“Ruby?” A voice called out in the darkness. One that I was not in the mood to hear right now, especially after he cursed my mother… Sure, my mom may have made mistakes, but I knew that no mother is without a few.

“Go away…” I grumbled out to the dragon I only knew as Thirdclaw.

“Look, Ruby, I came to apologize for my behavior. Lath žēl, I’m sorry.” There was that strange language, again. Must be some sort of truth spell with it, as, like before, I instinctively knew that he really meant that he was sorry... “I just was so… frustrated over what your mother had done… Throwing out the book that would have explained to you a lot about the biology and culture of dragons...”

“After what I’ve seen, I really don’t care about your barbaric ‘culture.’ I’d rather live among ponies...”

“We may be barbaric in comparison to ponies, but we are one of the most passionate races you will find. That being said, I have no problem with you living among ponies. Hell, DragonWyrm Heart was hatched and raised by one. The issue was the fact that that book would have explained so much about dragon biology. Our culture would have been handy, but not necessary.“

“You really needed to understand how to control your flame, and how a dragon grows up. Like how a dragon has a mental and physical growth spurt at the age of three, and changes from a hatchling, a baby, to a whelp, or teenager. Then, at around your age, you become an adult, when you choose a name that signifies who you really are.”

“But I like my name!” I protested. What is wrong with Ruby, anyway? I shouldn’t have to change my name, just because some stupid cultural thingie said I should.

“It's not an ordinary name… ironically, it's almost like when a pony’s emblem appears, after they discover their talent, but instead, its renaming yourself, after finding your true self… This name is called a hoard name… it symbolizes who you have always been, inside, and what you treasure above all else.”

I turned to face him, as that got my attention. A name to signify what I treasure the most… that, I could go for, and I knew what I treasured the most. The problem would be that I have no idea how to put that into a name that doesn’t sound stupid.

“I see I got your attention.” Thirdclaw smirked, which made me eyeroll.

It was at that moment that the moon rose far enough that I could see something about Thirdclaw that I had somehow missed before. He had a set of horns on his head, but one of them leaned over to the other, and curled up around it. I tried, and failed, at suppressing a laugh.

“So you think my horns are funny, eh?” He smirked. “Then check this out.” He lifted his head and let loose stream of bright pink flame.

“Pink flame!” I finally spoke, after some time of fighting to get my breathing under control from laughing so hard and long. “What, are you gay or something!?”

Thirdclaw chuckled. “You remind me of myself when I was young… back when my father, Quartermaster, was still alive…”

My eyes widened at this. So this is Wanderer, my dragon brother. I see now why he was so angry my mother… Just what I need, two overprotective brothers. That did leave a certain question that I wanted answered by him. “So you're my dragon brother… Then tell me this, why are you so buddy buddy with DragonWyrm Heart?”

“What?” I blinked at the question. “I don’t understand.”

“He killed our father! How can you be in a clan with him!”

This shocked me. Firstclaw didn’t tell her the truth? I mean, I know he told her that he was ‘responsible’ for Quartermaster's death. Why else would there be a crisscross of scars across Firstclaw’s back? “Yes, he did kill our father… but there more to it than that... A lot more...”

“Explain, and no riddles and half truths, I've had my fill of them, since a week ago.” The look she gave me told me that she wasn’t kidding, not that I was going to speak in riddles or half truths.

“Dragon FireWyrm and DragonWyrm Heart saved me...” I sighed. “I was a worthless punk ass orphan ‘living’ on the streets of Traxti City. I didn’t give a fuck about anybody… I did whatever it took to survive, not caring if I hurt others... until Dragon FireWyrm found me and DragonWyrm Heart gave me a chance to change. Thanks to them, I was eventually adopted by our parents… it was one of the happiest moments of my life… It was the second to last truly happy moment before…”

“DragonWyrm Heart killed our father?” Ruby whispered.

“No… The Keeper War...” I corrected her as I sighed. This was not going to be easy for me. At least, I could skip most of the details of the war, as they weren’t relevant... at least as far as the circumstances of Quartermaster's death were concerned. Though the death of my father is still the most painful memory of the war… of my life really... it was one that I nonetheless needed to share. “You see, long before the war, the Nameless One placed a curse on dragons, in which any dragon that felt too much rage could become a raging monster that knew nothing. No memories, only a powerful need to spread pain, rage, and death. All of this, with no hope of recovery... Well, DragonWyrm Heart was one such dragon that fell under this curse, and he fought hard against it for years… But the war took a toll on him, and then, after Dragon FireWyrm was thought to be killed by The Nameless One…”

I had to choke back tears as I got to the final part.

