Terra Firma

Chapters

Chapter 1: Repercussions
Chapter 2: My Friend Is My Enemy's Enemy
Chapter 3: The Womb Of Death
Chapter 4: Desolation
Chapter 5: Forge Of The Gods
Chapter 6: Blood Moon
Chapter 7: The Tiniest Of Pebbles...
Chapter 9: Marker
Chapter 10: Of Warriors And Weddings, Part 1
Chapter 11: Of Warriors And Weddings, Part 2
Chapter 12: Lost And Found
Chapter 8: ...Can Bring Down A Mountain

Chapter 1: Repercussions

I woke up, shaking my head. I found that I slept best near a bed, after setting it as my spawn point. It was pointless to lie down in it, as it was only a piece of furniture. Grumbling, I made my way across the wooden planked floor, pushing my door open so I could step onto the platforms that made up my hellevator.

I was in a massive, wood structure I had built over the course of many days, stopping only as night came and with it the monsters that prowled, hungering for the flesh of myself and my friendly NPCs. That is how I knew my neighbors and allies, because it was simply how I thought. I thought of myself as… A player. I could generate entire worlds, building magnificent buildings and meeting requirements so the merchants and nurses and truffles and others would come flocking to my shelter.

I dropped through the platform, heading deeper into the heart of the earth, watching as the wood walls gave way to dirt, then that vanishing completely, showing me the open expanse of the Underground. It was always awe-inspiring, viewing the transition from homely, tight confinement to the endless concept of the sky-wall. My worlds fascinated me to no end, and this one was the most regal of all of them. This one was my first, where I learned through the hard way that the moaning, walking corpses desired my body as sustenance, where the demon eyes would flit around like bats, ricocheting off of blocks and streaking towards me, intent on wiping me out.

But I digress. I reached my last wooden platform, with a rope ladder below. It was seven blocks wide, and lined with wood, so as to prevent the Crimson and Hallow from jumping to either side, infecting the beautiful land. All my platforms were this way, so as to prevent the horrific loss of life that came with those places of death. I fell from the platform, lowering several blocks before I latched onto the ropes with my winch.

It was a surprise to me when I first discovered rope. I had prodded a pot with my copper shortsword, only for it to shatter and a stack of thirty-seven rope had flung away. I walked to it cautiously, afraid it was another hostile like the green slimes I first encountered. A strange sensation was felt, like tugging, and the item drifted to me. As it made contact, the rope appeared in my hand, ready for use. I placed it down, making a length of six blocks, and then stood there.

I was proud of my creation, however small. My great shock came when a slime bounced towards me, and I rushed to my pillar of rope. I thought of going up, to escape the small gelatinous being, and a winch appeared in my hand, shooting me up. I reached the top, and seeing the monster coming to me, I placed more rope onto my tower, climbing to higher and higher heights.

I was jolted from my thoughts when my feet hit the ground. I was on another platform, but this one was made of obsidian. I had taken it upon myself to build a safe room for me, when I ventured to the Underworld, to Hell. I painstakingly had mined the purplish rock, mixing water with lava to produce the material with a hiss. Taking the blocks with me to a crafting table, I made obsidian brick, and from that, the basic essentials out of the new resource. Hammering it carefully into a slope for the roof, linking it with my rope hellevator, I made a shelter to hide from the fire imps and hellbats, from the demons and bone serpents.

I dropped through it once again, landing on the cool floor. I had made the room spacious, with precious cobalt brick walls and demon torches, which faded through the spectrum. A painting sat in the midground, one that I was rather proud of, one that reminded me of the danger that I had gone through to bring about this beauty. Of the horror that I had defeated. The Wall of Flesh.

Whispers echoed around me as I thought of the monstrous creature, signifying that it still held power in this world. I had sacrificed a guide voodoo doll to lava, weeping the entire time, seeing the words in the lower right corner, “Guide was slain…” My expression quickly shifted to terror, as words formed below that, “The Wall of Flesh has awoken!” accompanied with a bone-chilling roar. A tongue had suddenly latched onto my waist, dragging me kicking and screaming to the pile of mutilated tissue, two enormous eyes gazing at my every move, a gigantic mouth between the two eyes, which were situated above and below it. And the Hungry… The jaws that snapped and drooled as they sensed my body, reaching out while leashed to the Wall with umbilical cords. And when I struck them down to half health, they flew to me, much like a demon eye, intent to kill.

And as I injured the otherworldly abomination more and more, it grew faster and faster, it’s eyes shooting blueish lasers more and more often, rushing to devour my poor body and soul. I shuddered at the memories, eagerly wishing that they were not so painful. Those who had not faced it would say it sounded like the stuff of nightmares. They would be wrong. IT IS THE NIGHTMARE. The painting was “Living Gore”, showing a side view of the great destroyer. I looked at it, admiring the detail, listening to the ambient music that came with Hell. It was the same that came with a Blood Moon, but it felt more fitting down here. In my shelter, it felt calming. I learned it was named ‘Eerie’, after recording it with a music box. I had a recording of the Overworld Hallow in my inventory, as I found it the most soothing of them all.

I heard a sudden shift in the sounds, listening to something new… It was not the blood rushing chords of a boss battle, nor was it the calm tone of the Overworld Day. It sounded like many voices singing, all in harmony, all together. Each was a different tone, so much that it would seem to be chaos, but the voices managed perfect symphony. I felt drawn to it, in a way I had never felt before. It spoke of peace.

I shook my head and drank a recall potion, so I could gather items before travelling. I always remained well stocked, whether to a newly generated world or simply a trip to the dungeon. Despite the risk, I took ten platinum coins, because I had more than enough. Equipping my Frost armor, with Adamantine as vanity and bright blue dyes in all slots, I left to the source. As I dropped to the depths again, I took note of my accessories: warding Frozen Wings, menacing Fire Gauntlet, warding Frostspark Boots, warding Celestial Stone, and my pride and joy of my accessories, the one I had worked diligently to, my warding Ankh Shield. With my precious Legendary Adamantite sword in hand, Keen Adamantite pick at the ready, and a valuable Unreal Megashark in my third hotbar slot, I entered my safe room again.

The singing was stronger to the left. I should explain, my world is split into three parts, the foreground, midground, and background. Myself, NPCs, and other mobs reside in the foreground, as well as most blocks. Furniture and decorations reside in the midground. Walls reside in the background, and what is behind that is the “Far Reaches”, or the concept of the rest of the world.

I had travelled maybe a hundred blocks, before I saw something rather amazing. It was a massive portal, residing in all the grounds. It seemed like I could walk through it, yet I knew I couldn’t, for it was a solid object in the foreground. It was composed of a brick similar to the rare Rainbow Bricks, but seeming much more pastel colored. It shifted through many bright hues, with a strange energy emanating from it. The singing was calling to me from it, like a siren, drawing me in. I prepared my sword, and stepped into the anomaly.

As I moved, I saw a strange text in front of me, stating, “Execute Command.”

-------------------- Derpy Hooves’ POV --------------------

“I just don’t know what went wrong,” I groaned, stumbling around the Everfree. I had gone to simply deliver the mail, when a cotton candy cloud hit me, leaving my bags trapped in the sticky object. A very strange set of circumstances later, even by my standards, I was trudging through the Everfree Forest to try and find a shrubbery.

I heard an odd sound, a vwooosh vwooosh, and my coat stood on end from the pure energy. I trotted to the source, only to see a color-changing thing, in the middle of a clearing, that seemed oddly two-dimensional. Suddenly a bright flash appeared, and when my sight returned there was a bipedal thing where the object was. It had some sort of armor or clothing on, deep blue eyes, and a pale face that was oddly flat.

The weirdest thing was not that it stood on two legs, or was holding a massive sword effortlessly in a single hand, but that it spoke, somehow in perfect Equish, “What kind of NPC are you?”

I flew off to Ponyville in terror, leaving the being behind shrugging, not seeing it turn to the sound of growls and snaps. “Twilight will know what to do about this. I gotta find her- Whoops! Sorry!” I thought aloud, narrowly missing an oddly familiar pegasus with a pure gray coat and mane who was sleeping on a cloud.

Chapter 2: My Friend Is My Enemy's Enemy

I was blinded by a flash of light, only to regain my senses in the middle of the strangest forest. It was the concept of the rest of the world come true. Everything had lost it’s familiar restraints of foreground, midground, and background. I readied my sword, prepared for anything, only to see a strange creature. It looked intelligent, as it had facial expressions, something I only knew that I could have. “What kind of NPC are you?” I questioned, hoping it could respond. The thing looked terrified, before flying away on a pair of wings I hadn’t noticed before. I realized that I had found it kind of cute. Gray coat, blonde hair, gold eyes, but the most adorable aspect was how the eyes were facing separate directions, a goofy look implied.

I shrugged at the sudden fleeing of the creature, before hearing growls around me. That was new… There was no ambient music here. And sound came from all directions. It was disorienting, being thrown into a new perspective. I whipped my head from new side to new side, looking for the source of the sounds. I found it, a wolf. But not quite like the ones that came in the Snow biome in Hardmode, there was something… Off, about it. I soon realized what: it was made of sticks, twigs, leaves, and moss.

Hearing more growls, I saw more and more of these wooden monsters, before a large one lunged to me. “This is new. Not like the fighter method, but similar. As if these are communicating.” No sooner did I speak aloud did two more wolves leap, attempting to take me by surprise. Thanks to an unknowable amount of years of fighting hostile mobs, I was almost never caught unawares. Whipping my Adamantite Sword out, I swung it at the first attacker, slicing it in half as the body was set on fire with blue flames, the Frostburn effect from my armor. As the remains dwindled to ash, I equipped my Megashark, blasting dozens of crystal bullets into the remaining wolves, laughing as the shards caused mass “hemorrhaging”, due to them not having blood. As the Frostburn cleaned up the corpses, I switched back to my sword before walking to the bodies. When no cash jumped out, or other items, I was shocked.

Surely in a new place the mobs would drop SOME loot. I shook my head disappointedly, before walking in search of a path.

A half hour later, with a strange lack of nighttime, I had found a well-worn path and left the forest. As I strolled out of the woodland, I saw a cloud up in the sky. Then another, and another, and then many more. “What? HOW COULD THERE BE SO MANY FLOATING ISLANDS?!” I cried to the heavens, unknowingly waking a discordified Rainbow Dash from her nap.

“Hey buddy, keep it down, or I’ll make you!” The pegasus shouted, looking down from the first cloud and catching me by surprise. I was indignant that a creature had yelled at me, and then threatened me. “I would like to see you try, you stupid slime!” I retorted, using a relatively good insult in hopes that it would at least get me even. I wasn’t prepared for the gray bolt that flashed to me, slamming me into the ground and causing me to take a good heart of damage.

I stood up from the site of impact, equipping my pickaxe. I saw the assailant had flown back up to it’s cloud, so I flew with my Frozen Wings and mined the floor out from beneath it. I hadn’t moved an inch from where I had stood when I was hit, thanks to my Ankh Shield, but it didn’t prevent me from going down, and the force hurt. As the creature fell from it’s cloud, I swiftly whacked it in the side of the head with the flat of my blade, to prevent damage.

I then saw more creatures come to me, these ones colorful, so I sat and waited.

-------------------- Twilight Sparkle’s POV --------------------

As Alec, Tohl, and I left to harmonize everypony else, we saw a strange thing fly up and literally mine a cloud, causing the discordified Rainbow Dash to fall. I gasped as it hit her in the side of the head with a massive sword, before gliding down and sitting, apparently having caught sight of us. “Is that another human, Alec?” I asked, not entirely sure myself.

“If it is, it sure as Tartarus isn’t from the UNSC. We don’t have wings, or swords, or armor like that. But it did save us some trouble.”

I nodded in acknowledgement, and we trotted to the being, hoping that it wouldn’t attack us.

-------------------- Terra Firma’s POV --------------------

I saw that these creatures were also four-legged, which seemed to be the main case in this world. I saw an odd thing that looked like a wolf made out of Titanium, with sapphire gemspark eyes, joints, and a mouth, as well as sapphire gemspark spines. I saw the lavender one talk to the cyan one, which responded, and the trio moved to me. I unequipped my sword, selecting a single platinum coin and holding it.

When the creatures arrived, I saw that the lavender one had a horn and no wings, while the cyan one had wings and no horn. I saw a strange expression on the lavender one’s face, and thinking it was threatening, I held my Adamantite Sword once again. They stopped, before the cyan one and the Titanium-gemspark wolf came up to me, and the first one spoke.

“Who are you?”

These things spoke perfect Terrarian! I thought I was the only one, besides the NPCs! Finally, sentient beings that weren’t out for my blood! Oh, thank the dryads, something to commune with!

“What do you mean, NPCs? Look, just come with us, and tell us what the buck you are, why you’re here, and why you hit Rainbow Dash with a sword.”

