Author's Note

Hello everypony! This story was created in celebration of one of my friends, Dr Sharaz Jek, for reaching their 100th Story! While this fic will share some roots with their series, mainly the introduction of their main OC, background knowledge isn't required to enjoy this story.

If you've noticed the number of red tags this story has, feel free to refer to the end of the long description. Oh and techno fan? This story is more akin to NNN's tone and is not a clop fic, so this story is pog for you.

I'm also posting this during my vacation so things might end up feeling off but I really wanted to post this story for my friend!

If you end up liking this story, feel free to track it, as I hope to regularly update this fic. It's free and it helps out a ton.

Enjoy the chapter!

The Guide

Chapter 1:

Light peered through closed eyes as a figure laid dormant on a grassy field. Milky hair that faded into purple ends waved subtly through the air as the wind shoved them around. Purple fur shined with light as the sun rose overhead, and soon the creature began to wake up, revealing flickering white eyes that slowly turned purple as she began to regain consciousness.

Letting out a yawn, the mare slowly began to rise up, stumbling about as her mind remained groggy from the deep sleep. Her horn flickered with magic as she instinctively casted her clothes spell for the morning, replacing her silvery nightgown with a purple cone-shaped wide-brimmed hat and a similarly colored high cut leotard. The unicorn’s arms and legs were also covered in purple fabric, and beside her laid a cosmetic wooden wand, which gently shimmered before fading away, its energy being transferred back towards the figure as she finished her clothes spell.

“Ahh… Now that was a nice sleep we had, don’t you think Oona?” The mare said, lifting her arms to the air and stretching as she began to drive away any remaining feeling of tiredness. Looking to her right, the mare blinked as the light blue sheep she had expected to see was nowhere in sight, replaced by a light dense forest with trees and flowers all around her. As her mind began to reboot, the mare suddenly gasped when she realized where she was, or rather, where she wasn’t.

“Wait! Where am I!? Ewe!?” The unicorn yelled, her body fully snapping awake as she began to panic only to slap herself as she tried to calm herself, realizing an easy way out. “It’s alright, it’s ok, I can simply open a portal back home, nothing too serious.” The platinum-maned pony said to herself, placing her hands in front of her. Closing her eyes, she began to concentrate her magic outwards, her ability awakening as her cutie mark began to glow. Opening her eyes again, dread filled her body as the purple swirls that should’ve been in front of her by now weren’t there, the few wisps of magic that were in her hands fading away. Her body began to tremble as she felt a wave of powerlessness, but before she could emit any sort of reaction, her ears swerved as she began to hear somebody walking nearby.

Turning herself around, the young mare’s eyes landed on a blue pegasus. His wild dark blue mane moved with the breeze, his fur ruffling as well. A wooden bow was strapped to his back along with a quiver full of arrows. The blue pegasus hummed an unknown song before looking at the unicorn, his shining emerald eyes looking at her. Immediately the fear burned away her body as she became elated by the presence of the pegasus, and he soon yelped in surprise as the platinum maned mare tackled him into a hug, knocking them both onto the grassy ground.

“Midnight! It’s good to see you! I thought you were too sick to get up before?” The unicorn said with a sad smile, remembering how the last time she visited him, he had been laying in bed after going down from another illness, his trips to the infirmary becoming more frequent over the past few years. The blue pegasus blinked at her, before grinning as he pushed himself from underneath her and stood up. After shaking some dust off of him, Midnight gave her a wide smile that only Pinkie could muster before letting out a squeal of excitement that could only be rivaled by Fluttershy.

“Yes! Thank you Beatrix for finally giving me a name! You don’t know how long I waited for you to give me one!” The blue pegasus exclaimed giddily, bouncing up and down a bit, his wings flapping hard but with enough control as to not shoot himself into the sky. Beatrix blinked at the stallion, wondering what he meant by ‘no name’ and him waiting for her, even though she just visited him a few days ago, before connecting the dots and realizing what was going on.

