Master Alagoas led us through the forge and to the attached studio apartment in the back. Master Alagoas would, on occasion, bring a customer back here so they could discuss business in a more private environment. As Master Alagoas gestured for us to take a seat, I wondered if he was going to serve tea or ale. He switched between the two, depending on what race and sex he was dealing with. Ale for males, no matter the race, and female griffons, while, for all others, he would pull out tea, though there had been exceptions to those rules. Master Alagoas always stressed to know your customer, and to anticipate which one was correct. To me, for Miss Twilight, tea would be what I would guess.

My prediction soon proved to be right, as Master Alagoas brought out a tray with a kettle and three cups, already steaming from tea. Master Alagoas would never serve me any ale, not because of my age, but because I could not get drunk, given my biology. There was that one time that griffon and minotaur competitive natures led to… yeah, it was not fun cleaning up after that. I never minded, though, as I found out that unlike ale, or any alcoholic drink for that matter, tea or coffee could be infused with flavor from powdered gems. From the smells wafting from my cup, it was clear that Master Alagoas had remembered this, and had infused my cup with some.

"Hmmm... Thank you, Alagoas, this is just what I needed." Miss Twilight hummed in delight as she took a long sniff of the tea, before taking a sip.

It was silent for some time, as we drank our tea. I knew what Alagoas was doing, as I had seen him do this before. He would do this to relax upset or stressed out customers. Though he wasn't against using his war hammer, if necessary; usually, those were young 'warriors' 'with something to prove, and a chip on their shoulder' as he called it. Quite frankly, for me, it was not really helping; if anything, it was putting me on edge, though I could see Miss Twilight visibly relax. I knew that she had been under stress for some time, but it wasn't until just now that I realized how much stress she was carrying.

"So," Master Alagoas finally spoke up after some time. I fought not to cringe, as I knew what was coming next. "Tell me of your journey to find you calling, your place.”

What came next was the most difficult, and yet the most liberating, talk I have ever had. I told him of my journey, of the places that I saw, of the things I did, and of the knowledge I had learned. By the end of it, I felt lighter, like a weight had been lifted off, even though I was thoroughly exhausted.

"You have yet to truly answer my question." Master Alagoas causally poured himself some more tea, not even looking up at me.

"Master?" I gulped. I had completely forgotten what the original question was, if there was one to begin with. Master Alagoas, while gentle, was not one for repeating himself.

"Have you found your calling, your place?"

"No..." I whispered, and looked away in shame.

Fifteen years of searching, and I had nothing to show for it. I knew Master Alagoas had such high hopes for me, and I failed him. I couldn't even look up as I heard Master Alagoas stand up and walk over to me. How could I look him in the face?

"Rye'lath," Master Alagoas put a hand on my shoulder and lifted my face with the other. I tried to look away, but he would not let me. There was no disappointment in his eyes, just the same hope and pride he had for me the day I left. It only made it all the more painful. "You are still young; you will find it."

With that, Master Alagoas walked into the forge, with Miss Twilight close behind. I just sat there, fighting to keep tears from falling.

Tinkering had always been a passion of mine, and, for me, nothing was more soothing than being so deep in a project that the worries of the world faded away. That, and watching lightning. There was something about lightning, the way it cut through the sky like a hot knife through butter, that sent excited chills up my spine. If only I could combine them, in some way.

Currently, I was tinkering with the Dragon Flame Forge sign, trying to calm myself. I slowly pulled out one of innermost gears, using my special tweezers and custom magnifying monocle to get it out without disturbing or damaging the other gears nearby. It was one of several gears that I wanted to replace. Master Alagoas could not make the gears this small as precisely as I could, and the alloy I was using in the replacements was not one he knew of. Even if he did, he would have had trouble creating it in his forge. At least, not without my help. It required a dragon's flame, or a type of forge that could reach a high enough heat, which Master Alagoas' forge could not.