Apparently I had said my thoughts aloud. Smiling sheepishly, both at the embarrassment of what I said and the tone that spoke of command, I complied, explaining. “I am Terra Firma, a Terrarian. In fact, I’m the only Terrarian, as far as I know. I had gone to Hell to gather resources, when I heard a beautiful singing, that overtook the normal ambient music. I gathered some supplies, looked for the source, and saw a thing that took up the foreground, midground, and background. It was shifting through the spectrum, much like Rainbow Bricks do, but this one was more bright and pastel. I stepped through, even though it was a solid block and shouldn’t have been possible, and found myself here.”

“That still doesn’t explain two things: what do you mean, NPCs, and why did you hit Rainbow Dash?” the cyan being replied to my explanation, exasperation entering it’s voice.

“A NPC is a Non Player Character. I am the only Player that I know of in existence. As a Player I am able to generate and name worlds, and then build shelters in them to house NPCs, which require certain things to spawn. Then I am able to buy and sell with them, or heal for a fee from the Nurse NPC. Do you not have them here?”

“.... What?”

“I will take that as a no. As for this ‘Rainbow Dash’,” I said, making air quotations with my hands, “It certainly does not seem much like a rainbow. I had seen an abundance of floating islands and even some made out of Bubblegum Blocks, and yelled in surprise. The creature here shouted at me to be quiet or it would make me. I called it a slime, and it travelled faster than a Pulse Arrow, and smashed me into the ground. I didn’t take any knockback, but I still lost a heart of health.”

“.... What?”

“*Sigh* And here I thought you were sentient. Me yell, it yell, me yell, it attack, I retaliate. Comprende?”

The lavender thing walked up and pushed the cyan one aside, which was still grumbling. “What do you mean, floating islands? Those are just clouds. And the pink ones are cotton candy, not these “Bubblegum Blocks” you’re talking about. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to harmonize my friend here.” The reality that it had a horn struck me, much like the unicorns of the Hallow. But it didn’t attack me, instead the horn lit up and it touched it to the being I had knocked out, returning color to it.

I stepped back in fear, shaking and terrified that the unicorn would turn on me any second. It noticed this, and stepped closer, “What’s wrong? Haven’t you seen a unicorn before?”

“Yes. But they were… Bad. And you look similar to them. Please… Please don’t hurt me.” I whimpered, cringing back from the impending doom. Suddenly, a rainbow blur hit me like a falling star, and I was knocked out, which had never happened.

“Ugh… What was that? Why is everything so blurry? Why does my head hurt?” I asked, lifting myself up. I suddenly remembered what occurred, and I bolted awake. I was lying down on a couch inside a living tree, which was filled with bookcases. The room was round, which was impossible. But then again, many impossible things had happened to me today, and I had done the impossible many times in the past. The lavender unicorn trotted into the room, causing me to shrink back in fear. “No, don’t… Stay away… Please…”

The unicorn looked confused, before a look of realization dawned on it. “That wasn’t me earlier, that was Rainbow Dash. Don’t worry, I’m not going to hurt you. I’m going to heal you. You’ve got some broken ribs, and your shin is fractured.”

“That’s it? Really? Please, just stay away, I can take care of it myself.” I stated, pulling out a Greater Healing Potion. Before I could drink it, it was wrapped in a purple glow, and taken away from me. “What’s this? Can I study it? What’s it for?”

I groaned in pain, looking at my heart count. It was at half, enough for the potion to restore me completely. “Look, just give it back. I need it right now. I’m at half health, and if I get hit that hard again I’m literally dead.” The unicorn looked shocked and horrified, before returning the elixir. “Sorry, I guess I got a little carried away… Hehe…”

I glared at it, before uncapping the Greater Healing Potion and drinking the contents. Immediately the pain left my body, my hearts went to full, and I felt rejuvenated. “That’s much better. Seriously though, don’t kill me. When I said bad experiences with unicorns, I mean getting impaled with a horn or getting stampeded over. It’s not fun having to travel all the way back to the Hallow for my money.”

The unicorn looked terrified. “You mean, you’ve been killed?! How are you still alive?!” I looked at it like it was an idiot, which it probably was. “Of course I’ve died. Too many times to count, actually. It’s what happens when you leave a door unblocked during a Blood Moon. I’m alive right now, because I respawn. I’m a Terrarian. We come back. But not here, cause my entrance to here is gone. And I need a bed soon, so I can set my spawnpoint and not have to worry about never getting five platinum coins back.”

“A Blood Moon? Spawnpoints? The Hallow? Just where the buck are you from?”

“Many places, unicorn, many places.”

“My name is Twilight Sparkle.”

“And mine is Terra Firma.”

Twilight Sparkle looked bemused, “What kind of a name is that?”

“It is the name I spawned with originally. Back in the world I first made, the world Requiem. The place where I first died, and certainly not the last.”

“Made? What do you mean?”

I chuckled. “Another time, Twilight. Another time.”

The lavender unicorn looked disappointed, before brightening up. “It’s not often that I make new friends, but I was hoping that you would be one…”

“I accept your gracious offer.

“And also, my friend is my enemy’s enemy. You would do well to remember that, for I fear the evils of my world are coming here.”

Chapter 3: The Womb Of Death

I smirked as the strange group of a unicorn, two pegasus, and metal canine left to “harmonize” the rest of their friends. I followed closely behind, blade resting easily, for this world was hardly dangerous compared to those that I generated. I thought back to my world I named “The Devil’s Soul”, where I had found it to contain the Corruption. I entered another world of mine and gathered Crimstone and crimson seeds, then returned to The Devil’s Soul, where I planted and placed the infectious materials of the Crimson. Building a shelter afterwards, hanging from a floating island, I travelled to the surface time and again, recently finding that everything was now either Corrupt or Flesh. I had revelled in the chaotic beauty the mass of death held, as I saw Ebonstone trapped within the folds of Crimstone, and vice versa. I learned it was a mistake, for I was swarmed by Devourers, Eaters of Souls, Face Monsters, Crimeras, and Blood Crawlers.

I shuddered at the thought, for it was my most recent death. I did not dare venture to recollect my hard won money, instead attempting to make a cleansed area where I could stay in peace, and not fear the great Wyverns that controlled the sky, or the countless abominations that traversed the Corruption and Crimson. I walked into the lavender unicorn, who was apparently harmonizing an acquaintance. My stumbling woke me up, and caused the unicorn to lose its concentration, leaving a very angry dull yellow pegasus.

The enraged being shrieked, forcing the others to cover their ears, while I saw my health drop by a heart from the pure force. The pegasus flew at me, only for me to hit it with the flat of my Adamantite Sword, knocking it sideways. It didn’t deter it, for the creature charged at me again, this time making impact. the shock wasn’t as much as when Rainbow Dash had slammed into me, but it still took away five hearts. The unicorn finally managed to regain its senses, grabbing a hold onto the pegasus and starting to harmonize it again. I sighed, thinking this would be a long day.

An unknown amount of time later, the now large group travelled to a place near the town I was at that was extremely strange. It had upside down floating islands, with unusual creatures running about, and an even stranger being sitting on a throne on a hill. As the group and the being began to monologue, I tuned out and equipped my Legendary Adamantite Sword, prepared to fight. The being noticed this, and turned to me. “My, aren’t you the strangest thing here! I can feel the chaos coming from you, it’s amazing! Do tell me, where are you from? What are you? I could use a little pet like you.”

I glared at the being which had twisted its head upside down while smiling. “I have no reason to answer you, monster. Words will get you nowhere, and if everything else in this place is the average, you will be a cinch to kill. Besides, I could use an easy boss battle.” I smirked as I spoke, hoping the creature was tempted. It didn’t get to answer, before a great beam of colorful light shot from the group of six quadrupeds, leaving the cyan pegasus and metal dog with me. As the flash faded, I saw the creature had been turned into a statue, with a knowing smirk on its stone face. I immediately took out my Adamantite Pickaxe, and mined the statue to keep. As I opened my inventory and looked at the tooltip, it said, “Discord Statue” ‘The Spirit of Chaos, turned to stone. If powered by wiring, he will revert to his original form.’

“Hm, that’s rather interesting. Maybe I can still have that boss battle.” I muttered, blissfully unaware of the looks of shock, outrage, and piqued curiosity that were being sent my way. I then put an Angel Statue on my hotbar, and placed it, out of spite. These statues were completely useless, even according to the Merchant NPC. Why not mess with the minds of these simple creatures? The group just stared at the statue and myself, bemused. I couldn’t hold in my laughter anymore, and I fell to the ground, guffawing.

I felt a sharp pain on my cheek, and I looked up to see a frustrated lavender unicorn, apparently the one who slapped me. “What’s so funny? We just turned Discord back into a statue, then you somehow take the statue and place THIS useless piece of junk!” It berated, sweeping a hoof back to the Angel statue. “Give us back the statue, and give us all an explanation on what you are.”

I sobered up, opening my inventory and dropping the requested furniture. I then proceeded to remove the Angel Statue, that the white and purple unicorn from earlier had been admiring. I realized that items I placed still retained the original qualities from Terraria, my universe, and I saw that the Angel Statue had remained in the midground. “YES!” I shouted, pumping an armored fist in the air. I rushed over to the library that I woke up in after being knocked out, flew up the stairwell and set my spawnpoint on a starry sky-sheeted bed, before flashing back outside to the group, puffing for air. “I’m… *pant* Not… *pant* Used to… *pant* Running out of… *pant pant* Breath when running.” I gasped before straightening up. “This world has a core, correct?” I questioned, receiving confused nods in return. “Then I’m going to Hell. Adios!” I cried, before tunneling rapidly into the depths of the world. My pit kept the familiar aspects of foreground, midground, and background, making me feel secure, having some shreds of my worlds.

I suddenly felt extreme heat, as if there was lava right below me. I broke open a single block to peer through, only for magma to gush through and drain my health. “Terra Firma likes to play in magma.” Said the death message, as I felt the energy that was my form swirl in the void, waiting to be reborn. Whenever I died, I felt immense pain, but then nothing. I always entered a black void, that held a faded view of where I had left the world, and the words ‘You Are Dead...’ in the center of it, screaming and mocking me. I coalesced, materializing next to the bed where I set my spawnpoint. “Oh my dryads… That was not fun.”

I drank a Greater Healing Potion, before trudging back to the site where I died. As I arrived, I saw the group from earlier gazing mournfully at the pit that I dug, as the molten rock that incinerated my body swirled deep below. “Don’t bother looking for my gravestone. They don’t have any monetary value.” I stated, walking up behind them. “Terra! We thought you were dead! I notified the Princesses when you didn’t come back up, they should be here soon.” The lavender unicorn shouted, tear stains marking its face. “I DID die. Didn’t you see the death message?”

“We did.” A regal voice sounded from behind me, causing the others to whirl in shock, before bowing. I simply turned my head, casting a quick glance, before shrugging. “And who exactly are you? Another stupid creature with no knowledge of the world?”

The unicorn from earlier gasped, before shrieking, “That’s Princess Celestia! She’s not stupid!” “Calm down, Twilight Sparkle. This being’s insult means nothing to me.” ‘Celestia’ said, and then another voice spoke. “But it did to me,” said a midnight blue creature, the was flapping its wings in front of me, dressed in silver regalia. Its horn glowed dark blue, and suddenly I was floating above the ground. “Put me down, you imbecile. I’m a damn Terrarian, I could slay you where you are!”

A slap across the face from the flying creature. “Not until you apologize to us!” I sneered, seeing how I didn’t take a lick of damage. “I see no reason to. You are not an NPC, and yet you are not a stupid, docile creature like a squirrel or rabbit! You fail to hurt me, so you are an excuse for a mob! Now release me!” I suddenly fell, slipping into the pit I had dug. I flapped my Frozen Wings, launching my form high into the air, before releasing my chilling grip on the air and dropped onto the ground, crouched and in the center of a crater.

“Please. That is not even worthy of a simple slime. Go take some tips from the Eater of Worlds.” I grinned, enjoying the playing quite a bit. I hadn’t even lost a full heart. Suddenly there was a golden flash, and everything went black.

-------------------- Meanwhile, in Requiem --------------------

A lone Ebonstone block sat in the midst of a sea of dirt and stone. It pulsed suddenly, spreading its influence, the infection growing exponentially as more and more blocks were converted. A portal, like the one that brought Terra Firma to Equestria, formed in a cave, where the Crimson and Corruption was spreading. As the respective biomes made contact, a large swath of the different blocks vanished in the midst of light. The Crimson ones appeared deep below the ground level, between Ponyville and Canterlot. The Corruption blocks formed deep in the heart of the Everfree, slowly mutating the dark plant life.

The horrific plagues began to spread.

-------------------- Terra Firma’s POV --------------------

I awoke once again lying down, but this time on the dirt floor. I stumbled to my feet, shaking my head as I checked for any status effects. I saw two in the upper right corner where they showed, one labeled ‘Chaos State,’ and the other, ‘Solar Wind.’ I attempted to dispel them, only to let out a grunt of pain as I lost a few hearts. “Ugh… What happened?”

“You angered the Princesses, that’s what.” Came the snarky and annoyed reply from Twilight Sparkle. “I hope you’re proud of yourself.” I shook my head once again, trying to hide a smile. “I’ll admit, the gold flash left me with two very strange debuffs. And one of them should only appear when I use the Rod of Discord to teleport.”

