Kingdom Hearts: Harmonic Connections

by Mr Curious Writer

Chapter 41: The Other Brother

Things were starting to calm down in Ponyville after Discord’s magic vanished. Everything magically returned to their proper places and obeyed the laws of physics once more, while the many citizens and guards that had been transformed reverted back to their original equine forms. However, the mayor will still have to deal with a few more hairballs caught in her throat over the next day or two.

For some reason, however, the Library had only reverted back once the dragon Sora fought was defeated. Just one more question added to the already large pile our heroes needed answers to. Luckily, they now had access to someone who could give them the answers they sought. So after making sure that he was securely bound and that enough guards were present in case he tried anything, they were now prepared to interrogate-

“Sure, I’ll tell you.”

They were now prepared to calmly ask him a series of important questions in a civilized manner.

“Wait, what?!” Twilight asked with her mouth agape, many of the others giving similar looks. “Y-you're just gonna tell us?”

“Yes.”

“Just like that?” Rainbow asked suspiciously.

“Just like that.”

“Huh, how about that.” Sora folded his forelimbs and sat on his haunches, unsure what to make of this. “I was pretty sure we were gonna have to try that good cop bad cop routine on him.”

“I know! I was so ready to play the bad cop too.” Pinkie sighed as she was wearing an officer’s uniform while sitting at a desk with a lamp on it, the kind they used to shine on the faces of crooks. However, in one swift motion, she chucked the desk behind her, somehow removing her costume at the same time, immediately followed by a loud crash and a cat shrieking angrily.

...And nobody even bothered to look. (Cartoon Logic, I love you)

Twilight just shook her head and chalked it up as “Pinkie being Pinkie” before getting back to the matter at hand. “Well, not that I’m complaining, but why are you being so compliant with us? Not too long ago you were trying to kill us, right?”

He shook his head. “No, if I wanted to kill you I could’ve done it in a more silent manner, like lacing your next meal with poison. To be blunt, your homes are FAR from secure. Even someone as conspicuous as I am wouldn’t have much difficulty getting in and out without anyone noticing.”

Pinkie was munching on a cupcake, but after hearing that she stopped mid chew and looked at her treat with concern.

“I-I see... Ahem.” Hearing this was a little nerve wrecking for Twilight and the girls while the boys all gulped at the thought. The usual safe and peaceful nature of Ponyville’s community did tend to make the residents lax on the idea of any security measures beyond a simple locked door. “Well, thank you for NOT doing that. I suppose the two questions we should ask first is, who are you and why did you do all of this?”

“Very well. My name is Black Scale, and I have come here to see for myself if this keyblade wielder is truly capable of fixing an ancient problem. You may know this problem as the Beasts of Tartarus.”

Those words immediately had everyone but Donald and Goofy on edge, this dragon knew things no one other than them or the Princesses should know about. Sora, feeling curious asked, “How do you know about that?”

“Have you ever asked Celestia and Luna exactly HOW they managed to imprison them in the first place?” When they all looked at each other, it was clear that it was a question no one even bothered to ask. Black Scale decided to take care of that issue. “Well here’s the kicker ladies and gents, it was done with sabotage. Because of my ability and knowledge of the four, I had to be the one to create an opening for Celestia and Luna to handle the rest.”

“How would you know so much about them… Unless.” Twilight seemed to be in shock when she reached the conclusion.

“I can see you already figured it out, indeed, I used to be a part of that group, so originally there used to be five “Beasts” that were the scourge of this world.”

This newfound knowledge had Rainbow landing in front of the dragon. “So you were a bad guy, I knew it!” She was getting ready for a fight until Sora placed a hoof on her shoulder.

“He was Rainbow, but not anymore, now.”

“What makes you so sure of that? I mean sure he helped stop them and get them imprison, but why?” Rainbow turned to Sora with the question before looking back at the dragon. “You just SUDDENLY have a change of heart and decided to be a good guy? Real suspect if you ask me. How do we even know if he’s telling the truth?”

