Author's Notes:

Sorry for the long delay... Took me awhile to get it right and my editor has been really busy... So much so that it's been 10 days since the chapter has been done and my editor has only been able to get it about half done. I don't want you to wait any longer so... yeah... Now edited..

When I saw the look in Dragon FireWyrm’s eyes, I knew he was going to kiss Ruby with a bit of his flame. Enough to kick in Ruby’s instincts on mating, as it was clear that she was trying to do what’s right, but she was using her head, and not her heart. Mating comes from the heart, not the head, especially among dragons.

The issue was Magic Dowser. Beyond the kiss, I knew that the mating would end up going through the full process. During mating, the dragon’s psyche takes a backseat to the wyrm within, meaning that interrupting would not be a good idea… and something told me that he would attempt it, when it came time for the sex part. Plus Ruby, if she decided to mate with Dragon FireWyrm, would lose her sentience permanently, instead of temporarily, like with all other matings, because she would be mating with a wyrm… Like can only truly meld with like. Because of that, something told me that when he found that out, that he would go berserk, like Twilight did when I Chose and seemingly permanently, though actually temporarily, lost all of my memories...

There was one place we could go that would still allow me to view the miracle of Mating, that would also prevent Magic Dowser’s continued escalation from becoming dangerous, for him or others… How Twilight never hurt anyone during one of her magical blowing her top moments is still a mystery, even to me. Hopefully, I could still do it.

I closed my eyes and concentrated on Twi, Magic Dowser, and myself. I could feel my mana and power shift as I, hopefully, teleported all three of us to the Astral Plane. I sighed in relief when I opened my eyes to see that around me was a vast void, with thousands of twinkling stars. I didn’t get any time to wax nostalgic about being back here, though, as I could hear Magic Dowser faintly screaming.

I grumbled. It seemed that I was out of practice...obviously. Not that I could practice anymore, given that this dimensional plane doesn’t just allow entrance, without a purpose. I looked around to try and find him. I saw him some distance away from me, flailing about. He reminded me of the first few times I came here, when I was young, and ended up fighting vertigo. Not hard to get that sensation when there was no ’ground’ beneath you. I rushed off towards him. I wonder where Twi is...

“Calm down, Magic Dowser.” I shouted at him to get his attention, which it luckily did. “You can’t fall here, though I would not recommend looking down.”

“Where the fuck did you bring me!?” Magic Dowser yelled at me as he scrambled to right himself, swatting away the paw that I had held out in an offer to help.

“This place has many names, but it is most commonly known as the Astral Plane.”

“I don't care if it’s called the land of lovey-dovey-let’s-be-friends, you are to return me to Hourglass and my sister… NOW!”

“No. Because you need to calm down.”

“No. No? NO!!!!!” Magic Dowser roared at me, his mane and tail beginning to smoke. It might have intimidated me, if it wasn’t for the fact that I'd faced down dragons much larger than myself. If he had been Dragon FireWyrm, then maybe, just maybe, I would have been intimidated. That, and I’ve seen Twilight do this very thing before. Way. Too. Many. Times.

“Oh, for the love of the Voice.” I facepalmed. ”Will you calm down and listen, for once? You came here to find out about Ruby’s dragon heritage, did you not?”

“Biggest mistake of my life! I can’t believe RUBY is RELATED TO YOU MURDEROUS SONS OF BITCHES! Ruby is better then you foul-mouthed killing machines that love violence and sex!”

“Ladies and gentlemen, the high and mighty moral high ground that is the ponies!” I sneered. “They know everything, and would rather jump to conclusions, instead of hearing everything out, first!”

“SO SAYS THE ADMITTED MURDERER THAT FOALNAPPED ME!”

“DragonWyrm Heart! Magic Dowser!” Twi snapped at us. I sighed a bit, from both her admonishment, and at her finding us. I really was out of practice, to have scattered us in the Plane as far as we were. “Enough!”

“Hey, Twi.” I tried to give her an innocent smile, but had to quickly back off from the daggered glare she gave me.

“Oh, a brainwashed pony! Why am I not surprised!?” Magic Dowser sarcastically droned when he saw Twi.

Wait? He didn’t see her earlier? My eyes widened in disbelief, before I shook my head at my disbelief. Twi wasn’t exactly in plain sight, being on top of Caretaker, and Magic Dowser was paying more attention to Ruby and Dragon FireWyrm than to Caretaker.

“Brainwashed!?” Twilight snorted as she struggled not to laugh. “Wow! It's been centuries since I last heard someone accuse my brother of brainwashing anyone, much less me.”

