Timecubeby Prince of CaviaChapters1. Exception2. Time3. Travel1. Exception21 April, Year 4 After Purple Comet Cloud Town Sweet Cloud walked through the streets of Cloud Town. She walked towards the Cloud Town High School. She was quite a patient student, but the upcoming exams still made her nervous. On the way to her school, she was going to meet her friend. She and Calm Sky were friends since they were fillies, always helping each other, and always getting into trouble. Sweet Cloud remembered the scolding her parents gave her on the day of the Builders Incident almost four years ago. She's too dangerous and irresponsible to be your friend! her mother told her. Sweet Cloud knew that Calm Sky is a good mare and a good friend. The pink Pegasus walked towards Calm Sky's home. When she got close, the window of the house opened, and a white-coated, blue-manned Pegasus flew out. "Hello, Cloud!" "Hello, Sky! How are you?" "Good. I had some ideas about my project, and I hope you will help me." "I mean, I will, of course." Sweet Cloud and Calm Sky walked towards the school. They talked to each other about various things. Eventually, they reached the school. "... and to properly cause a condensation of the water inside a cloud…" the professor was saying. Sweet Cloud was taking notes of everything. She hoped she would ace the exams. "Calm Sky, what I was saying?" the professor asked. Sweet Cloud looked at her friend, sitting next to her. She had her notebook opened, but instead of notes, there were diagrams with blocks. "Um, meteorology?" "Yes, Calm Sky, we are in the meteorology class. Can I see your notes?" the professor asked, and flew towards her. Calm Sky handed the notebook to the professor. He looked for a while on the pages. "What is this?" he asked. "This is my project for engineering. I called it a dispenser." "That doesn't look like engineering, more like fantasy. Besides, as you said, we are in meteorology class, so better take notes. You can't expect to finish school by having Sweet Cloud do everything for you. You need to put in some effort," said the professor. He gave her the notebook, then flew back to his place. "As I was saying…" Sweet Cloud looked at her friend. Calm Sky watched her notebook. Sweet Cloud noticed other Pegasi talking between each other and looking towards Calm Sky. Cloud had to agree with the professor on one thing. Sky had to focus more on what was happening around her. The school day came to a quick end. Everypegasus left the building, happy that the weekend started. "Calm Sky, are you okay?" asked Sweet Cloud. The white pegasus was visibly disturbed by the events at meteorology class, and was looking at the cloud below her hooves. Hearing her friend's question, she smiled and looked at her. "I'm fine." "So, have you studied for the exam?" "Yes, of course." "I was thinking, how about we go to the town library tomorrow, around 10? We could study together, and I can give you some tips." "I will be fine, I will ace the exam." "Just like the last one?" Calm Sky's smile disappeared. "You know, maybe we should go to the library tomorrow." "Okay. How about we go for some apple fries?" "Sure thing." The two mares walked towards the city center. Cloud Town wasn't a very large city, but it had some interesting places. Not that there was anything to compare it to. It was the only city Sweet Cloud knew. She hoped Calm Sky would find other ones. She always finds a way, Sweet Cloud thought. With a compass for a cutie mark, it wasn't very surprising. "What we have here, the vagabonds are going to cause more trouble," somepegasus said. The two mares turned, and looked behind. An old Pegasus stallion behind an apple stand was looking at them. "You're talking to me?" asked Calm Sky. "Yes, you. Are you going to find aliens or did you get a different delusion now?" "What did you say!" Calm Sky shouted. Other Pegasi on the market started looking at them. "Doctor Sky is such a nice Pegasus, yet his daughter has a cutie mark in wandering around. He should be ashamed that he didn't raise her properly." "You're not gonna insult me!" Calm Sky shouted, and flew up. Before she could get to him, Sweet Cloud caught her by her hoof. "Let this jerk go. He's not worth our time." "I am gonna…" "What is the matter?" a city guard, armed with an ice sword and armor, flew towards the mares. "She was going to attack me for speaking the truth, officer," the old stallion said. "He insulted my father!" Calm Sky shouted. "Father is a doctor, daughter got a cutie mark in wandering around," the old stallion said. “Isn’t this true?” "Calm Sky? Are you causing trouble again?" the guard said. "No, officer. She is leaving," Sweet Cloud said, standing between the guard and her friend. "Yes… I am," Calm Sky said. "Very well, I hope you two won't cause trouble." The mares left the market. Calm Sky was still furious. "Why is everypegasus in this town such an utter re…" "Language. You want another ticket for screaming obscenities in public?" asked Sweet Cloud. "Okay, you have a point." "You shouldn't let others' opinions put you down." "I know. Just, I have a proof that we aren't alone in the world, and have technology we didn't knew was possible, yet nopegasus cares!" "I care about it. I know you will show others that you are correct." Calm Sky managed to calm down a bit. "You are right. I will show them." "So, do you still want to eat some apple fries?" "Sorry, but no. I need to go home. My dad would get worried." "Okay. Tomorrow at 10 in the library?" "Yes, of course. Bye Cloud." Calm Sky said, and flew up, not waiting for an answer. "Bye, Sky," Sweet Cloud said, and turned towards her own house. On the way back, she thought about Calm Sky's research. She saw the Builders, and knew they could do things considered impossible. She wasn't as good as Calm Sky in engineering, so she wasn't of much help in experiments and reverse engineering of alien technology. She was going to help her friend as much as she could. She also thought about that old stallion in the market. Why did he decide to insult Sky? Did he want to get her into trouble just for the fun of it? She had to agree with Calm Sky on one thing. There were many inhabitants of this town that behaved like they didn't have a brain. Even if she is wrong, what's the worst thing that can happen? though Sweet Cloud. 23 September, year 7 After Purple Comet. Realm 192.004.055 Three flying machines floated in the air above a forest. These machines were masterpieces of engineering. The pistons and slime blocks were capable of flying almost as fast as elytras. They could carry many minecarts with chests filled with supplies. They could be easily turned only by breaking or placing a redstone block in certain places. Victor checked his gear. His netherite sword was in full durability. He had a few stacks of golden apples, respawn anchors and glowstone. He also had stacked potions, end crystals, obsidian and tools that he might need in battle. In his left hand, there was a totem. He had twelve others in the inventory. He knew it might not be enough. The plan was simple. Fly to the spawn of this server. Defeat the enemy garrison. Liberate this realm. The small town on the realm's spawn point became visible. It was a mismatch of blocks and buildings without any plan or reason. Typical for such a small realm inhabited only by few Blockers. "Get ready, we drop in a minute," said the platoon's commander, using the psionic link through the Blockwork that was setup to connect the soldiers of this platoon with each other. Victor put on his elytra. He looked around. The pilot stood in the front, diamond pickaxe in one hand, redstone block in other. The engineer held a block of TNT next to the replication machine, in case the enemy fortifications needed to be bombed. The commander and three other Blockers were holding anchors. Victor checked the device on his hand. It wasn't a cheat client, it was an utility modification, as the Director always said. Everyblocker knew it was just propaganda. Victor didn't really care. In a war against the enemies from the depths of the Containment Zone, they needed to have all the help they could. "3… 2… 1… Go!" the commander shouted. The group, as well as others, jumped out of the flying machines. Twelve Blockers in full netherite armor flew towards the town. Victor looked below. He saw the banners of the enemies. Diamond Sword on the one side, three diamond cogs on other side, on a brown field. The