Through the Mysterious Portal

by breyercrazy

First published

Twilight and friends enter a portal and find themselves in Minecraft.

Minecraft/mlp fim crossover. Using an edited Curse modpack in 1.11.2

Twilight, Spike, and the rest of the Mane 6 enter a portal that appeared in Ponyville and must survive in Minecraft.

completely redid the mod list as i am switching from 1.7.10 to 1.11.2

Some of the mods:
Actually Additions
AkashicTome
AnimalBikes
Armorplus
Aroma1997's Dimentional World
Astral Sorcery
Baby Mobs
Baubles
Better Builders Wands
Biomes of Plenty
Blocklings
Botania
Ceramics
Chisel
Chisels and Bits
Deep Resonance
Dense Ores
Doggy Talents
Doomlike Dungeons
Elevator Mod
Embers
EndOres
Extra Utilities 2
Fire's Random Things
Flux Networks
Forestry
Gravestone mod
Hardcore Ore
IC2
Initial Inventory
Inventory Pets
InvTweaks
Iron Chests
JEI
Journeymap
Level-up Mod (class info later)
Lucky Blocks
More Furnaces
MouseTweaks
Mystical Agriculture (remake of magical crops)
Natura
Pam's Harvestcraft
Primordial Crops (reboot of magical crops)
Psi
Quark
QuickLeafDecay
Random Things
Refined Storage
Reliquary
RFTools
Roguelike Dungeons
Roots 2
Silent's Gems
SlashBlade
StorageDrawers
SuperCraftingFrame
Tinkers Construct
TheOneProbe
Uncrafting Table
Weapon Case Loot
Woot


There's a few other but mostly small stuff, cores, etc.

The First Day

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It was an average day in Ponyville. Y'know, everypony freaking out and bolting doors and windows...

Twilight Sparkle sat relaxing in her library with a pot of tea and one of her books. As she was reading, however, sounds of shouting could be heard. Suddenly Spike burst in, hollering. "Twilight! Twiliiight!"

The alicorn put down her teacup."What is it, Spike? What's wrong?"

Spike plopped down, panting heavily. "Oh, Twilight! *pant* You gotta see it! It's so... weird!"

She sighed and rose, purple magic bookmarking the tome and setting it on a table. "Calm down, Spike. What's so weird? I don't understand. Is something wrong?"

"It looks like some kind of portal, and it's out in the main square! No one has gone in but they're asking for you."

Twilight used her magic to lift the dragon to her back. "A portal? Hmmm... Well, i do appreciate you letting me know!" Twilight smiled and grabbed a couple books, as well as paper, ink, and feather pens, placing them into a saddebag, She walked out of the crystalline castle and cantered towards the Town Hall.

As they got closer to the main square, it became harder to get trough the crowd. Finally, Twilight lifted her wings and flew to the center of the crowd. The portal was easy to spot. It was rectangular, with a frame that looked to be made of square dirt; within was a sparkly blue portal.

The ponies could be overheard talking; most were going on about the portal and some were calling out to the alicorn. By the mysterious portal, she could see her friends in a row. As Twilight and Spike touched down by the group, the other ponies became louder. The girls greeted each other. All five of them, though Rainbow wasn't showing it, were feeling nervous about the portal.

Twilight felt a keen interest in studying it, and decided to step through it. Of course, the other five mares and Spike decided to go through with her. And once they had, the portal flashed and disappeared.


---Some Time Later---

Six ponies and one little dragon lay sprawled on on the grass. Ponyville and the portal had vanished. As they began to stir, Twilight looked over the landscape. Everything was square and blocky, even the animals Fluttershy was trying to talk softly to. They were in a big field, and they could see an oak/birch forest and mountains. Twilight rambled on about the breaking of quite a few laws of nature.

"Twilight. Twilight... Twilight!" Spike broke through to the frantic alicorn. "The sun is moving really fast. We should probably take a look around."

"Ah agree." Applejack drawled. "Ah'll take a look by the trees; maybe there's apple trees somewhere in them." She cantered towards the forest.

Rainbow needed no encouragement to start flying around, though it was difficult with no wind. All around, she could see a lot of land, teeming with wildlife. The mountains in the distance, she saw, had a few caves. One looked big but shallow. Rainbow zoomed towards it and peeked in, before flashing past Applejack on her way back. As she came towards where they had awoken, Rainbow dropped to the ground, panting.

