Now, without further adieu, I present,
“A Crafter’s Dream”
Steve knelt upon the roof, cold tile beneath his diamond boots. His eyes, squinted, were hidden behind the crystal blue visor on his helmet. A blue sword was strapped to his diamond-clad back, alongside a quiver full of arrows. In his gloved hands he held a bow, string pulled back with an arrow knocked. Attached to the arrow was a long string of rope.
Adjusting his aim, Steve released his grip and let the arrow fly. It sailed through the air before slamming into his target, the castle wall, with a dull thud. Grabbing the other end of the rope, Steve quickly tied it to a nearby post. Looking onto the battlements, he found them surprisingly empty. Smirking at his good fortune but keeping a wary eye out, he glanced behind him and waved his hand forward.
“All clear! Let’s move!” He called, trying to stay relatively quiet. There was a shuffling, then his party made their way over to him.
His little squad consisted of himself, two pegasus guards whose names he hadn’t been told, along with the white unicorn from earlier, who was named Shining Armor. They wore dark cloaks to hide the iron armor and weapons they wielded. They had offered one to Steve, but he had refused, since it would only hamper him. Instead, he’d punched down a tree, made a crafting table and scavenged as many diamonds as he could get. He’d just managed to make himself a full set of diamond armor. While his inventory wouldn’t open, his other powers and abilities seemed to be in working order.
He looked to the pegasi. “You two fly to the battlements. Make sure it’s clear for us.” They stiffly nodded, and took off, flying silently over to the wall, disappearing behind the battlements. A few moments later, Steve saw one of their hooves waving. That was the sign it was clear.
Sighing, Steve looked over to the stallion beside him. “Are you sure you can’t teleport us over?”
Shining shook his head. “I specialize in defensive magic, and while I probably could, teleporting creates a big flash, which we really don't want. We need to be stealthy, sir.”
Steve sighed in resignation, then knelt in front of the unicorn. “Alright, climb on.”
“What?” Shining asked. Steve glanced behind at the stallion.
“You can’t teleport over there, and I don’t know how well you can climb rope with those hooves. So I’ll piggyback you over. That is, unless you have a better idea, because I would love to hear it.” Shining lifted a hoof, mouth open as if to respond. After a moment of silence, he closed it and shook his head.
“Alright then. Hop on, and hold on tight.” Steve spoke, gesturing to his back. The stallion climbed on and hooked his front hooves around Steve’s shoulders. Readying himself, Steve gripped the rope, took a deep breath, then stepped off the roof. He hung from the rope, the cord growing taunt under his weight. Pulling himself up, Steve quickly began shuffling along the rope, steadily making progress across the gap.
They were about halfway through when Steve suddenly felt a slight jarring sensation run through him as the rope shook slightly and he felt his stomach drop. Shining must have felt it too, because he tightened his hold.
“Uh, I was just wondering, how good are your knots, exactly?” He asked Steve, his voice laced with worry.
“Pretty good, I’ve had a lot of practice. I don’t think it’s coming loose.” Steve responded. There was a moment of silence. Then Shining spoke again.
“What about your anchor point?” There was a moment of silence. “Sir, where did you tie the other end?”
Steve thought for a second, then snapped his head towards the roof they’d come from. To his horror, the post he’d tied it to, which had been standing straight at the time, was cracked around the bottom and tilted heavily in their direction. It teetered on the edge, an inch from coming off. His eyes widened.
“Fuck.”
And the post came loose.
Steve clutched the rope in a grip like diamond as the pair swung, biting his tongue to keep from shouting in surprise. He heard Shining cry out in alarm at their jarring and surprising descent. Suddenly, Steve felt an intense tugging sensation in his gut, followed shortly by his vision cutting out for a moment. A second later, after he regained his sight, he found himself on top of the wall, flanked by the two pegasi, as well as Shining.
Steve looked around, unsure how the two of them had suddenly arrived there, until he noticed that Shining was panting slightly. It was then that it made sense.
“I’m gonna guess you managed to teleport us over?” He asked the stallion. At Shining’s nod, Steve sighed. “Why didn’t you do that before?”