Everyone agreed that despite her rash behavior, she was bringing up some rather good points. Sora and the girls then turned to Applejack. If anyone could determine a lie, it'd be the bearer of Honesty after all. She was already staring at the dragon. The whole time giving him a rather nerve wrecking glare. Despite that, the Dragon remained neutral in his expression and calm in mind. Applejack snorted and closed her eye for a moment. “Ah’ ain’t sensin’ anythin’. He’s been truthful so far.”

“Well, if Applejack gives him a pass then we can believe what he’s saying then.” Twilight tapped her muzzle with her hoof.

“Ah ain’t sayin’ ah’ trust him either.” Applejack blurted out. “What he said may be right, but Rainbow’s got a point that we don’t know why he did it.” She then joined Rainbow in stepping up to Black Scale and glaring at him once more. “So let’s hear that reason first, and don’t even try hidin’ anythin’. Ah’ can tell, when if what you say is a load of crock.”

“And I’ll be here to give you a buck to the face if you do,” Rainbow replied.

“Noted.” the dragon answered casually before continuing. “If that is what you wish, I suppose I should get this out of the way so there are no Misunderstandings between us. I take it the princesses explained to you about each of the “Beasts” in greater detail when they discovered their disappearance?”

Twilight gave a nod. “Yes, a Unicorn with great magical power who can see into the future, a Minotaur that wields impossible strength that can level mountains, A Griffin that controls Time itself, and a Dragon that can hypnotize the minds of others to manipulate them to do his bidding and satiate his greed.” She stated. “All of them in one forbidden way or another are immortal.”

Black Scale nodded. “Good then for the sake of getting to the point, it's important to know that the reason I previously used to be one of them was for the sake of my brother, Red Gaze. You may know him as the dragon of the “Beasts” Twilight so eloquently told us.” It was at this moment some shock was felt within the group. Nothing too exciting, as it did start to make sense in their heads the more they thought about it.

“I had a feeling you and that dragon had a connection in some way, but as siblings?” Twilight was now in thought. “I am surprised I didn’t suspect it sooner.”

“Understandable, It would be too convenient for me to be related to him. Your mind was probably expecting it to be more complex a reason, but in truth, that is the only reason I joined.” Black Scale leaned back and looked up into the sky. “At that time, family was more important to me. When I hatched, I had no idea who my mother and father was. Red Gaze was the elder Brother and so was able to be around long enough to at least remember their faces and who they were. He would never tell me what became of them though, but at that time it did not matter to me. He was all the family I had so I would follow him no matter what. Even to how we became immortal in the first place……. To be perfectly Honest it is not a memory I like to revisit often.”

Twilight turned to Applejack, so far she made no mention of Black Scale lying so she could only assume it to be the truth. “It’s fine, what’s happened is already in the past. Let’s just get back on topic for now. So your relationship to your brother is the only reason you went along with him and the other beasts?”

He nodded, “As I said, Family was all that mattered to me at the time. I was rather anti social in my younger years so making friends wasn’t a priority for me. For a time I just listened to what my brother said and helped our group in any way I could. I learned of each of their abilities as I gradually gained each of their trust. Not my intention mind you, it just sort of happened I suppose the more they knew about me, and Cosmic Nova never got to see far enough of my future.”

“Cosmic Nova? Is that the name of the Unicom with the future vision?” Sora asked

Black Scale nodded, “Yes, Self-named of course. I could only assume they chose that name to suit their own needs. That or they really disliked their actual name.”

Sora found that a bit odd, but decided to let the dragon get back to the point and asked another important question. “So what made you change your mind about him and the others to take them down?”

Black Scale was silent for a time. When he did speak he seemed reluctant to think back on his memories. “One Day, I finally could see my brother’s true colors.”

“True colors?” Rarity asked aloud.

