A Crafter's Dream Ch. 51: Introductions
Now, without further ado, I present,
“A Crafter’s Dream”
Reaching over, Steve found the switch that turned on the only light in the attic. Taking a deep breath, he switched it on.
There, standing frozen in the middle of the room, was a mare. Her lavender fur was covered in dirt and her two-toned purple and lilac mane was ruffled and unkempt. She stood a short distance from Steve, staring at him in terror.
“Who the fuck are you?!” Steve yelled. Startled, the mare gave a loud yelp as her horn lit up and a bolt of magic shot out, flying straight towards Steve’s face.
Circle: Dodge
Thinking fast, he rolled forward, ducking underneath the blast, which blew up a portion of the roof behind him. Shooting forward, he tried to grab her by the horn, effectively cutting off her magic, but she threw herself backwards out of his reach. Missing his target, Steve turned his stumble into a spin, rolling across the attic floor, only to crash into a big cardboard box. Getting to his feet, Steve looked around for the mare, barely managing to catch a glimpse of the mystery mare running down the stairs. Shooting to his feet, Steve followed after her.
“Wait!” He called, though he didn’t really expect her to listen. Much like he figured, the mare paid no attention to his words, instead continuing to run down the stairs, somehow managing not to fall.
X: Jump
Going down a few steps, Steve jumped down the rest of the way, landing with a heavy thud. Rushing towards the mare, he lunged forward, his outstretched hand managing to grab her back leg.
She let out a shrill cry of shock and terror before her other back leg shot up and bucked Steve straight in the face.
Damage Received - 2 damage. 18 health remaining.
“Gah!” Steve yelled, immediately letting go. The mare, losing her balance because of Steve's actions, stumbled forward and slammed straight into a nearby wall, jostling it slightly. Directly above her, a rather large wooden picture frame was hanging on the wall. The movement caused the frame to shake and fall, smacking the mare right on her noggin just as she was getting to her hooves.
Stumbling, she tried to steady herself. However, it proved to be a fruitless effort, as moments later she went cross-eyed and promptly face-planted on the floor, knocked out cold.
Standing up, Steve rubbed his face a bit as he glared at the unconscious mare. After a moment, he sighed and moved over to her, picking her up with one arm. Walking to Derpy’s front room, he tossed the mare onto one of the couches before going to the kitchen. Once there, he opened up the fridge and looked around for a second before spotting his prize. Pulling out the plate of muffins, he set it down on the counter and closed the fridge. Opening up a nearby cupboard, he pulled out some tea bags and a stainless steel pot. Walking over to the sink, he turned on the water and filled it up.
With the tea bags in one hand and the now-full pot of water in the other, he moved over to the stove, quickly turning on the heat and setting the pot down on top of it.
“Okay.” He muttered to himself. “Derpy said to put the bags in first, then wait for it to boil.” His eyebrows furrowed. “Or did she say wait until the water was boiling to..? Ah, fuck it.” Dropping the tea bags into the pot, Steve walked over to the dining room table and sat down to wait.
After a good twenty or so minutes, the tea was ready. After it into a tea-pot, he grabbed two cups, some sugar and cream, then put it all on a tray. Picking it up, he slowly walked back to the front room and placed the tray down on the coffee table before sitting down on the couch opposite from the one he’d thrown the mare on earlier.
And so, after pouring himself a small cup of tea, he sat back and waited.
* * * * *
“Owww.” A voice whined from in front of him. Glanced up, Steve saw the mare slowly beginning to come around. She stumbled slightly, but managed to sit up, rubbing her head with a hoof.
“What hit me?” He heard her mutter quietly.
“A big ass picture frame.” Steve responded, allowing a smirk to make its way onto his face.
“AIIIEEEEE!!!!!”
As soon as the words left his mouth, the mare let out a high-pitched scream so loud that Steve swore he could see the windows rattle. Rubbing one ear with a hand, he glared at the mare.
