"It's so great that you're back, Twilight!"
An energetic pink pony bounced around Twilight Sparkle, who suddenly found herself in Sugar Cube Corner. "Pinkie!" Twilight cried, running to embrace her friend. Pinkie Pie returned the embrace warmly.
"We were all so worried about you, Twilight!" Pinkie began her rambling. "When you never turned up all day, we went to the library to check on you! Spike said that he hadn't seen you since you had gotten up. We were worried that something terrible had happened to you. But, you're okay now so it's all okay!"
Twilight broke from the embrace and smiled at Pinkie. "It feels so good to be back in Ponyville. I really missed you guys."
Pinkie Pie gasped suddenly, "That reminds me Twilight! The rest of our friends are back in the kitchen! I had nearly forgotten with you just showing up!" Pinkie started towards the kitchen with a spring in her step. "Come on, Twilight. They'll be so relieved that you're safe!"
Twilight followed Pinkie, "That's the best idea I've heard in a while." she said excitedly.
Pinkie Pie bounced through the door ahead of Twilight. The door had just closed completely before Twilight had reached it. Just as she made to push the door open, the light shining out from underneath ceased.
'Strange.' Twilight thought, pausing at the door. 'What could Pinkie be up to?' Knowing Pinkie Pie, Twilight assumed she had somehow managed to scrape together a surprise for her newly returned friend or possibly the friends she was returning to. With a smile, Twilight pushed open the door only to find a continued darkness. No flare of light had greeted her as she suspected. Twilight stood at the threshold peering into the dark. In the darkness floated two solitary red orbs.
"Pinkie Pie," Twilight called out hesitantly. "What's going on?" Twilight called upon her magic to light up the room. The magic light reached out into the darkness revealing a dark figure.
There sat Dark Srake, leaning back in his chair with his feet on the table. A wide grin showing as he stared at Twilight. "Hey friendo." he said happily.
Twilight's eyes widened in the shock of seeing this 'human' back in Equestria. "What happened to Pinkie Pie?" She asked, immediately worrying about the well being of her friend.
Srake waved the question off. "Don't worry about it, Twi." He stood up with a laugh. "It was me the whole time!" Srake's grin began to look crazed as he continued. "I'm quite a marvelous actor, aren't I?" He buffed his nails on his jacket. "Just one of the perks of being a doppelganger. I'm basically a shapeshifter."
Twilight regarded him with uncertainty. "How did you get here?" She asked slowly.
"Why the machine of course!" Srake exclaimed happily. "Once my lord, Deceit, had finished fixing it, he sent me right over here to gain a foot hold back in Equestria." Srake stepped closer to Twilight. "And I couldn't do that with out checking on my dear friend Twilight Sparkle first."
Twilight took a step back. "Wait, wait, wait. Why does Deceit want to come to Equestria."
Srake shook his head. "Cause he wanted to open a freaking ice cream shop! Why do you think he wants to come here, Twilight?" Srake huffed angrily. "Use your head, come on now."
Twilight stared at the doppelganger as he looked expectantly at Twilight. "Did..." Twilight's eyes flicked around the dark room as she stammered, "Did you actually want me to answer that?"
Srake gave a small nod.
"Oh." Twilight thought for a small moment before stating the rather obvious answer. "Does he want to rule Equestria?"
Srake blinked a couple of times before sighing heavily. His hand went to his belt and pulled out his sword, "Welp. Now I have to kill you."
"WAIT!" Twilight yelled out.
Surprisingly, Srake stopped mid-step. He cocked an eyebrow and deadpanned, "Yeah?"
Twilight gave a confident smile, "Didn't the machine need a power source to work?" Srake's crazed smile faded. "Where did you find enough magic to power the machine if you allowed Srake to live?"
Srake faded into shadow, "Well, damn." Srake said as his voice slowly changed into a loud whisper that characterized the shadow known a Deceit. "Looks like you saw through my clever ruse. How irritating. I did not expect you to remember the details. I'll have to remember that for the future."
Twilight stayed brave in the face of what could be her own mortality. "What does it matter. Surely you're just going to kill me now."
Deceit scoffed. "Please, Twilight. I may be a liar but that doesn't not make a gentleman."
Twilight eased up ever so slightly. "So what. That's it? You're just going to leave me be?"
