Wings of Fire: The Parallel Dream

by Mudkipman98

Chapter 1

Author's Note:

THIS IS YOUR LAST SPOILER WARNING. IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE SIXTH WINGS OF FIRE BOOK, READ AT YOUR OWN RISK. That is all. Enjoy :)

Sleep was a long time coming for Starflight.

With almost the entire Jade Winglet's disappearance, and the attempt at his life and those of his friends from Icicle only a few days prior, his mind was heavy. He spent hours before he drifted off into sleep thinking about the future of their school, about the safety of his friends (especially Sunny and Fatespeaker), and of the only remaining member of the Jade Winglet, Prince Turtle. When he had helped assign the winglets, he thought about how similar those dragons were to his friends, aside from Carnelian and Kinkajou. He couldn't help but wonder how long it would be before Turtle disappeared too, off to join his friends on whatever adventure they had left for.

Despite all of these thoughts, he eventually found sleep. Since being blinded, his other senses had been honed so finely he recognized the changes in his breathing and the relaxation of his muscles just as he drifted off. He had also become a very conscious dreamer, as it was the only time he could find peace from all of the stress he was under.

As soon as he realized he was dreaming, Starflight found himself in an odd place. He hadn't quite forgotten how to see in his dreams, so he glanced around, taking in all the colors and shapes of his surroundings.

He was laying down on a thick carpet in a massive, circular room. The walls and floor appeared to be made of some kind of blue and pink crystal, though Starflight didn't recognize it. There was a flat, medium-sized, perfectly smooth, blue table in the middle of the room with six chairs too small to sit in, and one chair FAR too small to sit in. Windows lined the room, and large double-doors stood on one side. Bright light was cast down on the room by a giant light fixture that looked like the roots of an old tree, covered all over in small gems of various colors.

Things looked... different, however. Since Starflight had been blind, his dreams had slowly but surely lost their touch of reality. Colors weren't always right, shapes didn't always form, and things didn't look how he remembered. Casual objects seemed to change in his dreams after not seeing them for so long.

But all of this? It all looked real. Like he was really seeing again. His heart grew warm with joy as the realization struck him, only to immediately go cold again as he realized he must still be dreaming; that this was only his imagination, and his eyes were still just as damaged.

Starflight sighed and stood up, stretching his wings and legs liberally and popping his neck a few times. That's strange, he thought. I don't remember having tense muscles in my dreams. He shook off the oddity and decided to explore.

He opened the doors in the room and stepped out into a long hallway full of other doors. He ignored them, however, hoping to find a way out of wherever he was. The air felt stuffy and thick, and his lungs yearned for fresh air.

A few more hallways and offshoot rooms later, and he stumbled upon another set of double-doors. He pushed them open, causing a loud creek to echo through the halls. His jaw dropped when he saw what was on the other side.

Starflight seemed to have found his way into a library. Shelves and shelves of books filled the room and covered the walls, and scrolls of all sizes spilled out of slots in the walls. Starflight was sure his heart had stopped, and he pounded his chest forcefully to make sure he was still alive. He took a few slow steps into the room, slowly absorbing the smell of old pages and the sight of leather-bound tomes.

He also smelled something else. Something alive. He heard a voice from somewhere past the aisles and aisles of books as well. "Hello? Is someone there?" The voice sounded female. A bookish sort, by the sounds of it. Someone I can relate to, thought Starflight as he sighed happily.

"My name is Starflight," he said as he started walking by the books, looking for the source of the voice. "I hope I'm not intruding. This library is amazing."

Starflight heard shuffling from around one of the corners, and then the sound of hooves striking the floor. That's strange. I could've sworn I heard another dragon. He picked up the pace as his curiosity grew, and he hurried to the end of the shelves. When he passed around to the other side, he found a small table surrounded by a bunch of cushions. Sitting at the table was what appeared to be a purple horse with wings and a horn, staring at him curiously.

"Excuse me?" she asked. It took Starflight a moment to register she was talking and that he could understand her. "What are you doing in the castle?"

"This is a castle?" asked Starflight. He took an unconscious step back into the safety of the shelves.

"Yeeeees," said the horse slowly. "What are you doing here? It's the middle of the night."

Starflight felt pressured to think up an excuse. Even though he was dreaming, something compelled him to act rationally. "I don't know. I was just..." His sentence escaped him when he saw a small, blue crystal hovering in the air next to the horse, surrounded by some kind of purple aura.

