47 days since the fall of Traxti City
21 days since Legacy Chaser’s murder
Morning, Hourglass
“THAT MAKES SEVEN MORE!” Golden DragonHeart roared as another missive burnt to ash and failed to be sent. As more and more of his missives started to merely burn, indicating that the dragon was either dead or incapacitated, his rage only increased. At the same time, he was not surprised. He looked off towards the library and, in his mind’s eye, he could almost see his map of dragon graveyards, and the most recent tally.
59 known graveyards
20,183 fully grown
915 whelps/hatchlings
336 eggs
He did not know the reason behind the odd and extreme spike in the numbers of deaths. It could be that they were just unreported, that they were undiscovered, or that the Nameless One had accelerated his purging. No matter the reason for it, he didn’t care anymore, even for the dragons in his network. They were merely a means to an end. The world could burn for all he cared, just so long as he got his revenge. The only sign that he had any feelings of sorrow for them was that their deaths would make it all the more difficult. He wasn’t stupid; he would need help to take him down.
“No matter.” He calmly stated after a few tense moments, a grin forming. “I still shall drink his blood soon enough.”
The gathered dragons shivered at the sound of his calm, chilling voice, but its was not from fear or disgust, but from pleasure. It was like the sweetest of gems or the tangiest of prey. An excitement came over them as rage filled them. If one could see, the eyes of all four dragons changed from normal to narrow, feral silts.
Golden DragonHeart licked the drool off his teeth as he noticed the time. “It appears it is almost time for the daily meeting with Equestria and the Griffon Eyries. You know your roles; get to them.”
MetalEtched Claws and Eternal Beats nodded and left the council room, leaving Golden DragonHeart and Metal Claws behind. The spark dragon sealed the room, then touched the knocker on the spell matrix.
Meanwhile, Ponyville
Celestia tried to quell the uneasiness that she felt. This was going to be the first meeting since the clan had been informed of Sentinel’s death. The actions of He of Hourglass after he was told were not completely unexpected, but were understandable. Her concern, however, was that it would affect his judgement, with how dangerous the situation was. Now was not the time for impaired judgment, not while the Dark One was still rampaging in Equestria. From the most recent report, the dragon was approaching Fillydelphia, and Equestria really could use the assistance of the clan right now, if only for moral support.
Celestia sighed heavily. Her own experience after the banishment of Luna came to the forefront of her mind. She just hoped that he could hold it together, unlike her. The decades after Luna’s banishment were dark times for Equestria. A look up at a nearby clock told her that the meeting would start any moment now. She would know soon enough what He of Hourglass’ mental state was.
“You have to have hope Celestia.”
Celestia mentally chuckled. It was scary when Discord was the one to be encouraging. She glanced over at Discord and gave a small smile. It was easier said than done, but she would try nonetheless. She looked over to see Twilight fidgeting nervously.
She didn’t have anymore time to dwell on the past as the Hourglass ‘knocker’ on Spike’s old throne began to pulsate. The meeting was upon them. Twilight noticed this, and, after gulping and giving a yawn, as she was still tired from the night’s events, she answered by tapping it with some of her magic. Soon, the image of the of the Hourglass Council chambers overlaid itself over the Friendship Council room, like always.
Celestia prided herself in being a good judge of character. She had many years, too many years sometimes, of practice dealing with ponies, notably nobles and rich businessponies, who spoke in a way that to the uninitiated would seem innocent, but a look in their eyes told otherwise. The few times she would struggle reading the intents of a pony were those ponies who were mentally impaired, when they were extreme sociopaths, or when she was.... distracted.
Being distracted… if only the nobles knew of that weakness. The wedding invasion and Luna’s transformation to Nightmare Moon being prime examples of her distraction leading to great pain. One would have thought she would have learned her lesson from the latter, so that the former would have never occurred. To be fair, she had been around more ponies than she could count that would make a run for or outdo Fluttershy’s kindness, but then turned into outright bridezillas when it came to their weddings... still...
Even with all she had been through in her life, she was surprised that she not only remained seated but not quaking. The two dragons Quartermaster and He of Hourglass were the only ones from Hourglass for the meeting. Quartermaster had always been a grouchy dragon, but his heart was in the right place so his… demeanor was not too unsettling. He of Hourglass, on the other hoof, was. He of Hourglass’ eyes usually were ones of light, of playfulness and kindness. Now, neither of them showed any signs of that light in them... their eyes had become feral…. slitted... angry… dark...cold and unforgiving. It was the eyes of dragons consumed by rage.
“Morning, Hourglass…”
“Can the bucking pleasantries, pony,” He of Hourglass growled coldly, his eyes narrowing. “We have business to conduct, and I have a city to prepare for war.”
Celestia was taken a bit back by the insults and cursing coming from the spark dragon. He of Hourglass only occasionally cursed, usually when under extreme stress, but he was always respectful. “Very well,” Celestia dropped her usual warm demeanor. “What is the business you wish to discuss?”
“You and the griffons are immediately to push the Nameless One south, towards Hourglass, so that we can end him once and for all.”
Celestia blinked. That was one of the plans discussed earlier. Did this mean he had figured out a way to defeat the Dark One? “Do you have any suggestions? Have you discovered a weakness we can…”
“I don’t fucking care how you drive him towards us. Use dark magic! Living pony sacrifices! Make a false alliance with him! Become his bitch! You just get that lava shitting dragon here and NOW! Hourglass out.” The image of the Hourglass Council faded out as the Dragon Keeper was walking out.
