A Crafter's Dream Ch. 67: Playing Catch-Up (Part 2)
Now, without further ado, I present,
“A Crafter’s Dream”
Steve stood beside the table in Celestia’s quarters. The Solar Diarch, Braeburn, and the Testificate he know knew was named Martha sat around the table while Abyss chose to stand nearby.
“Okay,” Steve began. “I got a lot of questions running through my head right now. So, first off.” He turned to the dragoness. “How are you doing, Abyss? Sorry if I haven’t had the opportunity to visit, I’ve been a bit busy lately.”
The dragoness gave him a deadpan look. “Oh me? I’m doing great. Just been worried sick about you getting hurt. Not only that, but a being that shouldn’t be here is now here, so there’s that too. Overall, not too much going on with me, thanks for asking.”
“Why were you worried about me?” The Crafter asked in confusion.
“Because a few nights ago, I felt the Nightmare aura in you suddenly flare up. Given that the last time something like that happened was when we fought Herobrine, I figured you were in trouble.”
Steve shrugged. “Eh, less so me in trouble, and more a friend of mine that was. It’s a long story. Anyways, I’m surprised that you managed to sense my transformation at all.”
Abyss gave him a look of disbelief. “Steve, do you have any idea at all how powerful your aura is when you activate your, whatever it is, Nightmare Form, you called it?”
The Crafter shook his head. “Uh, not really. I mean, I kinda figured that I had a presence of sorts, but I didn’t think it was that powerful.”
Celestia let out a small chuckle. “Clearly, you underestimate your strength, Steve. Luna and I could sense your presence all the way from Canterlot.”
“Ah.” He commented lamely. Shaking his head, he turned to Martha and the stallion beside her, Braeburn. “So, Martha.” The Testificate perked up when her name was spoken. “How in the world are you here?”
“Oh. I fell through the portal, your Majesty.”
Steve stared at her with a blank expression on his face for a few moments before speaking. “Okay, firstly, what? And second, don’t call me your Majesty, please.”
She quickly nodded. “Okay your Highness.”
“That’s,” He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. Sighing, he focused his gaze back on Martha. “That’s not what I meant. Don’t call me your Majesty, or your Highness, or anything like that, okay?”
“Oh, um, okay. What should I call you, then?”
He shrugged. “Just call me Steve. Everyone else does.”
She nodded. “Got it. Anyways, to answer your question, I fell through this portal that was in the middle of the forest. It was only after I talked with Abyss that I found out that it was actually Notch who had made the portal.”
Steve furrowed his eyebrows. “Notch? Why did he make a portal to this world?”
The Testificate shrugged. “I don’t know. All I know is that I fell through his portal by accident and was spit out in the forest. After walking for a while, I ended up meeting Braeburn, who was kind enough to take me back to his house. It wasn’t too long afterwards that Abyss found me. We talked for a while, and when she said that she needed to go to some place called Canterlot, me and Braeburn volunteered to go with her. And, well, here we are.”
Steve turned to look at Abyss. “Why did you need to come here?”
The dragoness sighed and pointed to Celestia. “Because I needed to warn her.”
This got the alicorn’s attention. The Solar Diarch immediately stood, her furrowed gaze focused on Abyss. “Warn me of what?”
“That you need to be careful. I’m not sure why Notch opened the portal, but I do know this. If she,” Abyss pointed at Martha. “Can come through, then there’s a chance other things can as well. Things that are far less friendly, and a lot more deadly.”
Steve’s eyes widened in realization. “The mobs.” He breathed, tone horrified.
Abyss nodded. “Yeah. And if enough of them can get through…”
“Then they’ll start to spawn here.” Steve finished.
“What?” Celestia inquired, gaze switching between Steve and Abyss. Her expression made it clear she wanted answers. Steve, being more knowledgeable on the subject, answered.
“Celestia, I’ve fought two terrible, bloody wars against the mobs, during which my forces killed hundreds, perhaps even thousands of them. But despite this, they continue to endure, even to this day, I’m assuming. They are a plague, a virus that can never truly be destroyed. If they come here…” He hesitated for a moment, shaking his head. “Well, let’s hope that never happens. If Notch is half as competent as I know he is, then he’ll make sure that not one single mob comes through.”
“Well, I hope you’re right, Steve.” Abyss spoke. “Because if he doesn’t, and the mobs come here, to Equestria.” The dragoness sighed and shook her head before glancing at Celestia. “Then this world will be lost.”
A heavy silence enveloped the room. No one spoke, the weight of what they’d just heard rendering them speechless. Steve sat back against a nearby wall and sighed before taking a quick look at the other occupants of the room.
