The fight between Firstclaw and Thirdclaw was forgotten, as they turned their attention to their fellow clanmate, Dragon FireWyrm. All three dragons settled down to watch and wait. Magic Dowser pressed himself into a shivering Minty, to help calm her down, if only a bit. Although he too needed her close to him, as even he started to shiver a bit, fearing what might happen to Ruby.

The three dragons felt sympathy for the pony pair. This was not something that was easy to handle, if you were not used to that level of violence. Even Twilight had trouble, the first few times a fight broke out over a mate, and she had been witness to some bloody sights during the Keeper War. The Equus Nation had not been in a war in its young history, as the ponies, as a rule, were peaceful, so neither had ever seen such violence. Scorpion shifted in such a way that his paws could press on them, trying to give them some comfort of closeness that instinctually helped ponies, when in an emotional state such as theirs.

A red dragon had enough of mind games, and pounced on the yellow dragon that was the first to land, slashing a deep gash across the side of the drake. This led to a chain reaction among the rest, with biting, slashing, and plumes of flame.

Three dragons had teamed up to take out Dragon FireWyrm, and an audible gasp could be heard over the roar of the fighting dragons. The three dragons of the DragonWyrm clan calmly waited it out. Dragon FireWyrm was not one to be brought down that easily. They knew that he would survive with ease, even though he was the smallest dragon vying for Ruby.

The air started to thicken, from the ash and dust being produced by the dragons. DragonWyrm Heart quickly put up a barrier around the ponies. While the smoke, ash, and dust wouldn’t bother the dragons, it could cause health issues for the ponies, and he did not want a lecture from Twilight, again. Worst eight hours of his life.

He wondered where she was. For that matter, he wondered where Pheonix Wave, the resident Dragon Acolyte and Captain of the Hourglass Guard, was, along with Caretaker, Wanderer’s mate. Neither was in sight, though it was highly likely he would not be able to find them in the stadium, even if they managed to be there. The stadium was bursting at the seams as it was, full of a sea of dragons, and he knew that there was no way in hell that all six hundred or so dragons, on average, that came to Hourglass every sixty years or so on the Migration, could come and watch. There just wasn’t enough room. A pity, too, as mating was a sacred and shared event for dragons.

“Here, put these on; it will help cut through the smoke a bit.” DragonWyrm Heart handed a pair of Twilight’s dragon smoke goggles over to Magic Dowser. The magic enhancement in them would clear out the smoke by a fair amount. Hopefully, she remembered to charge the crystal, this time.

“If you think this makes up for what you have done, you are sadly mistaken.” Magic Dowser growled, even he took the goggles. He needed to keep an eye on Ruby. It was killing him, as it was, that he couldn't go out there and rescue Ruby.

Scorpion shook his head at the continued hostility the pony was displaying towards DragonWyrm Heart. It was understandable, but really unnecessary, as well. If only DragonWyrm Heart would tell them both, Ruby and Magic Dowser, the full truth… but that will have to wait until the current situation resolved itself.

There was another gasp, and a series of murmurs, as Dragon FireWyrm flung the dragons off of him with a roar. That wasn’t what got them to whisper, it was that Dragon FireWyrm’s tail had trifurcated. Multiple tails was not uncommon for a sea serpent, which was sometimes referred to as a water dragon, but Dragon FireWyrm was a spark dragon. Not something that they were known for. Or at least, not from what little knowledge was left about the legendary spark dragons within the collective Dragon Heritage Memories that all dragons received at Choosing. To the dragons from the DragonWyrm clan, however, Dragon FireWyrm’s tail spitting into three was not a shocker at all, as they knew that Dragon FireWyrm was known to do things or have things happen to him that were completely unexpected.

As much as Magic Dowser was not really paying attention to the dragons, he did notice the murmuring that fell over the stadium. He looked around to see what it was, just in case it was connected to Ruby. It was hard for him to figure out why all of the muttering was going on, given that he couldn't hear any snippets that he could understand. He was about to just shrug it off as nothing, when he saw one of the fighting dragons that he remembered. A white dragon with a rainbow crown of horns and rainbow tail spines really stuck out in the crowd. What he saw confused him: he knew that he wasn’t that large. From what he could tell, the dragon had doubled in size.

“What the hell? That white dragon wasn’t that big before!”

The three dragons couldn’t help but chuckle, much to Magic Dowser’s annoyance. They found it funny, as Magic Dowser should not be that surprised, given that he was there when Ruby went from a hatchling, that was, at best, only as tall as his shoulder, on two legs, to slightly bigger than him on four legs, when she transformed into a whelp.

<As you discovered when Ruby turned three, a dragon doesn't ‘grow’ in a normal fashion. Certain conditions must arise for a dragon to grow. You are witnessing one of them.> Scorpion explained.

“Thirdclaw…” DragonWyrm Heart growled a warning when he could make out Wanderer muttering, if barely audible, about throwing away a certain book.

