//------------------------------// // Chapter 67 - Objectives And Feelings. // Story: Terraria: Friendship Is Magic // by Pomp-Neigh //------------------------------// -TERRARIA, THE DUNGEON ENTRANCE- It was nearing midnight and after recently speaking with Twilight Sparkle, Tanner The Guide teleported to The Dungeon’s entrance via his Magic Mirror at the bottom of a large set of stairs. The Guide starts to climb the large flight of steps and upon reaching the top, his eyes are met with a very familiar face: Steven, The Clothier. Tanner chuckles to himself before saying: “It’s certainly been a while… Skeletron, or shall I call you: Grogar?” Skeletron chuckles to himself as he is currently in control of The Clothier’s body. “Either one is fine by me, Tanner. Tell me, how has Lord Legion been as of late?” “The Great Wall has been patiently awaiting the arrival of the ponies. Soon, The Underworld shall rise up and claim the surface world. However, Lord Legion has yet another grand aspiration and they need the ponies for it.” “Oh? What would that be?” “Our lord wishes to cross over into the world those ponies came from, you know the ones.” “Bah! Do I know them? Steven won’t shut up about that white pony, Rarity. How I long to tear her apart right in front of good old Steven.” “I could arrange you that chance, old friend.” “That won’t be necessary and we aren’t, friends. You see, thanks to Rarity’s foolish notion of trying to save that pathetic clothier, she will bring them all here to face me. When that time comes, I shall be free.” “I want to cash in on that favor you owe us, Grogar.” “Took you long enough although I must admit that I was hoping Lord Legion would forget about that.” “Heh, you’re bold to assume that. Anyway, do me one simple favor and your debt to us is settled.” “No strings attached? No surprise conditions?” “Come now, Skelly, would we ever lie to you?” The Skeletron possessed clothier raises an eyebrow before saying: “We’re demons, Tanner... lying is among our arsenal.” “Ok, fine… then how about we do this the right way? A demon pact. You know the one, if either of us goes back on our word… they’re fucked.” “... I’m listening.” “When the ponies come here to face you, I need you to spare three of them but Twilight Sparkle must be among them. If you even manage to kill any of them, that is. Lord Legion needs them to access their underworld. Tartarus, I believe it was called.” “Tch, you ask for far too much. I shall slaughter all who stands in my way and you shall-” “Don’t forget that It was The Great Wall who brought you back and gave you your powers. It was Lord Legion’s power that made you who you are, what you currently are. If you even think of defying our lord’s will, you’re done.” The possessed clothier growls in response before saying: “Fine! Damnit, Fine! Twilight shall be spared but I get to choose the ones who lives and dies.” “That’s fine by me. I’ll even sweeten the deal and let you kill Rarity, she’s not necessary so long as you keep two of the other ponies alive with Twilight.” “What of the zebra? She came with them from that other world too.” “I care not for that zebra, she’s irrelevant. The ponies are clearly far more important to their world than she is. Do with the zebra as you please.” “Very well, Tanner. We have an accord so bring up the pact.” The Guide nods in response before bringing his right hand forward upon which a red rune in the shape of a circle with a pentagram in its center was now present. “I, Tanner The Guide, hereby accepts these conditions of the pact.” The possessed clothier nods before raising his left hand and setting it upon The Guide’s right hand, covering the rune in the process. “I, Skeletron and the former giant: Grogar, hereby accepts these conditions of the pact.” A red aura engulfs both of their hands as the light coming off of the transaction kisses the walls of The Dungeon. Little did they both know, deep within the possessed clothier’s body, very faint words could be heard from within. “Tanner! You traitor! You will pay for this!” -TERRARIA, HOME TOWN- It was now early in the morning as Twilight, Tanner, Gorglock, Starlight, and Rarity were beginning to prepare for today’s objective. They are currently gathered before the eastern gate of Home Town as Twilight turns to them and questions: “Is everyone ready? I can’t wait to study that meteorite!” “You betcha! But, I must ask: Where are your other friends?” Gorglock The Goblin Tinkerer questions. Twilight and her fellow ponies who were present takes on a saddened expression before the lavender alicorn replies: “Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy are in their homes right now. Rainbow Dash is staying to help Fluttershy with her recent… condition. I can only imagine what Applejack and Pinkie had to go through in their, well… realities. Mines was just awful but the fact that I was able to somewhat recover before them makes me feel as if… I had it easy.” “I’m so sorry for that, darling.” Rarity says as she walks up to her friend and puts a hoof onto Twilight’s back to comfort her. “When it comes to an incarnation of Cthulhu, pain and suffering always follows. Words can’t express how sorry I am.” Tanner says. In an effort to change the current atmosphere, Starlight beams a smile and says: “Let’s not let that keep us down, we’re all here, alive, and in one piece. Sure, we went through some crazy things in The Crimson but let’s look on the bright side: We harvested materials from that Crimtane Ore and Celebes is currently working on creating The Blood Butcher for us. We even got new pickaxes and axes. That’s now three of the four starting blades we need and thanks to Rarity, we now know that the Muramasa is inside of that dungeon. Celebes even said so herself that she’d be more than happy to give us her Fiery Greatsword and Applejack has The Blade Of grass. We’re making great progress despite everything we’ve endured