//------------------------------// // Trixie Singlehoofedly Fends Off a Pack of Wolves // Story: Chasing Winter // by Raging Mouse //------------------------------// Chapter Six: Trixie Singlehoofedly Fends Off a Pack of Wolves 2:5:5: Rimewolves Concurrent with windigos are additional threats, mostly due to how the magic of Equestria reacts to the extreme cold. Rimewolves appear to be elemental predators similar to the timberwolves of the Everfree, spirits composed of the matter representative of their habitat. Unlike windigos the rimewolves are a well-documented danger of the Crystal Glacier. Rimewolves, like timberwolves, take the general shape of the natural wild canid but they use snow and ice to form their bodies and the resemblance to natural wolves is much higher thanks to the finer detail bestowed by the granular construction material. This same material choice means they are frailer than their timberwolf brethren but nearly unkillable in their normal environment thanks to the massive supply of replacement material lying around ready to house their spirits. Rimewolves are also much quicker to reconstitute their bodies, averaging at ten seconds from destruction to reassembly. Since the rimewolves suffer almost no ill effects from having their bodies destroyed their hunting tactics differ from that of normal wolves, mainly in their fearlessness. Rimewolves that manage to come close enough attack their targets immediately, hoping to inflict some injuries before they get discorporated. When they reform they repeat their attack immediately and from close quarters. The effectiveness of this tactic cannot be understated. The most effective method of combating rimewolves is to incapacitate them as they are either unwilling or unable to destroy themselves even when their bodies are severely damaged. The reader is urged not to think these methods too callous as compassion shown towards these unnatural predators might easily come back and literally bite you. If encountering a rimewolf the suggested tactic is as follows: destroy the wolf’s legs. Then dig a pit and bury the rest of the body up to its neck, leaving the head free. Next bury each piece of leg in separate pits, compacting ice and snow on top of them. The idea is to leave the wolf alive but immobile and unable to reassemble or to transfer to a new and intact body. Please note that as timberwolves hunt in packs it is highly likely that most encounters with rimewolves also will involve several creatures, greatly increasing the danger. Once again this writer stresses the importance of not travelling alone. ******* Terra rattled off a quick succession of orders. “Everypony get back to the convoy right now! Trixie, as soon as we get back I want you to prepare a dozen rockets. Some that go boom and some that throw burning bits everywhere, please. Crystal, Visi, fly ahead if you can and tell the crystalline to bunch up and watch each others’ backs. High Life, did you read the part about rimewolves in the dossier?” High Life nodded and spoke over the flapping of wings and the thudding of hooves. “Yes, I did. I know what to do.” “Good. Let’s get back.” They ran. Visi and Crystal dwindled quickly to mere spots against the sky, tossed dangerously by the strong air currents, before they disappeared behind the mountain. When the first of the wagons came into view Terra slowed down and looked back over her shoulder. Trixie saw her ears turning, trying to catch any sound. “Can you hear them?” Terra shook her head but didn’t look relieved. “No, but that means nothing. They’ll find us sooner or later.” Then she looked into Trixie’s eyes and smiled slightly. “Don’t worry. They’re dangerous but as long as nopony gives in to panic we’ll be fine.” “The Great and Powerful Trixie is not worried.” Terra didn’t comment upon that, saving her breath for running instead. Trixie did the same though the struggle of maintaining a steady pace on the sloping ground and with legs wrapped in several layers of cloth took so much of her concentration that she failed to maintain a mask of confidence. She frowned and her wide eyes darted this way and that. Voices raised in alarm greeted the returning quartet. The crystalline milled about as one group and looked nervously at Trixie and her companions. Crystal and Visi were huddling under all the blankets they could find on top of one of the wagons in an attempt to regain the heat their bodies had lost during their flight. Terra frowned at the crystal ponies. “Why are you so alarmed? You’re part of the reformed Crystal Guard. You should have plenty of combat training, which is more than enough to face rimewolves.” The crystalline looked at each other in confusion before one raised a hoof. “By ‘combat techniques’ do you mean how to break up an argument? No? Umm, do you mean how to calm a panicking crowd of citizens? Er, how to guard a gate?” Terra’s face had fallen more and more as the faceted mare spoke. Now