• Published 3rd Feb 2019
  • 20,192 Views, 3,199 Comments

A Crafter's Dream (Discontinued) - ruthim345



It'd been years. Years since the war. Steve was the only one left. Everyone else was gone. He lived, he fought. Rinse, repeat. All he wants is a second chance. And now, he'll get his chance.

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A Crafter's Dream Ch. 76: A Whole New World (Part 3)

Now, without further ado, I present,

A Crafter’s Dream

Steve’s jaw hung open in shock at the sight of the god of creation. Notch, in return, gave the Crafter a warm smile.

“Hello Steve.” He spoke. His voice was soothing somewhat, like a cool ocean breeze on a hot day. Steve hadn’t heard the god speak in many years. He’d almost forgotten what it sounded like.

“How… What… How did..?”

Notch chuckled. “I’m sure you have many questions, and rightfully so, and I will make sure to answer them, but now, I think we have other things to worry about.” The god of creation looked Steve’s injured body up and down. “For example, you seem to be hurt.”

Steve looked himself over as well. “Yeah, I guess. But I’ll be-”

Notch waved a glowing yellow hand over the Crafter, and instantly, Steve felt his injuries mend.

Health Restored - 17 health. 26 health remaining.

Steve let out a sigh of relief as the pain in his body faded away. After giving himself one more look over, he glanced back up at Notch and grinned.

“Thanks.”

“It’s no problem, Steve. It’s the very least I could do.” Notch replied. After a moment, the god’s expression hardened as his gaze shifted back to the Nightmother. “Was she the one who hurt you?”

Steve nodded. “Yeah. She was going to execute Onyx for something or other, and since he’s my friend, I had to step in to save his neck. Me and her got into a bit of a fight and, well, here we are.”

Notch chuckled. “It seems no matter where you go, you are always getting into trouble, Steve.”

The Crafter shrugged. “Well, what can I say? Seems like fate has it out for me.”

“What is this!?” The Nightmother roared, interrupting the conversation and causing everyone’s eyes to lock onto her. “What business do the Royal Sisters have in my realm!?”

Celestia stepped forward, eyes hard as stone. “You know exactly why we are here, Nightmother. Do not give us trouble, or I will do worse to you then I did when we last met.”

The Nightmother visibly flinched, but held her ground, meeting the pale alicorn’s glare with her own.

“I was young and inexperienced then, Celestial One. I am much stronger than I was hundreds of years ago. I will not be as easy to defeat as I was then.”

“That’s why we’re here.” Luna spoke, stepping up next to her sister. Aura, though she looked a bit unsure of herself, stepped up as well. Steve, Onyx, Notch and Abyss moved to stand next to them as well.

They stood in a line, side by side. Steve held his sword in one hand. Onyx, who stood next to the Crafter, raised his fists and shifted into a fighting stance. Notch stood tall, hands hanging loosely by his side. Abyss crouched slightly, claws out and teeth bared. Both Celestia’s and Luna’s horns glowed, charging with enough magical energy that their manes whipped and whirled. Aura bared her teeth, growling.

On the other side of the room, the Nightmares that had been watching the fight from before finally jumped into action. Like a wave, they poured forth, a great cloud of black coming to stop just behind the Nightmother. She looked over the forces behind her before glancing back at Steve and the other’s with a smirk.

“It would seem you are heavily outnumbered.” She spoke.

“And I think I speak for everyone when I say we’ve dealt with worse. ” Steve retorted. The Nightmother’s smirk fell into a frown.

“We’ll see.” She responded, eyes narrowed at the Crafter.

Steve turned his head to look at those who stood on either side of him, a small smile on his face. “Guys?”

They all turned their heads to look at him.

“Thanks for coming.”

They each gave him a grin in response, with the exception of Luna, who, after a moment, simply looked back at the horde of Nightmares in front of them all. Steve did the same, his right hand clenching around the handle of his sword. He took a breath.

The Nightmother was the first to act, pointing her spear at Steve and his group and yelling, “Kill them!” The Nightmares surged forward on command. Steve responded in kind, raising his blade as he rushed forward to meet them. As he did so, he noticed out of the corner of his eyes that his comrades did the same, charging forward to meet the Nightmares in battle.

