Dragons of Hourglass

by Rammy

To the East

The air around Twilight, He of Music, and Harmony shimmered. Soon the Friendship Council room disappeared and the Hourglass Council room appeared.

“Greetings,He of Hourglass,” Harmony nearly faltered when he saw Quartermaster standing to the side, “Quartermaster.”

“The same to you all.” He of Hourglass responded.

“I’m surprised that to see you Quartermaster.”

“I had him join us because now that communication has been fully established between the Kingdom of Equestria and the Clan of Hourglass I have tasks for both him and you.”

“What!?” Quartermaster yelled in shocked. When he was dragged into the meeting he wasn’t expecting that. He figured it was some show of force or something similar not a collaboration between the outsider, his people and his clan. He of Hourglass growled at him. Quartermaster shrank back a bit at his Firstclaw’s disapproval. Harmony was also shocked but kept his silence. What could He of Hourglass have for him to do that would require Quartermaster?

“You are both to go to the eastern continents, together. Quartermaster is to look for potential clanmates and allies from the dragons there. He of Harmony, I need you to check for any signs of the ‘Nameless One’s’ influence especially in light how quiet it is here, the Migration massacre aside.”

“Of course, Dragon Keeper.” Harmony could see He of Hourglass flinch at the use of the title. Harmony knew that the use of ‘Dragon Keeper’ over ‘He of Hourglass’ would do that but something told him that He of Hourglass was up to something. Why else would he order him the way he did.

“May I suggest not spreading the fact that there is a dragon clan. It would be prudent to keep the enemy in the dark about that as long as possible and news of a dragon clan could spread like wild fire… for that matter so would the arrival of the Dragon Keeper. Which I’m actually surprised it hasn’t already…”

“I would have thought that those in your fire mail network would have already spread it…” He of Hourglass mused.

“The only ones that know about both are He of Everfree and River Guardian. He of Everfree as far as I know only has me as a connection left. Luckily, River Guardian prefers face to face communication when he ‘gossips.’ I have intentionally kept back information until I got your okay.”

He of Hourglass sighed. “Your point is valid He of Harmony. Leave the fact that there is a dragon clan out of any conversations either of you may have.”

Yes, Firstclaw/Dragon Keeper.” Quartermaster and Harmony agreed.

“Are you finished with me?” Quartermaster turned to face He of Hourglass directly. “If I am to leave for what I’m sure will be a long time I must prepare my forge.”

He of Hourglass knew that a forge needed to be properly prepared if it was going to need to go cold so it didn’t bother him that Quartermaster was itching to leave the meeting. “Yes, you may go.”

He of Music took this time to speak up his need to leave. “He of Hourglass I don’t wish to leave either but I have some pressing matters that I need to attend to.”

He of Hourglass raised an eyebrow at this. As he didn’t really need He of Music he nodded his consent. He of Music bobbed his head before leaving the room.

“Ascended One, is there anything the Clan needs to know?”

“There was something that Princess Celestia wanted more information on.”

“Let me guess, Sombra.”

“Uh, yes.” Twilight was a bit surprised Harmony knew exactly what Celestia wanted. She was herself curious as to why Celestia would ask her to ask the clan about Sombra. She knew about the attack on the migration and would have thought Harmony would have said something to notified them of any developments considering that Sombra may want to take revenge on her and her friends.

“I’m afraid the letter I sent her gave all the details of his ‘final’ defeat. There isn’t anything else to add…” He noticed that Twilight looked lost at that information. “Didn’t Celestia shared the information in that letter to you?” Twilight rubbed the back of her head in response. Harmony facehoofed when he saw that. “She didn’t say anything to you…” Harmony sighed, “Looks like I will need to have a word with her.”

“I shall give you the gist as well as some background to give you context. The name of the minotaur that had Sombra’s horn as an amulet is Aonghus. I’m not entirely sure how he found the unicorn’s horn and I highly doubt it was by chance. I was unable to interrogate him fully because I over did it during the fight. Unfortunately, that also means that Aonghus could be anywhere in the world now. I will check with his tribe during my trip but he may never be found again…”

“But how did Sombra’s horn survive the blast from the Crystal Heart?”

“I never told you that did I?” Twilight shook her head no. “Luna thoroughly investigated the attack on the Crystal Empire after his most recent defeat to make sure he was truly gone. What she discovered alarmed her enough to have me personally search the outskirts of the Crystal Empire with her.”

