi: I think Crystal Brightfeather hates me. Whatever the Great and Powerful Trixie has done to offend her I don’t know. I don’t recall ever having met her but then how many faces in the crowds am I able to recollect even just one day after performing? Trixie shall have to speak to the mare at some point. Bad relationships are a health hazard where we are going. Still, she is civil enough in company. Visi Vidi just can’t sit still. Her wings seem to have a mind of their own. She managed to hit waiters or guests behind her at least four times during the evening. Other than that I don’t really have an opinion of the girl. For such an energetic pony she sure is quiet. When she speaks, it is to ask a question. The pony Boiling Broth is jovial. The way he and Terra quip at each other speaks of a long-standing friendship. Trixie is rambling now. It is late and we set off early tomorrow. Trixie hears the hotel bed calling. ****** A convoy of thirty-six ponies pulling nine wagons exited the capital of the Crystal Empire. As soon as they reached the snowline they discarded the temporary wheels, letting the wagons glide forward on skis. The ponies themselves donned snowshoes. A biting wind blew from the side, chilling Trixie to the bone despite her cloak. She gazed in wonder at the crystal ponies that were following them: it seemed that they’d acclimatized to the frigid surroundings millennia ago and barely even felt the freezing cold. As if on cue, Terra’s huge wagon fell back until the Earthen mare, seemingly unhampered by the great load, walked easily next to Trixie. “How are you holding up, Trixie?” “So far so good. It’s a bit chilly. Perhaps we could go a bit faster to get warm?” “Sorry, that’s not an option. If we go any faster somepony might break out in sweat and I’d like to prevent that.” Trixie nodded sagely. Damp fur lost its insulating properties. That was something most ponies didn’t keep in mind since a warm fireplace or bath was always close by in Equestria. Terra continued. “Also, I intend to keep this pace up for ten or twelve hours if possible. Any faster would exhaust you long before that.” “Ten or tw— really? Trixie’s not sure she could keep this up for that long even at this speed! I don’t have Earthen tenacity.” “I know. There’s this trick that unicorns are taught in the army, it’s called hornwalking. Heard of it?” Trixie shook her head. Terra nodded and smirked. “I’m not surprised. Trains are a unicorn invention for a reason. Anyways, I’ll teach it to you.” “An Earthen can teach this trick?” “Sure. Don’t ask me how it works or why but I’ve had it described to me and can relate what I’ve been told. It seems to be enough.” Trixie answered with a noncommittal shrug. “The Great and Powerful Trixie is always eager to learn.” “Good. Trixie, I want you to grab one of your hooves with your magic. Try to make the grip so light that you can do it all day long. Then I want you to help your leg move: push down with your magic when your leg goes down and give it a pull when you lift it.” There was only the barest of shimmer from Trixie’s horn as she attempted to do what Terra asked, choosing her right front hoof at random. Telekinesis was instinctive to a pony but only as an unsubtle grabbing tool. This kind of manipulation demanded practice. Once she thought she had her magic firmly latched on to her hoof and doing her bidding she looked back to Terra. “Trixie thinks she’s doing what you asked now.” Terra smiled. “Yep, you’re on the right path. But you’re pushing and pulling too hard. I can tell because it’s making you limp a bit. Ease up on the magic and remember that I want you to do this constantly.” Trixie struggled to lessen her telekinesis without losing her grip completely. She realised she was concentrating so hard that she was holding her breath. The glow around her horn dimmed until only the merest suggestion of a halo remained. She heard Terra speak. “Excellent, looks like you’ve got it now. Keep that up. Be alert for any signs of limping: that means you’re subconsciously adding more force. Try not to.” “Trixie understands now what ‘hornwalking’ is about. Let me guess: the next step is to grip a second hoof? Then eventually all four?” “Yes, but don’t get ahead of yourself. You need to get used to this a bit at a time. You’ll trip if you try to do it all at once.” A gust of wind blew a cloud of ice crystals over the convoy, making Trixie shiver. Noticing this, Terra pulled slightly ahead of Trixie before turning her head and calling back. “See that yellow bag hanging from the side of my wagon? There are two potions inside. A swig of the first will make you more resistant to the cold for a day or so and the second will thicken your coat and make it grow slowly longer.” Several bags, including a yellow one, were tied to string running along the side of the wagon. Trixie nodded and, her horn being otherwise occupied, used her mouth to open the indicated bag. Uncorking a bottle using only her teeth proved too hard so she attempted to split her focus between her hoof and the bottles. She managed to drink a mouthful of each potion with only a couple of harmless stumbles as a result. When the potions were back in the closed bag she turned back to Terra and found the mare looking at her with approval. “Well done keeping the hornwalk going. Once you master it it’ll serve you well on your future travels.” Terra pulled further ahead, moving until she was walking next to High Life. Trixie felt the cold recede until it became barely noticeable. Then she cursed, having noticed she was limping again. ****** Day 3 There is no separate entry for yesterday. When we finally stopped for the night, Trixie was The Greatly Pooped. I could tell that the ‘hornwalking’ Terra taught me was helping but I didn’t progress past the one hoof yesterday. I was so exhausted that I couldn’t hold my head up. High Life was in far worse state: he’s a sprinter, not a long-distance runner, and his physical condition is delightfully worse than Trixie’s. Terra had hitched High Life’s wagon to her own after only four hours’ travel. At least Trixie pulled her own load all the way! As a consequence of Trixie’s exhaustion, events in camp were a blur. Terra fussed over us all like a broody dam. It was appreciated though. Trixie has never tasted soup as good as Broth’s and is glad that Terra pushed her into eating dinner. This morning was predictably painful. Trixie was aching or numb from horntip to frog. Both my hind legs were cramping when I woke up with Terra shouting at us