Twilight wavered from shock to primal fear over the absolute coldness pouring off of He of Hourglass. This wasn’t the dragon she knew, and the final words from He of Hourglass broke the final thread keeping her bladder in control, and it emptied itself. She was too out of it to immediately realise that it happened or to be embarrassed by it. Once she did, she blushed hard, and quickly magicked her pee away.
“To think that I would see that look again after so long…” Celestia muttered once she had a moment to recover. She felt something was off the moment the meeting started, and now she was sure of it. He of Hourglass was never like this, and his ‘suggestions’ only confirmed it.
Silence fell upon the council. That was until both Celestia and Twilight were stirred into alertness by a strange chattering sound. They both looked around to figure out where the odd sound was coming from. It was not long before they both found the source.
Discord was violently shivering, his body a pale blue, and his shaky breath visible. Icicles clung to patches of his fur. He pulled a blanket out of nowhere and wrapped it around him. Both could understand why Discord would be like that, as they too had felt chilled to the bone over what had transpired. Twilight blushed again as she was reminded of her own reaction.
“Discord? Are you alright?” Twilight pushed past her own fear and trepidation to ask the draconequus if he was alright, even though she knew he wasn’t. She just wanted him to know that she cared about him, like a good friend should.
“Nnnnononooo…” Discord chattered the expected response. He pulled the blanket tighter around him, but it seemed to do nothing to warm him; if anything, he was looking worse. “The entire clan is falling into rage…”
“What?” Twilight gaped. She was at a loss. As bad as it sounded, she could get He of Hourglass falling into rage, given that he had been struggling against the rage growth for nearly two years, but the entire clan? She just didn’t want to believe that possibility... “But he was not speaking…. ‘demonically’ much less than Quartermaster! Though he didn’t speak at all...”
“YOU THINK THAT SPEAKING WITH AN ECHO IS THE ONLY INDICATION OF RAGE!?” Discord suddenly screamed, to the shock of Twilight and Celestia.
“I… I… don’t understand.” Twilight stammered out.
“No you DON’T understand.” Discord agreed as he rubbed his forehead. He suddenly felt bad for yelling at Twilight, as there were a great many things she still didn’t know. This war was really getting to him and now, with the prospect of possibly losing another Keeper... “As you know, the very early stages are the only time that the rage growth is reversible. The demonic voice is when a dragon first slips into the rage growth… it happens because the dragon is fighting himself. The very next step, that voice disappears… because he is no longer fighting…”
Discord didn’t even blink as Twilight lost what little was in her stomach. As much as he would rather leave her in blissful ignorance, he could not. She needed to know that if she didn’t fight to pull him back… if it was even possible at this point… If she failed, then all would be lost… He of Hourglass was the only one, after all, that would have the power to end the Chaos Bringers rampage. And then there was the chance that He of Hourglass would… join the Chaos Bringer…
“It is very easy to miss this final warning.” Discord continued as is if he was merely giving a dispassionate lecture. “Part of that is because dragons can angry or enraged (which can be often) and yet never be in any danger of Rage Growth. If one is not paying attention, or is not aware of this stage, one will think that the dragon is normal even when in actuality one should fight harder. The ‘loss’ of that voice can fool one into thinking that all is well when... when in actuality things are on the precipice… If his rage but increases just a smidgen it will become irreversible.”
“You should be afraid not only for him, but for the world…”
Twilight began to panic as everything that Discord had revealed and from what she had witnessed began to sink in. “But why aren’t the others in his clan helping him?” She flashed back to when Quartermaster viciously attacked He of Hourglass to end an episode that occurred after they first found out about the dragon graveyards.
Discord sighed. “Rage growth can be... ‘contagious’… I’ve seen dragons…. I’ve seen mated dragons were one falls to a rage growth only for the other to soon follow, just because one was becoming a rage dragon…”
“He of Hourglass slips into rage… The clan on the other hand... If what I’m sure is happening, the other members of the clan... They tasted his rage and they WANT this… they know the consequences… and they want those consequences…”
Twilight paled and nearly fainted. She couldn't believe that they would want the rage growth. From what she understood, no dragon wanted it. In fact, if what Sentinel told her was true, even the toughest dragon quaked in fear over it. Discord was not making any sense! “No. That can’t be true...Please tell me this is some sick joke of yours.”
“THEY WILL LOOK FOR WAYS TO ACTIVATE THE RAGE GROWTH THEMSELVES!!!!” Discord rose up as he roared those words, the light around them dimming sharply. He then snapped back to the way he was before. “And when that happens... they will not fight against it but fight to MAKE it happen.”
“How… how can you know this? You are not well liked by dragons.”
“True… but you forget my age… I know, not because I have been told, but because I have seen this happen before… I can’t say for certain, but the death of Sentinel by the Chaos Bringer may have crushed them so much…. no… “ Discord shook his head casting off a few icicles. “I’m now certain that was what it was… Grief, Twilight, grief can send the best, even the strongest, into madness…. and when one is in a state of vulnerability, it makes doing evil... easier to rationalize…”
Twilight came to a sudden realization as she listened to the draconequus’ explanation. The only remaining question was to see if she was correct. “You are speaking from your own experience, aren't you?”
“Yes.” Discord head dipped in shame as he choked back a sob, the memories of long ago welling up in him. The memories that led to his imprisonment… It was too much and Discord curled up tighter, pulling the blanket even closer around himself. All the while, shivering in fear and muttering tales of doom.
“What are we going to do?” Twilight wondered as the draconequus continued to mutter incoherently.
“I don’t know, Twilight.” Celestia sadly lowered her head. “I don’t know…”