//------------------------------// // Rise of the DragonWyrms // Story: At the Twilight of Harmony // by Rammy //------------------------------// Golden DragonHeart opened his eyes and blinked. It looked like he was in the Plane of Harmony, but wasn’t he already there? And where did his clan go? The last thing he could recall was talking to Soaring Skies about Soul Fire’s choosing, when suddenly, a bright light enveloped him. “Hey, my child.” Golden DragonHeart spun around to see a sight he had not seen in many months. A familiar alicorn stallion with kaleidoscope fur. “Harmonious Knight?” “In a manner of speaking, you could say that…” Harmonious Knight chuckled. “A manner of speaking…” Golden DragonHeart began to repeat before realization came over him. His eyes widened in fear, and he started to back away. He knew whom he was seeing: The Voice. “Must you repeat with me, as you did with Soul Fire? “ Harmonious Knight facehooved. That got Golden DragonHeart to stiffen up and stop trying to back away from the alicorn. “I failed you... I failed the path... You made a mistake with me… I was unworthy…” “Failed!? Made a mistake!? Unworthy!?” Harmonious Knight shook his head. “Did you not hear me before? You did well…” “How could I have done well? I…” It was making zero sense to Golden DragonHeart. He had wanted the Rage Growth, and fallen to it... He was the one out of all of the clan that knew that Soul Fire had to still be alive, and yet, he still allowed his clan to sway him… “Soul Fire should be the one with the honor, not me…” The Voice leaned forward to whisper into Golden DragonHeart’s ear. “I had already chosen Soul Fire to become a DragonWyrm but have been unable until now...” Golden DragonHeart blinked in confusion at the remark. Soul Fire gasped as his firstclaw grabbed his snout roughly. His firstclaw’s eyes snapped open in power. Golden DragonHeart then said something, which was lost to him. Sentinel blinked and found himself standing in a forest clearing. A clearing he had not been in since his Choosing. “Why you here?” Vorac called out from behind him. “Not sure, Vorac…” Was all Sentinel could say. He looked around to see Vorac behind him, like he heard, the flames of his inner fire causing his scales to glisten. The flames were as bright as always, and between that, and the light reflecting off of Vorac’s scales, the light was a bit much, so, out of habit, Sentinel raised his furry foreleg. “Why am I manifesting in my inner fire and as an alicorn?” “I can explain that.” Sentinel spun around to see an alicorn that looked like Harmonious Knight walking out of the forest. Sentinel was fully aware that all of the dragons that were in limbo prior to his Choosing had become one with the Voice. This meant only one thing, that this was the Voice, manifested as his old self, Harmonious Knight. “It appears that Golden DragonHeart has succeeded in his half.” Sentinel smiled as the Voice approached. “That he has…” The Voice smiled as he stopped in front of Sentinel and Vorac. “which is why I am here.” “No, don’t tell me. Let me guess.” Sentinel held up one forehoof while the other rubbed his forehead. “You want him as a DragonWyrm, but he feels that he failed you, that he is not worthy, and that I should be a DragonWyrm and not him?” “Astute as always, Sentinel.” “You know I vaguely remember Spike saying that…” “That’s why I said it.” The Voice smiled before his expression fell a bit. “The truth of the matter is, I wanted both you and Golden DragonHeart as DragonWyrms… But the world needed your alicorn magic… now that it doesn't…” “Then you know my answer already…” Sentinel interrupted Harmonious Knight. Whatever the Voice was going to say about it didn’t matter to him. If the Voice wanted him to be a DragonWyrm, then a DragonWyrm he would be. “Yeah… I do...” The Voice as Harmonious Knight smirked. The Voice then turned to Vorac. “And what say you wyrm?” “We one. Since choosing.” “Technically, no, though you have been in harmony with each other…” Harmonious Knight’s comment was cut off as he was slammed down by a furious Vorac. WE ONE! Vorac roared into the Voice’s face. Sentinel was taken aback by Vorac’s violent reaction. Well not the violent reaction part, but the fact that Vorac had threatened the Voice. “Of course you are… DRAGON FIREWYRM.” The wall that mentally separated Sentinel and Vorac shattered, to the shock of both of them. A force came over them, forcing them together. As that was happening, Sentinel could tell that he was forgetting everything from when he was a prey animal. It did not concern him, as he knew he was becoming something more than he ever was before. He was being