Steve’s feet pounded the floor, the dull thumping of his boots on the hard stone floor easily lost among the loud roaring of the Nightmares in front of him, along with the furied yells of his comrades. His heart pounded in his ears as a mixture of blood and adrenaline coursed through his veins.

The horde was getting closer.

Some of the Nightmares threw spells. Bolts of dark magic soared through the air, some hitting the ground, while many more were deflected by either Celestia or Luna’s magic.

Notch responded in kind, firing beams of light into the horde that disintegrated any Nightmare they touched. Abyss sent out a burst of purple flames that sent many more Nightmares to the floor writhing and screaming in pain.

But it seemed that for every Nightmare that fell, another one replaced them, the horde not lessing in size at all. Steve grit his teeth.

The horde was nearly upon them.

Memories of his friends, his old friends from Minecraftia, played in the back of Steve’ mind as he ran.

Butch, covered in his birthday cake, deadpanning at Steve as everyone around him laughed. Eventually, the brutish man did as well.

Rosa, a young dark-skinned girl working hard in her forge while he and two others waited nearby.

Max, drunkenly singing along with the nearby jukebox.

Lilly grinning, her smile so bright Steve swore it could blind a person.

Eventually, the memories shifted to his new friends.

Eating breakfast with Rainbow Dash.

Talking with Trench at the diner.

Baking muffins for Dinky while the filly read to him.

Hugging Derpy.

Steve narrowed his gaze in determination. ‘I’ll see you guys again.’ He swore to himself, even as the inky blackness of the Nightmare horde filled his vision. ‘I promise.’

The crowd of Nightmares were finally upon them. Steve brought back his blade.

Square: Slash

Square: Slash

Swinging his blade forward, Steve cut into the chest of a Nightmare, knocking them to the ground. He quickly followed it up with another slash which put his opponent down for good.

Circle + Square: Counter

Looking up, he saw a Nightmare rushing towards him, Umbrine spear at the ready. Raising his blade, he managed to deflect the blow before whirling around and stabbing the Nightmare in the back.

Triangle: Kick

Bringing up his foot, he kicked the Nightmare off his blade before turning around, only to immediately be met by two more Nightmares. The first moved to punch him.

Circle: Dodge

Square: Slash

Steve quickly side-stepped the blow before cutting the Nightmare down. Before he could do anything else, he was sucker-punched in the face, the blow sending him stumbling back.

Damage Received - 3 damage. 23 health remaining.

Gritting his teeth, Steve narrowed his eyes at the Nightmare, who was quickly advancing on him. However, before they could reach him, a beam of light quickly reduced the Nightmare to little more than a memory. Turning his head, Steve saw Notch standing nearby, hands still outstretched.

“Thanks!” Steve called with a grin. Before the god could reply, several Nightmare jumped from the horde to attack. Notch quickly went to work on dispatching them while Steve took a quick look around to see how everyone was faring.

Just to his right, Onyx kicked another one to the ground before jumping on top of them and laying into them with a flurry of punches. Aura held her own against three Nightmares, none of them able to land a hit on the quick-hoofed thestral. Celestia cast spell after spell, destroying Nightmares by the dozens while Luna went up close and personal, choosing to use her hooves more than her magic. Abyss was a bit more ruthless, either burning the Nightmares to death with her purple fire or tearing them apart with her claws. Notch was an absolute powerhouse, easily dodging or blocking blow after blow from numerous Nightmares while still managing to fire off beams of yellow magic from his hands that cut through the horde like a knife through warm butter.

‘Makes sense considering he’s a god.’ Steve briefly thought before focusing back on the fight at hand.

Circle: Block

Square: Slash

Steve blocked a blow from an attacking Nightmare before whirling around and cutting them down. Not a moment later, another Nightmare, armed with an Umbrine spear, lunged at the Crafter, trying to impale him.

Circle: Block

Steve blocked the attack, only for another Nightmare to rush in, trying to punch him.

