Dragon FireWyrm shook in excitement. It was not often that The Voice visited, and it meant a lot to him, to think that The Voice was visiting his brother, though he was concerned about it, as well. This had never been done before, and may very well be impossible. Currently, his brother had not yet fully awoken in his dream, and until then, he had to wait. Thankfully, Magic Dowser soon stirred and groaned.

Good, he wakes. Dragon FireWyrm noted as he laid down to begin the process of helping The Voice manifest.

Magic Dowser suddenly sat up with a gasp. He slowly blinked and looked around. “What the…? NOT AGAIN!” Magic Dowser roared out as he saw that all around them was a swirling darkness, not unlike the astral plane. It seemed to him that someone, or more likely somedragon, had pulled the same stunt that was done during... Magic Dowser shuddered, trying to forget the details.

“Relax, Prey Brother, dream, not Astral Plane.”

Magic Dowser spun around to come face to face with Dragon FireWyrm. His mouth dropped in shock. Did Dragon FireWyrm just talk!? Talked-talked, like in normal speech? Well, it could be a dream… of some sort… He knew that dreams had a tendency to fuck with one's mind, at times. What was especially weird for him, in this case, was that he went right into a lucid dream. He thought that it was next to impossible, unless you were to cast a specific spell beforehoof, and he didn’t know that spell. I didn't think it was possible to have headaches in dreams.

“Okay, but why did my mind drag me here?” Magic Dowser grumbled, rubbing his ‘dream’-headache, “I’m getting really fucking tired of these ‘drag Magic Dowser through shit’ antics…”

“Yeah, sorry about that…” A female voice echoed in and out. Both Magic Dowser and Dragon FireWyrm looked about to try and find the source. To Magic Dowser, the voice sounded like Ruby… the Ruby he grew up with… To Dragon FireWyrm, he knew it was The Voice, and was wondering why he had only spoken. Maybe The Voice was struggling to show up, with the prey here. He buckled down in concentration, in hopes of getting The Voice the rest of the way into his dream.

“Ruby?”

“Yes... and no.” The Voice called out again.

“Even in dreams, never a straight answer…” Magic Dowser grumbled, shaking his head in frustration.

“I know you have been through the wringer, Dowsy… and I’m sorry… I had hoped my children would have not let history repeat itself…” The Voice called out, still in a strange, echoing way, fading in and out.

What is Ruby talking about? Magic Dowser wondered. Ruby has never had children… and I’m damn sure she had never had sex until the other day… and I thought lucid dreams allowed the dreamer to control the dream a bit more than this.

“Not Ruby, The Voice…” Dragon FireWyrm grunted. He could feel the strain, but, if this is what his brother needed, so be it.

“What do you me…” Magic Dowser’s question died as he saw a very familiar red whelp appear out of the darkness. “Ruby!”

Magic Dowser rushed forward and slammed into the whelp, crying. The whelp that Magic Dowser thought was Ruby returned the embrace of the hugging and sobbing pony. A look of sympathy blazed across the dragon's snout as the whelp gently stoked the pony’s back.

“Has this all been a dream? Please tell me this is a dream! ” Magic Dowser begged, his words coming out between choked sobs. “Please…”

“Dowsy…” The Voice sighed, knowing that he was not going to bring about what the suffering pony wanted. “I know you wish it were so, but the events over these past few days have not been a dream.”

“So… so…” Magic Dowser choked out, unable to continue.

“As Dragon FireWyrm pointed out, I am The Voice, or rather, a part of The Voice…”

“But why Ruby?” Magic Dowser whimpered. “Why must every dragon thing have to be mental torture!?”

“Magic Dowser, would you rather I come as Quartermaster, your sister’s biological father? Or maybe as Harmonious Knight, that was once Dragon FireWyrm? No.” The Voice shook his head. “You wanted and needed your sister.”

Magic Dowser slumped as the truth of his situation finished shattering his short-lived dream.

“You miss her.” The Voice sadly noted.

“Yeah, I miss you… I mean her… I mean...”

