Twilight Sparkle and the Terrarian Trials

Twilight tried yet again to jump to the next level of platforms. While Twilight did somewhat appreciate the arena Fodder gave her, she noticed early on that she was unable to jump high enough to reach the next level. Therefor, the arena could only be used as a flat plain to run back and forth on, which Twilight assumed she wouldn't have to do anymore with the arena. Twilight reckoned Fodder built the arena with some item in mind, not realizing she didn't have the item yet.

Eventually, Twilight just decided to let it go. She was pretty sure she would find whatever she needed at some point in the future, and teleported back home.

Now Twilight sat down, wondering what to do next. She decided it would probably be some time until the next slime rain, which meant she had plenty of time to find whatever she needed. Suddenly, Twilight had an idea. Maybe she might find something useful out in the world, and not cooped up in this house all the time. Images of the strange, blood-drenched place filled Twilight's mind, and she shuddered involuntarily. She probably wasn't going to go that way. Instead, she decided she would go the other way, towards the jungle area.

Once again, Twilight found herself in the snow, and then immediately inside the desert afterwards. Twilight had decided she should just stop trying to make sense of this world, since a lot of things inside it didn't really make much sense. She also noticed she hadn't seen any slimes in a while, which was promising to give a quick, easy trip.

As if the universe heard her thoughts and really wanted to mess with her, something hit Twilight in the face rather harshly and fell down, startling her out of her thoughts. Twilight ducked behind a nearby dune and tried to spot whatever it was that shot at her. While she couldn't see what was shooting her, she did recieve another projectile to the face. In the few moments it rested there, Twilight was able to tell it looked like sand. Which means Twilight now had to deal with something that threw sand. Finally she spotted some kind of giant worm with mandibles sticking out of the ground, which had just now shot another block of sand at her. Twilight was preparing to boomerang the creature, but was interrupted when she heard skittering behind her. She turned around just in time to get brutally dissected by a similar-looking insect.

As Twilight entered the desert again, she was glad to not see any more of the insect worm sand things. Although sitting on one of the cacti was a vulture, which was just staring at Twilight. She carefully attempted to edge around the vulture, but then had to stop when it started flying at her. Deciding it wasn't friendly, Twilight struck it a few times with her sword and moved on.

Now Twilight was out of the desert, which was plenty relieving for her. She found herself in another grassy area, although it seemed to be a lot hillier then her home. Twilight shrugged and continued under the giant floating mass of land that was somehow staying in the air, and came across a very lovely-looking wooden chest. Upon opening the chest, Twilight was greeted to the sight of a yellow spike called an aglet, as well as the usual assortment of potions and coins. There were also a number of pots around the chest, which dropped more potions, coins, and rope when broken. Although Twilight probably wouldn't be able to use the rope, given her equine body.

Twilight exited the cavity and found the jungle. It didn't look too dangerous, although she could say the same thing for pretty much everything, Well, maybe not the bloody place, but she really didn't want to go back there. Twilight put the image out of her mind and trudged into the jungle, spotting some very bright green slimes and brown bats. It wouldn't be too difficult for Twilight to deal with them.

And then a giant spiked vine thing burst out of the ground right beneath Twilight, yet again putting her into a startled state. Twilight realized a lot of things were startling her in this world, which probably wouldn't be too healthy if it continued. Fortunately for Twilight, the large mouth disappeared into the ground, which allowed Twilight to back away out of its range when it came up again. It was surprisingly easy to defeat for such a scary-looking monster, since it just wasn't ever able to reach far enough to hit Twilight. After defeating the monster, Twilight continued on her journey.

After a sizable amount of piranhas, bats, and slimes, as well as the occasional vine monster, Twilight made it to the other side of the jungle, which happened to be another plain. There weren't any chests, unfortunately, but there was a beach right after which then led to an ocean. Twilight knew that sharks and other dangerous ocean critters couldn't possibly be this far out, so was very confident that she could make it through the ocean unscathed.

Twilight was, frustratingly, unable to swim, and was forced to inch forward at the bottom of the ocean. A few crabs and jellyfish tried to get to her, but her sword was still somehow able to work quite well underwater.