Circle: Dodge

Steve ducked down low, making the attack go wide. Coming back up, the Crafter was immediately met by yet another Nightmare, one of the guards this time, trying to cut him in two with an Umbrine axe.

Circle: Dodge

Steve twisted his body just in time, the axe head cutting so close that sparks erupted from his chestplate. Stumbling backwards slightly, the Crafter’s gaze traveled over the three Nightmares he now faced. He grit his teeth before grabbing the handle of his sword with two hands.

Square (Hold): Whirlwind

Rushing forward, Steve brought back his sword before swinging it with such force that he spun in a circle. His blade crashed into all three Nightmares, sending them flying backwards into the horde they came from. Coming to a stop, the Crafter readied his blade as more Nightmares jumped right back in.

Square: Slash

Circle: Dodge

Square: Slash

Steve slashed one of the Nightmares across the chest, sending them to the floor. He leaned his head back, barely avoiding an attack from another Nightmare. Grabbing them by the back of the neck, Steve stabbed them in the chest. He waited a moment for the shadowy body to stop twitching before yanking the Nightmare off his blade and dropping them to the floor in a heap. However, the action cost him as a Nightmare suddenly crashed into him, sending the both of them tumbling to the floor.

Damage Received - 2 damage. 21 health remaining.

Grunting in pain from the impact, Steve tried to get back to his feet, but was tackled by the Nightmare, his back smacking against the ground. Looking up, the Crafter’s eyes widened as the Nightmare brought up their Umbrine spear.

Circle + Square: Counter

Grabbing the spear just past the tip, Steve pushed it away before grabbing the Nightmare by the shoulders and pulling their head towards the ground, the subsequent impact making a loud cracking noise. Pushing them off, the Crafter hastily got back to his feet before jumping right back into the fight.

* * * * *

Steve lost himself in the battle.

Time meant little to the Crafter as he and his team plowed through the horde. Pain was little more than a distant feeling, exhaustion just his mind playing tricks on him. His sword remained ever present in his gaze. But despite the haze of battle clouding his mind, he was still painfully aware of the state his team was in.

Onyx was barely standing, legs shaking beneath him.

Aura was panting heavily, her attacks much slower than they had been before.

Abyss was both tired and hurt, dozens upon dozens of wounds marking her scaly hide. Her flame breath had all but been depleted.

Celestia’s horn sparked and fizzed as she tried to fire off another spell. Her armor was dented and cracked, with much of the gold paint having been scratched off. Luna wasn’t much better off.

Notch, for some strange reason, looked more like an apparition, with Steve clearly being able to see through him with little difficulty, while still being able to see him at all. Despite this, the god still fired off beams of light into the Nightmares, though his attacks had become considerably weaker, now taking two or even three hits to take a Nightmare down.

However, they’re efforts had been far from in vain. What had once been a horde of Nightmares was now reduced to little more than a hundred. All of the rest had either been vaporized, or laid dead or defeated on the cold, stone floor.

The Nightmother stood near the other side of the throne room, a look of anger and horror on her face. She clearly hadn’t been expecting her forces to be beaten as badly as they had been. She’d ditched her spear at some point during the fight, switching to magic-based attacks, or hand-to-hand. She’d been forced to retreat from the battle slightly after taking a bad hit from Abyss, though she still aided her forces with her magic.

Square: Slash

Steve cut down the Nightmare in front of him before looking up. It appeared that all of the remaining forces had retreated as well, now standing just in front of the Nightmother. Despite the obvious state his side was in, it seemed they were reluctant to move too far away from her. Taking a second, Steve looked himself over.

8 Health remaining.

He was hurt, badly. Blood dripped from numerous cuts and lacerations on his body. His chestplate had been broken at some point, but he didn’t think much of it. His vision suddenly darkened slightly as the pain and exhaustion finally caught up with him.

His teeth grit in agony as he fell to one knee, using every ounce of willpower he had to keep from collapsing.

“Steve!” He heard Onyx call, but it sounded distant and muted. He felt a hand on his shoulder, keeping him steady. The Crafter found it in him to look up, immediately seeing Onyx’s concerned face just inches from his.

“Are you alright?” The Nightmare asked in a worried tone. The Crafter hesitated for a moment before responding.