I could hear a set of hooves walk up and stop some distance behind me. It was most likely Miss Twilight, as the gawkers from town, thankfully, had long since left me to my own devices. I don't usually like people watching me work, as it makes me nervous. I got smart real fast, and did most of my tinkering on the sign in the twilight hours, when most would not be able to see what I was doing. I could do it then because one, I could do it silently, and two, my acute darkness vision could overcome the lack of light. Sadly, right now, I could not do that, as I was checking each gear for any wear that was not easily apparent, and I needed all the light I could get. I wanted the sign to last another fifteen years without needing my attention.

However, I wasn’t going to let Miss Twilight watching me bother me, so I continued my work. But, as I continued, I found myself becoming increasingly uneasy. She had been giving me some space over the past few days, refusing to even discuss starting the project. Why she started to watch me now was of some concern. I knew that she was concerned about me reconnecting with Master Alagoas. Reconnecting, however, so far, was proving to be a challenge. I struggled with even looking him in the face, much less talking to him. Every glance, word, and action said that I failed him, even though I knew that it was false. I just could not get out of my head the thought of fifteen years with nothing to show for it, and only the one letter...

I could hear an odd shuffling from Miss Twilight as she suddenly got up and approached me. I inwardly groaned as she did. I was sure that Miss Twilight was about to initiate what I knew was going to be a very awkward conversation. Not what I wanted right now.

"Please don't stop! I just wanted a better look at your tools..." Twilight stuttered out, stopping suddenly. "They remind me of the ones I've seen earth ponies use, ponies that don't have telekinetic abilities, but I am a bit surprised to see you use them, given your claws’ natural dexterity."

"Yeah, they help me with delicate work..." I responded to Miss Twilight’s curiosity, much to my relief. Maybe all it was, was just curiosity about my custom built tools. She did have a thirst for knowledge, similar to my own. Except her focus was much more broad than mine. I did find her knowledge of weather magic to be fascinating, if a bit fantastical. Apparently, in the pony homelands, the weather, along with practically everything else, was run by their magic. Sure, I had seen practitioners of magic affect the weather, but to have utter control of it seemed a bit too obsessive, and that is saying a lot, coming from me. "Sometimes, my big paws are just too big."

"I've also noticed that you favor the quadrupedal stance... is that why you were so panicky when we first met?"

"Yes..."

"May I ask why? I mean, if it's alright, that is... it's just that, except for sea serpents, I rarely see a whelp favor the quadrupedal stance, outside of speed flying or running."

"I have a really short flame..." I turned slightly and demonstrated by blowing out my flame as hard as I could into the air. Like always, it only extended out slightly longer than my head. "So, in order to maximize my control, when using Master Alagoas' forge, I had to stand on all fours. After so long of that, I just got comfortable with the stance."

"I see. I assume it also made it easier to move your cart, especially in areas without established roads."

"That too..."

"Ran into a few dragons that thought you were an adult, didn't you?"

"Yeah..." I sighed. This conversation was turning very awkward and fast, and I needed to switch this fast... "Miss Twilight, why do you have a dragon title? My understanding was that it was unheard of for a non-dragon to have one."

If Miss Twilight was taken aback by question, she didn't show it. If anything, she seemed contemplative about it. "While it's not unheard of, it is quite rare. It is so rare, in fact, that, if I recall correctly, there have been less than twenty to have a dragon title in the past three hundred thousand years... As for my own, it depends on who you ask, as not every dragon will acknowledge me by that title... and some address me like that for different reasons.”

"Rye'lath, tell me... " Miss Twilight asked slowly. Here we go, the real reason for her approaching me. "Why have you been avoiding Alagoas, these past few days?"

I sighed as I gently picked up the gear that I had removed earlier, and put a new one back into its place. “I really don’t want to talk about this right now, Miss Twilight.”

“Rye'lath, we are friends, are we not?” I sighed as I slowly nodded, still focusing on my work. “Then as your friend, I want to help, but I can't unless you let me know what is wrong. I promise I won't laugh at you, or judge you."

“Master Alagoas…" I put down the gear I was holding so I wouldn't damage it as I clenched and released my paws several times, in anger. "He had such high hopes... and, and what do I have to show for it!? NOTHING! I know that... I just..."

