> Dragons of Hourglass
>  by Rammy
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Prolouge: Galloping in Fiery Dreams
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A cool breeze wafted through the trees. Stars twinkled through the canopy above. An owl hooted before silently gliding off. The sounds of hoofed creature could be heard walking in the underbrush. A snapping twig scared a rabbit which suddenly burst out of a bush fleeing in a zigzag pattern down a small trail.

Out from among the trees Harmony stepped out. His fur and feathers, like always, shifting colors. His snow white mane glowed in the pale light. His sleek, black tail, however, was so dark it absorbed all.

He stopped for a moment, peering around. He snorted lightly before walking onward. Gazing downward he saw the trail used by the rabbit earlier. The alicorn stepped out from the underbrush and began walking down the trail.

He followed the trail deeper into the forest. As the vegetation thickened tree branches and brambles scratched his sides. Ignoring the irritation he trudged on hoping that he would eventually break through the forest to get a better idea where he was. He couldn’t remember how he got here nor where ‘here’ was. With any luck he would find a clearing to allow him to see enough of the starry sky to see where he was. If not, he could at least get above the tree tops. 

So intent on looking around for a clearing that he missed seeing the vine that was growing across the trail. He tripped over the vine he stumbled into a thorny bush adding many more cuts and scraps. Growling in irritation he got up and brushed off some of the brambles and dirt ignoring the bleeding. He took a few cleansing breaths before moving on.

After what seemed like too long, he finally saw an opening through the trees. Breaking into a fast trot he pushed forward. The opening in the trees led into a meadow. Above him where stars should be shining clouds swirled around except around a group of stars. The hole in the sky had a shape that made it easy to identify the constellation.

“Draco?” He questioned outloud. That was odd. Why would the clouds open up in the shape of a dragon and have the constellation Draco in the middle of it? Something was definitely wrong. He ears twisted about trying to pick up a sound, any sound. The sounds of nighttime forest were absent. Even though he was in a meadow and was not within the trees themselves he should still be hearing sounds of animals. He couldn’t even hear any rustling of leaves with the breeze that was still in the air. This lack of noise was not good.

Harmony warily eyed the forest trying to peer into the darkness to see what if anything was stalking the forest. After scanning the forest twice even using magic to enhance his vision he could find no signs of movement nor of a creature hiding in preparation of jumping out to attack.

This was not making him feel any better. He took a moment to again look up at the sky. Nothing was different than before. The cloud still swirled angrily and the constellation still twinkled.  

His eyes seem to dwell on the stars a bit longer than needed. It was as if they were gazing back at him. The longer he looked the more to him that it seem to be eying him with greater scrutiny. It was like a hawk bearing down upon him like its prey. He couldn’t help but to cower in fear willing that it would stop.

A beastly roar filled his ears dispelling that it was all in his head. The stars comprising Draco turned blood red. Smoke suddenly filled his nostrils. Looking about he saw that the forest around him was suddenly a roaring inferno. He could feel the heat bearing down on him. Black smoke obscuring all of his vision and coating his lungs making it harder to breath. 

In a panic he galloped around the clearing trying to find an opening, any opening. He couldn’t find any only increasing his panic. Every time he thought there was a break in the fire a wave of heat and flames would crash against him driving him back. He even tried smothering the fire with his magic but the fire seem to ignore his magic as if there was no magic trying to interfere. 

The fire had to be magical in order to not be affected by magic. The question was what type of magic fire could be strong enough to not even be affected by alicorn magic!? The question was driven out of his mind and the fire flared up suddenly and started burning through the tall grass toward him. He had no choice but to back up towards the center of the meadow.

The smoke and fire would make it outright impossible to fly out leaving only his magic to save him. While it was dangerous to teleport out without knowing where to go he needed to get out and fast. His horn glowed in preparation to teleport out but couldn’t get his magic to respond. His horn had frizzed out. He tried again only for his aura to fail again.

He screamed in pain as the embers from the approaching fire landed on him setting his fur and wings on fire. He gritted his teeth both from the pain and the attempts to concentration on any spell that could save him. Nothing came. He was losing, fast.

The smell of burning fur and flesh overpowered his nostrils. He collapsed as he began losing consciousness. A dragon roar filled his ears as his vision faded. Draco was the final thing to fade from his vision.





“EEEEEEEEE YAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!” He screamed nearly jumping in fright. His fur and mane were mated in a cold sweat. The moon could be seen shining through a hole in the roof.

“Luna I can take care of myself.” He grumbled a bit, trying to calm his nerves.

The moon slowly moved away from the hole and the room darken. Shaken, Harmony sighed a bit than slowly laid back falling once again into a troubled sleep.
> Golden Journal #1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Golden Journal #1



From the Journals of Golden Heart, He of Hourglass.  



3 days after The Choosing




I love my hoard. What real dragon wouldn’t? The library here is just perfect. Sadly it has been neglected far too long. I will make sure that never happens again. No good dragon would let a hoard fall into disrepair. Given the number of books and scrolls here I will have my work cut out for me for a good year before the hoard is up to more acceptable levels. Not that I mind given my immortality. Still…

The initial excitement over my hoard is diminishing faster than I expected… I can’t be too sure on the cause… The Heritage Memories aren’t fully integrated with me yet. From my calculations it should take around a month. That would be if I didn’t have Keeper memories as well. My head has been giving me such a headache.

Speaking of Keepers the remaining two Keepers were here at the time of my Choosing. I don’t care for the full story. I only care from the moment of my real birth. But these Keeper Memories are in conflict to a dragons…

pretty books

Given the number of books and scrolls here I will have my work cut out for me for a good year.



There is so much to do yet in my Hoard.  I can not neglect those that have taken sanctuary in my territory so today I have to let them into my hoard. At least the part that is ready.  



Why do I have such feelings of brothership with the Keeper known as Harmony? I know that isn’t his real name.

I told him that I wasn’t an ordinary dragon… Which I guess is right given that I am the Dragon Keeper of Harmony… But I also without hesitation I called him brother! I gave him my Hoard Name!  It wasn’t like with the young ascended one called Twilight Sparkle. Something with her tore at my very being, my very name. I will not go against my name.

That wasn't the case with him. I said all that without thinking on instinct!… and yet somehow it just feels right… What is so special about this Alicorn Keeper? 

Somehow the Keepr Keeper Memories are Harmonizing with the Dragon Heritage Memories. The only thing that could allow that… no it can’t be…

tThe name… He helped with the Choosing something so sacred that he should have been killed by on sight… what did I tell him?  “But so is being an orphaned or unguarded egg.”

Everything goes back to my name. The answer must be pre-Choosing!The only memories of that are my names, emotions     

and Keeper Memorys Memories




> Golden Journal #2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


From the Journals of Golden Heart, He of Hourglass.  


Entry #2  



(1 month after The Choosing)




What in hatchling wings was I thinking? I have been staring at my first entry for hours and I can’t figure it out. It’s a mess of confusion and… Yeah I would say confusion is a good word to use.
My memory from that time is fuzzy, faded almost. I can’t tell if its normal or not given that I have two sets of magical memories: the Dragon Heritage Memories and (for lack of a better term) Keeper Heritage Memories. Well there is a third type… may its more common than I thought or should I say was… that type hasn’t been around since it. Though I’m sure unlike the Keeper Memories that type is less likely to… override the Dragon Heritage Memories. It should be more like complimentary.

Still, the entry could be useful when I reimplement that. It might give me some insight on what to expect. (I will take some time and write separately everything I can remember.)

Even if it wasn’t I can’t get rid of it now its a part of my hoard. I must be more careful what I add to my hoard in the future. 

I think I might show it to He of Harmony. It might be insightful for him to get a better understanding of what goes on right after a Choosing. Huh, well what do you know? I keep finding some worth for the first entry. I’ll make a copy for him to look at later though.

I will dwell on this a bit more later. I can sense that the Alicorn Keeper He of Harmony is approaching the library and I will need to see what he needs.

Until then may your claws stay sharp and your fire roar.


> Broken Gems
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Oh buck it.” Harmony cursed throwing the gem he was examining in frustration.
 
Again he could find nothing wrong with any of the control gems, and none of the power gems were burnt out missing or cracked. He was getting nowhere fast. He wasn’t ready to get Twilight yet. He wasn’t sure how helpful she would be anyway as the machinery was at least a couple centuries ahead of Equestria. For that matter the vortex of energies make the system he was examining only possible here. 

There was no manual that he could find. He had checked the secret archives at the council building six times. There wasn’t any record on who built or designed the defense system. A hint had to be somewhere as the machinery was too complex to not have a set of blueprints or a manual.
 
Harmony sighed heavily. Neither thinking nor staying here was going to help. The only other place that might have some answers would be at the library. It had been a month since the Choosing meaning that it should be safe enough to ask him for help. Not that seeing him the night and three days after were all that safe. He just knew that it was going be one of those days.





Golden Heart narrowed his eyes dangerously, “You need a manual for Hourglass’ defense system… a manual for the defense system!?”

Harmony’s mouth went dry thankfully for he was sure he would have gulped otherwise. He really didn’t want to hear the double phrasing. Something told him that the dragon thought that he had somehow failed in his duty in protecting his hoard. A sore spot for all dragons but Harmony knew there was something deeper than that. Knowing how Spike was like Golden Heart could possibly have similar issues. He had no more time to think on the matter before he saw a claw swipe coming at him.

Harmony quickly jumped back opening his wings in a threatening manner. Golden Heart lunged forward snapping his jaws barely missing the alicorn as he slid to the side.

“It has nothing to do with your inability to protect Hourglass.” Harmony growled through gritted teeth. Come on...Give me an opening...
 
Golden Heart did not seem to waver at this as he swung his spade tail missing Harmony’s head by inches as he ducked down. The alicorn continued to duck downward transitioning to a roll. As he came out along the dragon’s side he used his magic on the floor causing it to rock. The motion knocked Golden Heart off his two feet and onto four. Harmony took advantage of this and jumped on top of him causing his legs to completely give out.
 
Harmony magically increased his weight to make it easier to keep the dragon down. Golden Heart stopped struggling momentarily. Harmony took the opportunity to whisper into his ear frills. “It has everything to do with its defenses failing before your arrival. You know as well as I do the significance of Hourglass and there are things here that if found by the wrong people could cause us more problems than we can handle right now. You are my brother, Golden Heart. I wish not to fight you nor would I ever imply your inability to protect your hoard.”

At that Harmony released Golden Heart confident he got his point across. He was kind of glad that the fight was in the library stopping the use of fire. That alone would have lengthen the fight and would most likely increased the chance of collateral damage.

Golden Heart stiffly got up popping a few joints. The dragon eyed Harmony very hard before the feralness of his eyes lessened back to normal. Smoke puffed out as he grumbled angrily. Harmony caught something in his eye before he turned around to clearly sulk on his gem pile. “Very well take a look. If you find something that may be of help let me know so I know which book you are borrowing.”
 
Interesting… he is treating his hoard like any librarian would. Also...I wonder… Harmony thought trying to get his head around this dragon. He will dwell on this later he had more pressing matter to attend to.
 
Golden Heart shifted on his pile snapping Harmony out of his train of thought and out of the coming headache. Taking the dragons ‘subtle’ hint as his cue to leave he moved out of the room and back into the main foyer. His answers would be elsewhere in the library. Golden Heart’s “bed” was located in the main reference and study hall. Most of the books in there would be encyclopedic in nature. He need to find the history and nonfiction sections. With any luck he could find clues that he needed.
 
The problem was there were two other halls and he couldn’t remember which one was the correct direction. Taking a guess that the hall to the right was correct he began down that hall. The hallway was not yet restored or cleaned yet as he could see dust covering everything and the plaster on the wall was chipping off. He walked in silence for a few moments before he got to the end. The doors at the end were half of its hinges. Rotten pieces of the wood littered the floor leaving gaps in the door.
 
Well he hasn’t gotten to this section… yet. Harmony thought has he stepped through the shattered doors.
 
He could see that it look very much like it was the last time he was here nearly two hundred years ago and to a lesser extend a month ago in the Golden Heart’s... whatever that would be called… This was going to take time. Time that was running out. He need to get the defense system running again before taking the Bearers back to Equestria.
 



 
“Again, nothing!” Harmony was tempted to throw the book he was skimming but knew better. He had been browsing this section of the library for days and was not getting anywhere fast. He was in the history and nonfiction section that much he figured out within moments of entering. That was good and all if it wasn’t for the problem of not knowing exactly how it was organized. It also didn’t help that not all of the bookshelves were intact and with books and scrolls still in place.
 
“May I make a suggestion?”
 
Harmony nearly jumped out of his skin at the voice. Turning quickly he saw Golden Heart standing nearby with a bemused look on his scaly snout. “He of Hourglass!  I...I did not hear you approach.”
 
“Obviously.” He crossed his arms.
 
Harmony was not sure what to make of this. “Am I disturbing you, He of Hourglass?”
 
Golden Heart facepalmed rubbing the brow of his snout for a moment while correcting, “Golden Heart. He of Harmony. Golden Heart.”
 
“Of course, Golden Heart.” Harmony had to fight the urge to flatten his ears. This dragon was causing him to revert to equine instincts. He really didn’t want to dwell on the most likely reason for it.
 
“As for your question, you are not disturbing me. As for my suggestion, I think you should have your Bearer of Magic help you.”
 
Harmony was taken aback from that suggestion. How would he know that Twilight could be helpful? On that matter it brought him back to the night of the Choosing. He was missing something but he knew not what it could be.
 
Golden Heart seemed to know what was going through Harmony mind as he continued with a small smile forming,” It’s my business to know what goes on in Hourglass. Your Bearer of Magic seems to have a fascination with books. Every time she explores a ruin she brings out books. Just books. Now I don’t know her occupation but I suspect that she is a teacher, scholar, or a librarian.
 
“Part time librarian and scholar.” Harmony chuckled slightly blushing.
 
Golden Heart’s smile only widened at that. “Then she might be of some use to this project.”
 
Harmony thought for awhile weighing his options, the pro and cons of getting her involved. Seeing nothing wrong with his suggestion and since he was running out of ideas he reluctantly agreed. “Okay, Golden Heart, I will go get her.”
 
“She was in the northeast residential district last I saw her.” Golden Heart smirked when he caught Harmony’s expression.
 
Harmony caught himself once he noticed Golden Heart hiding a smile which only seem to increase in reaction. “Uh. Thanks, Golden Heart, that will speed up the search.”
 
He didn’t need Golden Heart to tell him where she was. Given that she was wearing the Element of Magic it would be easy to latch on to its unique magical signature. But he knew that the dragon needed to feel useful. 

Useful… He thought. A tingling sensation went down his spine. Harmony not wanting to give away anything on what he was feeling so he quickly exited the library.

He cast the tracking spell and wait a moment for it to hone in on the Element of Magic’s  signature. In a moment he could feel the faint trail coming from the Element. Golden Heart was right she was in the northwest district. Not wanting to deal with the maze of streets and dead ends caused by collapsed buildings and deep sink holes he took off flying.
 
After rising a few hundred feet into the air he began to head in the direction of the signal. Something ahead caught his eye and he turn a bit to a better view. He shook his head in amusement once he saw that it was a cyan pegusus with a rainbow mane and tail snoozing on a cloud below him. He banked back a bit to avoid waking her with his shadow.

The trail grew stronger as he reached the edge between the step pyramids buildings and the lowly squarish buildings that would have been mostly residential dwellings. At this point he dived downward to land to finish the search from the ground.

At that very moment Twilight was preparing to leave another home. Her search was not very fruitful that day. In the past six buildings she searched all she found was decaying remnants of books that she previously found. She was trying to find books that would help her figure out the languages of the people who once inhabited the city. She was well verse in ancient languages given her long studies on magic but the scripts here must be older or this civilization never traded much with ancient Equestria. 

So far though she had discovered up to four distinctive written scripts that could be a language she knew or maybe they were ones not known she wasn’t sure. Discord and Harmony probably could help but both have been MIA for a month now. The library could possibly have what she needed but Harmony’s warning was enough for her to avoid the public library and try and find the answers in private libraries.

She grumbled in frustration before stepping outside and slamming into something. Stumbling backwards she lost her balance and fell onto her haunches.

“Oops, sorry there Bearer of Magic.”

Twilight's head was swimming too much to understand who was speaking but she did managed to squeak out a response,” It’s okay I wasn’t really paying attention.” At that point she shook her head to clear the remaining fuzziness and looked up to see that is was the rainbow alicorn Harmony. “Uh it’s you Harmony…We haven't seen you in nearly a month.”

“Not surprising given that I have been in a bunker trying to find out how shadow demons managed to invade Hourglass.”

“We are in the middle of the ruins of a fallen civilization.” Twilight stated what she thought was obvious.

“Ruins, yes. Fallen civilization, yes. Without defenses to protect its secrets, no. I didn’t just pick Hourglass because of its isolated location. Hourglass has a very sophisticated defense system that should have repelled most of the shadow demons.”

“Oh.”

“Come. He of Hourglass has suggested that I recruit you as fresh eyes and magic to see if you can help me find out why a functioning system failed.”
 
Harmony lead her back to the center of the city. She stared at the library for a while before Harmony brought her back. He knew what she was thinking but now wasn’t the time for that. 

Once he got her attention he warned her not to reveal anything she was about to see. After she agreed he lead her into the council building through a side door. They began walking down a series of hallways and secret doors. She tried to keep track of the route but she got lost after the fifth secret panel.

Harmony raised an eyebrow at seeing Golden Heart standing there waiting. He didn’t think Golden Heart would be that interested in what would amount to be boring troubleshooting. Not only that but how did he find his way into the secret bunker. He inwardly shrugged not really in the best of moods for dwelling on oddities knowing how Twilight dealt with such problems: lists.
 
“Okay let’s start with the basic gem machinery troubleshooting.”
 
Harmony rolled his eyes glad that Twilight couldn’t see his expression. Golden Heart could and show off his fangs. Harmony raise an eyebrow at this but said nothing before turning to face Twilight. “Wouldn’t hurt.”
 
Pulling out a roll of parchment, ink, and a quill from her saddlebag she started writing a list. Harmony rolled his eyes a second time but waited nonetheless. Both keepers waited patiently for the next few minutes as she scribbled and muttered as she went over the list at least three times.
 
Eying the list a final time she nodded happily. “Okay ready. Let’s begin with the power gems.”
 
Harmony pulled a large panel underneath the control table revealing an assortment of glowing crystals.
 
“Wait stop. How did you know those are the power gems?”
 
“Well besides the fact that I studied this equipment for weeks? I have been to Hourglass many times in the past and don’t think I didn’t take a look at this then.” Having finished his inspection he replaced the panel, “Of course, it was working the last time…”
 
“No cracks or burnt out gems.”
 
“Okay, is power reaching the control table?” Twilight checked off cracked power gems and burnout power gems from her list.
 
Harmony slid under the table and started examining the wires with his magic. Twilight knew this part would take a bit so she turned to take a look at Golden Heart. The loss of Spike was still fresh in her mind but she also knew that he wasn’t completely gone with Golden Heart. The problem was she hardly knew him. Besides the night of the Choosing and the visit three days later she never got a chance to see how much Spike was within him.
 
Golden Heart seemed to notice that she was watching him instead of Harmony as he spoke,” Ascended One, is there something you need to speak to me about?”
 
“Uh…” Twilight mumbled not sure what to say or if she could safely speak without flubbing. She started and stopped several times before completely stopping.
 
From underneath the table came the slightly muffled voice of Harmony, “Bearer of Magic it’s not wise to not answer a dragon when they pose a question.”
 
Twilight paled visibly which was remarkable as the room they were in was darkened. The only light coming from the soft glow of control gems and the ever flowing sparks from Golden Heart both of which was not adequate to see much. Her blood went cold and she started to shiver. Golden Heart reached out and carefully ran his claws through her mane to try and calm her. 
 
“Please relax. I will not harm you.” He lowered his voice to a whisper and looked around in a exaggerated conspiratorial way, “He of Harmony is just jealous that you are allowed to be more slack in manners than normal.”
 
“I heard that He of Hourglass.” Harmony chuckled pulling himself out from under the table.
 
Golden Heart shrugged winking at Twilight who stifled a giggle with her hoof. Harmony facehoofed, groaning. He stood up and dusted himself off waiting for Twilight to calm down.
 
“Well all the wires are still properly connected. Also there are no short circuits or crossed wires.”
 
For the next hour Twilight would list a possible problem area and Harmony would check finding everything in working order. While Golden Heart remained calm through it all Harmony only got more frustrated.
 
Harmony closed another panel before turning to Twilight. His frustrated leaked through as he stated, “Like before I can’t find anything wrong with the equipment.”
 
“Maybe all it needs is recalibration.”
 
“Quite possible, but I have no idea how to do that… I…” Harmony was cut off by a very angry, feral growl coming from Golden Heart.
 
“Uh…” Twilight stammered out noticing the reddening sparks coming off of Golden Heart.
 
Seeing the signs he whispered softly, “Bearer of Magic something is approaching Hourglass.”
 
Twilight shook a bit in fear but had the nerve to actually ask the question. “And how would he know?”
 
“Because, Ascended One, a dragon’s magic can detect when an intruder approaches or breaches the border of its territory.” Golden Heart now responded still growling.
“The rock from before?” Twilight mused looking at Harmony.
 
Golden Heart had no idea what she was talking about so he assumed that Harmony would understand. Harmony, however, was also lost. Twilight facehoofed.

“Huh?” Harmony finally responded even if he was still lost. Twilight gave him a Really? look. His expression lightened as he suddenly remembered. “Oh, yes, exactly.”
 
Golden Heart didn’t wait any longer and waltz out of the control room. Harmony ran after him with Twilight taking the rear.
 
“Bearer of Magic gather the other Bearers I don’t want them wandering around with a possible threat.” Harmony called back as he turned a corner.
 
“What of Discord?” Twilight asked nearly tripping over some debris in the darkened corridor as the red light from Golden Heart made it difficult to see much.
 
“One, he can take care of himself. Two he knows the city very well as he grew up here. Three, he is also a Keeper.” Harmony responded while slamming a door ahead open so fast as to bust it off its hinges. Golden Heart didn’t slow down and shoved the broken pieces aside in his rush.
 
Stepping through Twilight noticed that they were in what appeared to be a back entrance to possibly the council’s main chambers. Golden Heart jumped down from the raised council bench. Cracks formed from where he had landed. Harmony and Twilight followed close behind gliding down using their wings. The dragon pushed opened the ornate doors and rushed through the main lobby.
 
“Bring them to the Spiral Spire.” Golden Heart commanded as green nearly transparent wings shimmered into existence on his back.
 
“Why there?” Twilight asked Harmony as Golden Heart had already taken off.

Harmony facehoofed. “Central location, less buildings to be blown up on top of you. Now GO!” With that Harmony flung Twilight into the air with his magic.
> Falling Star
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Where is that draconequus?”

“This is the third Changeling invasion again!” Rainbow shouted in frustration.

“Or my wedding.” Rarity grumbled.

“Will you drop that! He is a Keeper and does not require supervision. This is a dragon problem so He of Hourglass is taking the lead. Although…” Harmony stopped as he began to wonder where Discord went to. He hadn’t seen him since shortly after the Choosing. Just another thing of an increasing long list of things for him to deal with.

“I think I see something!” Rainbow Dash shouted. She started to lift off but was held back by Applejack.

“Noh so phas.” Applejack objected her voice muffled by Rainbow's tail.

