Trixie Searches For Magic

by MagicS

Crystals

The mountains to the east of East Glade held more than just monsters but also mysteries and magic. Or at least Trixie hoped Coil was telling the truth about that. She would’ve been pretty annoyed if he dragged her out here for no reason and the only thing that happened was they get chased away by some horrible creature. But when he asked if she would please accompany him to look for something in these mountains and mentioned it was magic foreign to Equestria… well she couldn’t really resist. That was pretty much why she had wanted to come out here in the first place. Anything new and exciting she could use, whether for her shows or something else, would make the entire misadventure to East Glade well worth it.

“I’m glad you asked me to help you, since you know I want to look for new magic and stuff, but I’m just surprised you want to do this too,” Trixie said to Coil as they wandered past the foothills into the eastern mountains.

Oh yes, she had been warned by Vector and Gizzard about all the dangers in the looming mountains. But all her time spent doing nothing in the village while she should be working towards her goal had more than drained on her. So when an opportunity like this comes up why wouldn’t she take it? Besides, she was more than certain her amazing prowess as a unicorn would be able to protect her from whatever random monsters live here. As long as it wasn’t a stone worm.

And she had been forced to deal with so many other problems in East Glade that really didn’t involve her so was going out into these mountains really any more dangerous than staying back in the village where random catastrophes struck every now and then anyways?

“Well I also came out to East Glade for stuff like this too you know?” Coil said to her, he was carrying two large and empty bags at his sides for some reason. “I’ve always been on the lookout for new things.”

It was still early in the morning and the mist hadn’t quite lifted yet, Trixie was annoyed when Coil woke her up not an hour ago but that quickly changed when he told her about the expedition he had planned. Still she couldn’t help but yawn while they ascended into the mountains. Trixie had never gone this far into them as of yet but they weren’t exactly very interesting to her. They were just mountains. A bunch of dirt and rocks. These ones didn’t even have much vegetation on them or anything colorful. Just a lifeless gray like most everything else around East Glade. What was supposedly in the mountains would interest her much more.

“Yeah but how’d you figure out about… whatever’s out here in the first place?” Trixie asked him.

Coil turned to her with a grin. “Crystals. Magical crystals unlike any seen in Equestria. That I know of at least,” He added with a shrug. “Do you recall when you asked me why I came to East Glade?”

“Yeah, I guess. Why?” Trixie quizzically tilted her head at her fellow blue unicorn.

“I told you I came here by random chance. But if I’m being honest that wasn’t quite the truth,” Coil said, a much more thoughtful look coming over his face. “You see I did indeed leave Canterlot to study and experience new magic on my own, but I didn’t just stumble across East Glade. While I was still deciding on just what to do and where to go I came across a very peculiar pony who told me about magical crystals that could be found here.”

“Go on...” Trixie was a bit intrigued.

“Anyways, supposedly these crystals have the special property of storing a spell or other energy. They can also be imbued with a thought or command to do something. Theoretically you can “tell” one of the crystals to store heat and then release it later if you need something to warm you up when you’re cold. Or you could even do something like affixing it to a door and tell the crystal to lock the door, and the magic will force the door shut. Endless possibilities. You could even potentially store a teleport spell or a shield. Who knows? I’d have to run tests on them first.”

“Ooooh, you’re right! Something like that sounds amazing, I bet I could incorporate them into my magic shows easy,” Trixie rubbed her hooves together with an impish grin on her face.

“Haha,” Coil chuckled good naturedly. “Yes I suppose you could use them for your shows too. I was thinking of the more practical applications however. These crystals could bring magic to the magicless. Of course though I doubt there are enough that have naturally formed for that, we would need to find a way to reproduce them first. If that’s even possible.”

The bespectacled unicorn sighed though as he looked deeper into the mountains. “It’s a shame that I wasn’t able to do this sooner though. The crystals were my reason for coming here in the first place yet when I arrived I learned that where the crystals were supposed to be happened to be essentially blocked off by not only all the dangerous creatures in these mountains but Goliath and his croneys too.”

He turned and smiled at Trixie. “I was beginning to lose hope that I would ever be able to either remove or find a way past them to the crystals. But then you came along. Thanks to you taking care of Goliath it’s finally safe enough for me to travel through here. With an escort by The Great and Powerful Trixie of course. I felt you deserved to partake in the splendor too.”

“Well I must thank you for that. I mean something like this is exactly why I came to East Glade too,” Trixie held her head up high. “So how far do we need to go to get them?”

