Dragons of Hourglass

by Rammy

Brother Bonding

The three Keepers stood in the bowls the the council building. All around them was the crystals and controls that made up the control center for the defense grid of Hourglass.

Discord lazily flipped a piece of chalk in his paw. “The defense grid was designed to work in manual and in automatic.”

“If recall correctly that was accomplished with some sort of artificial intelligence.” Harmony added as he looked at the console. He knew there wasn’t going to anything different about it nor would he find the answer but he still wanting to take a look at it in light of recent events just encase he was wrong.

“Yes, the problem is the auto was not working and now it is. The question is: why.”

“No idea…”

“Could it be reprogrammed?” He of Hourglass had done a lot of research in the last several weeks. He had found some passing comments on the system but nothing concrete or extensive. There was something about reprogramming in one of snippets.

“Crystal programming was never my forte. And as intelligent and resourceful as Harmony is he has no hope of reprogramming it. A skilled Crystallian could.”

“The last…” Harmony trailed off for a moment in frustration. He couldn’t believe the audacity of what Discord just said. Although it may have been for He of Hourglass benefit. Discord may be a bit mad in his old age… well more mad but he definitely hadn't gone senile. “She died protecting the Crystal Empire, remember?!”

“I know that!” Discord angrily shook a fist at Harmony. “It is possible that she may have passed on her skills.”

“Crystal is way more precise than stone or metal… and way less forgiving. I’m afraid the art is gone.”

“What about my library?”

“Yes, its possible but it still would take years to learn and at the level needed… As I said, the art is gone. Which leaves only one recourse, of which Quartermaster will not like.”

“Somehow,” He of Hourglass crossed his arms. “I think I’m not going to like it either.”

“Discord…” Harmony began.

Discord snapped his tail and suddenly he was wearing a lab coat and black rubber gloves. He rubbed his paw and claw together declaring, “Mad Scientist time! Mwahahaha! It lives! It lives!”

“He of Laughter/ Discord!” He of Hourglass and Harmony slapped their foreheads.

“Well, given that there is nothing left for me to do here I think I should go get the mithril ore I need.”

“I’m coming.”

Harmony smiled and looked up at the dragon who was looking down at him. “I wouldn’t have it anyother way. But first we have to make a quick stop at the Northern Oasis.”

---

“Harmony, Dragon Keeper! Welcome.” Scorpan was a bit surprised to see the two Keepers. About Harmony, not so much, the dragon on the other hand. He eyed Harmony before doing a quick scan. “Don’t tell me another problem, Harmony?”

“No, not this time. I just need you to confirm something for me.”

Scorpan blinked in confusion. He looked at Harmony for a second then the dragon. It was then that he realized this must be about the dragon and not Harmony. “Uh... Sure let’s go to the lab.”

He of Hourglass was amazed at the lab. Contraptions, vials, and potions bubbling lining every square inch of every table, cabinet, and shelf. The floor was almost covered as well from books, scrolls, and scrap pieces of paper and parchment. Scorpan led them to the back of the lab where he quickly cleared some space. “Now, tell me what is…” Scorpan eyes went wide when he saw the mark on Harmony flank. “May, I examine it closer?”

“Yes.” At least he asked...

Scorpan slowly ran a claw around the mark testing it with his magic. Harmony had to bite back the urge to buck. The area around a cutiemark can be sensitive to touch and more so with claws. The gargoyle could feel it in the subtle movements coming from the alicorn but he kept tracing. He could have done this via his paw but it was not as precise. After several minutes he withdrew his claw. “It’s a true cutiemark. But I don’t sense any harmony or dark magic. The mark is also different from what I recall… Are you sure it’s joy?”

“Yes, I am. I’m still meditating on the possibilities for why it returned and the change. Both dark and harmony magic can alter a cutiemark. This mark is too recent for dark magic. I haven’t been exposed to any in nearly three months. Harmony magic in the form of heartsongs, yes. The problem is I have never heard of a heartsong causing a cutiemark to change unless it was affected by dark magic, much less appear... Unless the cutiemark is related to music.”