Harmony looked skyward in the direction that Rainbow was pointing. He could see a purple dot that was most likely He of Hourglass. Near that was a sickly red dot that was moving about erratically. It was still too far for his magic to effectively see better details but he could at least tell that He of Hourglass was following the red dot.

“What is he doing?” Harmony wondered outloud.

“Harmony?” 

Harmony didn’t respond he was too busy tracking the movements of the red object and He of Hourglass. He lit his horn to try the sight amplification spell again. He could finally make out what the red dot was. It was an adolescent dragon. That made little sense an adolescent dragon would not normally set off territory wards.

He wasn’t sure given the distance but the dragon appeared to be injured. Given the irritated movement he didn't think the dragon would last much longer. Suddenly the dragon seemed to lose consciousness and started falling, fast.

“Bearer of Magic, shield, now!”

Twilight didn’t need to be told twice. She quickly conjured a purple shield that surrounded the girls. Harmony stood protectively in front with his horn glowing in preparation.

At impact a dust cloud rushed towards them. Harmony shut his eyes to it with his hooves helping in blocking. Coughing a little he blinked to see that the dragon had skidded through the streets before coming to a stop in front of him in an elongated crater. He had definitely came down full speed.

He of Hourglass roughly landed running a steps before coming to a full stop. His wings shimmered a moment before disappearing. Rainbow Dash’s, who was the only one besides Harmony who was paying attention to He of Hourglass, jaw dropped. Harmony could almost see the rage pouring off of him. The question was why he didn’t attack earlier and why he seemed to still be holding it back. His line of thoughts were interrupted.

“Is…” Fluttershy stuttered peeking around Applejack. “Is… he...”

Harmony peered downward at the motionless body in the crater. The head of the dragon was obscured by broken cobblestones. He could barely see that the dragon was breathing weakly, “Is he dead? No. He should be though with the amount and type of injuries.” 

Something was familiar about this dragon. But he wasn’t sure. Careful he lifted the dirt burying the head so he could examine his features. Recognition came the moment he cleared the head of debris. “Garble!!?”

“Garble? As in Garble, Garble?” Twilight didn’t like that dragon but even this was… extreme.

“How can you possibly tell that? This dragon has so many injuries his mother couldn't’ recognize him… or want him.” Rainbow Dash smirked a bit. She didn’t like him either and while she knew what ever happen to him wasn’t cool a joke at his expense was.

“You're not far off Bearer of Loyalty at least for the wanting part…” Rainbow suddenly went red and saw something intriguing on the ground. “As for how I can, lets list them: red scales, overbite fangs, torn wings, and orange frills. If that is too generic he bears a very specific mark. As for a dragon’s mother she could tell by smell or magic… at least until the Choosing…”

“But, darling, he’s covered in ‘marks!’ None of which that I can see are particularly… unique.”

“This ‘mark’ is a magical mark that only a dragon or myself can see...” Harmony trailed off as he suddenly realized something. Liting his horn he scanned the dragon and found why He of Hourglass didn’t kill him outright. He visibly paled, “Something is very wrong…”

“What do you mean?” Twilight tried not to let Harmony’s lighten fur get her to pale as well.

“For starters he was not allowed to leave the Dragon Migration.”

“Wait, I thought that was once in a generation.” Twilight was confused how would that be so frightening to Harmony.

Harmony was already feeling a headache coming. He really needed to start Twilight’s education but he had other priorities to deal with first. “The dragon migration is always going on it just doesn’t pass through Equestria but once every fifty or sixty years. Enough about that… Take a look Bearer of Magic, and tell me what you see.”

She gasped before darkly adding, “dark magic.”

“Exactly. He of Hourglass that was what you felt, correct?” He of Hourglass nodded slowly,” I suspect that the dark magic overwhelmed the dishonor mark otherwise He of Hourglass would have had a different response and Garble would have likely lost his life.”

“But that’s barb-” The rest of Rarity’s retort was cut off by a glittering aura around her mouth. 

Harmony eyed the aura. It made no sense as dragons don’t have auras. The closest was when they use fire based magic.

“I strongly suggest you shut it.” He of Hourglass let his fangs show visibly through a scowl. His claws outstretched sparks flowing from it towards Rarity’s mouth. 

Interesting… Maybe the sparks are a representation of his magical field. Better not let Twilight know this.

“A mark of dishonor is the highest form of shame a dragon can have. Death would have been a more preferable option.” Harmony explained seeing that He of Hourglass was done talking. 

“What did he do?”

“Dishonor me.” 

“Huh?!?” 

Ignoring the confused group of mares Harmony sighed heavily before speaking, “For the moment there is not much we can do. He of Hourglass, I would not normally ask you of this but given the circumstances…”

“It’s your mark not mine He of Harmony however the presence of dark magic in his wounds does concern me as well. Let me know the moment you find out anything of value. I don’t think I need to tell you but I will for the others. Keep him away from the library.” With that He of Hourglass stomped away cleary in anger towards the library.

“How rude.” Rarity shifted her head slightly into the air before turning to find Harmony right behind her with a cold stare.

“Bearer of Generosity once we get Garble stable you and I are going to have a private chat.”

Rarity gulped unladylike she remembered what happened that last time Harmony had a “chat” with one of them. Harmony kept up the gaze a bit longer before giving her a moments reprieve by moving around and down into the impact crater.

“Bearer of Kindness,” Fluttershy squeaked in response but managed to pull herself away from the rest and step closer to Harmony who was carefully pulling Garble out of the carter, ”You will need to help me take care of him until he recovers enough for me to ascertain what happened.”

“But what of the dark magic?” Twilight eyed Harmony struggling to counteract both the dark magic and a dragons natural magic resistance.

“He needs stabilization and rest before we do anything about that. The stress could kill him.”





“Do you know that being generous doesn’t mean you have the right to being ‘generous’ with your opinions. In the grand scheme opinions is nothing more than trash. For somepony who values being beautiful the way you belittle people is not beautiful. All that just because they don’t share you worthless idea of ‘culture’”.

Rarity was beginning to get a bit hot in the head. How dare this pony tell her the value of culture. Without culture how would society survive and not fall into barbarism?

“I have always despised the nobility.” Harmony snorted ignoring Rarity’s changing demeanor, “ Want to know why?”

“You know trash is disgusting right?” Harmony continued before Rarity could interject,” An icky, smelly mess. And no matter how much you try and dress it up or try and mask it with perfume in the end it’s still icky, smelly trash. Beauty without is useless without beauty within.” 

“With very, very, very few exceptions nobles are just like I described. ‘Prince Blueblood,’ ugh, is the norm not the exception. You blind yourself from the truth because you care more about what they think of you, which is how much power and prestige can they get from being around you. Your friends care about what you are not what you can do for them. So I ask you what do you value? Trash or the treasures that come from true friendship?”

Rarity resolve broke as she burst into tears from the shock. She wasn't sure if it was from the rage, hurt, or from something else. Her mascara started to run staining her face.

Harmony scrunched up his muzzle in disgust at the display, “Stop your snobbery crocodile tears. They only confirm what I just said. Buck up. Start living your element and not the false facade of acting it or have you so easily forgotten the rainbow thread or how Spotlight fell in love with you? I have you know that Spotlight fell in love with you because he saw you living your element.”

“How…”

“How would I know that?” Harmony leaned in and whispered, “You are a bearer of one of my elements it’s my business to know these things.”

At that an uneasy silence came over the two of them. Rarity from the emotional beating; Harmony from weariness. Memories of the past flooded his mind. The warnings of the consequences if he gave up his harmony magic and placed them into the elements. In front of him was one of those consequences. He still felt it to be the right decision.

“You’re still grieving over Spike’s ‘death’,” Harmony sadly whispered breaking the silence. “Anger is an okay response. But to take that anger out on He of Hourglass is not okay.”

“I…”

Harmony put a hoof to her mouth to stop her from speaking further. ”Bearer of Generosity did you know there were two mares in this world that meant to world to him… so much that they both had a role in the name he chose? One was his big sister, Twilight, The other was what one would call a foalhood crush: you.”

Rarity jaw dropped. The ramifications of what Harmony just said completely floored her. Her Spikey-Wikey thought that highly of her. Her poor attitude... it was just too much for her brain to process.

“But I am still serious. Time to stop acting,” Harmony put a hoof to her heart,” and start living it.”

Rarity stood there still gaping as Harmony smirked before casually walked outside and out of sight.
> Dragon Quest
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

** 14 years earlier somewhere on the Dragon Migration route. **


The long flight through Equestria was unusually quiet. He had expected to have to knock some sense into some overly excited whelps. The adults usually had enough sense not to do anything rash while in Equestria. This leg was particularly special this time. The Dragon Keeper lives in a small pony village they passed over two days ago. He of Harmony had sent a letter about a year ago about his hatching. Finally after many millennia the dragons would manifest their keeper. He didn’t have any luck seeing any dragons of the appropriate age in or around the village. It wasn’t like there would be a lot of dragons so close to the ponies. 

He wanted to stop there and check but He of Harmony had forbidden it. As He of Harmony was considered the guardian of the Dragon Keeper until he Chose he didn’t push the matter. Also as Equestria was considered by right to be Harmony’s territory entering it without an invite would not be wise.

He gently landed on the ledge. He casually flick a loose stone off. He about to enter the cave in front of him when he could smell an intruder within. A very familiar intruder, “He of Harmony hiding in the shadows again?”

“Sorry He of the Flight,” Harmony called out stepping into the light. He eyed the ancient yellow dragon with a sigh of nostalgia. He remembered when He of the Flight was a young adult dragon just starting the dragon migration seven thousand years ago, “I do not wish to be seen right now as I’m only passing through. I really don’t have the time for the usual festivities at migration stops. To your disappointment I’m sure.”

He of Flight waved his claw, “and yet here you are in my cave. I could press the issue.”

Harmony chuckled, “You can if you wish but I think we both know you won’t. Did the Equestrian leg of the migration go well?”

“You could have sent a letter.” A roar of a dragon distracted He of the Flight for a moment. He turned to look out on the gathering dragons but could see nothing that needed his immediate attention, “There is more going on. Explain.”

“True, I have news.” He of the Flight turned to face Harmony. “The changelings are on the move.”

“Have you ascertained why?”

“Ascertained?! No. And that concerns me.”

He of the Flight seemed to eye him for a bit longer then slowly turned his attention to a gathering of whelps below. “Well this is unusual.”

“Unusual?!” Harmony moved to the front of the cave. ”What do you mean?”

“See for yourself.” He of the Flight bobbed his head down towards the crater floor.

Harmony peered downward and had to look twice. “A hatchling?” He looked back at He of Flight in confusion, “A hatchling on the Dragon Migration!?”

“That would appear to be so.”

Harmony looked down and activated a hearing and seeing spell. He could now make out that the hatchling was purple and green. Purple and green? Why does that seem familiar… Harmony shook his head figuring that answers would come soon enough. First thing was to figure out why a hatchling was at the Migration. He moved his focus towards the group of whelps who were talking to the hatchling.

The purple and green hatchling piped up, “Oh, well, y'see, I live in Ponyville and–”

“Did I just hear what I thought I heard?”

“He of Harmony, I do think things just got interesting…”

“What is the Dragon Keeper of Harmony doing here!?” Harmony angrily ground his teeth. He really didn’t want him here. He knew there was a possibility that the Dragon Keeper would get curious about his people. He of the Flight explained to everydragon about the Dragon Keeper before the dragons went through Equestria in the small chance that if he did show up...

A red whelp called out, ”Who's up for a little belching contest?”

Harmony eyed the red whelp with a curious intensity, “Who is the red whelp? He appears to be the leader of the group.”

He of the Flight eyed the red whelp for a moment taking stock of his features, “Garble,” He finally answered.

Garble?! Sometimes I wonder about why dragons are named they way they are… Harmony noticed that the hatchling belched up a rolled, sealed up parchment. He wasn’t positive but he was sure that the seal was the royal seal.

Garble grabbed the rolled up parchment and quickly broke the seal smirking as he read outloud,” From the desk of Princess Celestia. Dear Spike, please te– Ha! Get this, guys! Spike's pen-pals with a namby-pamby pony princess!”

Harmony facehoffed at seeing Garble nonchalantly throwing the letter into a lava pool. “Garble that wasn’t smart…”

“Wait I see two Crackles.”

“Crackle?” 

“The gem encrusted green dragon.”

Harmony took a look down and indeed he saw two dragons matching that description. The one near the whelps looked off. He cast a different spell and noticed that the second ‘Crackle’ was actually three ponies inside a dragon suit. “That is not a dragon…It’s ponies in a dragon costume!” He suddenly made another connection. “Not only is the the Dragon Keeper here but if I’m not mistaken those ponies are three of my bearers.”

“Are they stupid? It’s extremely dangerous for ponies to be here.”
 
“They most likely came along to keep Spike safe. I cant see any other reason for ponies to risk life and limb to come here.”

“Spike?”

“Spike is not a pony name. So I would gather that it is the one dragon that you don’t know of. The hatchling Dragon Keeper.”

Spike chuckled nervously, “Good old tail wrestling…”

Harmony and He of the Flight could barely make out a pony whispering from within the suit, “We can't let little Spikey-wikey wrestle one of them! He'll get clobbered!”

Another pony whispered, “Let's go!” The voice deepened and called out loudly, “I challenge Spike to a tail wrestle!”
 
“Bwhahaaha… did a pony in a dragon suit say what I just heard?”
 
“Ugh.” This only caused more laughter to erupt. Harmony was silently wishing and hoping someone would relieve him of this humiliation.

Spike wrapped his tail around fake Crackle’s tail.

Garble crossed his arms before shouting “Ready. Go!”

Spike started pulling as hard as he could. After a few moments of struggling Harmony and He of the Flight could see a silent nod between two of the mares inside ‘Crackle’. The fake Crackle then promptly collapse in fake exhaustion.

He of the Flight couldn’t believe what he just saw. “Did… Did they just throw the game!?”

Harmony facehoofed, “Yes.”

He of the Flight eyed Harmony, “Remind me again why you think ponies and dragons can get along?”

The sound of Spike’s screaming snapped them from their debate just in time to see Spike hit the the crater wall.





Garble was holding Spike while climbing a pile of gems. “So, Spike, you haven't exactly proven yourself as a dragon yet, have you?

“Ugh, whelps! Think they know everything about being a dragon…”

“Says the alicorn…” Harmony went red in embarrassment which only made He of the Flight roar with laughter.

Garble pushed Spike causing him to tumble down the gem pile. He bellowed out, ”King of the hoard!”
 




Garble challenged,”whoever makes the biggest lava splash is the ultimate dragon!” He then made a running jump while screaming, “Geronimo!”

Even from the distance they were watching they could see Spike gulp.

The fake Crackle slowly backed away unseen. The other whelps very quickly followed Garble off the cliff into the lava pool. At last only Spike was remaining. He really wasn't sure about jumping from the cliff. It just seem too high.
 
Garble yelled upward, mocking,” What's wrong, Spike? You afraid the lava will hurt your soft pony hide?”

All of the whelps joined in mocking laughter even high-fiving each other. Spike rubbed his armed nervously. Spike gulped heavily then finally took a hesitate jump. He screamed as he fell. A large thwack sound reverberated the crater as he hit the lava on his belly.

“Oooh…”
 
“Okay, ouch.”



 

“Spike, by belly flopping so hard, you have proven yourself worthy. I hereby dub you 'rookie dragon', and will now perform the initiation ritual..” Garble grabbed Spike and gave him a hearty noogie. “Rrrrgh. Now let's party dragon style!”

“‘Rookie dragon’ really?”
 
“Great? Huh, maybe by Ponyville standards. Stick with us, Spike. We still got plenty to teach you about being a dragon.”

“Which is a big fat zero.” Harmony sarcastically stated getting a rumble of a chuckle out of He of the Flight. Harmony rolled his eyes at that before turning his attention back to the whelp dragons below.




 
A loud thump woke him up. Harmony groggily got up and yawned heavily. “He of the Flight I see your back. How was the challenges?”

“To be frank boring… And are you sure you will be unable to join in? You were always able to spice up Hoard Challenges.”

“One I have no hoard. Two even if I did no dragon would want my hoard anyway.”

“I beg to differ…. the Elements are a great treasure.”

“Are you initiating a challenge?” Harmony eyed He of the Flight with an upraised brow.

“No. I’m just making a point.”

“Yeah... I know....” Harmony trailed off as he stretched. He wearily took a look at the whelps who seemed to have recovered from their party and were talking excitedly among themselves. What are they up to… “...If it wasn’t for the complication of Spike and the three bearers I would have left already. I really need to figure out what the changelings are up to...”

“Phoenix Raid!” The whelp yelled out excitedly high fiving and taking off. Spike attempted to keep up but tripped over a rock.
 
Spike called out, “Uh, sorry, guys! I guess I'll meet you back here at the crater! After the whole raid thing's over? We'll totally hang then! Whoahoa!”
 
“Better stop them He of Harmony phoenix fire is similar to a dragon’s fire.”

Harmony took a running jump and flew off in the direction of the nearby forest. He had to be careful as it was too soon to expose himself. He needed to wait until the Dragon Keeper was a whelp. He was already getting the Bearers ready especially the Bearer of Magic and he didn’t want to disrupt that. He was getting tired of this protecting from shadows. Soon, Spike, soon...




 
“Alright, Spike. Since you're our rookie dragon, you get to lure the parents away from the nest.”

Spike stammered out, “Heh... Lucky me…”

Garble lightly pushed him closer to the tree. “Well, go on then!”

Spike called out, “Hey, Mr. and Mrs. Phoenix! I was hoping I could have a word with you? Um, I'd, um, like to ask you some questions actually…”

Garble whispered giving him a small rock before rehiding, “We haven't got all day, Spike!”

“Hey, you bird brains! Come and get me!” Spike yelled before throwing the rock.

The rock arced over and landed on the male phoenix. It cawed angrily looking to see where the rock came from. It didn’t take very long for the phoenix to notice Spike. Both phoenixes cawed angrily then burst into flames taking off after the quickly retreating Spike.

Harmony galloped after Spike staying hidden in the trees and underbrush. He had to think fast those phoenixes were gaining. He also couldn’t reveal that something or someone helped Spike. Sometimes I hate helping from the shadows… The phoenix parents suddenly heard the frantic screeching of the chicks and quickly retreated after them leaving Spike alone. Harmony silently let out the breath he had be holding.

“What happened?” Spike noticed that he wasn’t burnt to a crispy. He wiped his brow of sweat and quickly jogged back to the now abandoned nest. “Huh, what have we got here?” Spike eyed the a yellow and orange egg that was lying on the ground near the phoenix nest. Carefully he picked it up to examine it.

Garble stumbled through the underbrush along with the other whelps. “They got away! Hey! You stole an egg?”

“Uh…”

“Well, I guess the raid wasn't a total waste after all.” Garble patted Spike’s back. “Nice going, Spike.”

The large brown whelp eyed him. “Well, what are you waiting for, Spike? Smash it!”

Spike asked. “Smash the egg?”

“Yeah!”

The purple whelp agreed. “Yeah, throw it on the ground as hard as you can!

The whelps started to chant. “Yeah! Smash it! Smash it! Smash it! Smash it! Smash it!”

Spike raised the the egg sweat dripping down his face. He seemed like he was about to do it when his demeanor changed. He slowly lowered his arms looking longingly at the egg. “No! It's just a defenseless egg, like I was! And I'm not gonna let you hurt it!”

Harmony peered through the trees smiling. Courage. Good. Looks like I don’t need to do anything else here.

Garble blinked, confused, “What did you say?”

Harmony was about to walk away when he heard that. He managed to turn around just as Spike repeated, “I said no.”

Garble growled threatening, “No one says no to me.”

He stepped forward with his claws extended and his mouth open menacingly. Spike stepped back as Garble stepped forward. A slightly blinding light could be seen from behind Spike as he suddenly bumping into something. Looking up and back he could see the dragon that the others had identified as a relative of a dragon called ‘Crackle.’ The whelps stepped back in shock.

Suddenly the dragon shed its ‘skin’ revealing that under that was three ponies. If the sudden appearance of the ‘crackle’ dragon shocked the whelps the fact that it there was three ponies under a dragon costume really confused them.

A cyan pegasus with a rainbow mane angrily shouted. “Nopony's gonna lay a claw on him!”

A purple unicorn with a bluish purple mane with a pink streak agreed putting up her hoofs, “That's right!”

A white unicorn with a curly purple mane and tail casually spoke, “Fighting's not really my thing. I'm more into fashion, ” She lightly flicked her mane before furiously adding, ”but I'll rip you to pieces if you touch one scale on his cute little head!

The dragon whelps laughing uproariously. The ponies and Spike looked wearily at each other. Harmony eyed the situation trying to find out if he needed to intervene.

“Ooh, scary, hehe!” Garble jazz handed before pointing, ”Spike, are these namby-pamby ponies your friends?”

Spike shot Garble an angry glance while walking up  to threaten him. “Yes, they are. And they're better friends than you could ever be. Now, if you don't back off, you'll see what us ponies do when confronted by a huge group of jerky dragons.”

“Oh, yeah?” Grable snorted. “What's that?”

Spike jumped up then zoomed away as fast as he could screaming, “Run away!”

Garble was initially shocked at the reaction not sure of what exactly transpired. After a second he went ballistic. He lunged at Twilight trying to bite her head off but Twilight had enough sense to duck. At that the ponies turned tail and ran. Garble tried stopping them by blowing a fireball. Rarity who was was the slowest of the pack could feel the heat as the flame managed to singe a bit of her tail. She was pumped up with too much adrenaline to complain about the damage to her perfectly coiffed tail.

Twilight Sparkle grunted a bit trying to get enough concentration to teleport them out of danger. Another flame ball hurled right over their heads before she finally was able to gather enough concentration to teleport them to safety.

Garble in his frustration slashed at a nearby tree knocking it down noisily. He dropping to his knees and punched the ground.
 
“That was not smart Garble.”

“And what’s that to you?!” Garble turned to see that it was a rainbow alicorn stallion. At the sight he visibly paled and it wasn’t just from the nausea at the shifting color of his coat. He had heard the stories. “He.. he of Har Harmony.”
 
“Yes, He of Harmony. I can see that my reputation precedes me. Good.”

“As for you.”Harmony put on a face of scholarly boredom. “You are the whelp who nearly sliced and roasted three ponies who guard part of my ‘hoard.’ You also have been hanging out with a very special dragon. Now I do believe that every dragon was briefed before entering Equestria, which you passed through a few days ago, about a certain village. Can you tell me the name of that village?”
 
“Po-Ponyville.”

“You know its funny. Garble you claim to know about dragons and yet you have twice now stuttered in front of me. Talk about hypocrisy. One a dragon would not do that in front of another. Two for a dragon who thinks that ponies are I quote “namby-pamby” you sure are afraid of me.”
 
“So tell me Garble do I look namby-pamby to you?” Harmony push his nose to Garble’s snout.

Garble quickly shook his head no. Harmony snorted in contempt and back off from the now shivering whelp.
 
“Now tell me what is so special about Ponyville?”
 
Garble mumbled a bit tapping his claws together nervously. 

“Sorry can’t hear you.” Harmony mocked.
 
“That if any pony or-or dragon you run into that is from Ponyville to not harass them and to notify He of the Flight immediately.”
 
“You are missing a very tiny detail Garble. Shall I refresh you memory?” Harmony smiled evilly. Garble froze not sure if there was a right way of answering. 
 
“THAT THE DRAGON THAT LIVES IN PONYVILLE IS THE DRAGON KEEPER OF HARMONY!” The force from his amplified voice blew back Garble. He tumbled backwards until he slammed into a tree. His head started to spin and his ears rang. A bit of blood dripped out of his snout.

