"Are we there yet?" My young son Herbal Brew squeaked out, his body half under Minty's heavy winter cloak. His small body, even when wearing a heavy cloak, just could not keep him warm in the extreme cold of the Frozen North. That, and the snow was a bit deep in spots. I had debated waiting until the next time the migration was going to be at the Crystal Empire, in another five years, but I didn't think that I could make it that long...

"Soon, dear, go back to sleep." Minty stopped to gently straighten out her cloak so that it covered up Herbal Brew better. A moment later, I could hear his gentle snoring.

"Dowser, are you sure we are heading in the right direction?" Minty asked me worriedly as we resumed walking.

"Yes, I’m sure!" I snapped. I flinched and sighed as I realized immediately that I had been snippy to my wife for no good reason. While it had been a long trek from Castle Town to wherever we were in this blasted tundra, it was no excuse to snap at my wife's question. It was an honest and reasonable question, and one that needed to be answered. While I made sure we were adequately supplied before, when we left the last known pony settlement, our supplies would only last another week without rationing. The problem was I had no idea how much further we had to go. I just hoped that it wouldn't be too much longer. "Sorry... I..."

"It’s okay, Dowser..."

"No! It's not okay. I..." I stopped looking away in shame for my rashness.

"Dowser…” Minty lifted up my muzzle and gently gazed into my eyes, a tired but genuine smile on her face. “We have been traveling a long time, and we are both exhausted. Let's just focus on getting there..."

I sighed and nodded.

As we started up again, I recalled what my brother had said when I asked how to find him. 'Head north. Feel love, follow. Grass in snow, no snow. Crystal reaches sky.' I just didn't expect it to be so far from the nearest pony settlement... I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. How else would the Equus Nation not know of the Crystal Empire, unless it was some distance away? I just hoped that I was reading the strange pulsating magic that had been getting steadily stronger correctly, in believing that it was the love that I was supposed to follow... It did feel like the love that I felt whenever I stared into the eyes of my hatchmates.

An hour went by, and another hill was about to be crested. I looked up to see the position of the sun and figured that it was early afternoon. We were going to need to stop soon. At least long enough to rest and eat. I was a bit surprised that Herbal Brew had not awakened yet to complain about being hungry.

“Think we could stop to rest at the top of this hill?” Minty panted out as we struggled through a section of deep snow.

“Yeah…” I agreed as I looked back at Minty. I could tell from how tired she was that she badly needed it. I decided that I would take Herbal Brew after we rested and ate, and would give her some rest from carrying him.

"Whoa..." I said, as soon as I reached the top.

"What is it?" Minty questioned as she trudged the last few steps and joined me.

I blinked as I surveyed the plains below. Unlike the snow capped hill we were standing on, before us, the plains where green and lush. Not the strangest thing I had seen, but it was up there. It was exactly as described, sort of. Dragon FireWyrm wasn't the best source of information, given the language barrier, and what little was written on the Crystal Empire didn't have much in the way of actual details on what it actually looked like, outside of, if I could recall correctly, 'nearly everything had a shiny crystal-like sheen to it'. For all I knew, the Empire was also green, and I could be looking right at the city and still missing it! I gazed for some time, trying to see if I could see this supposed 'crystal that reaches sky.' Note to self: Next time I get directions from Dragon FireWyrm, I am going to request that he shows me exactly what it looks like.

“Dowser, I think I see it.” Minty spoke up after a minute of careful searching.

“Where? Show me.”

At first, when I gazed off in the direction of where Minty was pointing, I didn't see anything. I doubled down, going as far as casting a minor magnify spell. It was then that I noticed a patch of pale purplish blue in the middle of the sea of green. No wonder it was hard to see it. The city, I assume, looked just like the mountains in the distance. It would have been easy to miss, if one wasn’t being extra careful.

Another hour or two of walking, and we were down in the grassy, and much warmer, plains, walking towards a curious sight, not too far from the city. Two tall red pillars of crystal stood, with three small diamond-shaped gems flowing between them in a field of magic. Weird, why is there an archway, without a gate or a fence, and out in the middle of a field? I could see that a well-maintained dirt road began at the archway, but it still didn’t explain why they had a road come out this far, just to stop specifically here… If there was a wall or a river, it would have made more sense...