Meanwhile, Pinkie being Pinkie, bounced around easily on the grass. Then she landed on some longer grass; grass that wasn't flat but reached above the earth. As she landed, the grass disappeared, dropping a seed. Pinkie approached it carefully and picked it up in her hoof. The pink pony sniffed at the seed. It didn't smell like food. She popped it into her saddlebag and trotted towards Twilight, The alicorn was listening to Rainbow and Applejack. "-ntains were really tall but i did see some caves in them; maybe we could check them out! Oh, and i didn't see any ponies or towns."

Twilight listened to the pegasus' monologue and nodded her head. "Caves could be interesting i suppose. It is too bad no habitations could be seen. All right, how about you, Applejack? See anything noticeable"

"Ah looked in the trees but they all looked like blocky birches an' maybe oaks. One of them, however, was a cherry tree! Sure it looked the same as the oaks, but-" She pulled the cherries out of her saddlebag. "-these lil guys were hangin' from the bottom leaves!"

"Oh, Applejack! That's wonderful!" Twilight grinned. She studied the cherries; they appeared to be normal beyond being very big.

Pinkie took the chance to speak up. "Hey Twlight! I was hopping about cause i was getting excited wondering if there were any ponies around here and thinking of the parties and cupcakes-"

"The point, Pinkie?" Twilight questioned gently.

"Heh right anyway i was hopping around and i hopped on the grass, the grass that sticks up, and it broke! And this came out!" Pinkie grinned as she pulled out the seed.

"Wow, that's definitely strange, Pinkie!" Twilight and Applejack looked over the little seed.

"That there is some kind of seed. But it sure don't look like a grass seed. If ah had a trowel we could try plantin' it, but we'd probably starve afore it grew." Applejack commented.

By now, Spike had returned with Fluttershy, and the stories of what had been found were swapped. Turns out there were a whole bunch of creatures, and according to Fluttershy, most of the critters were not intelligent at all. They were mostly all various types of livestock, though deer had also been spotted. After conversing amongst themselves, the group decided to head towards the cave. It might be better than an open field. They arrived and entered just before it started getting dark. As they split up the little pile of cherries, and nibbled at the grass just outside the cave (Rarity declined the course grass, feeling it too rough for her palate.)

They watched the sun set over the strange new world. Then all hell broke loose.. The many creatures of the night started appearing. Zombies resembling square-shaped versions of creatures Lyra called humans (said pony would feel rather sad that these creatures didn't have visible *fingers*), huge spiders, creatures made of bone wielding bows, and many more appeared. The ponies shrieked out and cowered in the shallow cave, except for Rainbow who flew around, barely missed by the skeletal archers, and Twilight who was firing magical spells. Spike shuddered but remembered his fire and started shooting out flames. Then Twilight got an idea. "Spike! The flames! They don't like the light! You keep flaming them and i'll try to cast a long-lasting light spell!" The little dragon nodded grimly and continued sending out flames as his partner began casting light spells. Eventually she got the cave lit enough the creatures relented and kept away. "There," Twilight panted, "that should do! Let's try to get what little rest we can." -But first-, she thought, -i want to see if i can send a message to the princess. If Spike still can breathe fire maybe the message will go through.- She settled down and pulled out her writing implements. Spike watched and settled down next by He was worn out but was ready to send the message before falling asleep.

Dear Princess Celestia.

Tonight i learned how nice Equestria really is... When the strange portal appeared in Ponyville, my friends and i traveled through it. I had hoped it would be secure and we could study it. I was wrong. It spit us out into a land made of blocks; even the sun and moon are blocks! We were doing all right during the daytime but at night many nasty creatures appeared and tried to attack. Thanks to Spike's valiant efforts with his fire, i learned they fear light, and set up light spells.

I have no idea where to go from here. We found a little food but i do not know how long we will survive, I hope you and Princes Luna will be able to figure out what is going on, and i will try to do so from here.

Your Faithful Student

Twilight Sparkle

The Tome

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My Faithful Student Twilight Sparkle

I am sorry to hear of your misadventures. Hopefully this has taught you to beware strange portals...

