A Tale of Crafters and Ponies

by Dolphy Blue Drake

Chapter 8: The Realization

Chapter 8: The Realization

------Dolphy------

Once I returned to Town Hall, the children and I had lunch. We had veggie salad (a rare dish, since I can’t grow the white wild carrots, unlike the other two ingredients (raw potatoes and orange tame carrots)), mushroom stew and fruit juice. I made sure to save enough for our guests, just in case they got hungry before they returned. I also made sure to give Krya and Huey the remaining slices of cake. Those two worked really hard last night.

After our lunch, I was about to try to train the children on combat again, when Twilight and her friends flung open the front doors and dashed over to me as if something was chasing them.

What she showed me is something that will probably change the way I look at things forever.

------Ponies------

“What’s wrong, Twilight?” the dragon-like asked with concern in his voice. “You look like you’ve seen a Wither!”

Instead of asking what a “Wither” was, Twilight levitated the book she had been carrying into Dolphy’s hands.

The Crafter gave Twilight’s glowing horn a surprised look, but quickly shifted his eyes to the page Twilight had the book open to.

As the Crafter’s eyes darted back and forth over the words on the page, Twilight waited for his reaction.

“Oh my word…” he breathed as he finished reading the page. “There were Crafters here before us? And they were destroyed?”

Twilight nodded.

“And this ‘Herobrine’… They were trying to create an equal to Notch? Why would anyone do something like that?”

“They were trying to understand the magic of this world better,” Twilight replied. “Or, that’s what some of the earlier journal entries mentioned.”

“By the descriptions, this ‘Herobrine’ seems more like a monster than a Crafter…” Dolphy’s eyes grew huge at the realization of what he’d just said.

“That must be who kidnapped my wife and friends! I remember he looked like a Crafter, but he gave off the same feeling of vileness that I get from monsters. If he can do all that,” the Crafter lowered his head sadly. “I’ll probably never be able to rescue them. I couldn’t possibly defeat something that powerful!”

“Daddy, please don’t give up!”

Dolphy spun around when he heard his daughter’s voice.

“But Krya, I—“

“Daddy, you promised that you’d get Mommy back!” the pink dragon-like said, cutting him off. “Doesn’t a promise mean more than just words?”

The dragon-likes’ eyes met, and after about a minute, the adult nodded and knelt down to meet his daughter at eye level.

“You’re right, Krya,” the father said. “I made a promise, and I should keep it. I will get your mother back. And Huey’s parents, too.”

The two hugged for a few minutes, but then separated when Pinkie spoke up.

“This Herobrine sounds like a big meanie mean pants! That bully should be taught a lesson!”

Dolphy and Kryanna smiled at that.

------Dolphy------

Pinkie was right. This ‘Herobrine’ may have killed many Crafters in the past, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t defeat him. At least, I might be able to with some help.

I asked our guests if some of them could come with me to rescue my wife and friends. They agreed, but also said that they’d need some time to get ready. Especially the ones who would stay behind to take care of the children.

I accepted their reasoning, and then brought out the lunch I’d set aside for them.

They finished lunch quickly, then observed as I started to train the children on combat again.

------Ponies------

“Okay, children,” Dolphy said once all the young Crafters had assembled in a large, nearly empty room, “We’re going to practice combat again. I want each of you to grab a stick from the chest and find a partner to square off against. Remember: once your opponent shows signs of fatigue, don’t continue to attack. This is only for practice. I’ll have food and health potions set aside for when training is complete.”

The ponies sat down and watched as the children reached into the open chest, pulled out sticks, and then split up into pairs.

The adult Crafter gave a signal, and the children started smacking each other with sticks.

Fluttershy cringed and looked away, but the other five watched intently.

After several minutes, there were seven children sitting on the floor, and seven more panting from the exertion, but obviously victorious.

“Very good!” Dolphy said, applauding the children. “Even those of you who lost did quite well. This is a definite improvement over last week!”

The blue dragon-like passed out food and bottles of some kind of red fluid to the children. Upon consuming the beverage, the children looked good as new.

“Now, all of you run along,” Dolphy told the children. The children started to leave, but as his daughter reached the door, the Crafter added, “Krya, you stay here. I need to talk to you.”

Confused, the pink dragon-like walked back to her father.

“What is it Daddy?”

“I just wanted to let you know how proud I was of your performance during practice,” the adult dragon-like said as he knelt down to talk to her. “You’ve shown incredible improvement. I think I’ll have to train you in actual swordplay and archery. You’re ready for it now.”

The girl squealed in delight and hugged her father. “Thank you, Daddy! I’ll do my best!”

The rest of the day went along smoothly, but when night fell, one child stayed awake.

------Dolphy------

Once the other children had all gone to bed, I had Kryanna meet me at the front door. I gave her a full suit of diamond armor and a diamond sword, since I was going to let her try to battle a monster for the first time.

Most of our guests had fallen asleep, but Rainbow Dash hadn’t, and she wanted to tag along and watch. I gave her permission, and then the three of us quietly slipped out the door to make our way to the old arena, which hadn’t been used since the tragedy that took most of my friends’ lives.

Upon arriving at the old obsidian stadium, I motioned for our sole spectator to take a seat in the stands while Kryanna and I got ready.

“Are you ready?” I asked my daughter.

“Y-yes!” she stuttered, shivering in anticipation.

“Okay. The first monster I’m bringing out is a Silverfish,” I told her.

“But Daddy! Those are pathetic!” she protested.

“It’s best to start small,” I replied. “We all have to start somewhere. The first monster I ever fought may have been a witch, but I had fifteen friends helping me. I’m only going to step in if anything goes wrong.”

She sighed. “Okay, Daddy.”

I opened the door to the arena, and she entered.

As soon as she took on a battle stance, I pressed a button, and a lone Silverfish entered the arena.

My daughter struck the creature with her sword, and it died in a single stroke.

“I told you those are too easy Daddy!” she exclaimed.

“Hey! Give her something harder!” Rainbow Dash shouted.

“I was just about to do that!” I shouted back.

“Krya!” I called to my little girl, “remember that Silverfish usually appear in strongholds. They usually attack in groups, but we’ll get to that later. Now, I want you to take on a spider!”

She nodded, and I pressed another button, releasing a large, black spider.

The night just got more interesting from there.

Comments

[Dolphy Blue Drake]

Chapter 8 is now out! I probably won't be releasing any chapters tomorrow, but I'll try to get right back to it on Monday!

[mrlordowaffles]

3733708 I have to say, the speed at which you output chapters is very nice.

[Dolphy Blue Drake]

3733737 Thanks. I try my best. It also helped that I didn't have school getting in the way. That changes on Monday, though.

[mrlordowaffles]

3733764 Ah I have an alike problem, though I am also lazy...