The land around Twilight was horrifying. She just stood there with her friends for a few minutes before realizing that it wasn't Equestria. Unless Equestria was replaced with blocks and Lava. Twilight looked away from the red blocks and turned to her friends. "Well, this obviously isn't home. I'm going to write a letter to Celestia and then read up on this place, if I can."
"Uhh.... Sounds like a good idea." Spike said. "I guess I'm the one to write it, like usual."
"Yes Spike, you always have to write it." Twilight told him. "Unless you aren't with us. The I have to write the letters. But lets get started shall we?"
After Twilight said that she levitated the feather, ink sac, and the paper to Spike so he could get ready. Once he got prepared, she told him what to write. It didn't take too long to get the letter written, and it was more of a cry for help than anything else.
-------------
Dear Princess Celestia,
I'm so sorry that I couldn't send you a letter earlier. My friends and I (plus Spike) have apparently been sent to a very weird world called Minecraft. Instead of the usual landscape we see in Equestria, Minecraft is consisted of blocks. Dirt blocks, stone blocks, wood blocks, it's all blocks, blocks, and more blocks. We were able to create a home from the blocks and grow some food. We only learned that because when I found Spike he was clutching a guide book to this world. I would love to write about our adventure so far, but we don't have too much time.
Right now we've jumped through a portal that has sent us to a Lava-filled world. The land around us is scarier than I'd like to admit, and we really need some help. I don't think it'd be easy to get out of Minecraft, and that's why we need your help. We can survive here for a bit, but not for long. Terrifying Mobs such as Zombies and Creepers are out to kill us, and we've already experienced death. We have limitless lives here, but it's hard work getting everything back once you've died.
I await your response,
Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle
-------------
"Okay Spike, all you have to do is send it." Twilight said. "I just hope that the Princess can help us with this problem." Right after she said that Spike sent the letter with his magical green fire. She carefully levitated her book out of her saddlebags and held her book in front of her. "Until we recieve a letter from the Princess, I'm going to try to do some research about this place." Twilight told her friends. "You girls can go explore if you want, but Spike, you're staying here with me."
"I'll go flying around to see what I can find." Rainbow said before flying off in a random direction.
"I'm going to find a fortress!" Pinkie happily told her friends before bouncing off.
"Well, ah guess ah should go and find the ground in this here place." Applejack told Twilight.
"I umm.. I'm going over here." Fluttershy nervously squeaked before finding a cave that obviously led to a dead-end.
"I am going to go follow Fluttershy." Rarity said to Twilight. "The poor dear won't last too long without some support from a friend."
Twilight said goodbye to Rarity and sat down. She opened up her book and searched for different dimensions. She quickly found some uncovered information in the 'Lava' section of her book about a place called the 'Nether'. She flipped to the page about the Nether and began reading.
The Nether
The Nether is a strange dimension within the world of Minecraft. There is no day or night, beds explode if you sleep in them, Lava is everywhere, there are new blocks, and some strange Mobs. You can find Blazes, Ghasts, Magma Cubes, and Zombie Pigmen in the Nether. All of these Mobs are hostile except the Zombie Pigmen. They are neutral, but if there are plenty in the area and you attack one, all of them will attack you. Blazes can only be found within Nether Fortresses, if you can find one. The fortresses aren't very common, but have plenty of surprises in them. You can find Nether Wart nearby staircases growing on Soul Sand. Nether Bricks, Nether Fences, and Nether Stairs are found within the fortresses. Outside the fortresses you can find Glowstone, Netherrack, Soul Sand, and Gravel. The Nether is a very harsh place, and it really isn't a smart idea to build a home there. If your portal is somehow destroyed, then there isn't a good chance that you'll get out. It's best to get what you need there, and then leave.
Twilight was starting to get more scared. If the Nether was truely that terrible, then she and her friends were in great danger. But her friends were already gone and she had to wait for Celestia's letter. No sooner than she thought about the letter, Spike burped out a piece of paper. Twilight caught the letter with her magic and opened it up. She was delighted to find that it was a letter from the Princess.
-------------
My Most Faithful Student, Twilight Sparkle
I am very relieved to hear that you are safe. I have not heard of Minecraft, but I can certainly help you. The dragon that was causing issues somehow teleported away, and the best Mages in the castle have been able to pick up its magic. Right now they are researching it and how it works. The studies are almost finished and I hope that I can bend that kind of magic into a spell to get you and your friends home. From what I read you seem to be doing okay in Minecraft, and I hope that you can survive for a few more days. For now though, Luna and I are working as hard as possible to help you.
