“Interesting dream…” A male voice echoed out in the forest.

The deer’s corpse suddenly fell back down onto the ground, once again lifeless. I blinked as I realized that I was in a dream, thanks to the voice. While I was glad that the voice interrupted the nightmare, I was not happy that someone, or something, had invaded it to do so.

I looked around to find the source of the voice, and found myself face to face with a young red and yellowish tan bipedal dragon. At least, I thought he was still young. I still didn’t have a clue how dragons age, though I knew it was not in the same way as most beings. He appeared to be a bit shorter than I, when I stood on two legs. He might have looked a bit intimidating, if it was not for the fact that his head spines looked like they could have come from a fish, and he had buck teeth. Those just made him look silly.

“Who the fuck are you? And better yet, get the fuck out, you dream prevert.”

My insult/threat seemed to not have the effect I had hoped for, as the dragon smirked. “It’s rare to find a dragon that curses me, but, to be fair, you have been raised amongst ponies. You will know me more fully, soon enough, but, for now, just call me Garble.”

“Well ‘forgive’ my rudeness, Garble,” I snarked as I turned away from the intruding, and strange, dragon. (That makes three strange encounters in the last few weeks. What is with me lately?), “But I have not had the best impressions of dragons, recently…”

“The parallels are uncanny…” Garble mumbled, as I started to walk away. I had no idea how to end dreams, so all I could do was walk away. I was not in the mood to listen to a crazy dragon give crazy reasons for his fucked up mind. The last time I did that, I ended up with a stupid Compass… and... I wish I had laughed off the compass. At least then, I wouldn’t have to deal with the pain of knowing… It feels worse than when I was ignorant.

“How the hell!?” I jumped back a step when Garble was suddenly right in front of me.

“Dream mechanics.” Garble explained. Right, I knew that…. actually, I didn’t. I didn't know it was possible to affect a dream, much less invade one.

I grumbled, as I stepped around Garble. I was hoping this dream would end soon… especially since the drake’s ability to move around unimpeded would make getting away from him nigh on impossible.

“Ruby, you are at a crossroads… 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!” I nearly roared out as my frustration built. I’m getting really tired of this kind of talk. OOOOOooo I speak only riddles, with a snarky ‘I know more than you’ smirk...

“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…”

After what I’d been through, I couldn’t care less about meeting more dragons… I’m not even sure I want to meet my dragon brother… Though Scorpion seems alright… for a rocker wannabe….

“I see that you are hastily making a decision…” Okay… please tell me he was guessing. I don’t want to find out that he can read minds. With my luck recently, he probably could… “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.”

Fucking why can’t anyone tell me anything simply?! I don’t like having to solve fucking riddles!

“Whatever!” I grumbled, as I turned away from the dragon yet again.

“Remember, a dragon's life cannot be measured… Good luck, my child…”

“Ugh!” I screamed in frustration as my dream fell apart, and I woke up.

I awoke to the the sounds of angry shouting. Whoever it was, it was not someone I recognized; however, I assumed it had to be coming from Ruby’s brother, given how deep it sounded.

“Where. Is. RUBY!”

I opened my eyes, and instantly regretted it, as I hissed in pain from the brightness of the sun hitting my eyes. I blinked a few times, to help clear the sleep from my eyes and get my eyes to adjust to the brightness.

I could see Firstclaw in an argument with a young tan unicorn stallion with a blue and white striped mane and tail. On his flank was an emblem that looked like a dowsing rod, surrounded by several starbursts. If I’m not mistaken, that meant it had to be Magic Dowser. There was a female light green unicorn mare with a flowing blond mane and tail, with what looked like a leaf above a pestle and mortar for an emblem, standing next to him. No idea who she was. Magic Dowser’s marefriend, maybe… I doubt a sister, as I was told that Ruby only had a brother...

It was at this point that Firstclaw noticed that I was awake.

“Scorpion, have you seen Ruby?”

I lifted up my wings to see that Ruby was no longer sleeping curled up next to me. She must have gotten up some time ago. I looked up to see that it was quite late in the day. The sun was already past its peak.