“Debuffs? Rod of Discord? Teleporting? Seriously, what are you? I’m sure the Princesses want to know as well. That is, if you’re willing to stop antagonizing them.” I pouted, a morose frown on my face, replying, “Awww, but it’s so fun!” A deathly glare was returned, and I immediately shut up. “Alright, I’ll behave. Also, do you have any open housing here? I have an idea.”

“that’s more like it. And I’m sure there are plenty of houses for sale here in Ponyville.” I chuckled at the name, it was so stupid. “Good to hear. I’ll test out my… Idea… Later, when I’m done explaining.” As we walked back to town from the pit I’d dug, which I’d woken up beside, I saw a small patch of fleshy red grass. Shrugging, thinking it was an illusion, I hurried to catch up to Twilight.

After a bit of walking, we arrived at the living tree. I saw a sign outside, and found it said ‘Golden Oaks Library’. We stepped inside, and I found that all the creatures that had been harmonized, as well as the Princesses and the metal canine, cyan pegasus, and a small, purple dragon were waiting. I took a deep breath, before striding forward. “I am Terra Firma, a Terrarian. As far as I know, I am the only one. I think of myself as a Player, because I am able to generate, name, and delete worlds, as well as almost fully interact with my environment. My aspect is split into three parts, the foreground, which all living creatures, as well as most blocks, reside in, the midground, which contains decorations and furniture, and some blocks, and the background, which contains walls. Beyond the background is the sky-wall, or concept of the rest of the world.

“When Twilight had said that I had died, she was right.” Several gasps of shock. “As a Terrarian, I die when my hearts reach zero. They represent my health, with one heart equal to twenty health. I had died by lava when I was attempting to find the Hell on this world.” Celestia butted in, “So the ‘death message’ that we sensed in the fabric of our universe, was you?” I nodded, glad that this one understood. “Correct. In my world, when I die a death message is displayed. They are typically humorous, and I have no idea why. The death message from the lava was “Terra Firma likes to play in magma.” I respawned here, because I had set my spawnpoint using the bed upstairs. My death message is displayed for a few seconds, before fading. During that time, I have a view on the site of my exit of my form, although shaded darkly and the words ‘You Are Dead...’ displayed in a bloody color. After a few seconds, I reform at my spawnpoint, granted a second or two of invincibility.” The alabaster unicorn stood on its hind legs, before falling backwards onto a couch in a swoon. “I am a Softcore Terrarian. This means when I die, I lose half of the money I carried on me. I lost five platinum coins to that lava, and I’m rather upset by that. One platinum coin is equal one hundred gold coins, one gold coin is worth one hundred silver coins, and one silver coin has the value of one hundred copper coins. Most mobs drop copper coins on death, with some dropping silver, and bosses always drop gold.”

The midnight princess that I argued with earlier raised an eyebrow at this. “What, exactly, is a boss? You spoke of it before, but we didn’t understand.” I facepalmed. “Don’t you things have ANY knowledge on the workings of the world?!” Twilight shouted indignantly in response, “We do for OURS, but you come from an entirely different universe!”

My jaw dropped. “What.”

“You heard me.”

“Well, that explains quite a bit. A boss is like a super mob. They have extremely high health all of them upwards of six-thousand health, except for the Brain Of Cthulhu, which has one thousand, but is invincible until you destroy all of the Creepers that follow it.They drop very useful items, specifically Healing Potions, Greater Healing Potions, money, either Demonite Ore or Crimtane Ore, depending on if the world contains the Corruption or the Crimson, and Demonite or Crimtane bars as well. Upon entering Hardmode, they will then drop Hallowed Bars, which cannot be obtained any other way.”

“How does one enter this Hardmode you speak of?”

I shuddered. “Do you truly want to know?”

“I am quite sure.”

Shaking my head, I said a very simple phrase. “Kill the Wall of Flesh.” Upon uttering the name, whispers echoed from everywhere, spooking everyone in the room. I even saw illusions of The Hungry flit from one wall to the other, before vanishing. “And it has not been killed here. Its name holds even stronger power, so much that it could be summoned simply by repeating its title. And if it were to awake, everyone would die.”

The inhabitants of the room were trembling in fear, even the Princesses. “Do you have natural illusions here? I thought I saw some Crimson grass on the way here.” At the shaking of heads, I grew determined. “Then the Crimson is here. I have no idea how, but it’s spreading. I have to go find a way to stop it, and I have to make sure noone accidentally awakens the Brain of Cthulhu.”

“How are you going to do that?”

“I will have to enter the Womb of Death.”

The Princesses looked determined. “Then we shall all come.”

I shook my head, both at their foolishness and their determination. “Then it shall be your death. The creatures of the Crimson will waste no time in rending you limb from limb, and you don’t respawn like me.”

“I must go alone.”

Chapter 4: Desolation

I strode to the site where I had seen the fleshy ground that signified the presence of the Crimson. I had some trouble finding it, before I saw that it had spread rapidly, as if this world were in Hardmode. There was a large plain, filled with red and pink, eyes growing from stalks of grass and tissue smothering the ground. I could only shake my head, seeing the desolation before me. The only life I saw was the plant life, and then some movement. A dark hill of Crimstone had grown in the center, arching over with an entrance facing me. A quick flash in the darkness, then spindly legs crawled from the hole like a cockroach from a skull’s mouth.

Following the limbs was the large, pale, fleshy body of a Blood Crawler. No longer following the comforting aspects of my world, I could now see it in all its terrible glory. A large jaw, with no eyes visible, sat hunched forward, a pair of legs jutting from the back of it. A large, ovoid abdomen followed, pulsing with either blood or digestive juices. Fangs leered from the mouth, maroon venom dripping like saliva. It was terrifying, and for once I felt fear. I shook my head, and charged it, battle cry ripping from my throat. A swift slash down and then to the side, something I could never do before, and the spawn of the Crimson was literally quartered. A guttural bellow came from behind me, before I felt a pair of powerful jaws clamp down on my waist like a vise.

I attempted to twist from the grasp, adrenaline rushing, before I felt cold seeping in from where the teeth punctured. An icon appeared in my status area, entirely new, showing a group of small, round, red orbs, with green wires emitting from them. I read the tooltip, and it said, ‘Infected. Lasts until cured.’ A sudden crunch, and the jaws snapped my ribcage. I screamed in agony, wildly flinging my sword around, praying to hit my assailant. A loud thwack was heard, and a piercing screech, and I was dropped. I stumbled, clutching my chest with one arm, and turned, slowly, oh so painfully slowly, to face the attacker.

My eyes were greeted with an enormous mouth. Situated above the gaping maw was a pair of yellowish eyes, glaring hatefully at me. My attention was drawn to the jaws, and I saw how they nearly reached the ground, spread impossibly wide, with stalactites and stalagmites of fangs. A sudden lunge, and my head was snapped off, swallowed by the beast. “Terra Firma was beheaded by Face Monster…” I saw the terrible scene from my death view, horrified as I saw the abomination begin to devour my body, slurping up scraps of flesh, a pair of platinum coins and fifty gold coins resting nearby.

I respawned with a gasp. I still felt pain, and the creeping chill, when I saw my Infected debuff remained. I groaned, both in agony and annoyance, staggering to the lower level. “Did your trip go as planned, Terrarian?” Said Rainbow Dash, smirking. “Go… Go fuck yourself… The Crimson is spreading fast… I… I need to get… Back there…” I moaned, heart thumping wildly in my chest. I gasped, falling to one knee, as the cold moved slowly to my extremities, before wrapping around my heart, already slithering up my neck. “Just… Need… To… To… Keep… Going…” I muttered, rising to my feet before falling face-first. “I… Need… To… End… This…”

Darkness filled my vision, before revealing a shocked library and the death screen, message saying, “Terra Firma couldn’t find the cure…” A short wait later, and I formed again, status effect still there. It started where the jaws of the Face Monster had bit into my sides, leeching my health away. I fumbled through my inventory, before snagging a regeneration potion and drinking it. It combated the debuff, allowing me to move normally. I walked downstairs, passing by the inhabitants of the library again, not noticing that the cyan pegasus and metal dog from earlier followed me. Flapping my Frozen Wings, I made quick progress to the Crimson, prepared to face the new danger of the place.

Touching down, sword in hand, I ran to the Crimstone cave, trying to enter before the regeneration potion wore off. I leapt up, reaching the lip of the tunnel, before rushing into the depths, barely making out where the direction switched suddenly. As I sprinted, I looked into my inventory and picked up the only Shine potion I thought to bring, and chugged it. Immediately a bright glow suffused the area, emanating from my body, removing the need for torches or glowsticks. I suddenly flung myself off the end of the tunnel, falling to the floor at near-terminal velocity. I flared my wings, gliding down to the Crimson Hearts that resided on the floor of the cavern I was now in.

“This sure as hell should get me a dryad here. I need the status on this place, ASAP, and a damn new debuff won’t stop me!” I shouted, equipping my Pwnhammer and smashing the beating organs, watching grimly as the informational text appeared. As the third and final heart fell under my powerful tool, a roar echoed around, with the notice, “Brain of Cthulhu has awoken!” Then the boss battle music started, causing adrenaline to rush through my veins as the familiar theme filled the area. “You’re awake now, and I don’t give a fuck if you’re angry, you’re being put to sleep!” I cried, laughing happily as I saw the first of the Creepers float through the Crimstone floor, pale orbs signifying the presence of the boss. The new look on them surprised me, because instead of the normal, flat objects I was used to, they were now perfectly round things, with a tiny, black pupil staring at me. “Come on, bring your leader to me! There’s PLENTY of me to go around!”

-------------------- Alec’s POV --------------------

I followed Terra Firma, with Tohl at my side, racing to catch up with the fleeting Terrarian. After a massive sprint, we managed to see him jump a ridiculous height into a strange mound. It was made of a mottled black and red, with a seeming fleshy appearance, and it looked eerily similar to a mouth. A squish from my hooves notified me of the grass as well, and I took flight out of disgust. The ground was covered in moss that looked and sounded like tissue, and reeked like a corpse. The grass was a deep red, with organs sprouting from some parts. Tohl continued, unimpeded, so I flew after him. We managed to find Terra Firma, only to watch him drink a yellow potion from a bottle that had a hole in the center. He immediately began glowing, providing us with a perfect lightsource.

A minute or so of running later, we watched as the Terrarian leapt off the edge of the tunnel, gliding down to a trio of unnerving things below. I shuddered, closing my eyes as I attempted to banish the image of the hearts beating below, thudding with a deep bass, resounding throughout. Terra Firma pulled out a silver and gold hammer, with a large ruby in the center of the head, and began smashing the organs, causing me to throw up to the side. He didn’t notice, and as the final heart was demolished, an otherworldly roar reverbrated throughout the cavern. Suddenly music began playing, setting a strange, blood-rushing theme to the sight. Suddenly a large eye phased through the ground below, a fat white sphere with a tiny pupil that was centered on the Terrarian. “Come on, bring your leader to me! There’s PLENTY of me to go around!” He shouted, his massive blade suddenly in hand.

A gross sound was heard behind Tohl and I, and we turned to see a swarm of the eyes flying to us, with a massive brain-with vertebrae attached and tentacles flapping from the brain stem-floating to us. I manifested my armor, before grabbing Tohl and leaping to the floor, clutching my friend as we braced for impact.

-------------------- Terra Firma’s POV --------------------

I heard a loud thump behind me, and I turned to see the Titanium-gemspark canine from earlier on the ground with an armored creature. The armor flickered with golden electricity, before vanishing, revealing the groaning form of the cyan pegasus from earlier. “Ugh. Note to self, don’t jump off the bucking edge.” It muttered, with a male voice. “What are you two doing here? You can’t honestly think you’ll help?” I questioned, a concerned tone combined with a smirk. “I’m Fireteam Crimson, Spartan two-five-zero, and Alec. And I can bucking try.” He snarled, before the armor reformed around him.

A Creeper began flying to us, a second and third close behind, intent on catching Alec by surprise. The dog suddenly turned, before opening its mouth and shooting what appeared to be a combination of Ichor bullets and the beams from a Laser Rifle. My jaw dropped, seeing how the rapid stream of projectiles impacted the trio, and damage numbers from fifty to sixty flashed above. The eyes blew apart with a squelch, Crimtane Ore and Tissue Samples falling. I snagged them, before equipping my Megashark.

“Tohl, let’s see who gets the higher kill count. Loser owes fifty bits.” Alec said to the dog, raising a foreleg. “Agreed,” said the canine, causing my jaw to fall again. The front of Alec’s foreleg suddenly flashed, and a trio of things fired, like the Clockwork Assault Rifle, piercing the pupil of one Creeper, effectively killing it, and peppering another. Not to be outdone, the canine opened its mouth, jettisoning yet more rounds. I snapped out of my daze, seeing how most of the Creepers were gone, and I began firing my Megashark, Crystal Bullets shattering on impact and inflicting even more wounds.