He continued “I had no qualms about his method of controlling others to take their riches. I suppose you could call me an odd dragon, but I lacked any ambition to have my own hoard or to actively pursue gems unless I was famished. I often wondered if I was a dragon at all since that was the norm for my kind. So when my brother used his gift to amass his own hoard from the innocent, I made no effort to stop him. It was only material things anyway. One could always get another. However, one day, that all changed when I watched him eat two ponies trapped in his hypnotism, All because they had nothing of value for his ever expanding mountain of treasure. The looks on their faces… they didn’t even know what was happening to them. They just held that vacant expression as he made them march straight into his waiting jaws…” The dragon seemed to hold remorse in his eyes. “No one should have the right to take another’s life that way, ever. And our “friends” of the group were no different. Each and every one of them saw themselves as omnipotent. Free to do as they please, and treat the lives of others as they saw fit. I grew disgusted with it all, of them, especially my brother.”

“And that’s when you decided something must be done,” Merlin asked stroking his beard.

“Yes, in secret I made contact with the princesses, my former comrades and I were not a problem they could erase so easily. Despite their powers and magical prowess they too are not perfect and they can never be at two places at once. However, they did have a method at subduing us at the very least. All they needed was a chance to render each of the Beasts powerless if only briefly to do so.”

Things were starting to add up. This must be how they were sealed up in the first place. Whatever this spell the Princesses used. So I take it you're the reason they were able to do take them down, but how.

“As all powerful as the beasts liked to claim, they’re powers had limitations and things they were ultimately ineffective on. If there was one natural born ability I have, it had to be how observant I was. None of them would ever tell me their weaknesses, but out of curiosity when I was with them, I would secretly conduct minor little tests and experiments on them.”

“You experimented on them?” Sora raised an eyebrow, meanwhile the girls all stared at Twilight, Spike as well. Twilight could sense their gazes on the back of her neck and tried really hard to face forward.

“Again, I wasn’t the most social of the group. I Thought learning about my former comrades would be a great way to get closer to them. Cosmic Nova was the most difficult as I had to overcome her future sight to even get any data on her. However, once I did, It was a simple feat taking the time to come up with ways to skirt around her power, along with the others. It was fortunate in my case that they never saw me as a threat to them.”

“What do you mean?” Rainbow was now the curious one. “You were one of them too, right? So you must have had a devastating power too…. Right?”

“What is your power if we might ask?” Twilight asked but this was when Sora stepped in.

“I think we already saw it.” He walked up to the dragon who stared back at him. “It had something to do with how you transformed earlier in our fight. Isn’t it?”

The dragon smiled “You certainly are full of surprises, but I suppose any seasoned warrior would’ve thought of that as well. There are some things that could be learned by simply clashing swords.” Black Scales chuckled “Indeed you are correct, that was me using my power, but here's a riddle. I’m interested to hear your answer. It's no surprise to you that it wasn’t so simple to take me down, correct?”

Sora nodded “It’s frustrating to admit, but you’re crazy strong, and when you changed you were far stronger than that.” Sora looked at himself “To even give me so much trouble when Donald, Goofy, and I went to final form…”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.” the dragon smirked with a nod. “Well, then, here's a riddle, before I answer her question, why do YOU think my former comrades didn’t see me as a threat to them?”

Sora had to take a moment to think. Was it because his peer wasn’t strong enough? No, if that were the case the four of them would fight amongst themselves on who was stronger then. Things might even have been different too. A quarrel might have happened along with that question of “who was stronger?” Amongst them. Plus he could feel that his power truly was a strong one. If Black Scale wasn’t already exhausted from when they fought before that, and if Sora took too long to take him down, the battle’s victor would’ve probably changed at that point. So what could it be… Why wasn’t his power considered a threat to the others? “Perhaps because… your power can only empower what the target already has?.... Maybe?”

The dragon raised an eyebrow “And how did you come up with that?”

Sora scratched his head. “I dunno, when we fought, it felt like I was fighting a super beefed up version of you, ya know?” (I can’t believe I added that phrase, I HATED that phrase because of that guy.) ( : It was inevitable, ya know?) (Aaaaaugh!)