“The entire clan was willing to die by DragonWyrm Heart‘s claw to save him… either by ending him, or by finding a way to cure him of the curse. We did manage to cure him, but the cost was high… Quartermaster died keeping the DragonWyrm Heart busy, while Dragon FireWyrm and a few others successfully used a recently discovered and very powerful cleansing magic on him…”

“DragonWyrm Heart lost most of his pony family, his clanmate and friend Quartermaster, and the cleansing left his psyche so severely damaged that he fell into a Slumber for nearly two thousand years… Even though Dragon FireWyrm, his hatchmate, or I, Quartermaster’s son, could punish DragonWyrm Heart… we couldn’t, he was family to us… Family forgives… and he was going to be punished bad enough, as it was...”

By this point Ruby was bawling. Ugh, now Ruby must be feeling guilty for scarring up DragonWyrm Heart. I have no idea how to explain it, that wouldn’t make her feel even worse...

“Hey none of that…” Wanderer cooed before he started licking me!

Licking between ponies was only done as a sign of intimate affection between special ponies. Though I couldn’t explain it, it wasn’t embarrassing at all. Every time Wanderer licked me, I felt calmer and happier. It was confusing, to say the least.

“What, you thought I was trying to get some lady action like some fucking pervert? No.” Wanderer snorted in amusement at my confused and uncomfortable reaction to his licking. “Licking is one of the ways that dragons can calm each other down… Though I wouldn’t recommend doing it with a stranger… it can actually do the opposite.”

“Sorry… it's been a rough couple of days…” I apologized.

“Yeah, sorry about that… Things didn’t quite go as we planned. You were not supposed to come to Hourglass when you did… The plan was to have DragonWyrm Heart meet you initially down in The Northern Oasis, and then, once the migration arrived in Hourglass, I was to join him down there…”

“Yeah, I’m in agreement there; I shouldn’t have come here either…” Why did I have to be so stubborn sometimes?

“Actually,” Wanderer looked away in embarrassment. “I was going to invite you, if you were willing, but only once you understood the risks of being an unmated female, because those dragons that were fighting around you were fighting over you. They saw you as a potential mate...“

“I am not a fuck toy to be bought in a fight!” I growled out, not liking the implication of being told I was a ‘potential mate,’ though I could feel that strange feeling from when Dragon FireWyrm gazed at me rise in me again.

“An unmated female, such as yourself, produces special magical pheromones that can only be smelled by those who are compatible with your inner fire, or soul. It sends any males nearby that are compatible with you into a near feral frenzy, to find and mate with the female that they smell as their mate. But, trust me when I say that no dragon, even in that state, just sees you as something to fuck with animalistic abandon, but one that they could meld their souls with.”

“Wow, soul melding, that sounds soooo much better…” I deadpanned, rolling my eyes.

“Ugh,” Wanderer facepalmed, “when it comes to mating, the female will always win, no matter how strong the male is. Though yours had an rare ending... I've seen hundreds of matings, and yours was only the second that ended in rejection, and from the stories I’ve heard on the migration, in the past two thousand years, there had only been maybe two or three more. It’s that extreme of an unusual occurrence…”

“What are you saying?!” I roared. I was getting so angry that I could see a bit of my red flame coming out, but I was too mad to care right now.

Wanderer sighed. “This isn’t a difference in culture, but biology. Ponies, for example, can take their time, and can even form herds with multiple partners, while dragons are unable to! You fuck with the first person that catches your eye as a possible mate, and you will be incapable of loving any other as a mate! There is no going back! No divorce, or hope of becoming a widow, to ‘open up your options’, if you discover that you don’t love them enough to be mates! Mating rewrites your biology, so that you can only think of that person as a mate.”

“So then, I wait to have sex until I’m positive.”

“I can’t believe I’m saying this! You are thinking here, but not here.” Wanderer pointed to my head then my heart. “You can think all you want in your head, but you don’t feel love there, it's in your heart! Ugh... Lets try something else... look into my eyes.”

There was only one word that could suffice: “What?”

“I’m not going to hypnotize you, so chill. I’m just going to look at your Inner Fire.”

I looked into Wanderer’s eyes like he asked, not really sure what to make of it. After a second, though, something changed, and I could see a flame in his eyes, which startled and frightened me.

“Relax!” Wanderer admonished me as I tried to look away. Him staring at me suddenly felt strangely creepy. “Don’t fight me, I’m not that skilled at this!”

“Sorry, it’s just weird... like I’m exposed to you, or something…”

“That’s because, in a way, you are…” I started to squirm again. I didn’t want him know all my innermost thoughts and feelings, it’s just wrong; it's like reading someone's diary, or eavesdropping on a private conversation... “Damn it, Ruby, relax! Just as you are exposed, so am I!”

I fought to relax, as much as I could. As I did, I could feel his brotherly love and concern for me flood my mind. Again, I found myself mentally hitting myself for being so rash. The more I felt it, the more I felt awful over my actions; they, like my mother, had made mistakes… and all I did, in kind, was lash out and hurt them… I don’t want to hurt my family, or anyone else…

“Whoa…” He blinked, breaking that strange connection we had. “Your Inner Fire is as strong as Dragon FireWyrm’s! No wonder he was so drawn to you… But your wyrm half appears to have locked itself up… which is odd… It makes no sense...”