Deceit laughed. "No Twilight, that isn't it. In fact there's so much more." Twilight could feel an evil smile creeping across the shadows incorporeal face. "I think you deserve another chance. And through my grace you shall live a few more hours... At best."
Deceit chuckled slightly as he sunk through the floor. Twilight looked around the room, desperate to see where her enemy had went. She called upon her magic to at least go down fighting. Deceit rose from the floor in front of her wearing a visage of nightmares on his face. It was a thing of horror to Twilight as time dilated to stretch the experience. "Now, WAKE UP."
----////!\\\\\----
That rasping voice echoed through the sudden whiteness that greeted Twilight. A rather pleasant change from the darkness that she remembered falling though, but it was not that much better. The white light around her was so harsh. Twilight began to wonder if she was dead. Deceit had said he would let her live, but... Well, he is an embodiment of lies. Twilight pondered her situation further. She concluded she was dead. What else was she to do at this point. I don't think there are any spells that can bring the caster back to life.
Twilight questioned the strange thought that popped up in here head. It seemed so out of place but at least it distracted her for a bit. Twilight mentally sighed as she tried to get comfortable. At least being dead was warm. And soft... And...
Is this a blanket?
Twilight sat up in bed and looked past the bright light that was aimed at her. She was greeted with green brick walls. That could mean she was back at Srake's... house-thing. Or somewhere else... But, that didn't matter to Twilight right now. Nopony would believe how great it felt to be alive again.
Well, maybe it was a good idea to figure out where she was. She was in a moderately spacious room. The walls were made of green brick as previously observed. On shelves, put up on the walls were many different kinds of books.The titles on their spines were all written in an incomprehensible scribble language. Oh, curse Twilight's luck. Once again thrust into a world filled with information only for it to be indecipherable.
Twilight sighed inwardly at that thought. What, was she turning into Rarity now? A table next to the bed caught her attention. On it rested a brown covered book with a fairly obvious red cross emblazoned on it. Using her excellent deductive reasoning skills, Twilight gathered that she was in a hospital. Around the same time, although slightly after the previous thing, Twilight noticed the many scorch marks on her fur as well as the bandages wrapped around various places. This only cemented the idea that she was in a hospital.
Twilight finally broke out of her own head and the very strange way she was gathering information about her environment. It almost felt like she was stalling.
Twilight rolled her eyes at herself and looked at the rest of the room. She finally noticed what she guessed to be another human at the other side the room. She, Twilight assumed it was a she, wore a rather plain white dress that had red crosses on the sleeves. On top of her long blonde hair she wore a white had that also had a red cross on the front. She was a nurse. And she was asleep on the table she was sitting at.
Against the will to just lie in bed for awhile longer and the muscle fatigue, which she had just noticed, Twilight pulled herself out of bed. She was pleased to find no nerve rending pain when her hooves met the floor. She tested her ambulatory faculties and only suffered mild discomfort from the burns she had received from the impromptu teleport. Twilight slowly made her way to the seated woman. Twilight leaned closer to her to check that she was in fact alive. Yep. She was breathing; Lightly snoring, actually.
"You're awake."
Twilight stumbled back in surprise to the sudden and unexpected dialogue.
The Nurse's piercing blue eyes opened suddenly as she slowly sat up. "It's about time..." She said with disinterest.
Twilight fumbled with her words for a moment, "Um, hello. My name is-"
"Twilight Sparkle," The Nurse finished the sentence for her. "I know. Kayla told me about you." She continued to stare at Twilight. Twilight wilted under her oppressive gaze. "Where's Srake?" She asked passively.
Twilight broke eye contact with the Nurse to look at the floor and think of what to say. "Well," Twilight started hesitantly, "he was captured and he might be dead."
The Nurse maintained her expression and merely shook her head. "No, he'd be back here crying about it by now if he had died."
Twilight smiled, looking up with hope. "Really? Even if he was atomically pulled apart and used as magical fuel?"
Twilight received a blank stare from the Nurse. After a few seconds she grabbed a clipboard from the table and looked at it soberly. "I... don't think his insurance will cover that." She looked up from the clipboard. "You said magic? You should ask a Wizard." The Nurse examined Twilight's injuries. "It might be best if you get fully healed before you do that. Dying usually puts an unfelt strain on the body."