Harmony waited for Garble ears to stop ringing then he got right into his snout leaving nothing in his vision but rage filled eyes. “So tell me why would you take him on a phoenix raid? A hatchling has no business on a phoenix raid.”
 
“I… Well…”

Harmony back up a bit showing off his mock thinking face, “There is that stuttering again…” He moved back into Garble’s face again, “And tell me why you were stupid enough to attack him and the three ponies with him? What was it you said? Oh, yes, I remember: ‘no one says no to me.’ I have a saying for you. No one steals from another dragon’s ‘hoard’.”

“But yo-you’re not a dragon…”

“Wrong. Thing. To. Say.”
> Decontamination
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Harmony…



Harmony…



“Harmony!”

“Huh? What?” Harmony finally heard that somepony was calling for him pulling him out of his daze. His eyes refocused and he could see that it was Fluttershy that had been trying to get his attention. Twilight must have left the room and Garble was obvious still unconscious.

“Are you alright? It seems that you have something on your mind… I mean if it’s not too intrusive to ask.”

“Memories…” Harmony sighed heavily before turning to take a look at Garble.

“Do you want to talk about them…I mean if that is okay…” She hid behind her mane a slight blush apparent.

Harmony had to resist the urge to roll his eyes before responding, “Bearer of Kindness you really need to stop ending every sentence with an apology.”

“I’m sorry.” Fluttershy again tried to hide behind her mane. 

Harmony inwardly chuckled at her behavior she was calm enough to allow her shyness to come out. He was kind of glad that Garble was out for the count as he did not want to have to deal with her fear of dragons at the moment. He was not looking forward to when Garble regained consciousness.

“Please stop apologizing for non existent faults… As for talking about the memories… I would rather not speak about them… I… No…” Harmony trailed off and his eyes glazed over.





“Um... Hello?” Rarity called out into the library’s main hall. Her voice echoed strangely through the halls. It did nothing to calm her jittering nerves. If any it only made them worse.

“He of Hourglass,” Rarity tentatively stepped though the threshold, “Are you here?”

The main door to the library suddenly slammed shut behind her. She let out a scream before recovering herself. A few long cleansing breaths later and she lit her horn and walked down the center hall. If she remembered correctly this was the hall that led to where the dragon slept.

Rarity slowly opened the door at the end of the hall. “Hello? He of Hourglass?” She peek in and could see that everything was like last time except no dragon and the gem pile was a bit larger. She could see some scrolls rolled out on the desk. Maybe I should leave a note for him.

She had just finished writing a note when a voice spoke, “Didn’t He of Harmony tell you not to enter a dragon’s hoard without permission?”

Rarity nearly jumped out of her fur at the sudden sound of He of Hourglass’ voice. “I… Well that is…”

He of Hourglass walk up towards her. Rarity backed away trying to stay calm. He shifted some papers and scrolls on the desk putting them some into drawers and others he just neatly stacked up on one corner of the desk. He then finally picked up the written note. He seemed to be dwelling on it far longer than was necessary. 

He finally placed it down. He looked to see that Rarity was visibly starting to sweat her nerves were so great. ”You know...” He started, “I find that working on my hoard is calming…” He of Hourglass began walking towards a door in the back of the room, “Now I know that ponies don’t hoard but I think you may have some expertise in dealing with what I’m about to show you.”

Suddenly he stopped and looked back over his shoulder, “You coming?”

“Of course, yes, coming!” Rarity exclaimed quickly trotting to catch up to He of Hourglass. She hoped that she wasn’t walking into a death trap.





Harmony…



Harmony…

“Yes?” Harmony refocused again. He saw that Fluttershy currently was examining Garble. She tentatively pressed against some of the bandages which appeared darkened by the infectious looking ooze that was upon some of his more grievous injuries.

“Harmony I think the bandages need to be redone and with Twilight out and about at the moment I was wondering…”

“I doubt he will awaken, but I shall assist.”

Fluttershy began to slowly cut away bandages that had been soaked in a mixture of blood and the dark ooze. As she went she whispered her usual apologizes along with soothing words. Harmony grabbed some fresh wet cloths and help cleaned the wounds as they were revealed.

“Harmony I’m not terribly familiar with dragon anatomy but these injuries are not healing like they should.”

Harmony eyed the injuries. He could see the faint dark substance still oozing from some of the injuries and the dark smokiness still lingered around Garble. “I agree.”

Harmony went into a deep thought for a while muttering nonsense. Fluttershy used that time to rebind Garble’s injuries. Soon Garble was rebandaged leaving her to worriedly look at both him and Harmony. Suddenly Harmony went silent. Fluttershy noticed this and look up at him to see that he was gazing thoughtfully at her. She hid behind her mane unsure of what the sudden silence could mean. He gaze wasn’t one that would concern a normal pony but she hardly knew Harmony and was still shy around him.

“Bearer of Kindness I think I can fix that. The dark magic seems to have inhibited his ability to heal. It definitely was quite powerful to linger on a dragon for this long. I must wait for the Bearer of Magic to return before doing anything. Removing dark magic is dangerous and I do not know the reaction his body will have during that process.”





“These are gorgeous!” Rarity gushed trying not to squeal in delight or faint from the excitement.

“Yes… they are.” The dragon smiled brightly for a moment before letting a neutral face creep back into his features. ”But as you can see there is some deterioration and fading. Also there is some contamination on some of them. Any suggestions for restoration?”

Rarity gently ran the material through her hoofs before answering, “I would have to examine the tapestries more closely to see what was use to weave them as well as find out what contaminated them to determine the best way to clean them.”





“So let me get this right...”Twilight mused running Harmony’s plan in her head for the twentieth time, ” You are going to draw out the dark magic from Garble and into yourself!?! ARE YOU CRAZY!??”

“Yes.”

“I rest my case: crazy.”

“Bearer of Magic this type of dark magic can’t be just simply dispelled…”

“Why can’t we use the Elements?”

“What part of can’t be dispelled did you not get?”

“Then at least let me help.” Twilight moved forward closer to Garble.

Harmony put a hoof out to block Twilight. “No, Bearer of Magic, the mark forbids others other than myself helping him. So he is my responsibility not yours.”

“Gah dragons and their codes!”

“You have no idea…” Harmony rubbed his temples. You have no idea...

Not giving Twilight another moment to protest Harmony lit his horn and began to slowly tug at a tendril of dark magic. As soon as he pulled it off he quickly neutralized it. He would then take a breath and begin to pull another one off.

Garble started to thrash about the reaction to the change in his magic field. His strength was so great that he broke all of the leather straps holding him down. Twilight’s horn shined brightly as she attempted to get the limbs to stay down magically.

Fluttershy cowered in the corner from fear from the sight of one of her best friends and Harmony struggling. Twilight tried to block another blow but was hit from behind by the whelp’s tail. The fur started to redden from blood from the welt nearly five inches long.
 
“Hold him still.” Harmony gritted through a clenched jaw from the strain.

“I’m trying!!!” Twilight ducked as Garble’s left arm swung at her. She grunted hard and managed to get her magic around the loose arm and forced it back down. 

Harmony could feel his magic straining to its limit. There was still a bit more dark magic to pull and neutralize. He just had to hold one a bit longer. So again he took a breath and once more pulled. Harmony’s horn momentarily sputtered out before he redoubled his effort. Come on don’t fail me now… Just a bit more…  He pulled his head back in an attempt to try and get the final magic tendril to snap off. In agonising slow motion the final tendril clinging to Garble finally lifted off. 

“I… I… Think that will do...” Harmony’s world went dark as he collapsed.  

“Harmony!”

Fluttershy quickly rushed over to examine Harmony, ”He’s breathing.”

“Overdid, you have.” Discord smirked.

“Where have you been?!” Twilight nearly yelled before Fluttershy put a hoof on her.

Discord rubbed his face in exasperation,” What have part of me being a Keeper and not needing supervision did you not get?”

“Discord have you been eavesdropping again?” Fluttershy asked sounding disappointed.

“Flutters I don’t need to eavesdrop to assume that Harmony gave you the whole ‘he can take care of himself and dragon problem’ speech blah, blah, blah…”

“And how is dark magic only a dragon problem?” Twilight countered.

“Dark magic?” Discord looked at Garble then back at Harmony who was still passed out and then literally lost all of his color going completely white. “I… I… I... need to go.”

Twilight looked at Fluttershy who eeped in response.





“Um, He of Hourglass…”
 
The dragon in question turned to face her. His gaze was light and curious but it didn't make Rarity any more comfortable. The tapestry mending gave her an excuse for stalling. But it also reminded her of when Spike would help her in her shop. That of course brought back what Harmony had recently revealed. She could no longer stand the conflicted emotions running through her head. Given that she couldn’t talk about the memories of her and Spike she could at least get rid of the feelings of shame for her outburst against He of Hourglass.

“Yes?”

“I want to apologize for my earlier uncouth behavior.”

“Uncouth?” He of Hourglass smirked. He then snorted which got Rarity to snort in anger.  Her reaction only got him to laugh louder. “ Un. Couth?! You thought your behavior was ‘uncouth’!! That… that is the funniest thing…” He stopped there the laughter overriding his ability to speak. I said it once and I’ll say it again. You really have some interesting Bearers He of Harmony.

After a few moments of wheezing, coughing, and relapses into laughter he got serious. “Bearer of Generosity in all serious your behavior two days ago wasn't ‘uncouth’ to me. The rage I had was never directed at you or the other bearers. If you need to apologize for ‘uncouth’ behaviour you will need to talk to He of Harmony. However try to keep your outbursts in front of dragons to an extreme minimum. Most will not be as understanding as I.”

To prove his point he pointed out an earlier incident, “I called that pegasus ‘a pony with spunk’ and she was about to call me a lizard for ‘attacking’ He of Harmony. You were about to call out that the killing of another with the mark of dishonor as barbaric.”

“I… um…” Rarity stammered out an embarrassed blush forming.

If He of Hourglass noticed this he made no indication of it as he continued, “There are probably things that are acceptable and expected in your culture that I would find barbaric.”

At that he went silent and went back to cleaning some dirt off of a silk tapestry. Rarity couldn’t think of a response so she too went back to work trying to identify a mysterious bluish green stain on a tapestry depicting the Spiral Spire.

After a moment though He of Hourglass stopped and looked out one of the windows, “Interesting… The dark magic as lifted.”

“What does that mean?” Rarity looked up herself a bit confused at He of Hourglass’ remark.

“No idea. But I think you best get back to the others.”
> Golden Journal #3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


From the Journals of Golden Heart, He of Hourglass, Dragon Keeper of Harmony.  


Entry #3  



(Unknown)




It appears that the minions of the ‘Nameless One’ are on the move. Earlier an adolescent dragon with grievous wounds infected with dark magic crash landed in Hourglass. 

Besides the dark magic infecting him he also had the mark of dishonor on him. He of Harmony’s dishonor mark to be exact. It would be highly unusual for a whelp to have the mark of dishonor. For a non dragon to give a dishonor mark-- According to the mark he should not have left the Dragon Migration. That is another oddity about the mark. But then again dishonor marks on whelps means there is a chance at redemption… If he had only stay within the parameters set by the mark. The dark magic though stayed my claw. 

If he was attacked while on the dragon migration the consequences for the migration could be- no that would be senseless conjecture. This is going to be a headache, I know. Sadly I will know nothing more until the whelp awakens. At least the dark magic has dissipated. No doubt by He of Harmony’s hooves or horn. I really did not like having to quell that much dragon instinct for so long.

I hope that whatever He of Harmony did can save him so we get some answers. The location of the migration is too far away to investigate first hand. That’s at least what Dragon Heritage Memories are telling me, and that is if the routes haven’t recently changed. I will need to double check with He of Harmony he should know if the routes have changed in a way as to not reflect in the memories.

He of Harmony, there is just something about him. If I didn’t know better I could have claw sworn that he was a dragon. But that is not all that has me wondering. I need to head into Council of Harmony. I’m certain the answers I seek lie there.

Until then may your claws stay sharp and your fire roar.


> The Puzzle of the Element of Magic
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Discord pulled on his beard deep in thought. For hours he had sat there on his throne in the Council Chambers like that. He rarely went into thought like this. To do so could make it more difficult for him to use his magic. He wasn’t a strategist he could never make plans. Well, he could, but not complex ones. Harmony on the other hand spent most of his waking hours like that. He had to figure out how to deal with the situation without revealing that Harmony’s condition was never cured. The Bearers and more specifically Twilight would undoubtable focus their attention on Harmony than on the coming darkness.

He had hoped that after nearly dying in the Untamed Wilds that Harmony would avoid dangerous situations that would aggravate his condition. As soon as he felt the magic disturbance in Hourglass he knew that something had happened. What he didn’t know was that Harmony had been foolishly dealing with dark magic. He of Hourglass could have help. By Tartarus, even he could have helped, but no, he had to do it alone.

The sound of the door opening pulled Discord out of his musings. He looked up to see that the spark dragon known to him only as He of Hourglass had entered. He could see from the sparks flowing off of him that something was disturbing him. The sparks should be flowing freely off of him but right now they seem to swirl and pause before finally falling off and disappearing.

“Dragon Keeper what brings you here?” Discord curiosity peaked.

“He of Harmony. I sensed the lifting off of the dark magic from the dishonored one. But I also detected something else...”

“He of Harmony has Magic Wasting Disease.” Discord gave him the answer and as par for him interrupted what was probably going to a boring description. “Uncommon for non dragons and as long as he doesn’t aggravate it’s non lethal, crippling, but non lethal…” Discord seemed to be a bit irritated toward the end. 

He of Hourglass was confused at He of Laughter’s reaction. The disease did explain the oddity of what he detected as the dark magic lessen and disappeared altogether. The anger over it was unusual. The disease was one of the curses on mainly the dragons races however he doubted that he would know that.  THe curse or disease as it is called artificially ends a dragon’s life near the fifteen to twenty thousand year mark. It was a problem that he would need to fix as it was lethal for dragons. Apparently it was not for other races so back to why the irritation over He of Harmony having it. 

“Gah, I’ll be glad when I leave this story…” Discord trailed off. After a few moments he  noticed that He of Hourglass had a look of complete confusion. Discord waved his hands dismissively, “Forget that last statement only two other beings would have gotten it anyway… Well so will the readers but that is besides the point.”

He of Hourglass only raised an eyebrow to that clearly not sure of what the draconequus was going on about. He of Laughter was going to get on his nerves. It may be time for everyone to leave my territory but not before I get my answers about He of Harmony and the dishonored one. “Okay enough of the randomness. I get that He of Harmony has Magic Wasting Disease… Something else about He of Harmony…He seems…”

“Ah so you noticed that he seems so unpony like and more dragon like too?”
The dragon’s maw dropped a bit at Discord accurate assumption. Discord took note of this and sighed heavily while slumping on his throne. He rubbed his eyes a bit before looking through his hands to see He of Hourglass staring at him quizzically. “Harmony is…”

“Harmony is known in all the lands and he has good relations with all of the races but the equines. Very few equines have ever heard of him much less seen him. His Bearers didn’t even know of him until a few months ago. He may be King of Equestria but I’m sure that a box of donuts has more donuts in it then ponies that are aware that the Kingdom of Equestria has a king.”

Discord grabbed a donut from behind his ear and dunked it into a coffee mug that he snapped into his hand. “Hypothetical question,” He started before taking a bite out his donut. ”Hmmm raspberry…”

He of Hourglass facepalmed at He of Laughter’s continuing randomness. What had this to do with being dragon-like? As he was in the Council of Harmony he had to keep in check his natural dragon tendencies to not tolerate this kind of behavior. Here he was equal with He of Laughter and had to treat him with the respect that was due of a Keeper. Figuring it was going to be a bit he sat down on an empty throne wrapping his tail in front of him. 

Discord finished his donut then took a sip of his coffee before finally continuing, “Harmony has spent nearly half of his nearly ten thousand year life with the dragons. Do you know why? I don’t. I can only speculate that he believes that there is something the dragons are missing or that something the dragons have that the ponies are missing…” 

A box of animal crackers appeared in front of Discord. He pulled out two animal crackers one that was an alicorn the other a dragon. The crackers came to life and started to struggle against his tight grip.He quickly chopped off the pony head leaving its body to twitch. The dragon squeaked out a mini roar trying to bite Discord’s hand. Discord yelped when the dragon cracker finally managed to bite his clawed hand.  Discord cursed before snatching the now fleeing dragon from the air and eating the dragon's wings before dunking it into the coffee he still had. He of Hourglass went a bit green watching Discord sadistically mutilating the crackers. He was glad he was a strict gem and greens eater. 

Discord brushed off some crumbs before he continued, “As I’m sure you know the Dragon Migration is a new phenomenon something that is only been going on roughly seven thousand years. I suspect that Harmony’s influence on the dragon races had something to do with it.”

“He has his hooves in nearly every pie as the expression goes… ooo rhubarb all I need is some ice cream!” Discord greedily dug into the pie, “Don’t tell Flutters she’d give me the Stare for stress eating… Gah! I’m turning into Celestia…” A seven tiered MMMM cake appeared which he promptly shooed away, “except she eats cake…”

“Where was I? Oh, yes! No Keeper before him had ever done as much for bringing the light of harmony back into this world and its people. No Keeper went as far as he did to help to races beside those in his charge. I suspect that he is the only nondragon to be a ‘friend’ to dragons since the dark days prior to the sealing of the ‘Chaos Bringer’ though I do believe it’s ‘Nameless One’ to your kind.”

“I’m getting way too old for this...” Discord snapped his paw and he suddenly look old and wrinkled. A cane in his claw and and false teeth half dangling out of his mouth. He quickly pushed the false teeth back into place before speaking again, “Finally my magic is working correctly!”

“Are you going to continue being chaotic or will you get to the point.” He of Hourglass’s sparks were starting to redden.

“The point? The point…” Discord pulled on his beard trying to remember what he was going to talk about, “Ah, the point!”

“I gave you some of the puzzle pieces on the matter. I like riddles and puzzles but I find it frustrating when I’m trying to solve one then giving one…” Discord quickly showed the dragon a newspaper. Over the Manehattan Times Crossword Discord had crudely drawn an angry face in red dripping ink. He then casually threw the thing away into a trash can that wasn’t there before. “Harmony is an enigma and is difficult to understand… Of course so am I but for different reasons...”
 
A feral draconic growl got him back on track, “Let me ask do you know what attributes of Harmony he has?” Discord produced mock cardboard cutouts of the Bearers cutie marks and set them lazily floating in front of them. “Generosity. Loyalty. Honesty. Kindness. Joy… All of those traits Harmony is… But Harmony has another... commonly known as Magic…” This time he had a crystalline replica of the Magic Element, “A very poor name for the element slash trait. Magic has nothing to do with harmony. True there is harmony magic but magic in general is just that magic nothing harmonical about it…”

“As far as I can tell the trait is ambiguous. That is unusual, unique actually. I’m not sure what yours are and may take a bit for them to manifest. I’m not sure given my lack in the knowledge of dragon magic... Every harmony trait that has manifested within a Keeper has or had was or is precise, known. Every one but his central Element.”

“I suspect that the key to understanding Harmony lies with the solving the puzzle of that Element.” Discord pulled out a key ring with lots of rings jiggling on it. He fiddled with it for a moment before snapping it out of existence.

“There is one other thing you need to know about Harmony.” Discord stood up from his throne and stood in the midst of the thrones, “It’s something I do with every Keeper. At first I had to do it by ‘feel.’ A sort of a modification of my ability to sense magical imbalances… Anyway it’s a bit easier now if a bit morbid.”

Discord shouted a question, “Is the Alicorn Keeper in harmony?”

The Alicorn Keeper is not in harmony. A chorus of voices echoed out.

“Wait… what? How is that possible?” The dragon nearly fell off of his throne from the combined shock of the revelation and the sudden use of the Council. He growled angrily at Discord for using that function without warning him.

“They are correct…not sure how. My only guess is that mysterious sixth element of his,” Discord shrugged, “I’ve asked that question about Harmony every couple hundred years and never once has he ever been in harmony… Never before except under extreme duress has a Keeper failed at being what they represent. Like I said Harmony is an enigma and an oddity.” 

Silence came upon both as they dwell on their respective thoughts. While both were on Harmony He of Hourglass was trying to figure out why He of Harmony seems so dragon-like. Discord on the other hand was trying to figure out why the dragon would be so interested in Harmony. 

He of Hourglass got up to look outward into the Plane from one of the windows as he really didn’t want the distraction of the chaotic draconequus. He of Laughter had only gave him more questions than answers. He was curious about the sixth element but that was a lesser priority. Why was He of Harmony so into the ways of the dragons? Some of what He of Laughter said made sense to what he knew of He of Harmony from his Keeper memories. Something told him he would need to talk to He of Harmony personally.

Discord suddenly called out, “Is the Dragon Keeper in harmony?”

The Dragon Keeper is not in harmony.

“Interesting...” Discord mused. He then noticed that He of Harmony was making his way to the chamber doors, “Hey where are you going I’m not done…”

“Doing my duty as a keeper.” He of Hourglass growled as he noisily exited the council chambers and into the Plane of Harmony.

Discord scratched his head in confusion “‘…Duty as a keeper’?!? Want ever does he mean?”


> Reawakenings
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I did nothing!

SPIIIIIIIKE!!!!!

Some Keeper of Harmony you are…. You broke harmony...

I could have saved him...

No. You killed him.

SPIIIIKE!!!!!

Murderer…

No.

Yessssss!  MWAHAHAHAAAAA!

Harmony nearly lept out of bed. Cold sweat poured down his head, dripping into his eyes. He blinked hard to get the salty sweat out of his eyes. Once his vision cleared he could see that he was in the small house that he had been using as a base of operation in Hourglass. Sitting calmly on the wall was Discord reading a book and wearing squarish reading glasses on his muzzle. A small fire crackled in the fireplace.

“How long this time?” Harmony shoved the blankets off the dampness of them chilling him. He gazed upwards to see that at minimum night had fallen.

Discord snapped the book and glasses away before speaking, “Three days.”

“Do they know?” Discord jaw moved but he seemed to not be able to respond. Harmony was not happy with the delay so he forcibly pulled Discord towards him with his magic, “Do they know!?”

Harmony started coughing. Discord face scrunched up in worry. Harmony had used magic too soon after recovering from his most recent burnout. This was not good if the dark magic from Garble accelerated the disease this far again.

“No.” Discord finally responded as Harmony fit died down. “They just think the dark magic knocked you out and not the Magic Wasting Disease resurfacing from the strain.”
 
Harmony breathed a sigh of relief. “Good. Keep it that way.”

Discord was getting annoyed. Harmony was doing it again. “I don’t think you should hide this.”

“They are going to have enough to worry about don’t add my health to it.” Harmony didn’t like hiding it either. It was like a war within him. It hurt to not be honest with them. Kindness told him that it would be unwise to needlessly worry them. Without a dragon to help (unlikely given the way they were) there really was nothing that could be done. Joy went with Kindness and Loyalty sided with Honesty. The remaining two stayed silent. For the moment Harmony put those thoughts to the side as a more pressing matter was at hand.

The matter of Garble and the dark magic. It was no ordinary dark magic for it couldn't be dispelled. Very few magic users would know how to properly do a spell like that. Then to get it to linger on a magic resistant species was a feat of extreme power. Sombra could have produce the level of dark magic for the dark smoky aura. Of course Sombra was long dead so that left him out. The Crystal Heart made sure of that. Still… He would need to have the lands surrounding the Crystal Empire searched, again. That left the dark magic that was oozing out his wounds. He could think of a multitude of things that could have caused it. Most likely a dark magic infused weapon over something like an amulet... Which would mean a search spanning the entire world. 