“Oh… Uhm… Nice to finally meet the alternative version of yourself… I guess…” Beatrix sighed, having figured out she wasn’t facing her Midnight but rather another version. She was disappointed by the revelation, but happy to have some company at least. She suddenly blinked as she realized something else. “Wait… how did you know my name then? We’ve never met before, or at least I’ve only met another timeline of you if that makes any sense.” The mare asked but was surprised to see the lack of confusion on the pegasus. Instead, he seemed indifferent to the mention of alternative realities.

“Oh, I know what you mean by alternatives. Hmmm… guess you’re already an experienced soul to gamble it away by activating both Hardcore and Master Mode, am I right?” Midnight asked out of the blue, suddenly causing Beatrix to back away a bit in fright at the mention of gambling her soul.

“Wait what!?” The mare yelled, causing the blue pegasus to wince as some birds flew from a nearby tree. Realizing his error, he began to shuffle his feet in embarrassment.

“Welp. Maybe not I guess. Uhm hey! Welcome to the world of Terraria I guess… Yay?” Midnight said, his eyes darting back and forth as he wondered how to get out of the awkward situation. Feeling the tension in the air, Beatrix decided to break it by restating her question along with a few others.

“You haven’t answered my question. How do you know my name? Did you just say that you didn’t have a name before? How do you know about other timelines in the first place? What are-”

“Alright Bea,” Midnight said, smiling a bit at the endless amount of questions Beatrix had for him. “I’ll answer them one at a time. After all, they say there’s a person who will tell you how to survive in this land... oh wait. That's me.” The blue pegasus said, laughing at his inside joke, before shaking his head. “But right now I can’t answer you. You’ll need to build a house as it’s dangerous to wander around in the night, especially with your current equipment, or lack thereof.” Midnight said, pointing to her waist. Beatrix, misinterpreting his words, became flustered and soon ticked at the young colt for what she thought he was insinuating.

“Hey! Just want to let you know that my mother taught me how to create magical replicas of that ‘equipment’ you’re referencing, and I’m not afraid to use it on your-!”

“I was talking about tools like pickaxes, axes, as well as armor. You don’t even have a belt pouch around your waist to store them. What were you thinking I was talking about?” Midnight asked innocently, tilting his head a bit. Given that he probably lived in the wild, he most likely had no social skills on how to interact with others and what is considered offensive or not. Beatrix simply face palmed herself and sighed, but at the same time, she couldn’t help but smile as she remembered some memories of the past.

“Oh wow. It’s been so long since you were innocent like that. I think about twenty or so years ago. Alright, let’s try again, as I feel we’ve got off to a bit of a rocky start. My name is Beatrix Belladonna. Who are you?” The unicorn said, smiling as she extended her hand towards the blue pegasus, who happily accepted.

“My name is Midnight Blitzer, and to answer one of your questions, I’m The Guide, here to give you advice on what to do next whenever you’re stuck, and one of the many perks about being one is that we get to know who the world’s ‘Terrarian’ will be called.” Midnight said proudly as he began to rapidly shake her hand, his strong arm causing her body to vibrate.

“W-w-w-wa-a-a-a-i-i-i-i-t-t-t-t… W-w-w-w-w-we-e-e-e-e-e?” Beatrix asked, her voice vibrating in tune with her body. Soon she heard Midnight beginning to snicker, and she frowned when she realized that she was vibrating even after Midnight finished his rapid handshake. He gave her a soft smile.

“The Order of the Guide, I’m one of the countless generations who’ve passed down both legends and knowledge to the present. My dad was the previous Guide before he disappeared to Terraria knows where, and well, I had to take up the mantle. I’m quite fond of the forest, and while I’m quite used to not having a house by this point, I wouldn’t mind having one.” Midnight said, giving Beatrix a wink. She simply frowned.