Okay, Magic Dowser’s mental state was really unstable if he went to brainwashed before illusion/dream. Why am I feeling like I’m dealing with one of Twilight’s mental breakdowns? She always was one to think of the oddest and most outlandish scenarios. Magic Kindergarten… While I’m thinking that, he either didn't notice or didn't care that she was an alicorn.

“And yet you and Ruby are siblings.” Twi countered. I had to bite back a grin as that stopped Magic Dowser, with his mouth hanging comically open.

“Still can be brainwashed.” Magic Dowser angrily countered, after a few seconds of fish gulping.

Okay, that didn't stop him long…. I shook my head. Now that we were in the Astral Plane, I attempted to double my luck and see if I could still pull up a magic screen showing the outside world. A magic screen quickly materialized, showing the events unfolding back in Hourglass, much to my relief. This seemed to stop Magic Dowser, as he turned to see to what was going on in Hourglass. I was a bit surprised, as I didn’t get the some understandable but annoying blah blah spy blah blah speech… Maybe because Ruby and Dragon FireWyrm were currently in the middle of what appeared to be a conversation.

“Look, I get you want me to be your mate, but I’m no prize, or thing to be hoarded away…” Ruby told Dragon FireWyrm.

Prize? Dragon FireWyrm tilted his head before shaking it. No, gift from Voice… Our soul same so hoard same… rare… beautiful… special… but willing… gift willing, prize forced….

I quickly translated that, so that Twi and Magic Dowser could hear what was going on. I didn’t need to give Magic Dowser any more fuel for his rage party.

“I might believe having souls that match, but hoarding? No... I don’t hoard.”

“I agree, she doesn’t hoard.” Magic Dowser smirked.

“All dragons and wyrms hoard. How we hoard depends on what we hoard, and how mature we are. Though, she’s not an adult yet...”

“As I said, I don’t hoard.” Ruby deadpanned as she crossed her forearms and sat on her haunches.

“See!” Magic Dowser smugly grinned.

Who, what care more than own life?
“Who, what care more than own life?” I translated Dragon FireWyrm’s response.

“My brother, Dowsy…” Ruby said without hesitation.

Then Prey Brother your hoard.
“Then Prey Brother your hoard.” Once again I told the others what Dragon FireWyrm said.

“I resent being called ‘prey.’” Magic Dowser grumbled. I didn’t blame him; it’s not the best word, but I will not change the translation just to avoid hurting someone's feelings. I will translate as he says it, to the best of my abilities.

“Wyrm doesn’t have a word for ‘pony.’”

You protect Prey Brother?
“You protect Prey Brother?”

“Yeah...” Ruby hesitantly answered.

Wyrm protects hoard. You protect Prey Brother, Prey Brother hoard.

“Dowsy is a living, breathing thing! Not some sort of gold trinket to be locked up in a drawer, or behind glass!” Ruby snapped back before I could translate.

“Exactly!” Magic Dowser agreed.

How that protect? Dragon FireWyrm looked at Ruby in horror. Happy hoard more value. Free hoard happy. Do... be what hoard needs. Always know what hoard needs.
“How that protect? Happy hoard more value. Free hoard happy. Do... be what hoard needs. Always know what hoard needs.”

“You need to understand something…” I spoke to Magic Dowser, as Ruby appeared to be dwelling over everything said. This was the perfect time to explain something to Magic Dowser that would rock his world, and maybe get him to lay off the overprotective act… I hoped. “Something that you have no idea the full extent of, yet, but, if Ruby mates with Dragon FireWyrm, you will be his brother… before today, the only ones that were his family were Quartermaster and his mate, Wanderer and his mate, Scorpion, and myself.”

“But ‘Twi’ referred to you as brother… if she’s your sister… and DragonWyrm Heart is your brother…”

“There is a difference in acting, treating, or being brother and sister. Twi and I treat each other as brother and sister. Remember when I said our names are like ‘true’ names? Dragon FireWyrm’s name means that his hoard is his family, not those that act like his family, or that he treats as family, but those that are. This means that whatever you need the most, Dragon FireWyrm will work nonstop to provide it. Whether it's a shoulder to cry on, or to take a mugger’s knife, or, for example, when he healed you of your scars.”

“YOU,” I poked him in the chest. “will be more important to him than himself. He has no concept of self. The only wants he will know are your wants, and the only needs, are your needs. His thoughts and actions only dwell on his family, not himself. He will live and breathe your happiness and health, for however long you shall live. Also, whether or not Ruby mates with Dragon FireWyrm, this I’m sure of: whatever her hoard name will be, she will make sure that it will allow you to be in her hoard, because it's clear from her response to Dragon FireWyrm that you are her world.”