reborn, like a phoenix. With that, he growled, in feral excitement. Just like when Golden DragonHeart was first chosen to take the Path of DragonWyrm, power rushed into him like lightning. The pain he was expecting never came, much to his relief. He could feel his old name once again being burned away, and his new name taking its place, and once the power left him, he could feel the urge to yell it out. “Yes, I AM CktüisLežothīzs Sirts. I AM DRAGONWYRM!” He roared, and a stream of green flame accompanied it. He panted as the effects faded away. “Whoa, cool.” Soaring Skies let go of his held breath. He was excited to watch his firstclaw becoming a DragonWyrm, but to see Secondclaw becoming one as well was overwhelming him. His wings were twitching, as the urge to rainboom tried to overtake him. He suppressed it, though, because, as much as he wanted to do that, he so wanted to not miss Secondclaw’s awakening. When the two became DragonWyrms, something else happened to Secondclaw. Something interesting, and, with Secondclaw now opening his eyes, he was sure. DragonWyrm Heart looked at Secondclaw and saw that he was stirring awake, and that he was sporting the mark of a DragonWyrm, in the form of golden scales on the face in the shape of a dragon’s paw. He sighed in relief, as he wasn’t sure that the Voice would really listen to his request. “Yeah… I guess having two clanmates as DragonWyrms would be cool...” “Well yeah, but I’m talking about Secondclaw specifically…” “What about Secondclaw?” DragonWyrm Heart had noted the strange change in his secondclaw, but did not yet know what to make of it. Secondclaw had always been unusual, so he was not going to panic, yet. He recalled that, as the power was coursing through them, making them DragonWyrms, that his secondclaw’s eyes shrank a bit, and the pupils became slits instead of the usual elongated oval. Secondclaw’s horns and scales that had not been blackened by the Nameless One’s fire then became dulled and weathered. His fangs that peeked through his closed maw yellowed and lengthened a bit, and the smell of rotten flesh wafted out of his now slightly opened jaw, as Secondclaw breathed out. DragonWyrm Heart would never admit it to Twilight, but the smell was heavenly and why not? He was a predator, himself, even though he would not touch meat. Just before DragonWyrm Heart pulled away and shouted, he noted that Secondclaw’s features now looked sinister… almost like he had, when he let himself go during the final battle. The exception was the inner fire that was shining through. It looked that same, if a bit raw and unwieldy; almost like a bonfire, over the campfire that it had been before. “He went through Wyrm Growth.” Soaring Skies stated. “I don’t understand.”  DragonWyrm Heart said as he helped Secondclaw get to his feet, as he was struggling to get up. “Wyrm Growth?!” “It’s what Rage Growth was before it was corrupted… I think… I… My head…” Soaring Skies clutched his head as pain built up. It had only been four days since he Chose, and he was still dealing with its effects. Digging for the answer in the Memories right now was a bit more than he could handle. “Soaring Skies, relax, don’t over do it.” It really didn’t surprise DragonWyrm Heart that Rage Growth used to be something else… He suspected that his own Greed Growth was a corrupted form of an early Choosing. That, however, still didn’t explain Wyrm Growth. He was about to ask Seconclaw what it meant, but his secondclaw seemed to be hyper focused on Soaring Skies. “Secondclaw?” DragonWyrm Heart tried to get Secondclaw to fill him in, but he got no response, as the dragon made his way right to Soaring Skies, not breaking eye contact. Secondclaw then sat on his haunches and continued his staring contest with Soaring Skies. This went on for several minutes. DragonWyrm Heart was about to ask Eternal Beats to see what he could hear, to see what was going on, when Soaring Skies twitched, which got DragonWyrm Heart to watch carefully, as it seemed that whatever was going on was ending. Suddenly, in a single, swift motion, Soaring Skies slashed Secondclaw’s throat. Blood squirted out of the wound as Secondclaw collapsed. WHAT THE VOICE DID YOU!!?  