Dragons of Hourglass

by Rammy

How Harmonious Knight Found Harmony

Golden DragonHeart put his book down. It had been a week since Soul Fire’s choosing. He wanted to see him after every other dragon had a chance. Soul Fire was already living up to his name finding out that MetalEtched Claws was preparing to lay three eggs. Then the strange turn around of Twixt’d. He could see why Harmonious Knight had seen potential in him…

Golden DragonHeart walked out into the City of Hourglass. It was a beautiful day as the sun was high in the sky and there was a cool breeze flowing through the air. A pair of Eternal Beats’ birds flew right by him. He couldn’t help but chuckle. The birds had no fear of any of the dragons in the city even though only himself and Eternal Beats were for sure non meat eaters. It was too soon to say for sure about Soul Fire.

He walked up to the Spiral Spire to admire it. Metal Claws had just been finished restoring it a week before Soul Fire’s Choosing. He flew up to the top of the spire. With any luck he would be able to see Soul Fire from there. Soul Fire was worse then when Metal Claws Chose. He kept moving around daily. It was impossible to have an idea where he would be.

Well I was hoping… Golden DragonHeart sighed when he couldn’t see his secondclaw. He cast a tracking spell and in his mind’s eye he could see the endless horizon. So he must be near the stairs that go down the mountain. He wasn’t one to go flying, even before.

Golden DragonHeart glided off towards the small forest. And as he saw there was Soul Fire lying near edge of the mountain on the road to the stairs. He banked back a bit to land in the tree line.

“Secondclaw?” He called out carefully as he made his approach.

The dragon in question chuckled before turning his head to face the speaker. “Golden DragonHeart, brother, my name is Soul Fire and we are alone.”

“Sorry, Soul Fire… all of this is just… a lot to take in.”

“Yes…” Soul Fire laughed a bit before he return his gaze to the vast horizon. “I suppose it would be given the events surrounding my choosing.”

He should have been there… He found you after so long with you missing. Golden DragonHeart thought bitterly at the reminder of the day Soul Fire Chose and the day he lost his bond with Harmony.

“I wasn’t missing and he couldn’t be there...” Soul Fire speculated on the sudden downturn of his brother.

“How did you know what I was thinking?” Golden DragonHeart wondered as he sat next to Soul Fire.

“He wanted to become part of The Voice happy and content and he didn’t think he could handle…” Soul Fire trailed off when an idea came to him. “Here let me show you.”

Soul Fire placed a claw on Golden DragonHeart head. The memories from a week ago played in the dragons’ heads.

---

“I couldn’t bare to ‘die’ with him there…” Soul Fire looked up at Harmonious Knight. “I know it’s coming... I can already feel it. It started as soon as you, or I, or ugh... whoever Choose. The only reason I don’t think it as fully happened is of where…uh.. the Choosing occurred…that and being an alicorn…soon to be ascended spark dragon... Why am I in lecture mode?! Of all the times to do that, I do it in the moments before my ‘death!’”

The scene changed to a few moments later.

Soul Fire watched as Harmonious Knight paced He didn’t like it that he was so upset. He lovely nuzzled him in hopes that it would help. Harmonious Knight stopped and nodded a thanks.

“I would rather leave this world happy then deal with a dragon doing something stupid and rage about trying to save me or something… I know he’s mature in hoarding, but the effects of losing a bond for the first time may be a bit difficult for him…or maybe not... I don’t know… I just... I don’t want to make it difficult… for either of us.”

---

“I’m in agreement with his reasons.” When Soul Fire saw the look his Firstclaw was giving him he sighed in exasperation. “Tell me. If he had told you, even with you being mature in hoarding, what do you think your reaction would have been?”

At that Golden DragonHeart looked off. He knew it would not have been good. He wouldn't have ranted and raged but… do something stupid, most likely, and it would have lessen the sacredness. He smiled. Even has an alicorn he was and is a great secondclaw…

“Golden DragonHeart… I’m sorry about your bond with Harmonious Knight.”

Golden DragonHeart spoke from memory. “‘in that fleeting moment in time those flowers outshine any treasure that lasts forever.’”

“A treasure worth more than anything is the treasure of the heart.” Soul Fire mused. “One that no one can take from you. The bond may no longer be linked to Harmonious Knight but you still have that bond.”

“Lecturing…” and just like him...

“I’m your brother and your secondclaw. I get special rights to lecture.” Soul Fire grinned.