He of Hourglass listened to Scorpan and Harmony intently. He recalled the lesson that Harmony gave him a while back. Since then he had managed to find a book on alicorn cutiemarks in the library. Given the age of the books he had to assume that it was quite outdated. Still, there was something about this that seemed off almost as if Harmony left something out. Something that he didn’t think of until just now. He wasn’t sure, however, if it was intentional or not. He pointed to the mark. “Your cutiemark was based on your destiny as Keeper and it disappeared when you gave up harmony magic. But the other ponies don’t have harmony magic. How come they have cutiemarks?”

“Normal pony magic… but if they lose that, the cutiemark will disappear.”

“But you had two types. You still possess normal magic. Is it possible that you have a separate destiny that is not tied to being a Keeper?”

“That is one of the possibilities… Alass we are going to have to let this play out as there is no precedent to compare with.”

---

I hear you are looking for me. Why?

I am He of the Flight. I am looking to start a dragon migration of sorts… A moving place for dragons to...congregate, I guess, without the worry of protecting their hoards from the greedy eyes of others.

Why come to me? I am merely an acolyte in the code…

You are the Alicorn Keeper are you not?

Yes, I am.

You were so young and eager back then. Harmony looked around trying to hold back the tears. To be here so soon…

Remind me again why you think ponies and dragons can get along?

“Are you going to be okay?” Golden Heart was unsure of allowing He of Harmony to get the mithril here. He wasn’t sure how the alicorn would take being in the area of such senseless carnage especially not after his reaction to the news.

Cackling laughter, the horrible laughter… they poured over everydragon like water…. and the laughter…

Harmony slowly closed his eyes trying to shake off the imagined horror from Garble’s recollection. He took a cleansing breath before finally answering, “Yes.”

Golden Heart could tell that Harmony's ‘yes’ was a bit lethargic. Just when he thought that Harmony was doing better another thing brought him low. Is this the life of a Keeper of Harmony? One of continual pain and sorrow?

“Promise me something…” Harmony whispered.

“Huh?”

“Treasure those whose heart you share. But not as other dragons do. Hearts are not like gold, silver, and gems that can be stored away in the tight grasp of a dragon’s hoard. For hearts to truly shine they must be free. Entrapped hearts tarnish and die. No dragon wants tarnished treasure.”

“But there is something else. Your hoard is not a lasting one.”

“For the hearts one treasures are like the flowers of the field. For they grow for a while, bloom, then wilt away. All that remains is the memories. But in that fleeting moment in time those flowers outshine than any treasure that lasts forever.”

Golden Heart once asked him what he hoarded. Unfortunately before he could answer he fell into a fainting spell from the Magic Wasting Disease. Could it be that He of Harmony was speaking from experience? That his hoard, his treasure was another that has passed on? But what started him speaking in metaphors? And why?

“Why are you telling me this?”

Harmony looked up and into the eyes of the dragon. He smiled slightly before answering, “Because… Because You are my brother but also because I know that I am a part of your hoard.”

The look on Golden Heart only confirmed it for Harmony. “Golden Heart I know what is it like to feel the desire to protect another. I did pass the Rite of Guardianship. The truth is, you are being overprotective of me… You’re as bad as Discord sometimes…”

“I… I…” Golden Heart was shocked that Harmony would accuse him in such a way. But the more he tried to deny it the more that the truth of it became apparent. The weight of it was too much for him and he collapsed putting his hands to his face in shame. Tears began to fall. “I am a fool… I just couldn’t bare to…”

Harmony whacked the dragon hard with his hoof knocking him over. Golden Heart stared open jaw for a moment before he growled in anger.

Harmony remained stoic not even flinching from his position at the growling dragon. “You are more wise then you will admit. For its a wise dragon that knows when he doesn’t have the answers and is willing to swallow his pride to ask for help or admit his mistakes.”

“I had to gain wisdom from centuries of mistakes…You have more wisdom than I was when I was younger. Garble would have died and not given the mark of dishonor for a chance for redemption. Like wise he would have never landed or actually crash into Hourglass. I would have followed the code instead of discovering why he was attacked by dark magic. To be able to hold back what must have been screaming instincts shows great strength and wisdom. I would go as far as to say that it is one of your traits of harmony.”

“Hmph.” Golden Heart grumbled a bit. Inwardly he was quite proud.