Magic Dowser fell to his haunches, stunned. Tears poured down his face. “I… I… Why? I failed her as a brother… I should have known better than to hug her so tight. I should have done more to help her with her dreams. I should have admonished…”

“Wow, did I get sent to some discordian genderbent alternate universe?” I quipped at Magic Dowser listing off his failures, like Twi would.

“DragonWyrm Heart…” Twi facehooved at my joke, though I was being a bit serious, as well. Magic Dowser appeared to be torn between confusion and anger over my remark.

“No, seriously, there are so many parallels between Ruby and Magic Dowser, and you, Twi, and myself…”

“Yeah, right.” Magic Dowser scoffed.

“Oh really?” I raised an eyebrow while smirking. “Both you and Twi hatched a dragon egg, not an easy feat. We all refer to each other as siblings, and not as parent and child. I wouldn’t be shocked if you were a candidate for the Element of Magic. Both Ruby and myself had incidents when we were young. Mine was becoming a greedy, fifty foot, rampaging, thieving dragon, and hers was burning you. Finally, both I and Ruby were afraid of becoming monsters because of those incidents.”

“What does that leave us?” Ruby’s question suddenly got all of our attention.

Prey Brother yours… Will Prey Brother be mine, Prey Brother ours?
“Prey Brother yours… Will Prey Brother be mine, Prey Brother ours?” I quickly translated Dragon FireWyrm’s question. Wow he is really talkative today.

“I don’t honestly know, I… I need more time...” Okay, I can tell that is clearly a lie. Don’t know if Magic Dowser knows for sure. His emotional state has been a bit erratic for the last few days, for obvious reasons.

“You and me both, sis…”

“What?” Ruby questioned the sad look that Dragon FireWyrm was giving her, and I knew why.

Time nearly gone… Soon too late to mate… when smell gone…
“Time nearly gone… Soon too late to mate… when smell gone…”

“You dragons have some fucked up rules…”

I wyrm… not dragon.
“I wyrm… not dragon.”

“Dragon, Wyrm…” Ruby rolled her eyes. “It’s still fucked up about having choose your mate so arbitrarily… and fast…”

“I have to agree on that. Though I have to ask, why did Dragon FireWyrm say he was a wyrm, and not a dragon?”

“It’s biological. We just don’t have have the kind of control that you do in choosing our mates… as for what Dragon FireWyrm meant by wyrm…” I sighed; this was not going to endear Magic Dowser to me, or dragons in general. Not that he was so endeared, at the moment, anyway. But he needed to know, and it probably would be better to explain it now, rather than later. “First thing you need to know is… uh, there is a limitation in your language, or was… probably can make up any word now… anyway… what Dragon FireWyrm is referring to is his psyche, not his physical being. Physically, he is a dragon, but mentally, he is only wyrm. Every dragon has two psyche halves, a dragon, or sentient half, and a wyrm, ‘animalistic’ side... If Ruby mates with Dragon FireWyrm, she will become like him, and her sentient dragon half will fade away.”

“Her sentient half will fade?” I gulped when Magic Dowser slowly spoke that question. I knew what that meant. “Are you saying that my sister is going to be turning into a thoughtless animal!?!”

“No…”

“This is exactly what we both were afraid of!”

“I…”

“Her becoming a vicious killing machine that…”

“WILL YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP and listen!?” I roared at Magic Dowser. He was making it nigh on impossible to explain anything, with the all the interrupting in overreaction, no matter how justifiable the reasons for him doing so. “No… she will not… I made sure of that when I killed the Nameless One! With his death, a whole slew of evil curses that had been plaguing dragons, and the whole world, for that matter, ended. One of those curses was what made me kill Quartermaster, and is also the thing that you and Ruby fear her becoming. Rage growth… becoming a vile killing machine with no remorse, no memories, no feelings other than pain, rage, fury...”

“But you don’t care what I say anyway!” I growled, returning to the mating without checking for Magic Dowser’s reaction.

“Ruby is just transitioning from adolescence to adulthood…” Twilight explained. “And for dragons, it’s a bit more sudden and jerky, rather than the smooth transition than any other race goes though. The closest that a pony has is when they get their emblem... If you think back, and be honest, the way you think and perceive things now are different then they were when you were a colt.”

“I know that…” Magic Dowser grumbled. “Ruby was different after she became a whelp… more than what one would expect, just from being guilty over what happened to me… Ruby explained it to me... It was like being a baby, with very childish thoughts and ideals, to then suddenly being a teenager in the same way… It’s just that she was always afraid that she was some monster… I had hoped that coming here...”

