Terra Firma

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!”