“What happens when all the eyes are gone?” Shouted Alec, dropping his foreleg. “Then the Brain of Cthulhu attacks,” I replied, before my eyes widened in realization. A mirthless chuckle came from behind me, and I came face-to-eye with the heart inside the Brain of Cthulhu. The monstrosity was even more terrifying, with the seam holding the lobes together split, fangs protruding. As the eye inside the heart looked at me, the green iris flashed red and my hearts dropped rapidly. Another debuff, this one named Bloodlust, appeared, saying, “Melee damage and speed increased, taking extra damage.” I narrowed my eyes, before rushing to the boss with my sword held high, only for it to fade and warp behind Alec. The pegasus turned too late, suddenly sent flying from the powerful charge the monster used. Another run to it, Adamantite Sword held above my head, and it teleported again, this time rushing into and through me, causing me to take multiple hearts of damage. I switched to my Megashark, and fired into the back of the brain, shrapnel and scraps of pinkish flesh flying. My vision pulsed green and gray, and I faltered, feeling the chill from the Infected debuff begin to set in. “No… One… Last… Shot!” I cried, loosing a couple more rounds before my vision faded, replaced with the death view. “Terra Firma was infected…”

I respawned, panting. I gazed at the Death Message, before I saw something heartening above it. “Brain of Cthulhu has been defeated!” I laughed, glad that I had defeated the master of the Crimson,even as I died. I strolled downstairs, not noticing the chill from the Infected debuff, and found everyone in their spots, with the changes that Alec was now lying down on the couch, with Tohl next to him. “WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?!” Came a loud shout, roaring from behind. I fell to my knees yelling in agony, as it felt like my eardrums had burst. I tilted my head to see Celestia, standing over me, enraged. “ANSWER ME!”

“He… *Cough* Didn’t do anything. If anything, he saved our lives, mine and Tohl’s.” Alec said weakly, getting up from his position. Celestia looked horrified, and then humiliated, before resting a large wing around me and beginning to say something, only to stare in shock as my body evaporated. “Terra Firma didn’t receive the antidote…”

I reformed, no longer as happy, before I curled up into a ball, something I couldn’t do in my old world, sobbing. This place was a living hell. I had underestimated it, had thought myself superior, and paid the price. I was being killed constantly, by something I could not fix, I could not simply delete the world and generate a new one, I had no NPCs to house, ones who would admire me, or so I thought. I had come to the true terror, a living hell, and I still did not know the name of it. The creeping cold from the Infected debuff slowed and stalled, before sluggishly fading away. A golden glow surrounded me, comforting yet it didn’t seem material, rocking my form gently. I raised my head to see the apologetic face of Celestia, horn glowing like the sun. “I’m sorry for my behavior before, Terra Firma. I was angry and upset about my subject being hurt, and I blamed you for it.” She spoke, nothing but sincerity in her voice.

“I… I forgive you…”

I smiled, first in relief, then in surprise as text formed, broadcasting to all present in the library.

“Isis the Dryad has arrived!”

Chapter 5: Forge Of The Gods

I stood up from my fetal position, stretching my arms and legs as I switched my side bar in my inventory to show NPCs and their homes. “Hm. Okay, a dungeon developed here. Not sure where exactly, but the Old Man is on the list. Dryad… Dryad… Okay, Isis. Home is… Downstairs?” I muttered, mind scanning the information. Celestia looked bemused, listening to my ramblings. I strode to the library portion of the living tree, and looked it over. It had walls, so that’s a requirement met, light source: check, comfort: check, table: check. The door opened to reveal the dryad, but this one was in the same strange aspects of this world. A slim, well-rounded body, ivy wrapping around, grassy hair tied in a long braid, eyes like the plants of the earth.

I walked to her, before activating the interaction, by just thinking of speaking to the dryad. “Have you seen the old man walking around the dungeon? He doesn’t look well at all…” She stated, and the selections for the shop and status came up. I chose status and she spoke again, “Equis is 2% Crimson, 2% Corrupt, 3% Flood, and 1% Cthulhian. You should try harder.” Alec gasped at the word Flood, as apparently everyone could see the interaction. I turned to the Spartan and questioned him, “What is the Flood? In my worlds, it is always either Crimson or Corrupt, unless I have transplanted one of those biomes, creating an artificial one.”

“The Flood is a living thing, that… Consumes and absorbs all sentient creatures, turning them into monsters. You don’t want to know any more, it’s terrible.” He shivered, apparently cold or scared. “I’m pretty da-er, I’m sure that I want to know. The Crimson is rumored to be made of the remains of Cthulhu himself, and you have seen only a small fraction of its contents. The Corruption is a land of shadow, changing anything it touches into a dark, corrupted form. The Eaters of Souls that reside there are proof enough.” I replied, trying to get a grip on my pride. It had hurt my terribly already, and I didn’t want to lose any allies I could get.

Alec shook his head, refusing to say more. I shrugged, before turning to Luna. “Do you have a mine anywhere? I need better materials if I am to even consider exterminating these four biomes. By the dryads, I don’t even know what Isis meant by Cthulhian. I can only assume that it is far worse than the others, as it is a smaller percentage.” I requested, hoping I could find a way to Hell and defeat the monster that resided there. If this world had so many strange things, than the Hardmode ores must surely be stronger. “I have knowledge of some locations, but they have not been used in years. I can get you a map, if you so desire.” I nodded, glad that I had somewhere to start digging. My life was composed of mining, digging for the gems and rich materials in the core of the earth, using them to build up to the stars, creating massive structures that defied the power of Hardmode, fighting to protect my flock of NPCs as they hid in their rooms, a Blood Moon glowering over the night. And I could do so here, in a world I did not generate, in a land not made by myself, with a group of allies.

A few hours later, with the sun setting and a Shine potion in hand, I stood before the entrance to a massive mining cave. I had travelled to one on the edge of the Everfree Forest, which had been abandoned due to the Timberwolves that resided there. I had encountered a pack, but they were too easy to defeat, each having between two hundred and four hundred health, due to the varying sizes. Cutting down their numbers with ease, I continued through the dark woods, gazing for my goal. I drank my potion, before equipping my Adamantite Pickaxe and heading into the depths. A sparkle to my left, and I dug the dirt from around it, finding a strange ore. It was a silver color, shimmering with an orange inner light, but not like Lead, Platinum, or Silver, or even Titanium. This one was mesmerizing. I swung at it, grunting as it took strike after strike. Five swings later, I had a chunk of the metal, confused by it. The name was Forerunner Alloy, and it had a tooltip, ‘Lost to the ages’.

I saw more of it, and placed a small barrier of dirt, before tossing in a stick of dynamite. Running to safety, I watched as the red stick sparked, before exploding and dropping all the dirt and stone that surrounded the ore to the ground in neat stacks. I rushed, pops resounding as the items swirled into my inventory. I began mining the Forerunner Alloy, annoyed that it took so long to gather. After digging through the mass, I found another large patch, and began adding that to my stack of 125. Right as my Shine potion ended, I took the final piece, now at a total of 514 ore. I raised my Magic Mirror, warping back to the library after a few seconds wait. I examined the contents of my inventory, satisfied that I had brought an extra Adamantite Furnace with. I walked downstairs, before placing it next to the table in the center of the room, and looked through my crafting list. I found what I wanted, and checked the recipe. “Forerunner Bar, requires 5 Forerunner Alloy ore and either a Titanium or Adamantite Furnace. Perfect.” I muttered, glad that there had been so much in the two deposits.

I hovered my mind over the bar, watching as the stack quickly grew to 102 bars. I placed them in the ninth slot on my hotbar, so I could easily see the count. “What is that, and what is it doing in the middle of the room?” A voice said behind me, giving me a heart attack. I whirled around to see Twilight Sparkle, looking peeved and curious. “It’s an Adamantite Furnace. I need it to smelt ores into bars.” I said, heart still racing from the scare. “I thought it would be more convenient for use if it was down here.” The unicorn shook her head, grumbling underneath her breath. I watched her trudge away, before I mined the Furnace and picked it up into my inventory. I then took out the map Luna gave me, and flew to the site where she had marked down a blacksmith, where there was an anvil I could use.

A medium flight later, I found the forge, coughing as smoke entered my lungs, an unfamiliar sensation. I choked as I opened the door, a huge cloud of soot and black smoke wafting out into the air. A pony stood over an anvil, swinging a hammer of all things at a glowing metal rod. Turning its head at the sound of my coughing, it raised an eyebrow and trotted over. “What are you, and what do you need here?” I shook my head, before speaking in a scratchy voice from all the smoke. “I’m Terra Firma. Princess Luna said there was an anvil here I could use. Who are you?”

The pony looked surprised at the mention of Luna’s name, before apologizing. “I’m sorry sir, if I had known that the Princess had pointed my humble workshop out to you, I would have treated you with more respect. I am Iron Tongs, the main blacksmith here in Canterlot.” “Why treat me with respect? I did not come here on orders, I came here to craft. I don’t have a worktable to create even a basic Lead Anvil at, to then continue and create a Mythril or Orichalchum Anvil, and then from that the items I need.”

The pony looked mystified. “Lead anvils? Mythril? Orichalchum? What are those? What are the items you need?” I sighed, thinking back to how these creatures, and this world, do not know all that I do. “I need to make armor, and to see the benefits of them. I also need to create a better pickaxe and sword, because I have some… Business to take care of.” Iron Tongs nodded, before leading me to the anvil. It was made of a strange material, glowing orange from the heat, but otherwise unidentifiable. “Just show me the material and the money, and I’ll get right on it. I shook my head, before opening my inventory to look at the crafting recipes. I began reading it out loud, out of habit, “Forerunner Helmet, twelve Forerunner Bars. Hmmm… Gives thirty defense, and a 25% chance not to consume ammo, 15% increased melee damage, and 5% increased movement speed. Definitely.” I selected the armor piece, removing my Adamantite and Frost helmets, placing the new Helmet on my head. “Forerunner Chestplate, twenty-four Forerunner Bars, 15% increased melee speed, 15% increased ranged damage, and 5% increased movement speed. Twenty-five defense.” I crafted the next item, removing the respective vanity and working armors, equipping the Forerunner armor. “Forerunner Greaves, eighteen Forerunner Bars, 15% increased movement speed, and twenty defense.” I made the final piece, removing the last armors and placing the new one. My form suddenly had a pulsing aura, like the Hallowed Armor I kept for rare occasions, except this one gave off an icy, cyan glow. I ran forward, a glowing afterimage left like the Illuminant mobs from the Underground Hallow, but this one was a blazing orange.

I returned to the anvil, and found the sword and pickaxe I wanted. “Hardlight Blade, 86 damage, 14% critical strike, insanely fast speed, average knockback. Uses twelve Forerunner Bars.” I made the item, looking at the magnificent weapon. I then saw the modifier, Legendary, turning the color and rarity of the name to cyan, the highest. The damage was now 115, with 19% critical strike, insanely fast speed, and strong knockback. The blade was shaped like a crystal, long and tapering to a point, steeply slanted at the end. Stretched hexagonal holes were set evenly down the center, leaving the gradient of dark blue to bright ice untouched. The crossbar was magnificent, curving around and at sharp angles, the same silver as the Forerunner Alloy, with the edges glowing the same orange. The handle matched the crossbar, but was a simple, straight line. I swapped the new weapon out for my Adamantite Sword, pleased.

I selected the Forerunner Pickaxe, which was almost as mesmerizing. The handle was the same as that for the Sword, and the head of the pick was the same color and style as the blade of the Sword. It used eighteen Bars, and had 51 damage, 14% critical strike chance, insanely fast speed, and weak knockback. I got a normal one, but was satisfied because it had a pickaxe power of 210%. “Wha… What? What just happened?” Iron Tongs stammered, having been forgotten.

“I just made what I needed. I do not know what this world’s currency is, but I have a spare fifty silver coins. Will that do for use of the forge?” I replied, dropping said money on the floor. Iron Tongs eyes lit up, and he nodded his head furiously. I smiled, before warping back home with my Magic Mirror, leaving a now rich stallion behind.

As I walked downstairs yet again, I was greeted with the sight of everyone from before. The alabaster unicorn from before gasped, then zipped around me, eyes sparkling. “Oh, darling, what is this! It looks absolutely magnificent! It matches your physique so perfectly, and has just the right angles! You MUST tell me how to make it!” The unicorn babbled, apparently enraptured with my new armor. I saw how mesmerized it was with the glowing orange parts of my armor, which formed lines that angled and stretched along with the metal. “If you want to go into a mine, drink a Shine potion, watch out for Skeletons and Cave Bats, and other hostile mobs just to mine this ore which takes forever, then smelt enough of it to make armor, then sure, go ahead.” The look of disgust and shock on the unicorns face was priceless, causing most of the room to laugh. It stuck its nose into the air, before trotting back to its original position.

Alec looked amazed, and was next to speak. “You look like a Promethean, Terra. What is it made out of?” I responded, wondering what he was talking about. “Forerunner Alloy.” Tohl gasped, before saying out loud, holy reverence obvious in his voice,“The forge of the gods.” Loud knocks were heard from the door, as well as moans. I equipped my Hardlight Sword, and strode to the entrance, prepared for anything. I suddenly stopped in shock, as text appeared in front of me, and also before everyone else, causing me to hurriedly check for dirt blocks to barricade the door.

