Just planted upon the outskirt of this town was a relatively large slate of decaying, half-buried of stone. The word “Ponyville” was simply engraved onto it--rather coarsely as its font was slightly crooked, and its marble stone flecking out small fragments of it, embedding cracks upon it. Likewise the rest of the objects here in this area, it too was partially engulfed in snow.

Staring at the establishment before them, the Summoner spoke out in slight disbelief. “Wow. Ponyville? Classic… just classic. So what? We exited out of was none other than the Everfree, then?”

“That’s just a bit too convenient for my taste.” Ral shook his head a bit.

“Wow. I remember the time I was in jail here,” Ricky said with no small bit of nostalgia.

“At least we didn’t fought or killed a Manticore on the way here.” Vaati added.

“Whatever.” Malideus flatly stated, “Let’s burn this place down into the ground already.”

Vaati casually remarked, “Let’s get some marshmallows to roast first.”

“I’m afraid that won’t be an option.” Ral shrugged a bit as he began walking towards the entrance of Ponyville--a large archway gate constructed coarsely of unrefined logs. “Not only do we need the information regarding about this Equestria from the inhabitants, we might also need what they’re selling.”

“What?” Ricky retorted, aghast. “What could they possibly have for us to buy from them?”

“This is an RPG.” The Summoner stated as they finally entered the vicinity of the large wooden gate leading into Ponyville. “This is a town. Most towns in most RPG’s have shops that sell useful items… And they sell them in unlimited quantity.”

Ricky nodded slowly. “Whatever, I never played damned RPGs anyways. I’ll trust you.”

The Summoner gawked into the distance, his eyes fixated on the emptiness of the snow. “What? So a pirate managed to play RPG’s, but not you?”

“That’s really sad, hermano.” Vaas mournfully shook his head, feigning remorse.

Faint silhouettes through the fog of snow began to appear, the vague frames and structures of buildings coming into view as nothing more than shadows. A melancholic wind pervaded around the town as dull and listless as possible, a vagrant sensation of grief filling the area.

“Aaw yeah, daddy needs some new health potions… and a Trinket for Mizzy.” Malideus commented as he spotted a store just several feet away from them, moving the character forward.

Ral chuckled, grasping the Izzet Keyrune around his neck. Drawing out a warming breath, the frost was shoved off from its metallic, arcane surface. “Then let us make haste, we need to find shelter as well,” he finished as he bit his lip close, a bit tense.

Their steps waning through the unrelenting winds of frost, the Main Character was finally greeted by the firm pavement of broken asphalt as they went pass underneath the decrepit, coarse wooden gate’s archway.

It was a town. That was certain, but it was lingering just above ‘ruined remnants of civilization’.

The streets were streaked with embedded particles of ice. Within their cracks were water, frozen and stilled, branching across the road like vines. The houses were… seemingly decrepit; either that or the artisans here have given up completely.

The earth has been upheaved, several formations of earth piling up upon the streets. Foundations of buildings lay sundered and razed, these geological deformities.

The houses untarnished by these pillars of earth, laid barely erect. Their wooden frames were eroded, the decaying markings and depressions within their lumber indicating weather-related damage.

These houses shared an identical building composition; their surface were logged with pitch black wood, a dreary look within them inspiring nothing but depression to all who gaze upon it.

The doors were made of the same material--black wood presumably from the Everfree.

As their steps grew close to the equine establishment, the decrepit buildings riddled with frost became clear to view. Furnaces and forges, emitting choking smoke, flames roosted within their wicks, presented themselves in the distance.

Several a chimney, seemingly every single house had one, were pervasive--all of them letting out trails of smog from their orifices.

Eerily, however, from the crevices from the earthen cracks, came blackened roots. These roots enveloped much, constricting the whole districts. Roots peered into the shattered windows of abandoned houses, disappearing into the abysmal dark of shelter.

These roots have also binded myriad of furniture, strewing within them were crates, tables, and a miscellany of other woodwork.

“Huh.” The Summoner looked around the vine-infested streets. “At least there’s a reason why there’s nobody around walking outside.”

“These roots…” Ral muttered out audibly. “They’re from that tree beast we’ve just eliminated not too long ago, correct?”

“Whatever it is, it’s too quiet. I’m getting serious Silent Hill vibes, yo.” Malideus noted, noticeably shaking.

“The reason for the silence is probably because the inhabitants of this place have decided to not linger around, waiting to get molested by tentacle-vines.” Vaati shrugged with a roll of his eyes.

Suddenly, the Summoner flustered a bit. Shrugging off a demented thought in the back of his mind, the Summoner dismissed, “Y- yeah. Who would want to get molested by tentacles, am I right?”

“Anyways, we have to get rid of these roots if we want to progress any further…” Ral closed his eyes, entering deep thought as he exhaled deeply. “Now then, I’m quite certain that we’ve received an item subsequently after beating that boss. Anyone remember what it was called?”

“Let’s refer to the inventory then.” The Summoner gestured at the blank air before him, raising his palm forward. “Open inventory!”

