//------------------------------// // A Dragon’s Problem // Story: Dragons of Hourglass // by Rammy //------------------------------// Golden Heart sighed as he knew he wasn’t going to get anymore sleep tonight. He had not had a decent night sleep in nearly three weeks. There was just too much on his mind. He examined the clock above the door to his hoard chamber. It a few hours before sunrise. Eternal Beats may still be up…  He stretched popping some joints along his spine before he pulled himself upright. He found his music to always to be soothing and uplifting and right now he could use a bit of both. As he got closer to the park where Eternal Beats had his hoard he began to think that maybe he was already asleep. The only sounds he could hear was the occasional chirping of He of Music’s newest additions in the trees around him beginning their day. He hoped that maybe he was listening to them as it was clear that these songbirds were very talented. As he was getting closer to the amphitheatre Golden Heart could finally hear Eternal Beats. He was speaking to someone. “No, I think you should keep the first half; the second half still needs work.” He walked further down the path and turned a corner. As he turned that corner he noticed that Eternal Beats was speaking to a bird perched on his shoulder. The bird was chirping. Eternal Beats facepalmed before responding, “I know what I’m talking about! I can hear her inner song, remember?” The white and neon blue dragon looked to see that Golden Heart was approaching. “Firstclaw, what are you doing up so early?” “Can’t sleep.” Eternal Beats looked at him with the look of ‘yeah, right.’ He could hear his song and it was clear that there was something troubling him. He was not going to dive deeper into the song especially without permission. That didn’t mean that he didn’t already have an idea of what and who could be troubling him. Eternal Beats knew for one Golden Heart was carrying too much of the clan alone. Leadership of a clan was always meant to be done by two dragons not one. “Have you figured out what to do about the missing Secondclaw? Because the clan needs him or her.” “I don’t know. There is nothing in the code that deals with this. Death of the Secondclaw, yes, but nothing about being missing! The clan should have started with myself and the Secondclaw which should have been Quartermaster. But he is not the Secondclaw… is he?” “No,” Eternal Beats shook his head. “He is not. My Clan Memories are clear on that. I can tell you that the clan does have a Secondclaw but who I don’t know.” Having nothing else to say neither dragon said anything for a while. Eternal Beats took that time to figure out what exactly he could do to help Golden Heart. The problem was that he only had an inkling of what could be the problem. The song one produces only gave broad impressions he would have to know the person well in order to be more precise. He already knew of the issue with Harmony. That would have to be dealt by Harmony. But it was more than just that. He knew it was only a symptom of a deeper issue. To Eternal Beats Golden Heart seemed more distant than his name should allow... “Why do you hide in the library so much? I understand Metal Claws never leaving his forge for long, but you? And don’t say it’s because you want to be close to your hoard as we both know that is not where your hoard is.” Golden Heart sighed this is what he gets with having a natural soul song user in the clan. He could not hide his feelings as Eternal Beats could hear his song. He wasn’t sure how to explain his problem. It wasn’t that he wouldn’t. Eternal Beats was not like Quartermaster, because his ability and what his hoard was he was more open and understanding. “To be truthful, I’m not completely sure…” Eternal Beats had an idea that might help Golden Heart figure out for himself what he needed to do. “Hey, want to help me here?” He spoke softly to a red chested songbird still on his shoulder. The bird nodded and flew off to get the rest. Golden Heart watched as the songbirds began to flock around Eternal Beats for a moment before scattering into the trees around both of them. Eternal Beats pulled his guitar from his back and began playing a tune. The songbirds shortly joined him. When life brings us down and all you see is darkness Remember that we can bring back the light When life starts to push its time for us to push back and survive through this darkness called life Life isn’t and shouldn’t be the enemy Life is what’s within us and makes us who we are, we must stand together and take control of our lives because life....life won’t stop, the clock is ticking, its time to stand together and take control of life, one dragon at a time Because when we stand together we’re stronger  Golden Heart smiled as the song perfectly reflected what he wanted with the clan. Dragons standing together in harmony