“Sister,” Princess Luna started, “we are telling you, this creature is extremely dangerous. We think we should oversee its capture, personally.”
“I’m not sure, Luna.” Celestia said. “It may be dangerous. Are you sure you can handle it?”
“We are confident we can contain such threat.” Luna responded, with confidence.
“Very well, then.” Celestia turned to one of the guards. “Go inform Captain Armor that Princess Luna will be assisting her with their pursuit of the creature.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He said, before quickly taking off.
“Luna, be careful.” Celestia told her sister.
“Don’t worry about us.” Luna reassured her. “We will be fine.”
“I can’t believe I used to do this all the time.” Steve whispered to himself, as he snuck through buildings. After leaving Derpy, he had stolen several apples, melons, and loaves of bread. Now he was, technically, a criminal, but at this point being a thief was the least of his worries. Now his mission was to get home. “I feel like it was much easier long ago.”
Steve had been apart of the Marine Corps for his home town of Ironopolis. After serving with the Army for two years, he joined, and was made lieutenant of, Bravo Squad in the Ironopolis Marine Corps. The squad did a lot of stealth missions but for some reason it felt harder to sneak now. Probably because he didn’t have his squad mates by his side. He was pretty close with his squadron, particularly Mitch. After pulling some heroics during the Battle of the Golden Hills, the commander of 3rd Army of Ironopolis killed, they needed a replacement, so his superiors made the controversial decision to transfer Steve over, and let him lead. However, Steve didn’t really want to leave his squad. In fact, they had to convince him to leave, in order for him to accept the promotion. Even though he took it, he still felt bad about leaving, and now, he missed them more than ever.
Quickly snapping himself out of his thoughts, he remembered the task at hand, getting home alive, preferably without fighting. He headed by the barracks just outside of Ponyville. As he was passing by, he saw a familiar face. Flying in came what appeared to be a carriage of some sort. In it, sat Princess Luna. She was greeted by several guards, the Sargent, the Corporal, and the white unicorn, who he still didn’t know the identity of.
“Princess Luna,” the white unicorn started as he bowed, “welcome. I hope you had a safe flight.”
“Captain Armor.” She responded. “Our flight was good. But we must begin searching for the creature, immediately.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He said. “We already have several locations pinned. Should we begin our search there?”
“Yes, Captain. Begin assigning the new guards to their squads. Then, meet me in the briefing room.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Everyone walked off. Steve sighed. He looked at the large number of troops entering the barracks, before turning into the Everfree forest. Right before he went in, his invisibility ran out.
“Shit.” He said. That had been his last one. Now he needed to craft more. In order to do so, he needed a golden carrot, for the night vision potion required to make it, sugar, spider eyes, and mushrooms for the fermented spider eye. He knew how to obtain all those things. There were several caves around his house he could look for gold in. Spiders were everywhere, he just needed to get their eyes, somehow. Steve knew that in order for ponies to make sweets like cake, they needed sugar, so there should be some sugar or sugar canes, unless they imported it all. Mushrooms were the easiest item to find, as they were everywhere in the forest. Although he knew how to get those items, he didn’t know how to get nether wart to make awkward potion or blaze rods to make a brewing stand. However, he had a plan. There was a hut somewhere in the forest. The owner of said hut made potions. That means she has to have some sort of base, either awkward potions or some sort of replacement, and some sort of stand that can be used to make potions. Luckily for him, she went out a lot, so it would be easy for him to go in and out, taking the required items.
“Apple Bloom!” Applejack shouted. She had been searching for her sister for a while now. Apple Bloom had ran off with the Cutie Mark Crusaders a long time ago, but she wasn’t sure what they were trying this time. “Apple Bloom!” She called once more. “Apple Blo-.” She was to busy looking around, she didn’t see where she was walking. Applejack bumped into a familiar gray pegasus, causing them both to fall back. Applejack held her hoof against her head before shaking it. “Sorry, Derpy.” She said, while Derpy copied her movements.
“I’m sorry, too, Applejack.” She said. “I wasn’t looking where I was going.”
“Me neither.” Applejack said. “Where were ya headed, partner?” Applejack asked out of friendliness.
“I was headed home.” Derpy answered. “What about you?”
“Ah was looking for Apple Bloom.” She said. “She ran off with her friends and ah ain’t got a clue where she went.”
“Did you look on top of my roof?” Derpy asked.
“No.” Applejack stated. “Why?”
“Because there they are!” Derpy shouted pointing to the top of her roof.
“What the buck is she doin up there?” Applejack asked. The duo started sprinting towards Derpy’s house. When they arrived, they started shouting at the three.
“Apple bloom, get down from there!” Applejack yelled. Apple Bloom didn’t see her coming and was surprised by her voice. She swiftly turned around, but the wooden plank beneath her hooves could not support her as she shifted her weight. She let out a scream as she fell into the house. “Apple Bloom!” Her sister screamed.
“It’s okay.” Derpy said. “She probably landed in the attic.” Just then, they heard Apple Bloom’s voice.
“I’m okay!” She yelled. Applejack let out a sigh of relief. The duo went inside to confront the Cutie Mark Crusaders. They went up the stairs and to the attic.
“Apple Bloom, what were ya doin on Derpy’s roof?” Applejack asked.
“We were trying to fix it, so we could get a cutie marks in roof fixing.” Apple Bloom explained.
“It didn’t work out so well.” Said Scootaloo peering her head through the roof.
“Yeah, I can tell.” Derpy said, bluntly.
“Remember what ah told you about findin your cutie marks, it’s okay to try, just stay safe.”
“Fine.” Apple Bloom conceded. The rest of the CMC got down from the roof.
“Apple Bloom,” Applejack started, “dinner’s almost ready. Be home by six sharp.”
“Okay.” She said as she and her friends headed out the door.
“Kids.” Derpy said. “As much trouble as they cause, you still love them.” Derpy laughed.
“Yeah.” Applejack agreed. “Oh, by the way, Big Mac and ah, have some spare time this week. We can come by and fix your roof if you want.”
“Really?” Derpy asked. Applejack nodded. “That would be perfect! Thank you so much Applejack.”
“No problem, partner. Just helpin a friend out.”
Steve mined away at the gold ore he had found. He quickly broke three more with his pickaxe before putting it away. He glanced through his inventory to see how much he had accumulated.
“24 gold ore. One golden carrot needs eight nuggets, therefore I can make,” Steve paused to run the math, “27 golden carrots.” He closed his inventory as he headed towards the entrance. Now he just needed carrots. He knew that there were carrots in the town, so if he could get some, he would be set for life. This is because carrots are a root vegetable meaning all you need is a small part in order to replant it. The brief lesson he had got about it in school is really showing now. School wasn’t required in Minecraftia, as most of what they knew was already instinct, however, Steve, like most Crafters, did it anyway, so they could learn more. While he knew it was difficult and time consuming, curiosity got the better of him because he wanted to know more about the world. It kind of shaped into the person he is today, both mentally and socially. Going to school was one of his best decisions of his life.
Steve snapped out of his memories, remembering that something could still be out there trying to kill him. And there was something there. Something waiting just outside the entrance, lurking in the forest. Something he couldn’t see or hear. In fact there were a couple of somethings waiting.