I can offer you a good deal of assistance. I know the land you are in. The portal has sent you to the land of Minecraftia. It is a difficult land to live in, precisely because of the violent creatures that attack at night. I am so thankful you discovered their weakness - Light.

I will send you copies of some texts from the library which contain all of our knowledge of the world of Minecraftia. I have no doubt they will be of good use. I will also send you a book and quill, and some empty scrolls to send me messages on.

Be careful and cautious, my dear Twilight.

One more thing. The daytime passes very fast. The moon and sun always rise in the east and set in the west. Keep this in mind so you do not get caught out at night.

And never, ever dig straight down.

Princess Celestia

_______________________________________________________________


Spike woke wearily as he felt his fire awakening. With a flash of green fire, a bundle appeared. He turned towards the dozing ponies and gently shook Twilight awoke wearily, yawning as she turned towards the purple dragon, who held out the package. "I think you got a message from Celestia!" She stretched and grasped the package and began to open it.

First was the scroll bearing the princess' message. After thoroughly reading it, the alicorn passed on the scroll to Spike, and dug down into the bundle, revealing an ancient, dusty book, a worn book, marked with 'Tinkering: a Guide', a book called Beginner's Guide to Alchemy, one called Refining your Storage, one called Book of Herblore, one called The Noob's Guide to Tech, and another called Forestry: a beginning. an unused journal, and several empty scrolls, quills, and ink. She cooed over the worn tome, and lay down the books in the cave before placing the writing materials in her saddlebags. Around her, the other ponies were slowly awakening. As they sat near Twilight, Spike passed around the message from the princess.

Afterwards, they went to the exit of the cave. Twilight called out to Rainbow to fly out and see what could be seen. Gliding up into the sky should have been impossible because of the lack of wind, but somehow she managed it, like she had yesterday. The prismatic mare scanned the skies and land. "I don't spot anything hostile, it looks safe!" Rainbow dashed as she flew down to land with the rest, panting from the efforts of windless flight.

Twilight nodded, and called to the rest. "Okay, girls, let's eat, then i think i better get started on these books!" They filed out of the cave into the bright sunshine. Twilight estimated it was late morning. After a meal of grass and some of the remaining cherries, and a drink from a pond, she spoke up again. "Okay. I'm going to stay here, and read. I think you guys should explore the local area. But you should probably buddy up." The rest nodded. Rarity spoke up, "I think i shall stay here, Twilight, as i am sure i would not be very good exploring." Applejack and Rainbow snickered, and headed towards the woods. "I guess that leaves us together, huh, Fluttershy?" Pinkie grinned enthusiastically. "Y-yeah i guess..." With a shudder, Fluttershy headed off into the meadows near the ocean, with Spike and the ever-bouncing Pinkie following her.

Twilight shouted at the departing ponies to return before dark before settling down with Rarity and the old books. The ancient tome explained some of the basic resources, how to gather supplies, how to farm, how to craft. The dusty pages were filled with ancient knowledge. It told of the treasures of the earth, and basic uses. The Tinkering book had some information about advanced tools and something called a smelter. The alchemy book told all about how to use the potion maker mentioned in the tome. The next book instructed on how to create an excellent powered storage system, and the one after it referred to a nature based magic system. The last two books were, in one, all about basic tech, and the second, breeding and processing of trees and bees and the machines involved. Twilight and Rarity were marveling over the pages of the tome when the other ponies returned. It was starting to grow late. "Oh, i am glad you are all safe!" Twilight cheered. After a report on what was seen, she glanced up at the sun before beckoning to Applejack to follow her. They stopped at the edge of the wood. "All right, Applejack, try bucking this tree," Twilight instructed. Applejack looked strangely at the alicorn and the tome held in her magic. "All right then. Ah'll try." And with that, she unleashed a powerful kick to the base of the tree before turning. Both ponies watched, one with excitement, the other with confusion, as the block fractured and shrank into a miniature block. Twilight cheered and grabbed it, following the instructions of the book, and soon had four planks, which she turned further into a crafting block. "Well done, AJ! That's it! Can you break a couple more, please?