“The Blood Moon is rising!”

Chapter 6: Blood Moon

I felt an insatiable hunger, one I had felt ever since I came to be. I shuffled and moaned, my body ravaged by time, the signs of fights won visible as arrow shafts in my greenish grey body. My red eyes wandered, scanning for life, gazing for the only way to stifle the bottomless pit of my stomach. I found what I needed, what I desired, what I wanted. I could sense the creature, the intruder upon the world, hiding behind a wooden door. I slammed my fists upon the barrier, kicking my feet and grumbling in pain and hunger. I needed to feed… The pain was too much… There! I thought sluggishly, as I managed to smash the door open. I stumbled to the feast, reaching my clenched fists to his warm body, fingers twitching in anticipation. Suddenly a glowing orange and silver blade flashed, carving a gap in my chest. I was knocked back, feeling something new as my body evaporated, watching as the few coins I had gathered through my existence dropped, along with the shards of my form. I felt… Relief.

I was free.
--------------------Terra Firma’s POV--------------------

I watched as the door to the library was flung open, to reveal a Pincushion Zombie. This one was enormous, with a ridiculous eighty health, and a hulking body. With the new aspects of this world, I saw how its ribs shown, barely held back by the pale skin, a sunken pit where the stomach would be. Wooden shafts stuck jaggedly from it, providing a surprisingly effective defense against attacks. Then the eyes… The glowing red eyes flowed with hunger and desire, as if it needed to eat. It reached its clammy arms to me, fingers shaking in their tight fists, held back by rigor mortis. I felt pity for the creature, now that I saw new emotions from it. I swung my Hardlight Blade at the zombie, slicing a massive cut into its chest, immediately putting it out of its misery. As the scraps and chunks of its body fell, I saw a small shower of silver and copper coins drop with the remains, which were now vanishing.

“Wha-what was th-th-that?” I heard Twilight say from behind me, voice quavering with fear. I slowly closed the door, prepared for more mobs, and turned to her, speaking, “A zombie. Native to my worlds. Normally they just seem blank, mindlessly trying to kill me, but this one… It had emotion. I simply put it out of its misery, and got some cash as well.” Fluttershy was next to speak, shaking and hiding behind her mane. “Did you have t-t-t-to k-k-k-k-k-kill it?” She sobbed, staring at where the body had disappeared.

I shook my head at her naivete, then stopped from going down the road of arrogance once more. “Yes, I did, otherwise it would have killed and eaten all of us. I have to go now, more are sure to be attacking the rest of,” I shuddered at the name, disgusted by the pun, “Ponyville.” I then turned around, opened the door, and closed it, before taking flight to find more of the abominations.

I felt an impact, and was knocked out of the sky, as an ovoid thing flitted by on invisible wings, strands of flesh trailing behind it. The Demon Eye, this one the nasty Cataract Eye, turned and arced back to me. I swung my sword, only to get impacted by a normal Cataract Eye from behind, unlike the strange one that interrupted my flight. As the standard monster flew by, I caught a glimpse of another portal like the one I came through in the distance, with all sorts of deadly creatures pouring out. I swung my Hardlight Blade in a panic, luckily slicing the Odd Cataract Eye and the Normal Cataract Eye in half. I rushed to the portal and brought out my Forerunner Pickaxe, swinging hard at the side of the structure, just as a Voodoo Demon flew out, Guide Voodoo Doll clutched in a claw. As the portal was impacted, it shattered, flinging me far, completely ignoring my Ankh Shield. I blacked out to the sight of a Bone Serpent leaping out of the ground, following a swarm of Hell mobs to a mountain range in the distance.

I awoke to a slap in the face. Rainbow Dash was in front of me, hoof at the ready to hit me again. “Don’t do that again.” I stated, scaring the crap out of the cheeky pegasus, causing me to smirk. I saw the sun was in the middle of the sky, the Blood Moon having ended. I stumbled to my feet, before gazing around the town. I gasped in shock, seeing the carnage-or rather, lack of it-that had occurred. The entire town was completely unscathed, not a drop of pony blood anywhere, no doors smashed open. “What.” I said, surprised.

“Yeah, you got knocked out.”

“What.”

“Did you hear me?” Rainbow Dash said, beginning to become exasperated.

“What.” I spoke, this time just in spite, enjoying the reaction I received, which was the pegasus leaving in a huff. I smiled, before walking around, looking for signs of the Blood Moon. There was nothing, not a scratch on the houses, not a shard of broken glass anywhere. A familiar, annoying squish was heard behind me, and I turned to find a Green Slime. “Okay. Seriously, what the fuck happened. WHY IS THERE A DRYADDAMN SLIME HERE?!” I shouted, fists clenched and raised in the air. Said Slime simply vibrated, before bouncing to me again. I sighed and took out my sword, before swinging at the pest. A loud Splat was heard, as the creature blew apart into blobs of gel, and a mouldy wooden staff. The stick was a dark brown, with a smooth curve at the top, and strands of green goo stretched upon the arc. “...” was all I had to say, staring at the Slime Staff.

“That was pointless.” I muttered, before picking up the rare drop and walking back to the library. “Maybe Fluttershy wants a pet blob that flies.” I grumbled, opening the door. Twilight Sparkle was busy reading multiple books, with Isis wandering about the room. “Oh, hey Terra! These books are really amazing! They’re in a really ancient Equestrian language, so I’m busy translating some of them! Isis even helped!” She said cheerfully, looking up from the oddly familiar tomes. “Wait… Isis helped?!” I replied, shocked. “Of course I did.” the Dryad spoke up, startling me even more.

“You-you can talk?! YOU’RE SENTIENT AND YOU NEVER FUCKING TOLD ME?!” I cried, pointing accusingly at the NPC. Isis wore a smirk, a mischievous glint in her eyes. “I was just messing with you. I mean, I came into being here on Equis, of course I can talk.” I fell onto my butt, shell-shocked. If this Dryad had been fooling me ever since she arrived… Did all the other NPCs do that to me as well? “I know what you’re thinking, and no. It’s just here on Equis, where us naturally-generated people can think.” I shook my head, attempting to think clearly. It was good to learn that it’s only here that the NPCs are sentient, otherwise I would have a LOT of explaining to do when I returned to Requiem. Jake the Guide would be so pissed to learn that he was the fifth to arrive…

“So, where exactly did you get those books? They look familiar to me.” I asked, wandering over to Twilight. “We went and got them from the big stone building over near Canterlot. For some reason it was made of these bluish bricks, and there was an old guy kind of like you walking around. There were these weird metal shelves all over the place, with tons of books on them. Did you know that they’re spell books? This one is called Crystal Storm! I’m trying to get it translated to modern Equish, so then I can properly study it. I can hardly wait to publish a research paper on my findings!” I swear, Twilight squeed with excitement, talking about the Crystal Storm. “Wait… Crystal Storm? You found a Crystal Storm at the DUNGEON?!” I yelled, once again shocked.

“What do you mean, dungeon? And there are more of these? I gotta find them!” Twilight misinterpreted, and began prancing about with glee. “Yes, dungeon. You and Isis managed to travel safely into the fucking dungeon, grab multiple books, and you found fucking SPELL BOOKS THAT I CAN’T CREATE UNTIL HARDMODE?!” I cried, face turning red. “You can MAKE these?! That’s incredible!” Came the ignorant response. I just facepalmed, before grumbling and sitting down. “Let me at least try to help. I only know how to cast the spell, and that’s only by literally holding the book out like an idiot.” Twilight sat down and clapped her hooves with happiness, nodding rapidly. I sighed, and got to work.

An exhausting few hours later, we had managed to fully translate the tome. “So, apparently, I can use this book to apply the enchantment to my weapons? But it takes away ALL my mana except for ONE star to add it? Ugh.” I grumbled, glaring at the Crystal Storm tome. “Pleasepleasepleasepleasepleeeeaaase?” Twilight pleaded, giving me the dreaded puppy eyes. My heart melted at the adorable sight, causing me to sigh as I died internally. “Fine. But we’re doing it ONLY to my Megashark, because I don’t want to ruin my sword.” A loud shout of glee and a few minutes of prancing later, I was holding the spell book next to my Megashark, reading some lines out loud. I channeled my mana in a way I never knew I could, and watched in interest as the tome began glowing bright blue, and my mana stars quickly dropped to one, before the used ones vanished. My Megashark glowed a bright blue as well, before a sudden, purple flash blinded Isis, Twilight, and I, leaving us blinking after the light disappeared. I looked at my Megashark, which was now colored an ocean blue, with a magenta barrel, and icy crystals sprouting from the top. I looked at it, and found something new. “Megashard”, in cyan text, showing the highest possible rarity. The tooltip read, ‘Megashark’s twin brother. Shoots crystals along with bullets.’ The stats were the same as those for the Megashark, except it did 50 damage, and used 1 mana as well. I smiled, my eyes shining with a predatory gleam, and I removed my crystal bullets from my ammo slots.

“I suggest you move out of the way. I gotta test this out.” I chuckled, lifting up the weapon threateningly. As the dryad and unicorn scurried away from the firing direction, I pulled the trigger, and laughed maniacally as blue crystals began spewing from the rotating barrels at a ridiculous pace. As five crystals left the barrels in a single second, a single unit of mana was used, steeply draining my ten mana. As my finger left the trigger and the barrel spun down, I smirked at the swarm of glowing holes peppering the wall. “Maybe we should test it outside next time,” Twilight said, staring at the smoldering miniature craters. Isis just laughed, seeing the wreckage I wrought upon the library wall.
--------------------Crimson’s POV--------------------

I was woken up by the sound of bullets hitting wood. Rubbing my eyes from the sleep that accumulated, I shrugged the covers off of my body and dropped to the floor. I materialized my armor, before sneaking downstairs and peeking around the corner. I saw Terra Firma holding a massive minigun, the multiple barrels slowing down as the last thing flew from it. It had crystals sprouting from the top, like a Needle Rifle or a Needler, and the body was a similar color. My eyes widened inside my visor as I saw the result of it, the wood still smoking and glowing. “Maybe we should test it outside next time,” Twilight spoke, with the dryad from earlier chuckling. As the unlikely trio went out the door, I shook my head with a massive grin. Some things were worth living for. Explosions and such were a given.

Chapter 7: The Tiniest Of Pebbles...

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 9: Marker

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Chapter 10: Of Warriors And Weddings, Part 1

Author's Note

Welcome to the longest chapter, and the first half of the first two-chapter episode! Moving along the canonical plot, you'll see picnics to the left, some yelling and suspicion up ahead, and oooh! Look at THAT! Everyone, that right there is the rare hint of malice! They usually are hibernating at this part of the story, so this is a real treat! Please, no flash photography, you might scare it away.
On another note, enjoy!

Chapter 10: Of Warriors And Weddings, Part 1

The band of misfits was having a picnic at the park, enjoying the nice day. I was building small towers out of dirt for Spike to go through, then removing them once he was done. Isaac was kneeling, gazing at something he called a Plasma Cutter. Alec and Tohl were busy sparring, while the Elements of Harmony were eating. Spike began groaning, before belching out a letter. Twilight read it out loud, and everyone began listening.

“Dear Twilight, I am sure you are as excited as I am about the upcoming wedding in Canterlot." She turned to the others, "Wedding?" She kept reading. "I will be presiding over the ceremony, but would very much like you and your friends to help with the preparations for this wonderful occasion. Fluttershy, I would like you and your songbird choir to provide the music.” Said pegasus gasped, “Oh, what an honor!”

The lavender unicorn continued reading. “Pinkie Pie, I can think of no one more qualified than you to host the reception.” The pink abomination cheered, as Twilight spoke again. “Applejack, you will be in charge of the catering for the reception.” Applejack said yet another inane farm saying, so I ignored her. You get sick of it after a while. “Rainbow Dash-” My friend yawned. “...I would very much appreciate it if you could perform a sonic rainboom as the bride and groom complete their "I do’s.” The pegasus let out a loud “Yes!”

Twilight Sparkle continued. “Rarity, you will be responsible for designing the dresses for the bride and her bridesmaids.” The alabaster unicorn began freaking out about royalty and the importance of it all, which none of us understood. “And as for you, Twilight, you will be playing the most important role of all: Making sure that everything goes as planned. See you all very soon. Yours, Princess Celestia.” A look of confusion crossed her face. “But... I don't understand. Who's getting married?”

She finished reading aloud, “Princess Celestia cordially invites you to the wedding of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and…” Cue loud gasp, “My brother?!” I just slapped my forehead, sliding my armored hand down across my face. “You have a brother?” Alec said, looking slightly worried. “Say Pinkie, what’re you doing?” The party pony was busy fiddling with her primary Party Cannon, and looked up. “Oh, just making some modifications that may or may not have any revelance to the storyline of this crossover and how you’re going to be all confused about what I’m saying and how I know what I’ll say in the future which is now the present and what I just said is now in the past and I’m confusing even the author, Taitou, even though he’s the one typing this up and he’s confused as to how I managed to hack his account to continue saying this and I just shattered the fourth wall over a gazillion times!”

