Terraria Is Magical

by Srake

Three's a Crowd

Twilight Sparkle stared at Dark Srake as he held a small magic staff, "What was that for?" she asked angrily.

Srake looked down at magical apparatus in his hands then back at Twilight, "I was checking if it was darkness," Srake began. "It's standard practice from where I come."

"Oh yeah, and where is it you come from exactly?" Twilight asked accusingly.

They both halted in the entrance to the pyramid. "Wait, I haven't told you that?" Srake asked. Twilight shook her head. "Oh, well I think that can wait until we get into the pyramid." Srake said slowly, "You know, the one we had been trying to get into... Out of this... field thing."

Twilight stared at Srake with half closed eyes, "Yeah" she relied flatly. They both stood at the entrance, neither moving.

Srake looked expectantly at Twilight and she continued to glare at him. "Do you want me to go first?" Srake asked hesitantly.

"Well you're the one with the sword, the rocket boots, the armor, the bottomless pack... the list goes on you know." Twilight droned.

Srake knelt down and sighed, "Yeah, you right..." Srake crammed his magic missile back into his pack and pulled out a bundle of torches. He took one and lit it. He started into the temple, "Let's go, Twilight." he called back. Twilight obliged and quickly followed.

Both Twilight and Srake could attest that entering the pyramid did wonders for their moods. Upon entering the correctly colored room that served as an antechamber the thin haze that had accumulated in their minds was lifted. Unburdened the duo looked around.

"Looks like everything has color again," Twilight said as she looked at the glyphs on the walls

Srake plonked a torch onto the wall, "Yeah, and light is working properly again." he said as the torch illuminated the room.

Twilight looked around in wonder taking in all the details. "Isn't this place amazing?" She asked awe struck. Srake grunted in affirmation. Twilight trotted over to a wall and closely examined the carvings, "These are definitely magic glyphs. I really do wonder what these do."

Srake stood aside Twilight. He absently minded crossed his arms as he too looked upon the carvings. "Y'know," He began, "We have pyramids similar to this back home." Twilight looked at him in confusion. Srake shrugged, "Hey, you wanted to know about my home world. So, yeah."

Twilight shook her head. "No, I get that. What does that have to do with anything?"

"Some people thought that they were built by aliens..."

Twilight looked at Srake expectantly. "Uh..."

Srake shrugged again. "Well that killed some time." Srake walked to the other side of the room leaving Twilight stumbling with her thoughts.

Twilight quickly regained her poise and rushed after Srake feeling rather annoyed. "You know, that's not really what I wanted to know about your world." She said letting her annoyance show clearly.

Srake turned to face Twilight once again, "Well, I guess that's all y-"

"Uh, I hate to interject" A third Voice interrupted. Both Twilight and Srake dropped their pretenses and quickly looked around, guard up. No one else was in the room with them.

"Where are you! Show yourself!" Twilight called out.

Srake lowered his sword, "I wanted to say that..."

"Apologies... I'm up here."

Both Twilight and Srake looked up to the ceiling to see a small device that was surveying the room slowly left to right. It focused on them, whirling as the lens zoomed in. Srake glared at the now obvious camera. "That's a little out of place... Don't you think?" he asked the camera.

"Yes... Whatever." The Voice responded, "are you here to save me?'

"What? No!" Srake shouted.

Twilight looked up at Srake in surprise, "What do you mean? You're a hero! You have to!"

"Also it would be a particularly evil thing to do..."

Srake crossed his arms, "Yeah, I-

"Not saving me, I mean." The Voice interrupted quietly.

Srake paused for a few seconds, "Yeah, I know that, but we don't even know who this guy is." he continued, ignoring the interruption.

"Listen guys," the Voice started. "I've been here for awhile and I guess that is you're not here to rescue me than you must be here to find out what's going on outside. Luckily for me, I happen to be in the center room of this pyramid and this room holds the answers that you are looking for." The camera moved up and down as in a matter of fact nod. "So, I'll be waiting."

"Aw, come on! Can't you just tell us?" Srake asked pitifully.