“Of course...” Golden DragonHeart laughed, rolling his eyes.

Soul Fire’s grin faded as he felt it was time to go back to serious matters. “The matter still stands. You would have caused an disharmonious situation to become worse. Harmonious Knight needed to choose and you gave him that ability. Just as a good Keeper of Harmony should.”

“I gave him what?” Golden DragonHeart wasn’t sure what he just heard. Did he say I gave He of Harmony the ability to Chose?!

“The ability to choose?” Soul Fire repeated what he figured Golden DragonHeart was wanting to hear again.

“I… I need to check something…” Golden DragonHeart stuttered out before he teleported himself to the Council of Harmony.

Soul Fire rolled his eyes but followed right behind.

“There are three empty thrones…” Noted Golden DragonHeart. He had expected only two...

“Of course, there is…” Soul Fire called out, “Is the Alicorn Keeper now in harmony?”

The Alicorn Keeper of Harmony is now in harmony. The voices chanted a response.

“Is the Dragon Keeper now in harmony?”

The Dragon Keeper of Harmony is now in harmony. The voices called out again.

Before Golden DragonHeart could voice anything Soul Fire explained, “Those two questions should sound familiar. Harmonious Knight discovered something after he found out you talked with He of Laughter. In order for you to be in harmony the Alicorn Keeper had to be in harmony.”

“How would you know about that?”

Soul Fire sighed. “If I concentrate enough all of the memories of Harmonious Knight come into focus. Actually the memories of Harmonious Knight is clear from the time we started the clan it’s before that that it’s vague.”

“How!?! Dragons forget everything but names and their personality at their choosing! I figured that you might retain from uh whenever ever you joined the clan but before that…”

“They shouldn’t…” Soul Fire lamented.

“What do you mean?”

“Golden DragonHeart, you and every dragon since the Nameless one cursed our race has had a warped choosing… The memories of the life of a dragon before the choosing should never had been erased.”

Golden DragonHeart. I was suppose to retain the memories of Spike? His sight went red as he thought of all the things that the Nameless One did to his kind. He will pay! He slammed a fist onto the council floor and flames leaked out of his clenched jaw.

“Brother please stop…” Soul Fire understood his anger even more so as he knew what codes were messed up because of Spike’s long winded talks through the flames. Unfocused rage was not what the dragons needed right now, they needed a Keeper.

Golden DragonHeart took a few more slow breaths to calm himself down further. “I take it that just like Reward Seeker and the Dragon of Orange Scales and Spikes the memories are unrecoverable.”

“As far as I can tell, yes…” though that might not be the case for you my fellow hatchmate.

“How? Did the memories of Harmonious Knight survive?”

“Harmonious Knight was an alicorn and he had help. Don’t ask about the help it’s not for me to say.” It’s not time anyway… “You have my word that from here on out I will not be holding back secrets like Harmonious Knight did.”

“And what about before? Such as the memories of Harmonious Knight? He may have kept secrets that he shouldn’t had.”

Ugh, he is inadvertently violating a code… Of course, it’s one that has been lost because of the curse. When the time is right I promise, Golden DragonHeart, I will share everything. For there is no secrets among hatchmates. “Currently, the memories are only clear when I’m mediating… It’s very much like the non instinctual Heritage Memories. I would need time to sort it out. For now, I would prefer that I keep anything that Harmonious Knight may have remotely wished to be not known hidden even from you. At least until I can find out all of the details. I do not want to inadvertently do more harm than good because I did not have all of the relevant details. However, I will let you know if there is anything of great importance as soon as possible.”

Golden DragonHeart eyed his secondclaw for a moment but relented as knew that his brother would do as he said. “Fair enough... Now you told me before we came here that I gave you the ability to choose… You were alicorn and it would have required dragon magic. I never gave you any. My ash, yes, but not magic.”

“I could because you ascended me into a spark dragon.”

“I ascended you? How? The accession process should caused to you morph into a spark dragon and lose your alicorn nature.”

“Normally that would be true, but you forget, you are the Dragon Keeper of Harmony… I’m sure if a ‘normal’ Spark dragon had done it it would have been like you said.”

“Okay... but when did this happen?”

“The day you stopped Harmonious Knight’s fainting spell when he talked to you about the sixth element.”

“But I only healed him from fainting!”

“Hmm… yes, that was your intention… but we both know that dragon magic is not that precise. You probably didn’t feel you had the time to heal with precision and I would guess that you hadn't practiced healing with your magic yet. You tried to heal the symptom but ended up healing the cause… The only way to heal his Magic Wasting Disease required dragon magic transfusion.”