banners of Brotherhood of Diamonds. Victor looked at the minimap. There was a group of Blockers underground, below the town hall. They were probably prisoners. There was no sight of Brotherhood soldiers around. The warriors flew over the town in formation. Everyone of them knew that the Brotherhood are formidable enemies. "Northwest. Enemy incoming!" one of the soldiers shouted through the telepathic link connecting them. Victor looked at the minimap, and saw twelve dots rapidly approaching. He looked, and saw warriors in diamond armor. "Land on the ground, get anchors ready!" the commander ordered. The warriors landed in the town. Victor surrounded his legs in obsidian. It wasn't his first fight, but it didn't make him any less nervous. Getting disintegrated and sent to Blockwork for respawn wasn't a pleasant experience, and he wished he didn't have to repeat it. The Brotherhood warriors landed as well, crystals in their hands. They started running towards them. They ran far faster than they should, but it was expected for a band of upstart cheaters. Victor placed his anchor in front of one of the attacking Brotherhood soldiers and detonated it. The enemy covered himself in obsidian, parrying the attack. They both got netherite pickaxes out to attempt to break the other's defense. The Brotherhood soldier was faster, and broke Victor's defenses. Before he could react, he lost three totems. Luckily, an ally managed to distract the Brotherhood warrior, and Victor rebuilt the defense. One of the flying machines threw TNT on the Brotherhood. Two enemy soldiers flew on elytras to destroy the machines. Victor managed to break the defense of the Brotherhood soldier, and started placing anchors as fast as he could. The enemy quickly popped a few totems. Finally, the Brotherhood warrior combatlogged into the Blockwork. Victor ran out of his hiding, and struck another enemy with his sword. The Brotherhood realized the battle was lost, and one by one logged off. Soon, the explosions ended. Victor looked around. The town was completely demolished. Stray obsidian was left everywhere, and craters from crystals and anchors dotted the landscape. The sight of destruction saddened him. If only the Containment wasn't broken, this town could have stayed isolated and peaceful. I wish there was a way to stop this war, he thought. He knew these were pointless thoughts. He had a duty to do. He went to the town hall. The commander was there, holding a dragon egg. One of the engineers built simple contraptions with pistons and redstone. The commander placed the egg on the bedrock bunker that the Brotherhood built. The engineer turned on the contraption, and the egg broke a hole through bedrock. The commander dropped some ladders inside. Soon after, few civilians managed to walk out of the bunker. They looked at the warriors and started slowly backing out. "You have nothing to be afraid of, this realm is now under the protection of the SciCraft Institute," the commander said, and gave a shulker box to the town leader. Victor walked out of the building. The civilians talked with the Institute warriors, and started rebuilding their town. To think all of this started with a stupid hacked horse, he thought. The story of the Backdoor Horse was known in the entire Blockwork by now. Most didn't believe that a modded horse with horn and wings managed to throw the entire Blockwork into chaos. Some Blockers said that it was actually a good thing, as it prevented something far worse from happening. What could be worse than a interrealm war? Victor thought. "The Director is calling me!" the commander shouted. Victor stopped his train of thought, and looked towards him. Other warriors ran towards the commander. Victor followed them. The commander stood in one place for a while. He talked with the Director using private messages. Victor wondered why the leadership was calling a simple platoon commander. Eventually, the commander started moving. He slowly turned towards Victor. "Victor762?" "Yes?" "Director Ilmango expects you at the SciCraft tomorrow." There was silence as all of the Institute warriors looked at Victor. He was in shock. What was he needed for? Briefly, he hoped the Director finally found a way to stop this war. Author's Note I decided to publish the sequel to Skyblock today. Just like Vallorith, you can expect daily updates. I have it all written and edited. This story is not the one that I wanted to write, but after failing to think about a sensible plot, I just decided to post what I had. The main point of this story will be to explore the lore behind Skyblock and the deleted sequel. It might seem a bit confusing, but well, I am writing mostly for myself. I will try to make it make sense, as much as I can. I might write a proper sequel to Skyblock. One day. Maybe. 2. Time21 April, Year 4 After Purple Comet Cloud Town Mr. Sky was preparing a dinner for him and his daughter. Calm Sky had finished school for today. It was friday, so she probably was out with her friends. The stallion hoped she wouldn't get into trouble. His daughter was quite a troublemaker in the town. She always wanted to discover and explore something. He appreciated this. It was a good thing his daughter had interests and tried to help others. The door to the house opened. "Hello. How was your day at school?" he greeted his daughter. "It was terrible!" "Why?" "Dad, do you know why everypegasus here is so stupid?" "What happened?" "The meteorology professor mocked my project, the Pegasi in the school laughed at me, and then some jerk in the market insulted me and you!" "You are a smart mare. Don't worry about what other Pegasi say about you." "But dad, why can't they understand that I found the answers to all of the city's problems! Once I learn how to harness the builder's magic, everything will change." "Well, they probably still aren't ready for this. You can't expect them to change in a single day." "Because they are too stupid!" Calm Sky said, and pretended to kick something. "What would you say for apple pancakes?" her father asked. He knew she loved them, and they would improve her mood. "I'm not hungry. I'm going into my room, I have work to do," she said, and walked upstairs. Mr. Sky was worried about his daughter. Others in the town did not share her enthusiasm. He knew first hand how stubborn about changes they could be. Still, he believed in his daughter. She was a smart Pegasus. Mr. Sky decided to walk upstairs to his daughter. Maybe there was something more he could do? He walked to the door and knocked on it. The hardened cloud dented, but quickly reformed. "Calm, can I enter?" he asked. There was no response. He opened the door. Calm Sky was sitting by the wooden machine she dragged from the Builder's Base. Crafting table, he remembered. Calm Sky's room was quite messy. There were notes scattered around. In the corner, there was a working place, with a crafting table and chest. He remembered how he argued when she tried to put a furnace in the room. In the other corner, there was an unset bed. On the wall, there were drawings. Some technical diagrams Calm Sky drew, a portrait of her and her father he got from the town painter, a drawing of her with Sweet Cloud made by her friend and a portrait of a blue, rainbow maned Pegasus mare that Calm Sky wanted to meet. "Calm, are you all right?" "Yes. I'm working," Calm Sky said. Her father noticed she was crying. "Don't worry about them. You are a very smart mare, and don't let yourself be held down." "Dad, can I ask you something?" "Yes." "Would mom approve of my research?" He stood in silence for a short while, but finally answered. "Yes. She would be proud to have such a smart and brave daughter." He walked towards Calm Sky and hugged her. They stood in silence for a long while. He thought about his wife. How he would give up everything only for her to be here with his daughter. "I love you," he said. "I love you too, dad," she replied. 