Applejack watched the alicorn run into the cave, wings fluttering with excitement, before giving a couple more hard blows. As before, the blocks of tree trunk miniaturized, and the farm pony gazed at the bizarre floating tree before clearing the rest of the trunk and being called into the cave.
The crafting bench had been placed, and everyone was marveling at it, as the studious pony took the blocks that had been handed to her by Applejack. Twilight crafted them into planks, turned some of the planks into sticks, and, referencing the old tome, brought the sticks and planks together into a wooden axe and pick. Oohs and ahhs echoed as they were lifted up in purple magic before being placed down. "All right, everyone! I'm going to cast the light magic now, let's all finish dinner and get a quick drink and settle down!" called Twilight as the sun hovered over the western horizon. When they had finished, they cuddled in a nervous pile. Twilight began writing a missive to the princess as they started to drift away to sleep.

Dear Princess Celestia

Thank you kindly for the extra writing supplies, books, and especially for the volume on this strange land! I have read it through, and i have no doubt it will be of great use.

The girls, Spike and i, have had a busy day. We're mainly eating grass. Also some flowers. Spike is not too happy with such a diet (but then neither is Rarity.), but he seems to be doing all right, i hope.

I have crafted our first tools, and hope to begin gathering supplies tomorrow, and starting a farm, now that i can make a hoe. I think Applejack will enjoy that.

So far, there doesn't appear to be a way to get home, but i do hope to find one. We have not seen anyone sentient, though there are certainly many strange creatures, and some are even common livestock! But everything is in squares and rectangles. It's so strange.

I miss you and Equestria. And my family, and i am sure the others miss theirs.

Twilight Sparkle

Adventures

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My Faithful Student Twilight Sparkle

It is good to hear that you are doing well.

Once you have done more gathering, you will be able to make a large variety of foods. Look for various plants that look like food. There are six types of garden-like plants as well as various berries you can transplant. You can also find various fruit trees. Take threee fruit of the kinds that grow under the leaves, and combine it with a sapling, and you will have fruit saplings to place on the ground and get fruit. A cookbook of food recipes and dishware recipes is being included for Pinkie.

I also advise you to start a mine as soon as you can. The tome can assist you. The Tinker books will help expand what can be done with what you mine, but they can be difficult to understand.

Also, you will need to collect and breed the farm animals, as well as kill the extras. Yes, i know you would not want to, and i do not advise Fluttershy being present, at least at first, but rest assured these creatures are not intelligent, and they will drop useful things. Spike may like the meat, and feathers, leather, and other such byproducts have important uses. However, if you make shears, you won't need to kill the sheep. I believe there should be a recipe for basic wooden shears somewhere...

I have informed your families of the portal issue, so they will not worry as badly. I did not tell them of the night terrors and while some as your brother, my dear Twilight, would probably be able to handle it, most won't. You will find some letters in this package which i am sure will be encheering, as well as extra scrolls which you can reply with.

Rest assured Twilight, we will find a way to bring you home.

By the way, you might find emeralds useful should you find any. They might help you if your magic is weaker. Try making a mine pointing at large mountain ranges. You might be able to find a few.

Oh and there ARE villages. But they are few and far between. They are occupied by strange boxy creatures with big droopy noses that are the same shape as the zombies but are friendly and may trade with you.

Princess Celestia

Twilight blinked her eyes open as dawn's light softly glowed over the grasslands. She turned off the light spells and stretched. As she looked about, behind her came a flash, that felt hot. Twilight spun around and giggled. A sleeping Spike had just received another package from the Princess. She smiled softly and lifted the package away, back to the cave entrance. The first scroll was Celestia's latest message, and Twilight was delighted with the information and the prospect of letters from home. "Hmm," she mused, "I wonder if we could set up a message book like Sunset and i use... " Searching the bundle for a scroll marked with her cutie mark, she settled down to read as the others began to wake.

After message reading and breakfast, the group stepped outside. Twilight combined the last three cherries with a sapling, which she plopped onto the ground, so it could grow. Applejack spent more time kicking trees, to make more tools. Once they had a few wooden pickaxes, and a supply of wood, they headed into the mountains a short distance and mined at the visible stone and coal until a large chunk of cobblestone and coal had been gathered. They had also come across a couple of the rare Lucky Blocks, one which had dropped an iron axe and sword, and the other had dropped a precious block of emerald.