“During one of the times that Cadance’s shield failed part of Sombra horn was cut off. That piece started corrupting crystals giving Sombra the ability to attack the empire in a two prong assault. If that hadn’t happened you may have found the Heart at the wrong time.”

“At the wrong time!?” Twilight gasped. She couldn't believe what she heard. She almost didn’t find the Heart in time as it was.

“Yes, at the wrong time. If Sombra was still on the edge of the empire when the Crystal Heart activated it may have only shoved him away ala the changeling swarm with Shining Armor and Princess Cadance’s love shield instead of obliterating him.”

“Back to what Luna discovered. When she found out about that particular ability she was rightly concerned that if a piece of Sombra remained that he could return. I was called in to help search for any possible trace of Sombra which went on without even a moments rest for nearly three months. We were fruitless in our search and the hope was that it meant he was gone for good. However, I returned on and off to recheck. Too many times have villains like him somehow survive and counter strike just when you let your guard down.”

“Obviously a part of him survived because Aonghus had found the horn and was possessed.”

“Sadly… yes.” Harmony dropped his head in shame, a single tear fell. He of Hourglass was the only to see the tear.

“Then why did he go after the Migration and not the Empire or the Elements Bearers like myself?”

“Not sure…” Harmony inwardly breathed a sigh of relief that she didn’t reveal the role of a dragon in saving the Empire. “If I hazarded a guess the Crystal Heart affected his memory. Being obliterated like like he was is way different then being sealed away for a millennium.”

“In either case we will never know the answers…”

“What is that suppose to mean?” Harmony asked wondering why He of Hourglass would say such a thing with finality. He knew it was mostly like going to be never but there was still a small chance the minotaur could be found.

He of Hourglass nearly gulped when he realized he nearly messed up and said something that he was not ready to talk about. “I doubt Sombra would have allowed his ‘vessel’ to remember much at all and now that we have destroyed his horn I don’t see him returning.”

“Hmm… very likely considering what he did to the crystal ponies…”

He of Hourglass suppress the urge to visibly give a sigh of relief. He really didn’t want to tell Harmony the fate of the minotaur just yet. He turned to Twilight. “Ascended One, I wish to speak to He of Harmony alone.”

“Of course, He of Hourglass.” Twilight nodded. “I shall be in the library if you need me Harmony.”

As soon as she left Harmony called out with power. “Private: Harmony: Relock.”

Harmony sighed before he turned to face Golden Heart. The dragon now appeared tired and far older than he was. It was clear to Harmony that he was stressed out but he couldn't tell for sure if he was the source of the stress or if there were other factors at play. He was really impressed by how well he hide it as from what he could see he was approaching critical.

“Golden Heart! Are you okay?” The dragon looked like he was trying to come up with an excuse. Harmony just shook his head with amusement. “Don’t try and hide, honesty trait remember?”

Golden Heart sighed. “It’s this task I needed you to do…”

“Golden Heart there was no need to order me to the eastern continents. All you need to do was ask... Actually, I am your senior when it comes to Keeper business. But...” Harmony paused as he trie “I know it’s because you are so worried about me... May I ask of something that is normally against the code?”

Golden Heart thought on it for a moment then slowly nodded his consent.

“Are those that you give your name to become a part of your hoard?”

“Yes…” Golden Heart was curious as to why he would as such a question.

“Then why is there more worry over me then someone like the Bearer of Magic? She is in just as much danger as me…” Harmony paused his questioning when the most logical reason came to mind. “It’s the illness isn’t it? It’s the inability to do anything about it. And the eastern continents means I won’t be close by if something happens.” The inability for Golden Heart eyes to met his own told Harmony everything he needed to know. And he knew how dragons tended to react to danger to their hoard. What was surely making it worse was that Golden Heart most likely felt he could not fulfill the true meaning of his name. Sadly, Harmony knew that even though Golden Heart was fulfilling his name nothing he could say would be able to convince him of that fact.

“Brother, I understand more then you know what you are going through…” I went through something similar after you chose… and I never recovered until Nova… Harmony sighed. He had already tried to give advice but he was still stressing out. The problem now was he dangerously internalizing it. Ugh, I think I only made it worse when I gave him advice before on this… “I wish I could give you the answer or even provide advice, but how dragons think is fundamentally different than how ponies think. I will do everything possible to remain alive and well and I will make sure to be cautious about the ash illness.”

