A Crafter's Dream (Discontinued)

by ruthim345


A Crafter's Dream Ch. 5: Of Hard-Fought Melons and Underdogs

Now, without further adieu, I present,

A Crafter’s Dream

“Steady. Steady.” Steve muttered to himself, trying his best to not let the hook of his fishing rod waiver. It gently lowered, it’s target, a bag of melons, directly below it. He slowly reeled it down, trying to hook one of the handles, but even the mildest breeze or slightest movement would throw him off course.

“C’mon, c’mon. Nearly there.” Just as the hook had nearly latched the handle, a slight puff of wind knocked it away again, making him groan in frustration.

“Seriously, it’d be easier to just to grow my own freaking melons. Rather that than this bullshit.” he growled. Steadying himself, he tried again, lowering the hook level with the bag. Then, ever-so-gently, he hooked the side of the brown paper bag.

“Yes!”, he exclaimed in victory. Then he proceeded to pull up the bag.

Riiiippp!!

Only for the paper bag to rip under the weight, spilling the melons onto the floor.

“Son of a..!”

“Hey, who’s there!? You best not be messing with my melons!” His yell was cut short as the pony running the fruit stand Steve was perched upon came running back. Steve quickly put away his fishing rod, and shuffled back, hopeful that the mare hadn’t seen him, even though he was already under the effects of a Invisibility Potion. Fortunately, it seemed she’d just missed him.

She looked down the street, both ways. She then grunted and started picking up her fallen fruits, throwing out the now-worthless bag, and piled the melons on the table. Muttering to herself, she swiftly plopped herself behind the table.

On top of the stand, Steve laid back and gave a quiet sigh. He’d had one chance at getting those melons and the freaking bag ripped. Face-palming, he contemplated what to do next, when he heard voices below him.

“Umm, excuse me, Green Hoof.”, Steve didn’t recognize that voice.

“What can I do for you?”, the melon mare, Green Hoof, as Steve had just found out, responded.

“I don’t want to bother you, but what’s that large indent on the roof of your stand?” At those words, Steve’s eyes widened. He’d been so focused on getting the melons, he’d forgotten he was leaving a rather large impression in the canvas ceiling of the stand. It really shouldn’t been a shock that he was noticed, but at the time, it caught him off guard.

D-pad Left: Fishing Rod

Quickly pulling out his fishing rod, he immediately cast in the random direction, waiting for for the hook to latch.

“Wait, what the…?” Green Hoof started.

“NOPE!!!”, Steve interrupted her once the string went taut, quickly yanking on the rod, pulling himself away from the scene.

“NOT TODAY, BITCHES!!!”, his invisible form called out as he sailed through the air, leaving two very confused and slightly insulted mares behind.

* * * * *

Gripping another tile, Steve hoisted himself up, eventually poking his face above the crest of the roof. Looking around, he found his target, Green Hoof’s stand, directly across the street. Hooking his elbows over the ridge, he noticed that Green Hoof herself was busy doing something in the back of her stand, meaning she wasn’t looking at her melons.

D-Pad Left: Fishing Rod.

Equipping his fishing rod, he pulled back, then cast the hook, hoping his aim was true. The hook flew across the road, and landed on the table of her stand with a dull thunk. Sighing, Steve reeled in the rod, then tried again, this time the hook bouncing off the paper bag full of melons. Gritting his teeth in frustration, Steve reeled in again and aimed, before casting the hook once more, hoping of a latch.

For some miraculous twist of fate, the hook caught on the handle of the bag, somehow without gaining the attention of Green Hoof. Stifling a cry of victory, Steve immediately began reeling in his prize, dragging the bag off the table, across the road, and slowly up towards the roof where he lay.

It was for the millionth time now that Steve thanked whatever deity existed that the ponies were very oblivious, as not a single one of them ever saw what was occuring, nor if they did, say anything.

Suddenly, the string stopped reeling. Quirking an eyebrow, Steve looked up and saw, much to his chagrin, the string had gotten stuck under one of the roof tiles. Sighing, he quickly jammed the rod into the roof to keep it still, then started to climb the roof towards the rouge tile.

“Huh, wonder who left these here?” The voice came out of nowhere, followed by, to Steve’s horror, the string of his fishing rod that hung over the roof bouncing slightly. Forgoing safety, Steve slid the rest of the way to the roof’s edge. The melons were gone. Looking down the street, he quickly found the culprit behind the disappearance.

A orange unicorn with a pure white mane was holding the bag of melons by her teeth, trotting along, looking all around, as if searching for something. Steve realized that she was looking for their owner.

Facepalming hard, Steve let out a frustrated sigh, falling onto his back, glaring up at the sky.

“Alright, screw this, new plan.”

* * * * *

Steve knelt in a nearby alley. Poking his head out, he looked both ways, then facepalmed, as he realized he was still invisible, then stepped out into the road.
L1 (Hold): Potion of Swiftness (Level 2)

Gulping down the teal potion, he immediately felt newfound energy fill his body, making him extremely hyperactive, bouncing on his feet. He immediately put his plan into action, taking off at incredible speeds, air rushing past his ears. In no time at all, his target came into view. There was no ponies at Green Hoof’s stand, with the exception being Green Hoof herself. And there, sitting innocently on the table, lay the melons he needed so badly.

He reached out an invisible hand, reaching out. Speeding past the stand, Steve’s hand grabbed one ripe, delicious melon. Not even thinking about stopping, he sped off, gripping his prize in both hands.

“Alright, with this over with, let’s head back.”, Steve muttered to himself as he altered his course, heading back towards home.

* * * * *

Clink. Pause. Clink. Pause. Clink. Pause. Clink. Pause. Clink, crack. Gathering the gold ore, Steve stuffed them into his inventory. Wiping the sweat that was slowly collecting on his brow, he sat back against the stone wall. Sighing, he opened his inventory to see what he’d collected.