The stallion, Braeburn, looked sad, but also confused, and Steve couldn’t help but feel bad for the pony. From what he’d gathered, the stallion was a normal pony, who lived and worked like any other Equestrian. He shouldn’t have been one of the first to know that his world was potentially in mortal danger, and yet, there he was.
Martha fared no better. She had a dejected look on her face as she wrung her hands. She looked like she wanted to say something, but everytime her mouth opened, she hesitated, before shaking her head and closing her mouth again. Her gaze wandered around the room before landing on Braeburn and, upon seeing the expression on his face, carefully wrapped an arm around his barrel. He flinched slightly on the initial contact, but settled into her hug a moment later, nuzzling his head against her side.
Celestia looked, well, she had an expression of calm on her face, implying that the news had barely fazed her, but Steve knew better. He’d worn such a face many times during the wars, and during his time as king. He knew that, whatever it was she was feeling, she didn’t want anyone to see it.
“What can we do?” The Solar Diarch spoke, drawing the attention of everyone in the room. Her gaze was on Steve and Abyss, and her voice, despite the calm exterior, shook. “What can we do to prevent this?”
“For now? Nothing.” Abyss answered truthfully, though Steve wanted to slap her upside the head for her lack of tact.
Celestia’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion and she let out a laugh of disbelief. “What?”
Abyss shrugged. “Nothing. Until I detect another portal open up, there’s nothing Steve or I can do.”
“She’s right.” Steve reluctantly agreed. “Even with Nightmare Steve’s powers, all I can do is kill any mobs that manage to get through. Sure, he has the ability to sense magic or whatever it is Abyss can do, but since I never felt anything like what she’s talking about, I don’t think I have nearly as big a range as she does.”
‘Alas, you are correct, Steve.’ The Nightmare spoke up. ‘At best, I can detect a magical aura from a few dozen yards away, but that’s it.’
‘Got it, thanks.’ Steve responded.
“So, all we can do for now is prepare. If a portal opens up, Abyss will sense it and we’ll both go shut it down.” Seeing from her expression that Celestia wasn’t satisfied with his answer, Steve gave her a small smile. “But hey, that’s only on the off-chance that Notch let's any of those monsters through. He hates mobs as much as I do, so there’s almost no chance of them ever actually getting through.”
“But there is still a chance.” Celestia spoke solemnly, more to herself than to Abyss and Steve.
“Yes.” The Crafter spoke, nodding with a solemn expression on his face. “There is.” Sighing, his gaze fell to the floor, taking a moment to study the clean tiled floor before he glanced back up at the Solar Diarch sitting across the room from him. “Look, Celestia, right now, I don’t know what to do. I wish that there was something, some good, substantial news that I could tell you right now, to reassure you that everything’s gonna be alright. But I don’t. I don’t know.” The Crafter sighed. “All I know is that if those, things, ever show their face in this world, I’ll make them wish that they’d never been born. I will hunt them down, and put every single one of them to the sword.”
Celestia shook her head. “Steve, you service is greatly appreciated. Trust me, it is. But I cannot ask that of anypony, let alone you.”
He smirked. “Well, good thing I’m not a pony.” His words roused a small chuckle from the pale alicorn.
Abyss, on the other hand, groaned as she face-palmed. “Steve, what are you doing?”
“What?” The Crafter inquired, eyebrows furrowed.
The dragoness glared at him. “Look, I know for a fact that you’re tired of fighting, and I completely understand why. So, pray tell, why are you willingly throwing yourself back into the fray?”
“Abyss, you and I are the only ones who really know what the mobs are and how to kill them. As much as I’ve grown tired of fighting, the last thing I’m going to do make it someone else’s problem to fight them.”
“And I get that, I really do. What I don’t get is why you seem so intent on making sure you’re at the front, leading the fight against them. No one is expecting that from you!”
“Those things killed everyone I loved, Abyss!” Steve replied in a loud voice. “My friends, my family, my people! I at least owe it to them to make sure the mobs never harm anyone ever again!” Steve, realizing that he was now nearly yelling, took a few deep breaths to calm himself before continuing. “I made a promise, a long time ago, that I would help everyone I could. And I never break my promises.” He sighed. “Besides, what am I supposed to do otherwise? Just stand back and watch others give their lives to fight monsters they shouldn’t even know exist? No.” The Crafter stated, shaking his head. “I’ve already watched one race die. I’ll be damned before I watch a second one suffer the same fate.”
Abyss’ face had fallen, eyes boring into the tiled floor beneath her feet. After a few moments, she spoke, voice emotionless.
“Well, what if you die, Steve?”
The Crafter flinched as though he’d been struck. “What?”
