46 days since the fall of Traxti City
20 days since Legacy Chaser’s murder
Morning, Hourglass
Golden DragonHeart snapped awake and into a sitting position. Someone had breached the clan’s wards. He wasted no time in running out of the library. He came to a complete stop as he noticed something was really off. Everything had a strange tint to it. A look up only confused him further.
Green sky? He of Hourglass scratched his head in thought. Could this be a function of the shield that is unknown? He could drop the shield and reboot it but with an invader that would be rash.
He ran across the street and made his way into the bowels of the council building and into the defense array control room. Once there he went about trying to figure out what could be causing the shield to turn green. So far the obelisks had not activated so for the moment it whomever had breached the wards had not yet entered firing range.
Okay let’s see. He of Hourglass wondered as he went through diagnostics and also flipped through the manual that Sentinel and He of Laughter created though he knew that it didn’t contain all of the functions. The real manuel had not been found yet and until it was he knew there was going to be times where he would in the dark. Still, I see no reason for it to be green… which means it wasn’t the shield.
*Firstclaw!* Came the voice of the guard captain through his mind.
*Yes, what is it Captain?* He of Hourglass responded in kind. He was about himself to contact him or Quartermaster to find out what was going on.
*Whatever is making the sky green is coming from outside Hourglass. It is not the shield itself.*
Thinking the same thing I was… He of Hourglass smiled as he put the controls on standby mode. He definitely is an excellent commander. *Stay where you are. No one is to leave the Hourglass City shield limits.*
*Yes, Firstclaw.*
Sentinel had developed the emergency thought spell to include a scrying ability which meant he knew exactly where his Captain was. So He of Hourglass quickly made his way to to where the Captain was stationed.
As he approached the location he noticed that Quartermaster and She of Hourglass were also there. From his shaking Quartermaster was clearly struggling to contain himself. He, however, had enough sense to wait on his firstclaw and even managed to wait with baited breath as He of Hourglass landed next to him.
He of Hourglass slowly reached out to examine the shield itself. He wanted to check the flow before he ventured out to find out what was causing the sky to turn green. Given what his captain said and the timing it was likely related to the breach so he wanted to proceed with caution. As his claw moved partially out of the shield he was suddenly racked by pain.
Pain!? He of Hourglass was confused. It made no sense. Why would he suddenly experienced such pain? He looked at the green sky and back to his claw in confusion until he gasped in realization. A green barrier and pain! That means that this is the same type of shield that was used against Traxti City. Which means HE is here!
“Firstclaw!” Quartermaster shouted at the raging dragon that took off so fast and with so much power he thought that he had broken the rainboom barrier like his son Twixt’d had done.
StAY bAcK! He IS miNe!
“Damn it!” Quartermaster cursed. His firstclaw was falling into rage again. He tried to follow but as soon as his head popped out of Hourglass’ shield he was racked by pain that was nearly overwhelming. He roared as he fell backwards.
“QUARTERMASTER!” She of Hourglass went over to check out her mate. She did not understand why he had fallen backwards like he had been punched with a surprised uppercut.
“I’m okay my love…” Quartermaster struggled to get up. “It’s this damn green barrier! It painfully drains mana!”
“What are you saying?!” Captain Phoenix Wave looked up at Quartermaster for a moment before returning his gaze outward. No, it can’t be! “This has to be that same barrier that covered Traxti City! But if it is then why aren’t we being effected?”
“The Hourglass shield is probably protecting us from the effects… but why or for how long I don’t know… there is so much about it that is still unknown to both Claws… Even with all the info that the infernal draconequus provided.”
“Discord helped?” Phoenix Wave blinked in surprise. ”That is a miracle… still what are we going to do?”
“At this point I have no clue. I have to stop Firstclaw’s rage before it progresses too far, but this fucking green shield has to come down first!” Quartermaster clawed the ground deeply in his frustration.
Phoenix Wave gasped as he saw a what looked like lightning coursing over a section of the green ‘shield’ and that section flickered for a second before returning to normal.
“What is it?” Quartermaster looked down at the captain.
“The green shield… something disrupted it for a moment.”
“Hmm?” Quartermaster looked along the entire shield that was visible. He had not noticed anything but he trusted the captain. It was his job to observe and help guard after all. If this was the same shield that was around Traxti then it would stand that there would be those metal contraptions generating the shield and presumably storing the stolen mana… Maybe what the captain saw was his firstclaw taking out one of those generators.
“There!” Phoenix Wave suddenly called out pointing to the south east.
“I see it.” Quartermaster noted the lightening discharging along the green shell and the flickering. He carefully put out a paw past the Hourglass shield. The pain is still there but at a much more manageable level. “Notify the Hermit for possible injuries.”
“What are you planning?” Phoenix Wave questioned as Quartermaster stepped out of the Hourglass shield.
“Going after my firstclaw.” Quartermaster took off towards the edge of the green barrier.
