So... I didn't want to create a whole lot of new characters, but also didn't want to overuse any of the canon ones, particularly the Jade winglet. As a result of that, this fanfiction stars our favorite royals from the kingdoms of sky and sea. Enjoy.

School was wonderful.

School was splashing in the lake, school was meeting all sorts of new dragons; school was exploring Jade Mountain. But most of all, school was that sweet taste of freedom Auklet had yearned for since childhood.

Here at the mountain, she didn't have to be around her mother all day - she did love her mother, but Auklet took after her older sisters and would never be satisfied with being in a harness her whole life, made to stay in one place all the time. And she didn't have to obey each and every one of her mother's silly rules. Again, she respected her mother, but she couldn't understand some of the things Queen Coral instructed her never to do.

One of those things, very high on the list, was to stay away from SkyWings.

"Auklet, listen to me very carefully," Queen Coral had told her on her first day of school. "There are many different dragons here. You can see that, right?" She did - there were dragons of brilliant colors, shades of deep purple and gold and scarlet red. It was very different from all the blue and green that had surrounded Auklet back at the Deep Palace. "But you have to be very careful with certain dragons."

"Which ones?" she'd queried, curious to know - because all of them seemed fairly harmless to her.

"Do you see the red ones?" Queen Coral whispered. "The ones with red and orange scales all over?"

She did see. She thought they were rather beautiful, like the sun had come down to the earth in the form of a dragon.

"You must never speak to them," her mother instructed her. "Those are the dragons who destroyed our Summer Palace. Do you remember that, dear? When Tsunami told you about the SkyWing attack?"

Auklet nodded silently.

"They are all dangerous dragons," she said. "You must avoid them at all costs. Do you understand? They are rather easy to spot; their scales are very noticeable, and they're generally very grumpy, too."

Now, having spent several months at the academy, Auklet barely cared for that rule. Perhaps the SkyWings weren't the best tribe when Scarlet had been queen, but she'd soon come to learn that Queen Ruby was far kinder and a better leader than her mother, and the majority of the SkyWings were pretty agreeable.

This included, of course, her best friend.

"Cliff," she said, mildly annoyed, "I can't see."

"That's the point," he said, removing his talons from in front of her eyes. "You were supposed to not be able to see."

"Why?"

"I don't know." He shrugged. "I just felt like it, I guess."

"And that," Auklet declared, "is why we are friends. Because I'm fairly sure I'm the only one who can understand your randomly spontaneous actions and you're probably the only one who can endure my crazy awesomeness."

"And because I'd be the only dragon who wouldn't be offended by 'randomly spontaneous'. Also, those two words mean practically same thing."

"Whatever." Auklet flicked her tail to the side. "Let's go to the lake."

"No," Cliff whined. "I hate the lake."

"Why?"

"I hate getting wet! The only reason I do sometimes is because you're my friend."

"All the more reason to go," she said cheerfully, taking hold of Cliff's talon. "Come on!"

"Auklet, please."

"Oh, fine." She plopped down on her bed. "Then what do you want to do? I'm so bored." She rolled over, staring into his gray eyes.

"I don't... actually, how about we go to-"

"Hunt! Let's do that!"

"Auklet."

"What?" she asked petulantly. "You're boring sometimes."

Cliff stared at her, and she stared right back. "Alright, fine. I'll come to the lake with you."

"Seriously?" she asked, surprised. "You hate hunting so much that you'd rather be splashed with water?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "Blood, dead animals, ugh. Not the greatest sight."

"You're strange," she said to him. "Like, even after months I'm still learning weird new things about you. But don't worry," she smiled, "I still like you. You're not scaring me away or anything."

"Good to know."

"You're not funny either," she observed, spreading her wings. "Come on. Last one to the lake's a rotten squid!"

The dragonets raced through the halls, laughing all the while. Upon reaching the prey center, they leaped off the edge and into the open, blue sky. Being a SkyWing, Cliff hovered slightly in the lead, his wing occasionally brushing Auklet's.

"I'll have you know that I'm much better at swimming," she said, noticing the amused look in his eyes.

"Keep telling yourself that."