she shook her head slightly, licked her lips and spoke breathlessly. “How do you guard a gate?” “You stand on each side of it, like this...” The mare adopted an unnaturally straight and stiff pose, torso pushed forward, back arched down and head held high. It was imposing. It was a perfect example of how to wear out a pony’s every muscle in less than fifteen minutes. “...And if a pony approaches you stop them with a raised hoof, like this, and then say: halt! This area is restricted. Please turn back!” The dejected look, written so large on Terra’s face, made Trixie feel sorry for the mare even while she was rolling her eyes at the crystal ponies’ naivety. Sombra had seemingly eradicated any trace of belligerence from them. Terra turned to her and murmured into her ear. “Can you create some kind of illusion of rimewolves?” Trixie nodded. “If you can describe them Trixie can make them appear.” “Good.” Terra raised her voice so everypony could hear. “We’ll camp here. We need to train basic military discipline.” ****** Day 13 The Great and Powerful Trixie will remember today as the day she caused ponies to stampede in panic and was thanked for it. The start of the glacier is only a short trip ahead of us but we’ve stopped here while Terra drills some basic military discipline into the crystal ponies. She’d expected the Crystal Guard volunteers to be combat trained but a foul-up in communication somewhere had led the crystal ponies to have the notion that they’d receive that training during the trip. To discover this right now, when they’re about to get first-hoof experience in actual combat, is distressing. The situation is not as bad as it sounds. The crystalline just need to stay calm while in a group and hit any rimewolf that approaches them. The reserve skis for the wagons make passable enough clubs and are more than adequate to disable a rimewolf. Terra’s military past truly shone through today. After twenty minutes the crystal ponies no longer panicked when one of Trixie’s illusions pounced at them. After only an hour they actually swung their makeshift weapons at the things and after two they tended to hit their targets every now and then. Terra praised them but Trixie has some doubts. The real rimewolves are only momentarily disabled if you just hit them hard. Also, while the crystal ponies no longer panic at the sight of one (and Trixie prays to Celestia and Luna that her rendition of rimewolves was at least somewhat accurate), how they should react to the sight of one of their own getting injured in combat is still untested. One of them getting a nosebleed due to her comrade’s overenthusiastic flailing with a ski doesn’t count but the horrified reactions the incident produced don’t instill Trixie with any confidence. After that we reorganised the campsite. Our six tents used to be pretty evenly spread out but now they are all bunched together in a half circle with the openings aligned. The wagons have been pulled close together and form a wall behind the tents. The slope we’re on made this difficult and High Life and Trixie had to shift much snow with their magic. Trixie is writing this around midnight. Terra organized a guard schedule and it is Trixie’s turn. Three crystalline keep her company and they are chatting amongst themselves right now. Their conversation betrays their nervosity. When Trixie was told she’d be in charge of morale she expected to entertain tired and grumpy travellers after a long day of hard work. Now Trixie is surrounded by ponies who are scared and badly in need of reassurance. This just got a whole lot more serious. Trixie needs to stop writing now and talk to her companions. Day 14 We hear the wolves now. There is a slight bell-like ringing underneath their howls that makes Trixie’s teeth ache. I talked to Terra this morning and was excused from pulling a wagon. Instead I’ve been running from wagon to wagon, talking to the others. The crystalline put up brave faces next to their friends but Trixie can tell that the noise from the rimewolves are wearing them down. Terra said that they attack immediately once they are close enough but she didn’t say anything about what they do before that. Do they wait for the right moment to approach or will they home in on us like flakes of iron attracted to a magnet? We passed the edge of the glacier two hour ago. It had quieted down almost completely but we didn’t step onto it immediately. As Trixie writes this we’re still on the mountain slope but we’re drawing closer to the flat ice below. They sound closer now but I don’t s ****** Trixie’s writing was interrupted by Crystal’s shout of alarm. She was so startled that she almost lost her magical grip on her journal. A quick glance up at the pegasus sitting on top of Terra’s wagon led Trixie to look in the direction of a pointing leg. A row of blue lights, arranged in pairs, had appeared ahead and above on the mountain. Trixie was walking at the