Now, without further ado, I present,
“A Crafter’s Dream”
Martha gently laid Braeburn’s unconscious form on the couch, laying an apple-patterned blanket on top of him. Gently petting his mane, she left his sleeping form in the living room and walked into the kitchen, where Abyss sat in a chair much to small for her large size.
“Man, you really scared him.” The villager commented.
“Yeah, well, I didn’t think that he’s pass out the moment he saw me.” Abyss responded with an eye roll.
“Why wouldn’t he? He’s a small, cute, fluffy pony while you’re a big, terrifying dragon.”
The dragoness looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “You don’t seem all that scared to me.”
“Well, the way I figure it, if you were here to hurt me, we wouldn’t be sitting in Braeburn’s kitchen talking.” She explained. “If you’re not going to hurt me, then why should I be afraid?”
Abyss thought about it for a moment before shrugging. “That makes sense. Anyways, Martha, there’s something I wanted to talk to you about.”
“What is it?”
“How exactly did you get here? In this world?”
“Oh! Well, I was walking in the forest when I saw this weird, yellow portal in a nearby cave, with this bald dude standing in front of it. He looked like he was about to go through it, but walked away. My curiosity got the better of me and I walked over to it, but got tripped up and fell through it. Next thing I know, I landed in a forest.”
“The Everfree Forest. That’s what it’s called.” Abyss commented.
Martha nodded in acknowledgement. “Yeah, the Everfree Forest. I started walking and ended up in some strange apple forest, where I met Braeburn, who brought me here.”
“Hm. That makes sense, since it was Notch’s magic that I sensed at the spot where the portal was. But why did he make a portal in the first place?” Abyss spoke aloud, mostly to herself.
“Wait, Notch? Was that the dude I saw at the portal?” Martha asked. The dragoness nodded. “Like, god of light, creator of my species, Notch?” Abyss nodded again. Martha sat back in her chair, letting out an astonished sigh. After a few moments of silence, she glanced at the dragoness. “For a guy who literally brought life to the world, he doesn’t have a lot of hair.”
Abyss laughed out loud, the bluntness with which the statement was delivered catching her off-guard.
“What? It makes sense.” Martha continued. “If he can create life everywhere else, why can’t he create it on his head?”
This only caused the dragoness to laugh harder.
After taking a few moments to catch her breath, Abyss responded. “Yeah, you’re right. I don’t know why he’s bald, maybe it’s just a personal choice for him.”
The villager shrugged. “I don’t know, maybe. Still weird though.”
Knock, knock, knock!
Both of their gazes snapped over to the front door, where the gentle knocking had originated from. Martha and Abyss’ eyes met, before the villager sighed and got up from her chair, walking over to the front door. Taking a deep breath, she grasped the knob and pulled the door open.
On the steps outside stood a indigo-colored pegasus mare with a long velvet-red mane. On her back was a pair of saddle-bags, and one hoof lay on top of a polka-dotted suitcase. Her magenta eyes widened at the sight of Martha, and she instinctively took a step back.
The two stared at each other for a few moments before Martha took the first step and spoke.
“Can I help you?”
“U-uh…” Was the only response given as the pony began to slowly walk backwards, suitcase dragging on the ground.
“Are you looking for Braeburn?” Martha asked, trying to garner actual words from the mare. “Because he’s still knocked out from earlier, so you may have to wait a bit before he wakes up.”
At this, the pony’s eyes bugged out slightly and she turned tail and fled, leaving nothing but a trail of dust in her wake, which slowly settled back down after a little while. The villager stared at the spot where the mare had once stood only moments before, a confused look on her face.
“Was it something I said?”
* * * * *
The first thing Braeburn felt when he came to was warm, like he was wrapped in a big, fuzzy blanket. Groaning, he sat himself up and discovered that he was, in fact, wrapped in a big, fuzzy blanket, the one with the red apple patterns on it. Quirking an eyebrow, he shrugged the blanket off of him and climbed off the couch he’d been laying on, his hooves making a quiet thumping sound as he landed on the wooden floor. Letting out a small groan, he stretched a bit, stopping short when he heard the sound of voices coming from his kitchen. Staying as quiet as he could, he slowly trotted over to the doorway connecting the room he was in to his kitchen before poking his head in. What met his gaze made his eyes widen and his jaw drop.
Sitting in one chair was Martha, eating what looked like some leftover food, most likely taken from his fridge. This wasn’t what shocked him. What did shock him was the tall, dark dragoness sitting directly opposite from her, guzzling down a large mug of what was probably the last of his cider. Setting down the glass, she wiped her scaly muzzle and grinned.
“Ah, that’s good stuff. Been a while since I’ve had a good drink of something alcoholic.” Letting out a contented sigh, her gaze lazily wandered around the room before it eventually landed on Braeburn’s shocked face. Maybe it was because she was relaxed, or maybe it was because of the cider, but she didn’t immediately register his presence, which is why she began to look away before her gaze snapped back to him.
“Oh. You’re awake.” She spoke in a surprised tone. Martha, upon hearing Abyss’s words, turned to look at the perturbed stallion.
“Braeburn, you’re up!” She said loudly, jumping out of her seat and rushing over to him. Seeing just how confused and scared he was, she put up her hands in a placating manner and tried to soothe his worries. “Now, Braeburn, before you pass out again, just hear me out.”
His gaze snapped to her for a few moments before he looked back at the reclined dragoness. “O-okay.”
Sighing in relief, Martha explained. “So, this is Abyss.” The dragoness in question waved, to which he gave a small wave in return. “She’s a nice dragon. She came here because she was looking for me.”