We all stared pointedly at her, only for her to return to her cannon. “What jus-” Twilight began, only for Applejack to cut her off with a hoof stuffed in her mouth. “Ah know y’all are curious, but it’s jus’ Pinkie Pie bein’ Pinkie Pie.” Rarity nodded, and I just sat there, holding my head. “What the actual fuck just happened…”

Isaac spoke up, “How about we focus on more important events, such as the wedding.” Applejack spoke up again, reinforcing Isaac’s words. “Your brother’s getting married? Congratulations, Twilight! That’s great news!” Twilight just responded snarkily, “Yeah, great news. That I just got from a wedding invitation! Not from my brother, but from a piece of paper! Thanks a lot, Shining Armor. I mean, really, he couldn't tell me personally?” She began imitating what she thought was a guy’s voice, “ Hey, Twilight, just thought you should know I'm making a really big decision that changes everything. Oh, never mind, you'll hear about it when you get the invitation.” Her voice returned to normal. “Princess Mi Amore Cadenza? Who in the hoof is that?!” She snorted, as I responded. “Keep working on swearing. Hoof isn’t a swear word.” Fluttershy spoke up, in the timid voice of hers. “Um, Twilight? Are you okay?”

Twilight let out a deep breath. “ Sorry, it's just that Shining Armor and I have always been so close. He's my B.B.B.F.F!” Alec spoke in a voice that sounded like a redneck idiot, “Ya hurt yur what?” “Big Brother Best Friend Forever?” The Elements of Harmony all went Oooh except for Spike, while us humans and Elite just smacked our heads. “Before I came here and learned the importance of friendship, Shining Armor was the only pony I ever really accepted as a friend.

When I was just a filly, I found it rather silly

To see how many other ponies I could meet

I had my books to read, didn't know that I would ever need

Other ponies to make my life complete-”

I spoke up, yelling before she could continue her song. “NO! NO MORE SINGING, DAMNIT! KEEP THAT UP AND MY HEAD’LL EXPLODE!” Somehow, for emphasis, a burst of confetti, accompanied with a loud bang, came from Pinkie Pie’s direction. “Oops. Accidentally bumped the button.” Applejack sighed and said, “Ah wanna tell you that Ah think your brother sounds like a real good guy.”

Twilight replied, “Well, he is pretty special. I mean, they don’t let just anypony be captain of the Royal Guard.” Rarity broke out, “So let me get this straight. We're helping out with the wedding of not only a princess, but a captain of the Royal Guard?” “I guess we are.” Everyone else, excluding Isaac, Tohl, Alec, and I, began chattering eagerly. We sighed, and left to go get the train tickets. Hopefully they’d stop talking when we got back.

I was completely wrong. “Note to self: never get your hopes up about ponies shutting up after an hour.” Isaac nodded in assent, while Alec snored lightly in his sleep. The pink abomination suddenly yelled, “We’re here! We’re here!” I looked out the window, and saw the city… Surrounded by a big, fat pink dome. “What’s with the bubblegum?” Rainbow responded, “What’s with all the guards?” Next up on the list of ponies to speak was Rarity, “I'm sure they're just taking the necessary precautions. Royal weddings do bring out the strangest ponies.” Pinkie Pie sneezed out confetti and streamers, for effect. “Now let’s get going! We’ve got work to do!” Applejack spoke up, looking at Twilight. “And you’ve got a brother to congratulate.”

The unicorn grumbled, “Yeah. Congratulate. And then give him a piece of my mind.” I followed her, as did Alec and Tohl. Isaac shrugged, before joining us. A short walk later, with throngs of guards everywhere, we found a tall, white unicorn stallion with a blue and cobalt mane. His mark was of a shield, with stars. Twilight spoke up, “I’ve got something to say to you, mister.” The stallion perked up, rushing to Twilight. “Twily! Ah, I’ve missed you, kid. How was the train ride? I-” He was interrupted. “How dare you not tell me in person that you were getting married! I'm your sister, for pony's sake!”

I spoke up, “Still not a good swear word.” The white unicorn looked at my motley group, eyes narrowing. “And who in the name of Equestria are you?” I bowed dramatically, sweeping my arm. “I, good sir, am Terra Firma. These are my companions, Isaac Clarke,” The engineer folded back his helmet and nodded. “Alec,” The Spartan dematerialized his armor and bowed, before rematerializing it, “His friend Tohl Vadam,” The Alpha Crawler flipped off the wall he was on, “And I would continue but there aren’t anymore people in the group. Welp, that’s that. Who’re you?” The stallion looked surprised, confused. “Lemme get back to you. Twilight, it’s not my fault! Princess Celestia has requested a major increase in security. Didn’t you see all the guards at the train station?”

“Yeah, there’s a big wedding coming up. Maybe you heard about it?” Twilight deadpanned, still furious. “ It has nothing to do with the wedding. A threat has been made against Canterlot. We don't know who's responsible for it, but Princess Celestia asked that I help provide additional protection. This, you need to see.” A pop noise, and the dome of bubblegum flickered. He gasped, “The burden of keeping Canterlot safe and secure rests squarely on my shoulders. Staying focused on the task at hoof has been my top priority.” I rolled my eyes, quipping, “Whoop-de-fucking-do. Try creating an entire world and then surviving hordes of creatures that want you dead, and have the means to do it.” I knew how arrogant it sounded, but I felt it was true. “Wait, what?” Came the bemused reply.

Twilight interrupted, “Okay, okay, I get it. You've got a really important job protecting all of Canterlot with a force field only you can conjure up. But still... how could you not tell me about something as big as your wedding? Am I not that important to you any more?” “Hey. You're my little sister. Of course you're important to me. But I'd understand if you didn't want to be my best mare now.” Cue shocked gasp, “You want me to be your best mare?” Cue embarrassed reply, “Well… Yeah.” “I'd be honored! But I'm still pretty ticked you're marrying somepony I don't even know! When did you even meet this "Princess Mi Amore Cadenza"?”

The stallion replied sternly, “Twily, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza is Cadance, your old foalsitter.” “Cadance? As in the Cadance? As in the greatest foalsitter in all the history of foalsitters?!” I muttered to Isaac, “Any idea what the fuck a foalsitter is?” He shook his head, “Not a clue.” The white unicorn chuckled, “You tell me. She was your foalsitter.” Twilight spoke up excitedly, like she’d written a research paper. “Ohmygoshohmygosh! Cadance is only the most amazing pony ever! She's beautiful, she's caring, she's kind…”

“How many unicorns can just spread love wherever they go? I only know of one! And you're marrying her!” Twilight began singing, “You’re marrying Cadance! You’re marrying Cadance!” A pink alicorn walked up, dressed in regalia. “I hope I’m not interrupting anything.” Twilight gasped, before sprinting over and doing some weird… Dance. “Cadance! Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake! Clap your hooves and do a little shake!” ‘Cadance’ spoke simultaneously with me, Isaac, Alec, and Tohl, “What are you doing?” We all looked at each other, before I yelled out, “Jynx! You guys owe me a soda!” Twilight spoke up, “Cadance, it’s me, Twilight!”

“Uh-huh.” The stallion spoke up, “I've gotta get back to my station, but Cadance will be checking in with all of you to see how things are going. I think I speak for both of us when I say we couldn't be more excited to have you here. Right, dear?”

After a while of following Twilight around, and seeing Cadance act like an asshole, we sat down with the others for either lunch or dinner. I couldn’t tell, because I didn’t care. I just sat, leaning back in my chair, ignoring the conversation for the most part. A loud thump caught my attention, so I joined in. Twilight spoke up, after slamming her hoof down on the table. “And I'm sure it's the result of being an awful pony who doesn't deserve to even know Shining Armor, let alone marry him!” I whistled slowly, “Whoa. Harsh words. Far out. Peace. Trippin’, man.” I smirked at the blank responses. “Forget it. Who’re we talking about again?” Applejack spoke up, “Think maybe you're bein' just a tiny bit possessive of your brother?” Everyone else just went along, except for the non-natives. I broke in, “Look, I was there too. That Cadance was being an asshole, and I don’t know why. If someone would please explain this to me, then be my guest.”

After a while, my group and I followed Twilight as she went to speak with her brother, who I now knew was the stallion from earlier. We neared the door to his room, and saw something… Weird, going on. Next a flash of green came, and Shining Armor fell to the ground, his eyes spinning comically. “Dayum. This place is stranger than I thought.”

The next day the wedding was supposed to start. I had snagged a Top Hat from The Groom at the last Blood Moon, and wore it as my Vanity. Isaac stood with his helmet down, and Alec was dressed in a suit that was black, and had a silver tie. He looked damn uncomfortable, so I sniggered when noone was watching. Everyone was there, except for Twilight. Celestia spoke up, “Perfect, girls. no need to rush. Then, of course, Cadance will enter.” Spike was off playing with the statues on the top of the cake. Shining Armor said worriedly, looking around, “Hey… Has anyone seen Twilight?”

Right on time, the doors opened, revealing the lavender pony. “ I'm here! I'm not gonna stand next to her! And neither should you!” I paid more attention, sensing drama. Kind of hard not to when you’ve lived countless years, building and mining, trading and fighting. “I’m sorry. I… I don’t know why she’s acting like this.” Cadance replied, glancing at the unicorn, “Maybe we should just ignore her.” Twilight kept yelling, “You have to listen to me!” Fluttershy spoke up, “Oh, goodness! Are you okay?”

Twilight responded, “I’m fine.” Applejack deadpanned, “Ya sure ‘bout that?” Twilight huffed, before shouting, “I've got something to say! She's evil!” Everyone began muttering in concern. “She's been horrible to my friends, she's obviously done something to her bridesmaids, and if that wasn't enough, I saw her put a spell on my brother that made his eyes go all,” out of nowhere, the sound of cowbells began rattling. Cadance sniffled, before crying, “Why are you doing this to me?!” Twilight stalked up to her, crying out, “Because your evil! Evil! And if I don’t stop you, you’re gonna ruin my brother’s life!” A loud smack echoed, as Shining Armor slapped his sister in the head.

“You want to know why my eyes went all,” The cowbells rang again, “Because ever since I started having to perform my protection spell, I've been getting terrible migraines. Cadance hasn't been casting spells on me. She's been using her magic to heal me!” Twilight inhaled, prepared to speak again, before getting interrupted. “And she decided to replace her bridesmaids because she found out the only reason they wanted to be in the wedding was so that they could meet Canterlot royalty! And if she hasn't been on her best behavior with your friends, it's because with me being so busy, she's had to make all the decisions about the wedding!”

Twilight began tearing up, “I was only trying to-” She was cut off, “She's been completely stressed out because it's really important to her that our big day be perfect! Something that obviously wasn't important to you!” Cadance ran out, sobbing. “Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go and comfort my bride. And you can forget about being my best mare. In fact, if I were you, I wouldn't show up to the wedding at all.” Applejack spoke, “C’mon, y’all. Let’s go check on the Princess.” Celestia sternly told Twilight, “You have a lot to think about.”

Isaac, Alec, Tohl, and I remained, shell-shocked. Twilight broke down sniffling, “Maybe I was being overprotective. I could've gained a sister. But instead... I just lost a brother.
He was my big brother, best friend
Forever...
And now, we'll never do anything

Together…”

“Welp, that just happened. Thank god it was a short song.” I said, stretching my back. Cadance suddenly appeared, and Twilight dove for her hooves, sobbing. “I’m so sorry!” The pink alicorns eyes flashed green, as she said in a dark tone, “You will be…” A ring of green fire appeared around Twilight, and she sunk into the ground. I blinked in shock, staring at where the unicorn had been. “...”

“Welp, shit just got real.” I quipped, removing my Top Hat. “Who the buck are you?” Cadance snarled, turning on us. “Look, I’ve already gone over the dramatic entrance with Shieldbutt. I’m Terra Firma, he’s Isaac Clarke, the pegasus in armor is Alec, and the metal dog of death is Tohl Vadam.” I responded, gesturing to each person in turn.

“What are you?” I smiled. I loved this part. “Lemme think. Oh, I’m the only living Terrarian, I’m a Player, I’ve been killed a shit-load of times, I have some overpowered gear equipped, I’ve killed bunnies, and I like to think that I’m,” I put my Top Hat back on, and imitated a Trottingham accent, as I’d come to learn it was called, “Super fanceh.” I returned my voice to normal, “Isaac Clarke here is a human, has nearly died countless times, has been to hell and back, in my case literally, was on board a planet cracker called the USG Ishimura, lost most of his crew to the undead, kept repairing the damn ship, and was almost killed by some Slashers when he found the portal to Equestria.

“Alec here was a human. Born on Earth, he was off-planet when he saw his home city, New Mombasa, get destroyed. He joined the UNSC, rose through the ranks, and became a supersoldier, a Spartan IV. He nearly died, was the first one here, and ended up having his mind torn apart. He became a Flood, got controlled by the Nightmare, was transformed into a pony by the Elements of Harmony, and is now here today.