"Bully," she huffed, angling to the right. The lake shimmered below them, hit with the right amount of sunlight. He laughed at her, and she couldn't control the giggles bubbling up in her own chest. Spreading her wings further, she beat them quickly so to catch up to Cliff, a wide grin plastered on her face and the feel of the breeze in her face and-

"Auklet!" She felt like she was being knocked out of the air - but when she opened her eyes, she was still hovering. She raised her eyes toward Cliff, who wore a worried expression on his face, but he wasn't staring at her.

She followed his gaze, and realized that he'd pulled her out of the way of someone else.

In front of them stood a dragonet that looked nothing like anything she had ever seen before. She struggled to stay balanced in the air, as if she'd only just learned how to fly, and she stared back at them with a most curious look. Her wings were shaped like a RainWing's, and her build resembled that tribe as well - but her scales were gray, dark gray all over with slightly lighter ones around her eyes and dappling her spine, and almost black ones circling her ankles. Her eyes were a dark shade of gold that shone like the sun, and her horns were curled backwards near the end.

The dragonet opened her mouth to speak, but struggled for words. "I..." She looked from Auklet to Cliff and back. "You... what are you?"

"Actually, what are you?" Auklet asked bluntly.

"I..." The dragonet still seemed fairly shocked by the both of them. "I'm..."

"Auklet," Cliff said gently, touching her wing with her talon. "She looks terrified. Calm down a little."

Her? Calm down? When they'd just literally bumped into the strangest thing they'd ever seen, a possible threat?

"You... what's your name?" The dragonet asked, pointing to him.

"Cliff," he answered. "Prince Cliff of the SkyWings. And this is the SeaWing princess, Auklet."

Auklet observed the dragonet. She looked even more confused now. "SkyWing? SeaWing?" She seemed to find Auklet's green and blue scales fascinating, as if they were something she hadn't ever seen before. "Where - what happened to Queen Radiance? And the rest of them?"

"Queen Radiance?" Cliff asked, confused. He turned to Auklet. "Does that sound like a SkyWing or a SandWing name to you?"

"Neither, really," she responded. "I don't think there's ever been a queen with that name."

The dragonet blinked for a moment. "Oh!" she exclaimed. "Silly me. Of course. Queen Radiance wouldn't be alive after all these years. But..." She beat her wings again. "Where is the LightWing kingdom? What happened to the tribe?"

"LightWings?" Auklet was getting more and more baffled by the second. "There... that tribe doesn't exist," she said carefully. "There are only the seven tribes we have now. That's all."

"Seven?" The dragonet looked shocked. "There are seven?"

"Yes," Cliff said. "SkyWings, SeaWings, SandWings, NightWings, RainWings, and IceWings. The seven tribes of Pyrrhia."

"Pyrrhia?" Now she looked at them both like they were insane. "That's not - that's not the right name," she said, shaking her head. "It's Preia. It always has been."

Auklet glanced at Cliff. "We have to take her to Tsunami," she whispered. "This is serious. Look at her. We don't even know what kind of dragon she is."

Cliff nodded, then turned to the baffled-looking dragonet. "Can you tell us your name?" he asked kindly.

"Asphalt," she whispered, moving back a little - out of fear or for personal space, Auklet didn't know. "Just - do you know, can you tell me what happened to the LightWings?"

"We don't have the answers to your questions," he soothed. "But we know someone who might. So... will you come with us?"

"Where?" Asphalt began breathing quickly. "I haven't done anything wrong! I haven't - I -"

"You haven't," Auklet said gently, surprising even herself. "We don't know what you are, though. And you'll be safe at Jade Mountain. This is a school, and you'll be kept here until we can figure out where you came from."

"Alright," she said slowly. "I'll come with you."

Auklet beckoned for the strange dragonet to follow her, but her mind was racing. A dragon who was clearly not of any of the seven tribes, and a whole new one that no one had ever heard of before...

What on earth was going on?

"Auklet! Cliff! I haven't seen you in - Huh?" Tsunami nearly jumped back, startled. "I - what?"

"This is why we needed to talk to you," the younger SeaWing princess said quickly. "And preferably the others too. Because I have no idea what any of this is."

"Starflight might," Tsunami agreed. "I'll go get them."

When Tsunami returned with the others, they wore the same confused expressions on their faces. Fatespeaker accompanied Starflight as always, and she struggled to explain the situation to him.

"A new dragon?" he asked. "What do you mean?"

"She's..." Fatespeaker was at a loss for words. "Not, um, any of the tribes. She doesn't look like one."