"Afternoon!"

"Gah!" I nearly jumped out of my fur, biting back several choice words that would have gotten me in hot water. Luckily, Herbal Brew was no longer on my back; otherwise, I’m sure I would have bucked him off.

"Sorry, I didn' mean to scare ya. I was just pickin’ some berries... Ya see I..." I tried not to stare at the strange stallion as he chatted away about his day, and, by strange, I mean he looked strange… He was a simple earth pony with a pale greyish blue mane and tail, and slightly darker blue fur, but, unlike anyone I'd ever seen before, his coat was crystalline like. I looked away quickly, before the pony could see that I was staring, to see that, indeed, the bushes that were at the base of the crystal archway were berry bushes of some kind. "Name's Surprise... Well Crystal Surprise, but my friends just call me Surprise.. You know, just like when you hide, then jump out yellin' ‘Surprise!' at a party... Those are the best, an' I should know; I do parties...’"

I rubbed my head, trying to stave off a building headache, ignoring the nonsense chatter coming out of the stallion's mouth. Surprised by a pony named ‘Surprise,’ who is also a party pony. Grrrreat... How do I fucking keep getting myself into odd situations like this!? Oh, right, I hatched a dragon's egg... Totally worth it.

"You have strangely dull fur, not crystalline, just like … just like The Crystal Princess! Are you some long lost relatives?"

“Uh… no. We don’t think so…” Minty hesitantly answered, clearly just as uncomfortable as I was, though I could tell it was more because of our son than anything else, as Herbal Brew was hiding behind her, shaking a bit in fear. “We are just simple unicorns from far to the south…”

"You are from the Southern Pony Tribes!? We don't get many pony travelers from down south..." Surprise rubbed his chin, pausing a moment. "For that matter, I think you are the first ones in like forever... What's it like there? Is summer really as hot as the stories say? Is it true that pegasi control the weather? Do you have a princess too? Oh what am I yammering about? I should be asking what brings you here..."

Surprise suddenly just sat there, grinning like a mad pony, while I struggled to make sense of anything the stallion said within the past five minutes.

"What?" I asked with an edge of annoyance in my voice. If it wasn't for my son and the look I was getting from my wife, I would have long since hoof kicked this jackass to the moon.

“What brings you here?” Surprise repeated, his grin never faltering.

I gulped, as I was not really ready for that question; as it was, I was not even sure about his view on dragons. Hopefully, we wouldn't get run out of town by a mob with torches and pitchforks, but, now that we were here, I needed to find my brother, and I needed some help. "We are looking for a dragon..."

"Ya here to see the Dragon Migration!?” Surprise’s eyes widened as he started up, just as excitable, fast, and annoying as before. “Are you sure? It’s not for the faint of heart. Sure, the dragons are a friendly bunch and all, buuut some of their 'activities' are a bit 'rough.' Then again, joustin' at the Crystal Faire can get a bit bloody, too... Don't get me started on that Cult of the Scale, either..."

"Uh... yes?" Minty answered hesitantly. The bombardment of questions from the enthusiastic pony again overwhelmed her, not that I was in much better shape, though I was really tempted to point out that 'activities' and 'rough' were way too nice of words. I still get nightmares from time to time of that fight in Hourglass. And I really didn't want to know about this Cult of the Scale... it sounded like a more sinister version of a dragon fan club.

"Uh... yes to what?"

I gritted my teeth, trying not to rage. If the bucking pony would shut his fucking trap, we wouldn’t have to repeat ourselves. “We are here to see the Dragon Migration.”

"Oh, of course... Then ya need to head to the Crystal Hotsprings, to the north of the city. I'd be happy to lead you to the edge of the city, if you'd like, but you will need to go the rest of the way yourself. Mating in the open.... Brrrr..."

"Yes, that's fine." I ground out, fighting not to lash out in annoyance. Must every damn thing around here be named crystal 'something'!? Though I strangely wanted to agree with Surprise's shuddering over mating in the open... I was so glad my siblings never did that, as once, in my dreams, was once too many, thank you.

"Of course, a city literally made from crystals," I facehooved as I surveyed the buildings, as our guide led us through the Crystal City. "I should I've seen that coming."

