Twilight Sparkle slid down the slope after her traveling companion towards the new, unfamiliar landscape before them. They both can to a stop at the base of the slope. Srake noticed that the Corruption had stopped and had switched back to the fresh green grass he was used to. He rubbed the side of his face in thought trying to theorize how the new biome factored into this. Twilight was occupied by the negative landscape they were going to be heading into, forsaking the pursuit of science for the ideal of survival. She noticed that the edge had a gradual creep that continued to expand albeit slowly. She stepped back from the slowly approaching influence cautiously. Srake had not, however, noticed it. He felt a strange sensation come over him as he stared at the ground. He felt weaker and his vision faded ever so slightly. Through the slight panic, he still noticed that the negative ground had pushed back the nearby corruption.
Srake cradled his head, "Ugh..." He grunted in discomfort as he tried to shake the feeling away. He wearily raised his head to Twilight who was still backpedaling but now looking on concernedly. "It's alright; I wouldn't say it's dangerous..." He tried to tell her. "Also you can't keep backing up forever; you'll fall into a chasm eventually."
This caused Twilight to stop and look behind her in alarm, "What?" She yelped in surprise. When she turned around the negative ground moved enough to cross her hind legs. Twilight also felt a similar sensation. Her mind developed a thin haze that made regular thought processing take just a little bit longer. Her horn also sparked slightly which caused Twilight to raise a hoof to her head. She groaned in slight confusion as she rubbed her temple, "I think this place is affecting my magic abilities"
Srake staggered over to her. "Yeah, I feel pretty trippy too." He regarded her with mild interest and chuckled lightly, "You're not purple anymore..." Twilight looked at herself to find that her coat's color had been washed out and appeared rather grainy. She stared at herself in silence for a while before looking back up at Srake. Her confused expression turned to shock. Srake looked down at his arms to see that they had also had their color washed out. They both now matched their new environment perfectly.
Srake shrugged, "Weird..." and started to walk, awkwardly, towards the temple. Twilight fought back the haze and followed after him shakily.
"Why isn't this bothering you?" Twilight asked him.
Srake continued to walk forward, "You can't make progress if you only worry about the present." He turned his head slightly so his eyes met with the unicorn's. "Besides, I don't know anything about this place. I need to learn more so I know what I should be bothered by."
Twilight closed her eyes and shook her head, "That barely makes half sense. You think that walking into a hostile environment completely blind shouldn't bother you?" There it was again, he was starting to act weird.
Srake slowly turned his head to face Twilight. He stared at her for awhile, his now washed out eyes piercing her. Twilight was unnerved by this, "...What?"
Srake acted like his concentration was broke, "Huh? Oh, it's nothing Twilight. I was just getting kind of hungry." He paused and then quickly added, "I guess you don't have any snacks." He laughed nervously and looked the other way.
Twilight didn't say anything to this. She certainly didn't know how to respond to that. She started to walk slower and fell behind Srake. He didn't seem to notice or he didn't care. Twilight was starting to feel uncomfortable. Srake had been a bit of a jokester from what she knew about him. But that didn't seem like a joke. The cross necklace felt heavy around her neck. 'I think it would be best if I got back to Equestria as soon as possible.' Twilight looked at Srake as he walked in front of her. 'I can't tell if he's dangerous or not but he's my best bet for getting back home.' The cross felt heavy once again. 'Wait, Srake is my friend. RIght? I should have more trust in him than this. This is just like when Nightmare Moon returned.'
Srake looked over his shoulder, "Twilight, you'd better keep up. I don't know what kinds of creatures lurk around here. He raised his arms and waved them while making a 'WoOoOoh' noise. He did, however, take a quick look around and redrew his sword.
For whatever reason, this reassured Twilight that he wasn't crazy. Twilight remarked mentally that made so little sense. She quickened her pace to catch up with the human who was now striding purposefully. As they crested a small hill Srake motioned for Twilight to crouch down and be quiet. From their position Srake pointed out a lone figure that had the same not quite black coloration as the landscape. It appeared to be featureless at this distance and it seemed to have a very bad twitch. "It's not moving... I don't think it's spotted us." Srake said hushed. When he finished speaking the creature moved suddenly. It had disappeared and reappeared in a burst of speed nearly one-hundred feet from where it had been. Srake groaned lightly, "That's no good..."
Twilight spoke quietly, "Do you think it saw us?
Srake shook his head. He got up quietly and told Twilight to follow him silently. Srake planned to try to cross past the monster without attracting it attention. Twilight felt vulnerable as they crept through the valley that was occupied by the creature. She recalled the spell she had just recently learned. It would have to do as the only other spell she could perform was levitation. All in all, it was a good thing. Srake saw the creature go into a twitch fit again but before he could say anything the creature disappeared in a blur and reappeared right in front of Twilight.
