//------------------------------// // A Crafter's Dream Ch. 3: Waking Nightmares [Revised] // Story: A Crafter's Dream (Discontinued) // by ruthim345 //------------------------------// Now, without further adieu, I present, “A Crafter’s Dream” Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! Crunch! Steve sighed as he picked the final log of wood from the downed tree, sheathing his axe and storing the wood in his Inventory. He’d spent most of his morning cutting down trees and avoiding any unnecessary fights with the numerous and deadly creatures of the Everfree forest. Since he'd just finished his task of collecting wood, he went on to his next assignment, which was basically spying on the ponies that lived in the nearby town of Ponyville, which was by far one of the stupidest names he'd ever heard. Steve, by nature, wasn't a stalker. But he knew better than most that in a fight, knowledge is just as important as firepower, and if the first time was any indication, he would get into a lot of fights with the town residents if he wasn’t careful. That’s why invisibility potions were a must when he went on his little trips. So far, nopony in the town really knew he existed, and the three mares he’d fought, Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Rarity, didn’t know he’d ever returned to town and if he could help it, it'd stay that way. Upon arriving on the edge of the forest, he stopped. L1 (Hold): Potion Select (Invisibility Potion) Pulling out the potion, he gulped it down, the potion taking immediate effect, his hands fading from sight before his very eyes. Stuffing the bottle back in his inventory, he began his trek into town, careful to avoid any attention from its inhabitants. One thing he’d learned the hard way was that in this world, his invisibility potion was slightly nerfed. Back home, it made one completely invisible, unless they happened to be wearing armor or holding something. Here, however, he left a slight shimmer wherever he stood. Luckily, it was very faint and usually one had to be looking straight at him to actually see him, allowing him to continue his research. Arriving at his preferred location, a tall round building that, he found, was the town hall, where the mayor of Ponyville, who was, strangely enough, named “Mayor Mare”, took care of assumedly political things and such. It was both one of the tallest buildings in town, and one of the more easily accessed, making it one of the best spots to be on lookout, only a relatively short, albeit invisible jog from the edge of the Everfree. Sitting back, he put his back up against the wall, chomping down a carrot and pulling out his journal labeled “Pony Research”, where he kept any and all recorded information about the citizens of the town. Scooting backward, he leaned back with quill in hand and prepared himself for a long day of pony watching. * * * * * Steve had been writing down something about one of the town citizens named Pinkamena Diane Pie, or Pinkie Pie to her friends, or Pink Demon to Steve. Anyway, he’d been writing down one of his ever growing list of theories on how a creature like her existed, when a shadow passed over his head. He’d thought it was simply another pegasus. That being said, he ignored it, until something was reflecting the sunlight into his face. Squinting in annoyance, he put his hand up, temporary blocking out the glare. Glaring in the direction the glare came from, his gaze turned from annoyed to curious when he saw what had caused the glare. It was a chariot, a golden one at that. It was pulled by two pure white pegasi wearing similar golden armor and helmets. The passengers of said chariot were a purple unicorn mare and what appeared to small bipedal lizard. The chariot lands and both passengers step out. With a quick word to the pegasi, the chariot pulls away while the unicorn and lizard stand and seem to trade words. Steve simply shrugs, before continuing to write down his theory. “And now, to continue, for the following reasons I suspect that Ms. Pinkamena is, in fact, a deity of some sort.” * * * * * Hours pass. It’s already dark out and Steve, instead of being asleep, is up and about, cooking up some food reserves for the coming days in his house. Well, house is kinda pushing it. It’s mostly just a big hole in the side of a mountain that he’d secured and made into a home. He knelt in front of his furnaces. There were three, stacked up on each other. After checking all three, he shoved a few lumps of coal in each and stood up and walking over to his chest. He was busy pouring some supplies into the chest when he felt it. As it’d been mentioned before, just being in the forest gave Steve bad vibes. While he’d lived in the forest for a few months now, he’d gotten used to the feeling. Now, however, the feeling came back full force, like all the resistance he’d gathered over time never existed at all. Something was definitely wrong. Almost by memory, he walked over to the chest placed right at the head of his rose-colored bed. Opening it, he reached inside and pulled out a glowing blue blade. His enchanted diamond sword. Grabbing his shield as well, he stored them in his quick-select, then made his way to the door. He then gingerly opened it and stepped out into the cool night. Looking around, he saw nothing, but he knew something was there. Walking out, his gaze lingered on the vegetation that surrounded the small clearing, searching for whatever had caused the disturbance. “I know you’re out there!! Come on out!!” He yelled into the night. There was nothing for a moment, then Steve's eyes managed to make out a dark form moving through the treeline, towards him. It was a pony, and a large one at that. It stood at the same height as himself, it’s black horn