“Tohl Vadam was a Sangheili, an Elite. He was piloting his ship, called a Spirit, when he was shot down. He managed to escape the wreckage, and came here. He met Alec, his body got turned into a Flood along with Alec and he got turned into an AI and got put in his current body, yadda yadda yadda, Discord came in, shit happened, I arrived. Oh, and then Isaac came after me.”

The alicorn just blinked slowly. “What.” I sighed contentedly, proud that I had confused yet another being. “We’re smart, we’re deadly, we’re trained, and we just saw you be an asshole.

“Would you like some sword with that mind-fuck?”

Cadance snarled, before her horn lit up a toxic green and we fell through a ring of fire similar to the one that Twilight went through. “Nopony speaks to me that way, you stupid pests. Go join your rat in her hole.” She began laughing maniacally, like a classic evil villain. As we found ourselves in a large cave made of crystal, I sighed. “I should’ve seen that coming.” The others nodded in assent.

Chapter 11: Of Warriors And Weddings, Part 2

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 12: Lost And Found

Author's Note

The characters are now going to be following the canon episodes, as they have taken 'care' of the other multiversal threats. You'll find out what I mean.
Also, sorry about the long delay, but a week long vacation with no wifi and no cell phone service makes it hard to type up a Google Doc. Thanks for sticking by my story, and enjoy this chapter that is finally complete!

Chapter 12: Lost And Found

I had gotten everyone together. Everything was set. My switch was ready, the wiring was placed, the Explosives were primed, and the target unsuspecting. I chuckled darkly, rubbing my hands together in anticipation. “Light show in 3…

“2…

“1…”

I flicked the switch as I shouted, “ZERO!” A massive explosion sounded, throwing up a massive cloud of dirt, flesh, and a black material. Said shards flashed, before evaporating. A sound like a foghorn came, as well as a large blast of wind, blowing the Element Bearer’s manes back. The debris cleared, and where the Marker sat, there was nothing. “Damn. Didn’t think it would work.” I said, grinning wildly underneath my helmet. “That’s the Cthulhian biome taken care of.”

Isaac scratched his head, “You sure? I can’t really tell.” Everyone else squinted, with Pinkie Pie grabbing a telescope out of nowhere. “I’m sure. See? All the nasty shit is gone.” I pointed out, and sure enough, the Everfree had returned to normal. “Whoa. I need some.” Alec muttered, with Isaac nodding in agreement. Rainbow Dash grabbed me and hugged me closer, smiling in pure glee. “Terra, that was so AWESOME! Not as cool as me of course, but still a good effort!” Spike suddenly burped, green fire and a scroll appearing. “Hey Twilight, it’s for you.”

The lavender unicorn grabbed the letter, and read it. “Princess Celestia wants me to go to Canterlot?!” I sidled over, looking innocent, before snatching it. “Tut tut, miss Sparkle. Celestia wants you to go there immediately. It appears to be some form of, I don’t know, exam.” That set her off, as she ripped the letter from my hands and rushed back to the library, panicking. Rainbow Dash was rolling on the floor laughing, while I had doubled over guffawing. “That unicorn takes this stuff way too damn seriously.”

A while later, we were all gathered on a train to somewhere. “What’s this place we’re going to, again? And why the fuck is it so far away?” I asked, slumped against a chair. “It’s the Crystal Empire, and it’s in the far north. It’s been missing for a thousand years, and only recently reappeared.” Twilight responded, lecture voice on. “Well, it would certainly explain the snow.” I said, pointing out the window. Outside, there was nothing but white.

“I get the feeling that this is our stop,” Isaac quipped, his helmet folding back up. Rarity had a fancy scarf on like it would help, Alec materialized his armor, and I just waited. Soon the door to our car was opened, and I stepped out. “Just so you know, I can’t feel the cold.” I said, turning to Rainbow Dash, who was shivering. “N-n-nice to know.” A figure appeared in the blizzard, walking towards us. It came into the light, and I saw it was Shieldbutt, with a scarf and snow gear on. “Twilight!” Said unicorn perked up, “Shining Armor?”

“Twily! You made it! We’d better get moving. There are things we really don’t want to run into after dark.” I smiled, straightening a bit. “Shieldbutt, what kinds of things? I haven’t had a good fight in… Who knows how long. Other than the changeling invasion, but that was more of a one-sided juggernaut thing.” Shining Armor glared at me. Fluttershy gulped, “What kind of things?” The stallion sighed, saying, “Let’s just say the Empire… Isn’t the only thing that’s returned.” He began explaining about some dark asshole who enslaved the Crystal Ponies, and vanished with the Empire. “Something keeps trying to get in! We think it’s the unicorn king who originally cursed the place.”

Twilight spoke up, “But Princess Celestia said I was being sent here to find a way to protect the Empire! If King Sombra can’t get in, then it must already be protected. A piercing howl came through the snow, and a dark silhouette formed. It appeared to be made of smoke, and a pair of glowing green eyes formed, with red slits for pupils. “We have to get to the Crystal Empire! Now!” Shieldbutt yelled, as everyone else began running. I struck a battle pose, smiling underneath my helmet and my Megashard in hand. “Terra! Let’s go!” RD called, looking back. I waved her off saying, “Don’t worry about me, I need a good boss fight! Just get to safety!”

A piece of smoke detached and chased after the others, while the remainder coalesced into the form of a unicorn with dark armor. “Bring it, asshole. I got time.” I said, switching to my Hardlight Blade. The creature just growled, before a large blast of dark magic came from its horn. I rolled out of the way, before flying forwards and slicing the head off. “Too easy.” The head turned into smoke and reattached to the neck, forming an unharmed monster. “Shit. Spoke too soon.” Another growl, and another blast. I quickly equipped my Megashard and began pumping rounds, smiling as the stream of death pushed back the black lightning. My mana clicked empty, and the dark magic quickly overtook my bullets, lashing out to my gun. I jerked it away and began running, switching to my sword as I followed the others. “ShitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitSHIIIIIIIIIT!” I yelled, rapidly approaching a pale blue dome. I dove forward, barely managing to tumble in as the dark monster hit the shield.

I panted, on my hands and knees. I stood up and found everyone, including a Shieldbutt who had small, black crystals on his horn. “Damn. What the fuck happened to you?” I asked, looking at the stallion. “Sombra did. That was exceedingly foolish of you, you could have died,” Shining Armor said, frowning. “Oh, calm down. That bitch survived a good old beheading, but couldn’t fight the magic crystals from my Megashard. Thing is, I don’t have enough mana to keep a sustained fire.”

I took a look at my inventory, noticing a status effect, “Shadow Blockade” ‘Unable to use magic.’ I frowned, removing my helmet. “Shit. Looks like when Sombra touched my Megashard while I was holding it, he got me with a debuff. Can’t use my magic.” Shining frowned again, “Maybe it’s a good thing. Freak.” He said, before turning around and heading to a massive castle in the distance. “Hey Sparkle, is he usually such an ass?” I asked, walking beside Rainbow Dash. “No, I don’t know what’s wrong.” I heard Twilight mutter, “Other than you.” I glared at her, before continuing walking.

The Crystal Palace was, for lack of better terms, incredible. Every surface was carved out of shining mineral, pale blue with some transparency, and reflective enough to bounce endless copies of you around. As I continued through the halls, I stumbled, a sudden pain resonating throughout my body. My health dropped to half. “W-wait. I’m not regenerating?” I said, now terrified. For all my life, when I was injured my hearts would regenerate. But now… Nothing.

“Lemme see if I can find what’s wrong,” Twilight Sparkle said, her horn lighting up. She cast a spell, and I felt cold splashing inside me, chilling my soul and shattering my will. In the middle of the examining spell, darkness rushed in.

And I died.

-------------------- Twilight Sparkle’s POV --------------------

Right when my spell was midway through completion, Terra Firma suddenly… Evaporated. One second he was there, and the next he flaked away, patches vanishing in bursts of light. And there was nothing I could do. “Spike? Send a letter to Princess Celestia, asking her to check if Terra Firma is back home. I think something bad just happened.”

My number one assistant nodded, wrote quickly on a scroll, then sent it away in a burst of dragon flame. A few minutes later and a reply came, and I quickly scanned it. Rainbow Dash burst in, anxiety creeping into her voice, “What’s it say?”

I gulped, suddenly finding it hard to speak. “He… He’s gone.”

Silence ruled the area, as my words sunk in. RDs ears drooped, as she repeated, “Gone…”

-------------------- Five Months Later --------------------

“Rainbow Dash! You gotta come out!” Pinkie Pie yelled, bouncing outside the cloud home.

“...Go ‘way!...” Came the muffled reply, scratchy from either lack of use or crying. Pinkie Pie frowned, before opening the door.

“Twilight said she figured out a way to find Terry!” The pink party pony said, before getting bowled over by a rainbow blur. She giggled, before heading back to the surface and then to the Golden Oaks Library.

“Okay everypony, now that you’re all here, we can try this.” Twilight said, gazing around the room, which held the Element Bearers and Isaac, Alec, and Tohl. “I finally found a way to travel between dimensions, and I believe I’ve discovered the one Terra Firma is in. However, it’s very dangerous, and hasn’t been tested yet. I’m not even sure if it IS the right place.” She looked about, taking in the hopeful look on Rainbow Dash’s face, and the other expressions.

Applejack spoke up, “Ah shucks, Twilight, we’re all in with ya’. Jus’ do your thing, and we’ll be right there with ya’.” Various signs of agreement came, and Twilight let out a breath she hadn’t noticed she’d been holding.

“All right, everypony. Here goes…” Her horn lit up, and a large black square formed on the ground, a lime green outline showing the edges. The inside swirled with a multitude of colors, all of them mixing together in a sea of darkness. She stepped in, and the others soon followed.

-------------------- Terra Firma’s POV --------------------

I stood up, head aching. I attempted to walk in a circle, and found I couldn’t. I was restrained to left and right. I opened my eyes, and gasped. A sight greeted me, like an old friend. A large forest in the midground, at the top of a large hill. Patches of floating grass and dirt were here and there, revealing veins of clay and stone. “I’m… Home.” I said, eyes watering from joy. I lifted my face to the heavens, yelling with all my might, chest bursting from emotions, “I’M HOME!”

I began cutting trees, gathering the wood and laying down the foundation for a house. Cutting the odd Green Slime to shreds, I built and built, finally getting twelve working rooms, with the current Guide, Steve. I had gathered multiple chests, tossing the junk into my trash and drinking the potions, then placing them at home. I smiled, closing my eyes and listening to the peaceful music that signified the start of night. It had been too long since I heard it, the relaxing tones that warned me of the world. Opening them once again, I saw the text on the screen that appeared before the dark fell, “Isaac the Merchant has arrived!” I grinned and dropped down the platforms to the bottom to greet the NPC, and opened the wood door to find nine unexpected guests.

All were the same height as me, but had obvious differences. One was lavender, with purple hair that had an impossible pink stripe in it, and a spiraled horn, and purple eyes. A white one with blue eyes, curly purple hair, and also a horn was gazing at its… Hooves? I saw that seven of them had hooves instead of hands and feet, and I started to realize what happened. The next one was a vibrant pink, puffy hair exactly like the Party Girl, and blue eyes. The fourth one was orange, had long blonde hair tied with a red band, green eyes, freckles, and a hat which I had learned was a Stetson. The fifth one was butter yellow, had long pink hair that hid one of its eyes, and… Wings. The other eye was also blue, and shone with kindness.

And the sixth one… “Rainbow?” I said, eyes widening in surprise. My friend nodded, her magenta eyes sparkling. She was light blue, had impossible rainbow hair, and wings. Isaac Clarke looked the same, Alec was bright blue, had grey and green hair, and grey eyes, and Tohl was completely silver, except for his orange eyes. “Is it… Is it really you?” Another nod, and I rushed forward to hug her, sobbing openly. Rainbow tensed for a second, before relaxing and wrapping me in a hug as well, beginning to cry. And we stood there, reunited, as everyone else looked around in wonder, viewing my version of reality, on my new world of Reconciliation.

And we were happy.

Chapter 8: ...Can Bring Down A Mountain

A pair of Royal Guards charged at me, spears raised to strike. I ducked and spun, swiping their legs out and causing them to smash their heads on the ground. A Unicorn attempted to freeze me, only for my shields to reflect it so I could tackle him. I kneeled on his back, keeping my Battle Rifle aimed at his head, when a whistle blew. “Alright, training is over! Pack your bags, fillies, and get cleaned up. The score is thirty to Crimson, and zero to the Royal Guard.” A drill sergeant bawled out, marching to the field. I had been spending the past week training my Pegasus body, redeveloping my CQC skills so I could fight effectively as the Spartan I was. Despite having my mind shredded, being attacked by mythological creatures, becoming a Flood, losing control of my body to a dark entity known as the Nightmare, and then being turned into a pony, I still owed my loyalty to the UNSC, and all that shit wouldn’t hold me back.