For a while neither spoke. Golden Heart thought about his reaction to Garble. To be able to hold back what must have been screaming instincts shows great strength and wisdom. He was a Keeper of Harmony so he had a task. He glanced over at Harmony. So was the alicorn. Maybe he could get some ideas from him.

“Tell me than what is preventing the dragons from obtaining harmony?”

Harmony blinked. He couldn’t believe that a dragon would ask him such a question. Was he trying to knock him off balance? The look on the dragon face told him to take it seriously. “You’re serious.” Harmony puffed a breath. “The code is broken.”

“I see…” A wisp of green smoke came out of the dragon’s maw. A scroll materialized in his claws. “Here..”

Harmony took the scroll and scanned it quickly a single line jumped out at him:

Somehow the Keeper Memories are Harmonizing with the Dragon Heritage Memories.

“Golden Heart is it possible that the Keeper Memories fixed some of the damage to the Dragon Heritage Memories that the ‘Nameless One’ did?”

“Possible.”

Harmony smiled. He was right about wisdom the dragon just needed a push. This meant that he was already dwelling on how to fix the dragons. The clan was obvious a part of it, the code must be the other. “Don’t worry too much about it. How to bring the dragons into harmony will come in time don’t try and force it.”

For a while all the could be heard was the crackling of the fire. Harmony was content to just sit there and let the world pass on by. He had learned long ago the innate value of just calmly being.

“So tell me about the whelp. He intrigues me.”

“What’s there to say?” He is like you when you were growing up… a dragon with a heart of gold. He even has your snarky attitude. Harmony heart and eyes fell a bit as he continued to think about Nova and how he was a lot like Spike.

Golden Heart saw this but was unsure of why. He was beginning to see it wasn’t a heart pain but one of bittersweet remembrance. He of Harmony was seemingly happy and sad at the same time. Maybe it had something to do with the joy cutiemark but he wasn’t sure. Was it possible that the ability to be happy and sad at the same time was the true strength of joy? Golden Heart sighed. So many questions and yet he had no answers.

Harmony turned to face Golden Heart but he didn’t raise his eyes. “He is a lot like you.”

Golden Heart raised an eyebrow. He didn’t get much time to really get to know the whelp as Harmony did but he wasn’t so sure about Nova being like himself. He of Harmony was speaking in riddles. He didn’t mind that around other by why was he like that with him? Everything about the pony was mysterious and shrouded. First his sixth element, than the ash coughing along with the discovery that his Magic Wasting Disease vanished and finally the return of part of his cutiemark.

Harmony looked upward to the sky and the twinkling stars. The night sky was always beautiful to behold even outside of the lands of Equestria. He could lose himself watching the stars. “He is the reason I got my joy cutiemark back.”

To say that it shocked the dragon would be an understatement. He would have never expected the whelp to be the reason for the Harmony's pain to be healed. Here was a whelp who didn’t understand the code but there was more value in this dragon than most. Harmony was still staring off at the stars above and seemed to not have anything more to say. Not that there was anything that needed to be said. Those few short sentences spoke volumes.

Golden Heart looked up to gaze at the stars and particularly The Voice constellation. If that is true then I would be honored to have him as a clanmate when the time came if Nova wished it so. To do something like that…. to bring back a piece of harmony that he lost. To heal his broken heart. It is but a small way of repaying my debt to this whelp. This Nova Blaze.

As Golden Heart lowered his head caught a glimmer in the darkness. “We are being watched.”

Comments

[Rammy]

5748093

its Celestia the dangers of self editing I'm afraid...

Yes it is a sequel... it says that at the top of the long description for the book (Sometimes I think that the site should make it more obvious...) I see that you are new to the site so no biggie... go read The Last Keeper of Harmony It should fill in some blanks... I would suggest rereading this one after you read through TLKoH

[Ashezth]

5748144 I guess I missed it when I was referred here. While the account's new I've lurked for a good long while. As for the self editing. It's not horrible, but there are plenty run-ons and "the the"s to be had in your stories.

[Rammy]

5767544

Yeah every so often when I go back to an earlier chapter to double check what I said about something to minimize continuity errors and I end up finding just those type of errors all the time especially so with the first book. For some reason google docs knows when I use the wrong there/their or where/were but not double words...