“I’m *pant* fine” He replied, though it was clear from his voice just how much pain the Crafter was truly in. He let out a groan as he pushed himself to his feet. “Just *pant* a bit tired.”

Steve could see in Onyx’s face that the Nightmare didn’t believe him for a second. But before he could retort, the Crafter turned to face the remaining Nightmares. After looking around the battlefield, he shifted his gaze to meet the Nightmother’s. Taking a breath, he stumbled towards her, using his sword as a make-shift crutch.

The moment he did, all of the Nightmares tensed up, readying for battle. His team, though hurt and exhausted, began to do the same, only to be stopped by Steve’s hand.

“Guys, don’t. Not yet. Give me a sec.” With that, he continued to shamble forward, but stopped when Celestia spoke.

“Steve, what are you doing?”

For a moment, he didn’t move. Then, he turned his head to look at the pale white alicorn.

“You’ll see.” He responded, before facing forward once again and continuing to stumble towards the Nightmother.

Once he was half-way across the battle-field, he suddenly stopped.

Neither side moved, both unaware of what it was that the Minecraftian was planning. It was only after a few moments of silence that Steve finally spoke.

“It appears you went with option two.”

The Nightmother looked at him in confusion for a moment before realization filled her gaze and she bared her teeth with a low snarl.

“I told you, before we began to fight, that this would end one of two ways. Either Onyx and I would leave in peace, or every Nightmare in the room would die. And look what happened.”

Steve sighed, rubbing his face with a hand.

“Believe it or not, I really didn’t want to fight. But I also knew more likely than not that there was no way we would leave peacefully and as it turned out, I was right.” He looked at the Nightmother. “Look, let’s be real here. Your side is pretty much on its last legs.” With a sigh, Steve turned to look at his battered team. “And so is mine.” He turned his head to look at the Nightmother. “So, I’m offering you another choice. Let us leave here, with Onyx. We won’t fight, we will simply take ourselves and leave, most likely to never return. Or, we can continue to fight. We can duke it out, right here, and see which side makes it out alive. It’s up to you.” Steve took a step back as he held up a hand. “And, before you make your choice, let me ask you this.” The Crafter’s expression became hard as stone. “Was one Nightmare worth the lives of those who have fallen here today? If you survive, could you one day look yourself in the mirror and say, ‘Their lives were worth it?’”

The Nightmother opened her mouth to respond, but she eventually closed it after a moment. She looked around the battle-field, taking in the hundreds of corpses that littered it before her gaze shifted to Steve’s team.

Eventually, she sighed and shook her head. “No. He wasn’t worth it.”

With a wave of her hand, a portal appeared in the room. It looked exactly like the one that had brought Steve to the Hollow in the first place.

The Crafter gave a silent sigh of relief.

“Go, please.” The Nightmother spoke, voice quiet and pleading. She refused to look at them. “Go and never return.”

Steve nodded. “We will. Thank you.” Looking back at his team, he gestured towards the portal. “Come on. Let’s go.”

With a nod, his team walked over to the portal. The first to step through was Aura, the thestral quickly disappearing into the blackness. Luna and Celestia were next, followed closely by Onyx and Abyss. Notch gave the Crafter a smile and a nod before he stepped through as well. Steve moved towards the portal, but stopped just in front of it. He looked around the room at the fallen Nightmares for a minute before glancing at the Nightmother, a small look of sympathy on his face.

‘She’s probably feeling exactly how I felt that day.’ He thought. After a moment, he mentally sighed. ‘Damn my conscience.’

“Hey.” He spoke in a low voice. The Nightmother didn’t look at him, or even respond in any way. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.” He took another glance at the bodies. “I really, really didn’t want this to happen.”

“...Just go.” She finally spoke, and Steve’s heart lurched a bit from how broken she sounded.

Continuing to look at her for a minute, Steve gave a sigh before turning towards the portal and stepping through.

Author's Note:

So, yeah, here's another chapter. Not sure how I managed to get this one out so fast, but I did. So, uh, yay me. :yay:
Anyways, thank you all for reading and be sure to let me know what you all think in the comments.

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