> Spirits of Light And Dark
>  by Shadic Midnight Blitzer
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> The Guide
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 1: 

Light peered through closed eyes as a figure laid dormant on a grassy field. Milky hair that faded into purple ends waved subtly through the air as the wind shoved them around. Purple fur shined with light as the sun rose overhead, and soon the creature began to wake up, revealing flickering white eyes that slowly turned purple as she began to regain consciousness.

Letting out a yawn, the mare slowly began to rise up, stumbling about as her mind remained groggy from the deep sleep. Her horn flickered with magic as she instinctively casted her clothes spell for the morning, replacing her silvery nightgown with a purple cone-shaped wide-brimmed hat and a similarly colored high cut leotard. The unicorn’s arms and legs were also covered in purple fabric, and beside her laid a cosmetic wooden wand, which gently shimmered before fading away, its energy being transferred back towards the figure as she finished her clothes spell. 

“Ahh… Now that was a nice sleep we had, don’t you think Oona?” The mare said, lifting her arms to the air and stretching as she began to drive away any remaining feeling of tiredness. Looking to her right, the mare blinked as the light blue sheep she had expected to see was nowhere in sight, replaced by a light dense forest with trees and flowers all around her. As her mind began to reboot, the mare suddenly gasped when she realized where she was, or rather, where she wasn’t.  

“Wait! Where am I!? Ewe!?” The unicorn yelled, her body fully snapping awake as she began to panic only to slap herself as she tried to calm herself, realizing an easy way out. “It’s alright, it’s ok, I can simply open a portal back home, nothing too serious.” The platinum-maned pony said to herself, placing her hands in front of her. Closing her eyes, she began to concentrate her magic outwards, her ability awakening as her cutie mark began to glow. Opening her eyes again, dread filled her body as the purple swirls that should’ve been in front of her by now weren’t there, the few wisps of magic that were in her hands fading away. Her body began to tremble as she felt a wave of powerlessness, but before she could emit any sort of reaction, her ears swerved as she began to hear somebody walking nearby.

Turning herself around, the young mare’s eyes landed on a blue pegasus. His wild dark blue mane moved with the breeze, his fur ruffling as well. A wooden bow was strapped to his back along with a quiver full of arrows. The blue pegasus hummed an unknown song before looking at the unicorn, his shining emerald eyes looking at her. Immediately the fear burned away her body as she became elated by the presence of the pegasus, and he soon yelped in surprise as the platinum maned mare tackled him into a hug, knocking them both onto the grassy ground. 

“Midnight! It’s good to see you! I thought you were too sick to get up before?” The unicorn said with a sad smile, remembering how the last time she visited him, he had been laying in bed after going down from another illness, his trips to the infirmary becoming more frequent over the past few years. The blue pegasus blinked at her, before grinning as he pushed himself from underneath her and stood up. After shaking some dust off of him, Midnight gave her a wide smile that only Pinkie could muster before letting out a squeal of excitement that could only be rivaled by Fluttershy.

“Yes! Thank you Beatrix for finally giving me a name! You don’t know how long I waited for you to give me one!” The blue pegasus exclaimed giddily, bouncing up and down a bit, his wings flapping hard but with enough control as to not shoot himself into the sky. Beatrix blinked at the stallion, wondering what he meant by ‘no name’ and him waiting for her, even though she just visited him a few days ago, before connecting the dots and realizing what was going on. 

“Oh… Uhm… Nice to finally meet the alternative version of yourself… I guess…”  Beatrix sighed, having figured out she wasn’t facing her Midnight but rather another version. She was disappointed by the revelation, but happy to have some company at least. She suddenly blinked as she realized something else. “Wait… how did you know my name then? We’ve never met before, or at least I’ve only met another timeline of you if that makes any sense.” The mare asked but was surprised to see the lack of confusion on the pegasus. Instead, he seemed indifferent to the mention of alternative realities.

“Oh, I know what you mean by alternatives. Hmmm…  guess you’re already an experienced soul to gamble it away by activating both Hardcore and Master Mode, am I right?” Midnight asked out of the blue, suddenly causing Beatrix to back away a bit in fright at the mention of gambling her soul.

“Wait what!?” The mare yelled, causing the blue pegasus to wince as some birds flew from a nearby tree. Realizing his error, he began to shuffle his feet in embarrassment. 

“Welp. Maybe not I guess. Uhm hey! Welcome to the world of Terraria I guess…  Yay?” Midnight said, his eyes darting back and forth as he wondered how to get out of the awkward situation. Feeling the tension in the air, Beatrix decided to break it by restating her question along with a few others. 

“You haven’t answered my question. How do you know my name? Did you just say that you didn’t have a name before? How do you know about other timelines in the first place? What are-”

“Alright Bea,” Midnight said, smiling a bit at the endless amount of questions Beatrix had for him. “I’ll answer them one at a time. After all, they say there’s a person who will tell you how to survive in this land... oh wait. That's me.” The blue pegasus said, laughing at his inside joke, before shaking his head. “But right now I can’t answer you. You’ll need to build a house as it’s dangerous to wander around in the night, especially with your current equipment, or lack thereof.” Midnight said, pointing to her waist. Beatrix, misinterpreting his words, became flustered and soon ticked at the young colt for what she thought he was insinuating. 

“Hey! Just want to let you know that my mother taught me how to create magical replicas of that ‘equipment’ you’re referencing, and I’m not afraid to use it on your-!”

“I was talking about tools like pickaxes, axes, as well as armor. You don’t even have a belt pouch around your waist to store them. What were you thinking I was talking about?” Midnight asked innocently, tilting his head a bit. Given that he probably lived in the wild, he most likely had no social skills on how to interact with others and what is considered offensive or not. Beatrix simply face palmed herself and sighed, but at the same time, she couldn’t help but smile as she remembered some memories of the past. 

“Oh wow. It’s been so long since you were innocent like that. I think about twenty or so years ago. Alright, let’s try again, as I feel we’ve got off to a bit of a rocky start. My name is Beatrix Belladonna. Who are you?” The unicorn said, smiling as she extended her hand towards the blue pegasus, who happily accepted. 

“My name is Midnight Blitzer, and to answer one of your questions, I’m The Guide, here to give you advice on what to do next whenever you’re stuck, and one of the many perks about being one is that we get to know who the world’s ‘Terrarian’ will be called.” Midnight said proudly as he began to rapidly shake her hand, his strong arm causing her body to vibrate. 

“W-w-w-wa-a-a-a-i-i-i-i-t-t-t-t… W-w-w-w-w-we-e-e-e-e-e?” Beatrix asked, her voice vibrating in tune with her body. Soon she heard Midnight beginning to snicker, and she frowned when she realized that she was vibrating even after Midnight finished his rapid handshake. He gave her a soft smile. 

“The Order of the Guide, I’m one of the countless generations who’ve passed down both legends and knowledge to the present. My dad was the previous Guide before he disappeared to Terraria knows where, and well, I had to take up the mantle. I’m quite fond of the forest, and while I’m quite used to not having a house by this point, I wouldn’t mind having one.” Midnight said, giving Beatrix a wink. She simply frowned. 

“Oh, so you want me to build you a house when you could’ve done it yourself?” Beatrix asked, a bit offended by the somewhat lazy attitude being shown by the colt. He let out a light laugh. 

“Yep. It’s actually part of the Order of the Guide’s rules. The Guide must show the Terrarian how to build a house to give them some basic skills on the mechanics of this world. Cause trust me, you might have magic, but this world’s life force works differently than what you’ve probably been taught.” The Guide said, smiling at the mare who rolled her eyes. 

“Fine. If this isn’t your way to get a home for free and you promise to teach me the mechanics of this world, then I guess I can help. Promise?” Beatrix asked, staring at Midnight straight in the eye. The blue pegasus smiled at her before taking out a copper ax from his pouch, causing the mare to blink at the seemingly impossible task given how small the pocket was compared to the tool. 

“Cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye.” Midnight vowed along with some hand gestures of crossing his heart and poking his eye, which resulted in him letting out a quiet ‘ow’ when he did accidentally poke himself. The unicorn could only stifle a laugh before straightening herself. 

“Alright, let’s just begin,” Beatrix said, causing the blue pegasus to smile. The mare was suddenly caught off guard when he threw her his axe, which she barely managed to grab. It felt heavy and slow, its weight trying to drag her down. Before she could even get comfortable she suddenly felt a piece of leather hitting her in the face as Midnight threw her a belt pouch. “Hey!” The unicorn yelled, prompting Midnight to look away. 

“Oops. Sorry about that. Alright, so first of all, I’m going to teach you how to open and close your inventory. First off I’ll need you to put on that belt pouch.” The blue pegasus instructed. The mare grumbled a bit before doing as she was told, strapping the belt around her waist and having the pouch lay on her side. “Next, I want you to place the axe I gave you inside.” Midnight commanded. The mare attempted to shove it in, but as she expected the copper axe had no room inside. 

“Hey uhm, can I just strap it around my back or place it in one of these handles?” Beatrix asked, pointing to the random strap around her back and the small tool handles on the side of the belt. Midnight simply shook his head as he pulled his bow from behind and showed it to her. 

“No. Eventually, you’ll end up having multiple weapons and tools in your inventory, as well as other stuff, so you’ll need to learn how to pull them in and out. Like this!” The blue pegasus exclaimed in a loud voice before making the bow suddenly disappear into thin air. The mare widened her eyes as Midnight summoned the weapon back into his hand. 

“Oh, so it’s like a magic trick right? Like pulling a bunny out of a hat?” Beatrix asked, before blinking as she looked down and saw that her copper axe had disappeared. “Wait what.” The mare blinked before closing her eyes and imagining pulling out the axe from the pouch, and to her surprise, the tool reappeared within her hand. Midnight simply squirmed in excitement at her progression. 

“Wow! You’re a fast learner! And well, it isn’t as simple as a magic trick. Everything in this world is connected to one another by a mystic source of energy, and that pouch is no exception. If you want to put something in or out, it’ll use the world’s energy to enact your will. Here, try it with these two things.” Midnight said, pulling out a pickaxe and a sword before throwing them at her. The mare quickly acted on instinct, making her axe disappear and immediately doing the same as her hand touched the pickaxe before finally grabbing the sword by the handle. She smiled as she heard the blue pegasus clapping for her. The unicorn giggled as she gave a bow, replacing her copper sword with her axe by just imagining the tools switching with one another. 

“Thanks. My mom taught me some magic tricks and I think they’re helping me adjust to these new bizarre changes.” Beatrix stated. Midnight simply nodded before pointing at a nearby tree.

“I think you’re ready for the next step. You see that tree over there? Chop it down to get some wood.” Midnight ordered. The mare walked over to the tall trunk and stared at it for a good while, which he noticed. “Hey uhm, you do remember that I said that night is going to be very dangerous right?” The blue pegasus asked, confused by why she had stopped. 