outside our tent. Maybe Trixie should mention the camping arrangements? The six of us all share one tent with five additional tents housing the crystal ponies travelling with us. The enchanted cloth is lightweight and very insulating, allowing the small stoves we’ve brought with us to heat them all night long with very little fuel. The cold would be bearable even without a stove but Terra says that if the fuel runs out we’ll cram into only three tents total, twelve ponies in each. It better not come to that. The Great and Powerful Trixie does not want to wake up and find she’s gargling somepony’s hoof. Trixie is rambling again. Today was not as bad as yesterday but still bad. I tried to hornwalk with two hooves but only managed it four hours in. I better keep to only two tomorrow until I get used to it. The Great and Powerful Trixie resolves to try her hoof at juggling again if she manages to get this right. Two boosted front hooves meant only the back half of Trixie was tenderized by dusk. My front hooves were merely stiff. All us non-Earthen were very subdued when we shared dinner. Terra monologued a bit, telling us we were doing great. Broth told us stories of his trips, mostly involving how he’d picked up interesting recipes. He even claimed he knew a couple recipes for meat. I think he was just provoking us to see how tired we were. We were pretty tired. Still, Trixie found some spare energy to devote to her future readers. But now there is this sharp ache in my horn, probably from the constant use. Good night. ****** “Get up!” Somepony groaned and Trixie felt a hoof bump into her hip. Scuffling, fabric brushing against fur and other small noises of communal awakening graced her ears. There was a rustle of tent flaps and then Terra’s voice boomed inside the canvassed space. “There’s a snowstorm coming. You need to secure your wagons and get your coats. Breakfast in fifteen minutes.” Further rustling indicated she’d left. Trixie opened her eyes and tried moving. She was lying on her back with all four legs in the air and her sleep-dazed mind found their fly-like twitchings slightly amusing. She raised her head and looked past her legs. She caught sight of Visi’s tail slipping out of the tent. Crystal was on Trixie’s left and was preening mindlessly, methodically straightening each feather in some long-memorized order ingrained in her spine, while her thoughts were still somewhere within Luna’s domain. Of High Life there was no sign. Trixie rolled onto her legs and stood, grimacing at the dull pain coming from her legs. Her saddlebags were behind her pillow and she opened one of them with her magic in order to extract a comb. Magic made untangling her mane and tail easy and only a short while later she glanced over to Crystal. “Hey Crystal, shall Trixie comb your mane and tail?” The question startled the purple pegasus. Crystal shuffled her wings against her back while glancing back and forth between Trixie’s face and the levitating comb. Then she wrinkled her nose. “Um, no thanks. But could I borrow the comb?” Trixie raised an eyebrow but levitated the comb over to Crystal without further comment. Crystal caught it between both forelegs and tugged gently. Trixie released her magic and nodded. “Just put it back in the saddlebags when you’re done.” Trixie walked to the tent flap. She glanced back before stepping outside and was struck by a sudden thought. “You know, if you let your mane and tail grow and let somepony dye in the streaks for you, you could be mistaken for Princess Sparkle.” Crystal flinched and eyed Trixie darkly. “That’s why I had it cut.” Trixie paused to digest this. Then she exited the tent. Darkness reigned outside and the sky glittered with stars, but off towards the east where there should have been a multicolored band heralding dawn there was instead an advancing black wall that slowly ate the sky. She squinted at the approaching storm before rushing to her wagon. ****** Terra called out for the convoy to stop. Trixie relayed the shout backwards and sighed contentedly. The past four hours had been a nightmare. The route had become increasingly hilly as the day progressed. To make matters worse the snowstorm was carried on a pocket of warm air and the snow that fell was half-melted. It stuck to the wagons making them heavier and clung to the ground increasing the drag on the skis. The pegasi had been released from wagon pulling duty in order to zoom overhead, clearing snow from the wagons with strong gusts of wind. They couldn’t push back the storm itself however: that would have required more than a hundred pegasi. Visi and Crystal did their best but they too were hampered by the snow. As they grew exhausted the pauses between clearing attempts grew longer. Terra had pushed them to carry on but now she seemed to be satisfied. Or had she also grown tired? Trixie doubted it. “Gather the wagons in a row next to mine!” Sighing, Trixie moved to obey Terra’s order. As she did so she noticed that the snowfall relented dramatically. It seemed to her like she was walking through a curtain of snow because suddenly the mountains were in front of her, vertiginous and so very large now. She gaped at the brightly sunlit masses of stone and ice for a moment. Then she glanced back and up: she had indeed walked out from under the low storm clouds. The border was very sharp. There was a wide smile on Terra’s face and she was inhaling deeply with her eyes closed as Trixie pulled up beside her. Then the Earthen laughed and spoke loudly. “Ahhh, can you feel that mountain air? Welcome to the Crystal Mountains, everypony! The first leg of our journey is over!” Thirty-some voices cheered. Trixie sniffed the air cautiously and grimaced as it stung in her nostrils. A steady stream of intensely cold air was flowing down off the mountains, keeping the storm at bay. She felt the sun on her side but its power seemed muted. She looked around to see the same wonder and apprehension she was experiencing being displayed on the faces of her companions. Terra was also studying the faces of those close by and she locked eyes with Trixie for a moment before taking another deep breath and raising her voice again. “Equestrians, before this day you have probably never experienced true cold. Our winters are very pleasant compared to what awaits us now! You stand on the threshold to the Old Kingdoms! For more than two thousand years this place has been gripped by an ice age and we’re here to capture one of its architects.” Terra grinned savagely. “History awaits!”