“There just isn’t enough of us.” Harmony mused, frustration etched upon his face.

“I know, Harmony. It was never meant for this to happen…” Discord sighed heavily. “It is going to make our task all the more difficult. All the more for you to stay alive!”

Harmony’s anger flared up to the point that he was now standing on the bed. “Don’t remind me Discord! Why must we go through this everytime!”

“Because you keep going out of your way to get yourself hurt!”

“Because we are stretched thin! Why do you think I did what I did with the Elements? I didn’t just think one day I wonder if I could put my harmony magic into six bobble for kicks! What could possibly go wrong! I was stacking the deck! Hoping for a Hail Mary! Anything to give us the advantage in the coming war!”

Discord’s face suddenly appeared clownish, “Schemers trying to control their little worlds. I’m not a schemer. I try to show the schemers how pathetic their attempts to control things really are…”

Harmony immediately saw through that one. He was not in the mood for it. “Really of all times you decide to do a fourth wall reference!?!?”

Discord quickly wiped off the makeup. “If that is what it takes! Harmony plans can go awry. Not everything will be in a neat orderly package. Alicorns are beings that thrive on order; draconequus on chaos. You can’t have complete order just like you can’t have complete chaos. It doesn’t work that way.”

Not the Chaos Order argument again!  Harmony growled in frustration. Discord concern for his health blinded him to the big picture. Typical. “I know that. War may be chaotic but they are won on order. To win you must press every advantage and turn disadvantages around or minimize them… seeing movements in the battlefield knowing when where and how to strike and retreat and knowing how your opponent will do so.” 

Discord face remained blank so Harmony pressed on. “A chess game can seem chaotic but both players are planning ahead trying to figure out the moves before they happen… order… a chaotic mind can’t effectively play chess. Nor can they win wars outside of luck, pure chance. We can’t save this world by playing on pure chance… chance is part of it true but you and I aren’t willing to leave it to pure chance! The risk is too high!”

“Chess!!? War!!? What are you blabbering about?!” Discord bellowed. After the heat of his angry outburst subsided he stammered out, “Why hasn't the Chaos Bringer left his prison?”

“Finally you are thinking! I don’t know and I don’t like it.The Seal, as I understand, should have broken at He of Hourglass’ Choosing.” Harmony answered. A thought occurred to him. “What do you know of Hydra Hourglass?”

Discord rubbed his temple trying to massage his headache away. “Not much I’m afraid. Between the chaotic leyonic magic and the endless storms... I never could get close enough to get a good look.”

“Same here… I am not sure if its because it is always like that or the magic of It’s prison… Which makes it difficult to see if there is a reason for the Dark One’s delay. Let’s just hope that its only finding a way out of the storms and not biding It’s time.”

Neither one had anything more to add. The fight had drained them. When they got into fights. Discord always went overprotective while Harmony always seem to take on the ‘role’ of wild carefree brother. Not that Harmony was wild or carefree. He just always felt like he was being treated as such. He wasn’t carfree or wild if anything remotely like that. Harmony was more protective than Discord was Discord knew this. He lost many a decade of sleep over worry. 

His charges had shorter lives than those of Discord’s so he had to learn early on to only give them nudges in the right direct and hope for the best. Of course it didn’t stop him from protecting them from the largest dangers. Dragons, rouge diamond dog packs, changeling invasions to name a few problems he stopped before they could get to Equestria. Not that he was able to protect them completely. He was only one pony and Equestria was quite large after all.

“Look Discord I understand. You have have lost nine keepers already…and the lost of… I know you can’t stand another one. But...”

Discord had a tear in his eye, “I’m not the only one but...”

Both Discord and Harmony turned away trying to hide their respective pain. Discord knew exactly who Harmony’s the pain was for as Harmony knew Discord’s. Harmony knew his was coming but still went headlong into it. Discord didn't have that luxury... Discord wanted to envy that but knew it didn’t make the pain any easier if anything it could make it worse. Discord only hoped that it would not lead to grief induced madness. He knew of that all too well.

Harmony was the first the end the awkward silence. “I have a task for you Discord.”

“Oh how wonderful!” Discord sarcastically exclaimed in delight. He managed to turn around to see Harmony roll his eyes in reply.

“I need you to head to the Fire Ring Mountains then the Chimney Arch Desert.”

“Why those locations?” Discord knew not to ask ‘why him’ he knew exactly ‘why him.’ Time was not on their side and Harmony needed to rest before going anywhere much less to those far away locations. He of Hourglass also would not go given that the defenses failed when the shadow demons showed up. Somehow he suspected Harmony had yet to fix the issue. Why me!?

Harmony pulled out some parchment from the desk next to his bed. He wrote something down mumbling a bit to himself. Handing off his work to Discord he added, “Based on distances from those locations and the time to fly here given his injuries those are the two most most likely areas where the Dragon Migration was at the time of Garble’s attack.”

“And you want me to investigate to see what if anything has happened to the Dragon Migration?” Discord was not going to like liking what he knew was going to be Harmony’s response. He never like dealing with dragons and if the Dragon Migration was attacked he really didn’t want to deal with it alone. The power alone to do so would be immense. Dark magic on top of that...He shuttered.

“Exactly, unfortunately Garble has been unconscious so that the only hint I have is the dark magic. If the Dragon Migration was really attacked the scattered dragons may be leery and hiding… Do not try and find them. Just find out anything you can in those spots and report back as soon as possible.” 

Discord seemed to unsure of leaving. Harmony had the habit of over doing whenever left to his own devices. Harmony put a reassuring hoof on Discord shoulder, “Stay safe. The dark magic that infected Garble is quite powerful. I will do everything possible to not overdo it.”

Discord slowly nodded then in a flash was gone. Harmony laid back down he had a lot to dwell on. As he really didn't want to fall asleep again he stared at the ceiling. A single word in his mind echoing.

Murderer…
> And so it Begins
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Harmony blinked against the brightness. Sometimes he wished that Celestia could turn it down. Not much he could do about it now. He just pushed through his discomfort as he ascended into the sky to head over to see how Garble was doing. Most likely he was still unconscious, but he still needed to check to see if there was any lingering effects from the dark magic. 

Along the way he slipped into deep thought. The pilling of one unfixable problem after another was beginning to annoy him. He had no idea how to fix the defenses, no idea how to fix the low amount of allies they had, no idea how long he could hold out with the resurgence of the disease. A dragon could hold off for a while but… but one dragon alone would not be enough... He would help but given the reacceleration of his condition. He was not sure if he could get the necessary help to cure himself and really didn't want to get his hopes up. Unfixable: a word he was beginning to really hate.

The sound of hooves on the pavement awoken him from his musing. He grimaced, angry that he was, again, doing that while flying. A chill climbed up his back. He glanced around making sure no one was around before entering. A dragon, especially a spark dragon, was more then enough to protect Hourglass from most threats and intrusions, at least for the moment. Still, why was it that he felt like he was being watched?

Harmony carefully closed the door behind him. Fluttershy was the only one in the house at the moment. Twilight must have left to get some rest or to fetch something. Knowing her probably a book, or two, or six. Harmony understood the thirst for knowledge but that mare was going to knowledge herself to death one of these days and without Spike to rein her in.

Spike...

“Harmony!” Fluttershy ran right up to him and started, quite rudely, examining Harmony for any injuries. Harmony was taken aback by her. Luckily his surprise masked his souring mood. Last thing he wanted was to get the what’s wrong line of interrogation. He twitched a bit as she went about checking in areas he would rather she didn’t. “We were so worried when you fainted after neutralizing that dark magic. Are you feeling better?”

“Much better thank you Bearer of Kindness.” He was glad she finally stopped her prodding. He wasn’t here for some yearly physical exam. There was a more pressing matter at hand. “How is Garble?”

“His wounds are healing up nicely but he his still unconscious.”

“No surprise there,” He carefully took a look at the sleeping dragon. His breathing slow and steady. All of the bandages seemed clean and the smokiness was no where in sight. He carefully cast a minor spell to check the progress of his healing. ”I doubt he will awake until his wounds are nearly healed. Judging by what I can see it will be in the next day or so. No lingering dark magic I hope?”

“None that Twilight could find.”

At that point the door opened and aTwilight holding a stack of books slowly entered, a worried scowl upon her face.

“Ah, Bearer of Magic, good you are here.” Apparently she was not expecting Harmony as the books she had dropped loudly to the floor. Harmony and Fluttershy slightly cringed at the sound but Garble seemed to not be disturbed so they both relaxed. “You will need to be with Garble at all times with Fluttershy unless I am here from now on. He should awaken in the next few days and I imagine he will lash out in his disorientation...”

“Of.. of course…” Twilight shakily responded.

“What has gotten you shook up? I doubt its just the books.”

“Thhe Spiral Ssspire… its… missing!”

Huh? Harmony blinked for a moment trying to understand what she just said. The Spiral Spire missing!?! Once his brain started to function again he followed Twilight out the door.

“See? I would go investigate myself but I didn’t want to leave Fluttershy alone for too long. I thought at first it just fell over…”

Harmony look off in the direction of where the spire should be. He ignored Twilight ramblings over the the theories of why it could have disappeared. He could plainly see it was still there. It was hidden behind an basic illusion spell. A basic dragon spell from what he could see. No surprised as to why Twilight didn’t see it. She was not familiar with dragon spells. He of Hourglass was playing a dangerous game with her and one that he would lose. The bigger question, however, was why would he mask Spiral Spire?

“…“ Twilight suddenly noticed that Harmony was not only not listening but was heading off in the direction of the missing spire. “Harmony where are you going?” Twilight called out after the now galloping alicorn

“To see He of Hourglass,” Harmony yelled back not slowing done in the least. “Stay with Garble!”

Questions ran through his mind as he ran off toward the center of the ruined city. Garble had yet to waken so he had no news on that front. It could be about the defenses, but he doubted that. 

It was possible that Golden Heart was beginning to tire of everyone so close to his hoard and within his territory. Hidden Claw and especially River Guardian never minded it too much. Harmony wouldn’t have allowed them to be within Equestria otherwise. Normally a dragon wouldn’t share a territory with another unless they benefitted from having each other within the same area.

Even though he wasn’t a dragon he did heed their codes. Luckily they were both meat eaters and between the two of them they kept the predators in check. He didn’t think the ponies of Ponyville would want to know that the only reason that Ponyville was allowed to be settled was because two dragons resided in the nearby forest to keep them safe, relatively speaking.

Suddenly he found himself next the the Spiral Spire. Not again! Harmony grumbled. The only consolation was he wasn’t flying this time. It still was dangerous to zone out like that. He put that aside for now as he walked up to the library doors.

“He of Hourglass. I have come as you requested. May I enter?”

“Of course, He of Harmony.” Interesting... he has dropped the don’t touch my hoard part...

Harmony went straight down the center hall and into the center of the dragon’s hoard. “You do realize that you could have gotten the Bearer of Magic. She is quite inquisitive. I’m sure given enough time she would have figured out the truth.”

“I didn’t have an anchor.” Golden Heart merely shrugged.

“Fair enough. So what is it that you need me for?”

“I have questions I wish to be answered.” Golden Heart cross his arms in finality. 

Harmony inwardly groaned, seeing that denying him the answers he would be seeking would be folly. He could force him into a Challenge but Golden Heart was a Keeper and a dear friend to him. Hopefully whatever the questions would be he wouldn’t be forced to issue one.

“How do you stand him?”

Harmony blinked. “Well that was somewhat unexpected… You talked to Discord didn’t you?” He realized where this was going and why the dragon wanted to ask him questions. Golden Heart must be wearing out... looks like it will soon be time to leave with the Bearers..., “Its quite a simple answer: with kindness.”

Golden Heart facepalmed which only got Harmony to laugh hard at his failure at letting a very simple, obvious, and to the point answer not get to him.

“So exactly what is your sixth element really suppose to represent?”

The alicorn’s expression fell at that. Well that too was unexpected… Why this question? The first question,sure. He had tried asking Discord first. It was of course odd because dragons usually don’t go through secondary sources for information. A dragon would use a direct approach. He was missing something, some key point for why the round about way.

“I’m going to go out on a limb and say that Discord ended up making whatever you asked him into some elaborate puzzle. He is always doing that…you should listen though, sometimes what he says should be taken seriously. Though I will be honest, it can be hard to recognize when he is speaking gibberish or when he is speaking truth.”

Harmony puffed upward as if to blow a stand of mane away from his eyes. “Sadly, I don’t know what the element represents either...extremely odd I can assure you. I don’t know how much the Keeper or Dragon Heritage memories gave you on ponies (Given the topic most likely Keeper). I will tried to explain how cutie-marks work as best as I can. It will be need if you wish to solved the mystery.”

“How is this ‘Cutie-mark’ tied to the element?”

“Good question. Pony magic, talent, and destiny is tied to their cutie-mark. When a pony discovers his or her talent their cutie-mark manifests. The cutie-mark represents not only their talent but their destiny. Some destinies are not readily known the more complex or abstract the mark is. Their names also tie into what their cutie-mark will be. This is something that we never tell foals about. Revealing that can affect them in ways that can be dangerous… similar but not the same has guiding a dragon’s Hoard Name.”

Harmony could see the question forming on the dragon lips so he raised a hoof to stop him. “I know, I know. How can a pony’s name and a dragon’s Hoard Name be similar? Ponies are almost always named in a way that reflects the pony being named. It can be one or a combination of their talent, destiny, and in some cases their personality… but always tied some way to their cutie-mark. Circular in nature…”

“As I have been told, a dragon chooses a name the reflect their very being, what they value, the thing they treasure. It becomes in a way a destiny. Like a dragon about to Chose pony parents are very careful about naming their foals. The magic of our races require that. No other race has that issue. On that matter, yours and mine names are very similar…”

Golden Heart scoffed at that. “And how would you know that? You can’t speak draconian and wouldn’t understand the meanings that draconian names carry… Unless some other dragon translated then explained it. Which would means you would have stolen from my hoard. You are too honorable to do that.“
 
“True, true,” Harmony conceded, “I can neither speak nor understand Draconian, but you said it yourself… You knew of my guidance in your Choosing so one can assume that I would have an understanding why you Chose Golden Heart. Plus, I was there along with my bearers and Discord so one can reason that we knew of you at least nominally before your... ‘rebirth’. I am also aware that the word ‘golden’ in equestrian has numerous meanings in draconian.”

“It is interesting we are talking about gold.” Harmony conjured up a projection of his now absent cutie-mark. “This is what my cutie-mark looked like. The reason you can’t see it now has to do with putting my harmony magic into the Elements. Because a cutie-mark is tied to one magically losing one’s magic can cause the mark to disappear.”

“My cutie-mark is quite complex so I’ll break it down a bit.” Harmony removed everything but the golden compass. “The compass has several meanings not only does it mean that I give direction when other need it but also tells of my wandering nature. Compasses (at least working ones) always points in a fix direction. A key you will need to understand in a bit.”

The alicron added five hexagon shaped gems around the edge. “Five of the Elements circle the outside of the compass so you see that I point others to those traits. However the next element is what points to them..”



Golden Heart had a lot to dwell on but he had one last question. One that he thought might give him the insight he needed on Harmony. “What do you hoard?”

Harmony was a bit taken aback by that. He had heard similar questions like that before but he was not expecting to hear it from Golden Heart. “I’m not a dragon, you know that. You also know that non dragons don’t hoard.”

“Wrong. You hoard.” He was going to press the issue to the point of a Challenge if he must. He knew from He of Laughter the time that He of Harmony spent with dragons. One would and could not do that unless they were willing to practice at least some of the culture and follow the dragon codes. There would be no other way he could think of to get dragons to accept him.

“Fine.” Harmony irritably agreed. What is the deal with this line of questioning! Time to gamble to see if I need to Challenge, “Why should I tell you?”

“I need to understand.”

Harmony again was completely taken aback… to understand? Golden Heart never ceased to amaze him. He really shouldn’t be, but still, “Why?”

Golden Heart merely shook his head chuckling in amusement of seeing Harmony stuck.
“You know for a Keeper of Harmony…”

Harmony lost whatever he was really saying as suddenly Golden Heart’s voice shifted to Spike’s and heard, “...you are sure lacking that right now.” 

Harmony lost all color in his face his knees buckled then collapsed. He couldn't believe what he just heard. The word that had been haunting him since that night over a month ago echoed within his mind. 

Murderer...

“He of Harmony!” What happened? Golden Heart knelt down to get a better look at the alicorn. He lifted up Harmony limp head. His eyes had glazed over. “You are in pain. I can see that…” A sudden realization came over the dragon. He had seen this before, “A pain... I have seen only one other time…”

“… At your Choosing…” Harmony finished for him weakly. His flowing color slowed to a near stand still.

“Yes.” The dragon had a feeling that Harmony would know exactly the pain he was talking about as the alicorn was there when it happened. So he wasn't surprised. Still, he needed to stop the alicorn from blurting out anything else about that night or he might reveal things prior to that accidently or on purpose. “He of Harmony be careful you know what can happen if you try and bring back the dead.”

“I know…” Harmony’s color began to fade ever so slightly but the dragon did not recognize the signs.

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 Alicron Keeper is not in harmony’ the Council said. He of Laughter thinks it has something to do with his sixth Element. But I think its more then that… As Keeper I need to fix this broken harmony but I am at a loss as to what to do.

Golden Heart looked upwards through the nearby window towards the setting sun. Soon the only light would be from his magic sparks. He looked down at the sparks that were flowing off of him. It was like watching sparks that floated away from a fire. The fire that was his magic...  

At that moment something else occurred to him. He of Harmony had Magic Wasting Disease… and at the stage he was in… He quickly turned to see that the alicorn was struggling to remain conscious. But under that he could feel that He of Harmony’s mana field was fluctuating.

Oh no you don’t. Not on my watch and not while I still can do something!  He couldn't do anything about the fluctuating mana field but the least he could do was stop him from fainting. Golden Heart carefully pinched a spark between two claws. Without a word he held it out for Harmony to see. Harmony stared at the spark, confused. Golden Heart then let go of the spark and it slow drifted unbidden towards the weakening alicorn. On instinct Harmony pulled back from the approaching spark. Golden Heart put a reassuring smile on to ease the alicorn’s concern. At that Harmony relaxed as the spark continued to drift towards him. It came to rest on the tip of his muzzle before disappearing.

Harmony sneezed. He could see Golden Heart was struggling to hold back laughter. Harmony chuckled at the amusing look which set the dragon over the edge and into full blown laughter. Strangely he could tell that the coming fainting caused by the wasting disease had stopped. Apparently Golden Heart had cast a minor healing spell. Not that it would stop the progression but at least it would stop him from fainting.
> The Dragon Migration
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Oh…” He could hear himself groan. He whole body was heavy and ached. He wanted to opened his eyes but those too were like heavy rocks.

“I think he is awakening…” A distorted female voice called out in the darkness. He wasn’t really sure if he was really hearing it or if it was some figment of his mind.

“I better go…  he should be here…” Another voice spoke though it was hard to hear as the volume seemed to dip beyond hearing several times. For a moment he heard nothing else. The silence and the darkness of his mind enveloped him again.

“Garble…” This time he heard his name being called. Go away I don’t want to talk right now...

“Garble... If you can hear me you have been injured…” Garble couldn’t hear the rest as he fell back into a sleepless slumber.

Garble became aware of the darkness once again. He tried again to open his eyes but the sudden brightness of the light burned him and he quickly shut his eyes. He attempted to get up but something lightly pushed him back. “Easy…”

Garble opened his eyes again. The light was still harsh but at least he could stand it now. Everything around him was a blur.

“Twilight why do I have to be here, with him?”

“Because I may need your speed to get the others. Plus you know how scared of dragons Fluttershy is...”

Scared of dragons? That means… He rubbed his eyes trying to get the blurriness out. Slowly his sight cleared and two ponies came into focus. He knew these two. He was constantly reminded about what he nearly did to them.

“Oh great...” Garble pinched his brow, “I’m healed by not only a bunch of namby pamby ponies but it had to be by you two.”

“Try again, whelp.”

Garble froze. He knew that voice. “He of Harmony…” He slowly turned to his left and there was the alicorn.

“Relax.” Harmony smirked, noticing that Garble was visibly paleing. “You have been through quite a bit if the injuries you have sustained have anything to say. As for healing you, they had nothing to do with that. You can thank me and the Bearer of Kindness for that.”

“Where am I?” Garble finally managed to unglue himself from Harmony to take a look around. There wasn’t much that he could see given that they were in a clearly dilapidated building of some kind.

“Not where you’re supposed to be.” Harmony leaned forward giving Garble a hard look. Garble gulped and absentmindedly touched his dishonor mark on his forehead. “I must say you are a lucky one Garble. Ironically lucky. You asked where you are? Welcome to the city of Hourglass! The territory of the once hatching you met all those years ago just before your dishonoring.”

“NO... no… no nononono.... “ Garble shook his head furiously, “You can’t be serious.”

“I am. The hatching you knew as Spike has Chosen and it is because of him you now live. He was within his right to kill you when you came crashing into the city.”

“He should have…”

“Bearer of Loyalty!/Rainbow! “ Harmony and Twilight admonished. Rainbow merely shrugged.

Harmony rubbed his head, a headache forming. “He staved off his claw because he noticed that you were injured with dark magic. Something that is of concern to both him and me.” Harmony got up and stretched, a few of his jointed popped. “Come, it’s best we not keep him waiting.”

“Are you crazy!?” Twilight suddenly noticed that she was yelling as everypony, even Garble, was staring at her. She coughed slightly before leaning closer to Harmony to whisper, “He needs to rest!”

“He of Hourglass may not be able to hold back his instincts much longer. I’m sorry but the sooner we do this the better.”





“A minotaur?” Garble nodded. “That’s not possible.”

“A minotaur could possibly take on a full grown dragon in the right circumstances if they use magic. Although their magic is internal similar to earth pony magic... Strange to have a Minotaur mystic on this continent never mind one that would be foolish enough…”

“He wasn’t alone.” Garble interrupted, “There were these small… creatures that looked like tar given form and life. The size of a dragon hatchling. Hell they even almost looked like dragon hatchlings except more angular and spiky…”

“Inklings…” Harmony breathed out.

“Inklings? Ling this and ling that…” Rainbow mocked. “I think there is ling on your brain.”

“Ugh. I rather use ‘ling’ then the usual name for those abominations as I’m in no mood to deal with a couple of giggling mares.”

“Cackling laughter, the horrible laughter… they poured over everydragon like water…. and the laughter...”

“Garble?”

“Why didn’t you kill me?” Garbled begged. He didn't want to go through all of this it was too… awful.

“Garble,” Harmony pulled Garble harshly around so he no longer could see He of Hourglass. “Focus on me not on He of Hourglass.”

“But…”

“He is a Keeper first, dragon second. Our concern here is the effects of the attack dragon migration not the fact that you are Dishonored.” Harmony sighed heavily. He understood Garble’s fear but he needed to keep Garble on topic. The pounding in his head was increasing he didn’t know how long he could last. “Okay tell me about the minotaur.”

“Um, well, he was a typical minotaur. He had black markings across his body… and he was wearing an amulet with a horn attached. Also...

“Wait, back up what did this horn amulet look like?”

“Curved, red. There was this odd smoke emitting…”

“Sombra.”

“He’s back…”

“Not likely…”

“But…”

Harmony raised a hoof silencing the Bearers. “While I’m positive that the horn was Sombra’s the behavior was not like him.”