front of the convoy next to Terra, who took one look where Crystal was pointing before leaping out of her harness. “They’re coming! Everypony to the front now!” While the rest grabbed their improvised clubs and ran forward Trixie ran back to her wagon. She lifted the tarp covering the cargo, lifted out a dozen bundles of pre-made rocket fuel and put the journal where they had been. Then she ran back to the front where a headcount was in progress. A crystalline shouted ‘thirty-five’ just as Trixie arrived, leaving her to shout ‘thirty-six’. The rimewolves were only a few hundred meters away by then and at a glance Trixie estimated there were about fifteen of them. “Trixie, break their charge.” She nodded affirmation to Terra and let her magic form shells for three of the rocket bundles. Terra barked orders to the rest while Trixie concentrated on the careening missiles and guided them towards the approaching pack. Since she’d had no way of timing the rockets she instead prepared to squeeze the chemicals in one short burst when they reached their targets. However the rimewolves didn’t appear completely single-minded. Just before the rockets would hit them they parted their ranks. The results were still impressive. The rimewolves merely interpreted the rockets as objects to be narrowly avoided and so didn’t distance themselves further. The suddenly compressed chemicals ruptured Trixie’s magical shells and exploded with greater than usual force, throwing up large clouds of icy mist and black smoke. Seven wolves ran onwards without stopping. They were already too close for another volley of rockets so Trixie dropped the remaining bundles behind a wagon wheel and prepared her telekinesis. The leading rimewolf had chosen a crystalline mare at the far side of the group as target and the other wolves were swerving to assault the same. The crystalline reacted as trained and planted the ski she was holding on the ground and braced against it. The ponies on either side of her did the same, creating a simple shield. The rimewolves leapt, hoping to power through the obstacle. Their low body mass didn’t give them much impact but the force was great enough to stagger the assaulted pony. Trixie managed to snag one of the last wolves in her magic and brought the wildly struggling creature over to her. High Life caught another one. That still left five rimewolves impacting the skis, pushing them back. The first two wolves were so badly caught between the skis and their packmates that their bodies failed and they burst into ice crystals. Three wolves dropped to the ground and tried to claw and bite anything behind the makeshift barrier before they were clubbed and their bodies too dissolved. Trixie knew the other wolves would be back and they would be joined any second now by those stopped by her fireworks so she needed to quickly neutralize the one in her magic grip. That was easier said than done as the rimewolf was struggling fiercely to free itself making any precision telekinesis difficult. She bashed it against the ground and while it was stunned she set to work. With the rimewolf immobilized she quickly dug a pit in the snow with her magic and placed the howling monster in it. Trixie looked up while trying to swallow the lump in her throat. High Life had also disabled a rimewolf so two were down. Six wolves were approaching the ponies, their light bodies and long bounds virtually flying them across the snow-covered slope. Behind them were three more but those were limping along and would take a good while to reach the ponies. The six in the lead were already turning to aim for the same by now terrified crystalline mare. Trixie glanced at her and saw she was scratched and very nearly panicking but otherwise unhurt. Suddenly she saw High Life leap to stand in front of the shield wall, straight in the path of the rimewolves. His grin was savage and his eyes blazed with an intensity Trixie hadn’t seen before. He’s enjoying this! She gaped at him as he grabbed the three closest approaching wolves in his telekinesis and slammed them together before ducking out of the way with them in tow, letting the rest hit the skis. The Great and Powerful Trixie will not be upstaged by a noble brat! The thought gave her strength but she still hesitated, at a loss on what to do. Then there was a shriek from the middle of the crystal ponies followed by several more. Trixie turned to look but saw only terrified ponies fighting to get free of the throng and running away. She heard Terra shouting at them to stop but they kept fleeing. Trixie was paralysed by confusion so she only watched as the crystal ponies’ previously tight formation disintegrated. Then she saw, in a temporary gap, the glowing eyes of a rimewolf. Her throat constricted but it was worry that propelled her forward, against the fleeing ponies. She dodged two running ponies and looked ahead: there were five rimewolves right in the middle of