"Dowser, honey."

"I know, I know..." I was needlessly letting my anger get to me again. I don't know if it was the long trek, our guide, or the fact that the Crystal Empire seemed to have a crystal neurosis, where fucking every... little...thing... had to have the bucking word ‘crystal’ in it.

We walked the rest of the way to the city without much fanfare, and in silence. Or, at least, we were silent. Surprise kept spouting gibberish the whole way… when he wasn’t shouting out “Hellos” to passing ponies. It took us nearly an hour to traverse the city. With how large it was, it wasn’t a surprise. If I was to hazard a guess, there had to be nearly seventy five thousand or more ponies here, three times larger than the largest city in the Equus Nation.

“Just follow the road.” Surprise gestured as we passed the last few homes of the Crystal City and reached another archway, just like the one we passed, on the way here. “The Crystal Hotsprings should be about a twenty minute walk from here… if I recall right… maybe it was closer to thirty minutes… maybe I’m thinking by how the crow flies… or was it a raven...”

“Thank you, Surprise.” Minty called out in thanks, as the still muttering pony walked away and back into the city.

“No problem!” Surprise turned and happily shouted back. “Look me up if you are ever in town again, and need a party… I do parties for almost every occasion there is!”

I breathed a sigh of relief once the pony was out of sight. While I was glad for the escort, I was even more glad that he was now gone. He just would not stop talking! With not a word, my family and I turned and walked down the road, towards the north.

Thirty minutes later, I could smell a strange mix of moisture and minerals. I knew then that we had to be getting close. The going had been slow, as, not too long after leaving the Crystal City, the road dipped down into a crevasse filled with winding side paths and tall pillars of mineral and crystal. Luckily, the main path was clearly marked, or we would have turned back. I was not willing to risk us getting lost out here.

As we turned a bend, I stopped and fell onto my haunches in shock. There in front of us was a group of foals that was using a dragon as a slide, to dive into one of the hot springs. I wasn't sure whether to call these crystal ponies crazy or brave. At this point, I had nothing against dragons, per say, but the Dragon Migration and foals? Not so much. At least the dragon didn't seem to mind, though, and neither did what I assumed were the parents, if the way they were smiling and chatting were any indication. A pang of sadness came over me as I watched the scene. If only we had lived here instead of in that town of assholes, maybe Ruby's childhood would have been far better...

“Dowser?” Minty questioned me worriedly.

“Yeah... I'm okay" I reassured Minty. “Let’s see if we can find Dragon FireWyrm and Ruby. Without asking for directions.”

“Okay...” Minty begrudgingly agreed, finally tearing herself from the sight of the dragon and ponies.

I sighed in relief when it didn’t take us long to find the black and pale blue dragon that was Wanderer, comically half sleep in one of the larger pools. It meant that the others of the clan should be nearby. We were about to move on when Wanderer snorted and looked up to see us, waking up fully as he did.

"Magic Dowser and Minty Herb?! I... What? How!?"

"Dragon FireWyrm gave me directions."

"I see…” Wanderer chuckled, shaking his head. “I should have known... wonder why he didn't tell me..."

I raised an eyebrow and gave him the same look that I give Herbal Brew when I thought he was hiding something. In this case, it was something that Wanderer had apparently forgotten.

"Right…of course...” Wanderer sighed, “Magic Dowser..."

“Stop." I raised a hoof before rubbing it. While my... distaste of DragonWyrm Heart and Wanderer had cooled in the years since I last saw my brother and sister face to face, and not in my dreams, I was not in the mood to mar this long awaited reunion by bringing up that shit. "Don't start."

“Come on, then, I’ll take you to where your siblings are most likely lounging.” Wanderer slowly got out of the pool and gestured for us to follow.

I wouldn't say this to Wanderer out loud, but I was glad he was showing us the way, as the maze of canyons and paths got harder to follow. Several times, Wanderer seemed to start down one path, only to stop and take a different one. I was beginning to worry that he, too, was lost, until suddenly he moved to the side to reveal Dragon FireWyrm and Ruby snoozing near a steaming vent. Ruby, like always, was on top of him, much to my amusement. If I told him once, I told him many times, he spoiled her way too much.