That was when she spied a chest. Twilight was starting to realize she really liked chests, and rushed as best she could to it. Inside, she found a very long, hollow stick, which she assumed she could use to go underwater. She didn't really think it would work this far, since its length wouldn't reach past the surface. Ultimately, Twilight had nothing to lose by trying, and stuck the tube in her mouth. She didn't notice any effects, but decided to leave it in as she continued onwards.

But just as Twilight was about to open the next chest, she heard something swimming towards her. Looking up, she was surprised to see a shark making a beeline right towards her. Twilight really didn't want to face any sharks, and teleported out as soon as she could. She gasped for air, and out of shock, before calming down.

Why would there ever be sharks so far upshore? That doesn't make sense! Twilight sorted out the items she obtained as she continued her mental comment. I just can't wait to get out of this place. It's so different and confusing. She finished sorting everything out and exited the building. I guess that'll be enough exploring. I still feel like I need something, though. Maybe I'll find it underground. With her new destination set, and her trusty pickaxe ready, Twilight entered her mineshaft to try and find whatever it is she needed, and whatever else caught her eye.

Ponyville

Given the unknown status of the research team for so long, Celestia finally decided she would have to go there herself. She didn't want her little ponies to be caught in any type of crossfire, however, and had to decline the offer to be royally transported. Besides, Celestia thought she needed to refresh her flying skills.

As she approached the quaint little town, she was met with a truly terrible sight. The town was completely overrun by groaning bipedal creatures, flying eyes, and the occasional bouncing slime. She attempted to find the team from where she was, but was unable to find any sign of them. As she got a little closer to the town, a few of the eyes noticed her and flew at her. They didn't stand much chance against her idle fire spell.

Finally, after a while of flying and plenty of eye burning, Celestia managed to find the crashed wreckage of the golden chariots. It showed that the team attempted to put up a fight, but were ultimately defeated. Celestia didn't know what happened to them, but was determined to find them.

At that moment, the bipedal things noticed the living thing among them, and started shuffling lazily towards her, groaning all the way. They reminded Celestia of those zomponies that some of her subjects were obsessed with, which spelled bad news in case what she realized could have happened might be real.

It was only confirmed when she spotted a few ponies in golden armor shuffling towards her just like the others. She really wanted to save them, but didn't know of any magic that might work. But, even if she managed to save them, they would still have large chunks of flesh bitten out of them or organs trailing on the floor, which wasn't very desirable. Celestia decided it would be the kindest thing just to kill them, or whatever now inhabited these lifeless husks.

And then a torrent of slimes fell on everything. Celestia was pretty surprised by such an occurrence, but the zombies didn't even seem to notice what were now on their heads and continued groaning forward. Celestia attempted to burn the slime off of her head, but the half-formed spell fizzed harmlessly into the slimy substance. There was also slime pretty much completely coating her, which made it really difficult for her to move or fly. And with the zombies closing in on her, she realized she was in a very bad situation.

But then, as they reached her, they only managed to bounce their heads right off of her. Celestia realized they wouldn't actually be able to hurt her with the bouncy slime coating everything. She found a lot of humor in that fact, although a lot of it might have come from the fact that she was in a life-or-death situation.

All of the humor vanished when the giant flying eye appeared in the air, immediately turning to stare at her. The slime on everything hadn't disappeared so far, and the eye came in after the slime rain,which meant it was at an extreme advantage.

For the moment, the eye didn't really do anything except stare at Celestia while floating back and forth. It made her feel as if something evil was staring into her soul, which was really unnerving. She was then officially creeped out when its pupil split off, revealing a massive, tooth-filled maw. It then rushed at her, aiming to bite her in half. Celestia reflected that she probably shouldn't have come here.

As she waited for the end, she realized she still hadn't been eaten. She slowly opened an eye to see the empty, fleshy void inside this thing. She turned her head behind her to see the jaw struggling to chomp through the thick layer of slime. Once again, her life was both doomed and saved by this elusive slimy substance. But she was still unable to do anything meaningful to the eye, and it was unable to do anything to her, so she decided to prepare for a really long wait.