“Super beefed up?” Twilight asked curiously.

“Well, I mean, I’m not sure what dragons can do in this world, but from what I’ve seen it was like everything he could do was dialed up to eleven. So maybe… he can give that power to others, perhaps?” Sora shrugged just spouting off what was coming off the top of his head. “Perhaps Because of that, maybe enhancing himself isn’t the same as enhancing them.”

!! “Because, he can enhance their powers as well, but he can never enhance his own power since that’s basically what it is!” Twilight was starting to get it now. “So, seeing that the four beasts are powerful, if Black Scale were to use his power on himself, he’d just be a really strong dragon. His brother already being a dragon would probably know how to handle another dragon, The Minotaur can probably beat Black Scales in a power struggle no problem, The Griffin can simply use his time powers to avoid any attacks from him and wait for him to tire himself out, and Cosmic Nova can simply anticipate his every attack or keep a distance with her higher power of magic!” Twilight was pacing back in forth as she spoke. “So when you think of it that way, if he enhanced them, they’d be all the more powerful since they’re powers would strengthen too, whereas if he enhanced himself, he’s just a stronger than usual dragon.”

It was at this moment that Black Scale started chuckling. “I’d clap my claws together if they weren’t tied up right now.” He continued to laugh. “Very good, if you can put your heads together like that, I’m sure I feel more confident and satisfied in my loss now.” He sighed. “These secrets I have over those four can only work for those that are resourceful enough, or at the very least, takes the time to think.” He then nodded “You are correct. My power is to simply strengthen the body and ability of myself and others, and yet to enhance my own power to enhance myself is impossible and would more than likely create a paradox if it did.”

There was some murmurs and chatter within the group as Twilight was starting to make sense of it all. “Ok, so if what you’re saying is true, then how come the Princesses never spoke about you?” She did bring up a valid point. “You’d think they’d mention you even once when they found out the “beasts” were no longer in their cells.

“They didn’t, huh? Not surprising I suppose.” At everyone’s confused look he continued “When I decided to confront them on this information I had two saving graces. One is that compared to the other “beasts” I would be considered the most forgettable of the group. I don’t like dealing with others, I hardly spoke to anyone other than my brother at the time, and I could care less about making friends. I was… recluse. While they made a name for themselves, I was more of a back up in case they’re gifts and abilities needed more “impact” if you will, but that worked for me. Let them deal with their own petty power struggle I wanted no part of it. Until they went too far and started taking lives.” He spoke coldly

“Well despite that, it'd be hard to believe they’d decide to leave out information about you without reason.” Sora brought up. This had everyone silent for a moment.

The dragon furrowed his brow in deep thought “... You do bring up a good point key wielder-”

“Sora is fine” Sora replied

The dragon continued speaking anyway. “If they truly wish to protect their precious Equestria, then it would stand to reason the fastest option would be to locate me to assist you. Better yet, I directly explained to them the weaknesses as well. Surely they would’ve remembered or documented that in order to tell you.” Everyone started looking to each other.

Sora folded his arms. “Sounds like we’ll need to have another word with the Princesses later. But what matters now is that you're gonna help us now, right?”

“What?!” Said Twilight, Rainbow, Applejack, and Rarity. Pinkie seemed to giggle at her friends.

“You girls are making some funny faces, hee hee.” Pinkie stated as she was working on a banner.

Rainbow groaned “Well, can you blame us? The dragon who literally picked a fight with us back with that whole keyhole thing comes back to pick another fight, WITH Discord on his side no less, with us again. And now that we beat him, he SUDDENLY wants to be our friend now.”

“You misunderstand…. Rainbow, was it?” Black Scale stated, “I have no intention of being friends with any of you, we simply have a common goal at this point in time is all.”

“Whatever doesn’t mean it helps me believe your story anymore to trust ya.” She replied.

“I assumed as much.” the Dragon nodded.

“Aside from that, Pinkie what are you doing, and where’s Fluttershy?”