24 September, year 7 After Purple Comet. SciCraft After a long journey through the Blockwork, Victor had reached the SciCraft. He logged on, and appeared in the spawn. The city of SciCraft was the peak of Blocker advancement. It was the headquarters of the Institute, an organization whose goals were to help the Blocker people reach their true potential. Victor never entered the city before. It was impossible to do so without an invitation from the Directors. The security was even stronger now, because of the war. "Identify yourself," said a guard. Victor noticed several identical guards in the area. Bots, he thought. "Victor728, of the 3rd assault company." "Director Ilmango is waiting for you in the Secret Research Facility nr. 4. Follow me," the bot guard said. Victor followed him. They reached a railway. The bot clicked a button. The lamps started flickering in a pattern. The bot placed a minecart and sat inside. Victor sat in the back. The minecart started. Soon, it reached great speed, far faster than Victor even experienced. The minecart drove on bridges above the laboratories and testing grounds. After a few minutes of travel, the minecart stopped. The passengers got out. Victor saw a huge bunker made out of bedrock. "Don't try to use freecam, the anticheat would erase your memories," the bot said. Victor looked at his device and turned off everything. No need to risk disrupting this facility. "You will follow me. No stopping, no turning around. This is a maximum security area. You take one wrong step, you get banned," the bot said. Victor started to get nervous. The bot set a path, and walked inside the bunker. Victor followed him. The bunker was a maze of bedrock and barriers. No way anyblocker would be dumb enough to attack it, Victor thought. After a very long travel through the maze, Victor and the bot reached a vide corridor made out of iron blocks. Victor saw some Blockers standing in a group. He recognized some of them. One of them was Director Ilmango. "Look, our tester has finally came," one of the Blockers said. "Tester?" Ilmango walked towards Victor. The soldier crouched and bowed down to the Director. "Welcome, Victor, to our research facility. We are glad you decided to help us." "If I may ask, what exactly would I be helping with? I am just a simple PVPer, I don't even know how to craft a repeater without looking up the recipe." "We need a PVPer for the experiment." "I am sure there are many guilds that would gladly help you." "My researchers checked a few thousand Blockers, and you are the perfect candidate." Victor decided that questioning the Institute would be unwise. "What should I be doing?" "Come with me," said Ilmango. Victor walked together with the group. The bunker was very large, and there were many rooms. Ilmango stopped next to a map art. This map art was a portrait of a green and black Blocker. It's skin wasn't angular like all others, instead being abstract. There were signs below the map art. It was written Administrator KleinBottle, Leader of Blocker Stripminers, Head of Obsidian Council, Owner and Administrator of Blockkonstruct. "How much do you know about history? Do you know who he was?" asked Ilmango. "Admin of some realm?" guessed Victor. He never heard of him before. "Not some realm. The Omnirealm of Blockkonstruct. The single realm of Existence. Don't worry if you didn't know this, the knowledge is long lost. Even I only know scraps of that story." "You mean, everything was once a single realm?" "Yes. We built it. We do not remember it. It was taken away from us. But yes, at one point, all of Existence was the Blockkonstruct. Almost all." "What happened to it?" "The same thing that is happening to the Containment Zone now." Ilmango walked a few steps further. There was a large painting. It showed a battle between black and green cat-like creatures, and winged and horned horses. They fought among the stars, shooting rays of magic from arcane machines. "This is how we once looked. We only got our current skins later," Ilmango pointed at the blocky cats. "These creatures here," he pointed at the strange-looking horses, "are our eternal enemies. They are called the Starborn." "They look like modded horses." "Simple modded horse wouldn't assassinate the usurper King of Blockers and his blaspheming lackey. These two were the strongest arcaneengineers in the entire Blockwork, far stronger than even I am. Yet, a single Starborn managed to destroy them in two weeks. You can see how far our kind has fallen." "You mean, the Backdoor Horse? There are more of them?" "Yes. They hate us. Noblocker remembers why or how. The only two Blockers that knew anything were killed." "Is there any way to stop them?" "In fact, yes. I have just the thing we need." Ilmango pointed towards his assistant. She placed an ender chest on the floor, and took out a shulker box. She placed the shulker. Ilmango opened it, and took out a blue string. "Why do you need a blue string?" asked Victor. "This is not a string. This is a hair from the mane of the Backdoor Horse. My researchers managed to crack the code that it used to travel to the Containment Zone. We can reverse the process." "With this, we will find the horse?" "Exactly. Not only that, but we will be able to stop the war. I shall give you the opportunity to become the key to survival of our kind. But before I do this, I need to inform you about something." "Yes, Director?" "This plan is a one-way path. If you follow me, there is no turning back. You will never be able to go back. I can't guarantee if you survive, there's a high chance you won't. If the mission ends in a success, you will save us all." Victor stood in silence. Suicide mission? Now he understood why they choose him. He was expandable. "By won't survive, you mean…" "That you will be severed from the Blockwork. You can die, permanently, with no respawn." Victor looked around. Dying permanently? It was something hard to comprehend. Normally, when a Blocker died, it just went back to Blockwork to reform, then quickly got back to life with minimal loss. Victor couldn't even begin to imagine not having the Blockwork available. It was a terrific concept. However, he was a soldier. He was loyal to the cause, and wanted to help his kind. If his life was a price that had to be paid… "Yes. I accept," Victor said. "Excellent. Come here, I shall show you the greatest invention I even designed." Victor followed Ilmango downstraits. There were more barriers and bedrock. Victor wondered why they needed so much security for this project. Eventually, they reached the bottom. Victor saw a computer. Rows upon rows of wires and contraptions. Looking at the masterpiece of redstone engineering filled Victor with awe. "This is connected to our Wholesum Alpha supercomputer. It is also connected to all the reactors and computers in SciCraft. Turning this machine on would require all the power we can," said Ilmango. He opened an iron door. They entered a huge hall. There was a redstone torch monitor, and multiple levers and buttons. On the monitor, the current time was shown. There was also another date. 22 April, three years ago, 11:47 AM. "What is this?" "This, my friend, is a time machine." 3. Travel22 April, Year 4 After Purple Comet Cloud Town Sweet Cloud woke up. She felt great. It was saturday, the weather was sunny, and she was going to spent all the day with her friend. She hoped Calm Sky felt better today. Yesterday was a bad day. She will make sure today will be better. That's what friends should do, after all. Sweet Cloud packed her saddlebags. Books, notebooks, some money. They shall try to learn something for the exam. Then maybe they will go to eat apple fries. Sweet Cloud went to kitchen. Her father was reading a newspaper. She didn't knew why he did so. Nothing happened in this city anyway. She hoped Calm Sky finds a way out soon. Her mother was also sitting by the table, drinking apple juice. "Good morning," said Sweet Cloud, and sat down to eat breakfast. "Good morning, Sweet. I see you are going somewhere?" her mother said. "I will go to the library. There's a fairly important exam soon." "I heard that there was trouble at the market yesterday," her mother said. She gave her the look that Sweet Cloud hated. The you're in big trouble, young lady look. "There was some very impolite stallion that insulted Doctor Sky, and Calm wanted to defend her father." "Don't lie to me. I heard what happened. She tried to attack somepegasus because he didn't believed in her delusions." "Mom! Don't talk about Calm Sky like that!" Sweet Cloud said. "I told you many times you should stay away from that crazy filly." "Calm Sky is not crazy. I was there, outside of the city, with her. All she told was true." "Sure, and you meet aliens? You know this is ridiculous." Sweet's mother said, and turned towards her husband. "Do you agree with me?" "Of course, honey," he said, not taking his eyes off the newspaper. "Let me guess, you