“Oh, so you want me to build you a house when you could’ve done it yourself?” Beatrix asked, a bit offended by the somewhat lazy attitude being shown by the colt. He let out a light laugh.

“Yep. It’s actually part of the Order of the Guide’s rules. The Guide must show the Terrarian how to build a house to give them some basic skills on the mechanics of this world. Cause trust me, you might have magic, but this world’s life force works differently than what you’ve probably been taught.” The Guide said, smiling at the mare who rolled her eyes.

“Fine. If this isn’t your way to get a home for free and you promise to teach me the mechanics of this world, then I guess I can help. Promise?” Beatrix asked, staring at Midnight straight in the eye. The blue pegasus smiled at her before taking out a copper ax from his pouch, causing the mare to blink at the seemingly impossible task given how small the pocket was compared to the tool.

“Cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye.” Midnight vowed along with some hand gestures of crossing his heart and poking his eye, which resulted in him letting out a quiet ‘ow’ when he did accidentally poke himself. The unicorn could only stifle a laugh before straightening herself.

“Alright, let’s just begin,” Beatrix said, causing the blue pegasus to smile. The mare was suddenly caught off guard when he threw her his axe, which she barely managed to grab. It felt heavy and slow, its weight trying to drag her down. Before she could even get comfortable she suddenly felt a piece of leather hitting her in the face as Midnight threw her a belt pouch. “Hey!” The unicorn yelled, prompting Midnight to look away.

“Oops. Sorry about that. Alright, so first of all, I’m going to teach you how to open and close your inventory. First off I’ll need you to put on that belt pouch.” The blue pegasus instructed. The mare grumbled a bit before doing as she was told, strapping the belt around her waist and having the pouch lay on her side. “Next, I want you to place the axe I gave you inside.” Midnight commanded. The mare attempted to shove it in, but as she expected the copper axe had no room inside.

“Hey uhm, can I just strap it around my back or place it in one of these handles?” Beatrix asked, pointing to the random strap around her back and the small tool handles on the side of the belt. Midnight simply shook his head as he pulled his bow from behind and showed it to her.

“No. Eventually, you’ll end up having multiple weapons and tools in your inventory, as well as other stuff, so you’ll need to learn how to pull them in and out. Like this!” The blue pegasus exclaimed in a loud voice before making the bow suddenly disappear into thin air. The mare widened her eyes as Midnight summoned the weapon back into his hand.

“Oh, so it’s like a magic trick right? Like pulling a bunny out of a hat?” Beatrix asked, before blinking as she looked down and saw that her copper axe had disappeared. “Wait what.” The mare blinked before closing her eyes and imagining pulling out the axe from the pouch, and to her surprise, the tool reappeared within her hand. Midnight simply squirmed in excitement at her progression.

“Wow! You’re a fast learner! And well, it isn’t as simple as a magic trick. Everything in this world is connected to one another by a mystic source of energy, and that pouch is no exception. If you want to put something in or out, it’ll use the world’s energy to enact your will. Here, try it with these two things.” Midnight said, pulling out a pickaxe and a sword before throwing them at her. The mare quickly acted on instinct, making her axe disappear and immediately doing the same as her hand touched the pickaxe before finally grabbing the sword by the handle. She smiled as she heard the blue pegasus clapping for her. The unicorn giggled as she gave a bow, replacing her copper sword with her axe by just imagining the tools switching with one another.

“Thanks. My mom taught me some magic tricks and I think they’re helping me adjust to these new bizarre changes.” Beatrix stated. Midnight simply nodded before pointing at a nearby tree.

“I think you’re ready for the next step. You see that tree over there? Chop it down to get some wood.” Midnight ordered. The mare walked over to the tall trunk and stared at it for a good while, which he noticed. “Hey uhm, you do remember that I said that night is going to be very dangerous right?” The blue pegasus asked, confused by why she had stopped.

“Uhm… I don’t think I’m strong enough to chop it down.” Beatrix said as she noticed just how thick the tree was.