“Oh she’s out with Sora’s friends since they went to wait at their super cool alien space ship.” She said with glee as she then pulled up the banner she was working on that read “Welcome to the team, Scaley!”  On the front of it in bold letters with festive pictures and designs around it. “And I’m preparing for the welcome to the team party we’ll have for our new friend Scaley.

“What? Since when did we even agree about him joining our team, and he quite clearly doesn’t want to be our friend and I quite frankly don’t want to be a friend of his.” Rainbow stated.

“Scaley?” Black Scale mumbled to himself as he contemplated the nickname.

“Oh speaking of Discord, what do we do about him?” Rarity asked as she looked off to the side at the familiar looking draconequus statue. Making a cringing pose. “I believe he went on and on about how he couldn’t use his full power?”

“Oh, him, I took away most of his powers.” Black Scale said casually. Once again the room fell silent.

“What?!” Once again the same girls said the same thing at the same time.

“I’m sorry um, how do you simply take a god’s power away? Let alone the god of chaos for that matter?”

“If you want the answers to that you may want to sit down for a bit. There are some other things I want to make clear. While you were all off having your own little adventures in this world. I’ve run a few errands of my own.

Sora and the girls all looked toward one another. “As if this day wasn’t long enough, I guess we might be spending some time here tonight.” Rainbow groaned.

“You could always leave? You don’t have to stay and listen, Rainbow.” Twilight stated

“No way, after leaving us with a cliffhanger phrase like that?” Rainbow jumped on the couch and tried to get comfortable. “Besides…” She turned red in the cheeks as she looked away from a certain someone. “Didn’t we have something else we wanted to talk about too?”

Twilight didn't catch on at first but when she did she seemed to act a little awkward as well, soon she and the rest of the girls in the room seem to be sporting some very pink cheeks, even Pinkie was showing some blush herself but still kept that happy go lucky smile. “Really? Can’t that wait, until tomorrow? This seems more important right now. P-plus Fluttershy isn’t here so-”

“We can do that after listening to him but I’d rather get it over with sooner rather than later. The whole thing is making me uncomfortable the longer we put it off.” Rainbow didn’t want to show it but ever since Twilight brought up with the girls of how they all felt about Sora. More and more thoughts of what to say or do about it when they got home kept appearing into her mind. She was thankful the whole mouse episode happened for the entirety of the day as it kept her mind focused on trying to revert back to normal instead of letting it flood with more and more thoughts about what to do about Sora and the other girls.

She wasn’t alone in this either. Applejack, although she liked the idea of putting it off, her personality and mindset said otherwise. “Ah’ agree, best ta’ nip this thing in the bud as soon as possible, sugarcube.”

Sora was feeling out of the loop here. “Uuuh, what’s this about now?” He asked

“Oh, nothing darling.” Rarity quickly answered, “Just some girl talk is all.”

“Yeah, no boys allowed!” Pinkie pounced on Sora with a giggle. “It’s a secret.” She then bounced off him and to the other girls.

“Uuuh, ok?” Sora was even more curious now but could see they clearly didn’t want him to know. “Well, I guess since we’re listening to him, I better get Fluttershy, Donald, and Goofy in here. They should know what’s going on too, they should be done taking care of the gummi ship by now.” Sora said awkwardly as he stepped out, he couldn’t understand what all the weird tension he was feeling from the girls was.

When he finally left, all the girls, save for Pinkie, all seemed to collectively let out a sigh of relief when he did. Black Scale, for the most part, seemed to already know what was going on and what was implied and he cleared his throat to get their attention. “Just so you know, before his arrival here and for many many years, I have been out traveling the other worlds myself, and I can say without a doubt that, your particular case is a unique one.”

“What?” Twilight raised an eyebrow, starting to feel red again, hoping he wasn’t implying what she really wanted to keep a secret between the girls right now. Rarity, Rainbow, and Applejack were getting that tense “what if” thought in their mind as well.

“I’m just going to say this much.” He stated calmly “I don’t think the term “Polygamy” is in his vocabulary.”