<Well, she was sleeping curled up against me… Have you checked the house?> I could see the two ponies flinch at my mental voice.

“I have checked the entire mansion, top to bottom. She is not there.”

“Well, look again!”

Firstclaw and the female pony facepalmed and facehooved, respectively. I just shook my head at Magic Dowser. It seems all older brothers are over protective of their little sisters.

“I did, twice! I even put an enchantment everywhere I looked that would tell me, if somehow we kept missing each other!” Firstclaw hmmed for a moment. “The enchantments will last long enough for us to search the area from the air…”

“I’m not having you fly me, nowhere, nohow. Besides, what if Ruby comes back?”

“Looking for her on foot would be ill…” Firstclaw suddenly paused his counter to Magic Dowser, which I knew had to do with one, getting lost in a desert, and two, the dangers of the Salt Flats, just to the south of the oasis. “Just a moment... I have mail.”

The familiar wisp of fire came out of Firstclaw’s mouth, and formed into a scroll. It wasn’t sealed, so I had no idea who it could be. That, in itself, wasn’t unusual, but what was a bit odd was the scroll. Every dragon that is within his dragon mail network knew that the Migration was coming to Hourglass, and that he would be busy. Whatever it was, it was not good, as I saw his expression turn to panic.

“This is bad! Bad, bad, bad!” Firstclaw started to pace as he read the letter he got. “Let’s see... it’s now three hours to sunset, and Hourglass is still an hour’s flight away. I could get Wanderer…”

“ENOUGH!” Magic Dowser screeched out as he snacthed the letter from Firstclaw’s grasp. “What are you going to do to find RUBY?”

I cringed the moment I saw what Magic Dowser did. I get that he’s angry and panicking, but really? Swiping a letter from Firstclaw like that? Clearly the letter was bringing bad news that needed Firstclaw’s immediate attention, and, even though we needed to find Ruby, Firstclaw wouldn’t panic like that unless it was just as important, or even more so.

Rule One: Never ever steal from a dragon’s hoard. Dragons can be very forgiving to a non dragon, on pretty much any other slight but that. Magic Dowser is lucky that dragons, for the most part, have mellowed, at least when it came to interactions with other races in the last couple of millennia. He just happened to touch the one spot that dragons have remained the most steadfast over. Of course, if Magic Dowser had done this with any other dragon, the dragon would have most likely only gotten annoyed, but this was DragonWyrm Heart. To him, what Magic Dowser did was steal from his hoard, because he treasured every letter he got from friends and family, even if the correspondence was of an official nature.

Faster than Magic Dowser could react, he found himself with his back slammed against the ground, and a paw pressed down on his neck. Firstclaw’s sparks had darkened to almost black, and small flickers of green flame escaped from his clenched mouth, as he glared at Magic Dowser. It had been a while since I’d last seen him enraged like that. “I shall give you this warning once. Never ever steal from a dragon, unless you wish fiery death upon you and your kind. Your relation to Ruby will not protect you from our wrath! GOT IT?”

Magic Dowser was rapidly losing oxygen, judging from the color of his face, and was unable to speak. He did have the sense of mind to nod, ever so slightly. DragonWyrm Heart let go, after growling at him one last time. The mare, who had been watching in horror, rushed forward to attend to him, most likely to make sure that nothing was damaged, as unlikely as it was. IF DragonWyrm Heart had wanted to truly hurt him, he would have not choked him like he did.

“Scorpion, make a harness with this rope.” Firstclaw summoned a coil of rope in front of me, which I immediately took, “and get Magic Dowser and Minty to Hourglass, as fast as you can fly. With any luck, we can head this off, before it’s too late.”

Why would I need to take the ponies to Hourglass? Unless...No wonder Firstclaw was in a panic! It had been no accident that Ruby (and party) had ‘found’ him here in the Northern Oasis, and not where we lived, Hourglass.

