By Terrarian Pony
WARNING: Content of this story may include violence, gore, romance, same gender romance, ponies, references to several video games, and possibly PINKIE PIE. If anypony is offended by any of the content listed above, than please turn back now. You have been warned.
Story:
Terrarian Pony presents...
My Little Pony: Blades of Hope
Pilot episode
...
(Narrative intro)
"This world is full of creation. Grass, stone, and wood. Everything the world needs to prosper. But there is also destruction that was left behind by the great beasts, Cthulhu and Ocram. The town of Terrainville both rises and falls at the center of the chaos, while the corruption spreads, and the evils of the land continue to awake.
With time being of limit, heroes and rebels all across Terraria fight. Magic being twisted by the mystics, and the the dead rising from the graves, nopony is safe. But the strong protect the weak, while the brains plot their evil. These are... the Legends of Terraria."
...
In the town of Terrainville, in the center of Mythrolhia, another bright, sunny day brings way to happiness and joy for the ponies living there. The Knights of Earth whom are sworn to protect the innocent, fiercely guard the town, patrolling inside and out. While most civilian ponies live there lives peacefully on the surface, laughing and dancing the day away, others are dedicated to adventuring both the high and low of the terrain, seeking either glory, fame, fortune...
For example, one our heroes, a green pegasus stallion, with a dark green mane, and a cutie mark of tree, wearing platinum armor, a silver broadsword at his hip, is spelunking for unmined ores to make more useful tools, and possibly a better sword. This is Terrarian Pony, an adventurer swordspony who knows no bounds, and plays by no rules other than his own to achieve his goals. He's even written an adventurers guide: "Terrarian Pony's Basic Tips for New Adventurers". Tip #30 was, never get cocky while fighting monsters in an enclosed space. Despite this fact, he always seems to forget tip #30 himself. Even now, with all the walking skeleponies and cave spiders, and he is biting off more than he can chew, which happens to be tip #21.
Recklessly flailing his sword every which way, he bucks a skelepony in the skull, causing it's bones to collapse on the stone ground. A zombpony tackles him to the floor, attempting to get a bite out of him, but Terrarian quickly kicks it off of himself. Getting back on his hooves, he sheathe's his sword and trots to the nearest open cavern. Terrarian finds himself in a mineshaft, standing on wooden planks over an underground river of lava and obsidian.
Terrarian:" Lava... I hate lava. And being a pegasus, I also hate enclosed spaces that prevent me from flying away from angry monsters!"
As the monsters continued to follow him, he started running through the mineshaft, pushing away monsters, and hurdling redstone-automated mine carts until finally finding a safe, brightly lit area.
Terrarian:" Dang, it's like those skeleponies have infinite arrows. At least I'm out of that mess."
Terrarian kept moving through the lit cave tunnel, and eventually stopped at a golden chest. Opening the chest, he found 10 silver coins, some throwing knives, and a rope.
Terrarian:" Well that was mostly useless. *Sigh* I guess I'll have to come back down here later."
Suddenly, Terrarian hears a thump, and an "OUCH!" from behind. It sounded like the voice of a female pony.
Terrarian:" What the hay?"
Slowly walking towards the sound, he peaked around the corner, and saw a bright pink unicorn, with a yellow mane. She was wearing a dark blue robe, with a sapphire embedded in the robe's collar. The mare looked a little dizzy, but Terrarian also noted that there was a hole in the ceiling above her.
Terrarian:" Umm... are you alright? You do know you shouldn't dig straight down?"
???:" Hm? Oh... uh... I'm ffffiiinnnne."
The pink unicorn shakes her head, and looks at him.
???:" Sorry 'bout that. I tend to get pretty clumsy sometimes. I'm Flashes Bright! Nice to meet ya!"
Terrarian:" Flashes?"
Flashes:" Bright! That's my name, don't ware it out."
Terrarian:" Well Flashes, I'm Terrarian Pony."
Flashes:" Terrarian Pony? Haha! That's got to be made up!"
Terrarian:" No it's not!"
Flashes:" Oh come on, we live in a continent named Terraria, and your name just happens to be Terrarian?"
Terrarian:" Well... yes."
Flashes:" Your parents must have been really weird. Anyways, where are you from?"
Terrarian:" I'm from Terrainville."
Flashes:" No way! I just moved into Terrainville. I'm from the town called Firefly! Ever heard of it?"
Terrarian:" I hear it's a beautiful place, but I've never actually been there. So what are you here for?"
Flashes:" I'm looking for the lost treasure of the Lihzahrd."
Terrarian:" Haven't the Lihzahrd left behind many treasures?"
Flashes:" Well duh. But I'm talking about the treasure. The only treasure that matters."
Terrarian:" And what treasure is that?"
Flashes:" I don't know. Some old mage stallion just gave me a map, and said go there. He said there was lots of treasure. But..."
She gave an embarrassed smile.
Flashes:" I don't know how to read a map."
Terrarian:" Let me see."
Flashes gave him the "map", and he tried to read it.