Suddenly a dark humanoid creature with a grinning maw and blindfolded eyes stood in front of Twilight. In her shock, Twilight released the Demon Scythe spell; however it was not fully formed. The raw, unshaped magic energy slammed into the creature knocking it back several feet. The creature landed on its back. It did not stir for several seconds giving Srake just enough time to fall into a defensive stance. It began convulsing on the ground, stood and then charged Srake in a blur of movement. Srake used the flat of his sword to block a lightning fast arm that was swung at him. The impact caused him to stumble backwards. He recovered his poise to see the creature had frozen again. He used this time to strike. His swing cut diagonally across the creature’s chest. It twitched backwards in recoil and froze once again.
Twilight noticed that the creature's head was no longer turned towards Srake and that it was now facing her. It began to twitch and moved in a blur. An attack by Srake missed the creature by a mere fraction of a second. Twilight threw herself out of the way of the creature's charge. The creature's arm club missed her barely and she hit the ground hard. Twilight pushed herself up and let out a Scythe. It flew through the air slicing through the creature. It twitched backwards in pain one more and froze. Srake dropped his guard and cast a torrent of crystals from his free hand. The crystals pierced and shattered against the creature. It gave a final twitch and fell to the ground.
Srake lowered his hand and then looked over to Twilight who was staring at the late monster with a rather blank expression. "You're not hurt are you?" Srake said as he walked over to her. Twilight slowly shook her head, not breaking line of sight with the corpse. Srake stood next to Twilight and sheathed his sword, "Good, cause I'm not carrying you back."
Twilight didn't respond to the half jokingly threat directed at her. Srake sighed and walked up to the body of the monster. He knelt beside it and started to examine it. He picked up its hand to examine its claws. Twilight snapped out of her shock induced stupor, "What are you doing?! Don't touch it!" She ran forward attempting to get Srake to back off of the corpse.
Srake fell backwards to avoid being accidentally impaled by Twilight's horn, "Jeez, be careful Twilight." Srake looked around, "You might attract more of them..." he said in a hushed tone. He righted himself and took a vial that had been clenched in the creature's claw. As Srake studied the vial, Twilight asked him how he could be okay with just killing this creature and taking its possessions.
Srake placed the vial within his backpack, "C'mon Twilight, do I really have to respect the rights of this broken shadowy creature?" Twilight gasped slightly at his coldly stated words and she curtly nodded with a disapproving look. Srake shouldered his pack and faced Twilight. "I figure you would've understood, having to save you word like, what... Twice you said? You need to do stuff to do stuff, Twily" Srake turned and started back towards the temple.
"No, Srake" Twilight started after him, "I never had to kill anything to save my world." She said remorsefully.
Srake looked back in surprise, "Really? Well I guess Terraria just isn't as super happy fun time as Equestria. Evidence" Srake said as he pointed towards the base of the temple, revealing more twitching creatures. He sighed lightly, "As I so eloquently put before, You gotta do stuff to do stuff."
Twilight wished to avoid more combat so she tried to think of a plan that could take them past the... 'Twitchers? Sure, that's an appropriate name' she thought. She immediately thought of teleportation, a skill that she never really makes use of. She called upon the energy to cast the spell but instantly felt light headed once again. She broke the spell before she fainted. "Srake, I don't think I'll be able to use too much of my magic here. I think I'm bleeding energy into the background." Srake nodded lightly as he was too deep in thought. Twilight had another idea however, "Srake, what was in the glass you got off the Twitcher?"
Srake reached into his pack and pulled out the vial, "I don't know. It's some sort of liquid. He unstoppered it, "Also, that's cute, Twilight. Twitchers..." He chuckled lightly as he brought the vial up to his nose and smelled it. He looked into it with a mix of confusion and surprise.
"What is it, Srake?" Twilight asked as curiosity replaced animosity.
"Well, it’s an odorless, colorless solution and I think it might be a potion."
Twilight looked worried, "Uh, Srake even if it is a potion, it might not be a good idea to drink it."
Srake dismissed her worries, "Settle down, Twilight. Most potions can be absorbed through your skin. So I'll just pour a drop on my hand and watch its effects." Twilight still didn't look to sure and was about to protest, "Relax, it its some sort of acid, I can just wipe it off. And if it’s a poison, just wait it out and health pot." Srake left Twilight to puzzle out the meaning of that phrase and poured some of the liquid into the palm of his hand. "For science." He quietly whispered. The drop splashed on his skin and was quickly absorbed. Nothing happened for a moment. Srake's hand then spasm-ed and stoppered the vial in a burst of movement. "I guess it doesn't do anything..." Srake said with a shrug.
Twilight smacked her hoof on her face.
"Did you just facepalm?" Srake asked, confused.
"Did you really not notice that you moved your hand super fast?" Twilight deadpanned.
Srake looked down at his hand which twitched ever so slightly. "No..."
Twilight sighed with exasperation, "Well, I think I have a plan."
Srake stood up and looked down on Twilight, "I think I have the same plan and I bet I can explain it better than you." He said with a cocky smile.
Twilight rolled her eyes, "Humor me."