“Uhm… I don’t think I’m strong enough to chop it down.” Beatrix said as she noticed just how thick the tree was. 

“Just try it.” Midnight said, giving her a soft smile. Beatrix let out a sigh before lifting her axe up and striking it against the tree. Her body suddenly began to vibrate in a comedic effect as the tree resisted her blow. The mare soon fell onto the ground after letting go over the handle, and she groaned from her dizziness. 

“Ugh… Told you it wouldn’t work…” Beatrix moaned as she began to see stars. The blue pegasus simply laughed a bit. 

“Oh Bea. Alright, let me give you a tip. Your weapons, just like your inventory, are powered by the world’s magic, so don’t try to force your will through brute strength, just let your tool do your work for you and gently push your will onto the world.” Midnight advised. Nodding at him, Beatrix soon picked herself up before walking towards the tree again. Taking a deep breath, the mare swore she could feel her axe humming with energy as she lifted it up, and imagining it chopping down the tree, she brought it down. To her delight, the axe had managed to dent itself in, and after repeating the process, the tree burst into a series of wooden planks before they were all picked up by her pouch. Surprised by the sudden turn of events, Beatrix summoned the plank into her hand, and to her shock, it was smoothly cut into a perfectly sized plank. 

“Uhm… how?” Beatrix asked in confusion as she studied the wooden block she held. Strangely it also felt like she was holding multiple wooden pieces at the same time, all of them packed together into a single area. Even though they all blurred with one another, she just knew that she had 28 pieces of wood. 

“The magic of Terraria. You didn’t destroy the tree when you chopped it down, you just created wood, as confusing as that may sound. The magic also allows you to view the quality of your tools and how many of the same items you have. Take a look at your tools for example.” Midnight suggested. Beatrix nodded before inspecting her axe. From the movement of chopping down the tree, it had felt slower than it needed to be, and certainly enough she knew that its quality was ‘Sluggish’. Switching to her pickaxe, she discovered it to be ‘Sharp’ with the teeth of it being much pointier than usual, and landing on her shortsword, she found out it was just normal with no added modifiers. 

“This is interesting, to say the least,” Beatrix said as she spun the sword around her hand before replacing it with her axe, the movement being much more comfortable after practicing for a bit. “Now what?” The mare asked as she looked at Midnight, who smiled. 

“I’d recommend you chop down some more trees until you feel you’re ready to make a house. Does that sound fair?” The blue pegasus asked, raising an eyebrow. Beatrix quietly nodded as she looked at all the trees around her that were ready to be cut down. 

“Sure,” Beatrix said, and with that, she began the process of cutting down the forest around her. Aiming for the tree nearest to her, she swung her axe at it, the modifier greatly reducing the speed she swung but nevertheless she ended up yielding a pile of prepared wood. Quickly formulating a strategy, she was about to head towards the largest tree when she heard the sound of a bow being pulled back. Looking around, she noticed the blue pegasus shooting at what seemed to be a green slime, which instantly went agro as an arrow buried itself into the semi-transparent creature. Soon it began to bounce towards them and making a decision, Beatrix rushed towards her Guide’s aid. 

Switching her axe with her shortsword, the unicorn rushed towards the gelatinous creature. Holding the shortsword in front of her, she impaled the creature with her weapon, the slime jiggling and being forced back. Before she could land another hit, the slime suddenly bounced on top of her, barely missing her as the mare quickly dodged under it. She barely dodged another threat as one of Midnight’s arrows sailed over her head, but with the collaboration of the two ponies, the slime burst into a shower of gel after Beatrix gave it a final poke. 

“Sorry!” Midnight exclaimed in panic, having nearly shot an arrow through her head. Beatrix let out a sigh before smiling softly at him. 

“It’s ok. Accidents happen. But hey! Good thing we killed this slime right?” The mare asked. After seeing that she wasn’t angry with him, the blue pegasus smiled at her. 

“Yeah. Hey! Here’s an interesting tip! You could combine wood and gel to create a torch. Try it right now by letting the magic of this world combine the two items together!” Midnight suggested. Beatrix, surprised by this ability, quickly felt around her inventory by concentrating on what could be inside it. After finding the gel, she thought about combining it with a piece of wood. Suddenly, she felt a feeling of warmth washing over her body, and opening her eyes, Beatrix was surprised to see the torch she held. Deciding to experiment a bit, she placed it back inside her inventory, and she felt that it remained lit, but it wasn’t catching anything else on fire. 

“This isn’t normal… but yet it feels normal here…” Beatrix said to herself, playing a bit with the torch before switching back to her sluggish axe. “When do you think I should stop chopping down some wood?” The mare asked as she began to chop down another tree, surprised by the fact that a few copper coins fell from its branches. Midnight looked above at the sun, which had moved significantly since the last time he checked. 

“Whenever you feel like it. If you decide to build two or more houses, there’s a chance it might attract some people over here, and they might have something that will make your journey easier. Remember, this world is harder than usual, and as a new Terrarian with no prior experience, you’ll need all the help you can get.” The Guide said, smiling at Beatrix before leaving to hunt down some wandering slimes. Beatrix nodded. 

“Alright. That sounds like a good idea.” The purple mare said, agreeing with the fact that she’ll need tons of allies if she wanted to survive. The next tree ended up dropping a leaf wand, which she immediately tried to use to cast spells, but the only thing it did was place leaves down and consume her wood, which she found annoying and soon placed it further down her pouch. The trees also dropped some acorns which she stored in case she would need to replant them. Upon seeing some very tall trees in the distance, Beatrix quickly ran towards them and began to hack away at them. Several ‘THWAKS!’ echoed through the air, birds and butterflies flying from the leaves. 

Hearing Midnight pulling back his bow nearby, Beatrix turned around to see another slime, this time blue and much larger than the green one they had slain before. Turning around, she made quick work of the gelatinous creature, before spinning around as Midnight engaged another slime. The blobby creatures had begun to swarm them, but it wasn’t something that the duo couldn’t handle. 

After chopping down some more trees, Beatrix couldn’t help but let out a happy sigh as she saw a white bunny standing in front of her. The fluffy creature simply looked up to her before walking away. Before she could tell Midnight about it, she yelped as a green slime snuck up from behind and knocked her over. 

“Ack!” Beatrix cried out as her sword fell from her grip. The slime, seeing her weakness, began to jump on top of her, squeezing the air out of her as it hit her in the stomach and the chest. The sky began to darken as the slime began to punch the life out of her, and as more of its blue and green companions joined the fight, she felt her health decreasing. Seeing her sword far out of reach, Beatrix gritted her teeth before imagining switching to her ‘Sharp’ pickaxe, which was her only hope by now. With her concentration being constantly broken with each smash, she barely was able to block a slime that tried to deal her the killing blow. Her eyes were now half-lidded as she stood up and began to regain her ground, swinging her tool around herself and poking through any slime that tried to finish her. Her breath became heavy and raspy as she finished the last blue slime before collapsing onto the ground, and it was only then when she heard Midnight rushing towards her. 

“Oh no! Beatrix! Are you ok!?” The blue pegasus yelled as he looked above and shot at any slime that dared come close to her. He immediately picked up a nearby mushroom and held it towards her mouth. “Here, eat it.” Midnight ordered, and tiredly she took a bite out of it, the entire object disappearing into her mouth. Her eyes slightly opened as she felt a wave of magic entering her body and healing some minor bruises here and there. Her body still felt tired, but not at the magnitude she felt before. “I think it’s time to build that house. The creatures here are much more powerful compared to a normal world, and I can’t afford to lose the one who gave me my name.” The Guide said as he picked Beatrix up and began to walk her away. As she laid in his arms, she turned around to see the bunny one last time, only to find its head being severed and its body a bloody mess. It had been killed when one of the slimes landed on top of it, crushing it and scattering its remains. The only thing that she could do was let out tears of sadness over the death of the critter as she was led away.
> To Wooden Items We Go
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 2: 

For the second time of the day, Beatrix laid on the floor, her eyes struggling to stay open as she felt her entire body ache. As Midnight continued to feed her the mushrooms, making sure to put a minute gap to prevent her from getting nausea, the purple unicorn couldn’t help but let her eyes stare directly at the corpse of the white bunny, its head still severed on the ground while its blood splattered the ground around it. 

“Open your mouth one more time Bea.” The blue pegasus ordered as he held another orange mushroom in front of her mouth. The mare sighed but followed his instructions, letting the healing fungus enter her mouth. Her eyes finally opened completely as she felt her health regenerate completely, yet she remained on the ground. It didn’t take long for Midnight to look in the direction she was staring at to realize what was causing her sadness. 

“It’s about the bunny right?” The blue stallion guessed, looking into her purple eyes. She let out a sigh before begrudgingly standing up, feeling healed on the outside but hurt on the inside. 

“Yeah. It’s not the first time I’ve seen death, heck, you should see how battered up my world was. Only a quarter was left by the end.  It was the sudden and unexpected death that hit me. The slimes were attacking me, so why would they go after the critter?” Beatrix asked, the pain easing away but still being present. Midnight simply let out a sigh as he picked up his bow, fiddling with the string as if it was a small instrument. 

“Well, Terraria isn’t really a kind world. They say that in the beginning, the gods established a balance to guarantee fairness to all living creatures, with each world connected to everything. Unfortunately, just because things are ‘fair’ does not mean that things aren’t violent. You’ll be surprised how far things will be pushed to maintain this ‘balance’.” The blue pegasus stated, his eyes becoming opaque and distant, which perturbed Beatrix as he ended up staring directly at her, almost as if he was gazing into her very soul. 

“Ok… Thanks for helping me get over my shock by creeping me out instead…?” The unicorn thanked hesitantly. Upon seeing that Midnight wasn’t responding to her, Beatrix began to wave her hand in front of his face, causing him to snap out of his trance. 

“Oh uhm… Let’s build the house I mentioned before. First, you must either find or dig out the place you want the foundation to be.” Midnight said as he pointed towards the ground in front of them. The purple unicorn nodded as she quickly switched to her pickaxe, eager to begin. 

“Sure let’s get right to it!” Beatrix yelled with enthusiasm as she walked towards the small dirt lump on the ground and began to swing her pickaxe at it. Letting her will power the tool, she quickly formed a flat terrain, revealing the dirt below. The blue pegasus smiled and gave her a small applause. 

“Alright. Now use the wooden planks you have in your inventory to create some structural beams. You could even use them to create the roof of the house. Just be sure that you’re making it big enough, as otherwise, the place would be too small.” The stallion said. Never having placed a block before but having a rough idea on how to do it, the purple unicorn closed her eyes, imagining the structural beams being placed around her. A strong gust of wind hit her in the face, causing her to open her eyes and be dumbfounded as she saw everything she had thought being built in perfection. 