He received no answer.

Srake huffed and stormed over to the hallway out of the antechamber. "Come on Twilight, I guess we don't have a choice." Srake pointed at the wall. "I found a conveniently placed map..." He regarded it with suspicion as Twilight moved to get a look at it. It revealed a maze of hallways and chambers leading to the starred center room. "I hope you have a good memory, Twilight. Because this looks like a trial... Okay, so, it’s left, left, right..."

"Srake..."

"right, straight, left..."

"Srake."

"If we hit the railroad tracks, we've gone too far..."

"SRAKE!" Twilight shouted.

"OH MY GOD! WHAT!?" Srake shouted back. He blinked a couple of times staring at the Twilight's surprised face, now only a couple of inches away from his. He sighed and lowered his head, "I forgot the way..."

Twilight responded the only way she knew. She covered her face with her hoof. Twilight pushed past Srake and looked at the map. She reached out with her magic and removed the map from the wall. She rolled the map into a scroll and stared at Srake.

Srake stood up fully and gave a thumbs up, "Convention breaking! I like it." He began walking down the corridor, Twilight sighed and followed. "Let's go save this jerk."

Twilight shook her head in disbelief. "I can't believe you. Really, I can't."

Srake looked back at here, "What? And you honestly want to help him? For no reason?" Confusion showed on his face clearly, as if the notion of helping another was foreign to him.

Twilight studied her dark companion for a moment. "Are you turning evil?" she suddenly asked.

The question caught Srake off-guard. He grew quiet for several seconds. "Twilight," He began quietly. "What if I was the bad guy all along?"

"That would be unfortunate." Twilight said stolidly as she looked at the map. "Take a left..." She added.

An awkward silence hung in the air as Srake stared straight ahead and Twilight buried her face in the map. Srake broke the silence, "I was just messing with ya." Twilight folded the map and looked at him with disinterested eyes, not saying a word. "It's what keeps me sane in this world."

Twilight unfolded her map and studied it once again. "You're making it pretty hard to trust you right now..." Srake's cross grew heavy around Twilight's neck once again.

Srake shrugged. "I'm sorry."

Twilight waited for more, but did not receive any elaboration. It would have to do for now. Twilight noticed the cross grow light again. She absentmindedly wondered what powers it held. If only she had her element... And her friends. She'd have no matter of troubles getting out of this cursed world. But she would have to settle for this crazed gray-skinned, red-eyed monkey known as a human. She looked back down to her map. "Srake, stop."

Srake stopped mid-step. "What is it now, Twilight?" He asked, rather annoyed, expecting another question regarding his alignment.

"There's a trap right there." She said smugly, pointing a hoof at a tripwire laid across the hall.

"Oh... Okay" Srake mumbled, abashed by his reaction. Srake took a step back and removed his backpack. "I probably have something to remedy this situation." He reached in and thrown out some things. A green tube hit the floor and lit up as it rolled into the darkness. Srake scooped out a pile of dirt which he regarded with disgust as he poured it on the floor.

"What the hay are you looking for?" Twilight asked, peeking in the bag. "Whoa..." She whispered as an orb of pure light escaped from the bag. Srake caught it and jammed it back into his bag telling it to stay. He began leaning into the bag fitting his whole arm inside of it.

His face lit up, "I found it!" He pulled out his arm now covered in mud. In his hand he had a wire cutter. Srake grumbled at his arm and flashed fire around it. He shook off the fired clay and looked at the wall. "I haven't used this thing in a long time. That's why it was so far down."

Twilight raised an eyebrow, "How much space do you have in that bag?"

"Not enough..." Srake swung the cutter at the wall. Where it hit a strand of wire fell down to the floor. Both Twilight and Srake stared at it.

Twilight looked at Srake. "Couldn't we have just stepped over it?" She asked with realization.

Srake shrugged, then threw his cutter into his bag and shouldered it. He stepped over the now disarmed trap and waited for Twilight. She cut the tripwire with her magic and walked past. They began walking together once again. The patterns on the walls generally repeated and would occasionally light up as magic pulsed through the lines. The party came to another junction. Srake looked down both ways before groaning. "Twilight, this is taking way too long. How much further do we have to go?"