The dragoness’ gaze met Steve’s. “What if you die? You’re not invincible, Steve. You are strong, and brave, and one of the best fighters I’ve ever met. But you can still be killed. So what if one day, you go off to battle, and you don’t come back? What then? How do you think your friends would feel? Derpy, Dinky, Trench, me? How would we feel?”
“I don’t want to die, Abyss, obviously! I don’t want to make you guys sad!” Steve spoke, his exasperated voice beginning to morph into one of frustration. “But if it comes down to either my friends dying, or me dying, you know what I’ll choose! Enough people have sacrificed themselves for me! I’m tired of it! I’m tired of people giving their lives to save mine when I never deserved it! I tried my best to become worthy of their sacrifice, and look where that’s got me! Where that got them!” Hot tears began to pour down Steve’s cheeks, though he didn’t acknowledge them. “In the end, everyone I loved died, leaving only me, the one they all died for! I know it’s selfish, but I don’t want to have to deal with the pain of losing those I love and care for again! I’d rather die than do that!” He yelled, teeth clenched tight. Sighing, he fell back against the wall behind him, taking a few deep breaths to calm himself as he pressed his hands to his face. “I can’t. I can’t go through that again. If I were to die in battle, I’d at least know that I’d gone out protecting those I care about. But if anyone else were to die facing the mobs, then their death would be on me.”
Abyss shook her head. “Steve, you’re not responsible for the portals, nor the mobs. How in the world would it be your fault?”
The Crafter lifted his head, his gaze meeting hers. “Because when you have what I have, when you can do what I can, but you don’t, and then the bad stuff happens, it happens because of you. And I don’t need that on my conscience, Abyss. I really don’t.” Sighing, he shook his head. “I tried my best to save everyone. I did everything I could, and it wasn’t enough to save my world. I only hope that my best is enough to save this one, if the need arises. Because I’m not sure what I’ll do if it’s not.”
Stats
Page generated in 0.022 seconds
Total duration
1,046 users online
222,996 hits today, 2,054,621 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.®
Those who have the ability to take action, have the responsibility to take action.
Though in this case I would say that responsibility takes the form of properly training the guard and suchforth to deal with the critters, rather than try to be a one-man army.
Just spam torches and lanterns in the streets. While they're at it, place slabs on the ground. That way no mob can spawn in any city or town. Just make sure everypony sleeps.
i know this story have some realise to them but i have question why doesn't Steve inform Celestia about the mobs so she get a idea what there facing
Second wild life will be the first affected the next thing i know is Discord got alot of power and we haven't even met him yet?
The last thing is we still got a whole bunch of villain that equestria had and we haven't seen
9998951
Or use a lot of iron and make every town have an iron golem protecting it, but knowing Steve Equestria could give him other materials to build his golems with, maybe magic could help in? I think if he were to build a firework and show twilight she would start experimenting with gunpowder and end up making a cannon, and we can quess on what that will evolve into. Hell he could just arm all the guards with Diamond gear and train them, boom guards with Steve’s level of skill protecting towns.
imagine what would happen if fluttershy encountered a creeper
9998889
But he is a one man army
9999131
There already are cannons but overall just massive production of iron smelting and then Steve and maybe Martha if she is able to can just mass produce iron golems for equestria
Ah yes. I believe the term for this is "Noblesse Oblige"...
I think.
9999162
"Oh, you poor little critter, let me take care of you!"
Zombie bites Fluttershy.
"Oh, you must've been hungry..."
Fluttershy starts turning a sickly shade of green...
9999685
(*giggle snort*)
9999683
Yup, la noblesse nécessite if you want the French Translation. It's typically used for those who see an Obligation as there right to uphold, no matter the cause. Typically to the point of "tout ou rien Attitude"
It's a double edged sword really.
Ending a chapter with a reference to Spiderman . . . I can't say I disapprove.
At least the skeletons and zombies catch fire in mere direct sunlight so that'll make Celestia happy to participate should the need arise. Spiders would be pacified so there's that. But Creepers would be the biggest problem, exploding and stuff. I'm still not sold on the worry of theirs about Minecraftian mobs suddenly spawning in Equestria. It'd be like parts of Equestria suddenly losing all magic because a portal (or portals) opened up to Earth which has no magic and somehow "infecting" Equestria with its deficiency.
That said, if some naughty person were to drop a mob spawner through a portal into Equestria... well... that'd be far more logical for a proper worry.
Nice chapter and take your time and hopefully fluttershy deos not see ANY of the mobs.
Lol those Marvel quotes at the end of the chapter.
I'm going to do is make it someone else's
so NS is a Proximity Alert system, cool,
Break the moooooold. Somebody once asked