the crystalline ponies’ ranks. Three crystalline lay on the ground with nasty gashes on their bellies and legs while a few of their companions desperately tried to hold the wolves at bay. Three skis lay on the ground next to Trixie, discarded there by some of the fleeing ponies. She grabbed them in her magic without really thinking about it and hurled them through the air. The trio saw them coming but one was caught mid-jump dodging a ski swung by one of the defenders and couldn’t react. Trixie sensed only little resistance as the ski sliced through its torso. The other two managed to dodge the swooping skis and went immediately back to their assault. They both leaped against the ski of a pony already under attack by the other two, making her stumble and fall. Trixie shouted with desperation and wrenched the skis she held in her magic around, bringing all three scything through the air against the wolves now on top of their target. Two were focused on clawing and biting at the pony below them and never saw the skis coming. A third moved at just the wrong moment and was only jostled off the lying pony. The fourth dodged but was bashed into dust by one of the defenders. Another quick glance around revealed five more shapes erupting from the snow. Trixie sat back on her haunches, ignoring the chill from the ground, and raised her forelegs like a conductor. The skis in her magic separated and leapt into the air. Unburdened by the clumsy grip given by hooves or teeth, Trixie turned the skis into spears instead. They arced through the air and over the heads of the remaining defenders before descending upon the approaching group. The wolves dodged again but Trixie pulled on the skis and sent them chasing the rimewolves. The wolves were fast but not as fast as trixie could propel the skis. Unfortunately the difference in speed was so low that Trixie ended up merely tripping two of the wolves, causing them to tumble on their heads, while the third dodged again. That was still enough to let her finish off the tripped ones. The third was now running side by side with a levitating ski so Trixie wrenched the ski sideways and took out the wolf’s legs. The remaining two were wrapped in a golden-yellow aura and lifted into the air to hover before High Life. He met Trixie’s gaze and winked at her before focusing on the monsters in his grip. Trixie blinked at High Life’s form before losing sight of him. Then she tried to get her bearings again. This made her aware of a blue glow behind her. A rimewolf, almost fully formed except for the tips of the back legs, was bunching its muscles in preparation of leaping upon her. She yelled in fright and stumbled backwards, losing her magical focus. Then the rimewolf leapt. Unicorn instincts took over and she lowered her head to blast the attacker with pure magic. Before she finished the attack, however, a paw hit her head and pushed it to the side. The blast went wide. The body of the wolf hit her and made her fall onto her back. Then she felt teeth grinding on her horn. Claws were scrabbling on her shoulder and scratching her, trying to gain purchase. No magic was possible now, not with her horn clamped in the jaws of a monster. She could feel the creature’s icy breath numbing her head. She was screaming and flailing her legs. By pure luck she got both her hind legs under the wolf and she bucked out of instinct. The rimewolf yelped but refused to let go of her horn, making it curve through the air and wrenching her head painfully in the process. Then the wolf impacted with the ground and her horn was suddenly free. She rolled away and tried to blink away the tears of pure terror in her eyes. The wolf was in front of her now, already getting back on its paws. She growled and her horn flared to life. Searing pain bloomed, as if her horn was on fire, but she powered through it and grabbed the wolf’s head and squeezed. The blue glow in its eyes died and its form dissolved into a puff of snow and ice. After that things dissolved into a blur of experiences for Trixie. Time felt disjointed, like a series of random images depicting grisly monsters, terror and violence and stinging pain from her horn. There’d be the glowing blue eyes of rimewolves forming out of the snow and ice. Then there’d be the tug of her magic as her skis swooped through the air. Images of rimewolves on the ground, speared and disintegrating or dismembered and squirming. The face of a terrified crystal pony forced backwards under the onslaught of two wolves. Visi and Crystal swooping down from above, dragging skis below them and trying to harry the wolves from the air. An injured mare being comforted by two crying friends. Visi hovering in front of Trixie and shouting something... It slowly dawned on Trixie that there were no more moving targets. Sixteen thrashing rimewolf heads jutted from the ground, snouts carefully bound to keep them from howling or snapping at passersby. She blinked