are going to her again?" she asked her daughter. "We need to study. We will be safe and quiet in the library." "By studying, you mean to fantasize about aliens as usual? Well, you may go. Don't try to cause trouble." "Mom, I'm 18. I can take care of myself," Sweet Cloud said, and went out of her house. She was a bit angry about her mother. She was always overprotective, but since the incident, it got worse. Sweet Cloud remembered the fear she felt when the alien attempted to slash her with a sword. To think she could be dead, if not for Calm Sky... These thoughts still made her shudder. When she went back to town on that day, the first thing she did was to hug her mother. The next day, mother made a scene when she went to doctor Sky and accused Calm Sky of attempted murder. Luckly, the charges weren't put forward. Mother later forbade her from ever meeting Calm Sky again, but after she sneaked out a few times, mother stopped trying to prevent that. Sweet Cloud was loyal to her friend. Even if other pegasi turned on her, she would stay on her side. She walked towards Calm Sky's house. She saw that the white pegasus opened the door and walked away, saddlebag on her side. Sweet Cloud smiled, and walked towards her friend. She noticed that Calm Sky was walking the wrong way. Did she forgot? She shouldn't blame her. Yesterday was quite hectic. She smiled and called for Calm Sky. "Hi, Sky, where are you going?" Calm Sky turned towards her friend. She seemed to be quite surprised to see her. "Hi, Cloud. I'm going to run some tests at Builder's Base. Do you want to join?" Calm Sky replied. Tests? Again? Sweet Cloud stopped smiling. It wasn't the first time Calm Sky decided to go on with her project despite having more important things to do. "Weren’t you supposed to meet me at the library today?" Sweet Cloud asked. Calm Sky stopped. She looked around, as if searching for an answer. "Well, would you agree that researching in the field is more interesting?" she replied, and smiled. So she forgot that we were supposed to learn meteorology today? Does she want to fail the exam? Sweet Cloud thought. She had to get through to her. "Can I be honest with you? Some days, you seem a bit obsessed with your pet project." "I’m not obsessed!" Calm Sky shouted. Sweet Cloud saw some Pegasi look towards them. She decided to go for the hard truth. She knew Calm Sky since fillyhood, and knew she had to rein in her plans sometimes, before they get into trouble again. "I know how important this is for you, but I think you shouldn’t get your hopes up. No Pegasus saw any builder again. It was almost four years ago. They won’t come back," she said. It was the sad truth. As great as the discovery was, it wasn't of much use for others. "Did any Pegasus even look for them? I remember the mayor ordered the guards to search Builder's Base only once, and they decided it is not of any worth to the city. Why is every Pegasus ignoring our discovery?" Calm Sky said. She was almost shouting. "That base is just a bunch of useless material. Why use the blocks when clouds are working just fine?" Sweet Cloud answered. This was the truth. The blocks were too hard and too inflexible to be used as a building material. Clouds could become almost anything. Sweet Cloud knew it first hoof. She didn't get a cloud pyramid for cutie mark for nothing. She already was designing cloud buildings in her spare time. She was on a good road to becoming an architect. "Maybe for now they are useless, but once I figure out how they work, they will become useful. When I figure out teleportation, I'm going to find other cloud cities. I might even find Dashie!" Calm Sky said, her anger changing into determination. It was clear she was sure of what she said. Sweet Cloud had to muster a large amount of willpower to prevent herself from facehoofing. Teleportation? Dashie? Come on! she thought to herself. Maybe it was slightly callous, but sometimes she wondered if Calm Sky was indeed delusional. Doing all the research and trials to teleport to some mare from a painting? I mean, it's not the dumbest thing she did when she had her eyes on a pretty mare, she thought. But at least these mares were real. "That mare from the pixel art? Don't be ridiculous. She's made up," Sweet Cloud said. She was getting a bit angry. "How do you know? You know what, I'm going to find her myself," Calm Sky said. She started walking away, in the direction of Builder's Base. "Fine. Have a nice day," Sweet Cloud said. She spread her wings, and flew towards the library. If she wants to chase a mare from a picture instead of studying for an important exam, it's her problem, she thought. Sweet Cloud flew for few minutes. Initially, she felt angry for Calm Sky. How could she forgot the meeting? How could she just ignore what she was supposed to do? Later, however, she started tp have second thoughts. She might have been a bit too harsh. Calm Sky had some bad days lately. Maybe I shouldn't get so angry at her, Sweet Cloud thought. She hoovered in place for a bit. She needed to study for exam. I need to apoligise to her, she thought. She turned back, and flew towards Builder's Base. 24 September, year 7 After Purple Comet. SciCraft Victor looked as the shulker box with the blue hair was placed on top of pillar of hoopers and mechanisms. He checked his inventory again. He was given full netherite gear, and some shulkers of supplies. He wasn't going to have access to enderchest, and wasn't going to be able to sent messages, at least until the Institute figures out how to get him back. If that is what it needs to be done to end this war… he thought. He knew it needed to be done, and he knew the risk. This sacrifice was the least he could have done. "Are you nervous?" asked one of researchers. "It has to be done," he answered. "I knew the Directors know what they are doing. If they say it will work, then it will work." Director Ilmango stood still by the machine, possibly transmiting data between him and other directors. Eventually, he started moving again. "How are you feeling?" "Good. When will the machine be ready?" "We only need to…" Suddenly, Victor's sensors were overloaded by huge number of data. Someblocker was attacking him. "The Brotherhood! They broke the barrier!" one of directors wrote in large bold letters in general chat. "There's no time to lose! Start the machine!" Ilmango wrote. Everyblocker started rushing towards their position. "We need to defend the realm!" Victor said to Ilmango. "If we get throught with this, this attack will never happen," Ilmango replied. "And if we fail." "In case of SciCraft being under the attack, I authorised usage of Wither Storms." "Wither Storms? They exist?" "Yes. There is no other choice. Either we win, or everyblocker loses." Victor looked at the director. "You want to take down the realm with you?" "No. I shall take down the entire Blockwork with me." "You can't!" Victor shouted. He could accept his own sacrifice, but if Whiter Storms are as powerful as creepypastas say they are, the causalities would be catastrophic. He's insane, he thought. "If you go back and eliminate the Backdoor Horse, you will also stop me from unleasing the Wither Storms." "Would it also prevent you from building the machine and sending me back in time?" "There's a mechanism that assures it would still happen. Probably. We had to work with half-remembered myths and guesses." "The machine is ready," said one of assistants. "Private Victor, as one of Directors of the SciCraft Institute, I order you to stay over at the designated area," Ilmango said, and pointed towards the chamber where the energies will be used. "Yes, sir," Victor answered. He walked towards the chamber. The thick metal doors opened, and he walked in. "Redirect all tokens into the main Tower, then sent all energy to the machine," said Ilmango to his assistants. Victor saw the redstone circuits starting glowing. It was happening. Jeb and Dinnerbone, protect me, he prayed. "All systems operational. Waiting for order," the assistant said. "Victor, good luck," Ilmango wrote in private message. Then he wrote on the general chat. "Start the machine." The light and the energy was blinding. Victor felt overhelmed, as if the wires that connected him were set on fire. He felt strange magic. Never before he could even imagine this. He started spining. The power was so great, it overwrote everything. He was unable to react. Then, there was a blinding light, and this was all he could register.
