At the Twilight of Harmony

by Rammy

Long Overdue ‘Justice’

“You are not useless Firstclaw…” A voice echoed.

“Secondclaw?” Golden DragonHeart looked around the street and all he could see was dragons at various stages of growth mingling.

A white dragon with rainbow horns appeared in the street of hourglass near Golden DragonHeart. He immediately recognized his friend, clanmate, and secondclaw, Soul Fire.

“Reading my journals?” Golden DragonHeart crossed his arms and raised his eyebrow in a fake accusatory way. He knew that nothing in his hoard was beyond the scope of Soul Fire.

“No…” Soul Fire looked at his friend with mock anger. “I may have blanket permission because of your hoard gem but I still respect you enough to leave your private thoughts alone. Having said that your dreams on the other claw…” The white dragon looked at the restored city of Hourglass. The dream dragons were still roaming the city, ignoring both of them.

“Wait, are you saying I’m dreaming?”

Soul Fire watched as a pair of dragons started rolling around, clearly having sex, if the musk was any indication. The white dragon smiled. Hourglass full of dragons… a dream that he had and wasn’t surprised that his firstclaw had. Though anything beyond twenty may be pushing the limits of the area… not that Hourglass couldn’t house more it could the city could easily house hundreds fully grown dragons…. But he wasn't sure there was enough gems or prey in the area to feed that many. “Yep.”

“Well…” Golden DragonHeart looked over himself noting the blue gloves and boots he was wearing, “that would explain why I’m wearing a Hum Drum costume.”

“I never understood the need for flashy impractical ‘uniforms.’”

“Don’t knock til you try it…” Golden DragonHeart smirked, “though to be fair I would have rather have been dressed as anyone other then sidekick…”

Soul Fire snorted.

“So... tell me, why do you think you're useless?” Soul Fire casually asked.

Golden DragonHeart mind froze he wanted to tell him but he was at a complete lost as to how to do it without hurting his secondclaw’s feelings. His secondclaw was merely doing what was best for his hoard. It made him extremely proud as he was making the dragons, his family, into better dragons, into a closer knit family. It wasn’t for lack of trying on his part he spent time with his clan hanging or helping with their hoards but he had yet to become hatchmates with anyone them and Soul Fire had three, if one still counted Twixt’d. He also managed to get Quartermaster to mature in hoarding and was responsible for every potential dragon in the clan besides MetalEtched Claws and himself. although to be fair that was one of the roles of the secondclaw...

Sentinel breathed deep. He knew the problem that his firstclaw was having but until he admitted it freely there was not much he could do. “Take if from a dream walker, if you don’t resolve the why you feel useless these dreams will continue, and I can’t guard sleep with you every nigh…” The rest of what Soul Fire said was lost as the dream shattered into white.

Golden DragonHeart awoke in rage. Something was about to attack Hourglass! He lept to his feet, nearly losing his footing on his gem bed as it shifted from the sudden movement. He stumbled out of his hoard chamber in the Reference Section of the library and ran down the hall.

He blinked from the sudden bright light of the outside. He must have fallen asleep reading again. He had just managed to get his sight back when a flash of light blinded him again. This time when he got his vision back he saw Secondclaw in his alicorn form. His mane and tail was shifting about wildly, a scowl on his muzzle.

“What is going on?” He of Hourglass growled in anger.

“A changeling hive is approaching.” Sentinel didn’t growl but he did look just as livid.

“Another one?!” He of Hourglass grumbled in exasperation. It was like a vicious pattern over and over...

“Yeah, another one… Apparently one of the lookouts had noticed them a while back originally moving parallel to Hourglass. I suspect they sensed the clan wards… given that Hourglass has been abandoned for so long it must of tweaked their interest.”

“How are you able to know all of this so fast?”

“Thought link spell. Captain Phoenix Wave is filling me in as we speak. Quartermaster, Twixt’d, and She of Hourglass should be here shortly.”

The sounds of loud wingbeats confirmed the soon arrival of Quartermaster. He of Hourglass and Sentinel looked up to see Quartermaster and She of Hourglass were coming in for an landing.