“We were pretty far up. I don’t want to know what it feels like to hit the ground from that high up, so I took the risk.” Shining responded. Conceding the point, Steve withdrew his sword and glanced over the edge of the wall, into the main courtyard.
THWACK!!
Only for an arrow to stick into the wall just to his right. Ducking to the side, he peeked back at his squad as a thunderous shout rose from the courtyard, almost shaking the very wall itself.
“I think they know we’re here.”
“THEY'RE ON THE BATTLEMENTS!!” Steve flinched slightly at the deafening voice that shouted the command. Looking over the wall, he spotted a pegasus mare, standing out among the numerous guards that were heading for them. Instead of the normal armor, she wore a long, black coat. Instead of a spear, or sword, her wings were coated in a metal covering, the front of each sharpened into blades. She looked up, gaze hardening as she spotted Steve’s face, a large frown present on her muzzle. In return, he gave a small smile as he waved, only to duck as a volley of arrows attempted to hit him.
“How in Equestria did they know we were coming?” One of the pegasi yelled as they all took cover behind the armaments, bolts of magic and arrows flying past.
“It doesn’t matter now!! We need to get the buck outta here!!” Shining yelled, horn glowing as he charged up a spell.
“No shit, Shining!” Steve yelled, brain trying to think up a plan. “How do you propose we do that!?”
“Die traitors!!” came a shout from above. Snapping his face up, Steve managed to catch the sight of a dark blur shooting at him, before a pegasus guard slammed into him, causing Steve to fly backwards, hitting the ground hard.
Damage Received - 4 damage. 36 health remaining.
Groaning, Steve got back to his feet, glaring at his opponent. Glancing behind the pegasus, he found the rest of his squad desperately fighting the pegasi that had arrived. He knew his allies were strong, and well-trained, but they were severely outnumbered. They wouldn’t last long without help. Suddenly, the dark pegasus, armed with a sword, lunged forward with a quick swing.
Circle: Block
Square: Slash
Raising his own blade, Steve swiftly blocked the attack. Deflecting to the side, he spun around and slashed downwards. His opponent rolled to the side, dodging the strike.
Triangle: Kick
Taking advantage of the small opening, Steve swiftly stepped forward and threw a kick, this one managing to clip his opponent’s side hard. Stumbling back, the stallion’s lips morphed into a grimace. Flaring his wings, he dashed forward, sword thrust forward in an attack.
Circle + Square: Counter
Steve twisted his sword in a feint block while sidestepping, letting the pegasus bypass him. Grabbing the pony by one leg, Steve swung him into the ground with all his might, before throwing the dazed stallion off the wall, onto the stone floor below.
With that out of the way, Steve turned towards the guards that were still attacking his squad. He gritted his teeth and raised his sword.
Square: Slash
Square: Slash
Square: Slash
Square: Slash
Steve swung his blade in large, powerful arcs, knocking any guard unlucky enough to be hit off the wall. Any that weren’t, instead were dazed or straight-up knocked out by the blows rained down upon them by the Crafter as he plowed his way through them. As Steve forced his way through, he saw his squadmates renew their efforts, managing to take down their own opponents before aiding in the fight. Within only two or three minutes, the four of them were the only beings left standing on the wall. Letting his sword fall limply to his side, Steve, as well as his squad, let out a deep, ragged breath.
“Squadron 1 has been defeated! Squadron 3 and 7! Advance!!” Steve’s head shot up, before looking over the side of the wall, his allies following his lead. His eyes widened at the sight of not one, but two more squads of heavily-armed pegasi flying towards them, the pegasus mare with the black coat leading them. At that time, all four of them had the same collective thought.
“Run.”
They ran along the wall, Steve in the lead, the pegasi squadron following close behind them. Arriving at one of the nearby guard towers, Steve threw open the door, allowing his teammates to get in before slamming it shut and pressing his back up against it. He grit his teeth as the door shuddered against whatever onslaught was taking place on the other side.