Sincerely,
Princess Celestia
-------------
Twilight felt relieved. The Mages of the castle along with both of the Princesses were working to get them out. She looked over to Spike and could see that he seemed happy as well. "Spike, we have to go get our friends." She told him. "My book says that this place is called the Nether, and it isn't very safe. It says that we should get what we need, then get out. Right now we need to get our friends. Then we can get out. You can go get Fluttershy and Rarity if I go to get Pinkie, Applejack, and Rainbow."
"Sounds good to me!" Spike happily said before running into the cave that Fluttershy and Rarity went to explore in.
Twilight chuckled and went off to the direction that her other friends went off to. There were two walking paths, one going down and one staying on the same level she was on. She could see a large Lava pool below her with plenty of flying space above it. She could easliy tell where each of them could go, and decided to go down to get Applejack first.
-------------
Applejack finally made it down the path and to the ground level of the strange world. There wasn't much on the ground level, just some fire and red rocks. Lava surrounded the rocks and no Mobs were nearby. She took out her pickaxe and decided to collect some of the strange rocks. She carefully hit one and it broke almost immediatly. She was surprised at how weak the rocks were and wondered if that was the only way to collect them. Applejack picked up the block, put it in her saddlebags, and then began pounding the rocks with her hooves. It only took a few seconds for the blocks to break, but they didn't drop anything. She decided to tell her friends about the rocks when she heard a strange noise. It came from over the Lava pool and sounded like high-pitched moaning. She looked at where the noise was coming from and saw a white, blocky creature with white tentacles and it's eyes closed. She was surprised to see that the creature was floating above all the Lava with no wings. Applejack just stood there watching the creature until it faced her. She heard a loud screech and saw a ball of fire come out of the creature's mouth. She ran away from the flying ball and took cover underneath some of the rocks. When the ball hit the ground it created a loud explosion that destroyed a lot of the red rocks.
Applejack wondered if she could somehow get rid of the ball of fire when she heard the screeching noise again. This time the creature was much closer, and the ball of fire didn't have too far to travel in order to get to her. She realized that it was too late to escape from the ball when her reflexes kicked in. The ball of fire came flying back to the white creature and exploded on it. Applejack heard a loud ding when the creature died and she also felt a bit of a burn on her back hooves. She realized that killing the creature with it's own projectile was an Achievement, and she ran off to quickly find her friends.
-------------
Rainbow was trying to make her flying more difficult by getting in the path of the Lava, tunnel systems, and occasional red rocks. On the path below her she could see Pinkie happily bouncing after her. Suddenly she felt her head hit something and stopped flying. While she was falling she saw that she hit her head on a single block of the red rock. She hit the ground on her back and could see Pinkie standing over her.
"HI DASHIE!" Pinkie yelled. "Why are you on the ground? Are you trying to go to a party or something? I WANT TO GO! I WANT TO GO! I WA-"
"Pinkie, I just hit my head and fell." Rainbow told her friend. "Before you say anything, there is no party. Why don't we just explore together on the ground?"
"Okay Dashie!" Pinkie cheerfully agreed. "I know where the fortress is, and we have to go that way!"
Rainbow didn't understand what she meant by 'fortress', but she looked to where Pinkie's hoof was pointing and could vaguely make out some dark colored bricks. She told Pinkie that she was going to fly over there and see what the blocks were.
"Okay Dashie! Just watch out for the Ghasts! Two of them will be coming over here any second now!"
"Uhhh... Pinkie? What are Ghasts and how do you know that two of them are coming over here?" Rainbow asked her friend.
"It's because I know." Pinkie told Rainbow. "Look! They're here already! Let's hit the fire!"
Rainbow looked behind her and saw two large, blocky, white floating creatures with tentacles and closed eyes. Pinkie seemed excited to see them, but she didn't know why. Suddenly a loud screech was heard from the 'Ghasts' and she had to run out of the way from a ball of fire. Rainbow saw that Pinkie was already farther away than she was from the explosion that followed the ball. She only had a few seconds to recover before another ball of fire came right for her. She managed to dodge out of the way, but Pinkie didn't. Instead of an explosion though, the ball of fire went flying to one of the Ghasts. Rainbow saw that Pinkie had her sword in her mouth, and figured that she must have hit the ball. The Ghast that came in contact with the flaming ball let out a screech of pain before dying over the Lava. A ding sound was heard and Pinkie jumped in the air with joy.
Rainbow didn't have too much time to do anything because the living Ghast hurled another ball at her. She whipped out her sword and hit the ball of fire. It went flying to the Ghast and exploded on it's face. She heard a ding once the creature died and let out a victory cry.
"Come on Pinkie!" Rainbow happily called out to her friend. "Lets start heading back to tell the others about this cool Achievement!"