“According to what that pony told me I figure they should be only a short walk past the plateau that Goliath used as his base. He said the crystals grew in the center of the mountains so they have to be around there. The two of us can then harvest and carry as many as possible back to my laboratory,” Coil told her.

“Works for me.”

The two continued on into the eastern mountains, enough time passing as they walked for the mist to start dispersing but a cold morning chill still hung in the air even without it. Trixie looked up at the looming cliffs and peaks while they walked up the same path Coil and the others had taken to get to the plateau beforehand. After that worm and what she had heard about some of the other creatures that lived here she might’ve been just a little wary.

“Coil? Not that I’m not totally confident in my ability to deal with any threats but are you sure it’s safe to be going through here with just Goliath gone? What about everything else?”

“Safe enough, yes. I’ve put a lot of thought into this little mission after all. Since we’re into the actual mountains I’ll show you what I can do,” Coil smiled as his horn lit up and a small beam of magic shot out over their heads before spreading out and creating a canopy that lowered down to the ground like a big dome before disappearing. “Ta-da! Miss Daylight Gleam’s camouflage spell. I spent so much time inside it that I figured out how to copy it.”

“Nicely done,” Trixie looked around but couldn’t tell at all that there was a magical spell around them. “So we’re invisible as long as we’re in here?”

“More or less. It isn’t perfect and anything outside could still hear or smell us so we still need to be a bit careful,” He explained to her.

“Alright, well since you’re the one who knows where we’re going, lead the way,”

Trixie let Coil guide her through the mountains, both of the blue unicorns cheery about their treasure hunt and the hopeful bounty that awaited them. Without the Horn of Listening this time though, Coil was extra careful about them going through the pass that led to the plateau. It was fairly slow going and depending on how long it took them to find and gather the crystals they might not be back to the village until evening.

Regardless, they seemed to have luck on their side for most of the journey. Maybe it was the right time of day or maybe nothing could quite catch their scent but the two unicorns weren’t bothered by any monsters while they traveled to the plateau. To be honest Trixie was kind of disappointed at how dull the day was proceeding so far. It wasn’t just that there was nothing around but that she had to remain quiet and couldn’t really do anything unless she wanted to attract some unwanted attention. Trixie needed things to be more exciting than this, a stroll through some quiet mountains just wasn’t her idea of fun.

When they went through the narrowing path at the bottom of the canyon that led out onto the plateau, Coil noticed that things were quite different in the short amount of time since he had last seen it. Namely that there wasn’t even the slightest trace of life. No pony, griffon, or monster, living on it. The plateau was cold and completely abandoned, dust blowing in the light wind. Any stragglers from Goliath’s band had either made their way elsewhere or suffered a much more unfortunate fate.

“So this is where you all fought?” Trixie asked him.

“Quite so,” He nodded and pointed at the destroyed pile of rocks on the plateau. “That used to be Goliath’s “throne”. It was formerly done up in a shoddy pyramid.”

“Doesn’t look like anyone’s been here in a while.”

“Yes. Well as bad as they were I wouldn’t wish anyone to get eaten by some monster so hopefully they just made it out somewhere else,” Coil said. “Although they’d probably be luckier if any of them still had the ability to fly.”

Not a pleasant feeling when it came to thinking about their former adversaries. Trixie looked around the rest of the plateau to try and see where they needed to go from here. The narrow canyon they came from was the only way leading back to East Glade but there looked like there were several passes and steep ramps that led from the plateau further into the mountains. After that though Coil wouldn’t really know the exact way to go either so they’d have to hope they stumbled upon the crystals quickly. Getting lost or even just having to stay extra long in this labyrinth of mountains with dangerous monsters didn’t sound appealing.

“Should we just keep going directly east?” Trixie asked Coil.

“I’d say so. Might as well go straight and hope the crystals are just right in front of us.”

“I like how we’re just winging this and hoping for the best. That’s Trixie’s kind of plan,” Trixie nodded, pleased with herself. She took one step forward when she felt Coil’s hoof reach out to grab her by the shoulder.

“Wait, stop.”

She looked over at her unicorn friend to see what was up. Coil was intently looking straight ahead of them to the edge of the plateau, she followed his gaze and saw something moving. Steadily coming over the lip of rock were two large pincers. Once up, they clawed at the ground and gave the creature the leverage it needed to foist itself up onto the plateau and Trixie had to do her best to keep from running. It was some sort of giant scorpion, larger than a manticore, with a carapace colored an ashen gray to help it blend in with the surroundings. And unlike normal scorpions this thing had two tails coming out the end of it.

Trixie was no stranger to giant bugs but this thing still set her on edge.