Fluttershy and Pinkie and Rarity had stayed behind. Pinkie continued to break grass and explore. She found some plans that looked edible, so investigated them. There was barley and something called gardens that could be broken to receive plantable produce, though if handled carefully, could be brought home first, and even duplicate in time once placed back down. These gardens had been mentioned in the tome. There were also quite a few plants that could be broken to receive a usable ingredient and seeds. Fluttershy chatted with the animals who did not answer back, but it was calming, being with the friendly critters. She soon discovered that some nearby creatures, called blocklings, were easy to tame, and soon had a couple blocklings keeping her company. This really made her smile, though keeping track of them was difficult.

It was getting late when Spike, Twilight, Applejack, and Rainbow returned to the others. They had started a mine, and also gathered some of the visible stone and ores. There was several stacks of stone, as well as andesite, granite, coal, marble, and a little iron. There had been other ores but they generally left them alone until better picks could be crafted. They had also made torches, as well as stone tools. Chests and a furnace were crafted, and the faster ponies ran out to spread out the torches. Twilight pointed out it would be easier on her, using torches rather than magic every night. Magic was great for emergencies but torches would be a more permanent basic lighting source. Once the cave and clearing had been lit, a stone hoe was produced and quickly made a plowed section of land upon which all the available seeds or fruit were planted. They did manage to hoe up some worms, and when they placed the little creatures, discovered why they are considered gardeners friends.* At the same time, Pinkie took the barley that had dropped from the barley plants she had found, turned into flour, and cooked them. Everyone rejoiced to have the warm bread.

Dear Princess Celestia

We are managing to do all right. We started a mine and a farm.

Fluttershy has already befriended a couple of blocklings.

Pinkie found some of the gardens which you had spoken of. They are now growing in the garden. She also found wild barley so we have some of that kind of barley growing. Fresh, hot barley loaves were delicious!

While we were mining on the mountains, we found a couple lucky blocks! One dropped an emerald block! Could you help explain their uses?

Everypony were much cheered by the letters from our family! Thank you for them! That reminds me... do you think we could use books to write to each other, like Sunset and i do?

Building a House

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My Faithful Student Twilight Sparkle

It sounds like you are starting to flourish.

Don't forget to range out through the world, there is much to see.

Did you know you can build with blocks? Just about anything can be used, though different types of woods, stones, as well as wool and glass are more common. In fact, whole towns and castles and unmoving ships and endless other things can be built.

I suggest you shear some sheep and make beds for you all, then sleep during the night so if you die you can respawn back on the bed. Yes, you will die. A lot, But when you die, you will respawn, with your saddlebags empty. If you can return to where you died, you can reclaim your items by breaking your grave. Sounds rather gross, i am aware, but it does keep your inventory from being lost.

You will have to grow accustomed to slaying the animals and the denizens of the dark, for as i have mentioned, they drop many good things and in the case of hostile creatures, they will try to kill you. Don't attack wolves or ocelots, though, as they can be tamed into dogs and cats.

There are several different types of abandoned structures,some of which are mentioned in the tome. In them, you can find chests with good things such as music discs and magical books. These books mostly add enchantments to various tools and armor. But some rare books can be combined with emeralds to create enchanted emeralds. Anypony holding that emerald can activate the enchantment and thus cast the spell.


The book idea is a good one and i will look into it, though i have doubts about a book that being able to cross between Minecraftia and Equestria.

We have all been studying how to enter Minecraftia without the portal. There IS a way out of Minecraftia but it is difficult.

All our love

Princess Celestia

The ponies slept until the morning light shone brightly into the stony cave. With a yawn, Twilight scanned the area and lifted up a new scroll that had been lying next to Spike's sleeping form. She shuddered a bit at the princess' bluntness. Shaking off the sudden fear, she stretched out her wings and trotted outside. Not far off a new tree, dotted with fruit, stood next to the pond. Twilight marveled at the cherry tree, before jumping in a nearby river for a bath. By then the others had begun to waken, with the exception of Applejack, who could be seen, clearing away trees and replanting saplings. When the hard-working pony noticed the others emerging, she trotted over with the wood she had collected, as well as saplings and apples. "Well, howdy, yall! Took ye long enough to be up and about! Ah've gathered up a bit o'wood ever since the sun rose."