A dream visitor.

"T-the, the-" stammered Starflight.

The horse seemed to realize what he was staring at, and she said, "Why are you staring at it? Do you know what this is?"

"That's a dream visitor," said Starflight, dropping all pretenses and taking a few steps toward her. "But how could a horse be visiting me? I didn't think they were smart enough." The horse gave an indignant huff. "And I've never seen you before. Clearly, you must have seen me at some point, but I can't imagine anything like you," he added, gesturing toward her with a wing as he sat across from her at the table.

"For your information, I am not a horse. I am a pony," she said, an irritated look on her face. "Princess Twilight Sparkle, actually. And did you say dream visitor? I've been reading up on magical crystals all night, but I can't find any information on something like this. It looks like any old enchanted gemstone."

Starflight jumped up in alarm. He bowed immediately and said, "My apologies, your majesty."

He heard the princess try to suppress a chuckle and she said, "It's alright. At ease."

He dared to look up and found the pony smiling at him. "Well, I think it's a dream visitor," said Starflight as he relaxed back into place. "It looks exactly like the one I found in the Nightwing kingdom, but then there's that weird purple glow to it. The one I had didn't do that."

The pony named Twilight Sparkle eyed the crystal and it swayed around her as she examined it. Animus magic? thought Starflight. No, that's silly.

"You must mean my magic," said the pony, eyeballing the dream visitor as it floated near the table.

Okay, maybe she does have some magic. Is there such a thing as an animus pony?" thought Starflight.

"Did you say Nightwing kingdom? I've never heard of a place like that. Come to think of it, I've never seen a dragon that looks quite like you either," said Princess Twilight.

"Never heard of it?" asked Starflight. "But it's legendary! Every dragon knows about the hidden kingdom of the Nightwings." Starflight realized what he'd just said a moment too late.

"I'm clearly not a dragon," said Princess Twilight. "I don't exactly have leathery wings and fire breath. And if everyone knows about it, it must not be very well hidden."

The pony's comment about their racial disparities seemed to remind him of the situation. "Hold on," said Starflight. "This doesn't make any sense. How can a pony talk? Why do you have wings and a horn? Why do you have magic? And how do you have a dream visitor? Sunny has one, and I know Queen Scarlet has the other, but the third one must have been lost on the island when the volcano erupted." He wasn't aware of himself, but Starflight was speaking as if this Princess Twilight should know what happened.

"Volcano erupting?!" asked Princess Twilight, alarmed. She stopped and added, "Slow down. Why don't you get some sleep and we'll talk more in the morning, okay? This castle has plenty of rooms. I'm sure I've got one set up as a guest room already."

The prospect of a deeper sleep sounded good to Starflight, and he said, "That would be wonderful. I haven't slept straight in days." He didn't care that he was already technically asleep. The deeper he could go, the better he was sure he would feel when he truly woke up. At least, he hoped that was the case.

Princess Twilight stood up and led him back through the library toward the door he had come in. He felt clumsy as exhaustion clung to his scales, and he tipped a couple piles of books over with his tail as he walked by. He had considered apologizing, but Princess Twilight either hadn't noticed or didn't seem to care.

They left the library and began walking down the winding halls of the castle. Starflight got the impression that the castle must have been huge with how the halls seemed to be laid out, though he couldn't be sure thanks to how tired he was. Before long, Princess Twilight stopped in front of a door just large enough for Starflight to squeeze through. She led him in and he found himself in a basic guest room with a shelf of books against one wall, a desk with an ink well and rolls of paper against another, and a bed just large enough for him to sleep comfortably in.

"I'm sorry it's not much," said Princess Twilight, "but hopefully you'll sleep okay. Feel free to read the books on the shelves if you'd like. I'll come see you in the morning, okay?" she finished.

"Yes, your majesty," said Starflight with a respectful dip of his head. That earned another chuckle from Princess Twilight, and she departed with a wave.

As soon as she was gone, Starflight sighed. He grabbed a book off of the shelf against the wall and got into bed, throwing the blankets over himself as best as he could and trying to relax.

Reading before bed used to be his favorite pastime when he lived with his friends under Jade Mountain. He'd be curled up in his part of the cave, rereading time and time again his favorite scrolls until he had them memorized. Webs would try to get him something new every now and again, but Starflight could never be sure when the next one would come, or when he would upset Kestrel enough in battle training to warrant her burning one of them out of frustration.