Wanderer seemed to be trying to figure out whatever this odd thing was, about my wyrm half locking itself up… Like I knew what that meant… I didn’t get much in a way of answers from his mumblings, because the few words I could make out, made no sense to me. At least twice, it sounded like he was consulting with someone, but it could be just him being a bit loco… I really hoped that, when he figured it out, he would tell me, because I was still not in the mood for riddles… For the moment, however, I’d wait him out, as even he seemed confused by whatever he saw.

“I see now why you have been having that dream….” I was startled, then annoyed, when Wanderer finally spoke directly to me, after some time of speaking to himself. Does everypo-dragon know about my dream!? “The voice you heard, I suspect, is a part of your psyche known as the wyrm, that was beginning to bleed into your mind. What you were hearing was its nightmare...”

“Dragon Noobie here, speak simple for dumb blond dragoness.” I snarked. Wanderer smirked in response.

“Just think of your wyrm half as the animal within, and the dragon as the sentient.”

My face fell, as I was reminded of all the remarks around Castle Town. I could even hear the laughing voice from my dreams...

“Whoa whoa whoa stop!” Wanderer snapped his claws in front of me to get my attention. “I said animal, not feral beast! There is a difference!”

“How the fuck can there be a difference!?”

“Remember Dragon FireWyrm?” Wanderer asked me. I knew who Dragon FireWyrm was, in relation to Wanderer and DragonWyrm Heart, but not what he looked like. “The white dragon with rainbow horns?” He added when I gave him a confused look.

I nodded after he gave the description. How could I ever forget him…? He restored my brothers face… And then there was something about the way he looked at me. It was way different than when Wanderer looked at me… When Dragon FireWyrm looked at me, it was as if he knew everything about me, and loved me all the more for it… the overwhelming love… a love like I have never felt before...

“He is fully wyrm. He has no sentience in him, and he was not born that way.... he became that way, willingly.”

“Why?!” That shocked me. “Why would anyone give up their sentience, and become a dumb animal?”

“First of all, Dragon Firewyrm isn’t stupid… he is very intelligent… He just doesn't think sentient thoughts… As for why, that I don’t know…” Wanderer shrugged. ”All I know is that he only cared about his family, before... Nothing made him happier than to see his clan just be themselves, and be the best they could be, too… That part of him became stronger to the point of instinctual after he became a wyrm, so that he no longer had any thought for himself, just whatever would make the clan stronger... A weak dragon, or clan, is a dead one…or something like that… Concepts of self want mean virtually nothing to him… he just doesn’t understand it… for that's what a sentient being has: a sense of self outside of instinctual survival.”

That was deep… And he cared so much that he would sacrifice, and has sacrificed, everything, because his family is everything to him… Just as I would for Magic Dowser… And I was as willing to try to take Dragon FireWyrm on, even though he could squish me without a second thought... And, if what Wanderer is saying is right, he had to think of me like family to do what he did, and I… well more than that, a mate… A mate...

Something within me broke free, and I suddenly felt an overwhelming need to have him hold me like those eyes promised… those love filled eyes...

I had to fix this! I realized I shouldn’t be afraid of my instincts making me into a monster… A monster can’t feel love… nor give it... If Dragon FireWyrm could be fully animal, and show that level of love and care... if his instincts included ones to love and protect Magic Dowser, then so should mine.

“Wait, where are you going!?” I called out to Ruby. She had suddenly gotten up and rushed off, and, for the life of me, I don’t know why. I hoped it wasn’t because that something I said scared her off. We were finally making some progress...

“To find Dragon FireWyrm!” She called back, nearly running into a dragon from the Southern Isle clan, who was reaching up to grab an apple as she ran past.

I rushed after Ruby. I now had a feeling as to why she was running off to find Dragon FireWyrm like she was. She may have found that it was too late though. Once a drake is rejected, his attraction to the magical pheromones of the female fade fairly quickly, and it had been a few hours, now…

“Careful, young whelp!” The dragon admonished Ruby, though I doubt Ruby was really paying attention.

“Sorry about that, He of the South.” I apologize for Ruby.

“Not a problem, Wanderer. Need any help? “ He of the South asked as I ran by.

“No.” I yelled back as I still rushed after Ruby. If I didn’t keep up with her, I would lose her and that was the last thing I wanted right now. If it is too late, I want to be there to help comfort her, if not, well, I don’t want the clan to miss it.

<Captain.> I called out to Phoenix Wave, who I had been linked with telepathically since right after the fight concluded in the arena. He always helps me keep things running smoothly during the Migration stop in Hourglass City. A gathering of over six hundred dragons can get a bit rowdy, and I didn’t want one of the dragons to inadvertently damage the three hundred thousand year old city. It took nearly four hundred to restore it; I don’t want one small incident to ruin that...

<Yes, Thirdclaw?>

<Get the entire clan to wherever I send a flare up.>

There was a pause before he responded back <May I ask why, Thirdclaw?>

<We may have a mating after all…>