here.” “About that, darling. What’s the difference between The Blood Butcher and any other blade forged from Crimtane Ore? They certainly look the same to me when I saw the other adventurers wielding them.” Rarity inquires. “I can answer that.” Tanner interjects. “Celebes needs to bless the blade with her powers so that it will eventually mold into another blade which will get you all one step closer to re-forging the Terra Blade.” Twilight recovers from her sadness and rejoins the conversation. “Ah yes, that would be the Night’s Edge, correct?” Twilight questions. “Weeeell... not exactly. You see, the day I showed you all that diagram to create the blade I made a slight mistake. Since our world has The Crimson, it’s impossible to forge that blade. However, we can forge its counterpart which will still allow us to eventually create the Terra Blade.” Tanner replies. “A counterpart?” Gorglock questions. “Yes, it’s called: Bloody Edge.” “Alright!” Starlight exclaims. “So it looks like we’re all good to go. Now then, what do you all say we start heading to that meteorite? Let’s put all of that business from The Crimson behind us and start moving forward.” “That’s the spirit!” Gorglock exclaims. “Always keep pushing forward, dear friends. Take it from someone who sometimes fails in his experiments, you just have to pick yourself up and try it again.” “Indeed, darlings. Starlight is right, we still have our objective and we’re so close to getting back home.” Rarity says as she takes on a determined expression.  “That’s right, we’re so close now so what are we waiting for?! Let’s get going, we’ve got a meteorite to harvest… while also allowing me to study it in the process.” Tanner lets out a chuckle before saying: “There’s the Twilight I know! Come on everyone, let’s get going.” Everyone nods in response as the group exits the eastern gate of Home Town and starts to make their way towards the crashed meteorite.  Meanwhile, within Fluttershy’s home, the shy pegasus and her rainbow maned childhood friend are currently sat upon the yellow pegasus’s bed. In addition, Princess Pinkie is also present as she herself is sat upon Fluttershy’s head. “Everything’s going to be ok, Flutters. I mean, sure, your life is… different now. But, don’t think of it badly. Hay, just look at Princesses Luna and Celestia. They’ve been going at it for over a thousand years and it doesn’t seem like it bothers them that much. Even Princess Cadence seems to cope with it well.” “Oh, well, it’s not that I think it’s bad. Not exactly, but… I also don’t think too well of it either. I don’t know, Rainbow… I don’t know how to feel at all.” “I’m sorry, Goddess Fluttershy. I brought this upon you…” “Oh no! Don’t be sorry, Princess Pinkie. You have nothing to apologize for and I’m so grateful for what you and The Slime Gods did. The powers you gave me saved my friends, I could never be mad at you. It’s just…” Fluttershy sighs sadly before she continues: “I just don’t know how I truly feel about this. It’s so confusing, I don’t like it but I don’t exactly hate it either. On one hoof, I’m afraid of having to watch all of my friends and loved ones grow old before me. On the other hoof, I’m thankful for this condition since it helped me save everypony. What should I do?” Fluttershy inquires which causes Rainbow Dash to ponder on this for a moment. Suddenly, Princess Pinkie hops off of the yellow pegasus and lends next to her on the bed before saying: “If I may say, Fluttershy. You’re actually wrong about one thing.” Both pegasus mare’s ears perks up as they reply in unison: “What?” “While it is true that you’ll have to watch others grow old and pass on before you… you won’t be alone, Fluttershy. Twilight Sparkle is also immortal and you mentioned those other princesses from your world. They will all be there for you, The Slime Gods will be there for you, I will be there for you. Oh!, even that Discord entity you mentioned before will be there too! Your heart always goes crazy when-” “Princess Pinkie, no!” Fluttershy exclaims as her face goes completely red. “Not in front of Rainbow.” “Too late for that, Flutters.” Rainbow Dash replies with a smirk. “So you’ve got a thing for Discord, huh? That’s kind of weird to me but it's not like I'm going to hate you for it.” “R-really?” “Well yeah! I mean, who am I to deny my childhood friend’s first crush? If you like Discord then… why the hay not? I’m sure the others will accept it too. We’re your friends, Fluttershy. Besides, at least yours is more… natural.” Princess Pinkie and Fluttershy looks at each other momentarily before returning their gaze towards the rainbow pegasus and questions in unison: “Huh?” Rainbow’s eyes were shot wide open as she tried to cover her mouth with her left front hoof and sweated nervously. “Oh, what? I didn’t say anything.” Rainbow lies. “Rainbow, do you have a special somepony?” “Oh! I think she does!” Princes Pinkie exclaims as she puts a pink tendril onto the rainbow pegasus, without anyone even noticing. “Hey! Don’t go reading my feelings or whatever it is you do!” Fluttershy giggles to herself before saying: “Rainbow, you just accepted my feelings for Discord so why wouldn’t I do the same for you?” “Well… like I said earlier, it’s not natural. At least Discord is a… dude.” Suddenly, it instantly clicks within the shy pegasus’s mind as her eyes shoot wide open and she replies: “Oh my, is your special somepony… a mare?” “...” Rainbow remains quiet for a moment before she sighs and hesitantly says: “Y… yeah.” “Well, who is it? Is it somepony we know?” Fluttershy questions. “It’s gonna sound weird.” “Come on, Rainbow. How about this, I won’t tell anypony else if that makes you feel more comfortable.” “O… OK, you promise?” “I Pinkie Promise, cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” Meanwhile in Candy Cane Corner, Pinkie Pie’s mane twitches as she lays down on her bed. “Ok Flutters, It’s... Applejack.”