The scorpion’s jaws chattered incessantly while its pincers snapped open and closed over and over. It was clearly looking for something and the giant arthropod kept skittering back and forth on its legs like it expected there to be something on the plateau but was unable to find it.

“It knows we’re here but it can’t see us,” Trixie whispered to Coil.

“Let’s just hope it goes away,” He gulped. The both of them were trying not to sweat in case it might be able to smell them better.

She could probably fight it and beat it if it came down to it but that might draw other monsters to the plateau. And those pincers looked like they could snap her in two. Time to not be a hero and instead calmly wish it gets tired and scurries away. It was good that it was only her and Coil here. If it was Senax, or the mayor, or worst of all, her students, they would definitely expect her to fight it. After all she made herself out to be a vanquisher of monsters when she first came here. Another bad idea of hers in retrospect.

The scorpion would sway to the right, then the left, as if trying to sniff out their exact location. But it was still just an animal and would probably run out of patience if it couldn’t find its prey soon. Thankfully with them standing still too the camouflage spell was essentially perfect. Its sense of smell also couldn’t be the best or it probably would’ve found them by now anyhow.

Trixie did hope the scorpion’s patience ran out before her, admittedly limited, own. If she was wrong and this thing had no problem hanging out well into nightfall… that would be a problem.

And unfortunately for Trixie and Coil their luck seemed to be running out.

Changing its tactics the scorpion started making a circle around the perimeter of the plateau, once it made a full revolution it took a step inwards and continued walking around again in a smaller circle. Eventually it would run into them like this if they didn’t move. But if they did move the thing would see the distortion from their camouflage spell at this distance.

“It’s not giving up, what do we do?” Trixie quietly asked Coil.

“I don’t know, we could try making a break for it. Or we could try and fight it,” He whispered back.

Neither option was very appealing to her, the skittering scorpion could walk very fast with its eight legs and she didn’t doubt that its claws and stingers had some lightning quick reflexes too. Either running or fighting would cause too much of a ruckus and both choices weren’t certain to even end in their victory over the scorpion.

Trixie silently prepared a spell and lit up her horn just in case. Coil couldn’t really do the same since all of his energy and focus was going to maintaining the camouflage spell. But speaking of that, maybe Trixie could fire a sneak attack at the scorpion? That would probably get it good. If she scared it enough it might run off too, right?

As fate would have it, everything Trixie was thinking about turned out to be completely irrelevant.

“Caw!” A screeching cry came from above them and quite possibly the largest bird Trixie had even seen came swooping down to the plateau. It effortlessly grabbed the scorpion in its talons and flew off again, not seeming to be affected at all by the venom from the stingers as they repeatedly jabbed into the birds legs.

From their safe spot under the camouflage spell both of the unicorns stared in shock at what just occurred.

“Hm, well,” Coil started after a pause, rubbing the back of his head. “This plateau does make whatever’s on it quite visible from the sky.”

Trixie groaned in exasperation. “Whatever. Let’s just go get those crystals now.”

The two of them quickly got back on track with what they were doing before being waylaid by the scorpion, neither of them concerned by the creatures in the mountains much anymore. Now that they had left the plateau and headed further east they had entered a part of the mountains that even Vector and Gizzard wouldn’t be able to help them navigate too well.

“So are these crystals going to be in a cave or something or will they just be growing out of the ground?” Trixie wasn’t sure Coil would know but she asked anyways.

“I assume they’re above ground. I was told they were in the middle of the mountains and caves weren’t mentioned at all.”

“Alright, fine by me. The more we rely on chance the more things seem to work out best for me.”

With the sun now right above their heads they traipsed over hills of boulders and inched past deep chasms that fell so far down their bottoms were mired in shadows. Every now and then the two could hear screeching from deep below and the sound of crashing rocks, stone worms carving out new caverns. There was no set path in this treacherous part of the mountains and they had to continuously go up and down and around the lower bits of the peaks and all the valleys between them.

Currently they were struggling up the steep incline of a dirt and moss covered rock formation that dwarfed Twilight’s eye sore of a castle. It was in the middle of two vertical mountain walls that would’ve been impossible for the two of them to climb or pass, leaving this the only way. If they were able to get to the top though they’d have a commanding view of the area. Trixie was actually fairly fit thanks to pulling her wagon everywhere but Coil was having a bit more trouble. Thankfully thanks to all the rocks jutting out everywhere there were plenty of steady and level places to rest and catch a breather.

“Almost there,” Trixie said, she could see the top and could easily teleport to it if she had the desire.