“So what is it this time?” Quartermaster grumbled as soon as his claws hit the ground.

“Changelings.” Sentinel deadpanned.

“Again?!” Quartermaster snapped, rubbing his head.

“Yes…” Sentinel droned, “again.”

“Any idea which hive?” He of Hourglass questioned, thinking that maybe Sentinel might have some knowledge of the hive that could help them.

Sentinel flew upwards, changed to his dragon form and stared off to the north for a moment before changing back to his alicorn form. He noted Twixt’d was closing in fast on him from the direction of his silo.

Sentinel landed just as Twixt’d himself touched down. “I was able to enhance my dragon vision using an alicorn spell. This hive has been a pain in Equestria's flank for some time… and it’s high time to end Chrissy life and hive once and for all.”

“Chrissy?!” He of Hourglass suppressed a snort. This was a serious situation and not the time for laughter. That didn’t stop Twixt’d from it which got him a smack from She of Hourglass.

“It’s an insult…” Sentinel growled his sharp teeth grinding slightly, “the queen’s name is Chrysalis and has escape his wrath numerous times over the centuries. More recently she has invaded Equestria several times in the past fifteen years… I don’t know why she is in the area…”

“Doesn’t matter she now has to deal with dragons and she will BuRn…”

Sentinel smacked He of Hourglass head with his hoof, hard. “Control your rage Firstclaw… She is mine… It’s high time I end her.”

“How long until they are in range?” Quartermaster secretly hoped it was soon. He so wanted a chance to burn them as the last time he was unable to defend Hourglass when it came under changeling attack. Not that He of Music and He of Hourglass didn’t do a good job in defense they did he just was frustrated that he wasn't there.

Sentinel closed his eyes and concentrated on the chatter from the guard. “Estimated at about 15 minutes at the swarm‘s current speed.”

“You know her best… any plan to take her down?” He of Hourglass crossed his arms.

Sentinel sighed. “We need to separate the queen from the swarm. She has a habit of using them as both canon fodder and a shield. The last time he tangled with her she used her drones to mask her escape.”

“Okay, so how?”

“A fake out. We drop the shield in a way that looks like it shattered from the strain and as soon as she gets in we bring it up again. With any luck we will cut her forces to a more manageable amount and trap her with no escape.” Sentinel looked up at the pink shield protecting Hourglass. “Firstclaw we need precision on this…”

“Got it. I’ll be in the defense control room.” He of Hourglass spun around and headed into the council building. If he was going to be able to get the shield down and back up like Sentinel needed he would need to get to the controls to calibrate the shields and quickly.

“Twixt’d you are with me. Quartermaster and She of Hourglass defend the area around here. Don’t let any drone get inside the council building. Try not to make it too obvious.”

“For Hourglass.” Sentinel stated.

“For Hourglass!” The clan agreed.

With that Twixt’d and Sentinel took off toward the north side of Hourglass in the direction of the approaching hive. Quartermaster and his mate flew up to hover.

*Captain Phoenix Wave, I have identified the hive approaching. It is Chrysalis’ hive.*

*Buck. What is the plan, Secondclaw?*

*We are going to trick Chrysalis with the shield into splitting her forces. Your guards are to focus on the drones inside the shield; the obelisks will take care of those outside. There will be no quarter, no mercy, none are to be left alive. Leave Chrysalis to me.*

*But...* Phoenix Wave protested.

*Captain! She’s a sadistic monster that will kill if provoked, and I doubt she will show mercy once she discovers our duplicity.*

*Yes, Secondclaw.*

Sentinel pushed the guard chatter back to the back of his mind. “Twixt’d support the guard in anyway they need you. I will be going after the queen.”

“Got it Secondclaw.” Twixt’d banked away in search of Captain Phoenix Wave.

---

Sentinel hovered as he watched the shield start to ‘crack’ from the assault from the drones. Now was the time to reveal himself. He teleported closer making sure the flash from his teleport was bigger and brighter then normal. He could hear the chittering increasing in volume and speed. Good they noticed me which means… A section of the swarm nearby parted… there we go… The changeling that he was hoping to draw out appeared in the gap.