at the sight and brought the skis in her magic forward without thinking but a yell and Visi’s hoof on her shoulder roused her before she’d attacked any of the rimewolves and thus set them free. Instead she gazed at the skis. There were three of them and they hovered in her grip. Had she really guided all of them as independent cutting weapons? The three rockets had all used the same basic trajectory and as such had been essentially one object in three parts to her magic. She just couldn’t understand how she’d managed to fight effectively with three improvised weapons in her grip. A hoof touched her shoulder and pushed gently. She allowed herself to be turned so she faced Terra. “Trixie, you’re bleeding from your horn. Are you alright?” Trixie was amazed at how Terra’s hoof trembled against her shoulder but there was something more pressing on her mind. She kept looking at the skis. “Did you see The Great and Powerful Trixie control those three skis at the same time? She’s never done that before!” “It’s probably the hornwalking. I’ve heard unicorns say it improves their magical multitasking. But seriously: are you okay? You’re shivering and I don’t think it’s the cold.” “Trixie will have to learn juggling next!” A large, lime hoof was very gently laid on Trixie’s chin. Any conscious thought skittered away from her mind as she made eye contact with Terra. “Trixie, look at me. You need to focus on your breathing now. Let go of the skis. Breathe with me.” Trixie felt lightheaded. Why was she so out of breath, anyway? Terra kept talking to her and coaching her breathing. Slowing down was amazingly difficult and it scared her but Terra’s voice was ever-present and calming. Eventually she’d brought her breathing in sync with Terra’s. She realised all of a sudden that Terra wasn’t shaking but she herself was. She lifted her right front hoof into her field of vision and confirmed it: her appendage wouldn’t hold still no matter how she willed it. She raised an eyebrow in question and looked back at Terra who nodded. “You’re entering a state of shock. Not surprising. Normally I’d let you just ride it out but I need you to use your healing magic on the wounded.” It took far longer than it should have for Trixie to wrap her mind around Terra’s request. Then she nodded meekly. Terra smiled gently at her. “That’s the spirit. I want you to understand that it’s okay to feel the way you do. It really is! But you don’t have time for that right now as there are ponies who need you. Save it for later, please. Can you do that for me?” Trixie swallowed and looked away. Then she nodded: at first only slightly but each nod that followed was stronger. “Y-yes. I can do that.” “Good. Remember, you’re in charge of morale and there are ponies who desperately need some reassurance right now. You’ve been on a stage in front of bad crowds, haven’t you? Right now it’s the same. You need to be a solid foundation for these ponies to cling to. Are you up for it?” Just like on stage huh? Suddenly Trixie was looking down her nose at the much larger Earthen mare, an action which involved a slight crick in her neck. “The Great and Powerful Trixie is certainly up for it!” Terra just grinned. “Go get ‘em Trixie!” Then she clapped the showpony on the shoulder and moved onwards. Trixie rose onto all four legs and trotted over to where the injured crystal ponies were lying. Seeing the wounds up close twisted her up inside but she also filed that reaction away for later. She met the frightened looks of the injured ponies with a calm gaze, even managing to smile a bit, before bending down and examining the damage done. Then she gently patted all three mares. “The wounds are deep and bleed a lot but they pierce only flesh. They are ragged but clean and should be easy for magic to fix. This will probably sting a bit but Trixie shall work as gently as she can.” In truth Trixie was no doctor. However a solitary life on the road meant you could be far away from assistance when misfortune struck. It paid to be prepared and cuts and bruises were commonplace enough for there to be easily accessible spells that mended them. Trixie admitted silently to herself that she’d never had to use her magic on anything as deep as these cuts but she’d been assured by the doctor she’d paid to teach her that it wouldn’t make a difference. Her horn flared to life again – accompanied by a brief stab of pain – and she focused on the wounds in front of her. The mare whimpered and twitched as the spell forced the edges of her wounds shut but her friends held her and whispered in her ears, gradually calming her. Soon all three ponies were healed. Trixie smiled wearily at them and prepared to use her magic on herself but a hoof laid on her hip brought her to a halt. “Miss Trixie? Thank you.” Trixie looked at the crystalline mare. She looked like a regular citizen of the Crystal Empire really. Emerald coat and light turquoise mane done in that