Cube Land

Chapter 9

Day 95

DIAMONDS!

...

Sorry, but that was exactly what I was thinking at that moment in time. In front of me was the largest collection of diamonds that I have ever had the fortune to come across. I had no idea how the ponies had managed to obtain such a treasure trove, but I didn't really care. I couldn't help myself; I was grinning like a madman. The ponies backed away from me and the diamonds, save for one.

I looked at the faces of the ponies around me, trying to determine why they had distanced themselves from me. Apple and Spectrum appeared to be arguing with Daybreak over something, but a few words were enough to quiet them down. I turned my attention to the off white pony in front of me. A look of anxiety and apprehension was present on her face.

This confused me: I have never considered myself to be intimidating. Creepers, skeletons, zombies, Endermen...their actions have shown me that I am not the highest being on the food chain. Even the passive creatures do not give me a second glance unless I'm carrying wheat. Her expression made me realize that to them, I am a large, powerful, and dangerous creature whose actions may not be wholly pure.

In an attempt to show my good intentions, I crouched down as best I could with the arrow sticking out of my arm. Before I could do anything else however, the purple-maned pony shoved the pile of diamonds closer to me with her hooves. She was looking at me, the anxiety and apprehension replaced with curiosity.

She's giving me a gift, I had thought at the time. That has to be it. She's...thanking me.

I decided then and there to call her Charity, due to her generous nature.

I slowly and carefully reached for one of the diamonds, to determine its authenticity. Needless to say, they were. I had been given copious amounts of the most valuable crafting material in this world, as a gift.

I have never been given a gift before. This was a momentous moment for me. Smiling, I reached into one of my belt pockets. I pulled out the strange, green gem that I had found many weeks ago during one of my ventures. It responded to my touch, expanding to fit my hand. I had never found a use for the gem other than as a decoration: it was neither tough like diamond nor able to dye materials like lapis. I offered the brilliant green jewel to Charity, who was still in front of me.

A look of surprise flashed across her face. I believe that she didn't expect me to give her a gift in return. Charity cautiously took the gem from my hand, somehow grasping it with one of her hooves. This still confuses me greatly: if they're able to use and grasp tools, why don't they actually use them? I can understand Daybreak not using them, as she has the ability to levitate objects, but what about the others? Many questions, no answers.

Damn this language barrier!

...

After looking at the gem for a few seconds, her eyes lit up and a large smile played across her face. I smiled in return, glad that my measly gift was accepted in return for the vast amount of diamonds. I quickly started grabbing the diamonds and shrinking them so that they'd fit in my pockets.

The only thing that annoys me most about diamonds is their rarity: they are extremely difficult to obtain. I have only ever found them while mining deep underground and more often than not, they are found near underground pools of lava. Aside from the problem of their rarity, diamonds are the toughest and most durable material that I can easily work with. I have only ever found enough to make a single pickaxe, but it has lasted me far longer than any of my other tools, not to mention the fact that it still looks and works as if it was brand new.

Bah...straying from the recollection once again.

...

I stood up, my pockets bulging from the recent influx of top notch crafting materials. I motioned for us to turn continue onward, out of the cave. The ponies all nodded, seemingly relieved. I had noticed that they didn't seem to like it very much in the subterranean expanse. I don't mind it; I've become used to the feeling of hundreds of blocks above my head. It used to bother me, but now I barely glance up whilst underground.

We made our way back up towards the entrance of the Mine. After we were roughly half way there, I started to hear short, quiet sounds of hissing, similar to the ones made by a spider. Startled, I tried to pull out my sword, but it wouldn't come out any farther than halfway out of its sheath. Confused, I briefly glanced down and noticed that there was a purple aura surrounding my sword which was causing it to remain immobile. One of the ponies chirping brought me to my senses. I looked up from my sword and saw Daybreak, the horn atop her head glowing in a similarly coloured aura.