1. Exception21 April, Year 4 After Purple Comet Cloud Town Sweet Cloud walked through the streets of Cloud Town. She walked towards the Cloud Town High School. She was quite a patient student, but the upcoming exams still made her nervous. On the way to her school, she was going to meet her friend. She and Calm Sky were friends since they were fillies, always helping each other, and always getting into trouble. Sweet Cloud remembered the scolding her parents gave her on the day of the Builders Incident almost four years ago. She's too dangerous and irresponsible to be your friend! her mother told her. Sweet Cloud knew that Calm Sky is a good mare and a good friend. The pink Pegasus walked towards Calm Sky's home. When she got close, the window of the house opened, and a white-coated, blue-manned Pegasus flew out. "Hello, Cloud!" "Hello, Sky! How are you?" "Good. I had some ideas about my project, and I hope you will help me." "I mean, I will, of course." Sweet Cloud and Calm Sky walked towards the school. They talked to each other about various things. Eventually, they reached the school. "... and to properly cause a condensation of the water inside a cloud…" the professor was saying. Sweet Cloud was taking notes of everything. She hoped she would ace the exams. "Calm Sky, what I was saying?" the professor asked. Sweet Cloud looked at her friend, sitting next to her. She had her notebook opened, but instead of notes, there were diagrams with blocks. "Um, meteorology?" "Yes, Calm Sky, we are in the meteorology class. Can I see your notes?" the professor asked, and flew towards her. Calm Sky handed the notebook to the professor. He looked for a while on the pages. "What is this?" he asked. "This is my project for engineering. I called it a dispenser." "That doesn't look like engineering, more like fantasy. Besides, as you said, we are in meteorology class, so better take notes. You can't expect to finish school by having Sweet Cloud do everything for you. You need to put in some effort," said the professor. He gave her the notebook, then flew back to his place. "As I was saying…" Sweet Cloud looked at her friend. Calm Sky watched her notebook. Sweet Cloud noticed other Pegasi talking between each other and looking towards Calm Sky. Cloud had to agree with the professor on one thing. Sky had to focus more on what was happening around her. The school day came to a quick end. Everypegasus left the building, happy that the weekend started. "Calm Sky, are you okay?" asked Sweet Cloud. The white pegasus was visibly disturbed by the events at meteorology class, and was looking at the cloud below her hooves. Hearing her friend's question, she smiled and looked at her. "I'm fine." "So, have you studied for the exam?" "Yes, of course." "I was thinking, how about we go to the town library tomorrow, around 10? We could study together, and I can give you some tips." "I will be fine, I will ace the exam." "Just like the last one?" Calm Sky's smile disappeared. "You know, maybe we should go to the library tomorrow." "Okay. How about we go for some apple fries?" "Sure thing." The two mares walked towards the city center. Cloud Town wasn't a very large city, but it had some interesting places. Not that there was anything to compare it to. It was the only city Sweet Cloud knew. She hoped Calm Sky would find other ones. She always finds a way, Sweet Cloud thought. With a compass for a cutie mark, it wasn't very surprising. "What we have here, the vagabonds are going to cause more trouble," somepegasus said. The two mares turned, and looked behind. An old Pegasus stallion behind an apple stand was looking at them. "You're talking to me?" asked Calm Sky. "Yes, you. Are you going to find aliens or did you get a different delusion now?" "What did you say!" Calm Sky shouted. Other Pegasi on the market started looking at them. "Doctor Sky is such a nice Pegasus, yet his daughter has a cutie mark in wandering around. He should be ashamed that he didn't raise her properly." "You're not gonna insult me!" Calm Sky shouted, and flew up. Before she could get to him, Sweet Cloud caught her by her hoof. "Let this jerk go. He's not worth our time." "I am gonna…" "What is the matter?" a city guard, armed with an ice sword and armor, flew towards the mares. "She was going to attack me for speaking the truth, officer," the old stallion said. "He insulted my father!" Calm Sky shouted. "Father is a doctor, daughter got a cutie mark in wandering around," the old stallion said. “Isn’t this true?” "Calm Sky? Are you causing trouble again?" the guard said. "No, officer. She is leaving," Sweet Cloud said, standing between the guard and her friend. "Yes… I am," Calm Sky said. "Very well, I hope you two won't cause trouble." The mares left the market. Calm Sky was still furious. "Why is everypegasus in this town such an utter re…" "Language. You want another ticket for screaming obscenities in public?" asked Sweet Cloud. "Okay, you have a point." "You shouldn't let others' opinions put you down." "I know. Just, I have a proof that we aren't alone in the world, and have technology we didn't knew was possible, yet nopegasus cares!" "I care about it. I know you will show others that you are correct." Calm Sky managed to calm down a bit. "You are right. I will show them." "So, do you still want to eat some apple fries?" "Sorry, but no. I need to go home. My dad would get worried." "Okay. Tomorrow at 10 in the library?" "Yes, of course. Bye Cloud." Calm Sky said, and flew up, not waiting for an answer. "Bye, Sky," Sweet Cloud said, and turned towards her own house. On the way back, she thought about Calm Sky's research. She saw the Builders, and knew they could do things considered impossible. She wasn't as good as Calm Sky in engineering, so she wasn't of much help in experiments and reverse engineering of alien technology. She was going to help her friend as much as she could. She also thought about that old stallion in the market. Why did he decide to insult Sky? Did he want to get her into trouble just for the fun of it? She had to agree with Calm Sky on one thing. There were many inhabitants of this town that behaved like they didn't have a brain. Even if she is wrong, what's the worst thing that can happen? though Sweet Cloud. 23 September, year 7 After Purple Comet. Realm 192.004.055 Three flying machines floated in the air above a forest. These machines were masterpieces of engineering. The pistons and slime blocks were capable of flying almost as fast as elytras. They could carry many minecarts with chests filled with supplies. They could be easily turned only by breaking or placing a redstone block in certain places. Victor checked his gear. His netherite sword was in full durability. He had a few stacks of golden apples, respawn anchors and glowstone. He also had stacked potions, end crystals, obsidian and tools that he might need in battle. In his left hand, there was a totem. He had twelve others in the inventory. He knew it might not be enough. The plan was simple. Fly to the spawn of this server. Defeat the enemy garrison. Liberate this realm. The small town on the realm's spawn point became visible. It was a mismatch of blocks and buildings without any plan or reason. Typical for such a small realm inhabited only by few Blockers. "Get ready, we drop in a minute," said the platoon's commander, using the psionic link through the Blockwork that was setup to connect the soldiers of this platoon with each other. Victor put on his elytra. He looked around. The pilot stood in the front, diamond pickaxe in one hand, redstone block in other. The engineer held a block of TNT next to the replication machine, in case the enemy fortifications needed to be bombed. The commander and three other Blockers were holding anchors. Victor checked the device on his hand. It wasn't a cheat client, it was an utility modification, as the Director always said. Everyblocker knew it was just propaganda. Victor didn't really care. In a war against the enemies from the depths of the Containment Zone, they needed to have all the help they could. "3… 2… 1… Go!" the commander shouted. The group, as well as others, jumped out of the flying machines. Twelve Blockers in full netherite armor flew towards the town. Victor looked below. He saw the banners of the enemies. Diamond Sword on the one side, three diamond cogs on other side, on a brown field. The banners of Brotherhood of