Suddenly, a rock hit Ruby right on the head, which caused her to jump up in surprise, waking Dragon FireWyrm in turn. I glared over at Wanderer, who was looking about innocently, before he casually turned to walk away. I was going to do that...

Hatchmate! Ruby roared out in excitement when she saw me, and bounded toward us like a puppy who missed her owner.

Unfortunately, that was enough to fully waken Herbal Brew, who was on my back, tired out from all the walking we had been doing. He took one look and screamed. “Daddy, red monster!”

I cringed as soon as those words spilled out of my son’s mouth. Ruby quickly backed away, fear etched in her eyes. And even faster than before, she flew away.

“RUBY!” I cried out, taking a few steps forward.

Dragon FireWyrm stepped in my way, growling loudly, with his yellow fangs showing, spooking Herbal Brew even further. I could tell that it wasn’t an angry growl, but a warning one, to back off. As much as I wanted to comfort my sister, I knew better than to get in the way. Dragon FireWyrm quickly jumped up and flew off towards his mate. For now, I could do nothing but trust Dragon FireWyrm and wait… until then I needed to be alone...

"Daddy!" Herbal Brew cried out as his father galloped away. He had no idea why his daddy left. He hoped he wasn’t going after those monsters.

“Honey, daddy needs some time alone.”

“But why?”

Minty bit her lip, trying to find the best way to deal with and explain the situation to her son in a way that he could understand. "Daddy is really sad…”

“Why is daddy sad?” Herbal Brew questioned after a moment of thinking. He could not see why his daddy would be sad. The big scary monsters were gone.

Minty sighed. “You remember when we talked about Auntie Ruby and Uncle Dragon FireWyrm?”

“Yeah...”

“Well…” Minty slowly began, unsure how to explain this delicately to her son. Sadly, she could not think of any easy way to ease into it, leaving her nothing but to tell him the cold hard truth, and console him when the weight of his outburst hit him. “You see Herby… the red ‘monster’ is your aunt Ruby…”

“You mean…?” Minty sadly, slowly nodded. At that, Herbal Brew burst into wails as he realised he hurt not only his daddy, but his auntie and uncle, whom he and his father were so excited for him to meet.

“Herby, shhh...:” Minty cooed, trying hard to comfort Herbal Brew “It’s not your fault…”

“Daddy!!” Herbal Brew suddenly broke away galloping off.

"Wait, Herbal Brew!" Minty yelled out as she rushed off to try and catch Herbal Brew. She knew that the dragons would not hurt him; if anything, they would protect him, but he could still get easily hurt or lost.

I collapsed against one of the many pillars that dotted the area, crying. I had failed my sister, once again. The one thing that always hurt Ruby the worst was the one thing my son, in his fear, spouted out. Monster. I knew that the immense size of Ruby and Dragon FireWyrm would likely scare Herbal Brew, and I, thus, tried to explain to him about his ‘aunt’ Ruby and ‘uncle’ Dragon FireWyrm being huge, but huggable. Maybe I should have worked harder at finding a way to produce a life-sized illusion of them. It just needed so much power, power that was impossible for me to achieve. At least alone, and with the currently known spells. Maybe if we had only had more time…

“It’s all my fault!” I wailed out, slamming my hoof down in anger. “I’m a horrible brother!”

“Daddy!” A voice suddenly cried out, pulling me from my sorrow.

I looked up to see the source of the voice, and went wide eyed, seeing my son Herbal Brew galloping like a mad pony after me, crying, with Minty some distance behind, fighting to catch up.

“Daddy I, hic, am sorry! I didn’...” Herbal cried as he slammed into me.

“Shhh, it’s okay, Herby.” I cooed as I tried hard to reassure Herbal Brew, though I inwardly wanted to die. Now I had the failure of being a father to add to the list. All I could think to do was to gently rub Herbal Brew’s back as he smeared his tears and snot into my fur. Minty finally caught up and breathlessly walked up next to me, leaning into me to try and comfort me.

Herbal Brew eventually stopped crying and pulled away, sniffling. I smiled down at him, even though I was still upset, and ruffled his mane. I still had a job to do as a father, after all. “Feeling better?”

“Yes.” Herbal Brew slowly nodded.

