//------------------------------// // A Crafter's Dream Ch. 9: One in a Million // Story: A Crafter's Dream (Discontinued) // by ruthim345 //------------------------------// Now, without further adieu, I present, “A Crafter’s Dream” To say Steve was irritated would be an understatement. To say he currently wanted the punch this land’s ruler in the face, multiple times, would be more of a correct statement. Steve ducked his head behind a trash can as a nearby pegasus guard flew overhead. Groaning in frustration, he swiftly climbed up the side of a nearby house. Getting to the roof, he leapt across the gap onto the adjacent roof. Landing in a roll, he swiftly moved trying to stay unnoticed. “There it is. B Squad, pursue!” A shout came from behind him, making him whirl around. To his chagrin, a group of three, gold armored pegasi were speeding at him. Yelping in surprise, Steve leapt off the building, hitting the ground in a roll. Taking off, he could hear their shouting at him to “Halt!” which he had now intention of doing. Seriously, what did they expect him to do, just lay down and take it? No! If he’d ever done that, he’d have been killed a long time ago. “Squad E, be ready, he’s heading towards you!” Steve heard one of his pursuers yell. Eyes widening, he immediately veered to the right. He didn’t know what guards were in Squad E, but he was in no hurry to face two squads of guards as once. Especially if they were unicorns. They were the reason he was in this predicament. He’d been making his way to his usual spot, the town hall, when one of the guards, a unicorn, had sent out a large wave of energy. It hadn’t harmed Steve, but it had all but destroyed the Invisibility effect he’d had. For a moment he hadn’t even noticed, before he saw the group of guards staring at him while he was standing on the roof of someone’s house. There was a few moments where the group just stared at Steve, and him at them, before he took off, the squad following close behind. He’d lost them for a moment, but it was hard to stay undercover, since they apparently had a counter to his invisibility now, and the fricking flyers weren’t helping. While they patrolled the air, the regular ones and the unicorns could follow him on the ground. As seen by his current situation. A bolt of magic flew over his head, making him yelp in shock. Glancing back, he saw a squad of three earth ponies and two unicorns following just under the pegasi, slowly gaining. The unicorns horn’s glowed, preparing for a spell. Circle: Dodge Steve rolled to the right just as a beam of white magic flew by. Back on his feet in an instant, Steve sped down the road, the eager guards following close behind. “Bright! Use your telekinesis and hold it still!” One of the guards yelled from behind him. “I can’t Sarge! It’s moving around too much for me to get a hold on it. If someone can get it to stop moving, then I can!” “Roger that. Swift, you and Dream try and get ahead it! Slow it down!” The Sergeant ordered. Pulling out an Ender Pearl, Steve immediately threw it to his left, sending flying through the air, out of sight. Continuing to run, Steve only made it a few more feet before he felt something slam into his back and grab on. Whoever it was immediately took Steve up, leaving him dangling in the air. Square: Punch Bringing his arm around, Steve smacked the muzzle of his captor, freeing himself. As Steve fell, he felt the familiar pulling sensation as the Ender Pearl did it’s work, landing him on the roof of some residents house. Before he could move, the thatched roof collapsed beneath him, sending him plummeting into the darkness below. * * * * * Falling, Steve crashed into the floor, making a heavy thud sound. Damage Received - 2 damage. 18 health remaining Groaning, Steve got to his feet, looking around the room he fell into. It was dark, with the exception of the new light he’d made. Old boxes and crates littered the room, along with random stuff. It looked like a very poorly organized storage room. Gazing around the room in confusion, Steve’s stomach dropped when he heard the sound of a door opening somewhere behind him. Acting fast, Steve dove for cover behind a particularly large box. “Hello! Is anypony there!?” A voice called out, followed by the owner of said voice appearing. She was a gray-furred pegasus, with a bright, blonde mane. Her golden eyes were, oddly enough, looking in two different directions as she looked around the room. L1 (Hold): Potion Select: Invisibility Potion. Pulling out his last potion