“I uhm… alright… new normal I get it…” Beatrix said, looking around in confusion. Midnight simply whistled at her work. 

“You’ve gotten the hang of things much faster than I expected.” The blue pegasus stated, causing Beatrix to deadpan as she started to believe that he was underestimating her. “Anyways, I need to show you how to craft a workbench. This will allow you to create more complicated things like the doors and walls that this place needs. Here, bring me ten wooden planks and I’ll ‘Guide’ you on how to make it.” Midnight said, laughing as he saw her deadpan again. Nevertheless, Beatrix obeyed, switching her pickaxe with the 850+ stack of planks she had inside her inventory, feeling how packed everything was. Extending her hand and the materials towards Midnight, Beatrix let out a smile, almost feeling the energy around him mixing with hers. 

“Show me then,” Beatrix said as Midnight grabbed her hand. Her eyes instantly widened as she felt a massive wave of knowledge flow through her, all the potential crafting recipes related to wood being shown to her. Campfires, Torches, Arrows, Platforms, Fences, the list was endless as she was simply blasted with information on what other materials were needed and what type of station she needed to craft them on. Feeling lightheaded, Beatrix immediately pried herself away, her mind feeling jumbled due to just how much information was given to her. She soon felt the stallion grab her by the shoulders as he held her in position, letting her pass her disorienting phase without worrying about falling over. 

“Disorienting right? Like I’ve said before, every world is connected to all of its inhabitants, allowing me to share all the knowledge I have with you. Of course, I can only share everything related to the item you have in hand, so if you end up finding something you don’t know what to do, bring it to me.” The pegasus offered, letting the mare go when he felt she was ready. Beatrix slowly nodded, her mind still being fuzzy but no longer the jumbled mess it had been a few seconds ago. 

“Well, I guess I know how to build all the stuff we need right now. Workbench, doors, walls, I’ll get things done in a jiffy.” Beatrix stated, preparing to close her eyes again when she felt Midnight tap her on the shoulder. 

“Try doing it with your eyes open this time. Chances are you’ll be crafting on the fly, and you wouldn’t want something sneaking behind you with your eyes closed.” The blue pegasus recommended. Seeing the logic in his word, the platinum-maned unicorn nodded, this time letting her eyes remain open as she prepared to craft the first thing on the list, the workbench. 

The air fluttered around her as she felt the ambient magic of the world enter through her. Her eyes widened once again as she saw a projection of the workbench she wanted to create appearing in front of her, appearing as a transparent brown desk. Her hands immediately began to work on their own, almost as if they’ve made thousands of workbenches before. Four planks were turned into the legs, four more were turned into support beams, and finally, the remaining two ended up becoming the surface of the structure. The item began to flicker, glowing before becoming its solid counterpart, which quickly sorted itself into her inventory. 

Her mind went blank for a moment as she began to process what she just saw. Excitement soon began to rush through her body, eager to see more of this in action. Quickly placing the workbench down on one side of the planned building, she began to use her newly acquired knowledge from Midnight to create everything she needed, the magic of Terraria letting her see all that she needed. Twelve planks shifted into two doors as the planks became the face and hinges of the item, and one plank was cut down and molded into four wall pieces, with several being produced very quickly as Beatrix allowed more and more magic to pour through her. The walls and doors were quickly placed, shutting out the wandering slimes that were encroaching around them, and just to make things a bit fancier, Beatrix formed two chairs, letting the planks melt into the furniture, and placed them around the workbench, making it a makeshift table out of it. 

“And… done!” Beatrix happily exclaimed as she placed a torch down. A wave of energy swept over her as she felt everything around her no longer being a wall, a bench, a door, but a home. A home made by her! Feeling proud of herself, she sat down on one of the chairs, letting Midnight occupy the other one in front of her. The two stared at each other, with Beatrix putting on a happy face at her accomplishment while Midnight examined his bow for a bit. Eventually, the silence began to wash over Beatrix, making her feel a bit bored and giving her the yearning for something to do.

“So… what now?” The mare asked, staring at her Guide with interest. The blue pegasus however blinked at her before giving a sheepish laugh. 

“Oh uhm, you were waiting for me, right? Alright uh… let me see… Since you’re in Mastermode Hardcore, you’ll need to get some better equipment. My recommendation is to get yourself some wooden armor and a wooden sword since the copper shortsword is arguably the weakest weapon in the entire world.” Midnight answered. Quickly looking at her workbench, Beatrix quickly skimmed through all the memories relating to wooden products that could be made with the workbench before landing on the armor section. Using her massive supply of planks, the mare quickly formed her set of wooden tools, quickly noting that armor had no modifiers and her wooden sword, though capable of receiving them, had none. Her thoughts soon swept over to her Sharp Pickaxe, and soon an idea began to form in her head. 

“Uhm… what are you doing?” Midnight asked as he noticed Beatrix rapidly creating multiple wooden sword copies, each one appearing in her hand for just a second before being dropped into her inventory as it got replaced by another. The blue pegasus took a step back though when she suddenly let out a cry of joy, becoming excited like a kid would when they found their favorite toy. “What’s going on Beatrix?” The stallion asked in confusion, causing Beatrix to turn around as she gave him a happy smile. 

“Just look at this Midnight!” Beatrix exclaimed as she dropped her wooden sword in front of him, giving her time to put on her wooden armor while the blue pegasus examined the item. His eyes widened as he noticed the ‘Legendary’ modifier as well as all of the boosted stats next to it, all of this causing him to let out a whistle. 

“Wow… +14% Damage, +12% Speed, +5% critical chance, +10% size, and +15% knockback… Beatrix, you're a genius! You simply created multiple wooden swords until you got the best modifier!” Midnight exclaimed, shocked at what she just did. Beatrix simply smiled as she placed the last of her wooden equipment, the armor feeling nice and snuggly against her figure. 

“Yep! Very proud of myself. I just simply remembered my Sharp Pickaxe and realized that I could simply make more swords with my nearly unlimited plank supply until I got the right one.” Beatrix said, her face beaming with energy as she began to hum a tune to herself. Midnight soon began to applaud at her, congratulating her idea. 

“By the way, could you show me the rest of the swords you made? Also, you could delete anything by simply imagining the items disappearing. They’ll enter a sort of bin, and you can still retrieve them, but once you put another item inside that imaginary bin, the magic of Terraria will delete it forever. Got that?” Midnight asked while examining the armored Beatrix. The mare simply smiled before testing what he said with the dirt blocks she had mined earlier, becoming fascinated when they disappeared forever and never returned into her inventory. 

“Sure. Go ahead and look at them. I’ll be seeing what other items I can craft here.” Beatrix said as she handed all of her swords at Midnight, and in turn, the blue pegasus handed her the Legendary Wooden Sword, allowing her to equip it. The blue pegasus soon examined the nine wooden swords, surprised it took this few to get the Legendary modifier. There were five normal swords, one Broken sword, one Nimble Sword, one Sharp Sword, and one Godly Sword, which once again surprised Midnight as Godly was the best modifier after Legendary. 

“Wow. Honestly, if it weren’t for the fact that I like bows more, your wooden swords would’ve made a fine addition to my collection.” Midnight joked as Beatrix raised her head from the Workbench, wiping some sweat from her head after going through another massive information wave. “Found anything of use?” The blue pegasus asked. 

“Well I just really looked around to see what else I could craft, but none of them piqued my interest. Come on, give me another thing to do.” The unicorn asked, excited to try something else. The blue pegasus raised an eyebrow at her. 

“Are you sure you want to risk going outside? You’ll have to deal with the slimes and you might end up getting stuck outside during the night.” Midnight asked, but after seeing Beatrix’s expression remaining the same, he sighed. “Alright, fine. It seems you like crafting stuff so you should do some mining to find metal ore. You can craft very useful things with it. Just be safe ok? Because the deeper you go, the more dangerous mobs you’ll find.” The blue pegasus stated. The mare smiled as she opened one of the doors. Instantly a green slime tried to jump at her but with much greater confidence, Beatrix quickly raised her sword and parried it, knocking it back a few feet. Before it could recover, the slime melted into a puddle of goo before disappearing as Beatrix jammed her sword into it, putting an end to the monster. 

“I’ll be fine. You could come along, you know. You are my Guide, so shouldn’t it be your responsibility to help me throughout the journey and maybe help a bit in combat?” The purple unicorn asked, causing Midnight to stammer. 

“But the Order of the Guide! I’m supposed to be neutral and only guide the Terrarian, not help them directly!” The pegasus exclaimed, nearly panicking at the thought of breaking the religious pact. Beatrix simply smiled though as she walked towards him, placing her hands on his shoulder to calm him down. 

“Then what about when you carried me back here, saved me against the slimes, and fed me the mushrooms which I wouldn’t have known could’ve healed me. C’mon Midnight! Join me! And look, if the Order somehow appears and tries to apprehend you, I’ll defend you by saying that you were only doing your job, ok?” Beatrix stated. 

“P-Promise?” The blue stallion asked, still fearful but slowly finding himself being reassured by the unicorn. Her purple eyes gazed at his emerald ones with a motherly touch, and soon Midnight felt his worries fade away in an instant. 

“Promise. Now let’s go on adventuring Midnight!” Beatrix exclaimed as she began to walk towards the right side of the world, stopping a bit and looking at Midnight expectantly. After reassuring himself and realizing that he told her just recently that he didn’t want to lose the one who named him and gave him a purpose, the blue pegasus meekly walked out of the cabin. 

“Alright, Beatrix. Let’s do this!” Midnight exclaimed, his tone of voice changing rapidly as he quickly caught up with her, the pair walking through the fields and trees, the unknown waiting for them ahead.
> When The Darkness Falls
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Hey, uhm... Beatrix?” Midnight called out as the duo trekked through the grassy field. The mare in question looked back at her blue feathered companion, noticing how his body shivered from time to time. They had been walking for some time now and while Beatrix’s speech had brought faith into Midnight, it seemed that it had vanished by now. 

“What is it Midnight?” The platinum-maned unicorn asked as she slowed down to walk beside him. The blue pegasus only gulped before pointing above, causing her to look up and notice that the sky had turned purple, the sun hanging halfway to sunset. 

“It’s getting late Beatrix. We need to go back home.” Midnight said, his words unintentionally causing the mare to stop in her tracks and remember something important. She soon began to shiver as fear gripped her soul.

“Home… I’m supposed to be back home!” Beatrix yelled out as she slowly began to hyperventilate, her pupils shrinking, the mare hugging herself to try and keep herself from losing it.

“That’s what I just said! We need to go back home!” Midnight yelled as he grabbed the unicorn by the hand and tried to pull her back towards the direction they came from, but she remained still like a statue. She turned around and gazed at him, causing the blue pegasus to freeze when he noticed her eye color glowing. 

