Hey, this isn't Minecraft...

by Twisted Light

An End to Fear

Steve awoke from a dreamless sleep and shifted over to stand up. His back felt like he had been kicked by a horse several years ago, but that just made him more determined than ever to fix this bed situation. After a quick inventory of his belongings, he grabbed his pack and headed off towards that town again, and remembered to shut the door behind him.

His back complained the entire way.

------

The last door slammed shut as Steve strolled through the gathering of buildings. He sighed before continuing onward, giving glances to closing windows and cowering faces. Can't do much if they're terrified of me. The quiet stroll was met, after some time, by a rather bizarre sight: A tree-turned-house. Tree house. Original. What drew his attention most, however, was the fact that it remained somewhat welcoming in contrast to the rest of the town, or at least the portion Steve had seen.

Here goes nothing, he thought as he approached the front door and rapped upon it three times. Steve was surprised to hear hoof clips approaching, followed by the door opening somewhat. "Hel- oh, it's you," answered a violet-hued cross between unicorn and pegasus. "Come in, quick, before that thing sees you!" At that, Steve raised an eyebrow and glanced behind himself as he entered; something vanished from the corner of his eye. Huh...

As Steve stepped within, the door seemed to shut of its own accord, but the glowing horn may have had something to do with that. He looked about where he was; apparently not a house at all, but a library. Fascinating, and the tree still looks so healthy too, he thought as the equine hostess cleared her throat, snapping him to focus on her. "Sorry for that," she began before gesturing upward to herself with a hoof, "I am Princess Twilight Sparkle. You must be Steve." He nodded in response, and simply tried to look as least intimidating as possible; these ponies seemed rather easy to upset. "A few questions, then; first," she began in calm manner before wildly gesturing at the door and raising her voice to a fretted tone. "What in Celestia's name were you doing out there?!"

He opened his mouth to speak and raised a hand, but was quickly cut off with further exposition from Twilight. "There's a... thing, running loose. It's panicked Ponyville's population!" She paused to take flight up to another level briefly before coming back down.

"A thing," he asked. Maybe a monster? I don't have a sword yet, but maybe the axe will do. "What does it look like?" He began to walk around, looking for a window, to perhaps see this mysterious 'thing.'

"Well," Twilight drew out the word a moment. "Like you, but taller, darker, and with glowing eyes. It doesn't talk much, but it's aggressive; like a lot of the creatures from the Everfree." She paused for breath a moment and continued, resuming a collected composure. "It's also quite fast, or magical; the creature seems to make short teleports whenever it wills." Oh no...

"Did it take anything; just pick it up and wander around," Steve asked suddenly. Please don't be...

Twilight nodded. "Yes; it started with some wares from Quills and Sofas, but then it started taking everypony away, one by one," she answered, her voice getting more stressed as she elaborated. "It's stopped taking captives for now, and just wanders around until somepony wanders outside; it attacks as soon as the two make eye contact!" It is...

Steve nodded, then turned toward the door. His back hurt still, and now there was one of... them wandering around. "Alright," he said and reached for the door, only to notice a glowing aura around the door. He frowned and made an attempt at pulling it open, then pushing it open, both of which failed to budge. He frowned, then looked back to Twilight, noting her horn matched the aura of the door. "Whatever you're doing, can you stop? I'm trying to help."

------

"Remind me, why are we outside again," Twilight asked Steve as she and Steve paced the main road. Spike, a whelp of a dragon and Twilight's 'Number One Assistant' wanted to assist in tracking down the creature, but was told to stay inside the library. Steve silently commended Twilight on keeping others out of harm's way, even if dragonfire would have been quite useful.

"This 'thing' you speak of," Steve began as he scanned the road for roughly the third time, "is an Enderman. It's... not from here, but likes to take stuff back to its home." Two things not native to this place... or is this place not native to what I'm- gahh, I'll sort that out later. He looked toward Twilight and tapped her on what he presumed was her shoulder to get her attention. "Whatever you do," he warned, "do not make direct eye contact with it. That makes it... upset."

Twilight gulped before she steeled herself to survey the settlement. The evening sun was making its descent; oh, how the time did fly. After a sigh of boredom, she heard something akin do a 'vwip.' "Steve," she asked, turning her head toward the noise, only to lock eyes onto the creature they sought. Its head snapped to her as it dropped its plunder (a lump of dirt), and opened its maw in a building roar before winking out from sight.