of Invisibility, he quietly gulped it down, feeling the effect wash over his body. Poking his head out, he watched as she carefully walked through the room, looking all around. Her eyes passed over him for a moment, but she swiftly turned her head, continuing to search for the cause of the hole in the roof. Sneaking past her, Steve snuck silently, careful not to attract her attention. Walking backwards, he kept his gaze on her as he crept, eventually making his way to the door. Stopping just before the threshold, he turned and stepped forward. Only to give a yelp as he was forced to hurriedly step over a small unicorn filly that had just magically appeared. Accidently misstepping, he gave a yell of surprise, tumbling over the small pony as she too let out a shriek, sending him crashing down the stairs. Thudding face-first on the floor, Steve let out a groan. Damage Received - 2 damage. 16 health remaining. Rolling over onto his back, he sighed and propped himself up on his elbows, taking a look up the stairwell. The pegasus, who, if Steve’s memory was correct, was named Derpy, or something like that, was holding the small unicorn filly against her body protectively. Steve assumed this must’ve her daughter. Both ponies stared at where he lay, unable to see him, but able to see where he landed. “Sorry.” Steve muttered quietly as he got to his feet, before making his way to where he assumed the front of the house was. Walking through the kitchen, he arrived in what he would call a front room, with two couches, a small table and a record player in the back. Walking to the front door, he peeked out. Looking around, he saw a squad of guards slowly making their way down the street. Usually, he would just try to sneak away, but with their counter to his Invisibility, he had to wait till they were gone. Sighing, he smacked his back into the door, slowly sliding to the floor, facepalming. “Excuse me?” a voice asked. Looking up, Steve saw that Derpy was standing a few feet away, looking at him with a curious and nervous expression. Her daughter stood just behind her, with a similar expression. “What?” Steve said gruffly, narrowing his gaze at the two ponies. At his tone, she tensed and almost took a step back. However, she steeled herself and moved forward a step. “What are you, exactly?” At her question, Steve’s eyebrow raised. Why did she care? “My name is Steve. Why do you care? Shouldn’t you be calling the guards, or trying to beat the ever-loving crap out of me?” Steve questioned. That’s what every pony that’d laid eyes on him had done. Why would she be different? At his question, her eye’s widened in shock. “What? No! Why would anypony ever do that?” She asked, seemingly upset. Steve let out a humorless chuckle, “Every one of you ponies that has ever laid eyes on me had done exactly that. In fact, this is probably the longest conversation I’ve had with a pony that isn’t related to fighting.” At this, her misaligned eyes narrowed, somehow. “You’re the creature that causing all the guards so much trouble.” she accused. “They want to capture me and imprison me for something I didn’t do. Of course I’m gonna cause them trouble.” Steve argued, looking out the door. Road seemed clear. Steve had his chance. “See ya.” he said quietly, opening the door and walking out. Stopping just past the threshold, he turned back to the occupants of the house. “Thanks. For, not attacking me.” Turning back, he sighed, then started walking again. “Wait!” came a voice from behind him. Stopping, Steve turned his head to find Derpy coming up to him. When she came up to him, she reached a hoof. Upon it sat a delicious-looking blueberry muffin. “Maybe you aren’t as bad as they say. So here’s a muffin. I hope you like it.” She stated simply with a smile present on her muzzle. Hesitating, Steve slowly reached out and took hold of the muffin with an invisible hand. “Thanks, miss.” Shoving the baked good in his inventory, he started to walk away, when something came to his attention. “Wait a minute, how did you see me? I’m invisible!” he said to her retreating form. Turning her head to glance at him, she smiled. “You leave a little shimmering effect when you move. It’s easy to see if you know what to look for.” With that, she walked into her home and closed the door behind her. Steve looked at her front door for a few moments, before walking away, thinking about what he’d just experienced. “She didn’t try to fight me, even though she could see where I was. She even gave me a muffin. Although I’ll