It was at this point that I looked up to see that Dragon FireWyrm was nearby, watching, his form hugging the ground… or as close to doing so as he could. I carefully watched as my brother began to creep up behind Herbal Brew, while trying to not let Herbal Brew know that there was a very large and admittedly scary looking dragon approaching from behind. I couldn't tell what my brother’s plans were; I just hoped that whatever he was planning would help, and not make it worse. I knew that he knew exactly what his hoard needed, and would always do what his hoard needed, but it was one thing to know what your hoard needed, and it was entirely another to know how to do it. My concerns vanished the moment Dragon FireWyrm stopped, and his serpentine tongue shot out and barely touched Herbal Brew’s back.

"Hehee, daddy, stop! That tickles!" Herbal Brew giggled as Dragon FireWyrm’s tongue continued to tickle him. I could see why my son thought I was tickling him. I had used my magic in the past to tickle him. Probably didn’t help, either, that I was failing at holding back a smirk. This could work, but I was going to need to help Dragon FireWyrm, for, as soon as my son found out it wasn't me...

"AHHH, he's tasting me!" Herbal Brew squealed in fear as soon as he saw that it wasn't me, but a very large dragon tongue that was tickling him. With a scramble of his hooves, he stumbled away and hid behind me and Minty.

Unlike Ruby, who reacted in fear to Herbal Brew's fear, Dragon FireWyrm had no such reaction; if anything, he was amused by Herbal Brew. Of course, Herbal Brew had no way of knowing that Dragon FireWyrm, while a sadistically playful carnivore, only killed non sentient creatures for food; that, and I saw that the moment that he had seen my son, his joy for me doubled. Wasn't sure if he considered Herbal Brew a part of his hoard or not. The way dragons determined family connections was a bit wonky, to put it lightly.

"Tasting you?! Nah!” I snorted as I tried to not snort in laughter, while simultaneously trying to reassure my son. “More like he was giving you a much needed bath!"

Herbal Brew blinked before his face scrunched up in horror. "EWWWWW!"

Dragon FireWyrm then snorted and shook himself as he rose to his full height.

"Whoa.... he is big." Herbal Brew fell back onto me as he tried and failed to look up at Dragon FireWyrm.

“Yeah, he is…” I agreed as I gently pushed Herbal Brew back onto his hooves.

I instinctively flinched as I saw one of Dragon FireWyrm’s tails reach out toward my son. He quickly stopped, apparently noticing my unease. I knew he would never hurt my son, but his tails, with their very sharp fishing hook like weapons at their ends, had momentarily made me a bit leery. I locked eyes with him, to let him know that I trusted him. He again started, slower than before, to reach out with one of his tails, and slowly curled it around Herbal Brew.

“Ahh! Daddy! Help!” Herbal Brew cried out as Dragon FireWyrm gently wrapped his tail around him and lifted him up.

“Relax, Herby, he just wants to take you for a ride.“ I was beginning to get a better picture of Dragon FireWyrm’s full plan. If he could get Herbal Brew to go from fear to adoration of him, the scariest looking dragon I’ve ever seen, then Herbal Brew should have zero issues with a second attempt at meeting Ruby.

I quickly teleported up to Herbal Brew, who was now excitedly sitting at the nape of Dragon FireWyrm’s neck, the only place we could really sit on Dragon FireWyrm. Unlike Ruby, who had hair spines that we could latch on to, all we had was Dragon FireWyrm’s scales and horns, which were way too sharp for my liking. Once I was comfortable, I cast a spell on myself and Herbal Brew that basically would glue us onto Dragon FireWyrm. I trusted Dragon FireWyrm to be safe, but Herbal Brew was a bit young to fully grasp the need and the strength needed to stay put.

“We are good, Dragon FireWyrm.” I smiled up to Dragon FireWyrm, who had craned his neck to watch us get settled in.

With that, Dragon FireWyrm took a running leap into the air, much to my chagrin, and my son’s delight, as he began to scream. I never could quite get used to being so high off the ground, much less flying high in the air.

Hatchling not scared!? Dragon FireWyrm growled out and slowed down, clearly unsure of Herbal Brew's screaming. Understandable, given that he has not been around foals before, much less Herbal Brew, but I could tell the difference. It was the same scream he gave me when I once let him ride in the cart I was using to get supplies for Minty, and he insisted that I ‘go faster.’