“But that doesn’t explain how…”

“What were you thinking of in the moments before?”

“I don’t exactly remember, but let’s see if I call pull it up…” He never tried memory walking here before but it should make it easier. Once he found the right memory he allow the Plane of Harmony to play it out with only audio given that the memory was of inner dialogue.

---

I see it now… I get it… that has to be the reason for me giving my name to them both. I’m sure of it. As I had written in my journals I could not let the pain of Twilight Sparkle to continue. A brokenness within her that tore at my very being and by my name it restored her though not completely… The last time I saw her the brokenness was still there but fading. But his pain… his pain is more then my name can fix. If anything his brokenness is increasing… Why? ‘The Alicorn Keeper is not in harmony’ the Council said. He of Laughter thinks it has something to do with his sixth Element. But I think it’s more than that… As Keeper I need to fix this broken harmony but I am at a loss as to what to do.

---

“Well there you go.” Soul Fire commented as sounds of Golden DragonHeart memory faded.

It got quiet as Golden DragonHeart thought on this and everything else Soul Fire told him. Soul Fire didn’t mind waiting and decided to meditate. There was a lot to think about but as the Dragon Keeper thought everything started to come together like a jigsaw puzzle.

“The ash illness!? That was because of the ascension! He hid the truth this whole time?”

“For the same type of reasons for him leaving just before my Choosing. He didn’t want you to be angry at yourself for nearly killing him instead of helping him. And if Harmonious Knight hadn’t Chose the ‘ash illness’ would have killed him. He was taking the ash cure more and more as time went on.”

“Yeah.... I would have been angry.” Golden DragonHeart growled. He was angry now but his anger was tempered somehow by things turning out for the better. “Are you cured of the ash illness then?

“Yes, it merely was the reaction of the dragon magic in the alicorn as my inner fire tried to come out.”

“On that matter I did some tests… which was very painful…” Soul Fire involuntarily spasmed at the agonizing memories. “I can’t use any alicorn magic unless I’m in my alicorn form. I also can’t use dragon magic in the alicorn form unless I want the ash illness to return… I hoping I can find a way to do both eventually.”

“Either way the alicorn form is not the true me… This is me. If I were to choose to I can expel my alicorn magic forever locking me to my natural spark dragon form. I won’t do that until after we rid the world of the ‘Nameless One’s’ wickedness… We need every advantage we can get.”

“While we are on Keeper things… Golden DragonHeart, I can no longer lead the Keepers. As such, I wish to formally pass the Leadership of the Keepers of Harmony to you. Do you accept?” When it seemed that his Firstclaw was hesitate to accept he elaborated, “Firstclaw it’s a matter of conflicts. How can I be your subordinate as Secondclaw and be your superior as head of the Keepers?”

“I don't think I’m ready… But I accept.”

“And that is why you are a natural leader. Don’t worry I got ten thousand years of memories in which to consult to help you. Not only that you have the council here as well… If you can find the right question to ask…”

Comments

[RadicalDishonesty]

So... the memories aren't supposed to be removed... but their "soul" still dies when they choose?

That's... I'm afraid I'm not so much outraged as just confused, now.

Not to the mechanics, that's explained well enough, but... I guess why it is that there's a "death" but now not a death.

Remember when I was all on about how losing memories and personality is a death, but I didn't think that it was literally a death? This is like the opposite: the things that would normally make it death are not there, but the claim is that this still involves a literal death.

[Rammy]

5969153 hey just be glad I darken the ending of this book... I traded a darker ending to book 2 for a less darker 3 ending

Harmony's choosing is extremely unique and so some of the usual rules got thrown out...

There is one more chapter dealing with Choosing coming soon hopefully that lessens your confusion a bit

ooops posted before I was ready..

[Kdusk]

So now we have a mind-reading dragon, and a lot of mysteries (but not all) have been solved. Pretty good way to wrap up a part of the story

[Rammy]

5970522 Mind reading? No just very good at guessing Harmony was the same way remember?

Any more Q's? as all that left is the epilogue and that will released with the first chapter of the next book.

[Kdusk]

5970613
Besides the obvious one?

[Rammy]

5971110 Don't make me lock you in a room with a bag of sugar and Pinkie Pie

[Kdusk]

5971130
Pour sugar on door
Pinkie eats sugar and door
Freedom