"Starflight, keep up the pace!" Tsunami snapped, twisting around in midair to get a better view of him. Her thoughts echoed the call, Ugh; he's just as slow as the other Starflight.

Her mind flashed to a skinny black dragon with bandages covering his eyes flying unsteadily.

Is that the other me? He found himself wondering.

Tsunami started to fly towards him. "Great, now you're even slower! SPEED IT UP! I'VE SEEN SLUGS GO FASTER THAN YOU!"

Everyone else turned to look at them and Starflight covered his ears. It didn't really block all the extra thoughts from his head, but it helped a little.

For the past three days, Tsunami had been relentlessly pushing Starflight, catching all his little mistakes and blowing them up to gigantic proportions, humiliating him in front of the entire group. He really wished she would stop, especially when he heard Sunny's inner thoughts sweep through his head.

Poor Starflight. Tsunami must be pushing him too hard.

It stung that she thought a thirty-minute flight was too much for him.

"—AND ANOTHER THING!" Tsunami continued, making him realize that she was still yelling at him. "WHY AREN'T YOU LISTENING TO ME?!"

"Well, I am now." He answered sheepishly, trying his hardest not to listen to the very hurtful things stemming from all of his companions' minds.

Tsunami scowled. "Since we've stopped now, we may as well as rest on the ground." She snapped, and abruptly shot down to a small clearing in the forest below them.

Starflight sighed miserably as everyone else followed her lead. He waited patiently for Spinel to fly down too, but the sparkly SkyWing sneered at him. "I think that Tsunami's right. Even with your powers, you're weak."

Starflight lifted himself a bit higher; looking around at the world he hadn't known existed until three days ago. Up here, with the noise of the dragons he knew so far down below him, he could almost forget that he wasn't normal, until he closed his eyes and visions of volcanoes and rainforests and dragons he had yet to meet filled his mind.

Starflight wasn't sure why all the NightWing scrolls portrayed the future-seeing power as something that came in brief flashes, or tumbled out in twisted words as prophecies. His power wasn't like that. When Starflight closed his eyes, he could see all the futures.

Well, not all of them. Most of them. The most probable futures, and only the ones that he wanted to see. Others were too terrible to look at.

And sometimes when Starflight closed his eyes, he couldn't see any futures at all.

He hid the truth from his friends, acting like he could always predict what they were going to do. But in reality, most of the time Starflight was completely clueless.

He wondered if the other Starflight ever felt the same way.

Probably not. From what he had seen in Clay and Tsunami's minds, the other Starflight was smart and resourceful, even if he could be really annoying at times. Starflight liked scrolls, he read them and stored their information like it could make up for his glitching powers.

That was probably why the other Starflight had read scrolls, too.

Starflight couldn't help but wondering if the other Starflight was in love with the other Sunny, like he was here. He had to be; after all, Starflight was in love with the Sunny here. Not that she noticed.

A strong gust of wind blew into Starflight, knocking him out of the sky, but he regained his balance before he crashed into the trees below.

"I keep forgetting this is our first time outside." A voice said right behind him. Starflight startled and spun around to face Clay. Clay smiled ruefully. "I also keep forgetting that you can't ear me sneaking up on you."

"The other me could hear you?" Starflight asked, interested in learning as much about the other version of himself as he could.

"Yes. The other Starflight was blind," Clay admitted, although Starflight had already figured that out for himself, "so it was easier for him to listen to his surroundings."

"How did I read scrolls?" Starflight asked, genuinely curious.

Clay tilted his head. "There was a dragon who would read them to you, whenever you asked. She also carved words in wood, so that you would be able to read with your talons."

Starflight's breath caught. "Was it Sunny?"

Clay winced a little. "No."

That wasn't very reassuring, but now Starflight had to ask his question. "Um," Starflight started nervously, "did this other me—did he—did he like Sunny?"

Clay frowned, like he was trying to remember. "Glory told me about it. She said that you told Sunny that you loved her. But—" Clay looked at Starflight sympathetically. "—Glory also said that Sunny only loved you as a friend."