“I see...Rye'lath…" Miss Twilight put an understanding hoof my my shoulder, though I kept my gaze away from her, too ashamed to look her in the eyes. " I, too, once was an apprentice to a master… I, too, have felt the shame of thinking that I was a failure because I had not learned something new within a self imposed arbitrary time limit… I had forgotten that my teacher didn’t care about such measures. Sure, she wanted me to learn, but not by forcing it… I learned that failure wasn’t failing, as long as..."

"Miss Twilight? I..." As I turned to check on Miss Twilight, who had strangely gone silent mid-sentence, my words failed me. Where Miss Twilight had been a moment before, Master Alagoas had taken her place, staring at me with an eyebrow raised. "Master Alagoas! I..."

“Rye’lath, come inside and help me at the forge…" Master Alagoas gently put a hand on my shoulder, smiling warmly. "For old times’ sake.”

"Okay, Master Alagoas." I agreed, even though I really didn't want to... But I never could say no to Master Alagoas.

It was a month before Miss Twilight finally said it was time for us to go. My relationship with Master Alagoas did eventually improve during that time, and, as much as I didn't want to leave, I gave Miss Twilight my word that I would help, and, the sooner I got it done, the sooner I could return to less embarrassing projects... With a promise that once I arrived, that I would find a way to send a letter monthly, we left for Hourglass, which ended up taking nearly three weeks.

"It’s not much longer to Hourglass." Miss Twilight spoke up over the wind as she joined me on day twenty of our journey from Dual Springs. We were finally flying over dry land, after gliding over the ocean for the past eleven days, which was a nice change. "Should be able to see it any minute now."

"Good." I sighed. I like flying as much as any other dragon or griffon (can't say for sure with ponies, as I only had Miss Twilight to gauge by,) but it would be nice to be back on the ground after the endless 'flying'. The Dragon of Orange Scales and Spines had avoided thunderstorms, much to my chagrin. I understood why, but it just made the trip all the more boring. Luckily for me, I made up for that by staying at the front of the ship, so that I would be able to see everything that was coming, including Hourglass.

Moments later, I was glad that my head was resting on what I was told was a bowsprit, as I'm sure my jaw would have reached the ground, many thousands of feet below. I was seeing a mountain that was upside down. I mean, literally upside down, like some impossibly large hand or paw had picked up a mountain, in one piece, and slammed the peak into the ground. I thought I had seen some strange mirages in the Twarizsj Desert, but this blew away anything that desert had ever come up with.

"Miss Twilight, I think that maybe the Dragon of Orange Scales and Spines has flown too high, because I'm seeing something that I'm pretty sure should be impossible."

"It never fails... " Miss Twilight giggled, much to my confusion. "What you're seeing is known as Terra Hourglass, and I assure you, it's quite possible... I could go in-depth on how it's possible, but I think it would only confuse you further. Let’s just say magic, and leave it there, for now."

I nodded in agreement. I didn't think I wanted a headache, or, at least, a bigger headache. So I would assume that Hourglass would be somewhere near ‘Terra Hourglass.’ I just hoped that it was not within its shadow, or on ‘top.’ The ideas of it suddenly crushing me or the ground, or disappearing from beneath me in my sleep, were not something I wanted to be dwelling on the entire time of my stay in Hourglass. My hopes were quickly dashed, and my fears grew, as the Dragon of Orange Scales and Spines made no attempt to descend, but actually ascended a bit!

As we got closer, my unease escalated into full blown fear. On ‘top’ of the mountain was a city! That is a large city! If I hazarded a guess, it had to be nearly a third of the size of Traxti City! This is a big problem; I avoided large cities like Traxti City, because I prefer the quiet and solitude that came from a rural setting.

"Relax, Rye'lath," Twilight put out a hoof to try to soothe me. "Hourglass City is nearly empty; there are only Phoenix Wave, my mate, myself, and the DragonWyrm clan, which has only six... No, wait, seven dragons in it... I forgot He of Hourglass, for a moment..."

"The-the Dd-d-ragonWyrm Clan!?!?" I stuttered. "We are heading right into DragonWyrm territory!?"