“Remember when I said how you were just an alternative of somebody I’ve met before? Well, it’s because I’m not from this world! Yes, I woke up in this world without any explanation, but I have portals to open my way through dimensions!” Beatrix yelled, holding her hand out and trying to show Midnight her talent only for the magic to fizzle out. “The only problem is that I can’t use my portals anymore! It’s almost as if my mana reservoirs have been tapped out and my connection to my stronger forms has been blocked off! I need to go to that home Midnight, my home!” The unicorn cried out, her horn sparking with magic but unable to fire anything off. The blue pegasus simply looked away uncomfortably for a few moments before looking back at her. 

“I think we should talk about it in our small cabin during the night. That way we can get everything clarified and avoid any future confusion, alright Beatrix?” The blue pegasus asked, grabbing her by the shoulders once more to calm her down. After taking some deep long breaths, the unicorn finally stood in peace, though Midnight could tell that the storm still brewed within her body. 

“Sure I guess. I don’t want to sound like I hate being here, I love the interesting mechanics of this world and getting to meet you, but my friends and family back home will be worried as to why I’ve suddenly disappeared. I need to get back to them, ok?” Beatrix stated though she noticed how the blue pegasus sighed. 

“Yeah, I understand… could we go home now?” Midnight suggested, trying to lead her back towards the cabin only to be stopped as she grabbed him by the arm. 

“Let’s explore a bit more, ok? It doesn’t seem that late, and we can always run back the way we came from if we do indeed get stuck outside.” Beatrix stated as she slowly began to walk forwards, causing the blue pegasus to stare at her in disbelief. 

“Beatrix… I said it’s very dangerous outside, and chances are you won’t be able to survive the night.” Midnight stated, crossing his arms and standing still. The purple mare turned around and gazed at him with her soft eyes. 

“Please…” Beatrix begged. “Yes I know the danger, but I’ve faced tougher foes before!” The mare stated, causing the stallion to roll his eyes and shake his head.

“Alright, give me an example then. I would be happy for you to explain more about your adventures at the cabin, but one line couldn’t hurt.” The blue pegasus said as he gazed at Beatrix. The unicorn smiled, placing a hand under her chin as she began to ponder just what exactly she could say that could convince her Guide. Snapping her finger once she discovered something she could say, Beatrix looked back at Midnight with a smug look. 

“Hmm… I don’t know… maybe fighting somebody who not only was the son of a creator of worlds but who had harnessed the power of the sun itself and was a Vice Lord, one of the most dangerous figures in the multiverse?” The mare answered, causing Midnight’s eyes to widen as he began to calculate just how strong such a figure must be. The numbers he ended up with shocked him to the core. 

“By Terraria… If she’s able to face such a being… then surely the Legend of Cthulhu would be nothing compared to her.” The blue pegasus whispered, making sure that Beatrix didn’t hear what he said. After taking a few seconds to think about it, Midnight let out a sigh as he resigned his position. “Fine, let’s go ahead then. If what you said is true, well the least I can do is put a bit more faith in you.” The blue pegasus said, causing Beatrix to smile. 

“Thanks! Now let’s move forward!” The purple mare said, taking a step forward only to stop as she felt the air change around her as everything began to feel… sandy. Taking another step, the terrain suddenly changed in front of Beatrix as the dirt below her was replaced with sand. Cacti dotted the desert and vultures flew around in the distance. Shocked by this sudden news, Beatrix immediately took a precautionary step back, causing the land to revert to its grassy counterpart. 

“Midnight, can you explain what’s going on here please?” Beatrix asked as she placed one foot forward and one foot back, the two distinct biomes appearing at the same time, mixing and fighting for dominance. The blue pegasus sighed as he stepped next to her, feeling the coarse sand around him. 

“We’ve just entered a desert biome. Think about how Terraria is made up of multiple endless worlds, but on a smaller scale. We’re just jumped to another ‘world’, a micro planet with its own features, enemies, and materials. When standing between two biomes, it’s like you’re standing in the middle of a portal, letting you see both sides without actually stepping into any of them.” The Guide explained. Slowly nodding and understanding the concept, Beatrix slowly began to walk ahead, moving over large sandy slopes while making sure she didn’t accidentally bump into any of the prickly plants. 

The desert biome ended up being rather short, as after walking for only a minute through it the world suddenly shifted as they entered a forest biome again. By now the sun began to collect a reddish shade as it got closer and closer to the horizon, still far enough where Beatrix deemed it safe to continue exploring, but close enough that it placed the blue pegasus on edge. 

Two blue slimes jump into view, their gelatinous bodies shaking as they steady themselves for another jump. With her trusty wooden sword in hand, Beatrix parries the first incoming slime, letting Midnight knock back the second with his bow. The two slimes jump at the mare again, but with her large arcing swing, they are repelled for a second time. Goo begins to splatter the ground as they are close to being defeated, and with a final swing and shot, the duo end up killing both monsters at the same time. 

“See? Fighting these creatures is a piece of cake, ain’t it?” Beatrix states proudly as she picks up the gel that had been dropped by the two creatures, noting how they had dropped copper coins next to them. The blue pegasus next to her though was not as confident as she was as he constantly looked at the setting sun. 

“Well, wooden armor and weapons will only get you so far, which is why I’m worried about staying outside during the night.” Midnight said, only to wince as Beatrix wrapped her hand around her shoulder, bringing him into a friendly hug.

“Don’t worry Midnight, things will be just fine!” The purple mare said, smiling at the blue pegasus while ruffling his mane. “Sure, I do end up getting into wet and sticky situations, more often than I’d like, but I push forward and eventually overcome it! Same will happen here, I’m sure of it.” Beatrix stated, though deep in her head she began to become worried at what types of creatures have caused her Guide to become so afraid of the night. It couldn’t be that terrible, could it?

Midnight simply sighed as they began to walk forwards again, his anxiety not being helped by his constant checking of the sun. 

“I hope you’re right, don’t wish to see you die the day you come here.” Midnight stated, before suddenly wrapping his arm around himself as he stepped in front of Beatrix. Before she could ask him what happened, the mare soon shivered as she felt the temperature suddenly drop around her. Gazing at Midnight, she gave him a nod as she smiled, and the two stepped forward at the same time, changing the environment once more. Snowflakes soon began to drift down around them, coating the ground white while dark boreal trees hung high in the air. Apart from the temperature, which caused both to slow down a bit, the place seemed like a nice area to be in during winter. 

“Wow… this place looks nice! Maybe not Crystal Empire level, that’s a whole new tier, but it’s very nice…” Beatrix stated, shivering a bit and letting out some air, causing a white puff to appear from her mouth. Letting her body adjust to the cold, she soon began to walk again, forcing Midnight to follow behind her. 

“Yes, it is a very nice place. If it weren’t so late we could try and have a snow fight.” Midnight said, only to let out an ‘oomph!’ as his face suddenly said hello to a snowball. The blue pegasus frowned at Beatrix, who gave him an innocent smile while hiding both her pickaxe and a stack of snowballs. Instead of rebuking her, Midnight simply let out a grin as he lowered himself towards the ground and quickly picked up a handful of snow. “Oh it’s on!” Midnight yelled as he turned it into a ball before throwing it at the mare, hitting her in the face. Letting go of his worries for the moment, the pegasus instead began to concentrate on pelting Beatrix with as much snow as he could, the mare in turn mining up more snow blocks and turning them into balls of soft destruction. The two continued to playfully fight, both of them being hit and hitting the other, the air being filled with hundreds of flying snowballs. 

Eventually, the two soon began to become tired, the two resting on the snowy ground, the cold no longer bothering them as they tapped into the area’s natural magic which provided them with warmth. Beatrix simply smiled at Midnight, happy that he seemed to have gotten over his worries, even if it was for a bit. 

“Thanks for playing fair. Ya know because you’re a pegasus and you could’ve flown high into the air.” The unicorn said, pointing at the stallion’s massive wings. The pegasus gave them a blank stare before sighing. 

“I’ve… I’ve never learned how to fly.” Midnight said, much to Beatrix’s shock, her mouth becoming wide open. “I was young when my dad left, which meant that I wasn’t able to learn how to fly and became a grounded pegasus. Not like he could’ve helped anyway since he was a unicorn and my pegasus mother ended up dying or going missing when I was still a foal. As I said, things in Terraria are very rough.” The blue pegasus stated, though his mentioning that his father was a unicorn caused Beatrix to pause for a moment as she remembered some details about the Midnight from her world. 

“I think it’s safe to say that when we end up going back to the cabin you’ll have to tell me some of your life as well, alright?” Beatrix asked, wanting to know if what she had in her mind was true. The stallion shrugged as he began to stand up, shaking the snow off his body. 

“Sure. It’s only fair given that you’ll be telling me your story.” Midnight said, smiling while he helped her up. As he looked up though his pupils suddenly shrank, his old fear coming back again. “No no no no no no no! This can’t be happening!” The blue pegasus yelled, causing Beatrix to look at him with worry. 

“Wait, what happened?” The mare asked before yelping as she felt the stallion grab her by the hand and pull her with him. “Hey! Your grip’s hurting me!” Beatrix complained as she tried to pry herself away, but was unable to shake him off due to his strength. The stallion suddenly stopped dragging her, letting go of her hand as pure terror gripped his heart. The mare yelped as she ended up falling on her rear, the snow softening her landing but nevertheless, it hurt her a bit. “Hey! I asked you a question! What’s happening?” Beatrix yelled, but Midnight seemed to be too distracted by what was ahead to hear her. 

“No… They’re here already…” The blue pegasus said, shaking in fear. Before she was able to ask again, she suddenly noticed something off about the sky. Looking up above, she noticed how the sky was now dark, the only light being the stars that twinkle up above. Soon, Midnight’s warning about the creatures of the night appeared in her head as she began to hear horrifying sounds in the background, causing her body to tense up in fear.

“Oh, dear…” Beatrix said, before yelping as she felt something knock her onto the ground. Rolling herself around, she froze as she saw a sickly humanoid creature, its flesh rotten and melting away from its face, eyes red and leaking blood onto its torn clothing. It stared at her hungrily, and just when things couldn’t have gotten more screwed over, it raised an arm, not its arm, but a torn one, the bone visible and coated with dry blood, yet somehow part of it remained clean enough to glow in the light of the rising moon. 