“C’mon!” Shining yelled. Looking up, Steve saw the rest of the squad running through an adjacent door. Hesitating for a moment, he followed, hearing the door crash open behind him. The moment he was through, he slammed the second door behind him, taking a moment to lock it before running. He followed just behind Shining as arrows and bolts of magic whizzed past him. Only moments later there was another crash as the second door was broken down. Glancing back for a moment, he saw the pegasi following close behind them, some running along the wall while others took flight. One of them caught up quickly, lunging forward with a spear clutched in one hoof.
Circle: Block
Square: Slash
Steve swiftly blocked the attack with his sword, knocking the lance to the side, following with a quick slash at his opponents wings, which cut deep into the appendage. This sent the pegasus spiraling to the ground below with a scream of pain.
Steve found he had no time to celebrate his victory, as there were many pegasi following to replace the one he'd taken down.
“Through there!” came a shout from in front of him. Looking ahead, Steve saw a door, one which that lead directly into the castle from the wall. Fortunately for them, it seemed to be unguarded. The pegasus in front of the group threw open the door and entered, followed closely by the other pegasus and Shining. Steve ran with all his might, now only a short distance away.
Suddenly, his instincts tingled, and screamed at him to duck.
“NO!!” came a furious shout from his left. Before he could react, something heavy slammed into him, knocking him flat on his back.
Damage Received - 3 damage. 33 health remaining.
To his shock, the pegasus mare he seen before, the one leading the troops, was standing above him, teeth grit, revealing a pair of sharp fangs, showing she was actually a thestral.
“Sir!” Both her and Steve's head snapped to the side at the yell. Shining was at the doors threshold, horn glowing, glaring at the thestral. He wanted to help Steve, the Crafter could see it in the unicorn's eyes. But there was no way Steve was going to let all of them get captured, or worse.
“GO!!” Steve yelled as he headbutted the thestral mare in the teeth. There was a moment of hesitation, before Shining nodded slightly and the door slammed shut. Steve gripped the mare's leg and threw her off as he rolled over and got to his feet.
“You have doomed yourself and only bought your friends time.” Steve heard from behind him. Turning around, he saw the mare getting to her feet, a commander probably, flanked by two squadrons of pegasi. His teeth grit behind his visor as he took a step back, sword hanging by his side.
“There is no possible way you can win this fight.” she continued. “While you fight well, you are hopelessly outnumbered. This battle can only end in your defeat.”
Steve sighed. “Yeah, probably.” he spoke softly. He smirked at the mare through his visor. “Won't stop me from trying though.”
His statement caused a distasteful look to come over her face. “Fine then, I suppose. Have it your way.” Looking toward her troops, she gestured toward the Crafter. “Take him down.” And with that, the fighting began.
Circle: Dodge
X (Hold) + Square (Hold): Sword Slam
Jumping back in a reverse roll, he narrowly avoided being impaled by the half dozen spears being thrown at him. Back on his feet in an instant, he leapt forward and slammed his blade into the floor, knocking the closer pegasi away. The commander rushed forward with a cry of fury, slicing through the air towards him with her wing-blades.
Circle: Block
Circle: Block
Triangle: Kick
Raising his sword, Steve managed to block the first attack, though he stumbled back from it. She took advantage of that and struck again. Thinking fast, Steve feinted a block to the side, then hit her with a strong kick to her barrel. Before he could follow up, a guard slammed into him, sending the both of them rolling.
Damage Received - 2 damage. 31 health remaining.
Hastily throwing his aggressor off, Steve shot back to his feet and was immediately sidelined by the commander's wing blades crashing into him.
Damage Received - 4 damage. 27 health remaining.
The force of the blow sent him rolling. Digging his gloved hand into the floor, he slid to a stop and stood, pulling his sword back as he got into a fighting stance. His mind raced to think of a plan to get out of this.
“There's too many for me to fight! Maybe if I had some potions, maybe some TNT, heck, my fishing rod would do! I don’t have anything that could take out all of them!” The guards edged closer. “Come on, think!”
Suddenly, a guard leapt forward, trying to catch Steve off-guard.
