THWACK!

THWACK!

THWACK!

CRACK!

I wiped some sweat from my brow, lowering my axe as the wood chunks were absorbed automatically into my inventory. After shivering at the alien feeling, I took in my surroundings.

A good number of trees were simply gone, no stumps or any sign they'd ever been there, making the area look like a semi-natural clearing. It was a strange sight, though not as strange as the new physics this world had. After all, I'm pretty sure trees don't normally break into little wooden chunks like shattered glass when you chop the trunk.

I sighed and shook my head, looking up at the now much more visible sky. "..." My mouth formed a thin line as I saw the sun was about to set. I may have been within my rights to break down like that, but now I was running low on time. With another sigh, I spoke the word I'd learned opened my personal subspace pocket. "Inventory." Immediately, the same menu from earlier in the day appeared, and I looked over the materials I'd gathered. "Five hundred should do for now," I reasoned, putting the wood into my quick bar and dismissing the menu.

I turned around, using what the Training app had taught me and dismissing my axe with a mental command. I hummed as I looked over the area. "Now, how do I want this to look?" I wondered, stroking my beard.

Back home, I was a carpenter, so I knew a fair bit about making homes. The question was, how did I want the new house to look? I could make it modern, or rustic, or even gothic. Hell, I might even be able to pull off oriental. Sure, this world had some of the mechanics of Terraria, but it didn't have all of them, so maybe I actually could make the simple wood I'd gotten into a different style, unlike in the games where you needed specific wood to make specific styles.

I continued stroking my beard until, after a fair bit of deliberation, I decided I'd just make a simple log cabin for now and upgrade it to a cottage later when I had the time. With that in mind, I willed my pickaxe into my hand and set to work digging out a foundation for my house.

My mind wandered as I did this, and one of the first things that popped into my head was how jarring it was that I could just ignore physics now, mainly because I've always been rather attached to my tools when I worked. That, and everything I'd learned in school and experience told me making a house should NOT be this easy. Still, right now I couldn't afford to waste time freaking out about it.

The sun was setting, and I needed to get my house up before nightfall. I'd spent too much time already just trying to calm down from everything that had happened, and I knew from experience playing Terraria that if I didn't have a shelter on the first night, then I was dead meat.

And I did not want to see if respawning was a thing in this world.

In shorter time than I expected, I had the flooring and foundation done and was already working on the walls. It took a bit longer than it did in game, considering I actually had to do all four walls of the house, but I got it done in record time thanks to my new abilities. Making the roof was a bit harder, since I had to make platforms to even reach, and thus a workbench, but once that was done, so was the house. After I finished placing the last piece of the roof, I hopped down and surveyed my work.

"Hmm...I'll need some glass for windows, and some stone for a chimney, among other things, but it looks good enough to me," I turned to the workbench I'd made, opening my menu again and selecting 'Crafting'. After scrolling through the options for a bit, I found the recipe for a door, tapped it, and a door appeared in my quick bar.

Looking at my hand, all I saw was a miniature door. "This is going to take some getting used to..." I said with a grunt, before walking over to the entrance and looking it over. I glanced from it and back to the small door in my hand a few times. "Make that a lot of getting used to." I said with a sigh. After checking the opening a few times, I placed the door, and it just magically fit.

I shook my head. "Fucking new world physics," I swore, checking the entrance over. It was plumb and even, and the gaps were even too. Stepping back, I sighed and shook my head again. "Yeah, this is gonna be hard to even start to get used to." With another shake of my head, I willed my pickaxe into my hand, picked up my workbench, hoisted my pickaxe over my shoulder, and walked into my new home.

Immediately I took notice of how dark it was, and groaned. "Shit, forgot I need some gel for torches." I placed my workbench down in a corner, then walked back out of my home, willing my Hero Sword into my hand. "Time to go hunting for slimes, I guess."

With that, I walked off into the forest. As I did, I felt my stomach rumble. "Guess hunting for food wouldn't be a bad idea, either..."

"Twilight, it's good to see you. I just wish it wasn't for something so dire," Celestia greeted, briefly exchanging hugs with her former student.

Once they separated, Twilight asked, "So what is it this time? Another old enemy?"

Celestia shook her head. "No, not exactly." She looked to Luna, who stepped down from her throne and stopped by her sister.

"Then what is it?" Starlight asked, quirking her head.

Luna shared another look with her sister, then sighed and looked back to the Elements and Starlight. "Have any of you heard of the Nightfall Prophecy?"

They all exchanged confused looks, then turned back to the Princesses. "No?" Twilight replied.

Celestia managed a smile. "Well, I suppose that is to be expected. It is a prophecy far older than even us, after all."

"Wait wait wait wait wait, this prophecy or whatever is older than even you guys?" Rainbow queried, eyes wide. "But you guys are like, a thousand years old!" Applejack, Rarity, Starlight and Twilight glared at the cyan pegasus. "E-Eheh, uh, no offense." She concluded, rubbing the back of her neck with a hoof.

The Sisters giggled. "It's fine, Rainbow, we don't mind." Celestia assured, waving it off. She quickly regained her worried look. "But to make a long story short, the Prophecy foretells the coming of beasts and magicks beyond our ken. In particular, a being who holds sway over the moon and the night."

Luna continued where her sister left off. "And just last night, my hold over my moon was taken from me."

The ponies gasped.

"WHAT?!" Pinkie screeched, zooming up to Luna and grabbing her by the muzzle. "Nightmare Night is still happening, right?! RIGHT?!"

"Settle down there, Pinkie," Applejack urged, pulling on the pink mare's tail and bringing her back into the group.

Fluttershy spoke up, peeking out from behind her mane. "U-Um, so, what do we do?"

"Yeah! Where's this guy at? We'll take him down no sweat!" Rainbow boasted, pounding her hooves together.

"Hear hear!" Rarity piped up, nodding her head twice.

Twilight smiled at her friends and their rallying cries, then looked back to the Princesses with a determined smile. "I think I speak for all of us when I say we're ready to do what we have to. So where are we going?"

Celestia sighed. "I'm afraid the creature will not be arriving for at least four years, if the prophecy holds true."

"It will bide it's time, taking strength from the kills it's kin make under the light of the moon," Luna continued. She frowned. "Already we have received reports of casualties from these very creatures."

"And to make matters worse, we've little idea how to combat them. Quite a few are simply too strong or too fast for the guards," Celestia added, a frown etched on her own muzzle.

The Elements and Starlight looked at each other, unease painting their features. Starlight looked to the Royals. "Then, what do we do?"

Luna and Celestia managed small smiles. "Simple," Celestia began, before the doors to the throne room opened, and seven familiar ponies strode in.

It was the Pillars, as well as a familiar maroon unicorn. The Element's eyes widened as Tempest finished Celestia's answer.

"We teach you all combat," She smirked. "From the ground up."

I hope this chapter wasn't too boring for you all. I had fun writing it, so I really hope you all had fun reading it.

Anyways, thanks for reading!

-Timeless Celestial