“Almost you say… I should exercise more,” Coil wheezed as he tried to keep up. The camouflage spell possibly also causing him to be more tired than normal.

Trixie had enough sense not to accidentally leave the spell and so she waited for Coil to have enough strength to make the last portion of their trip up the rocks. With a hop up to the very peak of the formation they surveyed what was on the other side.

And found their crystals.

“My word...” Coil looked out in amazement.

The rock formation and the cliffs around it formed by the two mountains concealed a bowl valley that was completely covered in faintly glowing yellow-green crystals. Hundreds of spiky clusters and aggregates that got as tall as a pony littered the bowl below while plenty of errant smaller ones no bigger than an apple stuck out of the ground too, it would take months for them to have enough time to gather up all the crystals and bring them back if they wanted to.

“Wow, we really found them,” Trixie said as she stared down at it all.

“Now I just hope that they do what I was told,” Coil said and started walking down the steep backside of the rock formation, Trixie following right behind him. “And whatever mysteries these crystals hold I hope that I can figure them all out with just the amount I can carry in these bags...”

“Why don’t we test one here? Grab one of the smaller ones and tell it to do something or whatever,” Trixie suggested.

“Potentially risky. But eh, why not?” Coil shrugged. “You have to be willing to take risks to achieve great things sometimes.”

“Exactly,” Trixie grinned, a certain manticore-mouth dive coming to mind.

There didn’t seem to be any monsters or anything else in this hidden valley so Coil tentatively turned off the camouflage spell when they slid down so he could work his magic in other ways. The nearest crystal at the bottom of the valley was a single piece jutting up from the ground. Thin and in the shape of a spear point, it was slightly transparent and had the faintest of sickly green glows to it. Coil was a little nervous but he picked it up from the ground all the same, plucking it from its roots.

“Here goes nothing I suppose. Do you have any ideas on what I should try to get it to do?” He asked Trixie.

She pondered that for a second, it wasn’t something she had been thinking about on the way over. “I dunno. The simplest thing I can think of is just shooting a magic beam into it and telling the thing to hold and release it later. Then you’ve got a laser in your pocket, big surprise for any giant evil griffons that try to eat you.”

“Good enough suggestion,” Coil did as she said and fired a beam of his magic into the thin crystal. The magic was sucked in like water into a sponge and the crystal became slightly less transparent. “Step one’s a success… now I need to tell it to release the beam.” Coil furrowed his brow and pointed the tip of the crystal away from both of them. “Alright, I’m going to “tell” it to release the magic I imbued it with from the tip. Let’s see how it goes. And careful, this could be dangerous.”

Trixie took a step behind him just in case.

“Here we go,” Coil’s horn lit up again and the moment his magic touched the crystal the previous beam of magic was emitted from the tip, harmlessly blasting into some rocks on the ground.

“Hah! It worked!” Trixie cheered.

“Indeed it did!” Coil had a huge grin on his face. “Perhaps I can still find an easier way of reactivating the magic but this was wonderful for a first test,” He turned to Trixie. “Come, let us gather up all that we can carry.”

The Great and Powerful Trixie was more than happy to do so. These crystals might’ve been just what she needed to bring back to Equestria. With any luck she wouldn’t have to be out here much longer.

“Now the only question is what shall we call these things? Can’t just refer to them as plain crystals all the time,” Coil muttered as he picked more from the ground and put them into his bags. “Any suggestions?” He asked Trixie.

Trixie paused, a self-satisfied smile appearing on her face. “Heh, well isn’t that the perfect name? Suggestion Crystals.”

Coil laughed and smacked his knee. “Hah! Quite right! Suggestion Crystals, eh? Sounds good to me.”

They finished gathering up all they could possibly carry and were still left over with plenty of hours of daylight, more than enough time to get out of the eastern mountains before dark. All in all their trip had been very successful and Trixie was the happiest she had been in weeks now that she had something like these crystals. Coil would still be taking them all at first to research them but she could come over to his laboratory and grab all she wanted to take with her when she finally left East Glade.

“I can’t wait to put these things to good use,” Trixie said as she walked past Coil and started back up the rock formation. For my shows, that is. Was the unspoken thought in her head.

Behind her Coil pulled up the rear, bags overflowing with Suggestion Crystals. He looked through his spectacles at them and grinned. “Oh yes, me neither. I’m very excited to put these to good use.”

Author's Note:

Oh right, the plot.

Comments

[redmar]

I wonder what Maud would think of those crystals.

[RoboRed]

Crystals, you saaaayyyyy...?