“If it helps, even my own children have trouble keeping it straight. To make matters worse, I am a he, so, when I manifest as a female…”

Magic Dowser snorted once, then twice, then fell into such a laughter that he was literally rolling on the ‘floor’ of the dreamscape. The Voice smirked and rolled his eyes. He knew this was the reaction he would get. “Yeah, yeah, yeah, laugh it up. Don’t make me tell Dragon FireWyrm about that one time I caught you in your room making out with…”

“YOU WOULDN'T DARE!!” Magic Dowser roared, instantly standing up, his face a deep shade of red.

The Voice leaned down, narrowing his eyes. “I am the part of the Voice that is the remnant of your sister’s childhood soul...you tell me?”

“Fuck.” Magic Dowser cursed. “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!... FUCK!”

The Voice laughed, and even Dragon FireWyrm managed to chuckle a bit before he went back to his concentration.

“You… You... I am so going to…” Magic Dowser growled out in mock irritation, struggling to not smirk. “For one, claiming to be something else, you sure act like Ruby.”

“That is because a part of her is a part of me, but enough of that.” The Voice waved a paw dismissively. “I believe you wanted to know why I told Ruby of Hourglass, correct?”

Magic Dowser nodded, though he was unsure if he really wanted to know.

“I told her of Hourglass because I wanted the best for her… and I was trying to correct an issue that DragonWyrm Heart had caused by his inaction. He should have made sure a copy of the dragon raising book got to you, or Ruby, when Ruby reached the pony age of responsibility at fifteen.”

“Couldn’t you have... you know… told her about being a dragon sooner?” Magic Dowser questioned, wondering why The Voice waited until a few days ago, instead of eight years ago.

“My abilities, when it comes to manifesting to a hatchling or whelp, are extremely limited… I was able to speak to Ruby because she was within a short time of Choosing… which allowed me entry to manifest to her to give her some advice, and a warning. Normally, I don’t interfere during this time, as interfering with a dragon trying to choose is… well it's similar to telling a pony without an emblem what their talent is… but in this case, I made an exception. Since we are in a dream, I can show you.”

Suddenly, there was a copy of Ruby, startling Magic Dowser a bit, as he had to double check to see which Ruby was which. Along with the other Ruby, there was a bipedal male whelp. “That is Garble, who Quartermaster was, before he became Quartermaster.” The Voice explained.

“So, Ruby’s father?”

“Yes. I try to use dragons that are familiar to the one I’m manifesting to, but, given that Ruby’s only experience with dragons was a negative one, I decided to go with a dragon that would hopefully be less problematic.”

The Voice waited a second longer to see if Magic Dowser had any more questions. When none came forward, he willed the memory to start.

“Ruby, you are at a crossroads…” ‘Garble’ said. “The answers you seek about your parents may have already begun to be answered, but, to get the answers about what it means to be a dragon…”

“Not interested, so fuck off already!” ‘Ruby’ roared in frustration.

“You can either head south to Hourglass City, looking for the mountain that is upside down,
or head home. The answers you seek, about what being a dragon is, will come either way…”

Magic Dowser could see the barely hidden look of contempt on the face of the memory’s Ruby as ‘Garble’ said this. He wasn’t surprised; he probably would have reacted in that way, too. He also knew that she would have gone home, which was the opposite of what she eventually did. So something else must had been said to trigger her going to Hourglass.

“I see that you are hastily making a decision…” Garble noted. “I must warn you, the easy road will still lead you to your answer, but may also led to regret and loneliness, for a dragon’s life is not measured by years. After all, one cannot measure in years the life of one who does not die by age.”

The memory whelps vanished, leaving just Dragon FireWyrm, The Voice, and Magic Dowser.

I see why she came, now. Magic Dowser thought as he went over what he heard. I, too, would have thrown up my legs in frustration and gone to Hourglass, especially if I couldn't escape in my dreams… but that still doesn’t completely explain...

“You saw the pain that DragonWyrm Heart was in, when History Seeker died.” The Voice spoke up, interrupting Magic Dowser’s thought process. “Could you imagine going through that, over and over again?” The Voice asked.