"Stay sharp," Steve cautioned and put his back to her as he hefted the axe. What did I just say about 'no eye contact?' The sun had set and the creature reappeared in front of Steve. It swung an arm to bat the flat-footed human out of the way of its prey, causing him to stumble aside.

Twilight whirled at the noise, her horn glowing bright to see the enderman reaching out toward her. In pure reflex, she let loose a bolt of raw arcane energy to blast her attacker back. The beast was knocked back several feet, but roared in anger and disappeared again. Twilight felt pressure at her sides; she beat her wings reflexively and craned her neck to see that creature again. She prepared another blast, but her eyes clearly showed her fear.

Before whatever the creature could do was done, Steve leaped upon the enderman and grabbed hold of it. "Gotcha," he shouted as they all winked from sight with an audible 'vwip.'

------

The world was suddenly, sharply cold and dark. Steve trembled and gripped the axe for some measure of security; it was like the dream he had when he first arrived. Stay calm, he thought as a state of panic began to well up within him. He turned his head to notice two purple pinpoints quite a distance away. He stared as more and more appeared, the dread and fear began to become overwhelming, when a familiar voice bellowed out of nowhere. "Wake up!"

-------

Steve shook his head as he opened his eyes to see Twilight looming over him, her horn lighting up their surroundings for a bit of distance. "Oh good," she sighed in relief before looking off and around. "That enderthing disappeared after we got here, but it looks like we found out where it's been bringing its pilfered plunder."

"Perfect," Steve said while sitting up. Nothing was helping his back at all, and this latest venture proved that he could feel a whole lot of the damage done by the beasties. "Perchance, Princess, we panicked the pest?" Twilight looked toward Steve with an annoyed glare. So much for added alliterative appeal.

"Precisely," she said in a cheery tone after a moment of silence. "Now then, where are we?" She concentrated a moment before shooting off a magical flare, illuminating a vast cavern filled with gems. "The caverns beneath Canterlot?"

"P-princess?" a voice called out as the two turned to see a colt approaching from a group of others.

------

The rescue was inevitable, once Twilight had teleported above. Steve remained below, keeping watch for anything more strange than what had already happened. Once the actual recovery teams had arrived, Steve wandered off to hide, and simply waited for every pony to be evacuated. He trailed quietly behind the last group, and was met by Twilight at the end. "Did anybody else see me," he asked.

"Pony," she corrected, then lifted a hoof to point at him while looking rather proud. "And no. Now we can finally start asking the real questions."

"Real questions," he deadpanned while raising a brow.

"Mhmm, like how did you find that portal, and why aren't you a pony," she inquired.

"Can I try to answer those when the sun's back up? I've got a rather difficult to sleep on bed waiting," he complained and was met with a glare. "Ask Pinkie Pie," he stated bluntly.

Twilight continued her glare a moment before lighting up her horn again. She jabbed Steve in the side with a hoof as a flash of light enveloped them.

------

The next few moments were a bit of a blur to Steve. He was back in front of his shack. How does she know about my shack? Twilight disappeared and reappeared with explosive bursts of magical energy, and had returned with a partially destroyed sofa that the enderman had taken. She lit up for one more burst of magic, so Steve interjected before she could leave. "Thanks," was all he managed to get out before she poofed out of sight. He sighed and set to dragging the partial couch inside.

After a bit of work, a lot of lining up, some sheer frustration, and a storm of expletives, Steve managed to get the sofa spread evenly over the bed frame. How he longed to try this addition, and felt a smile tug on his tired face. He shut his eyes and prepared to fall, only to stop when he heard a 'vwip.'

He didn't look; he didn't need to. The enderman was right inside with him, those thieving hands reaching for his precious bed. No. Without even a conscious thought, Steve hurled the axe at the offender, and smacked its head. The shrieks of terror faded shortly after the encounter began. After a brief, one-sided struggle, Steve watched as the enderman disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving behind a gem and a few gold coins. He set the spoils on a wood pile and flopped down on the bed.

As rest crept over him once again, something felt off. He scanned his memory before it became agonizingly clear what had just been remembered. I LEFT MY BAG AT THE LIBRARY!

Comments

[Pyriel]

Well, on that final note, that would mean your inventory is now limited to your hot bar. Which consists of an axe and an enderpearl.

[ThEvErYdErPyBrOnY]

Oh snapity snapity snap

[IZshadowGirl]

Uuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhh Oooooooooohhhhhh