Twilight's eyes scanned the map. "First, we go right. Then we still quite a ways to go..."

Srake shoved his free hand in his pocket and did his best to pout. "This would go so much faster if we had some music..."

"You two seem to be taking your sweet time..." The Voice crackled in. "I can't believe that my rescue is a unicorn and a would-be hero..." The Voice sighed heavily. "Can't even stop the corruption." He added quietly.

Srake held up his arms in a shrug and shook his head in disbelief. He looked to Twilight for conformation. She simply nodded and said, "Jeez, he is a jerk..." Twilight looked up from the map, "Oh, and go straight."

The party walked past the two corridors that they could have turned down. Srake took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "Are we seriously going to do this the whole way there?"

Twilight laughed slightly, "No, I'll just lead the way from here."

Srake fell into formation behind Twilight as they navigated the maze of corridors to the center of the pyramid... temple thing.

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"And that's how Space buoyancy is different from Terran buoyancy."

Twilight Sparkle walked out of the shadows with her face still buried in the extremely conveniently placed map. Behind her walked Dark Srake who had felt content to lecture her on the finer parts of complete and utter lies. "Yeah Srake, Space buoyancy..." She rolled up the map with her magic and tossed it back to Srake. "Here we are!" She exclaimed quite happily.

Before them stood a door. It looked very heavy and was covered in the same runes that coursed throughout the pyramid. The lines converged at the center of the door creating an intricate design that Twilight guessed served as a lock. Magic visibly pumped through the lines indicating the lock was active.

Srake stepped up to the door and stared intently at it. He sighed, exasperated he said, "A locked door... Of all the tropes it had to be this one..."

Twilight blanched slightly at the thought of going back into the maze they had just left in order to find a key that was not marked on the conveniently placed map. "Do you think there is any other way to get in?" Twilight asked in hope.

Srake went into a deep state of thought. He emerged shortly after with a look of cautious certainly, "I think I have one idea." Srake turned to face the door, setting his feet shoulder width apart. He cracked his knuckles and took a deep breath before staring down the door.

Twilight stared at him with confusion. For several more seconds he stood there, not moving, not even breathing. Twilight had had enough, "Srake-"

Without warning Srake launched himself at the door slamming his fists against it. "LET US IN! AARRGGHH!" He shouted as he continued to beat the door relentlessly.

"Hey-HEY! HEY!" The Voice crackled to life above the door. "St- STOP THAT!" The Voice shouted out over the ruckus.

Srake backed up from the door and looked back at Twilight, who gave him a disapproving glance before focusing on another camera above the door.

The camera moved around very animatedly as if taking consciousness. It swiveled back and forth trying, and succeeding, in conveying its frustration. "Look," It started, sullenly. "I don't know what the hell is wrong with you two, but banging on the door and yelling out is not going to solve anything." Srake opened his mouth to reply. "NO! Just shut up!" The camera 'pointed' at him. "It's a magic lock. One needs to have sufficient ability in order to short out the lock."

Srake shrugged and walked away from the door gesturing for Twilight to follow. After they were convinced they were out of earshot they began to conspire. Srake looked at his friend, "What do you think? You wanna know what I think? I think that guys an as-" Srake faltered as he caught the (semi)innocent eyes of his unicorn companion.

Twilight raised an eyebrow, "A jerk, right." Twilight finished from him. Twilight looked back at the door, "I don't know if I have enough power to break the lock. At least not in this world." She said making her uncertainty apparent.

"I guess I'll have to do it then." Srake shrugged before putting on a cocky smile. "It only makes sense being that this is my story." Srake stood up and started to walk to the door.

Twilight followed him, letting a small smile show. "I guess that makes me a side character then?"

Srake laughed slightly, "I think the title 'Supporting Lead' fits you well."

An electric sigh was heard above the door. "Just get it over with..."

