Steve jogged through the front door of his house, and saw Rainbow Dash slumped on his bed.
“Hey, why are you so down about this?” He asked.
Rainbow sighed.
“I feel insignificant. There’s nothing special that I can do in this world. Imagine being Sapphire Shores, and then being absolutely nothing the very next day.”
“Who’s Sapphire Shores?”
“A very famous pop star.”
“What’s a pop star?”
“Someone that everypony loves very much!”
Steve was quiet for a few seconds. He felt sympathy and empathy for his friend.
“Listen, it doesn’t matter if you’re a big-shot in this world or not. To tell you the truth, there isn’t really anyone in this world to adore you aside from me. Imagine being entirely alone for months on end.”
Rainbow Dash shuddered. The simple thought of being alone scared her. She was so used to being admired by at least three ponies at a time, so she couldn’t imagine what being Steve is like.
“You know, I actually do admire you. Those wings of yours really fascinate me. ……Perhaps they could be of some use?” Steve suggested.
“What do you plan on doing to my wings?”
“Do you mind if I study them? I might be able to craft something similar to them. In this world, wings technically mean invincibility.”
“…What do you mean by ‘study’?”
“There’s no need to be worried. I’m not some mad scientist who would sever your wings for my own personal benefit.”
Rainbow sighed.
“Okay, what do you want me to do?”
“Just stay here for a second.”
Steve walked over to his Chest of Wonders, and dug around in its contents. A few seconds later, he pulled out a couple blocks of wool.
He walked over to the center of the room, and broke some blocks of the wood flooring. He replaced them with the wool, so that there was a small rug in the center of the room.
“Just lie down here and get some rest. That sonic boom had to have been pretty tiring for you.”
“Are you just going to ‘study’ my wing while I sleep?”
“Precisely. Don’t worry, nothing will hurt. Just let me do one thing.”
Steve grabbed Rainbow’s left wing, and plucked a feather off.
“Ow! What was that for?” She asked.
“It might help with the study. After all, both of your wings are made entirely out of them.”
“Well, let that be the only one, okay?”
…
Steve gestured Rainbow Dash toward the rug he had made. Rainbow Dash lied down on the wool, and adjusted herself to get comfortable.
Steve gently grabbed one of Rainbow’s folded wings, and unfurled it to get a better look. Rainbow shuddered.
“Did I do something wrong?” Steve asked.
“No, it’s just that pegasus wings are very sensitive.”
“If it hurts, I can stop.”
“Nah, it’s fine. It actually feels kind of good.”
Steve shrugged.
“If you say so.”
…………………………………………
Steve worked all afternoon. Minutes turned into hours. The sun began to set steadily.
Steve was rapidly walking all around. He would go from a chest to a furnace, to a crafting table, and back to Rainbow Dash to study her wing some more. Occasionally, he would run his hand up and down her wing just to make her shudder or moan from the feeling.
By the time night had completely fallen, and monsters lurked outside as far as the eye could see, Steve was exhausted. He hadn’t made too much progress, but he figured he could finish some other time. He planned on visiting the Nether tomorrow.
“Alright Rainbow Dash, where do you want to sleep?”
When he turned around, he saw that Rainbow Dash had already fallen asleep right there on the rug. Perhaps the wing-rubbing had really soothed her more than he thought.
“Okay, sleep there.”
Yawning, Steve trudged over to his bed, and flopped down for a good night’s rest.
……………………………………
-The following morning-
……………………………………
When Steve sat up and opened his eyes, he saw that he was alone in his house. Rainbow Dash was gone.
“Rainbow? Where are you?”
Steve got out of bed, and walked outside. A couple of creepers walked up to his fence and stared at him, yearning to blow up the confinements of his house.
“Yes, good morning to you two!” A voice said.
A few arrows went flying at the creepers, and they toppled over dead.
“What…who did that?” Steve asked.
“I’m up here!”
Steve turned toward the sound of the voice, and saw Rainbow Dash sitting on his roof, holding a bow. A pile of arrows sat next to her.
“What are you doing up there?” Steve asked.
“Shooting down some bad guys! I tell you, I haven’t felt this productive in a long time!”
“No, I mean why are you up there?”
“I got up early, and decided to take a little flight. It feels so great to be back in the sky again.”
“Well I hope you got used to it, because we’re about to go deep, deep underground. Come on.” Steve ordered.
“Didn’t we just go mining yesterday? Let’s take a break from that.”
“We’re not going mining. We’re going to the Nether.”
“What? Why?”
“I’m low on all sorts of things, ranging from glowstone dust to blaze rods. Let’s go.”
“We can’t go to hell! That place scares-…I mean…make me uneasy.”
“Man up. I gave you a soothing wing-rub last night, so you owe me.”
“Ugh…fine.”
Rainbow reluctantly flew down to Steve, and gave him his bow and his arrows. The two of them walked inside, and climbed down to the basement.
In the back of the room, a big creepy portal made out of obsidian churned in the back of the room. Strange, purple particles got sucked into it at a steady pace.
“Ladies first.”
“Do we have to go in there?”
“There’s no other way into the Nether. Go on.”
Rainbow gulped, and slowly walked into the purple mass, with Steve close behind. Their world became all swirly and distorted, and she felt like reality was falling away from her.
…
When the confusing array of distorted swirls subsided, everything looked way different. It looked like…well…hell.
“Oh sweet Celestia…I think I’m going to be sick…”
“Don’t worry. I heard The End is way worse. Most of the creatures here ignore you.”
“Why are we here, anyway?”
“I need to find a fortress.”
“Do I even want to know why?”
“Blazes. They give me blaze rods, which give me blaze powder, which gives me Ender eyes, which will lead me to The End.”
Rainbow Dash fanned herself with her hoof.
“Man, I would kill for some ice-cold water. It’s blistering hot down here.”
“You can kill all you want down here, but you won’t get any water. It evaporates instantly.”
“It’s so weird to know that this is where we’ll be when we die. It bugs me.” Rainbow stated.
“What, you don’t believe in heaven?”
“Well sure, but I don’t think that’s where I’ll be going. I’ve done things that I’m not proud of.”
Steve shrugged off the conversation.
“Do you think you can carry my weight? It might be easier if you fly, and I ride on your back.”
“What, that’s crazy! Why would I let you do that?”
“I don’t know, because it’s easier. I brought a leather saddle with me, which I found in a dungeon.”
“Fine, if it’ll get us out of here faster. Do you want me to go fast, or slow?”
“Slow. Because if you go fast, it’ll surely lead to my death, if you know what I mean.”
“Fortress, here we come!”
To be Continued…
Author Notes:
I’m sorry this chapter took so long. Hopefully it’ll make up for the other story I wrote last night!