“Captain,” She of Hourglass put her tail in front of Phoenix Wave who was about to follow Quartermaster. “My mate knows what he’s doing. Plus, as you heard, Firstclaw is undergoing a rage episode and with Secondclaw currently making his way to Equestria Quartermaster is the only one that can stop Firstclaw before it’s too late.”
He of Hourglass had only one to go. He was sure of it. The pain had gone way down but his rage only increased. He knew that It would come out of hiding as soon as he was done. It was too bad that It would die so quick he was beginning to like the feeling of the rage he was feeling. The power it gave him. Maybe he could just let the rage take over it made him feel so alive.
He of Hourglass sped towards the direction of the highest amount of mana. With so few generators it was easy to look for where the greatest pull was. This whelp was an idiot. He found the final generator to the north of Hourglass. This would cut off his escape as he knew with the final generator smashed he would make an appearance. He of Hourglass smiled as he would soon have blood on his claws.
“Well, well, well, someone smashed my mana collectors.” A voice called out that was very familiar to He of Hourglass as soon as he managed to smashed the generator. “You are lucky that I have more of them and that I prefer to cause pain personally otherwise I would have an issue with such poor treatment of my hoard by another dragon.”
sHow YouRsELf yOu cOwARd! He of Hourglass roared his sparks turning nearly fully black.
“I was hoping for a rematch with the Alicorn Keeper. O well,” A scarred yellow and white dragon shrugged as he appeared, “looks like I’ll have to settle for the Dragon Keeper instead.”
A roar of dragon surprised both. Before anything more could be done by either a mass of red slammed down upon He of Hourglass kicking up a bellowing cloud of dust and obscuring everything for a moment.
As the cloud dissipated the form of Quartermaster appeared. He of Hourglass was angrily looking up from underneath a paw of Quartermaster. Quartermaster roared and then picked up the smaller dragon and brought him up and slammed him to the ground. “I vowed I was going to beat the rage out of you!” He lifted up his firstclaw a second time and slammed him down again. “AND I WILL BEAT IT OUT OF YOU!”
The scarred dragon jumped back, his eyes betraying his shock at Quartermaster’s attack on a clan mate. “What interesting ‘friends’ Alicorn Keeper has! To have have one beat the flame out of another in front of a known enemy… especially one such as I!”
Quartermaster and He of Hourglass growled angrily at the dragon. He of Hourglass’ rage increased again. i wILl ENjoY kilLInG you!
Quartermaster lifted a fist high and then came down on the spark dragon.
“Heh… Who needs enemies? Indeed.” The scarred dragon laughed hard as he faded away.
He of Hourglass struggled to get out of the larger red dragon's grip. “Firstclaw, please, we can get him another day.”
He of Hourglass for a moment angrily wanted to force his way out of Quartermaster grip and go after the retreating dragon before he relented and relaxed. “You are starting to sound like Secondclaw…”
“Trust me,” Quartermaster growled, clenching his claws and dropping his hold on He of Hourglass who lightly dropped to the ground. He of Hourglass noticed that Quartermaster was clenching his paws so tightly as to draw blood, “If it wasn’t for your rage I would be ripping that… that THING into thin strips! But… I have lost one clanmate I will not lose my Firstclaw!”
Quartermaster eyed He of Hourglass carefully as the smaller dragon slammed a fist into the ground and a few tears fell to the ground. He of Hourglass stayed in that position shaking and crying for what seemed like hours before he received a firemail scroll. Quartermaster looked away as He of Hourglass sat up and read the contents.
“Sun Princess wants a word with the entire clan and Captain of the Hourglass Guard.”
“Would that include my son, Twixt’d?”
He of Hourglass sighed. There was still so much confusion on exactly what Twixt’d was in the clan. Sure, he was going to be the commander of the griffons but he wasn’t under clan protection like They of Hourglass’ eggs or a full member either as he had not chosen and only knew two out of now five members hoard names. Though he knew that it may change very quickly... “Of course, he may only merely be a whelp and not officially a fully member but…”
I don’t like this one bit… He of Hourglass look off to the north and towards Equestria. Secondclaw should have sent the firemail not Sun Princess…
“I understand Firstclaw. I shall gather them as quickly as I can.” Quartermaster nodded before he took off leaving He of Hourglass alone.
He of Hourglass, Firstclaw of the Hourglass Clan, Dragon Keeper, Leader of the Keeper of Harmony,
Your Clan’s and the Captain of the Hourglass Guard Captain Phoenix Wave presence is requested in one hours time through the communication matrix to the Friendship Council Chambers in Ponyville, Equestria. If you are unable to make this meeting please respond with post haste.
Celestia Solaris Princess of the United Kingdom of the Trivium Equine Tribes
Such formal words… He of Hourglass gazed at the scroll once more before destroying it with a quick burst of flame. Please let me be wrong… Secondclaw you promised after all…