Srake pressed his hand against the lock runes and let magic soak into the door. The lines sparked as the magic within the lines faded and was replaced by unstable energy. The light emitted from the door went dark and the door slid down into the floor.

Behind the door was a dimly lit room. Not much could be discerned from the small amounts of light the magic lines gave off. The lines themselves ran to the middle of the room to what looked like a pedestal. Next to the pedestal stood an nondescript figure.

Srake entered the room, "Hey, what's up?"

The room brightened suddenly as more magic coursed through the lines straight to the pedestal. The light allowed the the room to be viewed. It held a large amount of machinery that looked quite out of place with the stone walls of the pyramid. The figure standing by the pedestal, however, gained no detail as light shown upon him. "How nice of you to arrive. Keh-heh " He laughed creepily.

Realization crept on Srake's face. "Oh, God da-"

A hand of living shadow burst from the figure and flew towards Srake grabbing him. Srake gritted his teeth as the shadow sapped his strength, rendering him powerless.

Twilight's eyes widened in surprise, "Stop!" she shouted, "What are you doing? Let him go!" She began readying a demon scythe in case reason proved ineffective.

The shadow grinned at the little pony, "Merely taking back what is mine, Twilight." He said, smoothly, as he dragged Srake through the air towards him.

"That doesn't make any sense!" Twilight shouted back. Animosity burned brightly in her eyes as she stare the shadow down

The shadow rolled the dark fire that served as it's eyes, "Well, you see-"

"Let me guess," Srake spat out vehemently. "This is the part where you tell us all about your master plan?" Srake nearly lost consciousness as the shadow leeched more life out of him.

"Quiet, darkling." The shadow turned back to Twilight. "The one you call 'Srake' is an agent of treachery. A doppelganger, if you will. As such, he belongs to me, for all things that lie, cheat, and betray belong to me. For I am the spirit of Deceit." Deceit finished his monologue with an insidious chuckle. "And I am no stranger to what you are, either." Deceit stared down Twilight. "A unicorn from Equestria. Quite a long ways from home, eh Twilight?

Twilight rolled her eyes, "So you know who I am. What's that have to do with anything?"

Deceit shrugged, "Nothing really... I have no idea why your here, to be honest. I was just planning on killing you. I only need 'Srake' to power my ride out of here." The shadows eyes burned brightly with dark magic.

Twilight prepared to release her spell.

Unbeknownst to both of them, Srake had managed to retrieve something from his pack. "Twilight, catch!" A mirror flew through the air. Twilight however did not hear Srake and cast her spell. A demon scythe flew through the room. Though it was easily dodged by the shadow, it sliced viciously through some machinery. The mirror reflected the sparks from the machines, blinding Twilight as it crashed onto her horn. The magic from the mirror and her unicorn magic combined violently.

Twilight fell into an eternal darkness.

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Deceit stared at the smoldering burn mark that had once been Twilight Sparkle before turning to congratulate his disciple, "Great work, little darkling. Keh-heh-heh" He laughed evilly as he surveyed the damaged equipment. "She did quite a number on the machine. Luckily she didn't damage the gauntlet." Deceit turned to Srake, "I can see why you took such a liking to her."

Srake didn't say anything, guilt weighing heavily on his conscience about the uncertainty of his friend's fate.

"Oh, cheer up." Deceit grinned evilly. "I'm sure you'll see her again soon. After all... All batteries die sooner or later."

Srake cursed silently as the spirit of Deceit started work upon the machine that channeled magic into The Gauntlet.

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A/N: HAHA! Can't stop me now! Longest chapter to date and finally hitting a major plot point? What is this, Christmas?! No, actually it's Thanksgiving. Well, nearly anyways. Well, I'm excited for you guys to finally be able to read this. I had a lot of trouble with it, specifically the last part. I hope you all enjoyed it.

Warm Regards Love,
Srake

Oh, and I'm guessing your reading this because you love Terraria. So, why not check out Pon3s in Terraria, by Spu313, featuring the Mane Six in a much more video-gamey Terraria.