The mare instinctively raised her sword just when the zombie was about to slap her with the rotten arm, the two weapons meeting in the air, but even though it was rotting away, the zombie somehow proved to be much stronger than her, pushing her back. An arrow fired into the air from behind Beatrix, hitting the monster and causing the top of the skull to fall onto the ground, revealing a mauled brain that still pumped like a heart. The mare’s natural reaction was to gasp in fright, which caused her to be a second too late to block a subsequent attack, the hand slapping against her face and nearly twisted her neck, the shock nearly causing her to go unconscious. Beatrix’s eyes became half-lidded, a red hue appearing at the edge of her vision, which only expanded and darkened as she felt another blow hit her. Echoes soon began to fill her head as her life began to drain away, and the last thing that she could remember was something grabbing her underneath her arms and hauling her into the air before she blanked out.
> Trapped In A Box
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 4: 

“Beatrix.”

The mare simply groaned as the blue pegasus softly shook her body, her eyes remaining closed while her mind drifted around. Desperate to see her awake again, Midnight shook the purple unicorn even harder. 

“Beatrix! Wake up!” The stallion yelled, barely making her stir. Her heartbeat was at an unbelievably low rate, barely pumping in enough blood to keep her alive. Unlike last time where she was conscious enough to eat the mushrooms, her coma-like state prevented Midnight from healing her. With all of this going on, the young blue pegasus couldn’t help but begin to cry. 

“Please don’t leave me Beatrix… I’m nothing without you…” The colt hiccuped, viewing himself as a failed Guide that allowed their Terrarian to die. Usually, Guides were to act indifferent and heck, some wouldn’t even care if their Terrarian died and would only ‘defend’ if their own lives were in danger. 

Yet, Midnight just couldn’t bring himself to let her die. Even though it had just been a single day since they met, he had broken just so many rules to see her both safe and happy. He was supposed to be in the house Beatrix made for him! Not out here in this wooden box that he made above the ground while decaying zombies try to break in and kill them!

… Yes he did break another set of rules just to save Beatrix from having her organs ripped out for dinner and her brain becoming dessert for the zombies. By this point, there was no doubt that the Order of the Guide would disown him and cast him out as a traitor, if not worse. 

And all of this, along with Beatrix who was between life and death, was beginning to take a toll on his mental state. 

“I DIDN’T ASK FOR THIS!” Midnight yelled out loud, hoping that if the gods were still around that they could hear his plea. “I didn’t ask to be the Guide! I only became one when my father went missing to honor his name! But now look! She can’t continuously end up in this state! I don’t know what to do anymore!” The blue pegasus yelled, freezing when he felt a chill on his back. The colors around him slowly began to recede as he felt anger being blown on his back, scolding yet chilling, and he knew why. 

“Look! I know what is to become of me, but I promise that this is not me trying to mouse my way out of my fate! Punish me however you want but let me be more than just a Guide to be by her side!” The young stallion pleaded. Almost immediately Midnight collapsed to the ground, clutching himself as he felt an extreme wave of pain course through his body. Slowly he began to cry out in agony as he felt his body burning up, the colors in front of him revealing something that he dreaded. But before the pain could potentially kill him, it suddenly dissipated, the colors around him became normal and he could see the interior of the small wooden box he and Beatrix were currently resting in. What surprised him though was what he saw next to him. 

It was a copper pickaxe.





After some time, Beatrix slowly began to wake up, her eyes flickering as light from a nearby torch slipped through. As she stretched her arms and popped her back, the mare soon took notice of Midnight who was sleeping against the wall.

“Midnight! Wake up!” Beatrix called out. Almost immediately the blue pegasus shook himself awake and upon seeing the purple unicorn alive he gave a wide smile. 

“Beatrix! You’re ok!” The blue pegasus said, pulling himself up a bit too quick and causing him to trip and fall. The platinum-maned unicorn was about to giggle until her eyes laid on his wings, or at least, what remained of them. 

“Oh my- What happened to you!?” Beatrix exclaimed as she tried to rush towards him only to trip herself. Immediately she began to feel a sharp pain in her neck. It was like neck cracking, but worse. Her body wasn’t faring any better, as she could feel her bones screaming in pain. Even so, Beatrix forced herself to look up and inspect Midnight. 

His wings were nonexistent at this point. The bones, many of which were exposed and cracked, were covered in blood and feathers. His left wing was completely missing while his back was covered in dried up blood and pus. Before the mare could even try and console him, the ‘broken’ pegasus let out a light laugh. 

“Oh it’s nothing. You don’t know how often I’ve annihilated my wings, especially whenever I threw myself off a cliff to see if I could fly.” Midnight stated, before wincing. To Beatrix’s shock, she could see his wings healing by themselves as flesh and bones slowly grew back. Of course, it was slow and she couldn’t imagine it being painless, but it was better than nothing. 

As soon as she finished that thought, she winced as she felt the pain in her neck again. Midnight simply gave her a sheepish look. 

“Oh about that, your neck is healing from the zombie attack. I wouldn’t be surprised if you’ve been internally decapitated based on how hard that slap was.” The blue pegasus said with an almost too happy tune, as if this was just an inconvenience, despite how he acted before. Beatrix simply raised an eyebrow at him. 

“Uhm, am I missing something? You seem awfully happy right now. Isn’t this the time for you to say ‘I told you so’ or something?” The mare asked, still confused at his high spirit. Midnight simply nodded while smiling at her. 

“Yeah you’re right, but to catch you up on what happened after you were knocked out, I had to build this wooden box and haul you up. Those things managed to tear my wings out but hey, it’s nothing compared to seeing you die, and they heal anyway so all I’m seeing is pluses here.” The blue pegasus stated. Almost at that moment, they could hear something bumping against one of the walls. He just simply shook his head. “Yeah, you’ll be hearing that often until morning. Hey! Why don’t we burn the time by learning about each other!” The stallion said excitedly. Yet again Beatrix couldn’t help raise an eyebrow at his reaction.

“Before we do that, can you just explain to me why you’re… like this?” The mare asked, trying to figure out what to say but was simply too dumbfounded by his attitude. Midnight simply reached behind his back before pulling a pickaxe out while smiling like a child who just got a lollipop. 

“Do you know what this means?” The pegasus asked with overflowing joy. Beatrix yet again was confused. 

“Uhm… no?” The platinum-maned unicorn replied honestly. She was not understanding where this was going towards. After wincing again and seeing another part of his wing heal up, Midnight stood up and smiled at her. 

“Beatrix, from this point on, I won’t be your Guide anymore. From here on out, I’m going to be your Mentor!” The blue pegasus leaped into the air before knocking his head onto the ceiling and crashing down. “Ow.” 

Meanwhile Beatrix, finally getting the picture, gave a smile towards Midnight as she helped pick him up from the ground. 

“That’s very good to hear Midnight!” Beatrix stated as she gave him a quick hug. At that moment something bumped against the wall again and this started to bug her. “Alright Midnight, can you explain to me what that noise is?” The mare said out of curiosity. The blue pegasus simply scratched his head. 

“Given that I built this box high enough for zombies to not reach us, I think that is a Demon Eye.” The blue pegasus explained, just when another thump was heard. Before she could try and break the wall, Midnight raised a hand to stop her. “No, I wouldn’t recommend doing that. Given how small this box is, if that thing slips inside it’ll kill both of us.” 

Beatrix simply swapped her pickaxe back into her inventory while letting off a sigh. 

“Alright, I guess I was a bit too adventurous here. I guess I haven’t gotten used to the fact that I can’t use my Onoma here.” The mare stated, her eyes becoming distant. The blue pegasus stopped for a moment. 

“Hold on, and I’m sure this should be a good spot to begin our discussion, what is this Oona?” Midnight asked, mispronouncing the term.

“It’s pronounced Onoma, Midnight.” The mare said, correcting his mistake. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the end, it was just the start.

“Oomna?” The blue pegasus said, tilting his head while mispronouncing the term once again. Beatrix simply raised an eyebrow at him. 

“Onoma. Say it with me. Onoma.”

“Ooma.”

Beatrix simply deadpanned at Midnight as he mispronounced it for the third time. 

“Say it with me. Onoma.”

“Oona.”

A smack was heard as Beatrix face palmed herself while Midnight looked at her in confusion. After taking some deep breaths to calm down, the unicorn simply looked away for a moment. 

“It’s fine, just forget about it. Just know that it’s the ‘stronger form’ that I’ve mentioned before, the  form I used to defeat Zeloph, and it’s connected to something that I need to open my portals.” The mare explained, turning around to look at Midnight, only to notice that he still looked confused. “Now what?” Beatrix asked, still slightly annoyed from what just occurred. 

“Who’s Zeloph?”

“Oh just- Nevermind let’s just start from the beginning shall we?” The purple mare suggested, realizing that it would be much better to explain things from start to finish than from end to start, given how easily the colt became confused. Midnight simply gave her a nod. “Alright, thank you,” Beatrix said as she and Midnight sat down near each other where he anxiously waited for her to begin. 

“I guess the best place to begin would be before I was born. Back in the Golden Days things were alright until they weren’t. The rulers of Equestria and the Crystal Empire were warned about a disaster, one that would require blood and soldiers to deal with. Since my father was a very powerful unicorn, he along with a bunch of other stallions were chosen to boost Equestria’s population, and for a time things went well. 

Sadly, the moment the disaster struck was the same moment everybody knew we had all been tricked. In Equestria, there existed a portal that connected a parallel universe where a human named Sci Twi ended up finding the Necronomicon, a book that corrupts its users. By the time the disaster struck she had already conquered her world and decided to conquer ours. She was the one who prophesied about the disaster because she knew she would bring it herself, and she was the one who promoted the population boom for Equestria. 

When the dust cleared for the first time in a week, half of our population was already dead, every race was on the brink of extinction, and many of the mares and stallions that participated in the population boom were taken away for her nefarious needs, along with the foals they sired. Those foals would become soldiers, yes, but instead of Equestria using them to eliminate the threat, it would be her using them to eliminate us. We had lost every single ruler and alicorn. Celestia and Luna were banished to the sun and moon, Twilight was murdered by Sci Twi, and Cadence committed suicide along with her daughter so that she wouldn’t suffer the terrible fate that millions of mares were now enduring. 

My father was a mess after that day, but somehow he and his soldiers were able to survive. That in part is thanks to my mom who was able to steal the Necronomicon from her a few days before the disaster and prevent her from getting stronger. Unfortunately in her hurry to escape she used a spell that made her skip forward in time, and thus the two sides ended up bleeding each other out over the years. So much suffering happened. There was even a moment where in a bid to destroy us all, Twilight sent all of her forces against us and nearly brought us all to extinction because all the foals had died. Somehow though, we were lucky enough to survive the First Cultist War, but by the time I was 12, a second war was brewing up.”

As Beatrix finished telling the ‘prologue’ of her story, Midnight simply had his mouth wide up as he processed all of the information. After a bunch of failed attempts at mustering a response, the blue pegasus took a deep breath before speaking. 