Starflight blinked rapidly, trying to make sense of this new information. "But—but that might not be true with this Sunny," he said hopefully, "she might decide that she loves me." The words sounded sad, or as Spinel might say, "pathetically weak", even to Starflight.

Clay moved closer, so that they were brushing wings. "That's why I came to talk to you. There's a dragon I think you might want to meet."

Before Starflight could even think of a response, Ember joined them, letting out a shriek as the wind whipped around her wings. Hvitur followed.

"Look," he told her, "I made a promise to Kestrel that I would look after you. So tell me, how is letting you get blown around by the wind a good idea?"

"ARRRGH." Ember grumbled, "You would think SOME DRAGONS have BETTER THINGS to do than STALK THEIR FRIEND'S DAUGHTER AND TELL HER WHEN SHE'S NOT BEING SAFE!"

"Well I wouldn't say that Kestrel and I are friends," Hvitur mumbled. "More like acquaintances."

Ember rolled her eyes and turned to Clay. "I just wanted to talk to my friend. Hey, friend, how are you?"

Clay squinted at her. "Weren't you… calmer before?"

"Oh, well, yeah, I totally was, but when your mother tells you that she's going to make an IceWing follow you around everywhere you go, do you think you're just going to sit back and say, 'Yeah, sure, go right ahead'? I thought I was finally free!" She added, flinging her wings up in the air.

"Hvitur's right," Starflight said, giving her a look that said I-can-see-the-future-and-I-know-what-will-happen-to-you. "You could get really, really sick."

Ember sighed. "I knooo-oooow. But I want to go wherever I can without having to deal with a scary IceWing. If Hvitur touched me for long enough I might actually drop down dead," she added jokingly, but they all knew (except for Clay, who might not have been clued in to the whole sickness thing) that it could actually happen.

"Oh, by the way," she told Clay and Starflight. "You might want to come down to the clearing. Our Supreme Commander, the Great Tsunami, has decided that we'll be staying there for the night."

Starflight nodded. He probably wouldn't be able to sleep, like he hadn't the past two nights the group had been outside. The stars and the moon called to him whenever he closed his eyes, and Starflight had spent the last two nights staring up at the night sky.

But still, Starflight moved down towards the clearing, flying awkwardly down to the middle of his friends below.

...

"Is something wrong?" Sunny asked. "You've been looking at me funny all evening."

"No, nothing," Starflight blurted out. "I was just thinking about what Clay told me. About the other you."

He listened intently to Sunny's mind, hoping her thoughts would leap to him. But her head muttered about her parents and why Tsunami and Clay had refused to tell her who they were. Her voice echoed, "I wonder if the other me knows about my mom and dad."

Starflight had seen them, in Dune's memories. They were faint and fleeting, and not often spotted in the crippled SandWing's mind.

"Oh, um, I'm sure she does!" Starflight said trying to be helpful. "And I'm sure they both have met you and love you and are happy!" He rambled, but Sunny just frowned.

"What about you?" She asked. "Don't you wonder about your family?"

Starflight blinked. "Oh." All the time. "Well, not really. You, and Clay and Tsunami, and Spinel, and Ember, and all of our guardians are my family."

She beamed at him. "That's exactly how I feel!" Sunny sighed. "But… don't you wonder if there's anyone like you out there? Who can explain why you are what you are?"

Starflight wanted to tell her something that would cheer her up, something that would make her smile and tell him that she was feeling better. But before he could open his jaws, a talon tapped on his shoulder.

"Oh, hello Clay," Sunny said, "what brings you over here?"

"I have to talk to Starflight," Clay said urgently, "it's something he'll want to hear."

Clay wrapped a wing around Starflight and led him away from Sunny, who gave a cheerful little wave with her talons and joined in a conversation with Ember and Spinel, who were discussing the merits of firescales.

"So," Starflight started a little angrily, "what do you want?" He was mad that Clay had interrupted him just as he was about to say something important to Sunny,

"There's something you should know." Clay was staring at him intently as he continued. "In the other universe, you met another NightWing dragonet. She was raised by the Talons of Peace as an alternate Dragonet of Destiny. Her name was Fatespeaker."