Twilight beamed at the orange pony, as she splashed around. Swimming wasn't really easy, but if one stayed in block deep water it was easy enough. After baths came breakfast. Then they split up again. Spike, Rainbow and Applejack headed for the mine. Sure, Rainbow didn't care for being underground, but there was a sense of suspense, one never knew what they would find, and it pulled her. Pinkie and Fluttershy headed out to check on the garden, and Twilight enlisted Rarity's help in shearing sheep and making beds.

When that was done Twilight pulled out some cobble and birch logs. Fluttershy and Pinkie trotted in, carrying produce and some sand that had been requested. "Oh, yay!" Twilight cheered as she waved at them. "Thanks, girls! Can you stick that sand in the furnace, please?" They nodded with smiles as they trotted into the cave. Twilight puzzled over a scroll that had come this morning that she hadn't read. To her joy, it contained various house blueprints. She picked out a nice spacious one and began laying out the blocks with care. This took some time, particularly as she got higher and higher up the walls. Her wings helped a little, but she could not fly well.

At last, as sunset began to dot the land in shadows, the area in and around the house was lit with torches and doors placed. The ponies cheered before returning to the cave one last night. Twilight showed everypony the beds. "Look, we made beds! These will be much more nice and comfy!" Twilight cheered as she hopped on one of the seven beds. Rarity happily sunk on a bed, and Spike was happy he finally had his own bed. As each of the ponies climbed onto a bed, they fell asleep and so the night passed.

The next day was spent tending the garden and sending out an expedition which was composed of Applejack, Rainbow, Spike, and Pinkie. Twilight hunted through the books for furniture and was able to move the equipment out of the cave, and build some tables and shelves and other such things. The house was rather small for all of them, but it would be not much difficulty in building everypony a house. The first house had a living room, kitchen, and two bedrooms upstairs. Fluttershy gathered more wool with shears and a nice carpet was put in, as well as some other basic furniture.The kitchen didn't have much yet but storage and a water barrel and shelves.

Rarity spent time picking flowers to put in some new flower pots and transplant outside, and turned some of them to dye which was applied to sheep.

As the sun fell into the west, the adventurers returned, running the last meters into the full house. They had found some fruits, and more gardens, and seen a variety of animals. Some rare trees had been found and wood and saplings brought back, and Rainbow had flown up to a floating colorful island that seemed made up of slime. Some strange blue slimes had been in the slimy water, and had converged on her. Quick kicks had brought them down, and Rainbow had made her first kills. Slime blocks and dirt,and slimy saplings were brought back as well, to be stored away.

Finally they fell asleep again, but not before another letter was sent off.

Dear Princess Celestia

We have been really busy! The farm has been expanded, and we have a cherry tree and a couple apple trees which are Applejack's pride and joy. I put together a house and started furnishing it yesterday, and we're going to sleep in it for the first time tonight.

Today some of us went on an exploration. It looks like they did really well, though Rainbow had an incident with some sort of blue slimes.

Dying sound absolutely terrifying, though i suppose it could be considered reassuring that we.. reappear? Is that what respawn means?

I hope we can be strong enough to protect ourselves even if it means killing living creatures...

It sounds amazing that spells can be attached to emeralds! That even earth ponies could wield magic of unicorns... I wonder why this is not a thing in Equestria?

We send our love back

Twilight Sparkle

Short bits of story

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A Trip in the Mines

AJ, Rainbow, and Spike trudged up the mountain towards the mine. The sun was just sparkling at the eastern horizon, and soon they stood at the cave that the mine was in. A quick trot took them down the shaft which led deep into the earth. At the base was a small room carved into the stone with a workbench, furnace, and storage.

The team pulled out some iron picks and crafted a few more as well as filling buckets at the spring they had created. Torches were also a necessity.

Each pony and dragon took a spot along the main horizontal shaft, first Applejack, then three blocks further, Spike, and lastly 3 blocks further, Rainbow. They flourished their picks and began to dig parallel shafts aiming away from the main shaft. Applejack hollered out nearly immediately, "Ah found iron!" Spike quickly followed with "Me too! Me too!' and Rainbow with "Me three!" All three chuckled at each other as they cut away at the iron and saw each other. After filling in the holes, the ring of pick against stone echoed down the tunnels.