“Wow… I… I’m so sorry for what happened to you and your world. Let me tell you, while this world of Terraria has gone through some horrible things, I’ve never experienced them in person. I thought that your world had a better history than mine, but it seems the inverse is true.” Midnight stated, looking at Beatrix with a sad face. The unicorn simply sighed. 

“That’s not even the tip of the iceberg. I might go over each individual dimension in the future, but in summary, as a dimensional traveler, I’ve seen worlds that are as if not even worse than my world, and that’s a huge statement given my world’s history. Mind mentioning something about your world?” Beatrix asked, noting the fact that he had said some horrible things had occurred in his world as well.

“Sure. It’s only fair. Perhaps we can take turns talking about these things.” Midnight offered as he prepared to give his world’s history. 

“Among the countless worlds you could’ve stumbled upon, you have fallen into this one, Beatrix. This is our history: 

Our story begins with Cthulhu, a creature with unfathomable power with its only purpose being to destroy and have every sentient being on this planet submit to its will. None could stop its approach, and when the very fabric of this world seemed ready to break, an ancient race called the Dyads rose up to stop this menace. As the race with the most profound connection with this very planet itself, they were truly the only hope this world had against the monster. 

Sadly, all but one perished against Cthulhu, whom they were unable to kill. Yet in their last act of defiance, they were able to cripple the creature by ripping out its eyes, skeleton, and brain, forcing it to flee to the dark side of the moon where to this day it licks its wounds, waiting until it could regain its strength to attempt another conquest of this world. 

While I’m uncertain whether or not you’ve come here to face Cthulhu should he appear during your stay, there are a few threats that I’m certain you will need to take care of, the first being the Evil of this world.

When you mentioned the Necronomicon and how it corrupted Sci Twi and left your land crimson red, it reminded me of something I should’ve warned you when we left the house. We were lucky enough not to stumble upon it thankfully, but if you had stepped into either the Corruption or Crimson biomes, we probably would have both been killed immediately.” Midnight stated as he let out a sigh. The moment Beatrix heard his latest sentence she froze up immediately. 

“Wait you said the Night was the worst place to be in. Are these places even worse than that?” Beatrix asked. Midnight nodded. 

“In truth, the Night is only risky for a newly arrived Terrarian, but even one adorned in Platinum would know the danger of being in the Corruption or Crimson. Let me begin with the Crimson, which is an entity that not only is connected to every single world it exists in, but has already devoured thousands of them. Misguided people who seek to either placate the monster or seek its favor have conducted human sacrifices on them, which the Crimson turns into terrifying beings that have lost the ability to feel or think.”

“Huh… reminds me of Sci Twi and how she sacrificed ponies into a cauldron to increase her power or to create powerful creatures. She even created an alicorn from these rituals, no doubt with the idea to use it against us had the war not been won. Ironically, that alicorn she created ended up becoming a major part in how we won the Second Cultist War and maintaining the peace of my dimension afterward.” Beatrix explained, giving Midnight more insight about her world. He simply nodded before continuing. 

“Some say this is where the Brain of Cthulhu lies, dormant but ready to attack once summoned. Whether or not this is true is unknown as I don’t believe this Evil exists in this world. What does exist though is Corruption. 

The Corruption is a cancer caused by the darkness of this world. Every vile action, every perverted thought, everything that is sin feeds the growth of this entity. Unlike the Crimson, which is defined as a thinking living being, the Corruption is like every other virus, bacteria, and cancer you know. It knows nothing else but to destroy, creating terrible creatures of hate that exist to punish those who brought it into existence. In-”

“Question?” Beatrix asked while raising her hand. The blue pegasus simply tilted his head, confused as to why she interrupted him. 

“Yes?” Midnight asked. Unbeknownst to him, the purple mare had a small red hue on her face. 

“Does getting frisky count? Like, I might not be as active as I was before, but I still tend to have some fun in each dimension I end up in. I guess you could say I like having a ‘taste’ of each world.” Beatrix said, winking at him. The blue pegasus though simply blinked. 

“I… uhm… what?” Midnight asked, just simply confused. The mare simply sighed, knowing how long it took their Midnight to understand what words like ‘buck’, ‘frisky’, and ‘cream’ meant, and how she might need to go through that process all over again. 

“Did the Guide ever give you a handbook or something like that to help you, ya know, guide?” Beatrix asked. Midnight scratched his head before bumping into something that was hidden in his mane. As he surprised the unicorn by taking out a book, Midnight skimmed through the book, trying to find something that could answer her question. 

“Maybe this can help?” The blue pegasus said before reading. “Everything that is strange and unnatural is a sin and everything outside of marriage is a sin, before and after.” At that moment Beatrix deadpanned. 

“That’s literally everything!” The mare yelled out loud before shaking her head. “When was this written?”

“About a few thousand years ago.” Midnight replied though he was confused as to why Beatrix had a frown on her face as she crossed her arms. Eventually, she let out a sigh as she resigned herself to her new fate. 

“Welp I guess I’m going to be stuck like this until I leave this world. At least you were able to understand what marriage is.” The mare said, letting out a light chuckle, only to freeze when she saw Midnight’s confused face. 

“Don’t you dare.”

“But-”

“Don’t. You. Dare.”

The pair gazed at each other intensely, with Midnight’s mouth open and Beatrix’s wooden sword ready to strike. 

“...”

“...”

“...”

“...”

“What’s marriage?”

“Midnight!” 

*WHACK!*

“Ow!”
> Breaking Out
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 5: 

“You sure do hit hard when you want Beatrix, I’ll give you that.” Midnight said while rubbing his head. The mare simply rolled her eyes. 

“Well, you can’t blame me for that bump on your head. I explicitly warned you to not say it, yet here we are.” Beatrix replied. By now her neck felt as good as ever while Midnight’s wing was nearly healed. However, the sounds from outside still surrounded them, which began to get on her nerves. 

“Are we going to continue our conversation?” Midnight asked. Even though he felt bad about what happened to her world, he nevertheless was interested in hearing more of her story. The unicorn shook her head though. 

“Nah. I have something else in mind.” Beatrix stated as she looked towards the wall. Realizing what she was planning, Midnight immediately got up and placed a hand on her shoulder. 

“I already told you, that’s a really bad idea. Do you want to get us killed?” The blue pegasus asked, only to be surprised when she brushed his hand off her shoulder and walked towards the center of their box. 

“Then tell me how long this night is going to last Midnight.” The purple unicorn asked as she went into her inventory before forming a workbench. She smiled as she began to work on something, and soon a bow appeared in her hand. “Huh. A ‘Powerful Bow’. +25% Damage, -10% Speed, +1% Critical Strike Chance.” Beatrix stated before continuing her work. 

“This is a really bad idea.” Midnight said as he shook his head before looking into his inventory. Pulling out the snowballs they had been throwing earlier that day, he examined their stats to see if they had any use. “Do you know snowballs deal 4 damage?” The Mentor questioned, causing Beatrix’s ears to stand up. “To use a bow you need arrows. I have some in my inventory, but we could always pelt them with snowballs.” Midnight said before letting out a laugh. Realizing that he wasn’t going to help her, Beatrix turned around and began to walk towards Midnight with a neutral gaze. The stallion slowly began to nervously laugh as the mare got closer to her. “What are you doing?” Midnight asked as the mare pulled out her snow from her inventory before giving them a tight squeeze. 

“Hey Midnight, can I please have your stack of arrows?” Beatrix asked with a seemingly innocent voice, but based on the way she held her snowball, Midnight realized that he would soon be pelted with them if he didn’t comply. The stallion let out a groan before fishing into his inventory and pulling out a stack of arrows. “Thank you.” The mare said before walking back to her workbench and began to craft something else.

“What are you crafting this time?” Midnight asked as he saw Beatrix taking out his stack of arrows and her pile of torches. A bright light suddenly filled the room before slowly fading away, and to the stallion’s surprise, there in Beatrix’s hands was a Flaming Arrow. The mare simply smirked at his expression. 

“Like what you see?” Beatrix asked as she began to divide the Flaming Arrow Stack in two. Midnight simply blinked. 

“I don’t think I remembered teaching you that. I only taught you wood-related items, not arrow or torch-related items.” Midnight stated. The mare shrugged before throwing him his stack of Flaming Arrows. He could feel the heat and power running through them. 

“Well, I guess you could say I’m a quick learner,” Beatrix said as she walked towards the wall, pickaxe in hand. “Now let’s break ourselves out.” The mare exclaimed before raising her pickaxe. With one simple swing, she bashed through the wall, causing the wooden defense to come crashing down and revealing the night sky…

… Along with all the night creatures who began their assault. 

Snapping out of his shock, Midnight immediately noticed something circular in the air coming down towards them. Rushing towards Beatrix he knocked both of them out of the box just when a bloody floating eye smashed into the box they were just in, rebounding inside it dozens of times before bouncing itself out. 

The two of them fell onto the grassy ground, both letting out an ‘oof!’ before slowly getting themselves up. Beatrix frowned as she turned around to face Midnight. 

“A little warning wouldn’t hurt.” The unicorn said before loading a Flaming Arrow into her bow. At that moment a zombie started to appear in her vision and letting go of the arrow, it struck the zombie and started to ignite it on fire. Turning around she noticed another zombie trying to close in from behind, but another shot caused it to burst into flames. The two zombies were still walking towards her, but she had clearly dealt more damage than her wooden sword would be capable of. 

“A little help wouldn’t hurt either!” Beatrix yelled as she tried to snap Midnight out of his frightened trance. Finally getting a grip on himself and feeling a bit safe knowing that these arrows could actually do some damage, Midnight began to fire, cleaning up the encroaching zombies while making sure to spot any that tried to surprise them. 

“H-Honestly I thought this would be the end for us, but things are going better than I expected!” The stallion exclaimed as he and Beatrix ended up being back to back, firing their loads into the zombie hoard while swatting away any Demon Eyes that tried to attack from the sky. The mare simply smirked at him. 

“Well, we could’ve been doing this a few hours ago and would’ve been at home by now when I tried to break the wall the first time!” Beatrix stated with a smile. “But hey, better late than never right?” 

“I guess so. Just remember that you can’t always keep doing this. There will always be a monster that’s stronger than the equipment you have!” Midnight said before glancing towards the direction they came from a few hours ago. “Now let’s make a break towards home!” The stallion yelled as he began to fire the zombies that were blocking their way. The pair began to power through the horde, running through the forest and the desert while fighting their way through the mass of monsters. With so many falling behind them, they somehow ended up encountering fewer and fewer monsters ahead of them. 

“Hey, you’d expect that a second horde would be coming this way right? Why not?” Beatrix asked as she burnt another zombie to crisp, picking up something that fell from its remains. She quickly examined the item. “Huh. ‘Menacing Shackle’. 1 Defense, +4% Damage. Let me see how I can equip this.” Beatrix said as she inserted it around her wrist, feeling a bit more protected after doing so. Midnight smiled at her new item. 