Twilight eyes widened as a sick feeling overcame her. "Wait, I actually died? He was actually telling the truth?" Twilight asked incredulously. Why would Deceit, who has clearly established his character, just outright tell Twilight something like that? Also, Twilight died. That was important too.
The Nurse held up her hands in order to stop Twilight. "Now hold on. Yes, you did die. Luckily you had rested here before traipsing off with that idiot. Admittedly, it was a little shocking when we found you lying on the workshop floor, half-alive. Secondly, I don't who 'he' is and what 'he' told you. Now give me some money so I can heal you and so you can get out of my room." The Nurse finished that last part rather quickly and with no shortage of irritation.
Twilight's face flushed with mixture of a lot of confusion and slight embarrassment. "I, uh, don't have any money..." Twilight grinned sheepishly.
The Nurse's eyes twitched slightly before sighing and pointing at Twilight. "Fine. You're healed now. Get out of my room." She leaned back in her chair huffing slightly, waiting for Twilight to leave.
Twilight's muscles suddenly felt much more flexible, her mind cleared and it no longer hurt for Twilight to breathe. If she was half alive before, then she felt 100% better. Even the scorch marks disappeared! Twilight looked over herself with a smile, "Thank you, Miss Nurse."
The Nurse's head hit the table. "I'm a doctor. My name is Alison. Get out."
Twilight turned for the door, eager to leave before the situation escalated. "Er, sorry Alison." She used her magic to open the door. "Bye." she said, looking back. Twilight left the room, closed the door and managed to walk about two feet before running right into the stomach of another human.
Both parties were knocked to the floor. The human was, from the looks of it, a male wearing a beige button up shirt and blue jeans. He had brown hair that spiked up in odd directions. "Are you okay, Twilight?" The human asked apologetically.
Twilight picked herself off the floor as did the human. "You know my name too, huh? I guess that means Kayla told you about me."
The human blinked a couple of times. "Kayla? No... We aren't on speaking terms currently. I just know everything there is to know about Terraria. They call me the Guide, but I prefer to call myself Colin." Colin examined Twilight as if he was looking past her. "You look like you could use some help." Colin piped up happily. "Tis good news for me as I haven' t helped anyone since Srake needed to fight the Eye of Cthulhu."
Twilight stared at Colin as he described the steps to summoning the Eye of Cthulhu and the ensuing battle. It sounded way more challenging than having to fight a shadow who's special power is lying to people.
"And to this day we still have that shoddy arena that he constructed." Colin finished his story with a huff.
"Right. Well, I need help with something a little easier than fighting the Eye of Ca... Cau," Twilight stumbled momentarily over the gibberish name. "That eye thing."
Colin didn't look any less pleased. "Alright! What do you want? Need to know how to make a Bookcase? Or what happens when you hit a demon altar with a hammer?"
"I need you to help me rescue Srake from the clutches of a lying shadow who's home base is a weird pyramid, that houses a teleportation machine that Srake is going to be used as fuel for,in the middle of an environment where everything is backwards." Twilight took a deep breath after explaining the situation to the Guide.
Colin stared at Twilight dumbfounded by her account of the situation up to now. "Wow. I knew you were going to say that and it still caught me off guard." The Guide turned away from Twilight to think. "This could be significantly harder than shooting arrows at a giant flying eyeball." He muttered.
Twilight was chilled by that statement. The Recount of the Slaying of The Eye of Cthulhu sounded hard enough and now Colin was saying it would be harder than that? "So what are we going to do?" Twilight asked.
Colin turned back to face Twilight, a faint grin on his face. "Well I think I know something that can help. And that something should be-"
"YO!" A voiced echoed through the hallways. Twilight looked around for the source but it sounded distant as if it came from outside the fortress.
Colin's smile grew wider at the interruption. "Right on time." He began to walk to the parapets. "Come on Twilight, you'll want to meet these two."
Twilight followed after Colin who had put a sudden spring in his step.
----////!\\\\\----
"YO! EY', YOU GUYS UP DER?"