“Alright, let’s see. 16 iron ore, 32 gold ore, 19 diamonds, 31 coal, and 2 emeralds.” That was something Steve had discovered during his first mining expedition. Ores and metals that were rare in his world, were very common in this world, and vice versa. Already Steve had a large collection of gold and diamonds. He’d discovered that other crystals also existed here, like topaz and ruby gems, but he’d failed to find any use of them, so he ignored them for now.

Closing his inventory, he stood, then started heading out. He’d been down here for a day as it was. The fact that he’d already collected a good amount of loot only cemented the decision to head back home. Climbing up the man-made stairway, he eventually found himself at a large, open area, with multiple tunnels leading in different directions, each one well lit with torches. Pulling out his journal, he quickly turned to the page he’d specifically written the directions down in, as to not get lost. As John used to say, “A lost Crafter is a dead Crafter.”

Suddenly, Steve heard the sound of slowly-nearing thudding. Shoving his book in his inventory, he whirled around, eyes quickly making contact with the source of the noise.

It was bipedal, roughly Steve’s height. It’s skin was covered in a thick gray fur, except for it’s stomach area, which had a much lighter gray colored fur. It wore a dirty brown vest on it’s torso. It’s eyes were lime green, with dark pupils, which were narrowed at him.

There was silence for a few moments, before it was broken by Steve.

“Who are you?”, he asked simply. The creature took a few moments before responding.

“Me Zeke the diamond dog. What you?”

“I’m Steve, I’m a Minecraftian, or Crafter for short. What do you want?”

“You find gems easy. Boss wants you.” Steve’s eyebrow quirked at that.

“Uh, no thanks. I’m doing fine myself, and I don’t want to work for your boss or whatever.” At Steve’s response, Zeke’s eyes narrowed more, and he stomped his left foot twice. The effect was instantaneous. As soon as his foot hit a second time, dozens of dogs, similar to Zeke, popped out of random holes and tunnels in the cave walls. Steve backed up, but to no avail, as they had completely surrounded him. His narrowed gaze went around, looking at the mass

“You no come, we make you come.” If it was a different situation, Steve would’ve chuckled at the phrasing of Zeke’s words, but right now, he had bigger priorities.

D-Pad Up: Sword

Steve reached over his shoulder, and gripped the handle of his sword, slowly unsheathing it. Holding it level with his side, he took comfort in the uneasy feeling emitting from the dogs now, upon seeing his weapon.

“I’m gonna give you all one chance, right now, to leave. If you do, no harm shall come to you.” This only garnered a wave of laughter from the horde, none of them taking him seriously. Sighing, he pulled back his blade, and dropped his stance.

“Remember, I gave you an out.” And with that, the fight began.

Square (Hold): Whirlwind

A small number of them immediately leapt at Steve, eager to end the fight quickly. Steve gripped his sword, then quickly spun, the flat end of the blade clobbering every single one that got close. After three rotations, Steve stopped, looked around at the dazed and unconscious dogs, then grinned at the ones that remained.

“Having second thoughts?”, he asked.

Circle: Dodge

Triangle (Hold): Roundhouse Kick

Steve quickly sidestepped a tackle from a rather large fellow. Whirling around, Steve landed a heavy roundhouse kick on the back of their head, knocking it out.

Circle + Square: Counter

A large spear, the tip, surprisingly, made of diamond, stabbed at Steve. He swiftly deflected the attack upward, then slammed his elbow into his aggressors stomach, causing it to curl up and fall to the ground. Steve felt something heavy slam into his back, sending him flying forward, coincidentally knocking over a few diamond dogs as he flew.

Damage Received - 3 damage. 17 health remaining.

Letting out a groan, Steve jumped to his feet, readying his sword. The horde swarmed forward, intent on beating Steve into the ground. When they were nearly upon him, when Steve hear their heavy breathing, when he could feel them only inches away, he moved.

X (Hold): Power Jump

Leaping high, he easily towered over the heads of the diamond dogs. Bringing his blade over his head, he let out a roar of determination. Then, he brought the blade down, slamming into the ground with enough force to crack the stone beneath it and sent out a shockwave that knocked every dog to the floor.

New Move Learned: X (Hold) + Square (Hold): Sword Slam.

Shakily getting to his feet, Steve grinned at the horrified faces of the dogs.

“You still want some?!!” Steve yelled. Turns out, they didn’t. All at once, they got up and ran in random directions, soon disappearing from Steve’s sight, one by one. In no time at all, they were all gone, and Steve was left alone once again.

Chucking quietly, Steve sheathed his sword, then pulled out his journal. After a quick look at the directions, Steve put the book away and was on his way home again.

* * * * *

“So, want to tell me what happened again, just slower?”, Twilight Sparkle asked Rainbow Dash as she placed an ice-pack against her friends black eye.

“I told you Twilight! It was this weird, hairless ape! It wore these raggedy clothes, and was really tough! It had a mean punch too.” Rainbow stated, gesturing to her eye.

“You said this, ape, has visited before?”

“Yeah! A week or so, before the whole Nightmare Moon incident! AJ and Rarity were there, too!” Rainbow exclaimed.

Twilight put a hoof to her chin in thought. This seemed like a very dangerous creature, one that had come back to Ponyville on multiple occasions. What should she do? Looking at the ice-pack that covered Dash’s black eye and the gauze wrapped around her barrel, she quickly made her decision.

“Spike!?” Twilight called.

“What is it, Twilight?” Spike’s asked as he walked over to the pair from the kitchen.

“I need you to take a letter.” At this, Spike nodded, then pulled a quill and paper from, somewhere, then waited for Twilight to start.

Ahem. Dear Princess Celestia…”