“Oh! You found a shackle! Those are pretty useful early on. They drop from zombies and give you a defense point along with any modifier they might have. You’ll probably end up replacing it later, but hey, at least you’re harder to kill! And I guess we’re just lucky a second horde isn’t cutting us off. The Zombies in Expert or even Normal Mode have the habit of intercepting you when you try to jump over them.” Midnight stated as he killed another zombie. “Hey! I can see the house over here!” The blue pegasus exclaimed. Beatrix smiled before shooting another zombie. 

Eventually, the pair reached the door and closed it behind them. The stallion immediately let out a sigh of relief as he sat down and reclined on one of the chairs, with Beatrix sitting in front of him. 

“Ah… safe and sound! Now I don’t know about you but I think I want to stay here for a while.” Midnight stated as he closed his eyes and tried to sleep only to begin the sound of birds singing in the background. He immediately groaned. “Come on! I was up all night and now it’s morning!? Morning!?”

Beatrix simply let out a chuckle at his outburst. 

“It’s fine, you can rest here, I’ll just explore outside now that it’s safe.” The mare said as she walked towards the door on the other side and began to open it. The stallion was just ready to doze off when he heard her say that and he immediately stood up, a bit too fast though as he fell off the chair. 

“Ow! Well… the Corruption ain’t safe. We practically explored nearly all of the right side of the world and now you’re telling me you want to explore the left side too?! That’s a guaranteed Corruption encounter and a guaranteed death sentence!” Midnight exclaimed as he tried to pick himself up. Beatrix simply sighed, knowing that he was right, but she felt like it was necessary to still explore.

“I’m going to be fine. Being on the run is something I’m used to. If I spot something odd I’ll immediately run back, alright? See ya!” And with that, she went outside before shutting the door behind her. 

Now running towards the left, Beatrix resumed her adventure, ducking under branches and killing any slime that got in her way with the combination of her wooden sword and flaming arrow combo. Vaguely aware of entering the desert, the mare now returned began to walk through the sandy terrain as she began to think to herself. 

“Was it a good idea to explore alone though? I know I want to explore and have another grand adventure like I did when I was younger, but perhaps staying would’ve been better?” Beatrix asked herself as she waded through a small pool of water before entering another forest biome. “Like sure these flaming arrows pack a serious punch, but my defense though…” The mare simply gazed at her wooden armor + shackle combo. Together they amounted to just 4 Defense, and considering how a zombie was able to nearly kill her in three hits, she doubted she’d last one hit against a Corruption Monster. 

“Yeah, I’m going to have to get a new set of armor eventually. Platinum would be a good fit for me.” Beatrix thought to herself as she began to climb a cliff, forming wooden platforms under her as a safety measure. “If this wooden bow + flaming arrow deals a lot of damage, imagine how much a platinum bow would deal!” The mare stated as she finished climbing the mountain before feeling something off about the air. Gripping her wooden bow she was about to walk forward when suddenly a horrific monster flew from a crevice and tried to nab her with its large pincers. Taking a step back Beatrix began to fire her flaming arrows, and to her surprise, they actually dealt a considerable amount of damage. The flying corruption monster, unable to get close enough to deal any damage, burst into pieces, leaving behind a Rotten Chunk of Flesh. 

“Uhm… well… that was pathetic.” The mare said as she kicked the Rotten Chunk and caused it to fall into the same small opening that the creature came from. Somehow her mind told her that it was called a ‘Eater of Souls’, a being born from the Corruption, its sole instincts are to…

“...pursue, punish, and kill,” Beatrix whispered out loud before blinking to herself. “Where in the world did I suddenly get that information?” The purple unicorn asked to herself, scratching her head. A small image of a book filled her mind, but in the end, she shrugged it off. “Whatever, it still did a bad job. As long as I don’t let it get near me I should be fine.” The mare said as she looked into the small opening before jumping into it. Lightning up the small cavern with torches she ended up finding some pots which she smashed open, filling her inventory with some coins, two lesser healing potions, and eleven corrupt torches. 

“Yeah, I’m seriously in the corruption biome,” Beatrix said to herself as she exited the cavern through the other side. Immediately she noticed the odd terrain in front of her. The trees were now sickly purple, the grass was purple, everything was purple, almost similar to her fur color. Of course, it was just a coincidence, but it nevertheless creeped her out a bit. 

Suddenly an Eater of Souls rushed from above, opening its mouth and trying to swallow her whole. Ducking under it, Beatrix rolled to the side before pelting it with her collection of flaming arrows, causing it to burst into flames before exploding into pieces, leaving another rotten chunk for her to pick up (or in this case kick). 

“Yeah! Don’t think you can try and sneak up on me” Beatrix yelled to the chunk she kicked away. Filled with more determination she continued to walk ahead. Noticing a particularly dark material on the ground, the mare tried to mine it, however, it would not break. Again, her mind told her it was ‘Ebonstone’, and that she would need a much stronger pickaxe to mine it. Walking a bit forward, she found a ravine that seemed to have no end. Beatrix felt compelled to explore inside, yet at the same time, she felt like she was pushing her luck. She was about to leave when she noticed a chest, and soon she found herself in the ravine, trying to find a way to get to the chest and pots. 

More Eater of Souls tried to attack her, but they were blocked by the left wall of the ravine, allowing Beatrix to spend enough time figuring her way into the crevice. Smashing the pots that were scattered around the chest, her eyes sparkled when she found a ‘Recall Potion’. Just the name alone gave her an idea of what it could do. 

“Perfect. If anything bad happens, I’ll use this now.” Beatrix stated as she sorted her inventory a bit, placing her Recall Potions next to her Lesser Healing Potions, both potions appearing on the side of her belt. Finally opening the chest, she began to grab everything inside of it while examining each thing. 

“Alright, now I have six recall potions, a shine potion, 21 silver coins, 27 arrows, 3 tin bars, and a blowpipe? I guess everything has its use, but I’ll be sticking to my bow for ranged attacks.” Beatrix stated before closing the chest. Mining it up and putting it in her inventory, she left the cavern where the chest was in and continued to explore, feeling more secure about her position. 

This time four Eater of Souls encountered her, each one charging at her at a different time. Dodging and ducking under their large bodies while shooting at them, Beatrix managed to kill all four of them after a quick battle, all without a scratch. Yet with how close they had been to her, the mare shivered just a bit as she traveled down the ravine, recall potion ready in case things went south. 

As she tried to climb down by sticking to the side of the ravine, two Eater of Souls suddenly approached from below. Even as she fired her flaming arrows to meet them, she realized that there was no point in trying to fight with how close they ended up. Jumping up as one of the Eaters charged at where she was, Beatrix started to drink the Recall Potion just when the other one began to clamp her from the waist down. 

Letting out a muffled scream, Beatrix somehow managed to force the rest of the liquid inside of her while the Eater of Souls began to tear her flesh apart. Disappearing in a spark of light blue, Beatrix found herself in front of the house. As she fumbled for her Healing Potions, the mare noticed the silhouette of two people, one being Midnight and the other being somebody she didn’t know. Once Midnight’s figure turned around to face her she could hear him gasp. Immediately the blue pegasus ran into her view before kneeling down towards her. 

“Oh my gods Beatrix! Not again!” Midnight yelled as he looked at her in panic. Beatrix hissed in pain as she finally took out the red potion from her inventory. Coughing up some blood, the mare finally began to drink the substance, her eyes opening as she felt all the pain disappearing in an instant. 

“I’m fine… I’m fine… I just had a stumble in the Corruption that’s all.” The platinum unicorn said as she slowly picked herself up. Midnight nearly went ballistic upon hearing that. 

“The Corruption? The Corruption!? Beatrix, that's literally the most dangerous place you could’ve gone into! What were you thinking!?” The stallion roared. Beatrix simply began to wipe the dust and blood off her body. 

“Again I’m fine! The fun fact is that those things, Eater of Souls, were absolutely demolished by my Flaming Arrows. They just got me because I traveled down a tight ravine and they cornered me there. I just need to upgrade my defense and then I can travel safely down there.” The mare said. Even though her body still ached she was still proud of herself. Midnight simply shook his head. 

“One day Beatrix you’ll get yourself killed. Don’t you fear death?” The blue pegasus asked out loud. Beatrix simply shrugged. 

“I guess I don’t fear it as much as I should. Hey, who's that guy?” The platinum-maned unicorn asked. Midnight immediately began to motion the newcomer to arrive and it was at that moment where Beatrix realized that the house looked longer than normal. 

“While you were away I decided to add more rooms to this place, and as I said before, the more rooms you have the more people can join. Meet the Merchant.” Midnight said as he gestured to the figure. Standing in front of Beatrix was an orange Abyssian cat dressed in a brown coat. His green eyes studied her, noticing the pool of blood around her and the tears in her clothing. To her surprise, he scoffed. 

“I hope a scrawny kid like you isn't all that is standing between us and Cthulhu's Eye… The name’s Capper, how could I help you?” The cat said with a smirk.
> The Merchant
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Usually, Beatrix would be happy to see a Capper. 

Usually. 

The Capper from her world had been one of its heroes during the Cultist Wars. Not only did the anthropomorphic cat help in financing the cause and managing their bits, he even had given up his life by ramming an airship into the enemy base during the Final Battle and giving their troops the chaos they needed to breach the enemy’s lines. He was given a Hero’s Funeral after the war along with Spike, Sunset, Flash Sentry, and many others. 

But none of that mattered to Beatrix who frowned upon hearing what this Capper had said about her. Already she could tell that he was a far cry from the one she knew. 

“Hey! You’d probably look worse than this if you’ve gone to the Corruption!” Beatrix proclaimed, trying to show that she wasn’t some scrawny kid that the Merchant had said. Yet again he rolled his eyes. 

“Maybe ‘foolish’ should’ve been added to that list as well. C’mon just look at that shoddy armor you’re wearing! You ought to buy some healing potions from me.” Capper stated with a smirk, causing Beatrix to further dislike him due to his obvious greediness. She doubted that the Capper the Mane Six first met was as bad as this one. 

“I already have one,” Beatrix said as she lifted her only other healing pot she got from the chest. 

“Yes, the only one,” Capper said before chuckling as Beatrix’s frown only grew. She secretly was surprised that he saw through her bluff and called her out on it. Does he somehow have the ability to check her inventory? 

Before she could try to make another remark, Midnight decided to step in between the two. 

“Alright alright… let’s try and keep things civilized alright?” Midnight asked before turning to Capper. “Look pal, if you keep pestering her about buying your things, I’ll spoil every single craftable thing you have in your inventory and show it to her.” The blue pegasus said, his face filled with grim determination. The anthropomorphic cat’s eyes went wide open upon hearing him say this. 