“But he was defeated by... mmmphf.” Twilight’s retort got muffled by five different hoofs.

Harmony glared threateningly at Twilight. She nearly blew it. Luckily her friends where fast enough. “If anything Sombra’s methodical. Revenge by random attack? Doubtful.”

An feral growl got everyone’s attention. Everyone slowly turned to see that He of Hourglass was shaking in anger. “I’m getting tired of this.”

Harmony slowly nodded. “Anything else Garble?”

“I…”

“Dishonored…” He of the Flight whispered. His breathing ragged and shallow. “Listen to me…” He coughed up some blood. “You must fly out of here.”

“But…”

“Listen, it’s almost time… I can sense… I will give you time…” He of the Flight slowly got back up onto he feet. “I will teach this overgrown cow what it means to threaten a dragon’s hoard.”

Harmony rubbed his head after trying to get Garble attention several times, “I don’t think we‘ll get anything more out of him…”

“Then it looks like I got back right on time.”

“Discord! Excellent timing. Garble has—is—finished. However his recollection is scattered, broken.” Harmony paused for a moment to allow a spike in his headache to subside. ”Discord we need to know. What did you discover?”

Discord paled but nodded in agreement. “Harmony gave me a task several days ago: to go to the Dragon Migration to investigate. I’m afraid it’s bad. I mean really bad. The task for our young Keeper is now going to be much harder. Well it was going to be hard anyway with the thinned ranks of...” 

Another growl emanated from He of Hourglass. Harmony sighed he was also irritated, his headache wasn’t helping. “Discord stay on topic.”

“Sorry… I managed to find them at The Chimney Arch Desert…”

“And…?”

“I found the bodies of at least three whelps and twelve adults. A complete bloodbath. All had been attacked by very potent Dark Magic. One of those was He of the Flight. I’m sorry, but the Dragon Migration is no more.”

Harmony gritted his teeth in grief and rage. The ground beneath him cracked from the exertion of pony earth magic. His mind sputtered out no longer able to have calm or coherent thoughts. Everyone back up slowly. Only Discord stayed behind. The anger from He of Hourglass evaporated in his concern over Harmony.

“Harmony, please calm down.” Discord tried to but a comforting paw on Harmony’s shoulder but quickly snapped his hand back. The fur on his paw singed. Not good.

“NO!” Harmony screamed. His coat lost all color as he rose into the air in a magic induced rage. He eyes, mane, and tail burst into flames.  

Everyone watched in horror. It was like watching when Twilight gets so angry that she loses control. The day she finally believed in the Pinkie Sense being a prime example. This, however, made that day seem like she was only mildly irritated. The fiery mane and tail was familiar with but not the roar. It was like a dragon roar. The mana in the air became thick and angry. 

For a moment to some Harmony seemed to have disappeared replaced by the body of a full grown dragon. They blinked and or shook their head to try and clear the vision. As fast as it came the vision of the dragon was gone. No one dared asked if what they saw was real or not the wrath of Harmony scaring them from speech.

Slowly the fire and bellowing smoke lessened as Harmony slowly drifted back to the ground. When his hooves touch the ground the fire that he had conjured wisped away. The smell of sulfur and ash however still hung in the air. He stumbled and fell. No one dare to see if he was okay, all were still too far in shock or fear, to move, to speak. Harmony was the only one to make a noise. An odd sobbing, angry, with a trace of feralness, growl emanated from him. Slowly he got up and in a whirl of light was gone. 

The two Keepers eyed each other. Discord had felt with his innate ability Harmony’s magic going wild in contrast to what it should be at this stage of the Magic Wasting Disease. He doubted that in the short time he was gone he had gotten it cured or restabilized. Scorpan would have taken nearly two weeks to get here given his age. That many stairs would be hard on his joints.

He of Hourglass had different thoughts. The fiery mane and tail could be easily done with anyone with sufficient magically ability that let their emotions get too far out of control into anger. While he knew that He of Harmony followed the dragon codes he had no ability to enter a rage like that. It almost was like the rage of dragon who had its hoard not only stolen but destroyed. Was something about the Dragon Migration part of his hoard? Somehow that didn’t quite fit. The Dragon Migration was tied to He of the Flight’s hoard not He of Harmony’s. His hoard had to be tied to the lands of Equestria. Maybe it could have something to do with that sixth element.

Discord was to first to speak. “I… I think it’s best that we all retire for now. Twilight, Flutters you’d best help Garble back I doubt that he has fully recovered his strength to be trying to walk back to where you are dwelling.”

The girls only slowly noded as they each took a side of Garble to led him back. The others followed closely behind still shaking. Discord eyed them as they left. He suppose he would have to do some damage control, again. First though he had a different issue to deal with.

Discord stopped He of Hourglass as he turned to leave by putting his claw on his shoulder. A bold move that he hoped would not get him killed but he needed to know. “ He of Hourglass what is going on? Harmony’s magic has gone wild, feral. It didn’t feel like alicorn magic...”

He of Hourglass growled angrily but not towards He of Laughter. “I don’t know… He had an episode of the Magic Wasting Disease. I managed to stop the fainting, nothing else. I can’t explain the draconic rage.”

“Draconic rage?”
> Golden Journal #5
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


From the Journals of Golden Heart, He of Hourglass, Dragon Keeper of Harmony.


Entry #5  



(Unknown)




I have such a massive headache that just won’t go away. How does that expression go? Where one roars one becomes burnt… Problems keep piling up with no solutions...

My draconic instinct has been screaming nonstop since the arrival of the Dishonored. As much as it would be nice to shut it up by following the code as required I’m also a Keeper. A Keeper that needs to know what and why the Dragon Migration was attacked. The Dishonored distinctly remembering hearing this minotaur speak but for whatever reason he can’t remember what was said. It is very possible that he might never recall.

I will never admit this, but He of Harmony was right in trying to get the defenses back up and running. He was quite clever in masking why he wanted the defenses back up. It’s true—I hate not being able to protect those that I love and to hear the implication that I might not be able to… it was too much and I snapped. He of Harmony is a more honorable dragon then I and he isn’t even a dragon.

Also of note that concerns me is He of Harmony’s... health. At hearing the loss of He of the Flight he went into a full blown draconic rage. Two things wrong with this. One: he is not a dragon. Two: the kind of power required for what happened should have caused another Magic Wasting Disease episode. For that matter according to He of Laughter the mana coming from He of Harmony was off.

If the burdens of being a Keeper are this complicated after such a short time… I’m amazed that He of Harmony managed to last this long without being crushed under the pressure. As for He of Laughter… well, yeah, not going there…



> How One Restores Honor
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Garble until you learn what the right and honorable thing you should have done this mark will remain.”

What was the right honorable thing?

Why did the Dragon Keeper keep me alive? Especially after I gave my recollections on the attack. The code would have compelled him to execute me for being a Dishonored One. His actions reminds me of He of Harmony’s odd ways of following the dragon code...

I remember back when I first met the Dragon Keeper. I thought ‘How could a pony hatched dragon be the Dragon Keeper?’ In my pride I thought that he would be weak just like those frail ponies. Even more so after he had spared the life of a phoenix egg.

The phoenix egg… That‘s what started this all. Saving an unprotected egg… that would have stay that way… Wait… How could I be so dense?





Harmony watched the sun as it rose above the horizon. The dawn of a new day did nothing to ease his pain from the news of the massacre of the Dragon Migration. After his outburst yesterday he had left to go ‘vent’ in the forest just outside the city. There was enough toothpicks now for every mare, stallion, colt, and filly in Canterlot a thousand times over. Not helping was the dreams ─nightmares really─ that had been interrupting his sleep for the past 6 weeks. It was only a matter of time before someone, mostly likely Discord, would notice his sleep deprivation.

Harmony sighed, stretched, and took flight heading back towards the city to deal with Garble. He didn't know what to do. The dishonor mark required Garble to stay with the Migration but with that no longer an option it put him in an interesting position. Removing the mark but would negate the purpose of it. He could also modify it but in what way? Harmony decided to take a circuitous route to give him time to further think.

Nearly an hour later Harmony hooves touched the ground. He could hear a heated argument from inside the house.

“Yah, right, I say…” Rainbow's rant was interrupted by the entrance of Harmony.

“Harmony! Thank Celestia your back! Garble knocked out Fluttershy and ran off!” Rainbow's wings twitched from her anger. “I knew he was trouble.”

A glare from Harmony made Rainbow shrink a bit in shame. He turned to examine Fluttershy. “Bearer of Kindness are you okay?”

“I’m fine. He startled me more than anything.” She tried hiding behind her mane as Harmony continued to scrutinize her.

“Now onto to Garble. Any idea…” Harmony stopped mid sentence as a thought came to him. He knew exactly what Garble was doing and he only had a short time before it would be too late, if it wasn’t already. “O, of all the idiotic, stupid ideas… If He of Hourglass doesn’t kill him I will!”

“Harmony?” Twilight asked as Harmony pushed past her.

“No time.” Harmony yelled as he took off at full gallop towards the library.

“Wait! Harmony!” Twilight called out but Harmony was already out of sight

“We best go after him.” Applejack trotted off.

“Must we?” Rainbow complained.

“Yes.”





“Harmony!”

Harmony turned his head to see that all six Bearers were running towards him, except for Rainbow who par for course was flying. Harmony merely returned his gaze to a sight near the doors to the library.

Garble was lying facedown facing towards the library. He arms and legs spread out. It was truly a demeaning position. Rainbow flew right to him and was about to pick him up when a rainbow aura rudely pulled her away.

“Hey! What is the meaning!”

“Must you always go head long into things without thinking?!”

Rainbow grumbled before and idea brighten her expression. She returned to Garble. “Garble, you need to get up and out of here before…”

“He will not respond to you.”

“Why not?!?” Rainbow was now getting angry. She flew right into Harmony’s face pointing an accusatory hoof at him. “Is this another stupid dragon rule!?”

Harmony kept a blank face but inwardly he was seething. “Yes and the rules may seem ‘stupid’ but they are necessary.”

“As necessary as a horn on a pegasus.” Rainbow spat.

“Hey!” Twilight snapped.

“Dragons are ruled by emotions. Alot of the dragon code is designed to help regulate the negative consequences. Unless you like raging dragons?” Rainbow dropped to the ground at that. “I thought not.”

“Ther’ah hav’ to be somethin’ we can do.”

“Keep a look out for He of Hourglass. I will attempt to get Garble to be reasonable.”

“Not likely…” Rainbow shrunk at Harmony's angry snort. “Hehee...”

“Garble if I wanted you dead I would have never given you the mark of dishonor.”

“I see that now.’ Garble responded but remained where he was laying. “However I must do this to restore my honor even if it means my death. I see no other way as I can no longer give atonement to the one that… the one that...”

“This is all amusing but why are you in the ‘lying-death’ position?” He of Hourglass appeared suddenly crouching near Garble with an amused expression upon his snout.

“He of Hourglass! I did not see your approach.” Harmony exclaimed trying to hide his fright at the dragon’s sudden appearance.

“Of course not, I masked my approach with an invisibility spell.”

Harmony was surprised. That was not something a dragon could do easily given all the variables required masking a living being. A dragon’s magic was based on power not order as such it was much harder for a dragon to do any precision spell. Nevermind that most dragons would find that a bit dishonorable to be sneaky.

“Dragon of the City of Hourglass I have dishonored the one known as Harmony and have brought shame to you by being here…”

“Yes, I know that.” He of Hourglass chuckled. “But, I will not kill you.”

“I have the mark…”

“Garble, what mark?” Harmony was momentarily stunned by He of Hourglass’ use of Garble’s name instead of the title Dishonored One. But a quick look at Garble caused a corner of his mouth to move upward.

“The mark…” Garble stiffly shifted to see that Harmony was smirking and holding up a conjured mirror. Garble stared at his reflection, dazed. The mark of Dishonor was gone. “But… I… How?”

“Should you or should I explain it?” He of Hourglass stayed crouched but looked upward towards Harmony.

“I will. You met the requirements for it to be removed.”

“But I did nothing…”

“On the contrary,” Harmony interrupted, “you were willing to lay down your life in repentance.”

“Repentance?”

“I think we both know what you’re repentant about.”

“Um...Yeah...” Garble slowly got to his feet. He avoided looking at He of Hourglass as his feelings of shame still prevented him from looking at the dragon.

He of Hourglass rose to his full height before asking a question, “Garble what do you plan to do now?”

Garble didn't have an immediate response for that. He figured that he would be nothing but a black mark on the cobblestone street. There was nothing he could think of except one. “I want to help.”

“Why?”

“I owe you a life debt for not killing me earlier. You spared my life when it should have been forfeited.”

He of Hourglass raise a brow at that. While that was true that Garble did owe him a life debt, he was not interested in having anydragon owing him a life debt. “No.”

“Okay.” Garble bowed and turned to head back to where he had been recovering.

He of Hourglass was shocked. He was expecting for Garble to get incensed and in someway ask ‘why?’ not to accept it outright. He looked over to Harmony who was also shocked but showed a bit of pride as well. That was enough for He of Hourglass.

“Wait.”

Garble turned around to face He of Hourglass. “Yes, He of Hourglass?”

“Don’t call me that.”

Garble blinked. “I… “ He stopped when dawned on him what he was really meaning. 

Harmony was just as confused as Garble was for a moment. However, unlike Garble, he didn’t know what He of Hourglass was really saying. He eyed both dragons as they stared at each other. He couldn't figure out what was going on. Then Garble moved closer to He of Hourglass so that only a few feet separated them. Suddenly he could see the sparks on He of Hourglass ripple then swirl outward surrounding both him and Garble.

Harmony went wide eyed. He saw that look before. A Choosing?! Harmony instinctively shoved his Bearers behind him and erected a magic bubble shield. He could feel pounding from hooves against his shield. He ignored that as he tried to figure out what to do. Normally he would teleport them out but to teleport that many at once with the chaotic leyonic interference would be extremely difficult and he didn’t have the time to muster the necessary concentration. No way would he have them run as it could cause the dragon to attack. Staying of course also carried that risk. Doomed no matter what.

The sparks continued to swirl around the two dragons. For a moment Harmony thought maybe he was wrong about a Choosing about to happen. He had only seen one Choosing so that did make it possible that he was wrong. Either way, this was odd.

Harmony barely made out a nod between the two. He ears went flat as he was sure of what was next. Garble and He of Hourglass roared together in Draconian. At first their roars where grating but then a subtle shift and the roars began to harmonize. As the sparks spun faster a few broke off and flew right at Harmony. He nearly jumped back in surprise but relaxed when they didn’t touch him but swirled around him. Okay then...

The roaring dragons stopped. The sudden silence deafened Harmony. However the silence only lasted a second as He of Hourglass roared in Draconian followed by Garble.  Harmony recognized what He of Hourglass roared. He heard it once before so it had to be his Hoard Name. Which meant that Garble just roared his.

Harmony swore that he heard the words metal and claws when Garble roared his Hoard name. He shook that from his mind figuring that it was his mind playing tricks. Definitely need to get better sleep. As for everything else, this Choosing seemed unusual not that he knew exactly what a typical choosing was like. But he didn’t have time to dwell on that oddity as a more pressing matter was now upon him. There was no way that this dragon would be as mellow as He of Hourglass.

He of Hourglass was smiling at the red dragon formally known as Garble. Harmony could not see anything different. He wasn’t surprised given that Garble was a whelp. For a moment the red dragon didn’t move. Suddenly it turned and noticed Harmony and the others.

He growled threateningly. Yep, not as mellow. Harmony flung his wings outward in a display of aggression. “Dragon, I am under the protection of He of Hourglass. Stand down.”

“I did not give you ponies any protection.” The red dragon’s maw glowed. He of Hourglass facepalmed. 

“I… Wha…” Harmony was completely lost. This was completely new and nothing was making any sense. He had no idea how to respond properly to that as he couldn't think of any relative dragon code that was appropriate. 

“Enough. Go Hoard.” He of Hourglass moved himself next to Harmony growling in irritation.

“But…” The red dragon grumbled not taking his eyes off of Harmony and the Bearers.

“I said HOARD!” The roar from He of Hourglass was so loud and powerful that it momentarily threw Harmony’s concentration off shutting down his shield around the Bearers. The red dragon puffed a bit of smoke then lept into the air.

“Whoa, remind me to never anger a dragon.” Rainbow yelled unable to hear.

“What?”

Why me? Harmony facehoofed as he quickly cast a healing spell on everypony.

“Uh… What just happened?” Twilight asked now that she could hear something besides ringing.

“The birth of a clan.” He of Hourglass responded eying the red dragon now circling the city.

“Clan!?” Both Harmony and Twilight exclaimed.

“I’ll explain more later. However, it’s time for everypony to leave as it is no longer safe to remain.”

“No need to tell me twice.” Rainbow muttered. 

“Come, gather your stuff. We leave within the hour.” Harmony motioned for the others to follow him. Rarity and Pinkie Pie were attempting to get a frozen in mortal terror Fluttershy to move. Harmony noticed this and added, “Don’t worry you should be fine if you stay near me.”

“Not you.” He of Hourglass put a hand on He of Harmony’s shoulder.

Harmony turned back, completely confused. “Uh… come again.”

“I need you here… I need help finding any and all dragons that might be of assistance. I assume you also have a decent firemail network.”

Harmony eyed He of Hourglass for a few seconds before shrugging. “Very well. It does finally give me a honorable reason.”

“Reason for what?” Twilight asked.

“Spoilers.” Discord shushed. Pinkie Pie giggled, nodding in agreement.

“Ugh.” Twilight facehoofed. Harmony couldn't help but chuckled at her annoyance.
> Abdication
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“He of Hourglass we need to contact Celestia.” Harmony pulled out a yellow and red feather from his saddlebag.

“Is that…”

“A feather from Celestia’s pet phoenix Philomena, yes.” Harmony gave the feather to He of Hourglass who promptly blew a wisp of fire incinerating it. Harmony dug back into his bags again and pulled out an ink bottle, a quill, and a overly large piece of parchment. He dipped the quill into the ink and began drawing intricate geometric designs.

“What are you drawing?”

“A spell matrix.” Harmony stopped for a moment. He suppressed the urge to smirk at the lost expression on everyone but Twilight who was memorized by the matrix. ”It’s a more ancient form of spell casting. One that I might add does not need someone to speak slash think like Zecora. That’s the an extreme condensed lesson on it as we don't have time for me to go over the mechanics of spell matrices in comparison to ‘rhyme’ spells.”

Harmony went back to drawing. As he drew Twilight attempted to follow along. She was familiar with the basics of it having first encountered it while studying everything available on Starswirl. He had used spell matrices in the creation of a few of his earlier spells. The matrix Harmony was constructing however defied nearly every spell matrix mechanic that she knew.

“That is one of the most complex spell matrices I have ever seen.”

“Actually this one is a simple one…” Harmony continued to draw but slowed down a bit to respond. “I should show you one of the matrices for the just one of the elements.”

“Now you’ve done it Harmony.” Rainbow groaned knowing that Twilight would not stop until she discovered all the secrets of spell matrices and without Spike to hold her back… 

“Not likely, I doubt there is anyone alive besides Celestia, Luna and myself that could really understand, use, and create all but the most simplistic spell matrices…” Harmony eyed his work for a moment before nodding in self approval, ”The skill is unfortunately lost.”

“Not for long Twilight is too much of an egghead not to let that stop her.” Rainbow ducked to avoid a wing slap from Twilight.

“Hmmm…” Harmony looked at Twilight scrutinizing her for a moment. “Maybe.”

Harmony turned the scroll over and wrote a quick letter



Celestia,

On the other side of this parchment is a spell matrix that should allow you to contact the Council of Harmony from the throne room in the Friendship Castle. We need to talk as soon as you are able to cast it.

Your cousin 

Knight




“Knight!?! Cousin?!?” Twilight’s mind broke her expression froze in mid crazy Twilight.  Everypony and He of Hourglass laughed at her. This managed to break Twilight out of her stupor who promptly growled at everyone.

“Distant relative. She considers me her cousin not the other way around. Signing the letter as Knight was the only way to make sure she didn’t question the authenticity.” At the blank expressions he explained further, “Everyone knows me by the name Harmony but Knight is only known by two.”

“Wait are you saying that Harmony isn't your real name?”

Harmony facehoofed. The event of the past few months must have messed with everyponies’ minds more than he thought. Maybe they needed a refresher. “You just now figured that out? We did talk about dragon names correct?”

“But...” Twilight objected.

Harmony cut her off with a raised hoof. He quickly rolled up the scroll and gave it to He of Hourglass who sent it on its way with his fire. “I know I also mentioned that I follow the dragon code. So it follows that I would also conceal my true name like a dragon would with their hoard name.”

“Then what’s your true name.”

Harmony and He of Hourglass slapped their faces. Harmony grumbled. Both of them surprised that out of all of them that Twilight would ask that question. “I’m beginning to see He of Flight’s side of the argument.” Harmony made another mental note to accelerate her lessons and he was right a refresher will be needed.

“It appears that she need a refresher course on what NOT to say to a dragon.” He of Hourglass crossed his arms. He chuckled a bit when Twilight gulped, realizing her mistake.

“Indeed.”

 He of Hourglass gently blew out a wisp of green fire. “She has answered.” A scroll appeared and he grabbed it. He handed it over to Harmony who took it in his magic.



Understood. I will send another letter when ready.



“It should take her about an hour to prepare.”

Twilight was about to ask a question but a sharp look from Harmony stopped her.

“Now, time to find Discord.”





“Knight?” Celestia’s image fritz and her voice wobbled a bit. Harmony’s horn glowed a bit as he adjusted the scrying spell.

“We can see and hear you. Can you likewise?”

“Yes.” Her image and voice now clear.

“Good.”

Celestia looked around. She saw a familiar and different sight. She had not seen the Council of Harmony since just before Discord’s first imprisonment. The thrones appeared to be in a different configuration. Nine of the thrones were still in a semicircle with the unusual magic lights, but in front of them three thrones sat in a straight line. She recognized Discord and Harmony on the two on the left. A young purple and green dragon sat on the right one. Sparks seems to come off his body like water over rocks. She gazed at him for a while. He was quite handsome of a dragon. She just hoped that the good heart that was Spike’s was still there.

“Is it just you three.”

“No, Celestia, we are also here.” Twilight called out but Celestia couldn’t see her. The spell appeared to not allow her to change her view point.

“Sorry, limitations on the spell prevents a full view of the council chambers.” Harmony apologized motioning to Twilight and the others to stay put.

“Very well.. How is everyone?”

“Celestia Solaris as much as we both want to have a friendly chat now is not the time.”

Celestia seemed taken aback for a moment before her usual warm, stoic face returned. “I see…”

Harmony cringed a bit at seeing Celestia’s reaction. He really did want to spend some time having a friendly chat but circumstances dictated otherwise.

“I call the Council of Harmony into order.” Harmony shouted. The lights in the thrones behind them rose and swirled around the room. “Uh… that is new… Discord?”

“My guess? It’s because the Council is now complete.”

After a moment the lights returned to their respective thrones. Both Harmony and He of Hourglass looked expectantly at Discord who shook his head and shrugged. 

“Hmmm… Looks like that is over… with…” Harmony thought he knew the in and outs of how the council functions and with Discord also at a lost... Hopefully the books under the dias would tell them what exactly happened.

“Okay on to our business. I, Harmonious Knight, King…”

“Harmonious!?! Who names their foal Harmonious?!”

“Rainbow!” Twilight quickly shut her mouth with her magic.

“Well I think it’s just a marvelous name.”