Terrarian:" Let's see. Hold on... this map pre-dates the collapse of the ancient city."
Flashes looked over the map.
Flashes:" Really? How can you tell?"
Terrarian:" Because the entire map is filled with Lihzahrd mazes that nopony can read. Whoever this stallion is, he gave you an unreadable map. The ancient Lihzahrd city has been buried beneath Mythrolhia for hundreds of thousands of years."
Flashes:" Aw pony feathers!"
Terrarian:" Well, I'm pretty sure I got everything I came down for. We should head back up."
Flashes:" Oh well, I guess there is no lost treasure after all."
As they began to walk away, the strange unicorn stepped on a pressure plate by accident. A three-by-three block hole opened up inthe floor, and she clumsily fell in. She fell, screaming, and Terrarian jumped in after her, his wings folded to his side to fall faster. He caught her just in time to open his wings, just above a bunch of stalagmites in the shape of a spike trap, sticking from the ground. Flashes was shaking, holding onto the pegasus's hooves for dear life.
He set her down for a moment on solid ground to catch his breathe. Suddenly, they realized two things. One: They were both alive. Two: All around them seemed to be an ancient city made of orange brick blocks.
Terrarian:" I can't believe it! It's... it's..."
Flashes:" It's the ancient city of the Lihzarhd! EEEEEEE!!!!!"
Terrarian:" Shh. There could be dangerous creatures here."
Flashes:" Sorry, I'm just excited to see something so awesome. Besides, the Lihzahrds were a civilized, and peaceful race. If they're here, maybe we can ask directions."
Terrarian looked at the map again, but the city seemed so labyrinthian, he couldn't even figure out if it was the right map, even from a vantage point. The walls were crumbled, and buried into the caverns. Certain areas were collapsed with rubble.
Terrarian:" Why would these Lihzarhd make such confusing cities. It's no wonder their construction had collapsed into the ground."
Suddenly, there was a screeching noise in the distance. Terrarian looked down into the city, and noticed the source... or sources... of the ear offending sound. Slimey, slithering, imp-sized lizards were running towards Flashes. They were all dressed in brown, torn and tattered robes, and some were even standing on two legs, running. The others crawled over each other like animals, and their eyes were completely black, as if being in the dark for so long had made them go blind.
Flashes was cowaring in a corner, shielding her face from the offending webbed claws that tore at her skin. Her horn let off a jolt of energy, throwing the crazed Lihzahrds off of her. Terrarian flew to her side. She was covered in scratches.
Terrarian:" Are you alright?"
Flashes:" Yeah, but what's wrong with them? They're supposed to be a peaceful race."
Terrarian:" I think I know the answer to that. They've been down here, in the dark so long, they've become blind and crazy. I mean, it only makes sense, since they've only been down here thousands of years."
Flashes:" We need to to go!"
Terrarian grabbed her, and lifted her back to where they came from.
...
When they came back up, he put her down.
Flashes:" Phew. That was crazy. Thanks for having my back down there. But how are we going to find our way back up?"
Terrarian:" I have a Terrain-Gadget."
He pointed to a quartz-colored device on his right hoof. A Terrain-Gadget, is a popular device used to communicate, as well as help lost miners find their way out of a cave. It even has a feature to look up crafting and cooking recipes. The Terrain-Gadget has two maps: A surface map, and a deep-terrain map. The surface map should be obvious. The deep-terrain map is a holographic map of the terrain and ores all around the user. This was made possible by Terra-Tech's deep scanner technology.
The Terrain-Gadget also has the ability to monitor vitals, and mana. Mana is a form of magic, which all ponies in this world can use, not just unicorns. The only catch, is that a non-unicorn would need a spell wand, or a magic item in order to perform a spell.
Flashes:" Aw, I'm so jealous."
Terrarian:" I never leave home without it."
Terrarian checked his deep-terrain map.
Terrarian:" It looks like we can go out the same way you came down here. Why were you digging straight down, anyways?"
Flashes:" Don't you?"
Terrarian:" Tip #12."
Flashes:" Wha-?"
Terrarian pulled out his "Terrarian Pony's Basic Tips for New Adventurers", and handed it over to Flashes.
Terrarian:" Read this, it comes in handy."
Flashes looked at the cover weirdly, and was suddenly shocked at Terrarian lifting her up through the hole she came in through.
Flashes:" WHOA! PUT ME DOWN! PUT ME DOWN!"
...
After getting back to the surface, they turned up in the forest. It wasn't a bad place to during the day. A few slime ponies playing around near water, and sometimes wandering near the edge of the forest, but never really doing any harm unless they feel they have to. They're usually pretty friendly. But at night, the forest is full of dark necromancy that doesn't seem to ever explain itself. Zombponies, skeleponies, creepers, demon eyes, and other horrifying monsters. Too bad it was already sun down.
Flashes:" I hate night."
Terrarian:" Looks like we're going to have to get through all these creatures to get back to town. Terrainville isn't far according to my map. Just over the hill to the west."
Flashes:" Well, what're we waiting for? Get eaten by these zombies? Let's go!"