She shook her head and pointed to a very vibrant, pink coloured pony. I hadn't given her much attention before; she just seemed to be energetic and everywhere at once. It still amazes me how different all of their personalities are. I looked carefully at where Daybreak was pointing, trying to figure out why she caused my sword to be anchored. It took me a couple of seconds to make out what appeared to be a small, eight-legged creature on top of the pink pony's head.

I was very curious at that point. I slowly walked over, the creature coming into better view with every step. When I was around 2 metres away, I could finally see with clarity what the creature was. It was a spider, but not one that I had ever seen. It was very small, smaller than my hand. It was a light brown colour and it's eyes were blue, not red. And it was looking at me.

I was extremely surprised by this turn of events: a type of spider that I had never seen before was not only docile, but it was looking at me with intelligent eyes. It stared at me, occasionally blinking it's bright blue eyes. I stared back, trying to figure out exactly what I was going to do with the small spider. The spider surprised me by letting out a small, sharp hiss and snuggling it's way deeper into the pink pony's mane. The pink pony-

...

The spider just jumped onto my knee and it's looking at me with a curious expression. I don't know what it wants, as its owner is currently sleeping on one of the couches. Good, it just jumped off and went to bother Daybreak. She's the only one up, besides me.

...

The pink pony spoke in a higher pitch than any of the others, but I could vaguely tell that she was talking to the spider burrowed in her mane. My suspicion was confirmed when I heard the spider hiss a response after a brief null in the energetic pony's speech. My first thought was that the pink pony had somehow found a companion, however unlikely that it seemed. I turned around and looked at Apple and Spectrum, who I noticed had weary expressions. I didn't blame them, considering that they just fought off some of the much larger variety.

Shaking my head, I continued upwards towards the surface. If the spider wasn't aggressive during the Night, I saw no reason why the pink pony couldn't keep it. Every sentient creature should have a friend, no matter what it may be...

...

...

That's it, I have to write it down.

When I first awoke in this cube land, I was confused. Distraught, cold, hungry, and fearful are the best words to describe my first few days here. I had no idea how to survive, no idea what anything was. I didn't even know my own name, nor what I was. I have trouble recalling my exact feelings and thoughts, but they were all most certainly grim. Fortunately, I found someone who was as lost as I was. He was-

//NOTE// The script becomes nigh unreadable after this point. I was only able to salvage a few sentences and phrases from the walls of text that was written in such haste. Possible letter replacements denoted by parenthesis. I'm not sure why it was written in such different style; possibly emotional trauma?//ENDNOTE//

PARAGRAPH ONE: "...Trapped underground, monsters all around-"

"Someone...Something was following us. To this day, I still don't know what-"

PARAGRAPH TWO: "...(N)arrowly escaped with my life. My (com)panion saved me once again from certain death. We-"

"Gone. I failed. The abomination was (de)feated, my companion sacrificing himself to assure th-"

PARAGRAPH THREE: "Failed. Defeated. I failed. Failed. I could've sacrificed myself. Selfish. Greedy. Unjustified. I failed. Fail-"

"...(S)uffering from fits of depression. I had lost the will to live for a while. I had wandered for a long time with no direction, no goal. I-"

"As I lay there, lethargic and dying, I saw the Sun rise for the first time in my life. The purples and oranges, the reds and yellows; it was beautiful. I felt the Sun's light and warmth grace my skin, granting strength to my limbs. I had never felt so...alive. At that point, I promised myself that I would continue living. For both of us. My only qualm is that I never got to say goodbye..."

//NOTE// Script returns to normal, detailed log of events continues.//ENDNOTE//

...

We continued onwards out of the Mine. Our journey was uneventful as we walked to my house. Punching in the button combination, I opened the door and let all of the ponies in. Thankfully, I didn't have to remind them to wipe their hooves on the mat. By this point, my arm was really starting to bother me. As the ponies were grabbing apples from the basket that was still in the living room and making themselves comfortable on my furniture, I removed a painting from the wall and hit the button that was hidden underneath. A section of the hallway opened, revealing the staircase that took me to my lab.

