Chapter 15: Fog
Year 8, Day 19
We woke up early again, ate quickly, and then I tore down our shelter again.
We took a few steps into the forbidding forest, and stopped.
The forest suddenly filled with an intense fog, making it hard to see anything more than sixteen blocks away.
I had forgotten that Ominous Woods biomes are constantly shrouded in fog. I was prepared, however. I pulled out a torch, and set it on the ground. It wasn’t much help, but it thinned the fog around it a little.
“Should we wait for the fog to clear?” Twilight asked.
“No,” I replied. “The fog never disappears. We’ll have to proceed as is. Be on the lookout for Endermen and venomous Cave Spiders. They appear here even during the day, and they’re just as hostile here as if it were dark.”
------Ponies (Shimmering Hope)------
Rarity had the Crafter children assemble outdoors for the day’s lesson. It was the lesson about making a home both practical and appealing.
She had studied the books Dolphy had intended to read for the lesson, and she found that the ancient Crafters had a much better sense of style than the modern ones did.
The first part of the lesson was on imbuing wool with obsidian essence to make it virtually indestructible. She showed the children how to accomplish it, and then showed them how to make decorative patterns with it. The children caught on quickly, so she went on to the next part of the lesson: using glowstone essence to turn wool into a light source.
The lesson went smoothly, and the children soon proved to have a much better eye for style than Dolphy had.
After the lesson ended, Pinkie kept the children entertained, and their laughter could be heard every few seconds.
------Ponies (Dolphy’s Group)------
Applejack bucked a cave spider in the face, sending it flying.
“These things don’t quit!” She remarked as three more took its place.
Dolphy opened his mouth to reply, but all that came out was a yelp of pain as one of the spiders bit him.
As the ponies gave him a quick glance, they noticed that he looked sick all of a sudden.
“I’m poisoned,” he told them through clenched teeth, “it should wear off in a little bit. Man, I wish I’d brought some milk buckets.”
As a spider lunged at Twilight, she caught it with her magic and flung it away as hard as she could throw it, causing it to disappear into the fog.
The Crafter groaned in agony as he slashed at another spider, killing it in one strike.
“Are you sure you’ll be okay?” Twilight asked after Rainbow Dash killed the last spider.
“I’ll be fine,” Dolphy replied, his voice wavering slightly, “since poison can’t kill. At least, not in this world, it can’t.”
He pulled out a bottle of red liquid and downed the contents.
“The poison just wore off, and my potion fixed all my injuries,” he announced. “We should keep going.”
The ponies nodded, and they resumed walking through the woods.
“Ah, I was wondering when you’d finally show up,” a voice called out, seeming to come from everywhere at once, “I was starting to get bored, you see.”
“Dolphy?” Twilight said. “Is that—?”
“I’ve never heard his voice,” the dragon-like replied, “but I’m sure it’s him.”
“Herobrine!” Dash shouted. “Why are you hiding like a coward?”
“Hiding?” the voice said, chuckling. “I don’t need to hide. I just want to see if you can find me, that’s all. I can’t very well leave my long-term guests unattended, now can I?”
Dolphy growled, but he took a few deep breaths before speaking.
“If you want us to find you so badly, why don’t you just show us where you are?” the Crafter asked.
“And spoil the fun?” Herobrine’s voice replied. “Why would I do that? I’ve been incredibly bored ever since the Testificate government collapsed. Then you new Crafters came along! Your kind is far more entertaining than those large-nosed imbeciles! You aren’t used to feeling helpless, so the confusion it causes is very satisfactory. Of course, when I’m done with you and those children, I’m going to leave this world. The three buffoons who created this world kindly showed me that there are more worlds than the worlds of Crafters. I think I’ll start with the one your friends are from. I wonder if they can put up much of a fight…”
“You’ll do no such thing!” Dolphy yelled, anger filling his voice. “You’re going to die in this world, and you’ll die by my hand!”
“My, aren’t we brave?” Herobrine’s voice mocked. “Let’s see if you can back that up!”
The voice cackled and faded, and heavily armed and armored zombies and skeletons suddenly surrounded the group.
“Just great,” the dragon-like grumbled. “He can create monsters out of thin air.”
The skeletons started firing on the group, but Twilight created a barrier around them, stopping the arrows in midair. The skeletons stupidly kept firing arrows, but the zombies simply walked right through the barrier and started slashing with their swords.
Applejack tried to buck one of them, but it barely flinched at all due to the enchantments on its armor. It grunted and swung its sword, but it was knocked back five blocks and burst into flames when Dolphy struck it with his enchanted sword, and it failed to get in a hit.
The zombie burned to death, but several more took its place.
“Twilight, can you teleport us out of here?” Dash asked.
Twilight shook her head.
“I can only take us backwards,” she replied. “The fog’s too thick to see much in front of us, so I wouldn’t be able to visualize anything in front of us more than a few blocks.”
“Then I can solve this,” Dolphy announced as he sheathed his sword and pulled out a blocky green pearl. “Grab me and hold on tight!”
The ponies quickly complied, and Dolphy threw the pearl, which disappeared into the fog.
“How’s that going to—“
Twilight cut off as the group suddenly vanished and reappeared deeper into the forest.
All four groaned as pain suddenly shot through their bodies.
“Sorry… about… that…” Dolphy managed as he pulled out another red potion, drank it, and then pulled out three more and tossed one to each pony.
“Drink that,” he told them, which they did. Suddenly, the pain vanished as if it had never existed.
“How’d you do that?” Dash asked.
“The teleporting, or the healing?” Dolphy asked back.
“Both,” the pegasus replied.
“Well,” Dolphy began, “the teleporting was done with an Ender Pearl. Endermen can sometimes be found carrying them, so they’ll occasionally drop them when they die. The pearl can be thrown to induce teleportation, but it also hurts anyone who uses it, which is why I gave each of you a Potion of Instant Health.”
“As for the potion itself,” he added, “I brewed those by combining a bottle of water with some Nether Wart, and then I added a Glistering Melon—a melon slice fused with gold—and finished by adding some glowstone dust.”
“How does that even—“ Twilight began, but then cut off and said, “Never mind. This world already defies a lot of our logic. It’d be too much to ask for potions to work the same way.”
“Well, we better keep going,” Applejack said, and the others nodded in agreement, so they resumed walking.