“Relax! DragonWyrm Heart is the Firstclaw. Did he seem like the type to burn you to a crisp?"

"N-nno-oo..." I stuttered as I continued to violently shake. I had to get out of here.

"Rye'lath, look at me" Miss Twilight gently pulled my head down so I was looking right at her. "It will be alright! Trust me. Do you trust me?"

I nodded as I fought to suppress my panic.

“Here." Miss Twilight handed me a thermos. “It's a special tea blend that a friend once gave me. It always works miracles in calming me down, when I panic.”

"Thank you, Miss Twilight." I whispered in thanks, as I could feel the tea she gave me working.

By the time the ship moored down next to what Miss Twilight had told me was the Spiral Spire, I had returned to a state of cautious unease. When I looked down, I saw what was a heavily armored pony standing nearby... I think. His entire body, tail and all, were covered in, or more like under, a strange rainbow sheened metal armor. I couldn't see his eyes past the two sapphire lenses where his eyes should be. Stranger still was the rainbow crystal carved into a horn, similar to Miss Twilight's, on the top of the helmet. I could not smell the pony, or anything, really, underneath the metal, but it was possible that the strange armor he was wearing was masking it. I was not sure what to make of it all.

"Phoenix Wave!" Miss Twilight galloped to embrace the armored pony in a hug.

"Twi, my love..." Phoenix Wave embraced her back, which was quite a feat, given how armored he was. I tilted my head in interest, his voice sounded... buzzy. "My mate... my treasure..."

I gulped as Phoenix Wave revealed that he was Miss Twilight's mate. While I was glad to finally meet Miss Twilight's mate, I was not all that thrilled to find out that he was a warrior or guard, if that armor was anything to go by. I would have to be extra careful not to offend him. I was so focused on the two mates that I nearly yelped in surprise when the Dragon of Orange Scales and Spines walked past me with my cart, which he placed down gently on the cobbled street, next to Miss Twilight.

“Thanks for everything, Windjammer.”

"Thank you for bringing her home safely." Phoenix Wave thanked and saluted the Dragon of Orange Scales and Spines.

"It was my pleasure, DragonFriend, Captain Phoenix Wave." The Dragon of Orange Scales and Spines bobbed his head towards Miss Twilight and Captain Phoenix Wave in turn.

“Thank you, Dragon of Orange Scales and Spines, for transporting myself and my cart.” I squeaked out my own thanks as the Dragon of Orange Scales and Spines passed me

“It was nothing, Rye'lath.” The Dragon of Orange Scales and Spines waved off my thanks.

"But..." I began. I really hated feeling like I was some freeloader, and the Dragon of Orange Scales and Spines was insistent on it being ‘nothing,’ which was contrary to everything I was taught about my race.

“You are under contract with DragonFriend here, right?” I slowly nodded, trying to keep myself from gulping. I hated being the center of attention, and the stare I was getting was really not helping my mental state. “That is why I won't request, and won’t accept, anything for my hoard.”

“I don’t understand.”

"Merely a life debt that we will never be able pay back..." The Dragon of Orange Scales and Spines explained as he spun around and leapt onto the dragoon airship. “Now, I need to get back to the Southern Isles. By your leave, DragonFriend, Captain.”

“Of course, Windjammer. Until we meet again, may your claws stay sharp and your fire roar.”

I was stunned. DragonFriend, Miss Twilight was! How else would she have known the formal honorific goodbye? The Dragon of Orange Scales and Spines smiled back at Miss Twilight and bobbed his head. Without another word, he turned his attention to the helm, and the dragoon silently lifted off and headed west.

“Well the day is still young, do you want a tour of Hourglass?” Miss Twilight asked me once I had recovered.

“No offense, Miss Twilight, Sir, but I would feel better if we got your project started, so as to get it done as quickly as possible.”

“Very well,” Miss Twilight sighed. “This way.”

I followed Miss Twilight and Captain Phoenix Wave as they walked north and along the very large, cone-like building. I was so focused on quelling the remnants of my nervousness that I failed to notice that we had walked all the way to the back of the building. Captain Phoenix Wave opened a large warehouse-like door, and we walked in, revealing a very large workshop/armory. On one side was a large section of weapons and armor, and on the other, all the tools and equipment that one could expect to find in carpentry and blacksmith shops, minus, oddly, a forge.