...I realize that all of the security measure that I have in place may make me seem paranoid. I have only one response to that: it's only paranoia if you're wrong.

I heard a chirp of surprise come from one of the ponies as I turned my back to them and started to descend the staircase. Glancing behind me, I saw Benevolence rushing over to me, her eyes wide with concern. It took me a second to realize what she was looking at: she was staring at the arrow that was sticking out of my arm. I tried to wave her away, but she planted her feet, speaking quietly and motioning towards my arm.

I wasn't exactly confident that she could help me, but I had the feeling that it would be easier to accept whatever help she could give then to get her to leave me alone. Sighing, I motioned for her to follow me down the steps.

My lab is where I conduct all of my experiments, from testing new Redstone designs, to healing poultices, to new and edible foodstuffs. It is full of glassware that I had made myself, most of them filled with one concoction or another. Benevolence looked around in curiosity as I reached into one of the drawers and pulled out my medical supplies.

I had pulled out a length of gauze tape, which was made from sugarcane stalks and other ingredients, along with scissors, tweezers, and a scalpel. I placed my hand around the shaft of the arrow and was about to pull it out when Benevolence chirped loudly at me, causing me to stop. She walked over to my right arm and looked at the wound for almost a minute. She made several soft cooing sounds, in what I could only discern as an attempt to calm me down.

I'm not sure how, but she managed to get me to hand over all of my medical supplies to her. Benevolence then proceeded to carefully and methodically dig the arrow out. I wasn't sure how she was able to do such a thing, with her not having hands or Daybreak's levitation abilities. During the entire time that Benevolence was performing surgery on my arm, she was humming a tune that made me relax.

I don't know how long it took, but it was over before I knew it. The arrow was out, my arm was bandaged, and there was hardly any blood. If I had done it, there would have been a lot more. I thanked Benevolence in the only way that I could: by petting her. Strangely enough, she hid behind her mane and retreated back upstairs. She is a strange one: only breaking out of her shell when something is hurt or about to get hurt.

After she left, I checked over my latest healing poultice. It had been fermenting for a while in an attempt to make the effect stronger. I took the lid off and sniffed the red liquid. It smelled terrible, but that was how I knew that it was ready. Bracing myself, I took a swig of the disgusting liquid, nearly gagging as it went down my throat.

It was a worth it, though. I could feel the potion start to work immediately as it numbed the pain in my arm. It took me a while to find the right combination of ingredients, but once I did, getting an injury isn't as life-threatening as it once was, as the potion would start to repair damaged bone and tissue immediately.

I left my lab, seeing as I didn't need anything else from it. I hit the button again, causing the stairwell to disappear under my carpeted floor. I put the painting back over the button, hiding it from view once again. I glanced over and saw that Daybreak was watching me curiously, her eyes wide with interest. Seeing as how I couldn't explain how I built the pistons and Redstone, I broke eye contact and continued down the hall to my workshop.

As I opened the door, I was hit by the scent of sawdust. It's my first and favourite room of my house. It was originally my home, but I soon realized that I needed much more space than I currently had. I ended up building addition after addition, building the house that I currently reside in. Every time I enter the workshop, I am greeted by the feeling of nostalgia; it is not aesthetically pleasing whatsoever, but it is still the first thing I ever built my own two hands.

I put emptied my pockets of the diamonds that were gifted to me, spreading them out on the large, wooden workbench that is scratched and pitted from my use. Smiling to myself, I grabbed some thick sticks that I use as handles for my all of the new tools that I make, along with a hammer and chisel.

I started to craft myself a diamond sword. I am hard pressed to explain the concept of crafting: I visualize what I want to make and it just...happens. More specifically, I concentrated on the diamonds as I hammered and chiselled them into shape. I could feel them slowly starting to morph into the shape that I desired, which was a sharp blade. The sticks were much easier, as I barely had to concentrate on them as they formed the handle for my new sword.