Two figures stood outside near the green walls of the fortress. The one who was shouting at the top of the walls wore a full suit of forest green cloth that was reinforced with brown leather. A green hood was pulled over his head to cast a shadow over his face and allow his green eyes to shine through the darkness. On his person were a wide assortment of weapons and ammo. At his waist hung a pair of pistols and on his back he carried a red metal crossbow, an assault rifle, and an old wooden long bow. All over his armor were pouches filled with bullets and quivers filled with arrows and bolts.
"Ain't dat jus like dem. Leavin' us out in da cold wit night commin fast. Ain't dat right?" He looked back to his companion.
The man who stood next the green one could be described as a veritable mass of metal. Every inch of him was covered in thick plates of armor. His armor made him stand out from a crowd enough as it was, it didn't help that he dwarfed the other man by nearly two feet. To match his stature an incredibly large sword was slung across his back. Any other details about him were obscured by his (not literal)bucket helmet. "Dah." He replied affirmatively, his deep booming voice echoing out from his own helmet.
At this time Colin's head poked up from over the walls only to quickly withdraw from view. Green pointed up at the wall angrily. "I SAW YOU, GUIDE! DON'T YOU TRY N'HIDE FROM ME!" Green swore in frustration. "Ain't dat just like dat passive joik. All warm n'cozy inna fort'ress while we're out ere fightin da good fight."
"Dah." The suit of armor agreed.
----////!\\\\\----
Colin pulled back from the parapets suppressing his laughter. "It's so easy to set that guy off."
Twilight looked questioningly at Colin who finished laughing with a sigh.
"Alright... We had better let them in. There's going to be a blood moon tonight. And they won't be any use dead."
Colin yelled over the wall. "ALRIGHT, I'M GOING TO LET YOU IN!"
A very sarcastic 'Thank you' came from down below. Colin went over to a switch that was sticking from the floor and pulled it. The sound of stone grating on stone came from below as the wall slid open.
Colin looked back to Twilight. "Come on, we'd better meet them in the workshop. They might break something."
----////!\\\\\----
"Finally." Green said as the wall sank inward and slide to the side. "C'mon ya scrap heap. Les head inside."
The suit of armor complied and followed Green inside. As they walked the long green torch lit hallway the suit of armor rumbled out a question. "Did you see small purple horse with Guide?" he asked in a thick accent.
"A purple horse?" Green asked. "Nah, can't say I did. You sure you're seein' straight wit dat helmet on?"
"Yes. I saw small purple horse. Had a horn on head." The armor rumbled.
"Hah, a unicorn? I dunno bout dat." Green shrugged. "We'll jus hafta ask Colin when we sees im." Green humored the armor not wishing to antagonize him.
The duo arrived at the at the end of the hallway. All that lie between them and the workshop was a single wooden door. Green strode up to it and pushed it open. "Aw, jeez." He said quietly before closing the door. He turned to his companion. "Looks like you was right, scrap heap. Dere's a purple unicorn in dere."
The armor lumbered up to the door pushing Green out of the way, "Let me handle."
----////!\\\\\----
"What was that about?" Twilight asked Colin after the door opened and promptly shut.
Colin shrugged. "I don't know, Twilight." Colin thought for a second. "Actually, I do know, just not yet."
Twilight glared at Colin. "You-"
*SMASH*
The door erupted into splinters as a hulking figure of metal crashed through it. Its helmet turned to look at Twilight and he cracked his knuckles.
Twilight quickly shrank back and hid behind Colin who hadn't flinched at all during the encounter.
The armor noticed Colin and looked confused. Well, as confused as a suit of armor can look anyway. "Guide, why do you sit by unicorn? Is dangerous." The armor hummed in a heavy accent that sounded familiar to Twilight. It would not have been out of place in Stalliongrad.
A man cloaked in green pushed past the mass of metal. "Wait, wait wait. Colin's in ere wit dat unicorn?" He also spoke in an accent that reminded Twilight of the fast talking ponies from Bucklyn.
Colin shook his head. "This is Twilight Sparkle. She's a unicorn pony from Equestria. She is not a mob." Twilight leaned to the side of Colin before stepping out once she was sure the danger had passed. "You two should introduce yourselves." Colin thought for a bit. "Oh, and apologize too."