and lifting each other up in times of troubles. Both Quartermaster and Eternal Beats did that in their own ways. Even Harmony who was only an ally of the clan did this. A proverb from one of his books came to mind: Courage isn’t about being unafraid but doing what needs to be done none the less. Okay, so how do I go about fixing this? Golden Heart dwelled on it for a while but it became clear that he would need help with not only fixing it but what to fix. The Ascended One is a ruler of Equestria and, yet, she seemed to be approachable. Maybe, she would have some advice. Whoa… that was an interesting change in the song… Eternal Beats mused as he watched Golden Heart walk away. He yawned a bit. It was getting close to time for him to sleep. “I think you will do just fine...” He yawned a second time as he stretched. “Good morning Ascended One.” Golden Heart greeted Twilight who was sitting on her throne. “Morning Golden Heart.” She decided to emulate the dragon’s relax tone. She wondered if this was going to be a causal visit or if there she was going to have more dragon culture to learn. “What do you have for me today?” “A bit on how dragon clans work and the related interaction codesss....” Golden Heart raised an eyebrow at the sudden twisted smile that formed on Twilight’s muzzle. He was not familiar with pony expressions but he was sure it was the look of a pony a bit too excited. Does Harmony have to deal with this everytime? He sighed. While it was true he wanted to teach her more on dragons as Harmony would not be able to for a while. (Nevermind that he knew very little on how clans affected various codes.) He also wanted to get to know her more than just from the occasional letters. “Ascended One?” He slowly waved a claw in front of her in hopes of snapping her out of her daze. When that didn’t work he tried snapping his claw. That got her attention. “Sorry…” Twilight sheepishly apologized. “No need to apologize.” Golden Heart waved her off. “I understand the draw to knowledge. I live in a library, remember?” Twilight giggled she remembered her time living in the Golden Oaks Library. At the thought she frowned a bit. Spike... Golden Heart himself chuckled somehow not noticing the frown on her face. “Well, you ready?” “YES!!!!” Twilight yelled jumping high into the air. She blushed when she realized she was making a scene. “I mean, yes.” Golden Heart blinked for a second then started laughing. Twilight soon joined in. He wiped his eyes getting rid of the tears that formed. They had things to do before they could just hang. He lightly coughed to get her attention. “There is not much about clans in the Dragon Heritage Memories. I can’t say for sure if it because of time or a part of the ‘Nameless One’ curse. So my knowledge of them might seem fragmented and not because I’m withholding information due to some parts being part of the adult code.” “In most things the code treats interaction between a dragon clan and another dragon (clan or not) as if it was either a single dragon or mated pair. A clan shares territory and may have a shared communal hoard. For example my clan’s, the Hourglass Clan, territory is currently just Hourglass Mountain and the immediate surrounding area.” “Each dragon within a clan will have their own personal hoard. Before you ask, yes there is some differences in the code between fellow clanmates and then say two non clanmates. I’m not going over that as you are not a clanmate.” Twilight frowned in disappointment. She knew that there was things she couldn’t learn but it still was hard not to show a sense of disappoint. Golden Heart saw this and barked out a laugh. “He of Harmony informed me of your overly inquisitive nature.” As he smirked his fangs glinted brightly. Twilight instinctively shrank further. She was not only embarrassed but the smirk was a bit creepy. Golden Heart had grinned before but never before did his fangs glint like it did. “Relax,” Golden Heart inwardly hit himself when realized that as a prey animal she may not be able to handle his fangs without flinching in fear. “I’m not going to eat you. Nor will I flambe you for if you ask ‘rude’ questions. You are going to do it no matter how polite and careful you are in asking your questions. After all you don’t know how dragons think or how our culture works completely, yet. It’s the fact that you are willing to learn and to put into practice what you learn that shows great character. One day you will be able to bring honor to yourself and your kind in the eyes of dragons...more than what you already have.” Twilight expression brightened at Golden Heart’s praise. Golden Heart smiled, pleased that he got her happy again. “Now back to our lesson. Like always you need to ask permission to enter an individual's hoard, for example you need permission from me to enter the library. You can gain that permission from either the dragon