Diamonds. Victor looked at the minimap. There was a group of Blockers underground, below the town hall. They were probably prisoners. There was no sight of Brotherhood soldiers around. The warriors flew over the town in formation. Everyone of them knew that the Brotherhood are formidable enemies. "Northwest. Enemy incoming!" one of the soldiers shouted through the telepathic link connecting them. Victor looked at the minimap, and saw twelve dots rapidly approaching. He looked, and saw warriors in diamond armor. "Land on the ground, get anchors ready!" the commander ordered. The warriors landed in the town. Victor surrounded his legs in obsidian. It wasn't his first fight, but it didn't make him any less nervous. Getting disintegrated and sent to Blockwork for respawn wasn't a pleasant experience, and he wished he didn't have to repeat it. The Brotherhood warriors landed as well, crystals in their hands. They started running towards them. They ran far faster than they should, but it was expected for a band of upstart cheaters. Victor placed his anchor in front of one of the attacking Brotherhood soldiers and detonated it. The enemy covered himself in obsidian, parrying the attack. They both got netherite pickaxes out to attempt to break the other's defense. The Brotherhood soldier was faster, and broke Victor's defenses. Before he could react, he lost three totems. Luckily, an ally managed to distract the Brotherhood warrior, and Victor rebuilt the defense. One of the flying machines threw TNT on the Brotherhood. Two enemy soldiers flew on elytras to destroy the machines. Victor managed to break the defense of the Brotherhood soldier, and started placing anchors as fast as he could. The enemy quickly popped a few totems. Finally, the Brotherhood warrior combatlogged into the Blockwork. Victor ran out of his hiding, and struck another enemy with his sword. The Brotherhood realized the battle was lost, and one by one logged off. Soon, the explosions ended. Victor looked around. The town was completely demolished. Stray obsidian was left everywhere, and craters from crystals and anchors dotted the landscape. The sight of destruction saddened him. If only the Containment wasn't broken, this town could have stayed isolated and peaceful. I wish there was a way to stop this war, he thought. He knew these were pointless thoughts. He had a duty to do. He went to the town hall. The commander was there, holding a dragon egg. One of the engineers built simple contraptions with pistons and redstone. The commander placed the egg on the bedrock bunker that the Brotherhood built. The engineer turned on the contraption, and the egg broke a hole through bedrock. The commander dropped some ladders inside. Soon after, few civilians managed to walk out of the bunker. They looked at the warriors and started slowly backing out. "You have nothing to be afraid of, this realm is now under the protection of the SciCraft Institute," the commander said, and gave a shulker box to the town leader. Victor walked out of the building. The civilians talked with the Institute warriors, and started rebuilding their town. To think all of this started with a stupid hacked horse, he thought. The story of the Backdoor Horse was known in the entire Blockwork by now. Most didn't believe that a modded horse with horn and wings managed to throw the entire Blockwork into chaos. Some Blockers said that it was actually a good thing, as it prevented something far worse from happening. What could be worse than a interrealm war? Victor thought. "The Director is calling me!" the commander shouted. Victor stopped his train of thought, and looked towards him. Other warriors ran towards the commander. Victor followed them. The commander stood in one place for a while. He talked with the Director using private messages. Victor wondered why the leadership was calling a simple platoon commander. Eventually, the commander started moving. He slowly turned towards Victor. "Victor762?" "Yes?" "Director Ilmango expects you at the SciCraft tomorrow." There was silence as all of the Institute warriors looked at Victor. He was in shock. What was he needed for? Briefly, he hoped the Director finally found a way to stop this war. Author's Note I decided to publish the sequel to Skyblock today. Just like Vallorith, you can expect daily updates. I have it all written and edited. This story is not the one that I wanted to write, but after failing to think about a sensible plot, I just decided to post what I had. The main point of this story will be to explore the lore behind Skyblock and the deleted sequel. It might seem a bit confusing, but well, I am writing mostly for myself. I will try to make it make sense, as much as I can. I might write a proper sequel to Skyblock. One day. Maybe.
2. Time21 April, Year 4 After Purple Comet Cloud Town Mr. Sky was preparing a dinner for him and his daughter. Calm Sky had finished school for today. It was friday, so she probably was out with her friends. The stallion hoped she wouldn't get into trouble. His daughter was quite a troublemaker in the town. She always wanted to discover and explore something. He appreciated this. It was a good thing his daughter had interests and tried to help others. The door to the house opened. "Hello. How was your day at school?" he greeted his daughter. "It was terrible!" "Why?" "Dad, do you know why everypegasus here is so stupid?" "What happened?" "The meteorology professor mocked my project, the Pegasi in the school laughed at me, and then some jerk in the market insulted me and you!" "You are a smart mare. Don't worry about what other Pegasi say about you." "But dad, why can't they understand that I found the answers to all of the city's problems! Once I learn how to harness the builder's magic, everything will change." "Well, they probably still aren't ready for this. You can't expect them to change in a single day." "Because they are too stupid!" Calm Sky said, and pretended to kick something. "What would you say for apple pancakes?" her father asked. He knew she loved them, and they would improve her mood. "I'm not hungry. I'm going into my room, I have work to do," she said, and walked upstairs. Mr. Sky was worried about his daughter. Others in the town did not share her enthusiasm. He knew first hand how stubborn about changes they could be. Still, he believed in his daughter. She was a smart Pegasus. Mr. Sky decided to walk upstairs to his daughter. Maybe there was something more he could do? He walked to the door and knocked on it. The hardened cloud dented, but quickly reformed. "Calm, can I enter?" he asked. There was no response. He opened the door. Calm Sky was sitting by the wooden machine she dragged from the Builder's Base. Crafting table, he remembered. Calm Sky's room was quite messy. There were notes scattered around. In the corner, there was a working place, with a crafting table and chest. He remembered how he argued when she tried to put a furnace in the room. In the other corner, there was an unset bed. On the wall, there were drawings. Some technical diagrams Calm Sky drew, a portrait of her and her father he got from the town painter, a drawing of her with Sweet Cloud made by her friend and a portrait of a blue, rainbow maned Pegasus mare that Calm Sky wanted to meet. "Calm, are you all right?" "Yes. I'm working," Calm Sky said. Her father noticed she was crying. "Don't worry about them. You are a very smart mare, and don't let yourself be held down." "Dad, can I ask you something?" "Yes." "Would mom approve of my research?" He stood in silence for a short while, but finally answered. "Yes. She would be proud to have such a smart and brave daughter." He walked towards Calm Sky and hugged her. They stood in silence for a long while. He thought about his wife. How he would give up everything only for her to be here with his daughter. "I love you," he said. "I love you too, dad," she replied. 