“Her wyrm side is just as afraid of becoming a monster… The voice… in her dream… it's her wyrm half’s nightmare…” I added as I saw that Magic Dowser was acting like a typical older brother. “Her animal half loves you just as much as her sentient half. And you may want to pay attention, as she has chosen.”

“I see she chose to be mates with Dragon FireWyrm…” Magic Dowser sadly muttered when he saw the two dragons kissing, their flames pouring into each others’ mouths.

Surprisingly, Magic Dowser remained silent as Ruby began to grow, with her horn becoming proportionally longer. That was until she suddenly noticed it and, in a clear panic, backed away.

“Ruby!” Magic Dowser rushed forward to try to help Ruby, forgetting that he was merely seeing a magical projection of her. He came to a stop when he went through the screen “Oh, that’s right…”

“Let her mate help her. Dragon FireWyrm will not let anything bad happen to her.” I pleaded, hoping that Magic Dowser would calm down a bit. Luckily, all he did was sigh and nod sadly.

I reset the screen once he walked dejectedly back to us. Ruby now appeared to be fully grown. Along with the now proportionally very long and sharp horn on the end of her snout, there were two ‘nubs’ near her ear frills. She wasn’t bulky, like what most would call a normal ‘fire dragon’ (which never made sense, as all dragons breathed fire…) nor was she long and willowy, like a typical sea serpent. True to her heritage of only being half sea serpent, she was somewhere in between. Actually, she looked practically the same, other than being larger, though Dragon FireWyrm still dwarfed her, at least in bulk. I couldn’t tell yet, but I would hazard a guess that she was just as long as he was.

Ruby then pulled away and presented herself to Dragon FireWyrm, who didn’t hesitate to plunge his length in. Magic Dowser proceeded to throw up from the display.

“Yeah, mating does include the act of sex, and in front of witnesses...”

“I’m never going to get that out of my head.” Magic Dowser groaned as he wiped his mouth.

That brought back memories of the first mating I witnessed, which, ironically, was in this very plane. It was between Ruby’s parents… though that time, there wasn’t any vomit involved. I knew that Magic Dowser would rather not have seen this, but it’s something that he needed to see… partially. I leaned over and whispered. “Just keep your eyes on their heads.”

Magic Dowser groaned again, but did like I recommended, just as the flames from the mating pair switched. Ruby’s flame was now white, and Dragon FireWyrm’s was now red. “Did I just see?”

“Yeah, their flames switched.” I smiled, the mating was nearing completion. All that remained was the climax of the sexual act, which would crystallize all the changes. “Dragon fire usually repels each other… but not for mates, because a dragon’s flame can basically be called an expression of their Inner Fire, or soul. When their souls finish melding, it switches, as an outward expression of being mates… so Ruby’s fire literally is Dragon FireWyrm’s, and vice versa, permanently.”

“What is wrong?” I questioned when I noticed Magic Dowser’s horrified expression. That alone wouldn’t have done it, as he has been cycling around the emotion tree for some time, and just plain horrified would not have made me ask the question in the way I did. His horrified expression was similar to when Twi would realize that she had said or done something, and knew she was about to be teased to no end over it.

“I’m never going to live up to you dragons romantically… Between souls melding together, and sharing true names, and having each other's fire... Ruby will tease me endlessly about it!” Magic Dowser raised his forelegs into the air. “I’M DOOMED!”

I blinked as I processed what he said, and when it hit me, I started laughing so hard that my stomach soon ached. It was just too funny! I would forever stand by my genderbent discordian universe comment. I wondered if I could get away with calling him Magic Twiser. The thought of the nickname sent me further into convulsions. It was some time before I was able to calm down, and when I did, I noticed that She of Hourglass and Dragon FireWyrm had finished the mating, and were on an encore sex session, as I could see that She of Hourglass had the bite mark on her shoulder, near her neck.

Damn it, I missed the end. I groaned as I facepalmed. Well, I know my clanmates will forgive me when they find out. Especially when I let She of Hourglass know her brother’s ‘secret’ concern.

“What?” I asked, when I saw Twilight give me a raised eyebrow.

“I know that look…” Twilight deadpanned.

“I don’t know what you are talking about.” I fought to not give myself away by looking away.

Twilight facehooved and shook her head.

The sound of soft snoring drew my attention down to Magic Dowser who, to no surprise to me, was fast asleep. It had been a rough, long day for him, after all. It had been one for all of us, really.

“He fell asleep from exhaustion shortly after you started to give a new meaning to the phrase ‘rolling on the floor laughing my ass off.’” Twi explained to me.

I looked over to see on the image that showed Hourglass. She of Hourglass and Dragon FireWyrm were done with sex for the moment. I carefully picked up the sleeping stallion and teleported the three of us back to Hourglass.