Abyss nodded. “Martha here is from a different world, if you didn’t already figure that out. A world which is closely related to mine. I sensed the portal she came through and followed her trail from the Everfree Forest, to here, your home.” Sighing, she looked away. “Sorry about scaring you. I forgot how intimidating I look to ponies.”
“I~t’s-” Braeburn squeaked. Stopping himself, he cleared his throat and tried again. “It’s fine. You just surprised me a bit when I saw you on my doorstep.”
The dragoness chuckled. “I think surprised is a bit of an understatement. You’ve been out for a while.”
“Yeah, speaking of which, someone knocked on the door a little while ago. It was some mare. Didn’t get her name or anything, since she ran off without saying a word.”
Braeburn looked at her with a confused expression for a minute before a look of realization passed over his face. “This mare, she didn’t happen to have purple-ish fur and a red-velvet mane, did she?”
Abyss and Martha glanced at each other before they both looked back at the stallion, confused. “Uh, yeah.” The villager replied. “Why?”
Braeburn released a heavy sigh as he face-hooved. “That was my cousin, Autumn Breeze. I forgot she was supposed to be coming here today.”
“What’s she visiting for?”Abyss asked.
He shrugged. “I’m not entirely sure. She said she needed help with something, but she refused to tell me what exactly. I was going to ask her about it when she got here.” Sighing, he dropped his hoof to the floor and looked at the pair. “What happened after she saw you?”
Martha shrugged. “Not sure. The moment she took a look at me, she ran off somewhere. From the look on her face, I don’t think we’ll be seeing her for a while.
CRASH!!!
“Braeburn! I’ve come to rescue you!”
All three of the kitchen’s occupants jumped slightly at the loud crash, followed by the subsequent shout. Whirling around to look at the doorway, they were immediately met with the sight of a familiar purple pegasus mare, wearing some sort of armor made from metal bits and scraps, with a nail-covered plank of wood clutched in one hoof. On the ground around her were the bits and pieces of the door she'd just broken down.
Looking around wildly, she quickly spotted the trio. Her gaze quickly traveled from Braeburn’s not hurt form, to Martha standing beside him, then finally to Abyss, who was still sitting back in her chair. Upon spotting the dragoness, she pointed her make-shift plank weapon at her.
“Worry not, Braeburn, I will save you from the fearsome dragon!!” With that, she leapt forward, swinging her weapon down at Abyss...
...who promptly caught the plank with one clawed hand. Lifting the mare, who still held onto the make-shift weapon, she stared her straight in the face. “What the Nether are you doing?”
“Saving Braeburn.” She responded, not showing any signs of fear despite being literally muzzle-to-muzzle with a dragon. “You know, from you, a dragon.” A moment of silence. “I’m fairly certain there’s stories about this exact situation.”
“There is, but that’s not the point.” Martha responded. “Why did you try to attack Abyss?”
“Who’s Abyss?” Autumn asked.
“Me.” The dragoness replied.
“Oh. Well since Braeburn was in danger, I just thought-”
“Does he look like he’s in any danger to you?” Abyss questioned, causing the mare to look at Braeburn, who gave a small wave.
“Well, no, but when I get told by a strange creature that doesn't have any business being in my cousin’s house that he’s unconscious, what am I supposed to think?”
“...Fair point.” The dragoness conceded, unceremoniously dropping the mare to the floor. Caught off-guard, she fell over on her side, her scrap armor clanking loudly. Moving to her side, Braeburn helped her to her hooves.
“You okay Autumn?” He inquired. Looking herself over, she gave a short nod. Grinning, the stallion’s gaze wandered over her metal form. He gave a sigh of disbelief as he shook his head. “Where in Equestria did you get that stuff?”
“I nabbed it from Hammer’s shop. Figured the old geezer wouldn’t miss it.”
Braeburn chuckled. “It’s Hammer, Autumn. He may be old, but there’s very little that escapes his notice.”
“Heh. I suppose that’s true.” Autumn agreed.
“Ahem!” Abyss cleared her throat, directing everyone’s attention to herself. “Braeburn, do you want to introduce us?”
“Oh, yeah!” The stallion exclaimed. “Autumn, this is Martha.”
“Hi!” The villager responded, waving excitedly.
“And this is Abyss.” He finished.
“Hello.” The dragoness greeted.
“Hello.” Autumn Breeze replied with a grin. “Sorry about trying to hit you with a plank, Abyss.”
She waved away any concerns the mare had. “It’s fine. It’s not like it really would’ve hurt me anyways. Got thick skin, after all.”
“Yeah, that makes sense. I’ve never actually met a dragon before, but I heard you guys are tough as Tartarus.” Gaze wandering over Abyss’s dark scales, Autumn shook her head. “Anyways, I was wondering something. What are you two doing here, at Braeburn’s house? I mean, it’s a cool place, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not exactly the kind of location that one might expect to find a dragon and a…” She looked over Martha’s robed form. “Whatever you are.”
“I’m a Testificate.” Martha answered. “And the reason why I’m here is because I fell through this portal back in my world and ended up here. Braeburn found me walking through the apple forest and invited me here.”
“Okay. What about you?” Autumn inquired, turning to Abyss.
“It’s uh, kind of a long story.”
“I got time.” Autumn spoke. “What about you, Braeburn?”
“I’m not doing anything right now.” The stallion replied, shrugging.
Sighing, Abyss laid back in her chair, rubbing a scaly hand against her face. After a moment, she looked down to see three expectant faces. She let out a resigned sigh, lips pulling up into a small smile. “Alright, alright. As I said, it’s a bit of a long story, so make yourselves comfortable.” She waited a moment as all three of them took a seat at the table. “Well then, I suppose I should start at the beginning, when Notch first approached me…”