I was startled out of my crafting-induced reverie by a large flash of violet light, along with a startled chirp. Spinning around, my newly finished sword in hand, I stopped dead in when I saw what had caused the flash of light.

Standing there, quivering and startled, was Daybreak, her horn once again aglow in the same purple aura from before. She was staring at the sole block of obsidian that I had been able to obtain over the months, as it was glowing with a vibrant intensity. I took a cautious step towards the obsidian, unsure how or why it was glowing.

As I stepped forward, two white arcs of what seemed like lightning launched towards me. Instinctively, I shielded my face. However, the white lightning didn't hit me: it hit my diamond pickaxe and my newly created diamond sword. Both of my tools were glowing with an inner lustre that they hadn't possessed a few seconds ago. I could feel the newfound power that was coursing through the sword that I held. Intrigued, I sheathed the sword and wielded my pickaxe. I felt the same thing.

I decided to test the strength of the...enchantments. Yes, I believe that is the correct word. I motioned for Daybreak to back up. She did, so I swung my pickaxe at the corner of the obsidian block. To my amazement, the pickaxe took the corner off without so much as a hitch, going through the obsidian as if it were common stone. The block continued to glow with writhing energies.

I grinned like I had never grinned before. I finally had a way to mine obsidian efficiently! Turning to Daybreak, I slung my pickaxe over my shoulder and offered my hand to her. She seemed stunned, but she eventually placed her hoof in my hand. I shook it vigorously, grateful that she had solved a problem that I had no solution to.

Still smiling, I ushered her out of the workshop. I had armour to make.

*****************************************************************

Twilight stared at the biped that was sitting in one of the many chairs scattered around the living room. Tears were freely rolling down his face as he furiously scribbled onto the parchment in front of him.

I feel so bad for him. I wonder what's causing him to be like this, thought Twilight. Even crying, he still doesn't make any noise.

Twilight closed her eyes, feeling guilty for spying on him. She cast her thoughts of pity aside and tried to think about some burning questions that had kept her up this late.

Why did the strange purple rock not open up a portal, like it should have? Twilight was extremely surprised when not only did the purple stone not create a portal, but it somehow made the creature's tools stronger.

What was he doing in there for so long? Long into the night, the biped had been hammering away at something in his workshop. The blows were rhythmic enough that everypony else had fallen asleep, but not Twilight.

Why did he take my measurements? Finally, the hammering had stopped and the creature walked out of his workshop carrying a stick with strange markings on it, his injured arm seemingly not causing him any pain. He stopped at the threshold of the hallway and the living room, looking at everypony in the room. Frowning, he looked at the stick in his hand, seemingly considering something.

Twilight shifted her weight ever so slightly, but that was still enough to get the biped's attention. His frown turning upside down, he waved Twilight over. Twilight did as she was asked, unsure what he needed from her at that time of the night. Strangely enough, he told her to stand still as he seemingly took measurements of her midsection, her legs, even her head.

Seemingly satisfied, he motioned for Twilight to go back to the couch as he walked back to his bedroom, coming back out with a quill, ink, and several pages of parchment paper. He then proceeded to write, only pausing briefly to think about something before going back to writing.

Several hours of monotonous writing followed, only broken by a brief staring contest between the biped and Pinkie's pet spider. Twilight thought that it was funny that the creature continued to write with one hand, even as the other hand was trying to shoo the spider off of his knee. However, Twilight did not find it funny when the spider tried to climb onto her. She ended up having to telekinetically place the spider beside Pinkie Pie.

A few minute after Twilight dealt with Pinkie's new pet, she saw the creature look like it wanted to write, but was caught in some sort of internal struggle. Sighing, the creature started to write, slowly at first, but with increasing intensity. The tears began to flow not long after that.

*****

Twilight opened her eyes a crack. Thankfully, the biped seemed to be back to normal, his writing once again going along at the same, precise speed. Her mind at rest, but her questions unanswered, Twilight finally managed to fall asleep.

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