in question or in very narrow cases from the leadership of the clan. I would advise to never try asking the leadership to enter a dragon’s hoard. The City of Hourglass is considered the communal hoard of the clan so if you were to come back again you would need to get permission from somedragon in the clan to enter the city.” “You have heard Quartermaster and He of Music use the title ‘Firstclaw’ when dealing with me. It’s because of my position in the clan. There are only two official positions by code though I’m sure there can be others that are clan specific. Firstclaw and Secondclaw are the leaders of a dragon clan. Unless one of them dies those positions are filled by the first two dragons of the clan. Firstclaw is the head of the clan while the Secondclaw would be his… uh... I think subordinate would be the right word...” “Does the Secondclaw answer to the Firstclaw and everydragon answer to both of them with the Firstclaw having final say?” Golden Heart rubbed his chin thinking for a moment. “Basically.” “Than subordinate is an okay descriptor. At least that explains why Quartermaster and He of Music called you Firstclaw instead of He of Hourglass.” Twilight went wide eyed for a moment thinking that she had been doing something wrong recently. “Wait! Do I need to call you that?” “No. That would be improper as you know my He of honorific and you are not apart of my clan.” He could see another question forming in her mind again. She is like a book in that regards. “Let’s say there was another clan that you didn’t know the He of honorific you could use Firstclaw or Secondclaw but the circumstances that would allow it would be very narrow.” He scratched his head as he tried to figure out how to explain those conditions. It soon became obvious that there was going to be hard to explain it without possible confusing her over something that would most likely never happen as the last time there was a clan was before the time of the Keepers. “You know, I think it would be best to never use it and fall back to the use of Dragon of ‘insert physical description and hoard location’.” “While we are on names slash titles, He or She of Hourglass is the standard way of addressing one from my clan.” “That sounds confusing…” Twilight shook her head at a certain memory. “...and it was.” “As I’m sure you are aware a dragon’s hearing is stronger than ponies. And even though we use the same He of ‘name’ there are subtle differences. This can cause problems with those who can’t hear or speak those subtle differences like what happened when Quartermaster Chose.” “Then what of He of Music?” “What he did was not typical. He knew right away that Harmony could not properly address him as He of Hourglass. I think it has to do with him being a natural at soul songs…” “Soul songs?” “The ancient magical ability to use rhythm and tone in a harmonic fashion to create harmony usually in the form of songs.” “Ah they are usually called Heartsongs by ponies.” “The word soul is similar to heart… interesting. That is enough for today as I have something I wish your help on…” He tapped his claws together nervously, “If you have time that is.” “I didn’t have anything planned for a while so go ahead.” “He of Harmony explained your role as a leader of Equestria. I was wondering… that is... How are you so approachable?” Twilight blinked in confusion for a second before she giggled. The question that Golden Heart had was reminding her of a time when a certain princess ‘suggested’ she make friends in Ponyville. Even though it was situation as a bit funny it was tempered by the loss of Spike and the fact that Golden Heart looked just like an older Spike. “Make sure you become friends with He of Hourglass for he, by giving you his name, has marked you as a precious treasure just as Spike did.” Harmony’s voice echoed in her mind. She looked up and remembered about the time the her friends decorated her new castle and Rarity explained why they made the root chandler. “We were hoping that being able to look at your beautiful old memories would inspire you to make new ones.” Maybe by remembering the bittersweet memories of Spike I can find ways to make new ones with the dragon that Spike left behind to care for me: Golden Heart. Spike you truly were a dragon with a heart of gold. Golden Heart looked up at the root chandler wondering why Twilight would gaze up at it. True, it was quite beautiful. Twilight smiled as she felt the same feelings come over her like it did then. “You know,” Golden Heart snapped back to see Twilight was no gazing at the chandler but at him. He blushed a bit which elicited another giggle from her. “I once was never approachable. I had thought that friends was a waste of time and spent all my time in books instead. Let me tell you about how I learned that there was more to life than being locked up in a library with books as my only companion…”