//------------------------------// // Chapter 96 - Prelude To Coming Events. // Story: Terraria: Friendship Is Magic // by Pomp-Neigh //------------------------------// -TERRARIA, HOME TOWN- Three days have passed ever since the defeat of Skeletron. At least, to them, Skeletron was gone forever but they could never know about the skeletal menace’s true fate with Pinkamena, the current host of the aforementioned entity.  During the span of those three days, the ponies and their new allies had upgraded their equipment thanks to Gorglock The Goblin Tinkerer. In addition, various equipment were forged by the guidance of Celebes The Dryad, Sai Sahan, Terralestia, and Tanner The Guide. Thanks to the meteorite Twilight, Rarity, Starlight, Gorglock, Tanner, and Tempest The Bandit had harvested, they were able to forge multiple weapons and armor in the form of: Phaseblades of different colorations, multiple Space Guns and Meteorite Armor. The armor would aid its wearer with their magical aptitude in addition to lowering the cost of their spells, especially when it came to the Space Gun. A blade of energy was also forged and given to individuals who were more melee focused or somewhat dabbled in close quarters combat. Pinkie Pie and Candy The Party confused everyone as they continued to talk about what they called: A lightsaber.  Fluttershy had a tearful goodbye with her dear friend and close protector: Princess Pinkie. The slime Princess was called away by her father due to a very particular event: Her ascension to The Slime Queen. However, Fluttershy wasn’t alone for she was now accompanied by miniature versions of The Slime Gods themselves; both of whom were also capable of flight. In addition, The Slime Gods had also granted the yellow pegasus multiple boons in an effort to protect and preserve the life of their beloved core; currently in the form of a kind hearted shy pegasus. Although most of The Slime God’s gifts were meant for their core, one among them was a very particular item that was bestowed upon the yellow pegasus’s friends and loved ones as well: Mana Polarizer. With the assistance of Celebes The Dryad and by using the bones that were gathered from the battle with the undead, Rainbow Dash was now donned in Necro Armor which in turn greatly boosted her ranged combat potential. The cyan pegasus was especially fond of garments armor set bonus which caused her to leave afterimages, a valuable trait to have in their coming battles to be sure. Zecora and Gex had taken their leave; returning to The Jungle Biome to work on various potions. However, Gex was also very worried because he could sense a disturbance in The Jungle. Specifically, the lihzhard felt as if the very forces of nature were starting to get riled up there but not enough to warrant any worry... yet. Most notably however was the fact that Celebes also seemed to feel that same disturbance. It was early in the morning and Twilight was prepared to head out to Candy Cane Corner as she had awoken from bed mere moments ago. On a nearby table, she forgot to put away her latest entry of: Princess Twilight Sparkle’s Terrarian Letters For Celestia. “Phew, I was up most of the night writing this latest entry,” Twilight comments as she fires up her horn and floats the sheets of paper into a nearby closet before she then closes the storage. “A lot of events has happened after my last entry so I kind of got carried away,” Suddenly, the lavender mare’s stomach demanded her to obtain sustenance as she chuckles to herself and says: “Ok, hold on, I’ll get us something to eat. Everyone is waiting for me at Candy Cane Corner so I’d better hurry up.” In an instant, the alicorn’s horn became engulfed by lavender energy as she disappeared in that very moment thanks to a teleportation spell. Candy Cane Corner was now even livelier than ever thanks to the latest additions of Home Town although Pinkie Pie was very fortunate to have a new partner in the kitchen: Candy, The Party Girl. Then again, the party pony was always able to handle busy work days but at least this time, she’d have the aide of Candy.  Sai Sahan, Terralestia, Tori, Shadow Thunder, and Linn had decided to stay in Home Town for the time being. However, Sai offered the ponies of Equus, and Zecora before she had left, a very interesting proposition as he, Terralestia, Linn, and Shadow Thunder were currently sitting with Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Starlight on a table. Tori simply requested spicy food before the humanoid-bird took their meal and ate alone on the rooftop of the establishment.  “Awesome!” Rainbow Dash exclaims in excitement. “You mean we could really join the guild?! With you guys?!” “That’s right,” Sai Sahan replies. “Like we told you sometime ago after our battle in The Crimson, we’d be honored to have you all join The Order Of The Guide.” “Oh hell yes,” Linn comments as she takes a bite of her bacon before she continues: “With the skills you’ve all got, you’ll rise up the ranks in almost no time at all. I mean, hell, you've got bosses under your metaphorical belt now. You guys beat a freaking flesh abomination from The Crimson, last I heard, and now Skeletron.” “Actually, partner,” Applejack interjects. “We also defeated a large Queen Bee while Rainbow Dash and the others fought The Desert Scourge. Not to mention that large flying eye that was also in The Crimson.” “The Eye Of Cthulhu,” Terralestia comments. “I still can’t believe that not one, but two of Cthulhu's incarnations were based there. The eye and the brain...” As their conversation continues, Starlight and Shadow Thunder were currently caught up in their own conversation as the two ponies sat across from each other and were laughing together. “You’ve got to be pulling my horn!” Starlight exclaims as she tries to recover from her laughter. “Nope, I’m dead serious,” Shadow Thunder responds as he too was struggling to conversate between laughs. “My brother and I put a whoopie cushion on The Empress Of Light’s throne during one of her gathering sessions. It was downright hilarious. Let me tell ya, have you ever seen somepony who’s yellow, turn bright red? That was The Empress once the whoopie cushion went off,” Shadow Thunder then laughs nervously before saying: “Well… she got us back, big time…”  “Well don’t leave me hanging, tell me what she did.” Starlight asks with anticipation. “She …..d us ..to ma...” Shadow Thunder replies in a hushed tone. Starlight could only hear a few letters before she chuckles and says in a teasing tone: “Come oooon, I didn’t quite catch that.” “S-she…” Shadow Thunder then sighs in defeat as he finally gives in and says: “She turned us into mares and left us like that for a whole month...” “...” Starlight was simply stunned for a moment before her muzzle slowly started to form a smile as it then turned into full, hysterical, laughter: “Bwahahahahahaha! Ahahahahahaha! Y-you and your brother were turned into, mares?! Ahahahahahaha!”   “You have no idea how awkward it was for us…” “Ahahaha! Oh, I bet the stallions were all over you two. Oh my gosh, that’s just rich. My stomach hurts from laughing.” Starlight comments as she tries to regain her composure with her forehooves positioned onto her stomach region. “We were being hit on by stallions during that whole month! It was the most pride shattering thing a stallion could possibly go through.” Having recovered completely from her laughter, Starlight wipes the tears that were forming in her eyes with a forehoof and replies: “Let that be a lesson, my good stallion. An angered mare is never to be trifled with especially after you just pranked her. And she’s a goddess which makes it even worse for you.” “Oh trust me, after that whole month of being a mare, neither of us ever tried to prank anyone, ever again,” Shadow Thunder then sighs sadly before he continues: “I truly miss my brother. We had so many fond moments together before he…” The dark pegasus hesitates and silences his words. Starlight, having taken notice of the change in Shadow Thunder, surprised the pegasus by what she does next. Firing up her horn, the unicorn vanishes and reappears right next to the pegasus as she then brings him into a hug by wrapping her forehooves around his neck. This causes the dark pegasus to blush as Starlight says in a comforting tone: “I’m so sorry… no one should ever have to-” [MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS GOES OFF] “Can you feel the love tonight~ Take it away, Candy.” Pinkie Pie interjects as she sings the beginning portion of her song. “The piece the evening brings~ Take it from there, you guys.” Candy The Party Girl comments as she turns towards Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Sai Sahan, Linn, and Terralestia, all of whom were currently smirking towards the two ponies as they then continue the song in unison: “The world for once in perfect harmony with all it’s living things~” They all start to burst out into laughter as Starlight and Shadow Thunder were absolutely red in their features before they shout in unison: “S-shut up!” Little did any of them know, Rainbow Dash glanced towards Applejack as a momentary blush adorned her cheeks before she tried to hide herself in hopes that no one else would take notice.  -EQUUS, THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE, THE ROYAL COUPLE’S BEDCHAMBERS- “I feel a disturbance…” “Cadence? Honey, are you ok?” “I feel it, Shiny… my love senses are tingling… I can’t quite put a hoof on it but I feel as if somepony we know has found a love interest… wait, scratch that, it’s multiple ponies that we know...” “It’s not Twily, is it?!” “Calm down, Shiny. No, no… It’s somepony else…” -TERRARIA, YHARIM’S KINGDOM, INNER TEMPLE- Pinkamena was currently making her way towards the armory as Yharim had ordered the dark pink pony to claim weapons and armor for her ‘Servitude’.  “So Yharim wants to wait until both of our worlds become one before he reveals himself once again, along with all of those freaks within his council. I need to find a way to sabotage his efforts without drawing his attention; not to mention the fact that he still has my sister's life force. I seriously can’t stand this place. Although… that dragon, Yharon, he’s peaked my interest. I should probably-” Suddenly, the dark pony’s words were cut off and her ears perk up by hearing a commotion within the armory. She lowers herself to the floor and stealthily approaches her destination as she peeks into the room and takes notice of someone else. It wouldn’t have really bothered the mare were it not for the fact that this individual was clearly stealing from the armory. She was momentarily confused before the pony then blinks twice, raises up to her complete stature, and enters the room as she nonchalantly says: “Sup. Stealing from Yharim, huh? Personally, I prefer the 'Killing him', approach.” The being’s ears had flickered upon hearing her words but what she saw was something that seemed familiar, in a sense. From what she could tell, this being was similar to Ritsu, some sort of werebeast hybrid composed of a snow leopard and a wolf who was also donned in the armor of Yharim's forces, likely to blend into the tyrant's ranks. With their back turned and stopping all that they were doing, the being replies with a male voice: “Trust me, that monster created a long line of people who wants to see him dead. You gonna report me to that tyrant?” The being inquires. Pinkamena simply chuckles before she replies: “I could give two shits about, Yharim. I despise that bastard more than anyone else I have ever faced before in my life. I’m just here to grab what he told me to retrieve, you can take whatever in the name of Tartarus you want. If you get caught by someone else, that’s on you.” “Well damn… that works for me.” The being responds as Pinkamena walks into the armory and retrieves the gear that Yharim had ordered her to retrieve. An awkward silence was present as the two entities continued to go about their business. One was there to steal from Yharim while the other was ordered to retrieve their equipment in order to serve The Jungle Tyrant. Then, the thief breaks the silence as they say: “So… you’re a pony. I thought you were all gone when The Hallow disappeared.” “Yharim told me about that. Apparently, ponies are native to this world but vanished along with that biome.” “Wait, you say that like you’re-” “From another world? It’s because I am. The Moon Lord dragged us all here and we’ve been trying to get back ever since. Although, with Yharim's plan, I suspect that everyone will get home sooner than later, but not in the way they might think.” “The Moon Lord? Yharim's plan? Son of a bitch, that sure is something. So, what planet are you from?” “No no, when I said: 'From another world', I don’t exactly mean another planet in this reality. I’m from a whole other reality along with my sister, her friends, and that zebra.” “Wow… even by Terraria’s standards, a pony from another reality is something else entirely. Wait, a zebra?" "Zecora, a sentient zebra who often speaks in rhyme. Pretty damn good at crafting potions too." "Perhaps she and I could swap some knowledge with each other, should we ever cross paths," The thief then grunts in frustration as he says: "Dammit all…” “What?” “This stupid safe is made of some sturdy stuff so I can't break it open. I also can’t- “Combination is four, five, six, six, four, two. That safe you’re trying to break into has some sort of crystal that summons a mount. Something about a shadow dragon.” “Sweet, thanks for that.”   A few more moments goes by as both Pinkamena and this snow leopard-wolf like entity were finishing up their business.  “So, what’s your name?” The werebeast inquires. “You should reveal yours first before you go and ask for someone else’s.” “Fair enough, my name’s Snow.” “Pinkamena, the eventual butcher of Yharim and the wrecker of his shit.” -TERRARIA- On a cliff that was overlooking Home Town, a male terrarian was observing the settlement from afar as he comments: “I’ve got lots of surprises in store for you all. Especially you, dryad. You’re going to be very surprised to see me again, I’m sure. The ancients have awakened and I shall bring forth the old era,” The terrarian then looks off towards the direction of The Desert Biome. “Anubis, you and Athena are fools. Stay in hiding all you want but Loganic is The God Of Greed. My plan is in motion and what I’ve done in The Dungeon shall attract my prize, the real treasure. I will add you to my hoard… Core Of The Slime Gods.”