He watched as she charged up for a magic missile attack. Let’s hope he got those calibrations done on time… At the moment of impact he yelled out “Satricithāt.” The hive surged forward as the shield shattered. Sentinel fire a shot at Chrysalis to entice her to move inside the shield perimeter. She took the bait and as soon as she was inside he yelled out a second time. “Lielzasalus usuths!” The obelisks started to fire and the shield reclosed.

He attempted to fly at her but her drones immediately swarmed around him. Damnit! She’s using the swarm to block me. She knows that these ponies are greenhooves... Which means I need to get through this swarm fast.

A blood curdling scream got him going as he conjured his rainbow swords and hacked his way through. Luckily, the majority of the swarm was trapped on the other side of the city shield. This limited the number of drones that were being used to shield Chrysalis so that less than a minute later he was through.

There on the ground bleeding profusely was one of the guards, an earth pony Chrysalis laughing and stalking closer to the down guards. Drones had formed a ring around them preventing escape. What did those ponies do to get her to personally attack them!? He couldn't tell any more from that because like the Royal Guard of Canterlot the armor he was wearing was enchanted to mask his identity. Sentinel could see past the enchantment but he hadn’t learned every guardpony’s names just yet. The pony was being looked after by a unicorn clearly a medic and guarded by a pegasi. No way they had a chance against the changeling queen.

Sentinel slammed down between the guard ponies and Chrysalis. The ring of drones took off into the air around them. “Stay behind me, take cover, and tend to your injured comrade. I’ll handle her.” He ordered the guards.

The two guard ponies nodded and carefully dragged the moaning earth pony to a nearby boulder. For now, that was all they could do until the hostiles were cleared. Hopefully the strange alicorn would be able to get rid of the changelings before their fellow guardpony died from his injuries.

Once Sentinel saw that he no longer had to worry about them he immediately sent of a wave of magic missiles at the bug queen which were blocked by a shield. He then started to jab and slice with his swords one after another.

“No foreplay? No witty remarks? No insults?” Chrysalis pouted as she dodge the alicorn's attacks.

“He has had enough of you and quite frankly I agree.” Sentinel charged at her with his swords.

Chrysalis clearly expected as she slid to the side, easily avoiding the swords. “You’re slipping yah old…”

“On the contrary, Chrissy…” Sentinel countered as he came to an abrupt stop, still facing away from her. “You are slipping. Tell me… what do you see above you?”

Chrysalis glanced upwards to see that a vast majority of her hive and forces were stuck on the other side of the shield, the shield that had supposed collapsed from strain. The bug queen muzzle contorted into rage. “You… You…” She shook in rage.

“Yeah,” Sentinel began, “you really never did learn to wait on counting your nymphs until after they hatch.”

A few of her remaining nearby drones, the ones that had earlier ringed around the down guard, dived bombed at Sentinel. The alicorn yawned as he expertly sliced the drones into strips. Pieces of drones rained down on the two combatants.

“I’m going to snap your horn off!” She hissed shooting numerous magic missiles at Sentinel who stood still as most of shots missed him. The few that would have hit him he casually deflected with one his swords. This only infuriated her more. “When I get out of here I am going to kill everyone of your precious ponies! Then…” She grimaced, “and only then will I end your life.”

Sentinel laughed, confusing the queen. “One: get in line. Two: you are not getting out of here alive. You made the fatal error of attacking a dragon clan.” He shot two of his swords at her directly, two at her flanks, one at her back, and the final sword from above.

The swords sparked and hissed violently at the shield she managed to produced. Sentinel grunted as he kept up the pressure up on the shield in an attempt to break the shield. The changeling grunted, increasing her power on her horn to the point that the shield exploded violently, knocking Sentinel back. He spat out some blood. He look around to see that his swords were scattered around blades down into the ground.

“Then I guess I should prove you wrong, yet again... Don’t you like it Harmony?” Chrysalis stuck a pose, an amulet glinting in the sunlight. “A girl is nothing without the proper accessories don’t you think?”