“Just try it.” Midnight said, giving her a soft smile. Beatrix let out a sigh before lifting her axe up and striking it against the tree. Her body suddenly began to vibrate in a comedic effect as the tree resisted her blow. The mare soon fell onto the ground after letting go over the handle, and she groaned from her dizziness.

“Ugh… Told you it wouldn’t work…” Beatrix moaned as she began to see stars. The blue pegasus simply laughed a bit.

“Oh Bea. Alright, let me give you a tip. Your weapons, just like your inventory, are powered by the world’s magic, so don’t try to force your will through brute strength, just let your tool do your work for you and gently push your will onto the world.” Midnight advised. Nodding at him, Beatrix soon picked herself up before walking towards the tree again. Taking a deep breath, the mare swore she could feel her axe humming with energy as she lifted it up, and imagining it chopping down the tree, she brought it down. To her delight, the axe had managed to dent itself in, and after repeating the process, the tree burst into a series of wooden planks before they were all picked up by her pouch. Surprised by the sudden turn of events, Beatrix summoned the plank into her hand, and to her shock, it was smoothly cut into a perfectly sized plank.

“Uhm… how?” Beatrix asked in confusion as she studied the wooden block she held. Strangely it also felt like she was holding multiple wooden pieces at the same time, all of them packed together into a single area. Even though they all blurred with one another, she just knew that she had 28 pieces of wood.

“The magic of Terraria. You didn’t destroy the tree when you chopped it down, you just created wood, as confusing as that may sound. The magic also allows you to view the quality of your tools and how many of the same items you have. Take a look at your tools for example.” Midnight suggested. Beatrix nodded before inspecting her axe. From the movement of chopping down the tree, it had felt slower than it needed to be, and certainly enough she knew that its quality was ‘Sluggish’. Switching to her pickaxe, she discovered it to be ‘Sharp’ with the teeth of it being much pointier than usual, and landing on her shortsword, she found out it was just normal with no added modifiers.

“This is interesting, to say the least,” Beatrix said as she spun the sword around her hand before replacing it with her axe, the movement being much more comfortable after practicing for a bit. “Now what?” The mare asked as she looked at Midnight, who smiled.

“I’d recommend you chop down some more trees until you feel you’re ready to make a house. Does that sound fair?” The blue pegasus asked, raising an eyebrow. Beatrix quietly nodded as she looked at all the trees around her that were ready to be cut down.

“Sure,” Beatrix said, and with that, she began the process of cutting down the forest around her. Aiming for the tree nearest to her, she swung her axe at it, the modifier greatly reducing the speed she swung but nevertheless she ended up yielding a pile of prepared wood. Quickly formulating a strategy, she was about to head towards the largest tree when she heard the sound of a bow being pulled back. Looking around, she noticed the blue pegasus shooting at what seemed to be a green slime, which instantly went agro as an arrow buried itself into the semi-transparent creature. Soon it began to bounce towards them and making a decision, Beatrix rushed towards her Guide’s aid.

Switching her axe with her shortsword, the unicorn rushed towards the gelatinous creature. Holding the shortsword in front of her, she impaled the creature with her weapon, the slime jiggling and being forced back. Before she could land another hit, the slime suddenly bounced on top of her, barely missing her as the mare quickly dodged under it. She barely dodged another threat as one of Midnight’s arrows sailed over her head, but with the collaboration of the two ponies, the slime burst into a shower of gel after Beatrix gave it a final poke.

“Sorry!” Midnight exclaimed in panic, having nearly shot an arrow through her head. Beatrix let out a sigh before smiling softly at him.

“It’s ok. Accidents happen. But hey! Good thing we killed this slime right?” The mare asked. After seeing that she wasn’t angry with him, the blue pegasus smiled at her.