“Could you please st…?”
“AIIIEEEEE!!!!!!!” She screamed again, somehow making this one louder and more ear-piercing that the last. Steve immediately covered both ears with his hands, gritting his teeth as his ears rang.
“Would you shut your mo…?!”
“AIIIEEEEE!!!!!”
Hurriedly grabbing a couch cushion, he threw it at the mare. It biffed her straight in the face, causing her to tumble backwards onto the couch. Shooting to his feet, he picked up the cushion he’d been sitting on and held it by his side as he walked over to stand in front of her, just in case.
Sputtering, the mare pushed the cushion off of herself. Looking up, her eyes widened in fear to see the imposing figure standing above her. She opened her mouth to yell, only to stop when she saw Steve holding his hand out placatingly.
“Look, I get that you’re scared and all, but please, can we just talk for a bit? I made tea.” Steve spoke, gesturing to the tea-pot sitting on the coffee table. “I learned tea helps ponies calm down, so I figured that it would help.
“...” She didn’t respond, continuing to stare at Steve with a fearful and distrustful expression. Sighing, the Crafter stepped away, sitting on the couch across from the mare, (after putting the cushion back on it, of course.)
Picking up his tea-cup, he put a few spoonfuls of sugar in before stirring with one of those small, fancy little spoons ponies bought, apparently with the sole purpose of stirring tea. Taking a sip, he focused back on the mare, who was beginning to look less tense.
“So,” Steve began. “While I have questions myself, I imagine you have some as well?” She nodded. “Yeah, I figured. So, since I did scare the living daylights out of you, why don’t you go first?”
Silence. Then…
“Who, uh, who are you?” She spoke, voice quiet.
Steve looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “You mean you’ve never heard of me?”
“Well, yeah, I've heard of you. You’re uh, the Ape of the Everfree. But, you have a name, right?”
Steve looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “That’s what their calling me? Wow. With how strange some pony names are, I assumed you guys would come up with something a bit more creative. And to answer your question, yes, I do have a name. It’s Steve. Steve of Minecraftia.”
“That’s, forgive me for saying, a rather strange name.”
He shrugged. “Depends on how you look, I guess. Anything else?”
“Yeah. What exactly are you doing in my mom’s house?”
Steve’s eyes widened in shock when the mare’s words registered in his mind. He coughed as the tea he’d been drinking accidentally went down the wrong pipe. After a few moments of coughing, he cleared his throat and spoke.
“Uh, sorry. I think I may have misheard you. Who’s house?”
“Uh, my mom’s house.”
“Derpy’s your mom?!” He asked incredulously. The mare stared back at him in shock.
“You know my mom?”
“Yeah I know your mom, she’s one of my best friends.”
Her jaw dropped open in shock. “What?”
“She was the first pony in this Notch-forsaken town to actually give me a chance and not treat me like a monster.” Steve put a hand to his chin in thought. “Which still surprises me to this day, since you ponies seem to be so afraid of anything that isn’t a pony.”
“That’s, sadly, very true. Sure, not all of us are like that, but a majority are.” She agreed, nodding sadly.
“Yeah. On the bright side, you get used to the bigotry after a while. Though you seem to be a bit different from the rest of them, Ms…” Steve hesitated for a moment before face-palming. “You know, I just realized that I never actually got you name.”
“Oh! Of course! Sorry, how about I introduce myself?” She stood up and held out a hoof for a hoof shake, one that Steve readily returned. “The name’s Sparkler. Sparkler Hooves.”
* * * * *
The two talked for a while. Steve learned that about four years ago, Sparkler had moved to Canterlot to pursue a career in jewelry making. Apparently, a stallion by the Topaz Graff had taken her under his metaphorical wing (he was a unicorn), and made her his apprentice. From there, she’d learned much and had actually taken over ownership of the business when he'd decided to retire roughly a year back. When Steve asked why Derpy wouldn’t have ever mentioned Sparkler, she went quiet for a moment before saying that her mom and her hadn’t exactly parted on the best of terms. Steve decided it would be best if he didn’t push the topic.