She cast a magic missile spell at a trio of zombponies, and Terrarian drew his sword, and sliced off the head of a creeper, just before it exploded. Spiders hopped down from the tree tops, and into Flashes' mane.
Flashes:" Ah! Get 'em off! Get 'em off!"
Terrarian cut through the spiders, but was then hit by an arrow in the right cutie mark. Flashes used a magic bullet spell, and decapitated the offending archer skelepony.
Terrarian:" We've gotta get out of this forest. Now."
Flashes:" Yeah, let's hurry."
Trotting over the hill, they saw that the village lamps were all lit up. They trotted downhill towards the village, when they were suddenly stopped by an endermare. An endermare is almost like a normal pony, but they are all black, with purple eyes, manes, and tails, and they are very tall. They are entirely a female species, so they could not reproduce, but nopony really knows where they come from. Some of them are pretty friendly, but most of them are very isolated, and don't like the feeling of being looked at. If somepony were to be caught staring at one, the endermare would turn hostile for some reason. However, there are some who are very reasonable, and aren't as shy. Some can even be found in inhabited towns or villages. Endermares are also always look like unicorns, so they are able to use magic very well, but their most common use of magic is teleportation.
The endermare in front of them was hostile, and attcked Terrarian first. He didn't even have time to draw his sword before it teleported at him, and bit him in the neck. Terrarian screamed in pain. Endermares have very big jaws, and are super tough to beat. But they are also intolerable of bright lights. Flashes cast a magelight spell in front of the endermare, and it covered it's face with hoof, then teleported away. Flashes crouched down to Terrarian, and saw the bite mark.
Flashes:" Are you alright?"
Terrarian:" Y-yeah. I'll be fine."
Flashes:" I have a spell that will heal that. Stay still for a sec."
A golden glow came from her horn over the bite mark, and Terrarian's wound began to close, rather quickly.
Terrarian:" Thanks. That was impressive."
Flashes:" Nah, it was nothing. Come on, we're almost to Terrainville."
...
Upon entering the walls of Terrainville, the entrance guard tilted his helmet at Terrarian. The town knew Terrarian Pony very well, mostly because he was very polite, and somewhat of a problem solver. The only pony in town he didn't like was the mayor. The mayor was very lazy, drunk, and a big complainer. Mayor Stag was a brown earth pony stallion, with a black mane, and a cutie mark of a boxing glove. He is the single father of a young stallion unicorn named Paras Stag. He has a brown coat like his father, and a blue mane like his unicorn mother, who had left both of them. His cutie mark was a vortex of blue and purple. This cutie mark makes sense because he is a member of the Conjuror's Guild, a guild of ponies who study conjuration magic. Anypony can join, but only a unicorn can be the guild's guild master.
Despite his hatred for the mayor, Terrarian was actually good friends with his son, Paras. Paras only lived with his father to take care of him, despite his intolerance of the mayor's laziness.
As Terrarian and Flashes entered the town, the gate closed behind them, ensuring most threats remained outside the walls of the village. Demon eyes were obviously still a problem though, but they usually stayed high to avoid the light from the village street lamps.
Flashes:" That was pretty fun! But I got to get to my coltfriend's house for movie night."
Suddenly, she got a text on her magic mirror.
Flashes:" Met somepony prettier... sorry, the whole mage thing just isn't attractive!? Aw, come on! That's like my third coltfriend this month!"
Terrarian:" Sounds like you don't have very much luck with guys. Ever tried a mare?"
Flashes:" Pfft, no! That's weird. I mean what kind of weird, messed up... weirdo likes somepony of their own gender? That never made any sense to me."
Terrarian:" I am one of those 'weird, messed up weirdos', FYI."
Flashes:" Oh... uh, well... you're different because... I don't you're cool and all."
Terrarian:" Do you ever actually think before you say things?"
Flashes didn't even hesitate before responding.
Flashes:" Of course I do. I am like, the queen of thinking."
Terrarian raised an eyebrow. Flashes looked flustered.
Flashes:" Okay, so maybe I have a problem with saying things without considering another ponies feelings. But I don't mean to, it just... it just happens. I'm not trying to be prejudiced. I'm sorry about what I said."
Terrarian:" Well, you should probably work on that. But I accept your apology."
Flashes:" Hey, I'm thinking we should do underground exploring more often. You were pretty cool fighting off those monsters. And your knowledge could come handy as well."
Terrarian:" You weren't too bad yourself, though, in my opinion, anypony can pull off a magic missile spell."
Flashes:" Hey! That's not the only spell I know how to use."
She turned her head.
Flashes:" I have plenty of powerful spells. They just weren't necessary at the moment."
Terrarian:" Can't wait to see 'em next time, then."
Flashes:" See ya!"
As they walked back to their homes, Terrarian wiped the sweat off his forehead.
Terrarian: (Today was pretty weird. First a strange mare falls into my mine, then we uncover an ancient lihzarhd city that's been buried beneath the earth over a million years ago? Is it me, or does it feel like something messed up is going to go down soon?)
TO BE CONTINUED...