-------------
Spike wasn't having a good time trying to find Fluttershy and Rarity. They went down a tunnel that obviously went to a dead end, but they were nowhere to be found. At the end of the tunnel there was a hole where they went through, but it just led to more tunnels. He had even more trouble when one of the tunnels led to the outside platforms of the Nether. The land around him was getting harder and harder to traverse, which made it more difficult to find his friends. The Zombie-like creatures weren't really paying any attention to him, but he still avoided them as much as possible. The gold swords that they held really freaked Spike out, and he was almost certain that if he got hit by one then it would really hurt.
"Can you umm... please follow me? That is... if you don't mind..."
Spike recognized that voice. He turned toward the sound and saw Fluttershy leading the Zombie creatures away from Rarity. He tried running over to them, but tripped about halfway there. He got up and looked at what he tripped on. It was a book that said 'Enchanting' on the cover. He picked it up and carried it over to Fluttershy and Rarity so one of them could carry it in their saddlebags. "Hi Fluttershy, hi Rarity." He said. "Twilight needs us to start heading back to the portal, apparently this place is very dangerous."
"Why hello Spike." Rarity said to Spike. "Fluttershy here was just leading these disgusting creatures away from me. We were already set to go, and if this place is truely dangerous, then we will be able to leave now."
Spike nodded and began heading back the way he came. Suddenly a weird groaning noise was heard. He looked around to see what the noise was and saw two creatures floating over a Lava pool. They were white, blocky, had tentacles, and their eyes shut, until they saw Fluttershy and Rarity. The creatures screeched and flung balls of fire toward the two ponies. Spike tried to get to them before they got hit, but the balls were too fast. He saw Fluttershy flare out her wings and use one to hit the flying ball back to the creature. Rarity however, just dodged out of the way. The ball Fluttershy hit went right back to the creature and exploded, making the creature die. A ding noise was heard after the creature disappeared. Before the other creature could launch a ball of fire at him, Spike ran close to Rarity and took cover under some red rocks. The remaining creature flung a ball of fire at Rarity, and he watched her take out her sword and hit the ball.
The flaming projectile went flying back to the creature. It made contact with the creature's face and exploded, giving Rarity the Achievement and spooking Fluttershy. Spike was speechless from the ordeal.
"We should really keep moving." Rarity told her friends. "I do not want to be attacked by such a monster for the remaining time that I am here."
-------------
Twilight finally reached the bottom of the Nether. She saw holes in the netherrack where explosions occured and Lava spilling into some of the holes. "Hello?" She called out. "Is anypony here?"
"Ah'm right over her Twilight!" She heard Applejack call to her. "Ah found another Achievement from hittin' one o' them flyin' creatures with their own flying fire!"
Twilight found Applejack behind some of the netherrack and listened to her decription of the flying creatures. "Those are called Ghasts." She explained to her friend. "They shoot explosive fireballs to anypony they think can attack them."
"Well, those Ghasts are pretty darn annotin'." Applejack said. "So what are ya doing down here?"
"I'm looking for our friends." Twilight told Applejack. "This place is more than dangerous, and we have to leave as soon as possible."
"Well, whatcha waitin' for?" Applejack asked. "Lets get out of this here Tartarus hole!"
"Alright. I told Spike that we'd be getting Pinkie and Rainbow, and they went off that way." She said while pointing her hoof toward the distance. "We can probably get to them while Spike is coming back with Fluttershy and Rarity." She then began walking back up the path to the portal. Applejack quickly followed her and told her what happened to her.
Twilight climbed each block of netherrack with care. She read that each block can burn forever, and that made her want to be careful in case she set one off. When they finally made it to the top of the path though, Rainbow and Pinkie were walking down the path thet lead off the other way. Twilight waved to them and motioned them to follow her. She was soon bombarded by questions and random comments when Pinkie got to her. She just tuned some of them out and continued walking down the path to the portal.
Twilight got to the portal and saw Spike already there with Fluttershy and Rarity. She greeted each of them and began to explain some things about the Nether. She told them about the different kinds of blocks, Mobs, and way that the Nether worked compared to the rest of Minecraft. She explained some quick details about the Mobs and even started going into detail about the Nether Fortresses. However once she started explaining on what they were supposed to look like, Pinkie inturrupted her.
"I already know what they look like Twilight. Dashie and I even found one!"
Twilight was surprised. But then she remembered that Pinkie was yelling something about a fortress when she began exploring. 'She probably knew all along that there'd be a Nether Fortress here, but how did she find out?' She began asking herself. 'I probably shouldn't try to find that answer. Pinkie Pie is just being Pinkie Pie.' "Well, I think we should start going through the portal now." Twilight began. "I don't think there isn't anything left to do here except explore the fortress, but I'm getting really tired."
All of Twilight's friends nodded and followed her through the portal. When they got to the other side, the moon was starting to rise and Mobs started appearing. She quickly ran inside the house with her friends right behind her. She shut the door and walked up the stairs. She climbed into her bed and soon fell into a deep sleep.