"I do have some blueprints, and, of course, medical models of... pony penises..." Miss Twilight reddened as she gestured to a workshop bench nearby. As Miss Twilight said, there were several penis models on display on the shelves, along with numerous scrolls stuffed around them.

I took a glance at some of the mentioned blueprints and had to suppress a snort of amusement. The designs were laughable, at best, and impossible, at worst. Miss Twilight wasn't kidding when she said she struggled with mechanics. The one thing that I did notice as I glanced through them was that every one of them had indication of being attachable in some way. "Miss Twilight, when you said that you needed me to help you build a life-like cock, I was under the impression that it would be a dildo. These blueprints indicate that you are trying to build an actual 'cock-cock.'"

“Maybe you should take a look at Phoenix Wave, before you rush to judgement.”

I raised an eyebrow, confused. Why would I need to take a look at Captain Phoenix Wave? And what does that have to do with building a dildo? After a moment's hesitation I shrugged as I walked over to Phoenix Wave, who was now lying on his back on a low table, his head resting on a headrest that allowed him to lie flat without his horn getting in the way. This is going to be so embarrassing...

As Miss Twilight pulled on one of the plates on Phoenix Wave’s belly, so I could see inside, I was stunned. “Where is his body!??” I exclaimed as I saw that there was nothing inside except hoses, cables, gears, and other things typical in machinery.

“That is Phoenix Wave’s body.” Miss Twilight countered. “He is what one would call an artificial living golem.”

“Okay… what is an artificial living golem?”

"An artificial golem is a machine or magic construct that, usually, mimics the shape, and sometimes functions, of a lifeform, depending on its complexity. What makes Phoenix Wave an artificial living golem is that his soul is a part of the body. In this case, housed in a special crystal inside his chest.” Miss Twilight opened a panel to reveal the strangest sight I had ever seen: a gem glowing in a shifting array of colors. I knew that gems could glow when magic was applied to them; however, to have the colors constantly shift was unknown to me. “That is a glowstone, the only one of its kind, and it is the only gem capable of housing a soul. The rainbow crystal horn and sapphire eyes allow him to use magic and see, respectively.”

“I see...” I spoke with doubt. I didn’t completely understand Miss Twilight’s explanation. I turned back to Captain Phoenix Wave’s open body and pushed down the weirdness of it all. I whistled as I look a closer look at his inner workings. The complexity, it was amazing! I was not sure where to even begin. If I really was up to… “I don't know if I can do this. I mean, this isn’t just making a sex toy, this is ...building a cock on a living thing!”

"I’m an artificial living golem. How is building a cock on my ‘body’ any different the building a dildo, Rye’lath?”

"Well, you see, I…" I sputtering, trying to push past my embarrassment and stunned amazement. "Why don’t you ask the creator? Surely, he could make the modification you need. And spare me the embarrassment...”

“I would..." Miss Twilight began sadly, "but he has been dead for over two thousand years.”

I mouthed a silent O as Miss Twilight said that. “I'm beginning to see why you were looking for someone with my skills…”

"Will... will you still help, Rye'lath?"

"Of course, Miss Twilight! I gave my word…” I really needed to remember to get the full details, next time. Stupid Rye’lath! Master Alagoas would be so disappointed that I fell for for a rookie mistake like not getting the full details before agreeing to a questionable project! Nothing I could do now, though, but to trudge on through. “Though I must warn you, it could take me some time."

"Take all the time you need, Rye'lath." Phoenix Wave said as I contemplated the complex task laid before me.

Author's Notes:

First: Take that Spilight! Twilight is paired with an OC not Spike... Actually I'm meh with Spilight... It can get a bit creepy if not written right same with Spike x Celestia...

Second: What do you all think of Rye'lath? I know he's not technically my OC(thanks again Xaldon Ajide) but I still had to flesh him out a bit...

Finally a teaser for next chapter: Magic Dowser returns to the story!