24 September, year 7 After Purple Comet. SciCraft After a long journey through the Blockwork, Victor had reached the SciCraft. He logged on, and appeared in the spawn. The city of SciCraft was the peak of Blocker advancement. It was the headquarters of the Institute, an organization whose goals were to help the Blocker people reach their true potential. Victor never entered the city before. It was impossible to do so without an invitation from the Directors. The security was even stronger now, because of the war. "Identify yourself," said a guard. Victor noticed several identical guards in the area. Bots, he thought. "Victor728, of the 3rd assault company." "Director Ilmango is waiting for you in the Secret Research Facility nr. 4. Follow me," the bot guard said. Victor followed him. They reached a railway. The bot clicked a button. The lamps started flickering in a pattern. The bot placed a minecart and sat inside. Victor sat in the back. The minecart started. Soon, it reached great speed, far faster than Victor even experienced. The minecart drove on bridges above the laboratories and testing grounds. After a few minutes of travel, the minecart stopped. The passengers got out. Victor saw a huge bunker made out of bedrock. "Don't try to use freecam, the anticheat would erase your memories," the bot said. Victor looked at his device and turned off everything. No need to risk disrupting this facility. "You will follow me. No stopping, no turning around. This is a maximum security area. You take one wrong step, you get banned," the bot said. Victor started to get nervous. The bot set a path, and walked inside the bunker. Victor followed him. The bunker was a maze of bedrock and barriers. No way anyblocker would be dumb enough to attack it, Victor thought. After a very long travel through the maze, Victor and the bot reached a vide corridor made out of iron blocks. Victor saw some Blockers standing in a group. He recognized some of them. One of them was Director Ilmango. "Look, our tester has finally came," one of the Blockers said. "Tester?" Ilmango walked towards Victor. The soldier crouched and bowed down to the Director. "Welcome, Victor, to our research facility. We are glad you decided to help us." "If I may ask, what exactly would I be helping with? I am just a simple PVPer, I don't even know how to craft a repeater without looking up the recipe." "We need a PVPer for the experiment." "I am sure there are many guilds that would gladly help you." "My researchers checked a few thousand Blockers, and you are the perfect candidate." Victor decided that questioning the Institute would be unwise. "What should I be doing?" "Come with me," said Ilmango. Victor walked together with the group. The bunker was very large, and there were many rooms. Ilmango stopped next to a map art. This map art was a portrait of a green and black Blocker. It's skin wasn't angular like all others, instead being abstract. There were signs below the map art. It was written Administrator KleinBottle, Leader of Blocker Stripminers, Head of Obsidian Council, Owner and Administrator of Blockkonstruct. "How much do you know about history? Do you know who he was?" asked Ilmango. "Admin of some realm?" guessed Victor. He never heard of him before. "Not some realm. The Omnirealm of Blockkonstruct. The single realm of Existence. Don't worry if you didn't know this, the knowledge is long lost. Even I only know scraps of that story." "You mean, everything was once a single realm?" "Yes. We built it. We do not remember it. It was taken away from us. But yes, at one point, all of Existence was the Blockkonstruct. Almost all." "What happened to it?" "The same thing that is happening to the Containment Zone now." Ilmango walked a few steps further. There was a large painting. It showed a battle between black and green cat-like creatures, and winged and horned horses. They fought among the stars, shooting rays of magic from arcane machines. "This is how we once looked. We only got our current skins later," Ilmango pointed at the blocky cats. "These creatures here," he pointed at the strange-looking horses, "are our eternal enemies. They are called the Starborn." "They look like modded horses." "Simple modded horse wouldn't assassinate the usurper King of Blockers and his blaspheming lackey. These two were the strongest arcaneengineers in the entire Blockwork, far stronger than even I am. Yet, a single Starborn managed to destroy them in two weeks. You can see how far our kind has fallen." "You mean, the Backdoor Horse? There are more of them?" "Yes. They hate us. Noblocker remembers why or how. The only two Blockers that knew anything were killed." "Is there any way to stop them?" "In fact, yes. I have just the thing we need." Ilmango pointed towards his assistant. She placed an ender chest on the floor, and took out a shulker box. She placed the shulker. Ilmango opened it, and took out a blue string. "Why do you need a blue string?" asked Victor. "This is not a string. This is a hair from the mane of the Backdoor Horse. My researchers managed to crack the code that it used to travel to the Containment Zone. We can reverse the process." "With this, we will find the horse?" "Exactly. Not only that, but we will be able to stop the war. I shall give you the opportunity to become the key to survival of our kind. But before I do this, I need to inform you about something." "Yes, Director?" "This plan is a one-way path. If you follow me, there is no turning back. You will never be able to go back. I can't guarantee if you survive, there's a high chance you won't. If the mission ends in a success, you will save us all." Victor stood in silence. Suicide mission? Now he understood why they choose him. He was expandable. "By won't survive, you mean…" "That you will be severed from the Blockwork. You can die, permanently, with no respawn." Victor looked around. Dying permanently? It was something hard to comprehend. Normally, when a Blocker died, it just went back to Blockwork to reform, then quickly got back to life with minimal loss. Victor couldn't even begin to imagine not having the Blockwork available. It was a terrific concept. However, he was a soldier. He was loyal to the cause, and wanted to help his kind. If his life was a price that had to be paid… "Yes. I accept," Victor said. "Excellent. Come here, I shall show you the greatest invention I even designed." Victor followed Ilmango downstraits. There were more barriers and bedrock. Victor wondered why they needed so much security for this project. Eventually, they reached the bottom. Victor saw a computer. Rows upon rows of wires and contraptions. Looking at the masterpiece of redstone engineering filled Victor with awe. "This is connected to our Wholesum Alpha supercomputer. It is also connected to all the reactors and computers in SciCraft. Turning this machine on would require all the power we can," said Ilmango. He opened an iron door. They entered a huge hall. There was a redstone torch monitor, and multiple levers and buttons. On the monitor, the current time was shown. There was also another date. 22 April, three years ago, 11:47 AM. "What is this?" "This, my friend, is a time machine."
3. Travel22 April, Year 4 After Purple Comet Cloud Town Sweet Cloud woke up. She felt great. It was saturday, the weather was sunny, and she was going to spent all the day with her friend. She hoped Calm Sky felt better today. Yesterday was a bad day. She will make sure today will be better. That's what friends should do, after all. Sweet Cloud packed her saddlebags. Books, notebooks, some money. They shall try to learn something for the exam. Then maybe they will go to eat apple fries. Sweet Cloud went to kitchen. Her father was reading a newspaper. She didn't knew why he did so. Nothing happened in this city anyway. She hoped Calm Sky finds a way out soon. Her mother was also sitting by the table, drinking apple juice. "Good morning," said Sweet Cloud, and sat down to eat breakfast. "Good morning, Sweet. I see you are going somewhere?" her mother said. "I will go to the library. There's a fairly important exam soon." "I heard that there was trouble at the market yesterday," her mother said. She gave her the look that Sweet Cloud hated. The you're in big trouble, young lady look. "There was some very impolite stallion that insulted Doctor Sky, and Calm wanted to defend her father." "Don't lie to me. I heard what happened. She tried to attack somepegasus because he didn't believed in her delusions." "Mom! Don't talk about Calm Sky like that!" Sweet Cloud said. "I told you many times you should stay away from that crazy filly." "Calm Sky is not crazy. I was there, outside of the city, with her. All she told was true." "Sure, and you meet aliens? You know this is ridiculous." Sweet's mother said, and turned towards her husband. "Do you agree with me?" "Of course, honey," he said, not taking his eyes off the newspaper. "Let me guess, you are going to her again?" she