Square: Slash
He responded with a swift slash, knocking the stallion to the floor. Stepping back, Steve kept his blade raised, eyes narrowed at his opponents. Then, they shot open in realisation as he remembered something. Quickly digging into his pocket with a hand, his fingers made contact with four or five decent-sized crystals, warm to the touch. Grinning, he withdrew three, the fire-red stones glowing brightly in the moonlight. The commander’s eyes widened in shock as she recognized what he held. Steve brought his arm back.
“MOVE!!!” She yelled as she leapt off the side of the wall. Steve sent the crystals sailing through the air, landing on the stone floor with a small clink. He barely had time to blink before a giant explosion blew him back, sending him flying into the door behind him.
Damage Received - 9 damage. 18 health remaining.
It shattered into splinters upon impact. Steve hit the ground and rolled to a stop on his stomach. Coughing, he groaned and rolled onto his back. Reaching into his back pocket, he pulled out on of the healing vials he had. The glass they were stored in was tempered, luckily, so they would be hard to break. Uncorking it, he lifted the visor on his helmet and tilted his head back, gulping down the rather grainy liquid.
Health Restored - 8 health. 26 health remaining.
Sighing in relief, he threw the vial aside and snapped the visor back down. Getting to his feet, Steve grabbed his sword and sheathed it. Looking around, he saw a large, ominous stairwell leading down. Sighing, he readied himself and began his trek.
* * * * *
It wasn’t that hard to find the rest of his squad. The flashing lights, explosions and screaming were, after all, tell-tale signs. Steve ran into the room, sword drawn, ready for a fight. His mouth dropped open in shock at what he saw.
Guards laid about on the ground, unconscious. Fires were burning away in random locations and rubble littered the ground. His squad was encased in a light purple dome. One of the pegasi was knocked out, while the other looked only moderately injured. Shining was hurt himself, but seemed fine. Standing a few feet from them, horn burning like a small sun, stood who he assumed was Queen Daybreaker.
She stood tall, right around his height, with a whitish coat. Her mane blazed like it was pure flames. Her eyes were a dark red with glowing orange pupils. She wore a strange orange breastplate, along with boots. She grinned maliciously as her horn sent out waves of magic against the shield protecting his allies. Steve’s eyes narrowed in anger and his teeth grit.
Square: Slash
Rushing forward, Steve sent his sword slamming into her side, catching her off-guard. She cried out in shock as she stumbled back from the blow. Switching targets, her horn glowed as fiery bolts of magic shot at Steve.
Circle: Dodge
Circle: Dodge
Rolling to his left, he dodged the first few bolts. Back on his feet, he was forced to side-step the next blast, feeling the heat through his armor. Bringing back his sword, he sprinted forward. Daybreaker growled and rushed to meet him. Alongside her, a longsword was brought up in her magical grip.
Square: Slash
Circle: Block
Steve went to slash Daybreaker with his blade, only to be blocked by her own. She pushed upward, sending him stumbling back. Bringing up her sword, she sliced downward. Steve swiped to the side, deflecting the attack.
Square: Slash
Circle + Square: Counter
Whirling around, he swung hard, his blade cutting into her chest. She roared in pain and jumped back, sword blazing with power as it sliced forward. Putting up his blade, he swiftly blocked the attack. Gripping the blade, he ignored the pain shooting through his hand as he wrenched the sword from her magical grip. Rushing forward he pulled his blade back, ready to attack. However, her horn glowed and he found himself unable to move, encased in her magical aura. He was lifted up, then slammed into the ground. Then the wall. Then the ceiling. Then back into the floor again.
Damage Received - 4 damage. 22 health remaining.
Damage Received - 4 damage. 19 health remaining.
Damage Received - 3 damage. 16 health remaining.
Damage Received - 4 damage. 12 health remaining.
Steve groaned with each impact, vision shaking from the pain coursing through his body. He was unceremoniously dropped to the floor, panting and groaning.
“You cannot win against my might, strange creature! Surrender while you have the chance!” Daybreaker spoke loudly with a smirk on her muzzle. Steve coughed.
“Not a chance in the Nether, bitch!” Steve growled out as he got to his feet, pulling his sword back as he got into a fighting stance. Her smirk morphed into a frown.
“Then you have chosen death.” She growled softly as her horn began to glow.