have to make sure she didn’t poison it or something. But that doesn’t explain why she did it, unless she did poison it. *Sigh* I just don’t know.” Suddenly, Steve felt a bad feeling rise in his gut. Looking around, he saw a trio of guards coming down the way. A unicorn, a regular, and a pegasus. Luckily, they didn’t seem to know he was nearby, though the regular pony had his eye’s closed for some reason. Steve had just begun to sneak off again, when the group stopped for some reason. Quirking an eyebrow, Steve took another step, when the regular pony said something that made his heart skip a beat. “In front of us, 37 feet. Two feet to the right.” This caused the two other guards to shoot their gaze in Steve’s direction. Almost exactly where he was. Glaring at the earth pony, which still had his eye’s closed, Steve realized something. That pony knew exactly where he was. Taking another, quiet step, he watched it’s ear flick ever-so-slightly. “It’s moving. Bright, cast your dispel.” Just as he said, the unicorn’s horn glowed, and Steve felt the same wae of energy pass through him, causing his Invisibility to drain away. The pegasus and unicorns eye’s widened when they saw Steve appear out of thin air. As soon as Steve saw that he had been found, he immediately turned and ran. “Halt, creature! In the name of Princess Celestia!” One of them called from behind him. “Tell me!” Steve yelled behind him. “How many have ever actually listened to that?!” Glancing behind him, he saw they were quickly catching up. Taking a quick look through his inventory, he saw he had no potions of Swiftness, or Invisibility, only some options of Healing and Strength. L1 (Hold): Potion Select: Strength Potion. Taking out the bottle, he quickly drained the contents. Feeling newfound strength surge into his body, he whirled around, ready to fight. X (Hold): Power Jump Triangle (Hold): Roundhouse Kick Jumping high, he sent a devastating roundhouse kick into the off-guard pegasus, his potion enhanced strength sending the guard slamming into the floor. Circle: Dodge Landing in a crouch, Steve rolled to the side to avoid a magic blast. Comin up to his feet. He stood facing the two guards, their friend having been knocked unconscious. Square: Punch Square (Hold): Uppercut Triangle: Kick Dashing forward, Steve laid a haymaker into the unicorns muzzle. Bringing back his fist, his sent it flying forward, knocking the unicorn hard in the chin with an uppercut. Sending the pony airborne, Steve swung a kick into his barrel, knocking the guard into a nearby wall. The pony slammed hard into the structure, before sliding down, knocked out. Suddenly, Steve felt something slam into his back, sending him careening through the air, landing on his back. Damage Received - 5 damage. 11 health remaining. Groaning, Steve got back to his feet, facing his last opponent. It was the earth pony, still with his eye’s closed. He wielded a long wooden staff, instead of the spear Steve had seen many of the guards armed with. “Why are your eye’s closed? You’d probably fight better with them open.” Steve questioned, getting into a fighting stance. “Whether my eyes are open or not, creature, I would fight no different.” This made Steve raise an eyebrow, not yet understanding, before finally realizing. “Oh! You’re blind, that’s why it wouldn't matter. You must be a badass if you’re blind, and still managed to become a guard.” “Thank you, creature.”, he said. Steve couldn’t tell if the pony was being sarcastic or not. “Regardless, I don’t think we should fight. At least not today.” Steve said. “And why is that?” the pony muttered, eyebrow raised. “Because if we fight and I win, all three of you will be unable to find medical attention, and I’m fairly certain that Bright has a severe concussion after what he went through.” “But if you lose, I can still take them to the hospital, and you get your punishment.” the guard stated, lips drawn in a small smile. “Maybe, but are you willing to take the chance of losing, of putting your comrade’s lives on the line?” This question caused the smile to fade. The two beings stood facing each other for a few minutes, silence reigning. Finally, the pony spoke. “No, I’m not.” he said, sheathing his staff. Steve let out a sigh of relief. The pony moved to collect his fallen teammates, as Steve began to walk away. “Know this creature. You got off easy this time, but when next we meet, you will fall before me.” “I’ll keep it in mind, dirt-bag.” Steve responded, before running off towards home.