Dragon FireWyrm took advantage of his new tails to spin around, using the barbed tail ends to snag the nearest dragon and rip long gashes along his neck. He didn’t give the dragon any time to recover, as he rushed up to him, using his claw to slash over the same area, hitting an artery and causing a geyser of blood to spurt out and spray all over Dragon FireWyrm. The blood only frenzied him, and, in a flash, he knocked the weakening dragon to the ground and proceeded to rip and bite the dragon open with such fury that flesh and entrails went flying dozens of feet. Dragon FireWyrm then turned his sights to the other two dragons that had piled on him, and proceeded to do the same to them.

By the time Dragon FireWyrm was finishing up with the third dragon, the remaining dragons on the field turned their attention to him. He had gone from perceived easy pickings to the largest threat. A ‘truce’ was silently called, as the other dragons rushed to take out Dragon FireWyrm. Dragon FireWyrm roared in challenge, not even fazed by the other nine dragons coming at him.

The fight then become so furious and fast that not a single dragon in the stands could see anything but a mass of dragons, sprays of blood, and innards flying. The white plume of Dragon FireWyrm’s fire could be seen, on occasion, battling a rainbow of others.

Suddenly, it was silent. The dust and ash had thickened beyond the point of any dragon being able to see. Magic Dowser’s goggles had stopped working from the oversaturation of mana that now hung heavy over the stadium, disrupting magic for everyone.

DragonWyrm Heart raised a paw. As a spark dragon, he had one of the strongest pools of magic within him, so he would be able to overcome the mana saturation that prevented the easy formation of spells, even for dragons. He swirled in a large breeze that quickly cleared the dust and ash, revealing the outcome.

The only dragon left standing was Dragon FireWyrm, who roared loudly in triumph. Out of the nine dragons that had ‘teamed up’, it appeared that maybe three had survived, but not without grievous injuries that would most likely cripple the dragons for life. Once the mating was done, Caretaker would need to step out into the arena to check on the dragons that had fallen. The ones that died would be given proper send offs, while those injured would be looked after.

Now that the fighting was over, everyone could really take a breather, and Wanderer couldn't help but think that Dragon FireWyrm looked badass.

Wanderer had only vague memories of his father, Quartermaster, but, if he was remembering correctly, Dragon FireWyrm would now stand a good two heads higher, making him one of the largest dragons since the ‘Nameless One’... He shuddered at the memory of that dragon. Dragon FireWyrm wasn’t just taller, but bulkier, with rippling muscle visible under his scales, even at a distance. Dragon FireWyrm was already a powerhouse when it came to battle, and Wanderer was sure that this would only make him more so.

Dragon FireWyrm’s eyes and mouth, really his whole face, had become less expressive than it was, already, and now sported what one could categorize as a permanent scowl. Though anyone that knew Dragon FireWyrm would have known that he was not like that. For example, right now, Wanderer could see happy relief in his eyes.

At each elbow, there were new curved claw-like spines that Wanderer was sure were hard and sharp, like a tail weapon would be. They were colored in keeping with the theme of the purple features that were on his right side and the green on the left, just like his eyes, the two horns on the top of his head, and his tail weapons.

The three tails that had been barely visible, due to the frantic battle before, were now in full view. The roundish rainbow spines that had once lined his, at the time, single tail were gone. At the end of each tail was a large barbed hook, one, purple, one, white, and the last, green.

Dragon FireWyrm looked around for his ‘prize’, and didn't take long to find Ruby, who was in the center of the carnage. A swath of ground around her was still undisturbed, as the fighting dragons wanted to attack each other, not Ruby. He walked over, avoiding the carcasses of the dragons, and stood over Ruby’s quivering form for a moment, sniffing and then finally growling. He then looked up at the stands and stared at Magic Dowser.

“Uh… why is he looking at me like that?” Magic Dowser gulped. He had seen (unfortunately) parts of the battle, and the dragon fought with such a ferociousness that it made the tales of the viciousness of the creatures of Everfree seem like tame bedtime stories, in comparison. The dragon had bits of scales and tissue clinging to him and stuck in his teeth, tail weapons, and claws, and there almost wasn’t a part of him not splattered in other dragons’ blood, even after a shaking off that had sent a good amount of it flying.

“Hard to say…” Wanderer squinted as he tried to figure out what Dragon FireWyrm was thinking via body language. “The changes in his body have made his expressions harder to read, and, even if they hadn’t changed, there are still times when he is a mystery.”

“Mystery is putting it lightly, Thirdclaw. Secondclaw is the very definition of mystery.”

Dragon FireWyrm started make his way to them, still growling.

Ruby was glad when the massive growling presence that she was sure was a dragon lumbered away. She had no idea why the dragons had surrounded her like they did, and started fighting; all she knew was she was trapped, with no way out. It was only in the past few minutes that it calmed down enough that she started debating whether it was safe enough to get out of there, until she felt the breathing and heard growling.