He was surprised to open up the book he had chosen and find the writing legible. He hadn't expected to be able to understand what any of the words said, but the book seemed to be written in the same language as his scrolls in the waking world. Convenient, he thought. The book seemed to be some kind of adventure story about a heroic pony who ventured off into the badlands and slayed an evil dragon. The death scene made Starflight cringe as he remembered the gruesome deaths he'd witnessed both in Scarlet's arena and during his journey as a whole. The writer clearly meant for it to be a triumphant moment, but reading it still made Starflight's chest ache, as if the spear the pony wielded was buried in his heart.

Just as he finished reading the last page, he nodded off, expecting to slip into a deeper sleep. Instead, he heard the voice of Fatespeaker and a talon nudging his shoulder. "Time to wake up, Starflight," she said. Starflight opened his eyes to darkness. It was different from having his eyes closed in a dream. He knew he was blind once more.

Starflight sighed and tried to stand up. He felt Fatespeaker's touch fade, and he inwardly winced. It took him a moment to steady his talons on the bedding he was on, but he got a grip and stepped off of it. "What time is it?" he asked.

"A little past sunrise," said Fatespeaker. "Remember? You have a morning class today?"

Panic struck Starflight. "Uh-oh," he said as he stumbled through his cave. He let his tail find one of the walls and he followed it to the door. "Are the students waiting?" he asked as he stepped through into a hallway.

"Not yet," said Fatespeaker as she stepped up beside him, wrapping her tail around his and guiding him. "Most of the them are at breakfast, but they're bound to finish soon." Starflight briefly flicked his tongue out. He could smell fresh meat and fruit coming from the mess hall, even from a ways off. He could also make out a few voices in the tunnel ahead, and they warmed his heart.

"Come on, Clay," begged Tsunami from the tunnel ahead of them. "These dragonets need SOME kind of combat training. Not all of them were old enough to be soldiers for the war. What if Scarlet attacks us head on?"

"We can't," said Clay warmly but firmly. "This school is about peace, not training to fight. We'll fix this world through knowledge. Isn't that right, Starflight?"

Clay must have noticed the two nightwings, and Starflight responded, "Exactly." He thought he heard Tsunami mutter something under her breath, but it was too quiet even for him to hear.

"Morning, Starflight. Fatespeaker," said Clay. Starflight felt the mudwing's wing brush his as they walked by. "Don't be late to your class!" he added as Tsunami and his footsteps faded behind Starflight.

"Come on," said Fatespeaker, guiding him forward. The two dragons found their way to the history room. Webs usually covered history, but he was out that morning gathering up fish for lunch from the nearby lake, so it fell to Starflight to teach.

The day proceeded like any other before. Prince Turtle was the only one of the Jade Winglet who showed up to class. The rest hadn't returned, and if his assumptions about them were right, Starflight didn't expect them back to Jade Academy for weeks.

That night, after sorting scrolls in the library with Fatespeaker, they fell asleep together. Starflight was more surprised than he knew he should have been when he "woke up" back in Princess Twilight's guest room.

"This again," he muttered as he glanced around. Everything was as it had been when he drifted off, but sunlight was drifting in through an open window, the curtain swaying lightly in the breeze that blew in. He stood up groggily, surprised to be pulled back down instantly by an iron grip he recognized very well.

"Fatespeaker?" he asked as he looked to his side. The dragonet was sleeping in the bed next to him, her wing half draped, half gripping his body as she often did when they slept together. His attempt to sit up seemed to stir her awake.

"Starflight?" she mumbled as she rubbed sleep from her eyes with a talon. "What are you..." She stared deep into his eyes for a moment, and as Starflight gazed at her, doing his best to examine and remember all of her beautiful features before he had to wake up, she said, "Your eyes!"

Fatespeaker leaped on him and tackled him back to the bed, forcing a surprised "Eep!" out of him. She pressed her thumbs to the sides of his eyes and stretched them out. "What happened? They aren't cloudy anymore! Can you see? What's going on?"

"Slow down!" he protested as he gripped her shoulders and managed to lift her up. She backed off and Starflight got off the bed. He took another look around and said, "Fatespeaker, does this feel weird to you?"

"Am I dreaming?" she asked. "I can't tell. I feel awake, but I know we just fell asleep in your room. And you can see! That's wonderful. But..."