"A RainWing with an odd choice of colors?" Clay suggested.

"No," Tsunami said. "This is clearly not a RainWing."

"What's your name?" Sunny asked, trying to make her feel slightly more comfortable.

"Asphalt."

"That's a nice name."

"We found her while flying," Auklet offered. "We were going towards the lake and she was coming in from the direction of the Sand Kingdom." Cliff nodded mutely in agreement.

Starflight approached her, taking several steps forward. "Don't be afraid," he said kindly. "We just want to know more about you. Where you came from. Do you... can you tell us the name of your tribe?"

"StoneWings," Asphalt said, and Auklet could detect a hint of pride in her voice.

"Does your tribe live in a kingdom?" he asked. Auklet turned to Cliff. Where would an eighth kingdom be? The land of Pyrrhia was completely occupied; there was simply no room for a whole new tribe to live.

"Yes," she confirmed. "The Tunnels."

"Tunnels...?"

"Underground," she said. "Our kingdom spans all across Preia. There are tunnels leading everywhere under the earth."

"How..." Starflight looked baffled as he turned to Fatespeaker. "And we have absolutely no scrolls about this? No one else knows about these StoneWings?"

"It's never been mentioned anywhere," she shook her head.

"And the LightWings?" Asphalt tried. "Where is their kingdom? What happened to them?"

"Such a tribe doesn't exist," Starflight said. He turned to his friends. "Perhaps they were an old tribe," he whispered. "Asphalt, can you tell us how long your tribe has been living underground?"

"As long as I can remember," she said. "Ever since we were cursed to keep below the ground."

"And... in this time, no one has come up besides you?"

"No one." She paused. "My aunt managed to leave," she said. "I have to find her. I have to find her, before-"

"Who cursed you?" Sunny asked, curious.

"Prince Flare," Asphalt answered. "A long time ago. We were never to leave the tunnels."

"Wait." Tsunami held out her wing. "If this Prince Flare cursed you, then he was an animus, correct?" Asphalt nodded. "And there's no way to counter animus magic except..." Tsunami looked at the StoneWing with realization. "You and your aunt... you're animus dragons."

"We are," she agreed.

"I thought Pyrrhia was done with evil animus dragons," Clay complained.

Asphalt blinked. "I'm not evil," she said warily. "I just - I'm just trying to-"

"It's alright," Sunny said, shooting a glare at Clay. Auklet had to stifle a laugh. "You can tell us anything you need to. We only want to help you."

"I - " Asphalt inhaled. "I'm so worried," she said, her voice breaking just a little. "The LightWings oppressed us for so long before banishing us to the tunnels, and the ten thousand years are nearly over, and... and the entire tribe is going to come out." She was shaking slightly now, and Auklet felt a sense of pity for the dragonet, in a strange land with strange dragons. "And they want revenge. They're going to - they're going to wage war on the dragons on this continent. And my aunt is out there, she's - she's trying to exact revenge of her own. I came to warn the LightWings, but..." She sighed. "Evidently they're not around anymore."

"My best guess is that they were either wiped out or evolved into seven different tribes," Starflight mused. "Thank you, Asphalt. This is a lot of new information."

"I don't know what to do," she confessed. "Just, before the entire StoneWing tribe tries to obliterate every last dragon on Preia, I have to-"

"Pyrrhia," Sunny corrected gently. "It's Pyrrhia."

"Pyrrhia." Auklet watched as Asphalt tested the word, a faraway look in her golden eyes. "When did it change?"

Starflight shook his head. "I'm not exactly sure," he said, "but somewhere along the line, the pronunciation of it probably changed." He thought for a moment. "I'm still a bit surprised that despite living underground for so long, away from these tribes, the way you speak Dragon isn't very different from ours. Just a bit of an accent is all."

Auklet stepped forward, trying her best to seem friendly. "Welcome to Pyrrhia," she said.

"Pyrrhia." Asphalt smiled faintly. "I'll have to get used to that."

"Our winglets are full right now," Clay informed her. "But for the time being, you can stay with Auklet and Sahara."

Asphalt nodded, and the other dragons slowly left the Great Hall, Starflight and Fatespeaker trailing behind them. The StoneWing dragonet looked around awkwardly without saying a word.

Auklet nudged her best friend. "Hey, Cliff?"

"Yeah?"

"Who's the rotten squid now?"