At the Twilight of Harmony

by Rammy

Not Since the Dragon Migration

22 days since Legacy Chaser’s murder

2 days since Baltimare’s destruction

Late morning, Hourglass

---

“You're my friend He of Hourglass… and... and… I can’t stand seeing you… hurting like this... Is there anything, anything I can do, besides what we are doing, that will help ease your pain?”

“Turn back time.”

Turn back time… ha! He of Hourglass darkly thought as he left. Still, to think that she really does care, to be willing to do anything...

“Firstclaw!” A pegasus pony guard ran up to him and saluted.

“Yes, what is it?” He of Hourglass growled, not scaring the guard at all, as they were trained to handle the sounds of angry roaring dragons so they didn’t freeze in combat.

“Five dragons are on approach from the west.”

That was fast… “What are the description of the dragons?”

The guard pony took a glass orb from his hidden satchel and smashed it to the ground, shattering it. He of Hourglass raised an eyebrow at the action but said nothing. He knew that the ponies had some strange spells that, more often than not, were homemade, and related to cutiemarks, and, if he had to hazard a guess, this was just such a spell.

Wisps of smoke rose from the shattered orb and collapsed into an image of five flying dragons. He of Hourglass recognized the fully orange dragon and the black and green scaled dragon. The other three were sea serpents, however, he had never seen before… A given that he had only seen five non clan dragons before, and only one of those was a sea serpent. “Two of those dragons belong to the Southern Isles Clan… As for the other three, my guess is, they are dragons they recruited to come. I’m surprised they managed to not only get here so fast, but bring with them three sea serpents.”

“Notify the guard to implement Dragon Gathering procedures.” The guard pony saluted and ran off towards the guard barracks. He of Hourglass smirked. To think that dragons don’t see a use for them other than food! “Quartermaster, go tell your son about the arrivals. I’m sure he remembers, but make sure that the High Griff reminds the griffons to avoid the city for the foreseeable future. I want our energy on him, not each other.”

Quartermaster grin widen. “Of course, Firstclaw. We need every drop to purée him.”

“Hmmm, Nameless One smoothies…” He of Hourglass smacked his lips. “I like. Now go on, while I think of a gem garnish to go with that.”

“Save me some…” Quartermaster smirked as he went off towards the griffon encampment.

He of Hourglass flew up to the top of Spiral Spire and sent up a stream of green flame to let the approaching dragons where to land. The dragons arrived about twenty minutes later. While he was waiting, Scorpion joined him, and Quartermaster returned from letting his son know of the arrivals.

As he figured, it was Merc and He of the Southern Isles, now known as Windjammer, along with the three unknown sea serpents. The first two were mirrors of each other. One had pale blue primary scales and white belly scales, the other, of course, had the opposite. The final one was two-tone light green with a small navy blue goatee. He was small for a sea serpent, but as he had never seen a sea serpent at different growth stages, he had no idea which stage he was in.

Merc narrowed his eyes as he looked over the Hourglass Clan. Something was off about them. After a moment, he just dismissed it as steeling themselves for the retribution that was coming.

“Welcome to Hourglass, Home of the Hourglass Clan. I am He of Hourglass, Firstclaw, and these are Quartermaster and Scorpion.” He of Hourglass motioned to each dragon in turn. “There are ponies and griffons inside the city. Do not harm them, as they are here by our request, and are not thieves. We have set up an area for you to stay while you are here. Scorpion will guide you there momentarily. I do have one question before then: how did you get here so fast?”

“We were in the area of Port Klippfisk, trying to track down a lead concerning the Wolven Amulet.” Merc answered.

“Let me guess, it's still being elusive…” He of Hourglass’ claw clenched harder.

“Yes.” Merc growled. “That is the only reason for only our three friends/allies; otherwise, you would have the full might of the Southern Isles Clan and Alliance. Though I’m afraid that its might in recent times has been… diminishing...”

“Diminishing?”

“Sea serpents are dying by the dozen…” Answered one of the serpents.

He of Hourglass growled out through clenched teeth. “It seems no dragon has been able to avoid his purging, barring the ice dragons…”

“What do you mean?” Merc was a bit shocked at what He of Hourglass was saying… Purging? What is he talking about?

“Not out here. In my library.” He of Hourglass waved for Merc and Windjammer to follow. He nodded for Scorpion to take the others to the designated dragon nesting ground in the stadium.

---

25 days since Legacy Chaser’s murder, Noon

---

*Enough!* Scorpion mentally roared at Scorpan. *Or did you forget I can hear your song, and by extension, see if you are being truthful!*

Scorpan had not forgotten, he had just wanted to wait a bit longer, to be doubly sure of his recovery, which, by his estimate, was complete two days prior. The damage to his vocal cords was severe, but, by letting them rest fully, they would not be stressed, and it would allow them to not only heal faster, but fully. The tonic that he had given him that first week was not only designed to strengthen but also speed up the healing process as well. The tone and words from Scorpion, however, indicated that the dragon was not going to take no for an answer, and to push back would end up with him being hurt or worse.

“Okay, slowly and softly,” Scorpan conceded, motioning the dragon to lower his neck to allow him easy access to feel the voice box with his magic. “Start with humming.”