DragonWyrm Heart roared in fury at the actions of Soaring Skies. He was going to kill Soaring Skies for killing his hatchmate. To think that he allowed Soaring Skies to join the clan! An angry, feral roar, however, stopped DragonWyrm Heart before he could swipe Soaring Skies’ head off his shoulders. DragonWyrm Heart dropped his claw and let go of his magic as he turned around to see that his Secondclaw was fine, except for a nasty scar that ran across his neck. DragonWyrm Heart blinked in confusion to see that Secondclaw was angry, not at Soaring Skies, but at him! Now I am really confused. “What the Voice is going on?” Soaring Skies shook as the realization of what he did washed over him… He could remember that his secondclaw was staring at him, and the longer he stared, the stronger a strange urge came over him. An urge to do something he thought was awful. This only made the gaze, and subsequently the urge, stronger. Before he knew it, he had done what the urge was telling him. He had slashed the throat of his hatchmate. Wait... hatchmate?! Further realization came over him and his panic was replaced with joy and his wings twitched in needed to rainboom again. “Throat slashing is how wyrms become hatchmates… You see…” Am I the only one seeing Medallion? Eternal Beats interrupted Soaring Skies, pointing to a spot in the distance. “Well we are in the plane of memories… so it's possible that it’s a manifestation of our memories of Medallion…”  DragonWyrm Heart noted as he saw the familiar pink dragoness walking towards them, or as close to walking as one could here. “Hey boys…” Legacy Chaser swayed her hips seductively once she was in front of them. The entire clan’s jaws, minus Secondclaw’s, dropped. Secondclaw ran up to the dragoness and began to lovingly nuzzle her, purring happily. The dragoness leaned in and whispered something into the wyrm’s ears. An odd, growling purr could be heard from the dragon, along with a visible shiver that ran down his spine. “I’m a bit disappointed that you didn’t recognize who I am, DragonWyrm Heart.” “The Voice…” DragonWyrm Heart muttered in shock. He didn’t think that the Voice could manifest outside of a dragon's mind or inner fire… “How are you here? Why are you here?” “I’m here to help you with my sexy little wyrm.” Legacy Chaser giggled at the lustful reaction of said wyrm. “Until you get a grasp of how the wyrm ‘language’ works, you may have difficulty getting his name. His name is Dragon FireWyrm.” Dragon FireWyrm shifted himself into a proud pose, causing Legacy Chaser to giggle again. A whirl of questions buzzed in the heads of the gathered clan. Before they could get the courage to ask any of them, Legacy Chaser spoke up. “Soaring Skies, once you have recovered from your Choosing, please help your fellow clanmates and the Southern Isles clan by explaining to them what a wyrm is... though, for one, understanding will come from Slumber.” Soaring Skies could only dumbly nod in understanding. “I have to go. I can only manifest for a short time, even on this plane, and I still need to restore the Code and Memories for those that Chose before The Nameless One’s death…” Legacy Chaser was already fading away as she spoke, “Oh, and before I forget, from this point on the Hourglass Clan is no more; for now and evermore, you are the DragonWyrm Clan. Make me proud.” The Voice, as Legacy Chaser, fully faded away, leaving the newly renamed clan in shock and amazement.   “You know, the more I learn of dragons, the more I think that I should invest in a pharmaceutical company just so I can get a discount on pain and nausea medication.” History Seeker groaned at more information coming out of left field. At least Storyteller didn’t tell him whatever the Voice as Medallion told Dragon FireWyrm, as he was sure it was sexual in nature… Dragon FireWyrm?!  “Wait… why aren’t you angry about Storyteller revealing not only your hoard name but Sentinel’s, as I recall that the only one that could reveal a dragon's hoard name is the dragon himself...” “Well, he seems to be picking up on our ways and culture decently well…” DragonWyrm Heart had noticed that Storyteller had used his hoard name, but wanted to see if the pony would pick up on it or not. He highly doubted Storyteller would have gotten this far without the pony asking certain questions about dragon culture, particularly about names. He was not disappointed. “I don’t know whether I should be thrilled or insulted.” History Seeker grumbled. “Normally, I would be angry, but I am a DragonWyrm… Both my name and Dragon FireWyrm’s are recorded in the Dragon Heritage Memories, so that every adult dragon automatically knows our Hoard Names…which makes keeping it a secret a moot point.” “Okay… but why is it in the Dragon Heritage Memories?” “Now that is one of secrets of the Path of DragonWyrm…” DragonWyrm Heart grinned, knowing that it would annoy the pony that this was something that he wasn’t privy to, for now... “Why couldn't my parents name me Cautious Ninny instead of History Seeker?” The pony silently cursed his yearning to seek out things, which included old secrets...