making it taller. It’s fur was pitch black, with large feathered wings. It wore some sort of iron chestplate with boots and a helmet. Her aquamarine eyes were narrowed on him. It walked into the clearing, horn glowing cyan blue. "He was right." She muttered, just loud enough for the Crafter to hear. "You do look a lot alike." “The Nether are you talking about!?” He yelled as he took a step forward. The pony, no, this was a horse, stopped and her lips formed into a frown. Her horn suddenly flickered and a large beam of of blue magic shot at Steve. Circle: Block Steve put his blade between himself and the beam. The force made him take a step back, but he reinforced his stance and deflected the beam to his right. “Silence, creature! You will only speak with respect to Nightmare Moon!”, she snarled. “I’ll give you the respect you deserve bitch!”, he yelled in response. “Which, in case you can't figure it out, is none! You want a fight, you'll get one!” Steve ran forward, bringing his blade back for a swing. Nightmare Moon shot two bolts of cyan blue magic. Circle: Dodge Steve front-flipped over both shots. Square: Slash Steve slashed his sword at his opponent, but she leapt backwards. In retaliation, her horn glowed and suddenly, Steve found himself unable to move. Taking advantage, Nightmare Moon shot a magic bolt at his paralyzed form. Taking the hit full force, Steve flew back, landing on his back and flipping over onto his stomach. Damage Received - 6 damage. 14 health remaining. Getting back to his feet, Steve groaned in pain as Nightmare Moon cackled. “You truly don’t believe you stand a chance, do you?” “What, feeling tired?”, Steve retorted. Her smirk fell into a glare. In truth, she was working with a limited power supply, having spent a lot escaping her imprisonment. The only reason she was bothering with Steve was because he would be a powerful ally. She needed to finish this fast. “Enough. I’ve wasted too much time as it is.”, she said in a calm tone. “What’s the hurry Princess!”, Steve said, sword in hand as he ran at the alicorn. Her eyes narrowed as she powered her horn, preparing a spell, making the Crafter take a step back, readying himself. Steve knew that his opponent was strong and her wings and magic made it hard, nearly impossible to hit her. He was severely underprepared for this fight, having been expecting a Wood Wolf, or something easier to deal with and he doubted “Nightmare Moon” would wait while he went and got some better armor and gear. His only hope was for her to make a mistake, or to catch her off-guard. Holding his sword in a backward fashion, he held it at his side as he ran, ready for the inevitable magic blast to come. And come it did. He had nearly reached his target when the blast came, making dodging impossible. Luckily, that’s wasn’t what he was planning on. Circle + Square: Counter Square: Slash Twisting his body, his sword came around with every ounce of strength he could muster. The bright, blue blade swiped the powerful magic bolt in mid-air, sending it rebounding through the air straight back at it’s caster. Eyes widening, Nightmare Moon, barely had time to throw up a quick shield to protect herself from the attack. The bolt shattered the shield on impact, dealing the blow-back to her. Falling to her knees, she had barely gotten back to her hooves when the flat end of a diamond blade smashed into her muzzle. Falling back, she growled as her horn glowed once again, before she was interrupted by a fleshy hand gripping her horn, cutting off her magic. “Yeah”, Steve commented, “That’s not going to happen.” Her eyes widened. Square: Smash Square: Smash Square: Smash Square: Smash Square: Smash Steve lifted her up by her horn, then proceeded to smash her into the ground. Five times. The indent in the earth grew with each slam, before Steve stopped and released her. Nightmare Moon collapsed on the ground, groaning, trying to get up, her whole body in pain. Lifting her head, her teeth grit as she felt the blade press into her throat and Steve put his face a hair’s distance from her muzzle. “I have no interest in killing you, but by no means am I unwilling to do so. Leave while you have the chance.” Nightmare Moon’s pride burned at the very notion and she considered continuing the fight, but two things stopped her from doing so. First, if she continued the fight, she’d burn through too much of her magic for her plan to have any chance of success. Second, the bipedal was much stronger than she had initially thought. Even now, she knew he was holding back, and she had no need to face this being taking the fight seriously. So, with that, she made her decision. “Fine.”, she said. In the blink of an eye, she was gone, with barely a twinkle of her horn. Sighing, Steve stood. The feeling had lessened with her disappearance, but still there. Sheathing his sword, he walked back into his home with barely a word said, eager to get back to what he was doing. Cooking food and resting. * * * * * It would be only an hour since his fight when Steve felt a sudden surge of joy in his chest. Having been used to the feeling of danger and dread for so long, such a feeling made him sit straight up in his bed. After a few moments, the surge faded and the feeling of apprehension returned, but not nearly as strong as before. Rubbing his chest curiously, he stood from his bed and walked to his door, taking a look outside. The forest lay there, as it always had, but just beyond, he saw the first hints of the sunrise. He let out a small, happy sigh, content to watch the sun slowly ascend. Doing so always gave the Crafter a feeling of happiness. So he stood, watching light from the heavens slowly make its way upwards, feeling that maybe, maybe, this world wasn’t so bad.