"If this were real, I'd still be blind," he said. "Which means Princess Twilight must be using the dream visitor again."

"Princess Twilight? Dream visitor?" asked Fatespeaker with a tilt of her head. "Wait. Someone found the third one?"

Starflight proceeded to explain the events of the past night; how he woke up in a crystal castle and had met Princess Twilight Sparkle, a bizarre sentient pony with wings, a horn, and a dream visitor.

"Wow," said Fatespeaker after he finished explaining. "It's weird enough that you're having this same dream again. It's like our real life is the dream!"

"You're missing the point," said Starflight, unsure of his own theories on the situation. "We're sharing a dream right now. At least, I think we are."

"Only way to know is if we both wake up and remember the same thing," said Fatespeaker. "But come on, YOU GOT YOUR EYES BACK!" She pounced on him one more time, and they rolled around playfully on the floor for a few minutes.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Starflight and Fatespeaker poked their heads out from the other side of the bed to find what appeared to be a short, purple lizard standing on his back legs with one hand on the door. "Um, should I come back later?" he said.

A deep blush quickly spread across both Starflight's and Fatespeaker's faces, and they scrambled to their feet. "No, no," said Starflight hurriedly. "It's fine. Can we help you?"

"Twilight asked me to come up and get you, but she didn't mention you had a friend," said the lizard. "Or that either of you were dragons too."

"I thought Twilight was a pony," said Starflight.

The lizard gave him an indignant look. "Oh ha ha," he said slowly. "Very funny. I'm just not old enough for wings yet, okay? Jeez."

"Wait. You're a dragon?" asked Fatespeaker, seeming to catch his meaning.

"Um, duh," he said. "What did you think I was?"

Starflight decided not to answer that, and when he glanced at Fatespeaker, she seemed to agree. Thankfully, they were saved from the dragon's(?) glare with a voice shouting from down the hall.

"Spike?" called Princess Twilight. "Is he awake?"

"Yeah, and he has a friend," said the dragon called Spike.

"A friend?" the princess' voice had gotten closer, and she stepped around the door and into the room past Spike. "Oh!" she said when she saw Fatespeaker. "There really are two of you."

"Excuse me, Princess, but did you use the dream visitor again?" asked Starflight.

"Yes," she said simply. "I was just eating breakfast, and I got this urge to take another look at it. Once you told me what it was, I had a few ideas about how to use it. Are you saying that's why you've got another dragon with you?"

"I don't know," said Starflight. That struck him as odd. He always knew. When it came to history, artifacts, you name it, he knew it. Working in the Jade Academy library only furthered that knowledge. He felt like he should know this. "Let's find a better place to talk, and I'll tell you more about it."

"Let's," said Princess Twilight. She and Spike led Starflight and Fatespeaker down the hall. Before they knew it, the dragons were led into a cozy looking dining room. The floors were carpeted, and a long, rectangular table sat in the middle, low to the ground and surrounded by colorful cushions made for ponies. On the table sat a plethora of jewels in many bowls of different shapes and sizes. Rubies, sapphires, and emeralds were all sorted into different bowls, with opals, jade, garnet, and every other kind of gem you could imagine surrounding those.

"I wasn't sure which kind you might like, so I made sure to gather whatever I could from around town," said Twilight as she sat down at a place that had a plate full of various leafy greens and fruits. What appeared to be hay was also stuffed between two pieces of bread and sitting on a second plate nearby. She made a conscious effort to sit anywhere BUT the head of the table, and Starflight took a mental note of that.

"Well, she sure is a princess," said Fatespeaker in awe.

"More like a queen," said Starflight. "This must have been what Queen Oasis' horde looked like before it was stolen."

Spike walked forward, wide eyed as if this was his first time seeing all of the gems. "This is some spread," he said as his eyes darted left and right, scanning everything at once. Starflight watched him walk up to the jewels and take a few of each. He struggled to carry them all in his arms, but he eventually sat down next to the princess. Then he did something Starflight had never imagined.

He ate a sapphire whole.

Starflight's and Fatespeaker's eyes went wide as the baby dragon crunched down on the blue stone. Starflight could swear he heard teeth cracking, but when Spike simply smiled contentedly, Starflight had to believe it was the sapphire.

"Did you just..." muttered Fatespeaker, rubbing her eyes and staring at Spike.

The baby dragon raised an eye and said, "What?"

