//------------------------------// // 2. Builders // Story: Skyblock // by Prince of Cavia //------------------------------// Inside of the platform, there were rows of chests. There was also one strange, black block floating in the middle of the room. The pegasi felt magical energy emitting from it. Calm Sky opened one of the chests. There was a mess of different items inside, tools she never saw before and miniature versions of blocks that made up the structure. She saw some material that made up the floor. She took one piece and carefully placed it on the floor. It quickly expanded and created a cubic block. Calm Sky took some samples into her saddlebag. While she was packing, she heard Sweet Cloud shout, "Over here, something is moving." Calm Sky looked out of the storage. Her friend was flying next to the tall building. She flew towards her. Pegasi heard a loud growling. "Hello?" said Calm Sky. Through an opening, she saw the legs of a few different creatures. Were they trapped inside? She landed on a platform at the base, to take a better look. While she was investigating this, she heard steps behind. She turned around. The pegasi saw a tall creature. It was made out of angular elements. It was standing on two legs. It seemed to wear green and black clothes, had gray hair and red eyes. It was standing still, looking at the pegasi. The two mares backed out and were ready to take off. The creature turned around and ran back into the storage area. "Let's get out of here!" said Sweet Cloud. She was afraid. "Let's stay and see what happens," replied Calm Sky. The creature didn't seem dangerous. She hoped it couldn't fly. The creature went back to the pegasi. It was holding apples in its hand, as if trying to get pegasi to move closer. Calm Sky slowly moved towards the creature. She noticed her friend gesturing to her to stay, but Sky went forward anyway. The creature looked at the pegasus. It seemed that it wanted to befriend them. Calm Sky took the apple from the hands of the creature. The creature started crouching repeatedly. It seemed happy, or at least that's what Calm Sky guessed. "Hello, I'm Calm Sky. Who are you?" she asked. The creature didn't seem to notice her voice. "Do you understand me?" she asked again. The creature turned around and walked away. "He seems friendly. Doesn't understand what I'm saying," she said to her friend. "That was weird." "Maybe we can communicate with him? We found a different intelligent species. Can you believe it?" "We will be famous!" Calm Sky smiled. "See, I knew we will find something." Calm Sky and Sweet Cloud walked towards the creature. "So, um… how about I call you Builder?" Calm Sky spoke to the creature. He did not seem to notice. Instead, he took out some strange tool, walked towards strange construction on one of the platforms and started breaking blocks. Blocks keep reappearing. "So, that's how you got the material to build this? Do you live here alone?" Sweet Cloud asked. No reaction. Then, they heard a loud clicking sound. They looked, and saw another creature. Calm Sky was sure it wasn't here just a minute ago. This creature had red and purple armor, red helmet, and dark, featureless face with two red eyes. Newly arrived builder looked at the pegasi, then at the other builder. He stopped mining and turned to face his companion. They looked at each other for a while. Then, the armored builder punched the other one. Grey-haired builder didn't seem to mind this. Armored one looked at the pegasi again, shook his head, and went away to do other things. "I think he doesn't like us," said Sweet Cloud. Pegasi observed the newly arrived builder, when suddenly another one appeared out of thin air right next to them with a clicking sound. Pegasi got a bit scared. This builder looked at them. Then started crouching. Calm Sky guessed it was a greeting in their language. This builder had white dress, long blonde hair and flowers inside hair. Calm Sky guessed that this builder was female, and the two others were male. Female builder walked to the storage area, and brought some apples to the pegasi. They accepted them. "How did she appear out of nowhere?" asked Sweet Cloud. "I have no idea. Probably they can use different magic than ours. We need to observe them more. They don't seem to mind us.” The female builder started running towards other builders. However, she slipped out of a narrow bridge and started falling down. Calm Sky took off, and tried to catch her. The builder started glowing red, and then disappeared into dust. Calm Sky stopped and watched the dust fall downward. Did she just witness a creature jumping to its death? "Sky, the builder teleported back!" Sweet Cloud shouted. Calm Sky flew up, and indeed, the female builder was standing on the platform. The gray builder shook his head, he seemed disappointed in her. "I was afraid that… nevermind," Calm Sky said. It seemed that the builders were capable of very powerful magic. Soon after, all three builders gathered in the storage area. There, they just stood in one place for a while. "I think they talk through telepathy," said Sweet Cloud. "Possibly. Imagine the reactions of pegasi back home when we tell them we found someone else in the sky," said Calm Sky. "Yeah. I can't believe it. Real aliens." Calm Sky also couldn't believe her luck. Her discovery would change everything.