We had chosen to meet them here, to protect not only Ruby, but the two ponies that came with her (though we had only anticipated Magic Dowser), from the Migration. If Ruby was male, we wouldn’t have done any of this… we would have met them in Hourglass. (Well, maybe a bit before…) Walking up the stairs to get to the top of Hourglass is no walk in the park. It usually takes a few days, and Ruby would have struggled to fly both ponies up, given that the the air is much thinner towards the top.

“I’m not getting on any of you dragons!”

“Oh, for the love of the Voice!” Firstclaw ran a paw down his face. “Ruby is an unmated female dragoness, and, as such, has no business being near the Dragon Migration, unless she wants a mate! The Migration will be in Hourglass shortly before night falls, which is less than three hours away!”

That got his attention, and, in a flash, Magic Dowser had taken the rope from my grip and tied a makeshift harness around himself and the mare, who I now knew to be Minty.

“No dragon is going to force himself on my sister!”

I would have interjected that Ruby wouldn't be forced upon, but somehow, I don’t think he would have believed me. I just quickly tied them securely to my right foreleg and took off.

I was a bit surprised that I didn’t get the usual ‘I can only speak in vowels now’ routine when Terra Hourglass, the literally upside down mountain, came into view. But then again, Magic Dowser was too busy raging about his sister, and Minty was too busy trying not to lose any more of her lunch. I felt sorry for Minty, but we didn’t have the time for me to make the ride any smoother.

Magic Dowser wasn’t helping in that regard, either, constantly shouting at me to go faster. I can only go so fast! “Faster, before my sister gets raped, you foul lizard!” And I thought Wanderer got worked up about Ruby! Sheesh. I didn’t mind it too much, as I could tell from his Soul Song that his sharp tongue had far more to do with the stress over Ruby, than some deep seeded hatred over dragons.

Not that we, or any dragon, would ever allow Ruby to be… raped. The mere thought of rape is revolting to a dragon… It’s a crime that would send the entire dragon race into a frenzy towards... how did Twilight put it? ‘Vaporizing the offender down to mere atoms.’

Firstclaw seemed to know where to go, as he didn’t land at the library, but headed to the southern part of the city, and to the Dragon Stadium. Not where I would have thought she would be, but, considering the chance for a certain issue to arise, this would be the best place for her.

The Dragon Stadium was a recent addition to our ancient city. It was a large oval open area arena that was used only during the migration. It was large enough to seat about one hundred fully grown dragons in the stands. If I recall what Twilight said correctly, both Firstclaw's library and most of the council building, together, could fit inside it.

I could see Ruby sitting in the middle of the arena. Firstclaw began his descent down, followed by myself. It didn’t take long for us to land. Magic Dowser almost snapped the rope as he zoomed over to embrace Ruby. Minty was in no big rush, and hung back near me.

“What the hell are you doing here, Ruby?” Firstclaw voiced his irritation. Ruby looked none too pleased to see us when we first landed, and the scowl on her face only deepened at the scolding.

“I don’t want to talk to you, MURDERER!” Firstclaw flinched ever so slightly at Ruby’s outburst.

I don’t get it. Last night, she was all upset about the possibility of killing him, but now, she’s yelling at him like she wished she had done it. What is with her?

“Fine.” Firstclaw spoke in a calm voice, though I could see him struggling to not fall apart, as he stoically accepted Ruby’s rejection. “Then listen. You need to leave Hourglass and now! You...”

“No.”

That momentarily caught Firstclaw off guard, and left him speechless.

<Ruby,> I decided to speak for him, as we didn’t have the time for this, <He has every right to kick you forcibly out of Hourglass, as this city is governed and owned by the DragonWyrm Clan, and he, as Firstclaw, is its leader.>

“Then he is going to have to drag me, kicking and screaming, because I ain’t leaving!”

“Ruby, I don’t like him, either, but, in this case, I agree! We need to leave now!”

“You too?!” Ruby stepped back from her brother in shock. “What is with the universe, wanting to fucking mess with me!?”

“Ruby, I...”