"Is something wrong?" asked Princess Twilight. She seemed nervous for some reason. "Did I pick the wrong jewels? I'm sure I can ask Rarity for different ones if you want."

"He just- but how could he- Starflight, what was that?" asked Fatespeaker.

"I don't know!" he said. "That shouldn't be possible! Sapphires aren't edible!"

"You've never eaten a sapphire?" asked Spike. It was his turn to drop his jaw. "How have you lived?!"

"You two don't eat jewels?" asked the princess, confused. "That's... different."

"Sorry, no," said Starflight. His stomach growled loudly. "We actually keep jewels as treasure."

"Like diamond dogs?" asked Spike.

"What's that?" asked Fatespeaker.

"Okay, that's enough," said Princess Twilight. "It's okay. I can find something else, I'm sure. What do you eat?"

"Meat, usually," said Starflight.

"I could really go for a cow right about now," said Fatespeaker, her stomach growling as well. The baby dragon and princess seemed taken aback by that statement. "What's wrong?"

"Um," began the princess. "It's just that livestock are more like pets here. Only predators eat them, and we have to worry about creatures from the forest attacking them."

When Princess Twilight said predators, Starflight and Fatespeaker examined their talons, and Fatespeaker gave a toothy grin. Starflight watched the realization strike the princess. "It's alright," he said. "We'll be okay. Let's just get to the talk."

"Good idea," said Princess Twilight. She looked like she might be sick. Fatespeaker and Starflight took a seat across from the princess. It was weird sitting on such small cushions, but it was better than the floor.

"So--Starflight, was it?--can you tell me how a dream visitor works?" asked Princess Twilight.

"Yes, your majesty," he said. "A dream visitor is an animus-touched object that was created years ago to let dragons enter each other's dreams and communicate with them." Starflight saw the question forming in the princess' head and he quickly added, "Animus-touched means an animus dragon, a dragon with magic, has enchanted it. There are all kinds of animus-touched objects, ranging from spears to rocks to jewels to chains. Just about anything you can imagine can be enchanted by an animus. Even plants, from some of the legends."

"Could an animus dragon enchant a pony, or another dragon?" asked Princess Twilight.

"I guess it's possible, but I can't think of any dragon who's done something like that in the past," said Starflight as he wracked his brain for answers. A stray thought suddenly crossed his mind. What if Scarlet gets her hands on an animus? How much danger are my friends and I really in right now? Does Peril know anything about Scarlet's allies? Is Peril her only one?

Starflight suddenly felt a talon brush his, and he looked over to see Fatespeaker smiling at him. He could tell there was underlying worry in her expression, like she knew what he was thinking, or at least THAT he was thinking. That snapped Starflight out of it, and they both turned back to the princess.

"Anyway," continued Starflight, "To use a dream visitor, you press the stone to your forehead and imagine the dragon you're trying to contact. You have to know, at the very least, what they look like, but it won't always work unless you know the dragon's name as well. They also have to be asleep. If you manage to connect to them, you'll enter their dream and be able to communicate."

"So does that mean you and Fatespeaker were asleep somewhere else before you woke up here?" asked Princess Twilight.

"Exactly," said Fatespeaker.

"Wow," said Spike. "That made my head hurt."

Fatespeaker chuckled lightly, and it took Starflight some effort not to do the same. "But," began Twilight, "I didn't hold it to my forehead and think about either of you. Last night, when you came in, I was reading a book on dragons, but that's it."

"And come to think of it, this hardly feels like a dream," said Starflight. He wrapped a wing around Fatespeaker, and the warmth he felt was so real.

Fatespeaker leaned into him and let out a deep breath. "I think so too," she said. "This is definitely real."

Starflight noticed the princess giving them a smile, and she said, "Well, believe it or not, this isn't the first time we've had... dimensional mixups."

"Dimensional?" asked Starflight.

"Yes. Instances of strange creatures crossing barriers between worlds or alternate timelines, and coming here. Sometimes, they're monsters we have to deal with and send back. Other times, they're more like wayward travelers, lost from their worlds," said Princess Twilight.

"Do you think that could have happened to us?" asked Fatespeaker. Starflight could feel her shaking slightly, as if this was something she had been considering and was just hearing her fears vocalized.

"I suppose it's possible," said the princess. "I've traveled to one particular dimension a couple of times. I'm sure if that's what's happened to you, we can get you back."