"Faster!" Herbal Brew giggled in delight, trying to use his hooves to get Dragon FireWyrm to go faster.

"You heard the 'hatchling,'" I laughed out. “Brother, faster.”

“I said faster, not spirally.” I slurred out as I stumbled off of Dragon FireWyrm, after my brother decided to not only go faster, but to also start spinning. Luckily for me, Dragon FireWyrm only did it for a short while before he touched down, much to my relief. At least he was kind enough to gently lift the giggling Herbal Brew down, while I was busy trying not to hurl up what was left of my stomach.

Brother...

I looked up and saw that Dragon FireWyrm had landed near Ruby. I could feel my stomach churn again, and this time, not from the flight. "You think Ruby is ready?” Dragon FireWyrm just stared at me, like I was talking nonsense. “Right, of course, stupid question… come Herby.”

Herbal Brew flinched back, clearly still scared. Most likely because he hurt Ruby, more than out of being frightened over her scariness, but I wasn’t going to force him if he wasn’t ready. “Okay, you just stay here with Dragon FireWyrm…”

“No.”

“No?”

“I want to go with you.”

I looked over Herbal Brew for a moment and saw that, though he was scared out of his mind, he also had the look of one that was ready to face his fear. I smiled down at him with pride. “Okay.”

I picked up Herbal Brew and placed him on my back before I slowly walked up to my sister. It was clear, even without seeing her eyes, that she was feeling down. I nearly started crying again, though, when I finally got a good look at Ruby’s face and, more particularly, her eyes, which looked dead. This was bad; she had clearly reverted back to the closed off whelp she once was. Ruby took one look at us and scrambled back onto her feet, sadness being replaced with fear.

“Wait, Ruby…please…” For a moment, I didn't think she would stay, but she paused.

Prey brother hatchling not scared? I could hear the edge of uncertainty in her voice and demeanor. She was not sure what to make of what was going on.

"No." I smiled as I gently stroked what little I could of Ruby's snout. "Ruby... he was more startled by your size. He didn’t realize who you were, he just saw something big and panicked... I tried to prepare him the best I could but… He was so excited to meet you... and I… and I..."

"EWWW… Daddy, do you need a bath, too!?" Herbal Brew questioned innocently, jumping off to avoid Ruby's tongue as she started to lick me, to try and comfort me dragon style.

“Enjoying this aren't you!?” I glared at Ruby, but I couldn't keep up my fake anger. I could see that her inner fire, though not as far out as I knew it could get, was, at least, flickering near the surface. That and, thanks to her licking me, Herbal Brew forgot his fear...

“D-daddy?” Herbal Brew stuttered out as his fear returned at the sudden sound of Ruby laughing. Understandable, given that it sounded like a rock slide.

"It's alright, Herby, it's just the sound of her laughing..."

"Oh..." Herbal Brew’s muzzle scrunched up in thought. "It sounds funny..."

"That it does..." I laughed. In clear sibling retaliation, the tip of Ruby's tail smacked me on the head, much to my sister’s and son’s continued amusement, and my chagrin. Thanks, Ruby, it's much too soon for my son to learn how to sass me back.

"I missed you, Ruby..." I whispered out, finding myself struggling to remain awake. Ruby's rumbling purr felt so good. I was happy that Ruby was feeling better after the less than ideal first meeting with Herbal Brew. Herbal Brew himself was asleep, curled up against my barrel, tired out from all the excitement. Minty was curled up behind me, her soft snores barely noticeable over Ruby. I nuzzled Herbal Brew gently before finally allowing sleep to overcome me, content and happy with being with my family.

Author's Notes:

... and a long awaited chapter that is long... at over 5.2k and my very first chapter over 5k which I normally tried to avoid. I like to keep my chapters between 2k-4.9k for consistency. It can drive me nuts to have a fan fiction that has 3k in on chapter then 10k the next 6k then 13k...

Anyway this had been ready but unedited for a week but my editor was not feeling well... I have another 5k chapter in the queue for editing and a 4.3k ish nearly ready for editing... so hopefully I will have more chapters for you guys in the next few days and not in 10 days....