“Crazy ponies that are not crazy, mocking voices, stupid disappearing compasses that play cruel jokes, and dragons that won’t let me deal with things in my own way; instead, they have to sing and invade dreams!” Ruby roared. “Well, I’ve had it! There have been nothing but riddles and conflicting messages, telling me to go one way, then another, all while everyone is secretly going ‘Hehehe I know more than you do!’ So fuck it! Fuck it all! I might I well stick around, because it doesn't fucking matter, anyway!”

If this had been any other time, I would have laughed, as Ruby was acting just like her father, Quartermaster, overly stubborn… mixed with Wanderer, when he was young... Wait, did she say a dragon came to her in her dreams!? How? The only one alive that can do that is Dragon FireWyrm, and he rarely, if ever, does, and only to clanmates, I think. I suppose it’s possible for another to have gained that ability, but then that leads to the question, why Ruby?

I didn’t get a chance to ponder it too much, as the familiar sound of a rainboom going off caught not only my attention, but the attention of everyone in the arena. I looked up to see a dragon approaching, with a rainbow contrail behind him. It appeared that we were too late in getting Ruby out, as I could also see a very small, dark mass in the sky. The migration is upon us… It didn't take long before we could see the black and greyish blue scaled form of Thirdclaw, coming in for a landing.

Oh, boy, this could get ugly, and fast. Thirdclaw and Firstclaw always fought like rabid diamond dogs, when it came to Ruby. Firstclaw would usually win out, but it would take Secondclaw to get them to kiss and make up… on a off handed remark, he actually literally had them do it one time. Sadly, I didn’t have a camera to capture the moment, but I made sure that Twilight and Caretaker would never let them forget. I know I won’t.

Minty backed into me. I didn’t blame her. Thirdclaw may only be slightly smaller then me, body wise, but his wingspan was, by far, one of the largest, for a dragon. Those alone could intimidate most… until they saw that one of his horns twisted comically into the other… though I didn’t think anyone could get their eyes above Thirdclaw’s furious eyes to see his horns. Magic Dowser did not seem to be intimidated, at least, not that I could tell honestly tell; it was getting too difficult to make out individual soul songs, and there was no way I was going to open my ears. I would prefer not to have a migraine from hearing over six hundred Soul Songs, on top of the background songs that the ley lines in and around Hourglass produced.

Thirdclaw had barely made his landing before he stomped right up to Firstclaw. “You only had one simple thing to do, Firstclaw. KEEP MY SISTER AWAY FROM THE MIGRATION!”

“I didn’t tell her the location of Hourglass! I have no clue how she got here!” Firstclaw roared back.

<Don’t look at me, I didn't even tell her your relation to Firstclaw!> I quickly stated, when Thirdclaw turned his gaze over to me.

Thirdclaw mumbled something that I didn't quite catch. Ruby, however, must have heard it, as she stomped right up to him in anger. “You dare call my mother a bitch!”

“I dare!” Thirdclaw snapped at Ruby. “Your bitch of a mother thought it was a fucking ‘wise’ idea to not only kick out History Seeker, your grandfather, from your lives, but the book we gave History Seeker on what to expect when raising a dragon, just because of her own fucking insecurities! To think that a fucking pony would deliberately screw over a young dragon.”

“THIRDCLAW!” Firstclaw roared angrily. “Enough! Or, so help me, I’ll hold you down and let Magic Dowser and Ruby beat the lava shit out of you!”

I could see that both Magic Dowser and Ruby were ready to do just that.

“Whatever.” Thirdclaw casually brushed off Firstclaw’s threat. “My point still stands. If Elegant Prose had kept that book, Ruby would not be having such a huge existential crisis...”

By this point, I had heard this argument played out too many times already, so I just tuned it out as I watched the approaching Migration. Please, let there not be any potential mates...

As the Migration got close enough for me to see individual dragons, I noticed that there were a couple of dragons breaking out of formation, and heading straight towards the stadium. This was a clear violation of the protocol for the dragons on the migration. They were supposed to circle high above the city until the entire migration was over the mountain, and then come down in small groups. That had not occurred yet. Of course, Thirdclaw was not up there directing traffic like normal, so it could just be some dragons that were jumping the gun a bit.