"When I fell asleep here last night, I woke up back in my world," said Starflight. "I don't know what's bringing us here, but I was able to get back yesterday."

"Okay," said Princess Twilight. "Then let's run an experiment. Go to sleep tonight, and then see what happens. If you wake up back in your world, I suppose everything is fine. If you stay here, then there are more problems to deal with."

"More than you know," said Fatespeaker. When Twilight tilted her head, Fatespeaker added, "Starflight and I teach together at a school called Jade Mountain Academy. We can't be gone during the day."

"You're both teachers?" asked the princess excitedly. Her eyes lit up and she stood up from her seat. "Why didn't you just say so?!" She rushed around the table and up to Fatespeaker.

"Uh-oh," said Spike. Starflight glanced at him as Princess Twilight took Fatespeaker's talons in her hooves. "You pressed the "learning button." You shouldn'ta did that."

"What are you-" began Starflight, only to have Princess Twilight interrupt him.

"You've got to tell me EVERYTHING. If you both are teachers, you must know everything about your world! You've got to share it with me!"

"Whoa, back off!" said Fatespeaker, taking a few steps back and bumping into Starflight. The princess seemed a little upset, so Fatespeaker added, "Look. We'll be happy to tell you more eventually. Just let us get our bearings first, okay?"

Princess Twilight blushed and backed up. "Yes. Yes, of course." An awkward silence filled the room for a few seconds.

Finally, Spike sighed and said, "Come on, guys. I'll give you a tour of the town."

"Good idea, Spike," said Princess Twilight, regaining her composure. "I need to get to work here."

"Come on," said Spike. He got up and made for the door to the dining room. Starflight and Fatespeaker wordlessly followed.

Once they were all out in the hall, Spike said, "Sorry about that. She gets a little too excited over learning."

"Just a little, yeah," said Fatespeaker, winking at Starflight.

"What?" he asked, and she just turned away and giggled.

A few minutes later, the three dragons left the castle. The heat of the sun warmed Starflight's scales, and he spread his wings and relaxed. It felt like he was stepping out of the cave he was raised in, minus a troop of Skywing soldiers hauling him off to a prison and killing his guardians.

"Nice day," said Spike. The sky was almost cloudless, with ponies flying and walking by, waving hellos to Spike and the unfamiliar dragons in their town. Starflight saw a group of ponies of various colors talking in front of a store, and another small group standing in front of an apple cart. The buildings were all rustic, most of them with roofs made of hay and wooden frames. Some of the windows in the buildings had flowers in them, and other houses had wreathes on their doors.

"It's so cute!" said Fatespeaker with wide eyes. A few ponies turned her way and raised their eyebrows, causing Starflight to chuckle.

"Come on," said Spike. "Follow me." He waved them forward and led them all into town. The rest of the town looked a lot like the first glimpse Starflight had gotten. Much of it was rustic, but full of life. There were always ponies in the streets going somewhere and doing something. Fatespeaker loved the schoolhouse, and Starflight enjoyed what he saw of the town hall. As the sun climbed higher, Spike finished his tour.

"Phew," he said. "I was afraid we were going to run into Pinkie Pie, but it looks like we got through okay."

"Pinkie Pie?" asked Fatespeaker.

"She's a party pony with an obsession with making new friends," said Spike. "Believe me, she would overwhelm you in seconds. I'm sure she already knows there are new dragons in town, and she'll be dying to meet you."

"How could she know that?" asked Starflight. "Does she have magic too?"

"Something like that," said Spike. Starflight and Fatespeaker raised an eyebrow at each other, then turned their attention back to Spike. "Anyway, we can probably head back to the castle now."

"Wait," said Fatespeaker as Spike started to walk off. "Where are the rest of the dragons? I haven't seen any in--Ponyville, right?--other than you."

"That's because I'm the only one who lives here," said Spike. "South of Canterlot, there's practically a whole other country full of just dragons. Occasionally, Dragonlord Ember shows up and we hang out, but other than that, I'm all that's here."

"Dragonlord Ember?" asked Starflight.

"Oh yeah. She's the dragon that rules all the other dragons."

"Like a queen?" asked Fatespeaker.

"Close enough," said Spike with a shrug. "If she needs us, she can call us anytime, and we've got to go to the Badlands and meet with every other dragon."

"Sounds like quite the journey," said Starflight.