Golden Heart sighed heavily before sitting down. His exhaustion showing even further. “I know that He of Harmony. I ’ordered’ you mainly to placate Quartermaster. On that matter, have you seen He of Laughter recently? It would be helpful to be able coordinate our efforts.”

Harmony shook his head, “No I haven’t… It will be difficult to coordinate with him effectively, but I will find a solution, hopefully.”

“Is there something else?”

“Yes, another part of my cutiemark reappeared.”

“Did anything bad happen?”

“Just fainting… I took a double dose of the special ash cure but I can not be sure if that was what stopped the ash or not.”

Golden Heart eyes flashed in anger. “Why didn’t this get reported to me as soon as it happened?”

“Not sure…” Harmony shrugged, “But I don’t want to find out about any repercussions over this event.”

Golden Heart grumbled. He was not happy about not being told right away but as nothing terribly dangerous happened he could swallow his instincts that screamed at him. Though it did help that he was too tired to really do much about it anyway. “Very well.”

“He of Music will be taking a bit longer to reach Hourglass as he as some new additions to his hoard.”

“That’s fine.” Golden Heart waved a claw dismissively. Harmony raised an eyebrow at this but said nothing. “Quartermaster will meet you at the Oasis in three days.”

“Three days at the Oasis… that should be doable. Friendship Council out.”

The image of the Hourglass Council room faded out. Harmony rubbed his head. He oddly felt like Discord must have felt dealing with him all those years… “If there was such a thing as karma...” He muttered before he opened the council doors.

---

“Harmony? Quartermaster is here.”

Harmony put down the book he was reading. “Thanks Scorpan.” He put on his saddle bag that was lying nearby. He had already made sure the night before that everything he needed for a potentially long trip. He had four vials of the extra strength ash cure along with some herbs that were native only to the western continent to make more, if needed.

“Harmony.” Scorpan called out just as Harmony was about to head out of the den.

“Yes.” Harmony turned back. Scorpan was facing away from him. He wasn’t sure but it seemed to him that the gargoyle’s body language was downcast.

“Stay safe.”

Harmony raised an eyebrow at this. Scorpan was not one to be a worry wart. Of course, he knew the dangers of eastern lands so maybe that was the reason for the unusual remark. Either that, or He of Hourglass was getting to him. Probably He of Hourglass… “I shall do my best.” At that Harmony disappeared down the hall to head outside to meet with Quartermaster.

Harmony stepped outside to see that the sun had just peeked over the horizon. Quartermaster was pacing near the oasis. “Are you ready Quartermaster?”

Quartermaster stopped pacing to take a hard look at the alicorn. “I am, and you better be as well.”

“Of course.” Harmony shrugged not really caring at the moment that his actions would anger the dragon. He knew no matter what he did that the dragon would be unhappy.

Quartermaster crossed his arms and growled threateningly. Harmony just stared as he waited for him to gripe. “I’m going to make this clear, outsider, I don’t like having to leave Hourglass much less be stuck with you.”

“Good.” Harmony smiled. “You will make this trip easier. I have already made arrangements for transport with a merchant’s vessel in Hell’s Gate. If you follow me with any luck we shall get there shortly after nightfall.” Without giving the dragon a chance to retort Harmony took off and climbed high into the sky heading into the east.

Quartermaster slack jawed. He was not expecting that his ‘attitude’ would be a plus. For a moment he wondered if the alicorn was being sarcastic or not. Somehow, he felt he was not. Which begged the question: what was the pony up to? He grumbled as he followed Harmony into the east.

Author's Note:

I wonder what about Aonghus GH is hiding from Harmony....

Comments

[Kdusk]

Based on what you've been writing, I can only hope that this mission will bring in some new elements and twist the existing ones.
What will happen to Harmony?
Why is Spike back?
Is there going to be some massive showdown between Quartermaster and Harmony?
I pray these questions get answered in the following chapters.
All in all, a great chapter, can't wait for the next.

[Rammy]

5855509
Based on what you've been writing, I can only hope that this mission will bring in some new elements and twist the existing ones. That is a guarantee

What will happen to Harmony? The better question might be what is happening to Harmony.

Why is Spike back? As River song likes to say:

Is there going to be some massive showdown between Quartermaster and Harmony? I'm going to annoy you by saying: maaaaaybe

[Kdusk]

5855688
My respect for you and your art has just raised.
Good answers that will undoubtably haunt my every waking moment... Thanks for that.