“You wouldn’t dare…” The Merchant said with clenched teeth. Midnight simply shrugged before turning to face Beatrix. 

“You could craft Lesser Healing Pots by using a Bottle, Gel, and Mushrooms at a basic Brewing Station which you can create by placing an empty bottle on top of a workbench. Alternatively, you could use Bottled Water, Daybloom Flowers, and Mushrooms to craft Regeneration Potions. In fact, let me show you every single recipe you could craft with Bottled Water.” The blue pegasus said. Just when he was about to grab her hand to pass all of his knowledge to her, the Merchant immediately pulled him back. 

“Ok ok! I get it! Just please don’t ruin my business!” Capper pleaded. Midnight let out another sigh as he shook him off before turning to face Beatrix. 

“He does sell some useful items, some of which you can’t craft, and others which require wasting resources. Your choice if you want to be kind to him.” The blue pegasus said. Beatrix simply stared at the Merchant who gave her pleading eyes and eventually sighed. 

“Fine. I’ll be kind to you, but only because I know what you could be.” The purple mare said. Whenever she faced an alternative version of somebody, she always would give them a chance to prove themselves, even if the first version she met was evil. Alternatives of King Sombra for example, who had done considerable pain to her and her friends, had become allies in other dimensions. Alternatives of the Twin Maids, who were followers/slaves of Necro Twi during the First Cultist War, and leaders of the first half of the Second Cultist War, became well-known friends in other dimensions, though she tended to bump into others who were like the first. It was a risky gamble, yes, but it tended to produce more friends than enemies. 

“Of course, there are some who appear good at first but end up showing their true colors later. Those hurt the most.” Beatrix silently thought to herself. That sadly was the truth when she faced The Fallen One. If it weren’t for him, or his actions, she might’ve gone down a different path where they would be on good terms at least. But no. He used her for his own purpose, caused her to experience true pain and anguish, and nearly ended the entire Multiverse by starting a doomsday prophecy called Lightendark that should’ve begun a hundred years later. 

She wasn’t exactly sure where they were now. Time caused her to lose much of her original feelings for him. Did she still resent him for all the pain he did to everyone? Feel pity for him for the past that she eventually found out? Feel guilty of her own actions that seemed awfully similar to his, albeit with less disastrous consequences?

Beatrix mentally shook her head. It had been twenty years ago, and she had gone through so much joy through that time. Why poison it with something that happened so far in the past? 

Capper meanwhile let out a sigh of relief, grateful that Beatrix wouldn’t ruin his career through the Guide’s vast knowledge. 

“Do you wish to buy anything madame?” The anthropomorphic cat asked, trying to add as much politeness as he could in his sentence. Snapped out of her thoughts, Beatrix looked over at her somewhat decent amount of coins before nodding. 

“Yeah let’s just see what you have shall we?” Beatrix responded, causing Capper to grin as he began to take out so much stuff from his pockets that nothing but magic would make this possible. 

“We have a Mining Helmet, Piggy Bank, Iron Anvil, Bug Net, Copper Pickaxe and Axe, don’t think you’ll be needing that unless you lose it, torches, lesser mana and healing pots, wooden arrows, shuriken, rope, and sickle! That’s all I have in stock for now but I might eventually add some more stuff.” The Merchant said, the ground covered by the amount of stuff around him. The platinum-maned mare simply blinked before choosing two options. 

“I’ll take the Anvil and Bug Net,” Beatrix ordered. 

“That would be 66 Silver,” Capper said, smiling when the mare fished her money from her pocket and handed it to him. Handing the two items to Beatrix, she smiled at the fact that (1) she wouldn’t have to mine as much material for the anvil and (2) perhaps she could sell some things she catches with the Bug Net to Capper, gaining a profit. Placing both items into her inventory, she climbed on top of the house and began to sort her stuff. 

Within a few moments, she had placed various crafting stations next to each other. That included a furnace, anvil, and workbench placed side by side along with a fireplace (apparently that gives a life-gen boost), and a chest where she comfortably placed everything she wouldn’t be needing anymore. 

“I’ll probably sort things better when I have more chests to fill,” Beatrix said to herself before dropping down to the ground. “Hey Midnight, how can I craft bottles?” The purple mare asked, eager to try potion-making again like she had done when she was younger. The Guide looked up to the sky to see where the sun was. 

“You’ll need to mine sand blocks and bring them to the furnace to create glass. Then turn that glass into bottles and just stand in a body of water to turn them into bottled water. But you’ll need to hurry. Night will approach us soon. I’ll just prepare some things in the house alright?” Midnight said. He still looked worried, but not as worried as before. Perhaps her journey in the Corruption had made the Guide realize that she could handle it. Beatrix smiled before heading out to the desert on the left. As she began to walk through the forest though, a sudden feeling of hunger surged through her body as her stomach growled. 

“Yeah, it’s been a day since I came here. I should eat something at least.” Beatrix remarked. Sure, when she ate the mushrooms that Midnight gave her whenever she was knocked down, they healed her, but they didn’t necessarily fill her despite their huge size. Looking up she could see an apple hanging from one of the trees. With a good blow from her axe the apple fell next to her for her to pick up. Taking a small bite out of it, her eyes widened when the entire fruit suddenly disappeared in front of her eyes, yet at the same time, she felt she had been filled by it. Not only that, she felt a bit faster and stronger. 

“Some type of perk I guess?” Beatrix asked herself before continuing on. With her small speed boost, she ran towards the desert and began to mine up the sand. As she looked up to the palm trees next to the oasis, she remembered how Midnight said that the more houses there were, the more likely people were to arrive. 

Soon the purple unicorn found herself knocking down palm tree after palm tree despite the sun being dangerously close to the horizon. She still wore wooden armor, meaning that she was as weak towards zombie attacks as she was, but the confidence she had gained with her flaming arrows made her continue her work. 

She had just finished creating the first palm-based house when the sun disappeared under the horizon. A zombie slowly crept into her vision, but a few flaming arrows placed it down. But as the horde of zombies and demon eyes began to surround her, Beatrix simply swallowed the light blue liquid of her recall potion before disappearing back towards the base. She didn’t want to go through the hassle of creating more housing compartments while fighting the horde. 

“Maybe when I’m stronger I could do that. Not now though.” Beatrix thought to herself as she calmly walked towards her furnace. Even though she was still out in the night, she felt safer knowing that her base was underneath her. It didn’t take much to follow Midnight’s steps in crafting bottles. Unfortunately, there was no source of water nearby which she could draw except for the oasis in the desert or the chilling pools of water in the snowy biome, both of which were far away. 

Killing a zombie that was knocking against one of the doors, Beatrix swiftly walked inside the house only to see Capper as the only member inside the compartment. Confused by Midnight’s absence the purple mare stepped towards the anthropomorphic cat, who seemed to be counting his money on the table. 

“Hey, Capper! Where’s Midnight?” Beatrix asked. The Merchant, startled by her sudden appearance, nearly fell out of his chair, the pile of silver on the table shaking as well. Recovering himself the cat looked at Beatrix with a slightly annoyed expression. 

“Oh Midnight? He’s under the house mining or something. That’s what he said at least.” Capper stated as he gestured to the next room in the house. Opening the door, she could see that there was a trapdoor on the floor, along with the subtle rhythmic tempo of somebody mining. Slowly walking towards it, the mare opened it and saw Midnight all the way down, mining away at the earth. 

“Hey, Midnight! What are you doing?” Beatrix asked, puzzled. Even all the way down there, she could see that he had a grin on his face. 

“Mining of course! You want some stronger gear, right? Come down and help me then!” The blue pegasus exclaimed. Dropping down the platforms that he had set up, Beatrix found herself squeezed next to Midnight, and she soon realized that he had accidentally made space for only one. 

“Hey, Midnight can you move please?” Beatrix asked as she tried and failed to move back up. 

“I’m trying…” The blue pegasus said as he tried to find his own space, but with the two pressed so tightly together they were barely able to move at all. “Wait, let me do something.” Midnight said as he began to mine towards the side. The two suddenly fell onto the ground as he moved forward, the pair letting a small ‘oof!’ while doing so. 

“Yeah, I think from now on we should only allow one person to mine. Or at least expand this spot.” Beatrix stated, to which Midnight nodded. 

“You mine down, I’ll see if there’s something to the side.” The blue pegasus said as he continued the direction he was in. The purple unicorn nodded as she began to mine down. Even though she didn’t need to put much force into mining blocks since she knew it depended on the tool and coursing Terraria’s magic through her, it nevertheless became boring as she found herself mining endlessly downwards. She suddenly let out a yelp as she landed into a small puddle of water that was beneath. It wasn’t deep, but it nevertheless surprised her. 

“Beatrix! Are you ok!?” Midnight yelled out from above, his voice sounding a bit faint from being very far away. The mare looked up and saw Midnight peering downwards. 

“I’m ok! Just a pool of water! Wait! I can now get bottled water!” Beatrix exclaimed as she began to produce the item she needed, rapidly filling each glass bottle with water. “I’m going up!” The mare exclaimed as she began to climb upwards by placing wooden platforms above her and jumping up. Jumping out of the trapdoor, Beatrix walked past Capper, who didn’t notice her, and outside of the house. Climbing up the side of the house, she walked towards the workbench and placed a bottle on top of it, forming a makeshift brewing station. 

Taking the day bloom flowers out of the nearby chest as well as the mushrooms from her inventory, she felt the palm of her hands warm up as two regeneration potions appeared in her hand. She grinned as she held the reddish potion in her hand. Storing the rest of the items in the chest, Beatrix climbed down the house and reentered it (again Capper didn’t notice her) before climbing down the trapdoor. 

“Midnight! I did it!” Beatrix exclaimed as she found the stallion who continued mining. He wiped the dust off of his hand before grinning as she showed her the two potions she made. 

“That’s awesome! This thing can heal you 2HP per second for 8 Minutes! Do you know how much in total that is?” Midnight asked. The mare attempted to calculate it but was so happy that she was too distracted to answer. “Alright let me tell you. 960 HP!”

Beatrix’s mouth simply opened in shock as she heard him state this number. She looked down at the potion then at him, then back at it as she realized just how truly powerful this thing was. 

“Wait… 960HP!? That’s nearly a thousand!” The mare exclaimed. Midnight just grinned. 

“Yep! It’s actually more than the Max HP a Terraria can get, which is 600. You’re at 100 HP right now, but there are ways to get more.” The blue pegasus said, grabbing her attention. 

“How?” Beatrix asked, looking at him as he dropped down the shaft she was working on and mining a bit. The purple mare followed him and looked down just when he broke through a wall and revealed a hidden cave. 

“Well, why don’t we find out?” Midnight asked as he gave her his hand. She smiled before dropping down next to him, the two of them ready to drop down into the unknown.