Scorpion complied and, for the first time in six weeks, the sound of his music, not from one of his instruments, could be heard in Hourglass. Scorpan smiled as he felt its effects, but that wasn’t the only thing that made him smile. So far, there was no indication that the humming was putting any undue stress on the vocal cords. His assessment of the dragon being fully healed was so far correct.

Scorpan’s smile faded as he suddenly realized that something was wrong. The rumble from it was like a massage that entered his hands and spread out through his body. This had made his arms and hands numb. He pulled away to remove himself from the effects, but the damage was done. He groaned when he heard the mental chuckling coming from Scorpion, while frantically dancing around, trying to get his body to wake up.

“Okay, now,” Scorpan returned to feeling around the voice box of the dragon, now that he had feeling again, “‘Ooo’ starting from the lowest pitch, and slowly go to the highest pitch that you can comfortably go.”

Well, so far so good. Scorpan noted as Scorpion slowly raised his pitch. “Okay, drop an octave, then hold it steady until you run out of breath.”

Scorpion grumbled but complied.

Scorpan was shocked when the dragon managed to hold a note for a good five minutes. He knew dragons had excellent lung capacity, but even then, he was not expecting a note to be held out that long. “You are cleared for everthing, as far as I'm concerned. Just try not to strain yourself by roaring or firebreathing too quickly…”

“I know that, Hermit!” Scorpion roared, not even realizing that he was not ‘speaking’ via Soul Song. His voice had returned to being lyrical, like it was before South Crystal City. “I got that with your examination. Plus, Firstclaw‘s library may be old, like this city, but the city was so advanced at the time of its ‘abandonment’ that much of its knowledge is either current or ahead by several centuries!” Scorpan wanted to facepalm in frustration, as reading was never the same as actually practicing it, but the anger pouring off of Scorpion, on the whole, was climbing. Still, thanks to your skill, I have my voice back, and for that I thank you.

Scorpan eased to a sitting position as Scorpion left the medical tent. Even with all his anger and rage! I guess I should be glad that those of evil or dark hearts can’t access Harmony Song magic. Something else bothered him: from what he was told, Scorpion was only able speak via singing. The only explanation he had was it was from the prolonged silence and his voice needed a bit to fully come back, given that the last line had been sung.

He had also noticed that the clan had not been in the best of moods since Sentinel’s death. He had wondered what had been different about Sentinel’s death over Medallion's. After Medallion’s death, with exception of Sentinel, life in the clan resumed very quickly; however, this time, it did not. Scorpion had not played any of his instruments since word came back, while He of Hourglass had been uninterested in his library, with the exception of that damn map in the back room. He was never allowed in the forge, so he had no idea on the mated pair, but their son Twixt’d had only flown when necessary. He couldn’t shake the nagging feeling in his heart of what all of this meant…

---

30 days since Legacy Chaser’s murder, Sunset

---

Twixt’d sat on a rooftop near the stadium, thinking, as the sky started to change color, indicating that the sun was setting. There was no way to tell until then, as the sun spent a good time below the horizon of Terra Hourglass. The sunsets of late were a melancholy time for him, and not just because of the loss of his friend, but of his own life… it was as if a chapter of his life was ending just as it had begun.

“Amazing, isn’t it, young whelp.” A voice remarked.

“I guess so.” Twixt’d shrugged, but didn’t look back at the voice. He had seen better sunsets during his time in Hourglass; hell, he’d seen a few in Traxti City that could rival this one.

“You guess so?!” The voice questioned incredulously.

“I’ve seen better sunsets…” Twixt’d waved a claw towards the west.

The voice started to laugh uproariously before a bad cough replaced it. Twixt’d waved off the thick smoke that wafted past him. It wasn’t a good smelling smoke, and that was saying a lot as a dragon. He turned to face the dragon and he saw a golden dragon with a brown belly. One of his dull and cracked horns that adorned his head was broken, and he had scars across his entire body.

“I wasn’t talking about the sunset.” The golden dragon shook his head in amusement. “I was talking about them.”

Twixt’d looked down in the direction that the dragon indicated. He saw some of the dragons that had been coming into the city over the past few days. The numbers were only a few dozen, but, in a way, he could see what the golden dragon had been implying. Some were gathered around a bonfire, snacking on gems, laughing, and telling stories, while some were lazily lounging half off of some nearby rooftops, and, even at the late hour, there were some in flight around the city. The ones in flight interested him, and he wondered why he never noticed them.

“I remember my first time… I was, I admit, a skeptic, but the sight was…awe inspiring… Then there was one time… To see the ponies scurrying away from our might like the little ants they were.”

“The ponies are no ants!”

“On that day, they were…” The dragon laughed, oblivious to the increasingly angry whelp. “But...I remember when there was news of a pony at the migration. It spread like a dragon flamed wildfire. I had to see for myself. He may have been born of the weak, furry kind but he had the strength and heart of a true dragon… An alicorn, I believe, is what he called himself...”

“Yes, the Alicorn Keeper... but we don’t talk much about the migration here… It is a sore spot for our clan.”