asked her daughter. "We need to study. We will be safe and quiet in the library." "By studying, you mean to fantasize about aliens as usual? Well, you may go. Don't try to cause trouble." "Mom, I'm 18. I can take care of myself," Sweet Cloud said, and went out of her house. She was a bit angry about her mother. She was always overprotective, but since the incident, it got worse. Sweet Cloud remembered the fear she felt when the alien attempted to slash her with a sword. To think she could be dead, if not for Calm Sky... These thoughts still made her shudder. When she went back to town on that day, the first thing she did was to hug her mother. The next day, mother made a scene when she went to doctor Sky and accused Calm Sky of attempted murder. Luckly, the charges weren't put forward. Mother later forbade her from ever meeting Calm Sky again, but after she sneaked out a few times, mother stopped trying to prevent that. Sweet Cloud was loyal to her friend. Even if other pegasi turned on her, she would stay on her side. She walked towards Calm Sky's house. She saw that the white pegasus opened the door and walked away, saddlebag on her side. Sweet Cloud smiled, and walked towards her friend. She noticed that Calm Sky was walking the wrong way. Did she forgot? She shouldn't blame her. Yesterday was quite hectic. She smiled and called for Calm Sky. "Hi, Sky, where are you going?" Calm Sky turned towards her friend. She seemed to be quite surprised to see her. "Hi, Cloud. I'm going to run some tests at Builder's Base. Do you want to join?" Calm Sky replied. Tests? Again? Sweet Cloud stopped smiling. It wasn't the first time Calm Sky decided to go on with her project despite having more important things to do. "Weren’t you supposed to meet me at the library today?" Sweet Cloud asked. Calm Sky stopped. She looked around, as if searching for an answer. "Well, would you agree that researching in the field is more interesting?" she replied, and smiled. So she forgot that we were supposed to learn meteorology today? Does she want to fail the exam? Sweet Cloud thought. She had to get through to her. "Can I be honest with you? Some days, you seem a bit obsessed with your pet project." "I’m not obsessed!" Calm Sky shouted. Sweet Cloud saw some Pegasi look towards them. She decided to go for the hard truth. She knew Calm Sky since fillyhood, and knew she had to rein in her plans sometimes, before they get into trouble again. "I know how important this is for you, but I think you shouldn’t get your hopes up. No Pegasus saw any builder again. It was almost four years ago. They won’t come back," she said. It was the sad truth. As great as the discovery was, it wasn't of much use for others. "Did any Pegasus even look for them? I remember the mayor ordered the guards to search Builder's Base only once, and they decided it is not of any worth to the city. Why is every Pegasus ignoring our discovery?" Calm Sky said. She was almost shouting. "That base is just a bunch of useless material. Why use the blocks when clouds are working just fine?" Sweet Cloud answered. This was the truth. The blocks were too hard and too inflexible to be used as a building material. Clouds could become almost anything. Sweet Cloud knew it first hoof. She didn't get a cloud pyramid for cutie mark for nothing. She already was designing cloud buildings in her spare time. She was on a good road to becoming an architect. "Maybe for now they are useless, but once I figure out how they work, they will become useful. When I figure out teleportation, I'm going to find other cloud cities. I might even find Dashie!" Calm Sky said, her anger changing into determination. It was clear she was sure of what she said. Sweet Cloud had to muster a large amount of willpower to prevent herself from facehoofing. Teleportation? Dashie? Come on! she thought to herself. Maybe it was slightly callous, but sometimes she wondered if Calm Sky was indeed delusional. Doing all the research and trials to teleport to some mare from a painting? I mean, it's not the dumbest thing she did when she had her eyes on a pretty mare, she thought. But at least these mares were real. "That mare from the pixel art? Don't be ridiculous. She's made up," Sweet Cloud said. She was getting a bit angry. "How do you know? You know what, I'm going to find her myself," Calm Sky said. She started walking away, in the direction of Builder's Base. "Fine. Have a nice day," Sweet Cloud said. She spread her wings, and flew towards the library. If she wants to chase a mare from a picture instead of studying for an important exam, it's her problem, she thought. Sweet Cloud flew for few minutes. Initially, she felt angry for Calm Sky. How could she forgot the meeting? How could she just ignore what she was supposed to do? Later, however, she started tp have second thoughts. She might have been a bit too harsh. Calm Sky had some bad days lately. Maybe I shouldn't get so angry at her, Sweet Cloud thought. She hoovered in place for a bit. She needed to study for exam. I need to apoligise to her, she thought. She turned back, and flew towards Builder's Base. 24 September, year 7 After Purple Comet. SciCraft Victor looked as the shulker box with the blue hair was placed on top of pillar of hoopers and mechanisms. He checked his inventory again. He was given full netherite gear, and some shulkers of supplies. He wasn't going to have access to enderchest, and wasn't going to be able to sent messages, at least until the Institute figures out how to get him back. If that is what it needs to be done to end this war… he thought. He knew it needed to be done, and he knew the risk. This sacrifice was the least he could have done. "Are you nervous?" asked one of researchers. "It has to be done," he answered. "I knew the Directors know what they are doing. If they say it will work, then it will work." Director Ilmango stood still by the machine, possibly transmiting data between him and other directors. Eventually, he started moving again. "How are you feeling?" "Good. When will the machine be ready?" "We only need to…" Suddenly, Victor's sensors were overloaded by huge number of data. Someblocker was attacking him. "The Brotherhood! They broke the barrier!" one of directors wrote in large bold letters in general chat. "There's no time to lose! Start the machine!" Ilmango wrote. Everyblocker started rushing towards their position. "We need to defend the realm!" Victor said to Ilmango. "If we get throught with this, this attack will never happen," Ilmango replied. "And if we fail." "In case of SciCraft being under the attack, I authorised usage of Wither Storms." "Wither Storms? They exist?" "Yes. There is no other choice. Either we win, or everyblocker loses." Victor looked at the director. "You want to take down the realm with you?" "No. I shall take down the entire Blockwork with me." "You can't!" Victor shouted. He could accept his own sacrifice, but if Whiter Storms are as powerful as creepypastas say they are, the causalities would be catastrophic. He's insane, he thought. "If you go back and eliminate the Backdoor Horse, you will also stop me from unleasing the Wither Storms." "Would it also prevent you from building the machine and sending me back in time?" "There's a mechanism that assures it would still happen. Probably. We had to work with half-remembered myths and guesses." "The machine is ready," said one of assistants. "Private Victor, as one of Directors of the SciCraft Institute, I order you to stay over at the designated area," Ilmango said, and pointed towards the chamber where the energies will be used. "Yes, sir," Victor answered. He walked towards the chamber. The thick metal doors opened, and he walked in. "Redirect all tokens into the main Tower, then sent all energy to the machine," said Ilmango to his assistants. Victor saw the redstone circuits starting glowing. It was happening. Jeb and Dinnerbone, protect me, he prayed. "All systems operational. Waiting for order," the assistant said. "Victor, good luck," Ilmango wrote in private message. Then he wrote on the general chat. "Start the machine." The light and the energy was blinding. Victor felt overhelmed, as if the wires that connected him were set on fire. He felt strange magic. Never before he could even imagine this. He started spining. The power was so great, it overwrote everything. He was unable to react. Then, there was a blinding light, and this was all he could register.