“Crimson, you’re being shipped out to Ponyville. Something to do with the flying armored creature. Princess Luna’s orders.” The sergeant told me, as I strode away from practice. “Yes, sir. I’ll leave right now, sir.” I responded automatically, thanks to having military instincts shoved up my ass and into my brain. I turned to the gates of the palace, and walked out. Tohl caught sight of me and managed to perform a series of impossible acrobatics, flipping from wall to wall and scurrying on the bottoms of roofs. He had developed his agility, now that he was an Alpha Crawler instead of a Sangheili. It made even myself jealous of how easily he defied physics.

A sky chariot was waiting for us, so I dematerialized my armor and stepped on. Right as we lifted off, Tohl leapt onto the underside of the carriage, clambering over the sides to stand by me. “Showoff,” I said to him, causing the Elite-turned-Promethean to chuckle. I shook my head, and we were off.

-------------------- Terra Firma’s POV --------------------

I paced outside of the library, waiting for the companions that Luna had told me I would receive. She had sent a letter, apologising for her sister’s actions and saying she agreed with my thoughts on the Corruption, and it needed to be destroyed. Apparently a pair that I supposedly knew was coming to help, and we’d have to explore the limits of the Corruption. A bright flash overhead, and I saw the gold of a sky chariot glide down in front of me. Suddenly, a very familiar duo popped out.

Crimson and Tohl, the Spartan and Elite. They had introduced themselves to me after I was cured of the Infection debuff, and apparently they had come through portals as well. Crimson has originally been a Spartan IV, a human that was trained and augmented to be a super-soldier. Tohl was a Sangheili, or an Elite as the humans called them, and had barely survived a crash in his vehicle. Both had been transformed by something called the Flood, like the biome Isis spoke of, and Crimson had retained control. Tohl had been turned into an artificial being and put in the body of an Alpha Crawler, the Titanium-Sapphire gemspark dog. Crimson had been taken over by the Nightmare, and turned into a pegasus by the Elements of Harmony. “Are you two ready? Good. Let’s get going.” I stated, before turning and flying to the Everfree. “What are we doing?” Shouted Crimson, as he flew next to me with ease. “We’re going into a deadly forest that has been turned into something even more dangerous to find out how big it is, and make sure it stops spreading.” I said, not even glancing his way. “Do I need my armor?” I pretended to think hard, and responded, “Only if you want to live.” I ignored the confused and frustrated glare, and kept flying and gliding.

The forest that had been purified remained clean. We had to travel a large distance to find the Corruption, and even then it was rather small. What surprised us was the dark biome slowly consuming it. The new one was like a mix of the Crimson and Corruption, with purplish flesh as the main component, and toxic green highlights. There were also patches of muddy brown and tan tissue, which seemed alive, as if looking for something. Eyes with black irises grew from different parts of the forest, with pustules that glowed a sickening yellow. Crimson and I landed, and Tohl soon caught up with us. As armor formed around the pegasus, we caught a whiff of something terrible, like a rotting corpse, left out for years, always decaying and never fading away. Every step gave a disgusting squelch, as we trode on the vile floor. As we continued, a strange shape formed in the distance. It looked like a pair of tails twisting around each other, spiralling up to point at the sky. Blood red, tan, and toxic green symbols were etched across it, and it seemed to pulse with evil.

Tendrils of the fleshy tan formed a web across the base, with things either being pushed through or crawling inside the tissue.A pustule near us burst, revealing a body that was eerily humanoid, mouth hanging in a scream, tentacles writhing inside the chest. It was like the arms and legs had melted into the mass, moans heard from the abomination. I watched as a Corrupt Bunny hopped by, only for the tentacles to whip out and constrict the mob, quickly popping the head off and wrenching the limbs apart. I examined it, and saw something that terrified me. “Guardian” ‘1,000/1,000 Health’

It had an insane amount of HP, and a name that made me shiver. If it was a Guardian, what was it guarding? Another pustule near us burst, revealing a second Guardian. It slung its tentacles at me, only to have them sliced off with my Hardlight Blade. I watched as it squirmed in agony, and the tendrils recoiled into the chest. I stepped to it, and equipped my Megashard, prepared to put it out of its misery. I pulled the trigger, and watched as it took only between ten and fifteen damage from each impact, the slivers of crystal barely harming it. I fired dozens, and then a hundred, rounds into it, and when it finally died it simply slumped. Nothing came from the dead form, nothing happened. That is, until I saw a large lump of flesh crawl over to the body and seem to absorb it. I backed away in terror, as did Crimson and Tohl, and we fled from the monstrosities that inhabited this terrible place. I managed to snag a block of the stone from the ground, and was shocked by the name: “Cthulhian Stone.”

I spoke to Isis the Dryad about the biome, and she looked horrified. “You found the Marker? How did you survive?!” She gasped, eyes wide with fear. I was confused, as to what this “Marker” was. “What exactly is the Marker?” I asked, slightly scared from her reaction. “A terrible, terrible thing. Do not activate it, or it will all be too late.” I turned to Crimson, who simply shrugged. “Tartarus if I know. I just want to get rid of it. For some reason I keep seeing my parents…”

A sudden explosion was heard. We rushed outside, to find an armored being kneeling in the center of the street, clutching its masked head, a strange item beside it. I walked up to it cautiously, afraid of how it would react. I was shocked when I heard it muttering about the dead.

-------------------- Isaac Clarke’s POV --------------------

I was running across the decks of the Ishimura, Pulse Rifle in my hands, with a group of Slashers following. I had only just turned to use the secondary fire, when a massive throbbing overtook my head. As I collapsed onto my knees, images of my girlfriend flickering, I saw a strange thing. It was like an oval, flat yet the purple edges swirled infinitely into a black hole in the center. I managed to shuffle over to it, and touched it right as the Slashers caught up. A blinding flash of light, and my headache suddenly raged, before vanishing completely. I stayed kneeling, thinking about how the dead were coming back, about how they had infected the entire crew of the Ishimura, of how they took all but one of my fellow crew members from the Kellion.

Even then they kept going for me, the Slashers attempting to carve me apart with their bony scythes, the Lurkers wailing as they fired spikes from their backs, the Guardians as they moaned and spewed tentacles from their open stomachs. Even the creeping Corruption only served to hasten my death. I had not died yet, and I did not plan to, for the sake of Nicole. She had to still be alive… She couldn’t of died… She was there, she was helping me…

“What are you?” A voice said from behind me, making me jump in surprise. I reached for my Pulse Rifle, only to see a strangely humanoid creature was holding it, looking at it in interest. It had on some sort of armor, one that was a brilliantly reflective silver and had patches of glowing orange. It spoke again, in a male voice, “Seriously, what are you?”

My jaw dropped in shock behind my helmet. The thing spoke to me. It didn’t look like a Necromorph, it sure as hell wasn’t a crazy Unitologist, and it spoke. I stammered, “I-I-I’m Isaac. Isaac Clarke. I’m a human. What the hell are you?” The creature tilted its head, seemingly in thought. “Hmmm… I’m many things. Want me to list them? I can.” It chuckled, “Look, I’m just teasing you. I’m Terra Firma, a Terrarian. Nice Pulse Rifle by the way, has great stats. Who ever heard of a gun that does over a hundred damage, has the insanely fast attack speed, and does average knockback? My Megashard doesn’t even do that.” My jaw dropped again. “How do you know what a Pulse Rifle is? They’re strictly for military and security use! What the hell is a Terrarian? Where am I?!”

It tossed my gun back to me, nodding slowly. “Yeah, yeah. You’re confused as shit. Same thing happened to me. I find a beautiful portal, which impossibly takes up the foreground, midground, and background, and find myself in the middle of the Everfree. I learn that Crimson and Tohl here also came from similar circumstances. For them, near death. For me, adventure. For you, I don’t know shit.” I was getting a little annoyed by the arrogant attitude. “Nearly died. Stop talking like an asshole, and explain to me. Where. Am. I.”

“You get right to the point, I like that. Okay, so you’re in this place called Equestria. For some reason, us four have come here through portals that form out of nowhere. Stuff from Crimson and Tohl’s universe is here as well. For some reason stuff from my worlds are here too. We’ve got only one resident NPC, Isis the Dryad.” A woman dressed in vines waved to me, smiling. “Hello.” Terra continued, “I’m currently trying to get rid of the Crimson, not the Spartan here, but the biome from my worlds, as well as the Corruption.” I gasped at that word. “The Corruption is here?! Oh god, no… It can’t happen again…”

“Wait, what? You have the Corruption? Is it purple and evil and stuff?” I shook my head, slightly relieved. “No, it’s a disgusting, living mass of flesh. Slows you down big time when you walk on it. Don’t ask me why you’d want to, I was forced to on the Ishimura.” The helmet on Terra’s head suddenly vanished, revealing a pale face, blue eyes, light brown hair, and a worried expression. I was surprised more by how his face seemed 2-Dimensional, but I ignored that. “Aw, shit. Lemme get Twilight and the Princesses. We’ve got a lot to explain.”

For some reason I was slightly scared by the word, ‘Princesses.’

I soon found out why. Two tall horses, one white and the other blue, stood before me. They had horns on their heads, and massive wings. Their multi-colored manes seemed to blow, even with no wind. “Explain to us what these “Necromorphs” are, Isaac.” I was shocked. “How did you know my name? I know I mentioned Necromorphs earlier, but…” The blue one interrupted, “Terra Firma told us. Now please, continue.” The white one glared at the other, but was ignored. I took a deep breath, before letting it out and glancing at Nicole for courage. At her nod, I began. “Necromorphs are the undead. The plague is first started when a Marker turns dead tissue into Necrotic flesh. I’ve only seen pictures of Markers, and I don’t want to see one ever again. Once the initial outbreak has occurred, the new Necromorph, usually a Slasher, will murder every living creature it comes across, leaving it for either Infectors to transform or for the Marker to convert it.”

The blue one spoke up again, “What are Slashers?” I shivered at the name, before responding. “Slashers are humans, the standard Necromorph. They’ve become monsters, losing their lower jaws, and most signs of their humanity. They have a pair of small arms growing out of their chest cavity, which are used to hold prey in place. The original arms have grown enormous, with the hands vanishing and a massive blade of bone has grown down from the forearm. It uses these to cut at prey, hence the name, Slasher. There are very few stationary Necromorphs, one of them being the Guardian. It’s a human, whose arms and legs have melted into the body. It is then just a large sack of flesh and a head, attached to the wall. It has a large chest cavity, which holds extremely big tentacles that are ridiculously sharp at the end, and either impales you or squeezes your head off. Immature ones moan like they’re in pain, and tend to squirm a lot more.”

Terra Firma gasped. “Oh, shit. I’ve seen those.” I began shaking again, praying to any deity that he was wrong. “I was in the Cthulhian biome with Crimson and Tohl. There was a big thing in the distance, like a pair of tails spiralling around each other. It was black, and had different symbols on it. We stayed a good distance away, until a pod of some sort near us exploded, revealing a Guardian. I saw its name, and we watched as it tore a Corrupt Bunny’s head off. Another pustule popped, and another Guardian attempted to kill me. It had one thousand health, same as the Brain of Cthulhu. It took the shots from my Megashard like they were nothing. After I killed it, we booked it out of there as fast as we could.”

No. It was too terrible to be true. A Marker was here… The Necromorphs were here… It couldn’t be happening. “Don’t worry, dad, we’ll take care of it. Yes mom, I’ll stop the Convergence. What? Of course I won’t! Look, keep an eye on me, make sure I don’t fall. I know, I know. Stay safe and all that. Look, I know you’re dead, but I appreciate that your spirits are trying to help. Of course I know I’m a bucking pegasus! Look, I’ll talk later.” The pony named Crimson said, apparently talking to himself. Terra Firma whispered, “The tiniest pebble can bring down a mountain… And that pebble just got crushed by a meteorite.”

“Don’t worry, Isaac, I know you can do it. You can stop the Convergence. Just listen to these ponies and people, and you’ll make it. I know you will.” Nicole said, kneeling before me, a faint smile on her lips. “I know, I’ll do my best… I love you, Nicole.”

“Love you too.”

-------------------- Luna’s POV --------------------

I watched as almost everypony began talking to themselves, and grew worried. I attempted to dreamwalk, only to find that they were awake… And something else. I tried shifting my sight to find the auras of spirits, and saw… The dead. So many dead and mutilated bodies, crowding around the room, whispering words of encouragement to those before me. A beautiful girl kneeled before Isaac, telling him she loved him. Crimson’s parents stood by him, standing guard. And in front of Terra… Was nothing. He himself was a swirling pool of energy, his aura overflowing and spilling out around him, making things… Pure. As if he was the only thing that could cleanse the darkness inside the others souls, he stood radiating light, rivaling that of the Element Bearers.

He was important, but Celly couldn’t see it.

He was vital to our survival.

He… He could help. I savored that word, cherishing it after all my time on my moon.

Help...

Author's Note

How's that for a twist? It ain't Minecraft, it ain't TF2, it's Dead Space! Yes sirree, Cthulhian is the Necromorph biome! Isaac Clarke enters the picture, Crimson sees his dead parents, and there's a fucking Marker in the Everfree Forest!
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Damn, this is going to be hard to pull off. Enjoy!