“Anyway…” Harmony rolled his eyes. “I, Harmonious Knight, King of the lands of Equestria, Lord of the Crystal City hereby abdicate my kingship of the United Kingdom of the Trivium Equine Tribes.”

“United Kingdom of Trivium Equine Tribes?”

“The official name for the Kingdom of Equestria.” Harmony waved his hoof dismissively, “It’s rarely used.”

“With a heavy heart I accept your abdication of the throne. My first act is to degree that Luna and I shall retain the title of Princess.”

Harmony smiled widely, ”Somehow I knew you would do that Celly.” Celestia giggled.

“Celly?” Rainbow Dash snorted, “You called Princess Celestia Celly!?” Rainbow couldn’t hold it anymore and fell onto the floor laughing hard. Pinkie soon joined her when she saw how red Celestia had become. It was hard even for the rest as they had to hid their snorts with hooves.

“You are so going to get it for that.” Celestia managed to spurt out angrily.

“Not likely.” Harmony stuck his tongue out.

Suddenly a deep cough from He of Hourglass got everyone’s attention. He needed to discuss something with the Sun Princess. And as much as he wanted the jolly mood to continue he needed them to leave as soon as possible for their safety.

Celestia took the hint. “Is there anything else we need to discuss?”

“Yes, there is Sun Princess.”

“What is it Dragon of Hourglass City?” She warmly smiled keeping a steady eye contact with him.

He of Hourglass smiled back at her. It was good to know that she was not intimidated by a dragon. However he was intrigued as to how she figured out his territory. He decided to figure out that later. “As Firstclaw of the Clan of Hourglass I wish to breath the flame of friendship with you.”

“That would be one step below allies Celestia.” Harmony interjected when he saw her confused state. He of Hourglass nodded in agreement.

“Ah… Likewise.”

“I do have a request.” Celestia nodded for him to continue. “I would like the Bearer of Magic act as a what’s the word… liaison? Between us and your government.”

“Very well.” She turned her attention back to Harmony, ”I’m surprised, Knight, that you didn’t request that position.”

“He of Hourglass needs me to act in a similar capacity to other dragons as I have an extensive firemail network and I know the general locations of many others not in my network. Unfortunately the Bearer of Magic does not have a suitable anchor with her. So for the moment Celestia you will have to take and receive letters.”

“So that is why you abdicated.”

“Yes.”

“I always figured that you would leave for your adopted people.”

“Adopted people?”

“Later…” Harmony dismissed.

“Is there anything else?”

“Just that the Bearers should arrive back in Equestria within a week.”

“And Discord?” Celestia asked, turning towards Discord.

“I will be escorting them. From there I will most likely be on Keeper business.”

“Is that everything?” 

The keepers eyed each other for a moment before Harmony spoke. ”That is all for now. Council of Harmony out.”

The image of Celestia wavered for a moment then disappeared. Harmony slumped down on his throne. He will have to make it up with Celestia. It was quite obvious that she wanted to talk. The last time they had seen each other Discord had whisked them away and before that it had been nearly fifteen years. And that time was also all business. Thinking on it further Harmony couldn’t remember just talking in nearly a century.

“He of Harmony is there a way to modify the spell matrix you used to allow communication without necessitate using me as a glorified mail dragon that would also allow any clan member to use it?”

“It may take a month for two for me to design it, but, yeah, I think it’s possible. It will only allow communication from the let’s say the council chambers in Hourglass to the Friendship Council chambers. For any other location will take much longer and would require designing and building two more spell matrices.”

“Good.”

“As for the construction part I will need to call in a few favors to get the right materials and even then… I’m afraid that we are going to need to use your mail fire for about six months, maybe more.”

“Very well, just try and keep mail to a minimum.”

“I will. I also need the defense array working again. I’m not sure if it will interfere with the matrix.”

“I will see what I can do.”

For a moment no one talked. Harmony was already beginning to think on how to design the communication matrix. Twilight was trying to figure out what it would mean being the “ambassador” to a clan of dragons. Discord was busy trying to figure out the weird circumstances with the council lights. 

“Soooooooo Harmonious...” Rainbow began.

The council chambers darkened as Harmony walked right over to Rainbow. The air around him crackled as the air thicken with mana. His voice trembled in power as he stated. “Harm. O. Ny.”

“Hehe…” Rainbow gulped before regaining her courage. “You can’t boss us around anymore as you are no longer king.”

Harmony smiled evilly. “You would think that but no. I’m still the Alicorn Keeper and as my ‘Hoard’ contains the Elements by dragon code Equestria is part of my territory. So I still have authority over you.“

“So, no changes other than your title?” Twilight commented as the air lighten once again.

“Not exactly…”

“Oh, for the love of–” Rainbow complained. “Will you quit speaking in riddles?”

“What did you say?” A wide eyed Harmony turned to stare at Rainbow.

Rainbow spoke again but Harmony heard Spike saying, “I am tired of you talking in riddles…”

He of Hourglass noticed the change in Harmony when Rainbow began to repeat what she said. Not again! He rushed over and caught Harmony as he collapsed.
> Parting of Ways
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“He of Harmony…”

“He of Harmony!”

“Huh? Wha?” Harmony groggily responded. Everything was out of focus and far away. He could see a mass of purple and green covering most of his line of sight.

“He of Harmony are you alright?”

Harmony’s vision finally cleared and he noticed that He of Hourglass was looming over him. “Yes I am… I think. What happened?”

“I was going to ask you that myself.”

Harmony blinked several times trying to figure that out himself. He remembered Rainbow saying something then the world just faded to black after that. The next thing he knew He of Hourglass was looming over him asking him if he was alright. “I don’t remember.”

He of Hourglass eyed him for a moment. Harmony wasn’t sure if he believed him or not. He of Hourglass blinked then backed off allowing Harmony to get up and brush himself off. 

“Harmony?” Twilight stepped forward. Harmony waved his foreleg to indicate he was fine.

“Come, let’s return to Hourglass and finish packing your stuff. I also want to give each of you personalized assignments.”





Harmony was getting annoyed at Rarity. Her diva attitude was grating on him and that was the problem. He needed to get through to her about how her diva attitude needed to go. The easiest way was to force her to take a break for a year to get her priorities corrected. The career of fashionista had a tendency to make good mares and stallions to become snobbish. “I watched good friends die because of greed!”

“Please, you need to leave.”

“I don’t want to lose you.”

“You will die if you dont leave! Please!”

Harmony shook off the terrible memories. He didn’t want to break down right now.

Rarity finally recovered from Harmony last retort. ”Well I never! I can help it if ponies can’t see...”

“ENOUGH!” Harmony voice blasted Rarity across the room. Rarity had only a second to recover before he was right in her face. “WAR IS NEVER BEAUTIFUL,” Rarity mane was completely a mess from the close range use of the Royal Canterlot Voice. He lowered his voice just enough so that she could continue hearing him without her ears ringing. “It’s ugly, dirty, slimy, bloody, stinking, and ‘uncouth’ and guess what, sweety, IT’S COMING!!!!”

Rarity broke into terrified, shivering sobs. Harmony anger was terrifying to behold. She tried to hide by curling into a fetal position while slamming her hoofs into her ears and scrunching her eyes. Harmony only rolled his eyes and with his horn aglow with magic he forced her into the air. He slammed her red shot eyes open and glued her hooves to her sides. He wasn’t done and he was going to get through one way or another.

“Nobles! Ha!” Harmony spat. “There is nothing noble about the ‘nobility!’ Nothing but a bunch of dishonest, backstabbing, unkind, greedy bastards. They let good mares and stallions go to their death so they don’t get their manicured hooviesy dirty while drinking tea and munching on biscuits!”

Harmony swung a hoof at Rarity face causing her to flinch. “Your little diva beauty is only my life blah blah blah make you no better than them. You will either learn it now or someone you love will die because of your attitude. Trust me. You want to learn it now.”

Harmony roughly released Rarity from his magic. “Now go wash up and take some time to make yourself presentable then get out.”





Harmony was glad that Pinkie was next. Rarity had drain him emotionally. Before she left he handed her a scroll with a hoof written note from Spotlight. He explained that Spolight had already been made aware of her sabbatical. At that Rarity almost let her temper flare again before a sharp glare from Harmony cause her to epp like Fluttershy and quickly vacate the building.

Pinkie Pie slowly walked into the room her normally puffy mane was nearly straight. Harmony figured it was because of Rarity but decided not to press the issue.

“Bearer of Joy I want...”

“You want me to keep morale up when the big meanies come.”

“Uh… yes.” Again Harmony found himself wondering if there was some connection between Pinkie and Discord. Not that Pinkies odd abilities were a problem. If anything they probably will and have saved lives. It also seemed to help her in spreading her element trait. Still if there was a connection he needed to know. Discord would need to know so that she could learn to use her abilities better and to warn her of some of the more dangerous pitfalls that she most assuredly wouldn't know about. 

“It’s just that I need to remind you that parties will not always work. Matter of fact, parties will very likely become less effective. I have complete confidence that you will be able to learn exactly what is needed for all occasions. Let your element and instincts guide you in this.”

Pinkie Pie mane began to become a bit more puffy as she happily nodded. Harmony smiled as he became more sure that Pinkie was up to the challenge. He turned around to face the window. He sadly looked outside through the window at the other ponies mingling outside. “I know not when war will finally break out… but when it does...”

“No worries I will keep them smiling.” Pinkie handed a folded note to Harmony. “Read this after we leave.” 

“Will do.” Harmony eyed the note wondering why Pinkie would hand him a note and then ask him to wait reading it until later. Pinkie Pie slowly walked out of the door. Harmony could see her joining the others in laughter. A single tear drop fell down his cheek as he watched.





“Bearer of Loyalty I need you to take a break from the Wonderbolts…”

“Not happening.”

“Will you let me finish!?” Harmony facehoofed. “I need you to take a break while you are undergoing advanced training under the Royal Elite Pegasi Guard.”

“Oh… cool?”

Harmony raise an eyebrow. “I wouldn’t call it ‘cool.’ REPG advanced training will make your time with the Wonderbolts look easy.”

“Trust me. It will be easy peasy.”

“If you think so.”

“I know so.” Harmony facehoofed again, groaning.





“Bearer of Kindness…”

Fluttershy eeped and ran into a corner cowering. Harmony figured she was nervous that he would ‘attack’ her like he had Rarity. In hindsight he should have done her before Rarity.

Harmony slowly walked up to Fluttershy. He slowly sat down and gently moved a strand of her mane away from her eyes. “Relax. I’m not going to bite.”

“Okay.” she squeaked out.

“War is scary and it’s okay to be scared…” Harmony soothed. “Listen I know you are not a fighter because for you life is too precious. However, you do want to help your friends. Because of that, I’m sending you to the griffons for three weeks to train as a field medic. I won’t lie to you. It will be hard and scary, but I know you have the strength to do it. Your kindness is very strongㅡ Something that many field medics don’t have.”

Harmony comforted Fluttershy for a few minutes until she finally stop shivering from fright. He helped her get back on her hooves. She slowly walked out. Harmony sighed heavily the mare was still so innocent and yet he knew that if he didn’t act now it…

“Discord, I can’t force you to go, but…”

Discord snapped a claw making himself visible. “I will go. It’s going to be horrendous and she is too dear of a friend for me not to go and give her comfort.”

“Just be careful the griffons haven’t forgiven you yet.”

“Don’t remind me.”

“Give them time, Discord, give them time.”





Twilight walked into the house calmly. Harmony was glad she was the last one as he was tiring out and hers was going to be the most difficult. He didn’t have a chance to give a greeting before a hoof slammed against his cheek.

Harmony rubbed his sore check. Once the stinging left he looked at Twilight. She was shaking in anger. “I stand by what I did.” 

“I don’t.”

Harmony shrugged. “Well, on to business…”

“No. You are going to...”

“Not. Now.” Harmony grabbed Twilight’s hoof before she could smack him again. Harmony eyes seemed to grey as he spoke. “War is coming. For the moment Hydro Hourglass is quiet but for how long I don’t know. A week, a month, maybe tomorrow… I have got to get you ready for the horrors of war and that means foalish attitudes like the Bearers of Loyalty and Generosity must stop now if they are to survive.”

“Let me make this clear: I’m not doing this for you sakes or for mine but for Spike’s. I can wield the Elements alone if I must. However Spike considered you six his family as such I will do whatever it takes to protect you even if the means the Bearer of Generosity’s over inflated ego gets bruised.”

Twilight started to tear up at the mention of Spike. Harmony wanted to join in but forced himself to maintain composure. ”Listen. Going home is going to be difficult but I need you to remain strong and have the Dragon Reference Guide read within a week after you get back.”

Harmony lifted Twilight head. “The grief you have begun to heal from will reopen when you return. Remember everything that I have told you about that night and the love Spike had for you. Never forget that and never forget what Golden Heart is to you. He is the gift that Spike left. I suggest that whenever you send official mail to also include a personal letter to him.”

Twilight burst into tears at that and Harmony pulled her into an embrace with a wing. “Can you do that for him. Can you do it for your little brother?” Twilight nodded. Harmony hugged her tighter as Twilight sobbed into his fur. He allowed a few tears of his own to fall. 





“Do you think they can handle what’s coming without you?”

“They have for the past fifteen years. They managed to rise above every challenge they faced. Even though this will test them beyond all they ever thought possible I have every confidence in them.”

He of Hourglass turned and flied off, heading for the library. Harmony took the note that Pinkie gave him and opened it.



Hang in there Harmony. You will find your joy again.


> Bonus Chapter: Dragon Reference Guide
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dragon Reference Guide: A Guide to Save Yourself from Certain Death


Introduction


So you want to learn about Dragons? Let me be first to say you don’t. Dragons are a very proud both as individuals and a people. They don’t reveal much about themselves and for good reason. They are creatures that measure life at a rate that spans generation for most races. Because of this they possess knowledge that most races are not ready for. Knowledge comes with a great responsibility.

Dragons are beings of passion, loyalty, honor, nobility. They don't take things lightly as for them very word and action conveys a lot. If you value your life keep your distance and leave them in peace. However, that is an ideal situation. This guide is give you enough knowledge to survive any encounter if and when they come.

Most people think that dragons are rampaging brutish beasts out to steal everything shiny and eat everyone’s children. That is atypical behavior for a dragon see Greed Growth (pg 64) and Rage/Beast Growth (pg 66) for more details. For the most part dragons are quite docile as long as you don’t steal from them, attack them, or insult them. Of the two stealing (inadvertently or on purpose) and insulting them will incur their wrath faster then anything.

It’s amazingly easy to insult them. As mentioned before they are beings of passion (or of emotions) and of honor. They have a series of very complex intertwining rules of conduct that all adult dragons adhere to. This serves to not only calm the well known “Dragon Rage” that is used in fanciful tales about dragons but to also keep dragons from rampaging against each other. A partial list of Codes and their uses can be found in Appendix A.

If you find yourself in an encounter with a dragon here are a few basic pointers to at least keep you alive if you get nothing else from this guide. Never, ever ask for a dragon’s name. If you must always ask a dragon how to address them. Names to a dragon are private and hold special meaning to the dragon. 

When addressing a dragon, especially an angry or irritated dragon, it’s best to address them as “Dragon of such and such location” (if you don’t know where you are the more descriptive the better) “Dragon (insert detailed description of them)” can work in a pinch as well but will most likely not be as well received. This rule doesn’t apply for hatchling or whelps(young dragons that are not of age). See Dragon Life Cycle (pg 7) A word of extreme caution: young adults can look like whelps so its better to follow the above rule when in doubt. See Dragon Names (pg 12) for more information.

If you find yourself in a dragon’s hoard running is not always the best option. If they accuse you of eating/taking their gems and you think you can escape do so. However, if they accuse you of stealing their hoard then you are best not to run. A dragon will stop at nothing to get their hoard back and will destroy anything and anyone in the way. How a dragon will deal with someone stealing their hoard will vary from dragon to dragon. It is always best if you find yourself in a cave with piles of gems, coins, and other shiny type objects is to touch nothing and to slowly step away from the pile and leave as quietly and as quickly as you can.

The prevailing thought is that dragon only hoard shiny things and “playthings.” This is only partially true. What most actually see are a dragon’s bed and food. Though they will use the word ‘hoard’ to describe both. A dragon’s true hoard is usually hidden so what most people think are hoards are not. See Dragon Hoarding (pg 58)

Now I must clear up a misconception and fear (though not completely unfounded). Not all dragons are meat eaters. Those that do will not knowingly eat a sentient creature. Also those that do eat meat do not eat a lot of it. Gems, minerals, and some metals are the main source of nutrition. Gems, by far, comprise most of their diet due to the unique magical properties they possess. Also given the hardness of dragon scales gems are also used to help keep the scales from dulling. See Dragons and Gems (pg 44)

“Dragons are dragons.” a saying that is a bit infuriating. Just like there are several tribes of ponies (i.e. Earth, Pegasus, Unicorn, Crystal) there are several types of dragons. See Dragon Races (pg 30) for a full listing and descriptions. Unlike ponies dragons rarely crossbreed between types. This is more than a culture thing it’s for the safety of the offspring. See Crossbreeds (pg 37) Dragons generally live in extremes and usually hostile areas in comparison to other races. Not only does this help keep them in solitude but also can be an indicator of the type of dragon they are.

A final word of caution and warning. This guide is designed to keep you from harm from an accidental encounter with a dragon. DO NOT use this guide as a way purposefully go out to study or talk with dragons. They don’t take intrusion lightly even more so if it was on purpose.
> Golden Journal #7
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


From the Journals of Golden Heart, He of Hourglass, Firstclaw of the Clan of Hourglass, Dragon Keeper of Harmony.  


Entry #7



(3 days after Clan inception)




I hope He of Hourglass finally found a spot for his hoard. So far he has moved four times in the three days since he Choose. I suppose it was to be expected with the type of hoard he will have. With Hourglass in ruins finding the right facilities must be irritating. I’m shocked I haven’t had to go calm him down because of it. Once I’m sure he found the right spot I will show him where the Treasury is located. I don’t think needing to have to keep moving gems around while searching for the right place to hoard will improve his mood.

If this place is going to be the home of a dragon clan the city is going to need to cleaned up at minimum. Rebuilt would be best. Either way it’s going to be a long term project given the size of the city and the fact that there is only two dragons so far. I know He of Harmony will help but that still will not put a dent in all the work that needs to be done.

With that in mind I think I finally found a lead in finding out more about the non functioning defense array. Assuming that the ruling council would have access to the defense array and to possible a book on it’s operation I have began a search in the homes of the final council members (at least I think they are the final members). I found them listed on a scroll in the council chambers. 

On those same lines, while I was in the council chambers I observed He of Harmony busy with a piece of charcoal drawing a spell matrix design that takes up nearly the entire floor below the council bench. I can see now why it would take nearly two months to design.

So far this has been an interesting start for the first dragon clan in many millennia.


> Flying Fires in a Nightmare
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Oww... what happened... Harmony winced as his head throbbed with pain. He slowly opened his eyes. His vision was blurry so he blinked a few times to clear it. As his vision cleared he noticed that he appeared to be lying within a forest in the twilight hours. The forest was one he didn’t immediately recognize. From the level of vines and overall creepiness it could be Everfree. Unfortunately, it was a bit too dark to get much in the way of clear details.

Harmony looked about trying to peer through the nearly pitch black forest. The canopy was so thick that he wouldn't be able to fly out. It also appeared that even if he could fly the clouds that were visible through gaps looked sinister. The sound of thunder rolled the through the forest and seemed to shake the core of Harmony’s being.  That only confirmed it for him which meant he would have to walk anyway.

“Let’s get this over with.” Harmony grumbled to no one as he got up onto his hooves. Not knowing the correct way out he picked a random direction and started pushing through the underbrush.

The bushes and brumble irritated him as his fur became scratched and matted from squeezing through the undergrowth. There has to be an animal trail around here somewhere… As he stepped on a branch breaking it he saw the movement of a white rabbit. The noise he had made startled it into flight.

Why does this seem familiar? He pondered as he watch the rabbit scurry away. He hopped from bush to bush an it reached a trail where it quickly disappeared. Perfect.

The path was a vast improvement to bumbling around. As he walked down the trail the feeling of deja vu further creeped in. He just couldn't place how this seemed familiar. Soon he could see an opening in the trees ahead. Finally a clearing or meadow. Harmony happily chuckled at the turn of events.

Harmony trotted quickly through the break into trees to find himself in an idyllic meadow. It was so nice to finally be out of the claustrophobic forest that Harmony at first didn’t realize the danger. A draconic roar snapped him out of his jubilation. Above he could see in a clearing of the storm clouds. A flash of lightning illuminated the shape. It was a dragon shape and within was the constellation known is some parts as Draco the Dragon. 

Draco? Harmony blinked in confusion. For some reason he also felt fear well up in him. It was as if he knew that Draco was angry and was about to attack. The stars comprising him even redden in agreement.

A yellowish-orange glow appeared in the corner of his vision. That could only mean one thing. Harmony eyes snapped back to the forest. Sure enough, the forest was engulfed in towering flames. He did a complete threesixty and discover that he was entrapped. The fire had encompassed the entire perimeter of the meadow. “How in Tartarus!?” He cursed. The flames reflected in the widening fear from his eyes. I have to figure out a way to escape!

Flying in stormy skies was dangerous but he didn’t just have stormy weather to deal with but the added dangers that flames and smoke could bring to flying. A death trap to even the most experienced flyers. Teleporting could be tried but as he didn't know where he was and the extent of the fire made that just as dangerous. Screwed no matter what. Harmony thought trying to shallow the continuing rise in panic. If I fly up just a little maybe I’ll find a spot where there are no flames and teleport out of this death trap!

Harmony flapped his wings slowly to try and calm himself down. Panicking in the air now would mean certain death. Once his heart stopped racing he began to take off. No sooner had he lifted off he was knocked down by a draconic roar. His wings instinctively locked up. He wasn’t too sure but he was positive that the Draco constellation just roared a challenge. How do I know that!?!

Harmony tried to fight the fear locking his wings to his sides but before he could do anything an ember landed on him. Out of frustration, fear, and now pain he screamed out “WHAT IS THE DEAL? IT’S LIKE EVERYTHING IS TRYING TO KILL ME BY FLAMBE PONY!”

Harmony immediately regretted doing that as he ended up breathing in an enormous amount of smoke and ash. With that he started coughing fiercely. His breathing had already started to begun restricted from the heat and now he could add coughing from smoke inhalation to the mix. He managed to concentrate enough to cast a minor healing spell which stopped the coughing. He gulped down what little fresh air there was near the ground trying to get enough oxygen to think.

A crackling explosion jarred him back to the fire problem. He looked up to see that one of the trees had exploded from the intense heat and was now lying nearby burning. He backed away from the increase in heat the burning tree chuck produced. Looking around he saw that he was running out of space, time and ideas.

He looked up at Draco in sky to see it twinkling at his fate. He gritted his jaw in fierce anger and vowed I will not give up! He brought his magic forth pulling the dirt around him into the air. His horn strained to hold the mass in the air. His concentration tried to wane from the pressure. He grunted as he surged his magic forward flinging the mass of dirt at the approaching wall of flames.

His jaw dropped when the dirt hit the fire and disappeared completely as if it was nothing. Not willing to give up just yet he pulled another, larger mass into the air, but he faltered and the dirt fell back onto him. He shook the dirt from him as he frantically tried to fight his loss of concentration and the lack of ideas to escape.