Sentinel looked at the amulet and if he was any color other than white he was sure his face would be bone white. The amulet was red and black with gold offsets depicting a eagles head or more accurately a roc’s head. Another of the Elder amulets! Where are these changelings getting them!?

*Captain notify Firstclaw right now: We have an Elder Amulet in play; I repeat Elder Amulet in play.* Sentinel yelled though the thought link spell. He didn’t wait for a response as he moved the chatter back to whispering. Now more than ever he couldn’t afford any distractions. This battle was going to get very difficult very fast.

*Let me help.* Vorac called out, growling in extreme anger. Sentinel was sure it was over the bug queen.

You never need to ask Vorac. Sentinel responded.

The ponies watched in shock from the rock they were using as cover as the alicorn was enveloped in light. Everyone around was blinded temporarily from the sudden glare. It even got the attention of Twixt’d before he took advantage of the distraction to take out more drones. Once their vision cleared their shock only doubled. It looked as if somepony had drawn a glowing outline of the dragon they all knew as Secondclaw around the alicorn. Rainbow horns made of the same glowing light adorned the alicorn head and the end of his tail had a purple, white, and green trident.

“I see you have learned a new trick Harmony…” The bug queen sneered.

“I. AM. NOT. HARMONY!” Sentinel roared at the Changeling Queen. He pulled his six swords out of the ground and in rage he charged at the queen.

Chrysalis teleported out of the way at the last second. Thanks to Vorac he could smell her behind him. Sentinel pulled up a shield. The shield took the brunt of the attack but he was still knocked head over hooves into the rock where the injury guard and his comrades were using as cover.

*I hate bugs.* Vorac growled.

Agreed. Sentinel grunted in pain as he pulled himself back onto his hooves.

Chrysalis giggled evilly. “Still all brawn and no…”

Chrysalis mocking retort died on her lips as a seventh sword of white flame formed right in front of her catching the bug queen off guard. Before she was able to make a move the flame sword came down searing her left ear off and burning the side of her muzzle.

*DAMN IT!* Vorac cursed.

It’s okay Vorac once this is over I’ll help you practice sword fighting.

“You infuriating pony!” The changeling screamed. “Forget breaking off your horn! I’m will end you once and for all, right here and right now.”

“I am not a pony, you insect! I am Dragon.” With that, Sentinel changed into his dragon form. The rainbow swords disappeared as the alicorn magic keeping them materialized was suppressed. The flame sword remained.

“A trick!” The queen laughed. “You always had a way of mimicking other race’s magic!”

“NO TRICK. I AM DRAGON!” Sentinel roared before he repeated in draconic, “Thē triüs es eslu Cktüis!”

The voice of the magical, truth telling language of draconic stunned her. Sentinel knew that Chrysalis knew that he was telling the truth. What's more, it gave him the opening he needed. He quickly forced her to the ground with such a strong gravity well that he could see her chitin crack. He followed that with conjured magic rods which he wrapped through her holes and staked them into the ground. He then snapped the Roc Amulet off of her. Not an easy task with only dragon magic.

Sentinel licked his fangs as he circled the now clearly terrified changeling queen. “We have waiting a long time for this day Chrissy… and now I hope enjoy your permanent vacation in the void. I know I will.”

The last thing she ever saw was the light of a dragon preparing to spew fire.

Comments

[Racko]

Yeah! Take that, bitch!

[RadicalDishonesty]

I don't think that Sentinel gets to claim he's not Harmony and that he waited a long time for revenge. One or the other, buddy. You can't be Harmony when you feel like it and NOT be him when you don't.

[Rammy]

6320323 remember the whole thing about dragons instinctively not liking their old names though the whole issue surrounding the ascension and choosing of harmony/SF does put a monkey wrench into the works...Yeah confusing isn't it... one could argue that he was but not is harmony..

[Hewolf]

Flame Roasted Changing Kabobs, I wonder how those taste. *WolfGrin*

[Rammy]

6320997 hopefully better then baked bads.