The name gave Starflight a warm feeling, like he was somewhere safe and cozy. But all he could think was, Sunny seemed so depressed. I should go back and cheer her up.

"And Fatespeaker, this dragonet," Clay said awkwardly, as if he'd expected his words to have more impact, "was special… to you."

Now he had Starflight's attention. "Special to me?" He asked. "But what about Sunny?"

Clay only gazed at him sympathetically as he spoke again. "I was wondering whether you would like to go on a journey with me to find her. She's probably at the Talons of Peace headquarters, with the other alternate dragonets. So if you were interested…"

No! Starflight wanted to shout. I'm in love with a different dragon! But his head was racing, thinking of the possibilities. If there was a dragon out there who actually loved him, or could, then shouldn't he give her a chance? But then what about Sunny, what would he say to her when he left to find this other dragon?

And suddenly Starflight knew what he had to say.

"No."

Clay blinked at him in surprise. "No? I thought you would want to at least meet her. She's a lot like Sunny."

"No." Starflight said firmly. "I'm not interested."

Clay sighed. "Okay, if you say so." His mind filled with images of a NightWing with dark purple underscales, and with silver scales by her eyes, like him. But there were more flashes of silver on her tail, like freckles. And a band of silver scales encircled one of her ankles. She was always with Starflight, as if Clay had never seen the two of them apart.

Starflight felt a small twinge of a confusing emotion, not quite strong enough for him to place, and he tried to block out Clay's thoughts.

...

A few days later, and Starflight was finally starting to get the hang of flying. It was thrilling, but when he mentioned this to Tsunami, she had blanched and told him to never use that word again.

But other than that, the flight was going great.

Starflight flapped his wings a little faster to catch up to Tsunami. "So," he panted, "how long until we reach the Rain Kingdom?"

She didn't even glance at him. "We would be reaching the rainforest by nightfall, but," she hesitated, finally meeting his gaze, "but I want to go to the Kingdom of the Sea first."

Starflight stared at her. "Why?"

Tsunami looked defensive. "Well, I was thinking about what had happened after we left the cave in my world, and then I realized—" She broke off suddenly and turned to look at Clay.

"Is that who I think it is?" He asked her, angling his head down towards the ground.

"Yes." Starflight couldn't describe the emotions running across her face. It was some sort of combination of joy and nervousness, and it was an expression you wouldn't make for just any dragon. "It's Riptide."

Oh. Starflight realized as he saw Tsunami spiral down to a handsome sky-blue SeaWing. It's love.

Is that what I look like around Sunny?

But there was no time for him to ponder, because everyone else was winging down to join Tsunami and the dragon she had called Riptide.

When Starflight got down to the ground, Riptide was saying, "—not a member of the Talons of Peace. That was my father." His head flashed with images of—Starflight squinted—was that Webs?

"I understand," Clay said heavily. "I was hoping to go find one of my friends, who should be living at their main camp."

"Actually, I've been hoping to find the Talons of Peace, too," Riptide admitted, "and I think I know where their camp is. I can travel there with you, if you want."

Tsunami smiled at him, it was a toothy grin that seemed both fierce and sweet at the same time. "Thank you for your help. I'm sure Clay will be pleased to have a traveling companion."

But Starflight was frowning. Something about the friendly SeaWing seemed off; he had agreed to help Clay too readily for Starflight's liking.

"Last chance, Starflight." Clay said, turning to him. "It's never to late to come with us."

Starflight thought of the NightWing he had seen in both Clay and Tsunami's minds, and an echo of a voice, an indistinct voice that's words were unclear, sounded in his head.

"I'll do it."

As Starflight, Clay, and Riptide flew into the sky, leaving the others behind, Starflight tried to tell himself that the only reason he had agreed to this expedition was because he didn't trust Riptide, that he couldn't leave Clay alone with this dragon.

And even as he furiously told himself that Sunny was waiting for him back on the ground, the echoes of that voice, barely more than a whisper, not the voice of any dragon that he knew but so familiar it made his heart ache, was suddenly clear enough to make out words.

"Starflight. You were so brave."

As the voice died away inside his head, Starflight flew into the sky.