The terrified screaming of her brother rang out, and, in an instant, she lost all of her fear. Her brother was in danger, and she quickly scrambled up to try and find her brother. She was momentarily taken aback by the massive number of dragons watching her. Another scream brought her back to the task at hand: finding and saving her brother. It didn’t take her long to find him in the clutches of a large white dragon with a rainbow crown of horns.

The large dragon was terrifying to look at, between his wickedly sharp claws and fangs, and the blood splattered all over him, but she knew she had to try and do something to save her brother. You leave him alone, you monster! She screamed in her head as she rushed at the dragon, in an attempt to reach him before it was too late.

“Magic Dowser!” Ruby screamed as a torrent of white flame from the dragon's mouth bathed her brother.

In that moment, a part of her died. Her brother, her everything, was now gone. Burned by a monster of a white dragon, and it was all her fault. If she had never listened to that stallion, she would have never gotten that compass, and they would have never followed it to the oasis, and if… It was her third birthday all over, but this time, she had really killed him. She collapsed onto the ground, bawling. She hoped that the white dragon would take her next.

She did not know how long she cried, before she could suddenly feel the familiar weight and feel of a pony foreleg on her shoulder.

“Go away, Minty…” Ruby shoved off what she believed to be Minty’s hoof. She wanted to be left alone in her grief.

“I’m not Minty… though I could brush my teeth to get minty fresh breath...”

Ruby’s head snapped up in shock. There, sitting right by her, with his foreleg still in the air, was Magic Dowser, looking at her with concern. She opened and closed her mouth several times, as she tried to speak. She was sure that Magic Dowser had been burnt to ash. But here he was, alive and sitting before her, and further stunning her was what she saw on his face and neck. He no longer sported any scars from when she had burned him. She could scarcely believe it. She had to be hallucinating, or dreaming, or something.

“Dowsy?” Ruby reached out to touch Magic Dowser, to see if he was really there. “Your scars…”

“Huh? What about them?” Magic Dowser reached up with a hoof to feel what she could mean. His eyes went wide in shock and disbelief as he continued to feel around. He could only feel fur. Try as he could, he could find no evidence of the burns, neither scars nor coarse fur. How!?

Magic Dowser spun to look back at Dragon FireWyrm, while Ruby looked up at him, and both gasped. In the same locations where Magic Dowser’s scars had been, the dragon now had scars. Magic Dowser could only find himself in awed filled thankfulness to the dragon, for restoring his face. Though he wished he had given Ruby and himself a bit of warning about using his white flame.

Ruby, however, was now lost in a total mess of emotions and feelings, including some she never had before. It was too much, and, in a panic, she quickly scrambled away.

“Ruby, wait!” Magic Dowser yelled. He then stumbled, as he tried to get to his hooves too quickly, trying to chase after Ruby.

<Let her go, Magic Dowser. She needs time to process what has happened.> Scorpion spoke as he walked up; the dangers of being mistaken for a rival had passed. He fought to keep the disappointment and sadness out of his voice and expression. He was really hoping for Dragon FireWyrm and Ruby to become mates, but it seemed that it was not meant to be.

Many of the dragons in the stands were displaying expressions of a similar nature. Dragon FireWyrm was well liked by many dragons, and thus, to have Ruby reject him was a shocker.

“But she...” Magic Dowser began to state how dangerous it would be for Ruby to be alone. He had no idea if this would happen again, and he didn’t think she could handle much more.

“She’s no longer in any danger of that…” DragonWyrm Heart shook his head as he joined them, before looking off towards where Ruby fled. “The dragons will leave her be.”

Before anything more could be said or done, an angry growl issued forth from Dragon FireWyrm, and Wanderer found himself face to face with a ticked off dragon. Wanderer stumbled back at the roar that then issued from Dragon FireWyrm’s maw. Wanderer gulped and nodded as Dragon FireWyrm then turned away sadly, in the opposite direction of Ruby.

“What was that?!” Magic Dowser exclaimed at the outburst of the white dragon.

<Secondclaw is ticked off at Thirdclaw for, I can only assume, what were the words he spoke about your mother…>

“Oh…” Magic Dowser dumbly stated. He would have normally been a bit more ‘enthusiastic’ about Thirdclaw being chewed out, but he was still somewhat dazed from what ‘Secondclaw’ had done for him and Ruby.

Wanderer watched Dragon FireWyrm as the wyrm slowly walked off, a path forming in the sea of dragons as they parted for him. He had not seen Dragon FireWyrm that down since the war, and back when Medallion was killed. But he also remembered the words that he roared just before he left: ‘make right.’ He had been an ass. He may have been frustrated at Ruby’s mother, but it was not an excuse to curse her, and worse, he did so in front of Ruby...

He looked off in the direction that Ruby had bolted, sighing. He had no idea what had made Ruby reject Dragon FireWyrm’s offer. In all his time, he had only seen this once before, a dragoness rejecting the pull of a mate… though it could just be that that part of Ruby was suppressed, over the long years of not being around other dragons. He wouldn't know until he talked to her.