strange, complicated way that they preferred. Trixie smiled gently at her, losing some of her haughty facade. “No need for thanks. Healing you was the least Trixie could do.” The crystalline shook her head and grabbed one of Trixie’s forehooves with both of hers. “No, Trixie. Thanks for everything. For defending us. What you did with those skis was amazing. I’m so grateful.” “R-really? Um, Trixie means... Really, The Great and Powerful Trixie only acted as she hopes everypony would act were they as Great and Powerful as Trixie!” This made the crystal mare giggle and shake her head again. “Not everypony is and of those not everypony does. You’re a good mare, Trixie the Great and Powerful. Thank you.” Trixie felt her cheeks grow warm. “Uh, th-thanks, miss...?” “I’m Easel Green.” There was an irritated cough behind Trixie. She turned around to see High Life looking at her with an air of annoyance. The stallion was bleeding from numerous small cuts on his muzzle and his forelegs were quite scratched as well. “When you have a moment could you heal me up as well?” Trixie blinked at him. “What happened? Trixie had the impression you were doing fine.” High Life looked away and swallowed before answering. “I took on one more than I could take care of simultaneously.” Trixie thought back. She’d had trouble maintaining telekinesis on just one of the struggling monsters, whereas she’d seen High Life snatch away three of them at the same time. Perhaps that hadn’t been such a good idea after all? Suddenly a smile forced its way onto Trixie’s face. “Very well! Hold still and let the Great and Powerful Trixie work her magic!” A short while later High Life had left without a word of thanks. Her horn wasn’t bleeding anymore but the dull migraine she now suffered indicated she’d abused her magic enough for today. Trixie looked around and saw crystal ponies returning from where they had fled, alone or in small groups. She saw Visi and Crystal fly short trips in the frigid winds to summon those who didn’t dare return. Terra was barking orders and counting heads. None of it seemed to touch her. She felt so removed she might as well have been watching through a powerful telescope. Some quiet part of her understood that the shock was threatening to return. Terra’s voice snapped her out of her stupor. “Trixie! You’re going to be roaming freely along the convoy again.” She turned and saw the Earthen mare a couple steps away in front of the already moving convoy. She looked at the large earthen questioningly. “We’re not camping here? It’s late and we’ve had a long day.” Terra raised her eyebrows and chuckled a bit before answering. “Do you think that would be a good idea? Building a camp next to those?” She pointed at sixteen pairs of eyes glowing blue in the dusk. The occasional growl or snort could be heard but the rimewolves had calmed down ominously. Trixie gulped. “...No. Trixie doesn’t... I-I’m sorry. I’m not thinking clearly right now.” Terra rushed over and laid a foreleg over Trixie’s shoulder in order to murmur into her ear. “I know: you are falling to pieces right now and it’s understandable. It’s just that I’m counting on you to help keep the others on their hooves when I’m not there. If you can just keep it up for a couple hours more then you’d do us all a great service. There are some crystal ponies who’d really need something else to occupy their minds with.” She squeezed Trixie’s shoulders briefly before letting go and pulling back to stare at Trixie with her head tilted. “Let’s go.” Then she turned and trotted towards the first wagon which was by now some distance ahead. Trixie only watched the Earthen go without moving. Terra looked back once but didn’t return. Trixie watched the wagons pass. She really couldn’t find the will to move. Then as Visi’s wagon was about to pass her it suddenly stopped. A crystal pony detached herself from the reins and trotted up to Trixie. She craned her neck and saw Easel Green smiling at her. “Tired?” Trixie remembered Terra’s words. Keep up appearances. She sniffed. “Trixie is inspecting the convoy, counting ponies and making sure everypony is safe.” Just don’t ask Trixie to move. There was a knowing gleam in Easel’s eyes that Trixie failed to catch. “Would you like to keep me company? We’re, um, I mean I’m still shaken after – after all of this. W— I could really use somepony to talk to.” A lump had appeared in Trixie’s throat from somewhere and she swallowed it down. Somepony to talk to sounded very attractive right now. “Have no fear! The Great and Powerful Trixie will gladly keep you company.” Easel smiled and extended a hoof to tug at Trixie’s foreleg. “Good! Come on then...” Trixie unthinkingly allowed herself to be led back to the wagon. She found herself regaining more and more of her awareness as she chatted with Easel, Visi and the others. The convoy moved on. Sixteen pairs of glowing blue eyes disappeared behind the curve of the mountain.