“No…” Magic Dowser shook his head slowly, tears beginning to form.

“She will still go through that pain, when the day comes…” The Voice sighed sadly, “but now, she has family that will never leave her, to help her through the long life that is that of a dragon.”

“Okay, but that doesn’t explain why you interfered in the way you did.”

“I’m a father to my children...” The Voice sighed heavily. “...and I also know the inner workings and thoughts of my children… I want the best for them. So let me answer by telling you what Ruby discovered just prior to mating with Dragon FireWyrm, okay?”

“Okay.”

“When Wanderer went to apologize to Ruby about the bitch comment, he also took the time to explain what had happened in the arena. As he did, something he said triggered a realization for Ruby. Something she had seen before, but didn’t realize... She had seen in Dragon FireWyrm the ability to have a protective zeal, even in a feral, beastly, animalistic state. One that could hunt and use his flame, and yet would protect his own beyond his own desires… she saw in him the dragon she wanted to be, and that, if he could do it, so could she. Furthermore, as DragonWyrm Heart pointed out to you, he has the same hoard as she was considering.”

Magic Dowser burst into tears at the end of The Voice’s explanation as to what DragonWyrm Heart said came rushing back to him.

“Three, and finally the most important part, the dragon must be willing…”

The Voice glanced over at Dragon FireWyrm while he hugged the crying Magic Dowser, and nearly winced. Dragon FireWyrm was in extreme distress. The dream would not last much longer before the strain would force it to end. Sadly, there were just too many threads to maintain and monitor for the one track mind of a wyrm to handle. He made a silent vow right then that this would not ever be attempted or done again, unless another dragon became a dreamwalker. The strain clearly was too costly and dangerous.

“Okay, that tells me why Ruby wanted to mate with Dragon FireWyrm… and I think I see why you interfered…” Magic Dowser said after he finally calmed down enough to speak. “I may not be happy with how you did it, but I am happy that she is happy.”

“Like brother, like sister.” The Voice chuckled in amusement.

“What?”

“That is exactly what Ruby thought...” The Voice smirked as Magic Dowser’s jaw dropped. While it was amusing, he still had some things to go over, and little time. “There was something your sister had been trying to figure out how to do these past few days… She has been trying to figure out how to tell you her name.”

“Huh?”

“I see you didn’t bother to read the ‘how to raise your dragon’ book fully and/or have forgotten some of the things DragonWyrm Heart must have told you.” The Voice raised an eyebrow. “Understandable given the circumstances… however, as to why she has been trying to figure it out, it is because her name is a bit hard to mime, and trying to guess it would only prove frustrating for both of you.”

“But all she would have to do is point out a ruby; besides that, I know her name, anyway…”

“True, but calling a dragon by their old name is equivalent to simultaneously calling somepony a bastard child and a blank flank.”

“Oh…” Magic Dowser sadly muttered. He didn’t want to make her feel that way; their jesting was always one of siblings, never hurtful, and yet... “But why..”

“Why did she allow it? Because you’re family, and, not only that, but the crowning jewel of her hoard. Really, she has always seen you in that light. That, and you were not being mean about it, but doing it in a playful manner ‘Dowsy.’”

“Oh.”

“Now remember, her Hoard Name is a magical ‘true name’, so never, ever reveal it to anyone. That really means not revealing it to your marefriend, wife, child, friend, parent, or anyone else you can come up with. There is, however, one more piece of advice I must give you about her name. It's best to file it in the back of your mind, and continue to refer to her by the name you gave her: Ruby. It will lessen the chance that you may inadvertently reveal it.” The Voice waited a moment for his words to sink in, before he continued. “Her Hoard Name is Lirtzošs Tvēsele Uzuthszrēüs: Glittery Soul Fire.”

“That sounds a bit girly, even for her.” Magic Dowser couldn't help but snort at the name. Though, while Ruby was a bit more rough around the edges then most mares he knew, she wasn’t a tomcolt either.