“Yeah. Hey! Here’s an interesting tip! You could combine wood and gel to create a torch. Try it right now by letting the magic of this world combine the two items together!” Midnight suggested. Beatrix, surprised by this ability, quickly felt around her inventory by concentrating on what could be inside it. After finding the gel, she thought about combining it with a piece of wood. Suddenly, she felt a feeling of warmth washing over her body, and opening her eyes, Beatrix was surprised to see the torch she held. Deciding to experiment a bit, she placed it back inside her inventory, and she felt that it remained lit, but it wasn’t catching anything else on fire.

“This isn’t normal… but yet it feels normal here…” Beatrix said to herself, playing a bit with the torch before switching back to her sluggish axe. “When do you think I should stop chopping down some wood?” The mare asked as she began to chop down another tree, surprised by the fact that a few copper coins fell from its branches. Midnight looked above at the sun, which had moved significantly since the last time he checked.

“Whenever you feel like it. If you decide to build two or more houses, there’s a chance it might attract some people over here, and they might have something that will make your journey easier. Remember, this world is harder than usual, and as a new Terrarian with no prior experience, you’ll need all the help you can get.” The Guide said, smiling at Beatrix before leaving to hunt down some wandering slimes. Beatrix nodded.

“Alright. That sounds like a good idea.” The purple mare said, agreeing with the fact that she’ll need tons of allies if she wanted to survive. The next tree ended up dropping a leaf wand, which she immediately tried to use to cast spells, but the only thing it did was place leaves down and consume her wood, which she found annoying and soon placed it further down her pouch. The trees also dropped some acorns which she stored in case she would need to replant them. Upon seeing some very tall trees in the distance, Beatrix quickly ran towards them and began to hack away at them. Several ‘THWAKS!’ echoed through the air, birds and butterflies flying from the leaves.

Hearing Midnight pulling back his bow nearby, Beatrix turned around to see another slime, this time blue and much larger than the green one they had slain before. Turning around, she made quick work of the gelatinous creature, before spinning around as Midnight engaged another slime. The blobby creatures had begun to swarm them, but it wasn’t something that the duo couldn’t handle.

After chopping down some more trees, Beatrix couldn’t help but let out a happy sigh as she saw a white bunny standing in front of her. The fluffy creature simply looked up to her before walking away. Before she could tell Midnight about it, she yelped as a green slime snuck up from behind and knocked her over.

“Ack!” Beatrix cried out as her sword fell from her grip. The slime, seeing her weakness, began to jump on top of her, squeezing the air out of her as it hit her in the stomach and the chest. The sky began to darken as the slime began to punch the life out of her, and as more of its blue and green companions joined the fight, she felt her health decreasing. Seeing her sword far out of reach, Beatrix gritted her teeth before imagining switching to her ‘Sharp’ pickaxe, which was her only hope by now. With her concentration being constantly broken with each smash, she barely was able to block a slime that tried to deal her the killing blow. Her eyes were now half-lidded as she stood up and began to regain her ground, swinging her tool around herself and poking through any slime that tried to finish her. Her breath became heavy and raspy as she finished the last blue slime before collapsing onto the ground, and it was only then when she heard Midnight rushing towards her.

“Oh no! Beatrix! Are you ok!?” The blue pegasus yelled as he looked above and shot at any slime that dared come close to her. He immediately picked up a nearby mushroom and held it towards her mouth. “Here, eat it.” Midnight ordered, and tiredly she took a bite out of it, the entire object disappearing into her mouth. Her eyes slightly opened as she felt a wave of magic entering her body and healing some minor bruises here and there. Her body still felt tired, but not at the magnitude she felt before. “I think it’s time to build that house. The creatures here are much more powerful compared to a normal world, and I can’t afford to lose the one who gave me my name.” The Guide said as he picked Beatrix up and began to walk her away. As she laid in his arms, she turned around to see the bunny one last time, only to find its head being severed and its body a bloody mess. It had been killed when one of the slimes landed on top of it, crushing it and scattering its remains. The only thing that she could do was let out tears of sadness over the death of the critter as she was led away.