The fire took that moment to flare up pushing him back. Looking around he realized there didn’t seemed to be anything else he could do as the heat of the flames was driving him to the center of the meadow. He started coughing again but this time black gunk started pouring out of his mouth, choking him. The taste of what ever it was almost bad enough to cause him to retch. Even though he knew he was beaten he eyes still shone with anger and defiance. To bitter end then…

The fire rushed into the meadow the inferno nearly bringing Harmony to his knees. Embers landed all around lighting the tall grass. Harmony bore his entire sight towards Draco. His fur began to smolder and his feather withered. He tried to get his horn to light. Any spell any at all but the pain and lack of oxygen had lowered his ability to think locking away his magic. 

His fur finally burst into flames. Harmony screamed from the pain of his flesh being seared but still he stood. The light in his eyes began to dim as between his burning flesh and black tar choking him took their toll on his weakening body. It took everything left in him to remain standing even as he was dying.

Suddenly he could feel a clawed hand on his withers.





“YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!” Harmony screamed. He shot up and hit his head hard on the ceiling. He was back in his home in Hourglass. There was no fire and black whatever wasn’t coming out of his mouth. 

Harmony rubbed his aching head trying to calm himself down. That was the third time having that dream. Each time it was slightly different and each time he wasn’t aware he was dreaming. This alone was odd. He could dreamwalk just like Luna (although admittedly he was not as skilled) which would should have allowed him to be immediately aware that he was dreaming. Now if it was a vision it wouldn’t have bothered him being unaware midvision but thisㅡthis nightmare was definitely not a vision.

At least this time Luna hadn’t tried to interfere. He couldn't remember how many times he warned Luna to stay away from his dreams. There were things that he knew that he had to keep secret that could leak into his dreams. She knew this, and yet, every so often she would attempt to help. Not that she could enter anyway. Harmony had learned long ago how to keep her out. He made a mental note to teach Twilight to at least blockout dragon memories from her dreams.

He sighed as knew he wasn’t going to get anymore sleep. He grabbed a lantern and headed to the Council building. If he was going to be up he could at least get work done. With any luck He of Hourglass, the first one (it was going to get annoying with two He of Hourglasses), wouldn’t find out. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to have He of Hourglass see him up but that he didn’t want him to know about the recurring nightmares. He had enough to worry about without adding another thing to the list.

Murderer…

Harmony cringed when he heard the apparition's voice. He paused for a moment to wait it out.  After a few minutes of silence he continued onward. After about twenty minutes of walking he made his way inside the council chambers.

Just as Harmony put down the lantern he started coughing. At first it just was a general dry clearing the throat type but then it evolved into a wet cough. Something vile came up and he quickly spat it out. The taste seem oddly familiar.  He lifted up the nasty phlegm to examine it and noticed odd blackish particles suspended in it.

Is that ash? Harmony went wide eyed. But it was only a dream!
> A Lesson on the Code
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Hey, He of Hourglass.” Harmony smiled when he saw that Golden Heart was casually leaning against his desk eying an emerald in his hand. He was hoping that the former Garble “He of Hourglass” wasn’t here. Most likely moving his hoard… again.

Golden Heart popped the emerald into his mouth shattering it with a single bite. “He is not here…” 

“Thank the stars…” Harmony felt relieved at that. “I don’t want to start that again.”

“Start what again?” A blank stare from Golden Heart nearly got him giggling.

“Let’s just say He of Laughter and leave it at that…”

“So, what brings you here to the library?” Golden Heart got up onto his feet so he could properly talk with his visitor. 

“I want you to send this to Celestia.” Harmony lifted up a sealed scroll. “It’s time to start the Bearer of Magic’s lessons.”

“Aren't you a bit early for that? I do recall you saying giving her a week to settle back in and to read that book of yours.” 

“True, but she has a tenancy to fret and freak out when even the most minor things throw off her schedule.”

Golden Heart crossed his arms before asking, “And what makes you think I’ll allow you to purposely cause her stress?”

“Because I know that you know that there is more to life than rigid schedules, lists, and checklists to check the checklists to make sure she did everything on her list.”

“Wait. Are you serious?” Golden Heart’s eyes widen, his jaw dropping a bit, “She really does that?”

“Sadly, she does…” Harmony shook his head in confirmation.

“Then by all means hand me the ‘scroll of her doom.’” Golden Heart smiled evilly while looking about conspiratorially. Harmony snorted as he tried to suppress his laughter at his antics.

Golden Heart couldn’t help but to start chuckling. It got so bad that he soon sounded like a rolling rumble. He tried to get his fire to work but he was unable to stop shaking long enough to properly form the right fire. Everytime he tried all he produced was smoke. At this Harmony lost it and joined in repeatedly slamming his hoof to the ground.





A squawk woke up Twilight from her slumber. She groggily looked around seeing nothing but scrolls and opened books lying everywhere. She had fallen asleep in the middle of her studying… again. Another squawk fully awakened her. She looked towards the window to see that Philomena was perched next to a snoozing Owlowiscious. A scroll was tied to her leg.

“A letter?” She wondered as she grabbed the scroll. The phoenix squawked again then took off back to Canterlot. Twilight quickly unsealed the scroll. She quickly read the letter. Not believing what she read she read it again. She began to panic as she realized that she read it correctly.

“He gave me a week! That’s seven days not five. Maybe he wanted to test me to make sure I don't wait until the last minute. Or maybe it has been a week because dragon weeks are shorter oh dear oh dear oh dear what to do what to do! I know! A list!” Twilight pulled out a scroll and started scribbling down a list of things she needed to have when her first ‘official’ dragon culture lesson from Harmony started.



 

Harmony lit his horn with mana then shouted in power, ”Private: Twilight: Lock.“ The crystal walls glowed for a moment then dimmed back to normal. There that should keep Discord out not that I think he’s there but with him… Harmony scrunched up his muzzle at that. Twilight was too busy wondering what was going on to notice. I hope she will ignore the fact that I also removed her assembled note taking materials. Somehow I doubt it.

“What did you do?” Twilight continued to scan the chambers trying to figure out what exactly Harmony’s randomness did.

“I just made sure that this meeting is private. There is a book under the dais that lists the spells enchanted into the castle and how to activate them. I suggest you memorize them so you know how to secure the castle and especially the council room.” Harmony raise a hoof when he saw the look in her eyes. “Later, once we are done. Also those books need to remain there and are enchanted to return there… You can add other books to there as well.”

“Before we get too far along and I forget, Golden Heart sends his regards. I might add that he was quite amused at your stilted writing…” Twilight blushed completely embarrassed as her apparently abysmal letter writing. “Listen it’s alright to talk about yourself and the past. Write like he was right there listening to you. Obviously you will need to omit any reference remotely related to Spike that includes his job as an assistant. I sure you can come up with a spell to remind you before you slip up. While we are on this, you also knew Garble as well so that applies to him as well…” Harmony stopped when he noticed that Twilight had stopped listening and was showing signs of worry. 

Twilight was trying to mask the fact that she was in the middle of a desperate search. Harmony shook his head in amusement as he watched her increasingly frantic nature. “Wait!” Twilight yelled out as she gave up trying to hide her panic. Her horn glowed even brighter as she tried even harder to get her writing materials, “What happened to my scrolls, my ink, my quills!” She started to run about looking literally everywhere for her missing items.

“Bearer…”

“Oh dear, I just had them!”

“Bearer…”

“I double and triple checked to make sure and I still forget them!?”

“Bearer…”

“I got it! I must have left them in the office!” Twilight frantically tried to push the side door to the office open. “Come on. Door. Open!”

“TWILIGHT SPARKLE!” Harmony yelled in the Canterlot Royal Voice. Twilight gulped and turned to face Harmony's image. “I removed them.”

“Why?” Harmony facehoofed so hard that he was sure he gave himself a bruise. Twilight nervously laughed when she realized that she had just done. She had panicked in front of her teacher.

“You did read the book right? I don't write those graphic ‘threats’ to fulfill some sick twisted sadistic pleasure. Those ‘threats’ actually happened. Most of which was punishments for being irresponsible with the knowledge they were taught. Dragons had taught or told things about dragons to those who were not able, wanting, or willing to understand the immense responsibility and honor that comes from having said knowledge. The dragons that gave out that knowledge received the mark of dishonor and you remember what I said about Garble being really lucky? Golden Heart has has so much faith in you that he is willing to take the risk.”

Twilight visibly paled as she recalled all the terrible things that she now knew the dragons had actually done never mind the more recent events with Garble. Harmony wanted to put a wing around her to calm her but his wings would only pass though her if he tried. So he did the next thing and adjusted his spell temporary so that he could walk to her huddling form. He laid down so that she could see him easily. “Relax, Bearer of Magic.” Harmony soothed. 

“So if I misuse this knowledge or flippantly spread it Golden Heart could…” Twilight shuttered at the thought.

“Now you see why dragons are very leary about revealing anything about their culture and ways.“
He released his additional spell and his image wavered out of existence for a second before reappearing back above the dias.

Harmony nodded in approval as Twilight got up and took a seat on her throne. Wasting no time he dived right into what he needed to talk about. “There are three levels or types of dragon code: hatchling, whelp, and the third (which I don't know the ‘name’ of) that adults get imprinted with at the Choosing.” 

Harmony lifted up the guide and allowed it to slow spin in the air. “The Reference Guide contains mainly hatchling and some whelp code. I was given permission by several dragons to write that book because its express purpose was to prevent unnecessary death from accidental ‘culture misunderstandings’. Normally the code is never allowed to be written down.”

“Why is that?” 

“Besides the risk that it could end up being read by anyone? Because if you are unable to remember by heart then you are are considered not responsible enough to know the code.” At seeing Twilight appearing still confused he added. “Would you find it rude for someone to be constantly consulting a book just to talk to you?”
        
“Yes…” Twilight blushed and sheepishly rubbed the back of her head, “a little.”

“There is the simple answer to your question.”

“Here is your assignment,” Harmony levitated a scroll so she could see then in a flash the scroll disappeared and then popped back into existence next to Twilight. “I have enchanted it so that only you can read it and will disappear the moment you finish reading it or leave the council chambers.”

“Wait, I thought that…”

“That the Reference Guide was the only exception? For non-adult, non-dragons yes. It seems I left out something…” Harmony rubbed a hoof to his head as he felt a headache forming. Now I know how my teachers must have felt...

“I think it’s obvious that adults are the ones that teach whelps and hatchlings. I think that hoofwriting or in this case clawwriting should look familiar. I had discussed this with Golden Heart and he has agreed that this will be less stressful on our magic reserves. To teach you the ‘proper’ way would require the extended use of this connection. To begin with using this form of communication is a drain on the magic of myself or Golden Heart on this end and the castle on your end. This alone would normally not be enough but with the now ever present threat of the ‘Dark One’ and the strain this connection would have with extended use on this plane is a risk the world can’t afford. The last thing we can afford is the ‘Dark One’ finding a way into this plane. The power he could wield…” 

Twilight saw him going pale and decided it might be best to ask a question to hopefully move the lesson away that dark topic. “What about the spell matrix that you are working on?”

Harmony snapped out of his inner dark thoughts with a slight blush. He figured she would ask that question when he trailed off. Secretly he was glad she did. “There is still a chance that it won’t work and I can’t guarantee that I will always been in Hourglass. Also it will still put strain on your side.”

“Now you have one week to memorize the list. I taped a piece of paper over the final code to give you time to memorize the rest. Be at Zecora’s next Tuesday at noon along with the Bearer of Generosity. I have arranged for River Guardian to test you. Do us both a favor and don’t just regurgitate the codes. This is a test of using the code you have learn in normal conversation. He will be able to tell if you are just repeating it or know how to truly use it.”

“Why can’t River Guardian teach me?”

Harmony couldn't’ believe she asked that question he was sure he had already said why not earlier. “That would be improper.”

“How could it be improper?”

“Uhhh…” Harmony facehoofed. Twilight He made a mental note to have Golden Heart explain the finer details as to why only Golden Heart and Himself would be teaching her. For now he was going to have to stall her. “Hold that question for next time. And because I know that you will try don’t ask River Guardian because that would be extremely rude and it will reflect on you ‘test.’”

Twilight gulped at that. She prided herself on always getting high scores on tests and the idea of getting a lower grade or Celestia forbid fail… She gulped again at that thought.

“Back to our lesson.” Twilight snapped back to attention. “You remember that I have said on many occasions that I follow dragon code? That is only partially true. I live the code. There is a difference. You will only have to follow the code. And you are only going to learn part of the code: The Rules of Interaction.”

“This next part I’m going to tell you as a warning. The code I live by is known as the Acolyte Code which is the code that non dragons can follow. The Acolyte Code is a conglomerate of all of the hatchling and whelp codes with slight modifications for being biologically not a dragon. The Rules of Interaction that you are learning are contained within that. Be aware that you may encounter a dragon that doesn’t approve of ‘outsiders’ learning about dragon codes. Some will assume that because you know the Rules of Interaction that you are wanting to live the code. For your own safety deny that. And never imply that you are interested. You must be firm that you only are following the Rules of Interaction to help promote peace between dragons and those that are in your care. Do you understand?”

“Yes.”

“Now there is something else. Pop quiz: What do you and I know that is normally not to be known by those that aren’t adult dragons and why we might know it?”

Twilight thought for a moment. She racked her brain trying to think of something that she knew that would be adult only knowledge. Suddenly she thought of it. “The memory wipe but I have no idea why.”

“Correct. Though you shouldn’t know why. That part was a trick question. You are allowed to know because of hatching him and me from being designated as his guardian by the dragons. This gives of us the unique privilege of knowing some of the adult codes. One of them is the example that you gave. That is something that only adults are suppose to know. So of course it is not part of the Acolyte Code.” 

“There are a few others but I’m not going over them. If a dragon accuses you of knowing more then you should let them know that you hatched a dragon egg. Don’t reveal any more than that. That should pacify them.”

“What if they think I stole the egg?”

“Good question…” Harmony racked his mind but couldn't think of a good answer. “I will have to consult Golden Heart so I will get back to you on that.”

Harmony could feel that his magic was beginning to wane. He wanted to teach some more, but sadly, he knew not to push it. He figured it would be best to wrap it up by allowing her to ask a few questions. Hopefully they would be questions with simple answers.

“I think we have time for a few questions…” Harmony stopped talking as he heard a painfully high pitched squeal echo across the chambers. He looked around the Council of Harmony for the source but couldn't find it. It was at that point that he realized it was Twilight. His ears flatten as he thought darkly. This could be the death of me.

After a few minutes, Twilight was finally able to get her brain working again after her initial excitement. She had written nearly a hundred questions but was of course without it as Harmony took away all of her materials earlier. One did come to mind though. Recent events had brought it up and the book gave no answers. The book went so far as to implied that outside of the Dragon Migration that dragons kept to themselves which begged the question. “What are dragon clans?”
 
“I know just as much as you do about dragon clans. If I learn anything that I’m allowed to pass on I’ll let you know.”

“You said you were designated as Spike’s guardian. How?
 
“You picked a very complex question... I will give you a basic overview.” Harmony sighed at seeing Twilight’s faltering expression. “Please, understand, Bearer of Magic, that there parts of the story that I can not tell. Other parts would take too long to go over right now and we both have responsibilities to get back to.” Twilight‘s expression was still down but at least it stopped darkening. Harmony smiled a bit upon seeing that at least he would alleviate at least some of her curiosity. “The simple answer would be that Spike’s parents entrusted me with his egg. Remember that a Keeper manifests only when there can be no more of that race. Spike’s egg appeared as… as both…”

“Harmony?” Twilight asked softly as she noticed his eyes glazing over.. or at least she thought they were glazed over.

“Sorry, lost in memories there for a second…” Harmony sniffed slightly. “Anyway, an egg by code would have been normally been smashed upon being orphaned or abandoned as that is considered the same. There is a part of the whelp code that never is taught unless a clutchmate wishes to care for his unhatched cluthmates or aka orphaned siblings. Now obviously I’m not a dragon even though I was living by the Acolyte Code by that point. So how could I be considered his clutchmate?”

After a few moments of silence Twilight suddenly realized that Harmony was waiting her to answer his question. “You mean you want me to figure out how…” She trailed off as the gears in her head went into overdrive trying to grasp at anything that would help her answer. 

“It’s okay not to know.” Harmony chuckled when he saw that Twilight realized that he had tripped her up on purpose again. “Admitting that might save your life one day… Names are sacred to a dragon. Remember when I said I was never allowed near a dragon about to Choose? But who would be near them?” 

“Their family.”

“Usually. On occasion a dragon can be away from family when it happens. There are two magical names a dragon has: their hoard name and their egg name. I was there when his egg was sung over. That is also sacred as it is to be only known by family which is why you only heard the translated version. By allowing me to be there and to hear it Spike’s parents adopted me as his clutchmate as if I was by blood.” 

“Wait, Spike considered us his family so why…”

Harmony raised a hoof to silenced her. He couldn't allow any more interruptions if he was going to finish answering Twilight’s question. He continued as if she hadn’t interrupted. “It was that name that gave me the opportunity to take Rite of Guardianship. If a whelp passes then he is magically linked to the egg or eggs. The codes that the whelp is taught after passing are some very basic adult codes. They are also are addressed as if they are adults (even though they are not adults and most codes will still not apply) That is all I am able to talk about because you have not and are unable to take the Rite.”

“So that is why you have a ‘territory,’ hoard, and are address as ‘He of Harmony.’”

“Basically.”

Twilight grumbled, rubbing her hooves against her head. “This is giving me a headache.”

“Yeah,” Harmony sighed heavily, “The codes are complex and can seem contradictory at times…”

“Ugh.” 

Harmony rolled his eyes, snickering, “Welcome to the club.”
> A Missing Dragon and the Outsider
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A red and orange dragon walked into the library. He looked around to see if anyone besides the purple and green dragon was around. “He of Hourglass are we alone?”

The purple and green dragon did not look up from his writing as he responded, “He of Harmony is in the council chambers working on his assignment. So, yes.”

“Golden Heart why do you call him by that honorific? He is an Outsider and…” The rest was cut off by his mouth being shut by a glittering aura. The red dragon went wide eyed for a moment. A boiling inner rage tried to fight its way past the confusion before his brain finally realized it was the odd aura caused by Golden Heart’s magic. The sparkling aura disappeared along with his rage.

Golden Heart put down his quill and pinched his brow. While this reaction to He of Harmony was not unexpected he was still a tad disappointed. “He is a Keeper of Harmony like myself. That alone should be enough for you to use the honorific ‘He of’, Metal Claws. If that isn't enough for you he has passed the Rite of Guardianship.”

Metal Claws’ jaw opened and closed as he struggled to comprehend what was just said. He knew that Golden Heart would not lie about that. No dragon in their right mind would lie about something as sacred as the Rite of Guardianship. “A non dragon passing the Rite?! But that’s impossible.”

“Apparently, not, because he did. Enough of this.” Golden Heart waved his hands in an action that meant to tell his clanmate to let the topic drop. “What is you real reason for being here?”

“I was hoping to meet the other dragon of this clan.” 

Golden Heart blinked in confusion. Metal Claws raised an eyebrow at this. Golden Heart knew there was only two dragons but Metal Claws was saying there was another. Even though He of Harmony passed the Rite of Guardianship he couldn’t join a clan because of the inherent magic that was needed. That magic only manifested at a Choosing. Considering he was not a dragon by blood, only by oath that left him out.

Metal Claws saw that Golden Heart was still confused so he tried asking the question a bit differently. “Where is the Secondclaw?”

Golden Heart’s confusion only increased. Now Metal Claws was becoming confused along with Golden Heart. 

“You are my Secondclaw.” Golden Heart insisted.

Metal Claws shook his head. ”No, because I received the Clan Heritage Memories at my Choosing.”

“But that is impossible! The first two dragons of any clan never receive clan memories as there is none to give.” 
 
“I know that.” Metal Claw snapped. He immediately regretted his words and flinched at the cross look that his Firstclaw was giving him. “Forgive me, Firstclaw. Its just the absurdity of this situation…” 

“No need to apologize Metal Claws. I shall memory-walk though both the Dragon Memories and my Keeper Memories and see if I can find a clue to this problem.”

“Keeper Memories?”

“Similar to Clan Heritage Memories.” Seeing the blank expression on his clanmate’s face he explained further, “It’s something I have due to my destiny as the Dragon Keeper of Harmony.”

Metal Claws shrugged, giving up on trying to understand. The missing Secondclaw, however, made his paranoia of the alicorn pony rise up again. While he was sure the he had nothing to do with the ‘missing dragon’ he just didn’t know if the pony could really be trusted. He wasn’t going to risk dragons questioning the honor of his Firstclaw and his clan. That was all he cared about besides his hoard. 

Golden Heart silently watched him. His Harmony magic was telling him that Metal Claws’ heart was in the right place but he was missing the wisdom of empathy that he was going to need. This clan that he started with a unknown dragon –apparently– was founded on the Harmony traits that he possessed. Metal Claws would get there he just needed the right kind of push.

Golden Heart shook his head in amusement as he watched Metal Claws leave in a huff. He went back to his writing as he silently chuckled about what he was sure going to be a humbling encounter. I would warn you not to underestimate him Metal Claws but… this might be the push you need.





Harmony could sense the approach of the red dragon. He slowly put down his charcoal and turned to await his entrance. He could feel the room heat up.  Harmony sighed. It seem that draconic rage was also coming.

The doors to the chambers slammed open. Harmony could see the fire in the eyes of the angery red dragon. Yep, rage. I hate it when I am right. 

Harmony kept himself stoic as he formally addressed his guest. “Forgive me, but Dragon with scales of Red and Orange of the city of Hourglass I do not know how to address you correctly.” 

“He of Hourglass.” The dragon growled in irritation. He was getting tired of this charade. This pony knew exactly how to address him.

“Forgive me, but I can’t speak the necessary nuances correctly. However, I shall endeavor to find a way to use the honorific that you have requested.”

“See that you do... ‘Outsider.’” If the red dragon was trying to get a reaction out of Harmony it didn’t work as he was not going to give him any satisfaction. Quite frankly he had heard more colorful insults in the past.

Seeing that the dragon seemed to have nothing else to speak on Harmony went back to his work. The section he was working on before the interruption was being particularly annoying.  Everytime he thought he got it right he would discover another contradiction in the matrix requiring him to start over. He resisted the urge to mutter a few curses as he knew the dragon was behind him. 

“What do you think you are doing?”

“It is a spell matrix.” Harmony responded without stopping his latest design attempt.

“You would pollute this city with pony magic!?”

“This city was once the capital city of the Draconequus people. You are going to find a lot of non dragon magic within it.”

“We have claimed it as our own. What ever magic was here before is now ours. I cannot allow yo but I will not allow you muddle it.”

Harmony stopped his drawing. He was so tempted to take the obvious bait. Sadly he knew that it would only end with them in a circular argument leading to a very likely fiery finish. Instead he figured he would nip this dragon’s arguments in the bud. Turning to face the annoyed dragon he asked, “Shouldn’t you be talking to the Dragon of Purple and Green about this?”

“Keep him out of this.” The red dragon jutted his head forward his claws extended in an act of aggression. He was not going to let this nammy-pamy pony dictate the conversation.

“No.”

“What did you say?”

“I know you heard me. Draconic hearing is legendary.”

The red dragon’s rage nearly boiled over as he got right into Harmony’s face. His growl was feral-like as he tried starring Harmony into submission. 
“Is that a Challenge?” Harmony growled back ignoring the nearly overwhelming heat leaking from between the clenched teeth of the red dragon. He suppressed a sneeze as the sulfur tickled his nose.