"Not when you have an alicorn who can teleport across Equestria with her mind," said Spike with a smile. "I can visit her just about any time I want."

"Do you think we could visit the... Dragonlord?" asked Fatespeaker.

"Yes. It'd be good to learn how dragons live and behave here in Equestria," added Starflight. He saw Spike cringe a little.

"Um, I guess so," said Spike. "Just don't get your hopes up," he added hastily.

"What do you mean?" asked Fatespeaker.

"Well, she's really nice," began Spike. "But, she also has to be intimidating to every other dragon so they don't think they can take the throne from her."

"Sounds a lot like a few queens we know," said Starflight solemnly to Fatespeaker.

"Anyway, why don't we go talk to Twilight, and you can meet the dragonlord?" asked Spike.

"Let's do it," said Fatespeaker quickly. Starflight wanted to forget about the other queens for a while.

"Okay. Back to the castle," said Spike.

As Spike started to walk, Starflight felt a weird sensation. His whole body suddenly felt numb and fuzzy, and he found it hard to stand. His vision went blurry, and he groaned as he collapsed to his knees.

"Starflight? Fatespeaker? What's going on?" asked Spike worriedly. Starflight tried glancing over and found Fatespeaker in a similar situation. Her eyes struggled to stay open, and her tail and wings drooped around her.

"I don't know," said Starflight. "I feel dizzy all of a sudden."

"Me too..." mumbled Fatespeaker. Her eyes fluttered a few more times then shut, and she collapsed completely.

"Fate!" cried Starflight, just as an extra wave of exhaustion and dizziness hit him as well. It was too much for him to bear. The last thing he heard was someone calling his name, but it wasn't Fatespeaker, and it certainly wasn't spike.

"Starflight?! Starflight, wake up! Please!"

It took a second for Starflight to realize who was speaking to him. It was the voice of Sunny, full of worry and confusion. Starflight opened his eyes, and with a start realized he couldn't see. "Am I awake?" he asked, though the words came out jumbled.

"Oh thank the moons," said Sunny. Starflight felt her warm wings embrace him, and she settled into his shoulder. "When you and Fatespeaker didn't wake up, I got so scared. I thought something was wrong. I thought you were in a coma! I thought-"

"Shh," said Starflight as he woke up. "It's alright. I'm okay." He hugged her tight, letting her warmth flow over him. "What's wrong?"

"You!" she said. "You didn't show up to your classes, and we couldn't find you in the library. No one had seen Fatespeaker either. We were worried something happened to you both."

"We?" asked Starflight.

"I told you they'd be okay," came the voice of Tsunami. "They just slept in."

"That was a little heavy to be sleeping in," said Clay sternly, a tone he hardly ever used. Starflight felt a wingtip brush him, and recognized the smooth scales of his best friend. "I'm glad you're okay," he added warmly.

"Starflight's tougher than you give him credit for," came a voice Starflight hadn't heard in months. He recognized her right away.

"Glory?" he asked. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in the rainforest?"

"I left Grandeur in charge," she said. "I would have left behind Deathbringer, but-"

"But I'm not letting her out of my sight," came the voice of the Nightwing assassin.

"I swear you are the clingiest dragon I've ever met, and I was raised with Sunny," said Glory.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" asked Sunny, breaking away from Starflight to face Glory. Her absence made Starflight cringe.

"Everyone, Starflight and I have something important to tell you," said Fatespeaker. Starflight hadn't noticed her standing next to him, and her sudden speech gave him a start. The room suddenly went quiet.

"Here we go," muttered Tsunami.

"Starflight and I think we're sharing dreams WITHOUT a dream visitor," said Fatespeaker. Starflight couldn't see their faces, but he did feel a rise in tension in the room.

"Excuse me?" asked Glory. "For a moment there, I could have sworn you said you've been dreaming together without a dream visitor."

"She did," said Starflight. He extended a wing, hoping to find Fatespeaker. He instead found Clay again, and recoiled before extending the opposite wing to find her. "And you'll never believe what they've been about."

Comments

[Thebaconpiggybank]

I was wondering when I would find one of these. Thanks for making it!

[Mudkipman98]

7629759 No prob. I've found a striking lack of Wings of Fire fanfiction in general, so this seemed like a fun one to write. I hope you enjoy it. :)

[Titan Commander Sebaste]

Well color me interested and impressed!

[FathomLikesMLP]

Holy crap this is SO INTERESTING!!