Both the newcomers looked at each other, confused. The green one shrugged and went first. "Da name's Archer. I'm da Ranger Guardian. I'm a ranger, not an archer. Archer is my name not my occupation." Archer folded his arms striking a pose for his introduction. "Oh, and I'm sarry." He pressed his hand to his heart in a sincere gesture but his apology was still laden with sarcasm. Archer took a step back allowing the armor the spotlight.
The suit of armor clanked forward, his armor rattling loudly with each step. "I am Knight." He turned around and showed Twilight his great sword. "I have big sword." He walked back to join his companion, Archer. "Call me Hehvee." He said simply. He looked forward for a moment before pointing his helmet down, ashamed, "And I sorry."
Twilight felt bad for the large man. "It's alright."
Archer jumped back in surprise. "Aw jeez! It can talk?"
Colin glared at Archer. "Yes Archer, Twilight can talk. That's why I had you introduce yourselves and apologize to her." Colin shook his head in disappointment. "Look, why don't you just tell us why you're here so Twilight can get on with her quest."
"Wait, she's onna quest?" Archer was met with a glare from Colin. "Alright. We's ere to talk to are old friend, Elric."
Twilight looked to Colin for clarification. "Elric is a wizard that lives here in the fortress."
"Yeah he is." Archer continued, "And he usedta run wit us back in da day. We heard dat he might have some new quests for us."
Colin lit up, happy for conversational progression. "Great!" He pushed Twilight towards them much to her protest. "Why don't you take Twilight up to meet Elric." It was more of a command than a question. "I think she may have some questions for Elric herself."
"Ey, she ain't tryin' to muscle in on are quests, right?"
"Shut up, Archer. I'd rather patch things up with Kayla than validate that question of yours."
Archer looked up and over to Hehvee who simply shrugged in response. "Alright den, C'mon Twilly."
Twilight glared at Archer. "That's not close enough to my name to justify you calling me that."
Archer looked at Twilight in surprise. "Ey, yer pretty smart. Specially for a unicorn."
"I'm not quite sure what you mean by that. I hope you aren't insinuating that the unicorn race in a whole is unintelligent. Because that would not only be racist but also inaccurate."
Archer stared at Twilight. "I, uh.."
"Stop. You make ears ring." Hehvee held his gauntlets to his helmet.
Archer chuckled. "That's yer helmet bouncin' round sound waves."
A groan emanated from deep within Hehvee to convey his annoyance.
----////!\\\\\----
Archer stopped at a wooden door. Well, all the doors are wooden so that part doesn't really matter. "Dis must be Elric's room."
"How can you even tell." Twilight asked flatly.
Archer shook his head, chuckling. "Good thing you aren't a ranger. Yer pretty unobservant. I jus followed da trail."
"What trail!?"
"Pft, quiet down Twilight." Archer waved his arm dismissively. Archer pushed open the door and strolled in. "Ey, Elric! How ya doin'?"
An old man looked up from the text he was pouring over. "Ah, Boften. Just the dwarf I wanted to see. I am running low on black powder and I desperately need it for a new potion I am brewing."
Archer blinked in confusion. "What? No, its me! Don't ya recognize me?"
Elric took off his purple wizard hat and squinted at Archer. His face lit up in recognition. "Oh, my. I'm so sorry. I should have realized who you were." Archer smiled and nodded. "Can you still get me some more black powder, Dante? You have some too, right?"
Archer's face dropped. "What da hell, Elric?! What's da matta wit you?"
Elric stared at Archer for several seconds. "Srake?"
Archer exploded. "WHO DA HELL IS SRAKE!?!"
Hehvee finally managed to squeeze his mass through the doorway, this time only wit slight damage to the frame. "What is happening?" His question resonated.
Elric looked up to the giant of a man and a smile grew on his face. "Ah, Hehvee. My old friend. It is so nice to see you again."
Archer looked bewildered verging on going into a frenzy state. "I- EH- URK" He sighed and admitted defeat to the old man.
"Oh, Archer! There you are. I was wondering when you'd show up." Elric said, noticing the green cloak slumped next to Hehvee. "Oh, how I can feel my magic power growing with all this friendship in the room." Elric laughed at his own joke as Hehvee shifted awkwardly and Archer sulked.
Twilight poked her head into the room at the mention of Friendship equating magic. Twilight squeezed past the two idle guardians.