AJ called out; she had found some gems. She then dropped her pick with a clang. Not much farther she had found gold! But while she mined the gold, she nearly got squished by falling gravel. The others called out, and she reassured them she was fine.

"I found coal!" Called out Spike, and AJ had some from the same vein next to her shaft. Further along, Rainbow reported she had found some red dust stuff and Applejack said she found blue stones (lapis). As they mined further, more iron, redstone, gold, silver, and nickel was unearthed, as well as some tin and a large variety of gems, to the delight of Spike.. Before long they broke into a cave system that was dark but rich in ores. They scampered through the cave system, lighting it, before stripping it. As well as ores similar to what they had found before, there was lead and yellorium, and a small patch of diamonds! Spike carefully mined them out, drooling slightly as he collected the gems. The three cheered before heading out of the mine.


Critter Chaos

Twilight crafted some fences and created large gated pens and troughs, before grabbing some wheat and seeds. She headed out into the valleys with Fluttershy and showed her how to attract some of the local livestock, lead them to the pens, and care for them. Flutters proved to be exemplary at this task, and began gathering cows, sheep, and chickens. There were several different varieties she found. She tried to befriend the deer, or find out if they were sapient, but that didn't work out. Flutters then went and gathered some flowers to feed her blocklings, and made them some nice log coats.

Construction

Twilight worked with Rarity to put up more houses. It was slow work and took a lot of resources, but slowly one house after another were constructed. Rarity mostly handled interiors, as well as lighting. Eventually, 6 houses stood proudly, and an additional main storage was built.
Applejack had picked out a nice place for a barn near the fruit trees, and worked with Twilight after gathering and dyeing clay, and put up a red barn. It gleamed brightly, and Applejack surrounded it with apple trees. It was not really a Sweet Apple Acres, but it comforted her.
Rarity found the recipes for banners and began making some for each house. She went and gathered flowers aplenty, some to transplant by her house, and some to grind into dyes. It wasn't dressmaking, but she did enjoy designing the banners. She also discovered how to make chisels and bitbags. She quickly realized the potential of these bits, and knew she would spend hours, likely, making all sorts of things!


Exploration

A group went out one day, one direction. They trekked through a forest, and gathered a little wood, before they reached the far side. Before them lay a sweltering desert, and they drank from a lake before trotting into the desert. They dug up a big patch of sand, and gathered some cactus and saguaro, as well as cactus gardens. About halfway through they encountered a desert temple. Rainbow voted to explore it, and would have charged in if AJ hadn't encouraged caution. They checked out the rooms, and found them quite empty. "Ah think there might be more below, lookit that clay." She started to mine sandstone and soon caught sight of the secret treasure room with a whoop and began to mine her way down. Rainbow flapped down and nearly hit the center before Applejack screeched "NO, Rainbow, don't land!" Rainbow looked down to see what had been spotted; a strange stone platform. Spike stepped down by the platform and with careful work, mined the platform, then they could all land safely and check out the chests. The ponies felt the contents were rather disgusting but collected the bones and rotten flesh as well as the gold and a sparkling book marked Infinity. The trio returned to the surface, and Rainbow hovered, panting, over the floor of the treasure room and mined some of it up. "Whaaa... weird blocks with wires." She mined it to find the big white letters on the side that said TNT. Well, of course, they were incredibly glad that pressure plate hadn't been hit... Beyond the desert lay a jungle biome.. which they explored. Cocoa beans were harvested, and some smaller trees of jungle wood harvested of their logs. They heard a clanging noise as they chopped some wood and collected fruit, and suddenly an arrow flew past. Rainbow spun around and spotted the offender. "SKELETON!!!" She pulled out the sword from the lucky block and flew to it, quick to tear it to bits to stop the barrage of arrows. When that was dealt with, they went back to gathering some of the saplings and fruit and tropical gardens in the area as well as berry bushes which could be replanted to provide a tasty food source. Rainbow noticed her experience bar was flashing, and when she activated it, a large screen appeared in her view. All over on it appeared names of what seemed to be O&O classes. She flashed over them and selected Scout.