Steve let out a sigh as he out his now-empty teacup down on the coffee table. “So, Sparkler, if I may ask, what exactly were you doing in Derpy’s attic?”
“I got a letter from Carrot Top two days ago that something was going on with my mom. I caught the early morning train and got here at around 9:00 o’clock yesterday. I talked with Carrot Top and told her to convince my mom to see a therapist. She agreed. She set her first appointment for today.”
“Okay, that explains why she isn’t here, but that doesn’t explain why you were rifling through boxes in the attic.”
“I was looking for her box of special muffin recipes, the ones she doesn’t make often for whatever reason. I figured that if I made her some, it would make it easier for her to see me here. Less chance of her throwing me out.” She’d muttered that last part, staring down at her hooves with a sad expression on her face.
Steve stared at the lavender mare, not quite believing what he was hearing. “Um, I’m not sure what happened, but I don’t think you and I are talking about the same mare here.” She looked up at him with a confused expression. “The Derpy I know is a kind and compassionate mare with the biggest heart I’ve ever seen. You make her sound like she’d punch you in the face the moment she saw you.”
She sighed. “Honestly, I’d deserve that punch after what I did.”
Steve furrowed her eyebrows at Sparkler. “What did…?” However, he stopped when he heard the sound of the front door opening. Both him and Sparkler whirled to face the entrance to the room.
There was a slight creaking as the door slowly closed. Then, there was the quiet clopping of hooves on wood flooring. After a few moments, the slouched form of a gray pegasus trotted into view. She soon disappeared from view as she moved to the kitchen, the sound of the fridge opening and closing.
Steve and Sparkler glanced at each other. Shrugging, Steve cleared his throat and spoke.
“Uh, Derpy?”
There was silence for a second. Then, the sound of hoofsteps slowly approaching. Only moments later, Derpy appeared, staring at the Crafter with a look of disbelief on her face.
“Steve?” She asked, voice quiet as she slowly trotted towards him. She was so focused on him that she didn’t even notice the young mare that stood only a few feet to his left.
Steve gave her a warm but hesitant smile. He still wasn’t sure how she was emotionally speaking. “Hey Derpy, I’m back. Sorry for taking so long. I got...”
Whump!
The next thing he knew, he was lying back-first on the carpet of Derpy’s front room with a crying gray mare clinging to his chest, the sound of her gut-wrenching sobs making the Crafter’s heart twist. Letting instinct take over, Steve’s arms immediately wrapped around her, holding her close as she sobbed into his chest.
Stats
Page generated in 0.053 seconds
Total duration
998 users online
71,720 hits today, 2,561,572 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
And it seems that Tempest was right. It is Sparkler Hooves!
Also, FIRST! WOOHOO!
So Derpy was sad about Steve after all
Ya got featured my guy, good job
I was so confused for a good part of this.
"What the gorram is Starlight Glimmer doing in Derpy's attic?"
9811275
heh i honestly didn't think i would be but I'm glad i was
9811238
CURSE YOU AUTHOR OF THE STORY!!!
I honestly thought the mare was twilight for a sec.
Must've missed something somewhere, but when did Steve and Sparkler stand up?
great chapter
The FEELS!!
D’aw
9812108
IKR?!
A nice chapter as allows how the next one is as great as this one.
For a second there, I thought Derpy had knocked his arse out.
9818122
But why would she do th-
*remembers all of the trouble Steve has indirectly gotten her into*
...Okay, so it's not like she would be completely unjustified.
Wonderful chapter!
9811673
Same. Never occurred to me how similar their colors looked when typed out in description.
Oh hey, it's the one year anniversary of the fifty-first chapter. Yay.
Get bored, the ice