Lighting up before them, a small panel of slight translucency appeared before the Main Character. Within its upper left corner was a simple word engraved in small black font; “Inventory.”

Humming to himself, Ral noted as he began perusing through the list of items they’ve so far collected. “That really is convenient too…”

‘Trident, Staff of Vodahmin, Corrupted Vines, Izzet Keyrune, Elemental Flower, Colossal Crab Shells, Damned Sapling’ the Summoner vocally went through the list of items they had procured. ‘Wow. This is really disorganized.’

‘True Bitch didn’t even give us a proper inventory!’ Malideus exclaimed in outrage. ‘Whatever. I’m thinking that the Damned Sapling is what we’re supposed to use. After all, we got that from that stupid tree.”

Tapping the icon of the Damned Sapling, the Summoner nodded as he extended the free hand of the MC slightly forward and opened. Receiving the Damned Sapling as it materialized directly on top of the palm of the MC, the Summoner pondered out loud, “What I’m not getting is how that tree managed to ingrain roots all the way here…”

Ral Zarek furrowed his eyes forward, noticing an alarming detail of the roots. The roots were in fact not blanketed with ice unlike the buildings around them. “Look,” Ral pointed the other arm of the MC towards the cluster of vines pooling themselves among the streets, “Not a single mound of snow among them… whereas the other things around them are just encased with snow. Don’t tell me that these roots have appeared just recently.”

“Looks like it, man.” Ricky noted dully.

“Perhaps when we killed it,” the Fat Friar retracted the pointing hand, placing it upon his chin, “it made a desperate gambit and thus expanded its roots everywhere in hopes to survive?”

“Plants don’t work like that at all…” The Summoner cautiously hummed to himself. “Well, this place is Equestria, a world where magic is latent. Perhaps that might be true.”

“Then that blasted tree might still be out for vengeance.” Ral coughed a bit, the cold choking his figure. “Ugh. Now I wish we had that ridiculous blazing heat back… Let’s get this over with,” Ral craned his neck, curiously glancing at the Sapling nestling upon his palm, “Let’s see what this specimen can do.”

Withdrawing his hand as he tilted it downward, the Sapling fell listlessly towards the snow-engulfed pavement of shattered asphalt, thudding inaudibly as it flung out a bit of snow as it landed.

Suddenly, the sapling went aglow, its roots once withered and decaying, sprung back to life, nutrients seemingly materializing within it, causing them to thicken. The dried up, lone leaf of the Sapling ripened, its black pigment now no longer limp and was standing brazened against the cold gusts.

The sapling’s roots twisted and jolted to life, ingraining itself into the ground. The ground slated with ice upheaved and exposed to the winter wind, the Sapling did not relent, stilling itself sturdy upon the freezing ground.

Um…” the Summoner uttered out, his head turned towards the Sapling with eyes of both hesitation and worry. “That was probably a mistake.”

“Maybe we should’ve checked that thing’s description…” The Fat Friar noted, concern in his voice.

“Don’t worry, It won’t kill us. What sick game, besides Dark Souls, would make an item that KILLS you?” Malideus asked, forcing a nervous chuckle.

The Sapling, now sturdy and affirmed within the ground, its roots pierced through the concrete. Magic was pulled into it from its roots as it rapidly grew, metamorphosing into a young tree. Stemming off it were offshoots of branches. Darkened leaves sprouted from these branches, retaining the radiance of magic from within their leaves.

“True Celestia or a Souls game,” the Summoner uttered hesitantly, wiping down a straying drop of sweat from his forehead. “I can’t say for sure on which one’s more… sadistic.”

“Uh, I keep hearing you guys talk about ‘Dark Souls’ a lot. Are either of you two ever going to explain it for me?” Vaati asked, still keeping his eyes on the growing sapling.

“When you’re older.” Malideus snided.

Vaati stomped upon the ground as he clenched his fist, trembling in ire a bit. ”I am over one thousand years old. Stop treating me like a baby.”

“But Vaati, you are a babby. A salty one, at that.” Malideus joked, causing Vaati to turn red.

Audrey stifled a laugh, mantling her mouth with a hand.

Vaas responded as well, chuckling maliciously as he shrugged off the giddy feeling.

The Summoner just facepalmed. “Guys, now not the time for infighting.” He warily began walking backwards, glare fixated upon the young tree now having stopped its erratic growth, still glowing faintly with magic. “We might have to deal with something soon enough.”

“Pft.” Audrey dismissed with a wave of her hand. “What’s the worst thing that could pop out of that little plant?”

“I dunno, the same thing the TREE did?” Malideus snarked.

“It’s nothing more than a sprout for now, but still-” the Summoner was caught off guard, his words falling short as the young tree suddenly dispersed, fading into nothingness as leaves spiraled across from where it stood.

“It’s evolving! Press B! PRESS B!!!” Malideus cried, terrified of what was happening.

Author's Notes:

Apologies for the delayed releases of chapters.

Been playing Terraria 1.3; blame that game--not me.

-Trolleroids