“Mayhaps,” The Voice smiled impishly, “but there is a very deep meaning to those three words… In broad terms, Soul Fire means she hoards family, as in those that are family. That alone would not allow you in her hoard. You lack an inner fire… the Glittery part, however, does. Now, its meaning is a bit more abstract… it refers to the shine that comes from a cut and polished stone. But when you combine that with Soul Fire, then it roughly means ‘an inner fire that is like a lovingly cut and polished precious gem.’”

“Wait, soul fire means inner fire?” Magic Dowser questioned, “Isn't that a bit redundant?”

“Problems with translating some dragon words and phrases…” The Voice explained, “Soul fire and inner fire refer to the types of fire; the word in front of the word ‘fire’ modify it. For example, while every dragon has an ‘inner fire’, or soul, not every dragon has a ‘soul fire’ between them, as the word soul in front of fire refers to links that one's inner fire has with other inner fires, specifically those that are family.”

“Oh…” Magic Dowser nodded his understanding, though he was still a bit confused. He would have to have it explained, in more detail, later.

“Did you know that in many egg laying species, how warm the egg is kept during incubation determines the sex?” Magic Dowser stared at The Voice, not sure how to respond. The Voice wasn’t surprised, but the information would help in the next part of his explanation. “There is only one time that the inner fire of a dragon can be influenced by one without an inner fire...”

“During childhood…” Magic Dowser whispered. Everything about The Voice’s explanation on soul fire and inner fire, the analogy of the dragon spirit being like an egg that DragonWyrm Heart used, and finally with The Voice telling him about how sex is influenced in incubation of an egg, made it easy for him to make the connection. It left him stunned. DragonWyrm Heart’s assertion that Ruby would make sure that he was in her hoard was right.

The Voice reached out and hugged the now bawling pony, who, in turn, leaned into the hug. Magic Dowser remained like that for several minutes, while The Voice just hugged and stroked him. The Voice knew that Magic Dowser had been struggling with everything, from what he could infer from watching his children. It looked now that the dam of pent up emotion had finally broken, and he could now grieve over the loss of Ruby, as he knew her. Though for dragons, it was not considered a great loss (if anything, it would be a great gain, like a caterpillar becoming a butterfly) to a pony, it would not.

“You said that I was her crown jewel…” Magic Dowser sniffed out, as his tears finally gave out. “What about our mother? She raised us both…”

“That is a question that is best answered, I think, by her.”

Magic Dowser’s brows furled. The answer to his question was odd. He wasn't sure if The Voice’ was referring to his sister, or to their mother. Also, the way he said it was almost as if he was uncomfortable in answering the question.

By now, The Voice could feel his hold on this plane of existence fading rapidly, and, as much as he wanted to stay, and as much as he knew Magic Dowser wanted him to stay, he could not. He was proud, however, of the effort on the part of the DragonWyrm Clan in giving Magic Dowser as much time as they did. He lifted Magic Dowser’s head so they could see eye to eye for the last words of wisdom he could give to him directly. “If you get nothing out of this, Magic Dowser, at least get this: Glittery Soul Fire has always been, and always will be, your sister, and you, Magic Dowser, are, and always will be, her brother.”

With that, The Voice pulled out of the hug. His form was beginning to fade away, as his time on this plane was over. He slowly backed away from Magic Dowser.

“RUBY!” Magic Dowser shouted out, panicking, forgetting that this was not Ruby, but the being known as The Voice manifesting as his sister. He could see that Ruby-Voice was fading away, and he had so much more he need to know, to ask.

“Remember Glittery Soul Fire has always been, and always will be, your sister…“ The Voice repeated as the dream finally faded away.

Author's Notes:

So for I have had one offer up a dragon OC(thanks). If you are interested head over to this blog for a bit more details on it. If you are hesitant I understand. Know that I don't need any Dragon OCs I can create them myself. This is just an opportunity I wish to share for my readers. Also note that I will endeavor to write your character as close as I can to your vision of him/her as possible. ( I have gone as far as having the OC's 'owner' preview chapters with their OC to make sure I have captured their OC correctly. Frostbite4, who has had 2 OCs in my stories can attest to this. )