“Oh, really? Do you know how many times Twi was burnt by me, or ran into problems, because she didn’t understand the mind of a dragon!?” I heard Firstclaw argue a point as my focus turned back to them.

I looked down to check on Minty and saw that Magic Dowser was trying to help her out. From the looks of it, Minty was still in a state of frozen panic.

“Twilight, at least, did her fucking best, given the circumstances that weren’t caused by stupidity! At least she TRIED to find out information about dragons! Elegant had all that information handed to her on a fucking silver platter! And yet she thought that, by being an ass and ignoring the problems, that everything would work out, and the problems would just go away. That somehow, Ruby would grow up to be a pony in scales!”

By this point, it was clear that Ruby had reached her limit, and was about to walk away when a yellow dragon landed in front of her, growling. It has begun… Ruby backed away, before a green dragon slammed down behind her. Ah, crap, just what we don’t need: a fight between Firstclaw and Thirdclaw; meanwhile, there is a fight brewing amongst two, no, four dragons, so far, over who should mate with Ruby!

Needless to say, Ruby was not handling the whole situation very well, as she had given up trying to escape, and had resorted to the age old ‘solution’ of curling up into the fetal position, hoping it's all a nightmare...

<Don’t try and save her!> I grabbed Magic Dowser before he could rush off to ‘aid’ Ruby. I took the advantage, and grabbed Minty, as well. I needed to get them away from the arena, into the stands, and away from the dragons landing in the arena. A dragon fight was no place for ponies. Firstclaw and Thirdclaw were already making their way out, still arguing. Which was annoying, as I could use their help, as it was already not going to be easy, given that I’m not built to walk on two legs anymore, and Magic Dowser was struggling with all his might, even trying to use his magic, which was quite strong. If he had his full senses about him, he could break through my grip like it was wet paper.

“Let me go! Let me go!” Magic Dowser screamed as he pounded my paws with his free hoof. “You fucking fire snot, I need to go save Ruby!”

<You want to die!?> I snapped down at the struggling unicorn. <Because that is what will happen if you interfere! The dragons are going to mistake you for a rival, and it's not uncommon for male dragons to die when fighting over a potential mate!>

“But… She’s going to be… I have to...” Magic Dowser’s speech slowed, as his strength was finally leaving him. Not surprising, given that one can only handle being in an enraged state for so long before becoming physically exhausted, and he had been at it for quite some time now.

<I said potential mate! Ruby has the final say! The female dragon always has the final say on her mate! All we can do now is wait.>

“You had Secondclaw helping you out!” Thirdclaw countered to something Firstclaw obviously had said while I was distracted, getting the two ponies to safer ground in the stands.

“He was merely an alicorn dragon acolyte, who did not even know about how dragons mated, which he should have been told, given that if he had hatched me instead of Twi, I would have been female!”

I rolled my eyes, before I ignored them once again, and took a look at the developing fight. So far, the dragons had not done much, other than circle each other and posture. From my count, there were going to be twelve dragons fighting for Ruby. I could see that the rest of the Dragon Migration was now arriving, as I saw several dragons landing in the stands to watch.

<Firstclaw, Thirdclaw!> I yelled out when I saw a certain dragon land in front of Ruby, and between the other dragons.

WHAT!? Both roared at me with enough force to make me flinch.

<Secondclaw…> I pointed towards the dragons vying for Ruby, and, more specifically, to Dragon FireWyrm, who had touched down in the midst of them.

“Well I’ll be,” Thirdclaw smirked. “It looks like Secondclaw may get a mate soon.”

“WHAT!?” Magic Dowser screamed, his coat paling to white, and his mane smoking.

Both myself and Firstclaw facepalmed. Thirdclaw had said the one thing that Magic Dowser would not want to hear right now, though I know that both Firstclaw and I were thinking what Thirdclaw had said.