Elric's attention shifted to the purple unicorn who had just entered the room. "You must be Twilight." Twilight nodded in response. "Kayla told me about you. Tell me how did you enjoy your first death?"
Twilight frowned at the mention of her death. She rather just forget the whole experience. "Unpleasant. Elric, I need some help. Can you tell me how-"
Archer jumped in front of Twilight, "Whoa, whoa whoa. He's are friend. We get firs access."
Both Twilight and Elric frowned at his interruption but didn't stop or reprimand him.
"Alright, Elric." Archer began, hungrily. "We had heard dat you had some work fer us."
Elric looked blankly at Archer. "No... I can't say I do."
Archer stared at Elric, his bright green eyes glossing over. "What. Are you sure? Didn't you need, like, some ancient evil awoken and destroyed? Didn't you need MULTIPLE ancient evils destroyed?"
Elric scratched his beard, deep in thought. He snapped his fingers in realization. "Oh, yes! Now I remember!"
Archer's face lit up with excitement and his grin shined through the dark cast by his hood. It looked quite comical, really.
"You two really are slow, you now that right?" Said Elric, matter of factly. "Srake has already killed all the evils that plagued this land."
Archer's hype shattered like a mirror; Except that he already had the bad luck. Archer gritted his teeth in anger. Twilight could have sworn she had heard a crack. "WHAT!?!" Archer exploded once again. "DATS IT. WHO DA HELL IS DIS SRAKE!?! I SWEAR WHEN I SEE IM IMMA FILL HIM UP WITH ARROWS!!!"
"Well you might not get the chance!" Twilight shouted over Archer. "He's been captured! He might even be dead by now!"
Elric looked quite alarmed. "What do you mean?"
Twilight explained how Srake had been captured by Deceit. And how he planned to use Srake as fuel for a teleportation machine in order to take over the... universe. It couldn't just be Equestria that he was after, could it?
Elric gathered his thought. "Yeah, Srake will not be able to come back after he is used for fuel. So this is troubling in that aspect too."
Twilight looked even more worried now. "So what can we do about it?"
Elric thought for a moment more trying to gather a plan together. "I think I know what to do." He turned to face specifically Archer and Hehvee. "I still might have another quest for you."
Archer's face lit up once again. "You mean it!?"
Elric nodded as he wrote something on a piece of paper. He handed it to Archer. "Make sure no to lose this. Go to the Dungeon and find that book." Twilight tried to get a look at the paper but it was written in more nonsensical characters.
Archer folded the paper and put it into one of his many pouches. "Jus a book?" He looked disappointingly at Elric. He groaned and turned around for the door. "Alright. But you better have more work fer us when we get back."
Elric smiled. "Don't worry there will." Elric looked down at Twilight, who once again was looking worried, and back to the duo. "Say, Archer, you haven'y found a replacement for me since I retired, correct?"
Archer turned back. "No..." He said slowly, curious as to where Elric was going with this.
"Well, I've heard that Twilight is a well versed wizard, Correct Twilight?"
Twilight blushed at the sudden attention. "Well, I'm more of a sorceress than a wizard, but yes."
"Then it's settled, Twilight will accompany you to the Dungeon."
Archer stared at Elric then at Twilight. "...Fiiiine" He relented. "C'mon guys. We gotta lotta ground ta cover."
"Good luck!" Elric said before settling down at his texts again.
All three exited through the door albeit the door didn't really close anymore after the third.
"Wait." Twilight started. "Shouldn't we wait out the night before we leave for the dungeon?"
Archer looked back at Twilight in confusion. "What are ya talkin bout? The sun just came up!"
Twilight looked up a nearby window to notice that, sure enough, the sun had risen. Twilight thought about how short the day night cycles were in Terraria. How convenient that the day never seemed to run out when she was outside and how lucky she was that she always had something to do at night. She hoped her fortune would hold up.
Sleep crossed her mind. Even though everyone had beds she had never seen anyone even use one. Alison had been asleep at a table but that only seemed out of boredom. Well, Twilight didn't feel tired so she guessed it didn't really matter.
Twilight followed her new party members: The volatile green ranger known as Archer and the stoic clanking knight called Hehvee. Twilight didn't really know what the Dungeon was but she figured she'd have lots of time to ask about it on the way there.