“Fascinating… Tell me why the migration is a sore spot.”

Twixt’d signed and contemplated not to, but, in the end, decided to indulge the old dragon. The tales of the dragons in flight intrigued him. “Only if you tell me more of the migration in flight.”

---

32 days since Legacy Chaser’s murder, Evening

---

“I can’t wait to make him scream like a hatchling. He is so pathetic and cowardly that he had to resort to his damn Magic Wasting Disease to kill me…” The elderly and scarred golden dragon coughed a bit, spewing some ash, and nearly blowing out the fire that he was gathered around, along with some other dragons. “So here I am, and I figured that, if the Nameless One is going to kill me, I might as well go down kicking the lava shit out of him.”

The gathered dragons roared in laughter and in agreement. The elderly dragon had to stop early and drink some water he had in a large barrel. It was not much, but it helped. He looked over and found that there were only a few barrels left that had water still in them. He would have to go refill them soon. He sighed at that; he was enjoying the conversations… It was like the Dragon Migration… pity that that was no more. Tales of battle were always a joy.

“How much longer before we can get our ton of flesh?” A second growth yellow dragon growled in irritation. He wanted to fight now.

“The Dragon Keeper says in the next few days. And get this: the Nameless One is being driven towards us by ponies!” A white and pink dragon had laughed so hard that he had to wipe a tear away.

“Well if it isn’t the young whelp who is what was it called? High Griff?” The blue dragon chuckled as he greeted the approaching Twixt’d.

“My name is Twixt’d.” Twixt’d growled angrily. He had wanted hear more stories about the Dragon Migration, but the comment from the white and pink dragon soured his mood for it. “And I suggest that you keep your unkind opinions about ponies down… The Alicorn Keeper was a part of the Dragon Keeper’s Hoard, a member of the Hourglass Clan, and was my best friend.”

“You know, I was meaning to ask you the other night… And you comment just now reminded me. Why is the Alicorn Keeper not… here...” The elderly dragon’s question faded out as he saw Twixt’d’s gaze drop and tears, glistening from the firelight, drip down his snout.

“Sentinel was killed by the Nameless One two weeks ago…” Twixt’d whispered as he turned and faded away into the darkness.

“To think that ponies could have such an effect on dragons…” The elderly dragon muttered. The other dragons nodded in agreement.

---

35 days since Legacy Chaser’s murder, Morning

---

“Something troubling you, Firstclaw?” She of Hourglass had watched him sit there all morning, without moving an inch. He was always staring off to the north.

“The aura coming from him is strange.” He of Hourglass commented. He had been watching the Nameless One as soon as he was visible. He wanted to savor every moment of it, as it meant he could count down the moments until he could do everything he had been dreaming about doing to him. But that aura gave him pause.

“Well, he is the propagator of Dark Magic…” She of Hourglass lamely added. She winced as soon as she said it, as she knew that she was the least familiar with dark magic of all of the clan.

Sentinel had lived for ten thousand years, and was a Keeper, so he had dealt with dark magic over and over during that time. Even He of Hourglass had tasted that in his young life, fighting both Sombra and the dark dragon golem construct. Quartermaster had fought a rage dragon and Scorpion had tamed Wendigos. Her? She was merely support during the invasions and, while, in those cases, there was dark magic, it felt… weak... and they, the ‘lings, could be taken out by physical prowess alone. No way would that be the case with the Nameless One. It frustrated her to be unable to be more helpful or do more for the clan. She had been ordered to stay behind to guard Hourglass during the coming battle. The one consolation, that she really hoped would happen, was that the vile ‘white’ and yellow dragon might try to attack Hourglass while its defenders were concentrating on the Nameless One. She was really wanting to pay back that dragon for Medallion

“Maybe…” The spark dragon muttered. He thought back to when he fought Sombra with his secondclaw, and when he fought the the dark dragon’s construct. He even dwelled on what the Roc Amulet felt like. Those all did have slight differences to them… but at the core, it was still the same: heavy, cold darkness. He supposed it was possible that the source of dark magic would feel different just by virtue of being not only the origin of all dark magic, but also the strongest.

“What the!?” He of Hourglass exclaimed as the world suddenly darkened. He looked up to see the sky a dark blue, like at twilight. As he looked for the cause, he saw that the sun had suddenly shifted downward, and was half set in the west. He of Hourglass’ gaze then shifted to the east, and what he saw was the moon, half risen. Why is the sky in an odd state of twilight, caught between night and day?

The answer came when he went back to the Nameless One. He could not make out any finer details, but what he saw told him everything: flashes of light and flame, and the sound of a rumble like thunder.

“Damn it!” He of Hourglass cursed. “Sound the call: the Nameless One has gone on the attack!”

Author's Note:

There. Are you happy now!? Scorpion has his voice back so you can quit asking me will EB get his voice back like you did with 'will Quartz return?' I swear you guys are worse then these two:

Okay Rarity inspired rant over.

In seriousness I don't mind you asking me those questions it just makes me laugh and do my Mr. Burns impression

I originally was not going to have his voice return but... without Sentinel I needed to give them a little bit of a chance... just a smidgen... maybe...