The red dragon didn’t move as he roared right in Harmony’s face. The blast from the roar pushed him back a foot. 

“Very well, then.” Harmony threw the piece of charcoal he was using behind him. Harmony roared and flung his wings open in acceptance of the challenge. He slowly backed up until he had was at a honorable distance.

The red dragon smiled wickedly. This will be easy. 

Harmony saw the smile on the face of his opponent and smirked. Overconfident? You really think it will be easy for you? Wrong.

Harmony and the dragon stood eyeing each other for a few moments before a nearly imperceptible nod from them started the challenge.

The red dragon surged forward with a roar, his claws readying to strike the pony. Harmony calmly stood as the dragon rapidly covered the distance between them. The smug calmness only enraged the dragon further. His eyes burned as he added dragon fire to his claws. He would see this pony burn.

If the added fire to the claws concerned Harmony he didn’t show it. The dragon only increased his speed eager to put an end to the fight. As swung his claws Harmony calmly side stepped the dragon. When the momentum pushed the dragon passed Harmony he grabbed the left foreclaw and he spun round. The movement carried the rest of the dragon along. They momentarily exchanged looks as the shocked dragon flew through the air.

The dragon slammed into the wall. The wind temporarily knocked out of his lungs. Harmony charged at him and slammed his hoofs onto the now exposed belly. The force of the impact made sure that he what little air remained left him in a gurgling gasp. Before he could do anything to recover Harmony had his foreleg pressed hard against his windpipe. “Yield.” Harmony whispered as he pushed harder down on the struggling red dragon’s throat. For a moment he was worried that he would not yield. 

Harmony resist to urge to sigh in relief as the red dragon stop struggling. Harmony slowly released the dragon. The dragon coughed and sputtered a bit as his breathing return to normal. The red dragon looked surprised as he saw a hoof enter his vision. He reached out and slowly pushed the hoof aside. He had lost the challenge and would not allow the winner to debase him any further. He was still a proud dragon and the Outsider was still an outsider.

Harmony hid his rolling eyes at the expected reaction. While he knew that he now had at least gained some respect it seemed it would be a while before he would have it fully.

The red dragon smirked as he got on to his feet. This pony wasn’t half bad. The least he could do was give him a name to use that wasn’t ‘He of Hourglass.’“You may call me Quartermaster.”

Harmony was going to respond in thanks when he erupted into a coughing fit. Unlike the last time he fell into one this one went straight to the horrible wet hack. The strange ash mixed with phlegm was coming out again. Harmony could feel his strength rush out from him. His knees buckled then collapsed.

Quartermaster looked on as Harmony fell to his knees. This Outsider bested me within seconds but a simple cough does him in?  He moved in closer to see why he was coughing. But when he saw what he was coughing it shocked him. He is coughing up ash! How is that possible? I never got the opportunity to use my flame breath much less smoke. The fire on my claws was a clean magic fire it shouldn't have produced this... especially since the fire on my claws was extinguished the moment the Outsider grabbed me during that throw.

“Quartttter…” Harmony looked up to Quartermaster before retching a massive lob of ash.

“He of Hourglass…” Harmony struggled to get the words out. Every intake of breath seem to burn his lungs. “Scorpan…”

Harmony wheezed trying to remain conscious. He needed to just say four more words. But the words seemed to swim about in his head.  

Quartermaster was torn. He could either run to get Golden Heart or wait until Harmony got out what he needed to say. Harmony answered his dilemma as he could feel the small tug of magic on his shoulder.

As the red dragon got down on his knees he could just make out Harmony whispering.“Northern Oasis…” Harmony nearly lost conscious as he nearly dry heaved. “Un...tamed... Wilds…”  At that his world faded to black as he collapsed.
> Mystery at the Oasis
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Harmony blinked as he attempted to clear his vision. He could tell that he was lying on a couch next to a fire. He rubbed his foreleg against his eyes to clear the remaining sleep. It was then that he realized that he was in Scorpan’s home. Looked around he couldn’t see him. He slowly got up to a sitting position as he wasn’t sure how long he was out or how much strength he had and he wasn’t about to push it, yet.

“I never thought that I would see a dragon so distraught and so rage filled at the same time.” Harmony turned around to see that Scorpan was entering the den with a tray of tea. “Though I’m certain you have.”

Harmony rolled his eyes at Scorpan’s greeting him with his trademark musing, “I have…” He sighed as knew what that meant. For a dragon to have such polar opposite emotions at the same time…

“Harmony?” Scorpan snapped a claw in front of Harmony’s face. Harmony shooked his head at the sudden sound and movement. “Good. You’re back. Tea?”

Harmony nodded in thanks as he carefully tested his magic out. Finding that at least his telekinesis was working he levitated the cup and took a comforting sip of the soothing herbal tea.

Scorpan silently sipped his tea along with Harmony. He knew that Harmony was going to need something calming with what he was about to tell him. Once he noticed that Harmony put down his tea he nonchalantly commented. “You no longer have Magic Wasting Disease.”

If Harmony’s jaw could drop to the floor it would. Of all the things to go right he was not expecting that. It had to be too good to be true. “How? Are you sure? I mean…”

“Yes, I’m quite sure.” Scorpan was going to explain how he didn’t know how when he saw that Harmony was out for the count. Glad I waited until he put the cup down...

Harmony again had completely lost all of his senses. The shock of having the debilitating disease that he had been suffering from for so long to truly be gone was too much for him to process. Scorpan sighed heavily knowing he would need to wait patiently for Harmony’s gears to restart.

Scorpan managed to finished his third cup when Harmony finally woke from his catatonic state. Time for another one. “I have no idea why you are coughing slash vomiting up ash. I have not made a complete analysis yet, but it is draconic in origin.” 

That only partly surprised Harmony. He was also thinking it was draconic as well but was hoping that Scorpan would have an answer as to why. “I haven’t been to the Migration in quite a while and I know you would have noticed if I had an ash problem when we attempted to cure the Magic Wasting Disease a couple of months ago.”

Scorpan put his cup down before speaking, “I don’t have an easy way to say this but what about the Dragon Keeper?”

“Hmmm…” Harmony had thought that could be a small possibility but neither him or Quartermaster had really done anything that would cause this much. He had coughed up ash before when he wasn’t careful at the Migration. It was a sign that he was inhaling too much of their smoke. It meant that he needed to renew one of several spells that he had to cast for his own protection whenever he was there. It was lucky that day that they had been the the whelp crater and not in any of the others… “It’s not likely but at this point I wouldn't count it out. What do you need from him?”

“A sample of his ash. Enough to fill this jar.” Scorpan put a sizable mason jar on the coffee table between them.

Harmony eyed the size of the jar. It was going to be interesting to get Quartermaster to produce that much ash willingly. “You sure you need that much?”

“Hopefully not. But I don’t want to have to walk all the way to Hourglass to get more. I’m not that young anymore. Plus with the final Keeper now here the ‘Chaos Bringer’ is going to make life a living Tartarus for all of us.”

“Very well...” Harmony sighed heavily at the reminder of the task ahead. “I will also get a sample from the other dragon of Hourglass as well.”

“Other dragon? In Hourglass? Are you saying that not only the Dragon Keeper has claimed Hourglass but another dragon as well? Hourglass is a large city but not that big.”

“The Keeper started a dragon clan.”

“A dragon clan?”

Harmony shrugged. “I pretty much know about as much as you on the subject.”

“Sounds headache inducing.”

Harmony raised an eyebrow at Scorpan’s knowing remark. “Are you reading into my magic more than you need too again?”

“No…” Scorpan quickly answered waving his hands defensively before he incredulously added, “should I?”

Harmony facehoofed knowing that he walked into that one. He decided not to indulge any more than that response as he didn't want to start that routine. At least Scorpan wouldn’t run it six feet under like a certain draconequus would. “How much does he know?”

“The Dragon Keeper? Not much. I had to kick him out when he wouldn’t stop acting like a vulture awaiting his next meal as I was attempting to access what was wrong with you.”

Harmony laughed a bit. “I bet that didn’t go well.” Harmony knew that Scorpan had done something extremely dangerous. A dragon with a threatened hoard was not someone you would want to get mad. Well madder than they would already be. Kicking him out could have been enough to become fricasseed with any other dragon. Luckily it was He of Hourglass. He was bound to do something surprising by doing what would be considered the opposite reaction of a ‘normal’ dragon.

“Not until I told him that his hovering was inhibiting my ability to help and that I would call for him when I had something or when you awoke.” Scorpan poured out another cup for Harmony who nodded in thanks. “I did ask him if there were any dragon specific diseases that might have any symptoms that would match yours. Unfortunately, he knew of none that could even remotely match. Of course a dragon disease might act differently on a non dragon…”

“What is the other thing.” Harmony eyed Scorpan over the rim of his cup.

“Uh…”

“There is something you are hiding… what is it?”

“Well, I’m still not positive of the results…”

Harmony slowly and dramatically put down his cup. “Scorpan…” 

“When I checked your magic… I found an anomaly…”

“An anomaly?”

“There was dragon mana in you along with alicorn.”

“Odd, but I think I know how that happened. He of Hourglass stop a fainting spell a while back. Although it should have dispelled itself shortly afterwards.”

“I did surreptitiously scanned Golden Heart signature and it doesn't match. That would be odd if that was the only thing. This is what really got my attention: I had a hard time seeing the dragon magic. There is only one way that could happen. The dragon magic had the same signature as your native alicorn magic.”

“Correct me if I’m remembering wrong but what you just said was a step in the curing process for the Magic Wasting Disease. So why would that get you so concerned?”

“True. But what got me was that transplanted magic from a different species can not replenish itself. This magic can.”

“How!?” Harmony barely managed to keep himself from going into another zone out. The only thing that could even come close would be ascension. But in that case the magic type completely changes to the new. Twilight’s magic signature at her ascension was the same it just changed from unicorn to alicorn. That obviously didn’t happen here as the dragon magic would have clearly overpowered the Alicorn...

“No idea. After I discovered the dragon magic during your initial scan I removed some of the dragon mana to study to see if it was the source of your ash coughing. I had taken it to the lab to study. When I was unable to get much out of it I came back to do some more detailed scans. It was then that I found out that your dragon mana was increasing. I tried removing a larger amount just to see if maybe I had messed up the first time. I waited an hour and did the scan again and the mana level had returned to the previous amount. I experiment several more times but the same thing happened every time.”

“Did you remove it all?”

“No. I dared not. I wasn’t going to risk it. I’m not sure how the dragon mana is replenishing itself and I have no idea what could happen if I remove it all.”

“Is it over powering the alicorn mana?”

“No…” Scorpan blinked in confusion at such a strange question. “But I would refrain from trying to use the mana as the results may not be good.”

“Ugh…” Harmony rubbed his head with a vengeance as a migrane of a headache formed, “with every answer we only discover a more deeper mystery…”

“Seems to be a prevailing problem for you.”

“Do me a favor Scorpan. Keep everything about the dragon magic between us. I don’t think He of Hourglass could handle what it could mean.” Harmony began to stand as he knew that he had to get back to work and it could be a while before Scorpan could finish whatever experiments he needed to do. Scorpan tried putting out an arm to stop Harmony when but Harmony shook his head. “I have a job to do. You know this Scorpan. As we don’t know what exactly is causing this we are wasting time here…” Harmony looked to the north. Even though there was only a wall there he knew that He of Hourglass was out there, needing him.





Harmony could just feel the dreariness, the sadness, the pain. The source was sitting ahead of him. He of Hourglass was facing away with his back towards him. He was bowed over the water and his head was in his claws. His tail laid limpy on the ground and he was sure if He of Hourglass wings ㅡwherever they seemed to disappear toㅡ would be droopy. The bright sparks that normally flowed over him seemed to have dimmed like the mood that the dragon was in. A slight disturbance rippled in the waters of the Oasis which meant only one thing. It takes a lot for a proud dragon to demean themselves like that.

”He of Hourglass?” Harmony had softly called out as he didn’t want to startle him in this state. If the dragon heard there was no indication. He got right up to the dragon and whispered softly, “Brother?”

“I thought… I thought I was going to lose you.” When the dragon finally spoke it was in a whispered croak and he refused to face Harmony. Harmony’s heart nearly broke as he heard the pain emanating from his brother. “I was useless, totally useless…”

Now that was enough. Harmony knew better than that. That was Spike speaking not Golden Heart. Even as a hatchling Spike was not useless he just thought that. Usefulness was not defined by the sharpness of claws and teeth or by size of body. It was a lesson that Spike never quite got. Harmony sighed Looks like it’s time to get that lesson over with.

“I’m sorry brother, but you’re wrong.” Harmony lit his horn and conjured a musical wind. “You are so wrong.”

“Brother…” He of Hourglass looked around trying to figure out what was going on. The music was soothing but he could feel something much older and deeper as well. 

Let your heart tell you the truth (He of Harmony?)
Never forget your place
Let my voice be soothing 
Regain your peace 

“Is this…?” He of Hourglass wondered. Harmony ignored him as he continued his song.

So a little voice tells you that you are useless?
May my voice cry out in song 
You hear that you are what some might say is hopeless
For I say that they are wrong

Let your heart tell you the truth
Never forget your place
Let my voice be soothing 
Regain your peace

He of Hourglass’ pain seemed to lift off of him. This definitely is the legendary Soul Music. He figured that the ancient form of harmony magic would return to the world, but…
 
Usefulness is not defined by size, fang, or claw 
Nor only by strength alone
To just be there with another when their dark hour falls
‘Tis better than being one

He of Hourglass could fill the pull increase. The ancient musical magic of Harmony was calling for him to join. He couldn’t help but answer.

Let your(I’ll let my) heart tell you(me) the truth
Never forget your(my) place 
Let my(our) voice(s) be soothing 
Regain your(my) peace

Our hearts will sing out the truth
As we remember our place
Our voices will be soothing
And find our peace
> The Phantom of Strongberg
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A rolled up letter appeared with a soft pop. With a sigh Harmony took it with his magic broke the seal and quickly scanned the contents of the letter. Harmony facehoofed at what he read. 

Ever since the ash coughing/vomit incident six weeks ago Golden Heart has been on an overprotective streak. Another trait of Spike’s(which he was sure that he got from Twilight) showing through. Harmony would smile nostalgically at it if it wasn’t interfering with his work. With any luck Quartermaster will be able knock some sense into him before his return. In the mean time he had to report in every three days just to get him to let him go. That was after they got into an argument as Golden Heart originally wanted him send a letter every day.



He of Hourglass,

Please, Brother, relax. I will be fine. I am not a helpless hatchling. Need I remind you that I have survived much worse... 

I just arrived in the town of Strongberg with any luck I should have the oscillarium ore that I need for the matrix.

Your Brother and Fellow Keeper,

He of Harmony






Harmony walked into forge behind the local blacksmith shop. The smithy should be able to get him the ore that he needed. Hopefully it wouldn’t take too long to get the ore. Even though Strongberg was known for its oscillarium ore deposits but he wasn’t sure if the there would be enough currently mined or not.

“Forge!” Harmony cried out when he saw a very familiar, greying, female griffin manning the fire.

“By the Roc’s feathers, Harmony!” The wizened griffin abandoned the fire to greet the cloaked alicorn. “Long time, no see. What have you been up to? And please tell me its not that boring Keeper work.”

“Well then, I’m going to have to disappoint you once again.”

“You know, if you ever need a squeeze I’m up for some pillow time.” Forge flicked her tail at Harmony’s nose.

“Forge…” Harmony was so glad that his embarrassed blush was hidden inside his cloak otherwise he was sure that Forge would have laid it on even thicker.

“I have always wonder what a horn–”

“Forge!” Harmony breathed a sigh of relief at the sound of someone calling for Forge. He wasn’t sure if he could handle any more of Forge’s colorful bedroom ‘suggestions.’ “Forge!” 

A very small griffin fluttered into the forge. Harmony thought the griffon was a bit too small at least from the sound of his voice. The young chick tripped in his exuberance. He smashed into Harmony knocking him over. It was then that he noticed why he was so small and why he slid so easily. He wasn’t a griffin he was a hippogriffin.

Forge laughed heartily at the pile of feathers and fur before she helped them up. “Yes, what is it Pen Feather?”

“The sheriff needs you again. Apparently he forgot to grease the hinges to one of the cells again.”

“That feather brain! I swear he’s full of helium sometimes. Ugh. Duty calls. I shall be back shortly, my tweet.” She flicked her tail at Harmony again as she exited with an oil can.

“Yuck.” Pen Feather gagged.

Harmony facehoofed. He was beginning to remember why he had not been to Strongberg in nearly 30 years. He knew that Forge was teasing but it was still embarrassing. It wasn’t that his eyes never strayed towards a mare or two over his long life he just never let it go a second longer then that. He knew that it would never work. Between him being sterile and his work as a Keeper he knew it could never be. Still to have a family…

Yeah, you did… Killer.

Murderer.

Hypocrite.

“Hey mister…”

“Mister!”

Harmony almost jumped as he realized he had zoned out from the voices in front of someone, again. “Oh, I’m sorry little one, I seemed to have drifted off.” 

Pen Feather ruffled his feathers. He mumbled angrily under his breath. Harmony could just make out the words ‘not’ and ‘little’. Harmony smiled knowing that all younglings seemed to want to be big only to wished they were little again once they were big.

The minutes passed by in silence as Harmony patiently waited for Forge to return. He was surprised that Pen Feather was staying quiet and out of trouble. It was not typical for a child of his age (pony, griffin, or in this case hippogriffin) to remain still and silent for so long. Although thinking on it he remembered how angry Forge could get when someone messed around in her forge without her permission. And if he recalled correctly the last one to do that was defeathered in less than ten seconds.

The sounds of an argument woke Harmony from his inner musings. He saw that Pen Feather feathers were ruffled up a bit in excitement. This was not a good sign.

“I don’t trust him.” A male voice yelled, muffled a bit from distance and walls.

“He is a Keeper! How can you not?” Harmony recognized that voice as Forge.

“Never heard of them.”

“By the Roc’s Feathers!”

From there the argument devolved into a cursing match. Harmony facehoofed while he appreciated Forge defending him but it was unnecessary. By this point they had arrived by in the forge. Pen Feather was cowering in the corner. Harmony didn’t blame him in the least. He could see that the male was a young pony with a blond mane and brown fur. His cutiemark looked like a police star.

“Forge.” Harmony yelled out over one of Forge’s more colorful rants.

As expected they either ignored or didn’t noticed his interjection.

“Forge!” He yelled again. This time Forge and the sheriff stopped their arguing to stare at the cloaked Keeper. “I’m not well known in Equestria.”

“How could they not know you?!”

Harmony shrugged. He knew why but he wasn’t on the sheriff's good side. The last thing he wanted was the sheriff knowing that the reason was dragons. He still need to get the oscillaruim ore and really was not in the mood for a posse or a mob running him out of town.

“Forge may trust you but I don’t. I don’t know what a Keeper is and I really don’t care. I’ll be watching you.” The sheriff threatened before he stomped out of the forge.

Harmony rolled his eyes as the sheriff walked out of the forge. If you really knew what a Keeper was you’d know that I outrank you.

“Sorry about that. The sheriff has been on edge since the traveling bard’s wagon was destroyed by the Phantom a few days ago.”

“The Phantom?”

“A mysterious shadow figure that has been haunting town the past few years. We can’t figure out what or whom this aberration really is. Everything about it is contradictory…”

“How so?”

“Well of the few confirmed sightings all describe it as minotaur like shadow. The most recent attack contradict that as there was evidence of claws.”

“Hmm…” A minotaur like shadow figure with claws… Harmony was pretty sure he knew what the Phantom really was. It was definitely was not a minotaur. The claw marks make that quite clear. He would need to look at the damage to be sure.

“I know that Hmmm… You think you know the culprit?”

Harmony would have given her a eye raise but he was still in his clock. “Maybe, I need to inspect the damage.”

“Well, as I don’t have any pressing work I shall... escort you.” Forge giggled like a little chick. 

Harmony had to suppress a shudder. Somehow age had only made her more promiscuous.
He sighed as he followed Forge out of her blacksmith shop and down the street. Pen Feather apparently was curious as he quickly caught up to them near the tavern.

“You are lucky. We hadn’t gotten around to cleaning up the mess yet.” Forge was explaining as they rounded a corner. Next to the inn was the shatter remains of a wagon. “The Phantom was never like this before. Petty vandalism, sure, but nothing like this…”

“Whoa.” Pen Feather yelped.

“Indeed…” Harmony agreed.

“It was like a tornado went through an’ booom and it was like….” Pen Feather went full of CMC. Harmony groaned as he had hoped that this child would not be that way. “This is way cooler then the Phantom’s usual boring music and lame art… I mean flute music? Come on! Wheres the drums and the bass guitar…”

Harmony decided to just nod in a noncommittal way. Pen Feather kept talking on as if Harmony was intently listening to his every word. Harmony was not terribly interested in over dramatics or past incidents he needed the facts of this one. There had to be a reason for the escalation. But first he needed find evidence to confirm his suspicions.

It was definitely destroyed by claw and not by an instrument. The markings also showed that it was not a griffin. The scratch marks showed that whatever attacked used four claws. While griffins had four claws the orientation of the fourth claw meant that it almost near used in scratch like attacks.

Harmony was giving a particular plank a close examination when he heard something that Pen Feather was spouting out. “Wait back up… did I hear that correctly?”

“Uh… The part about always being against ponies?”

“Fascinating…” Another interesting part of the puzzle. Harmony put down the plank and shifted some more of the debris away.

He eyed something half hidden under one of the boards. With a hoof he pushed the board out of the way. He lifted the object that he saw earlier. It was a white scale. Well it appears that we have a dragon problem… Slowly he let the scale down as he didn’t want to reveal just yet that he discovered what the Phantom was. He continued to poke around the wagon like he was still looking for evidence. He needed to check out the tavern new paint ‘job’ but Pen Feather was still talking a mile a minute. After a while Harmony stopped looking as he figured that was enough time. He rubbed his chin in fake thought. 

Pen Feather noticed this and finally stopped his hyperactive talking to ask. “So? What do you think?”

Finally the opening I needed. “I would like to see the most recent graffiti.”

“Uh… sure.”

Forge ruffled the head feathers of Pen Feather affectionately. “You do that. I have to go back and check on my forge.”

“See you in a bit Forge.”

“I look forward to it.” She leaned in and whispered a bit too loudly. “I’ll get the bed all warmed up for you.”

“Again. Yuck.”

“Come Pen Feather, show me where the tavern is.”

Pen Feather zoomed ahead laughing. Harmony chuckled a bit at the youth before trotting to catch up. He knew exactly where the tavern was. He also knew that the hippogriffin would be disappointed to not help out with his investigation. Not that he needed that help as he was done and just had to go find the culprit. Looking ahead he saw Pen Feather excitedly waving him over to the alley next to the tavern.

“Come on it’s over here!”

Harmony obliged and quickly caught up to Pen Feather. There on the wall next to him was the graffiti. It was a very crude depiction of a horseshoe with three painted claw marks across it. Below written in dripping red and extremely poor griffin was the words:


Clawz 4vR



Harmony facehoofed. Really? “Childish.”

“Huh?”

Harmony shook his head. “Just an observation.”

Pen Feather yelped as he suddenly realized that it was getting dark. “It is getting late and the streets are not safe after dark.”

“You go on ahead,” He waved his hoof dismissively, “I have something I need to do.”

“But…” Pen Feather suddenly couldn’t see Harmony anywhere. “Uh…” Where did he go?





The cave was definitely not one an adult dragon would use as the height of the cave would barely be large enough for a whelp to walk through. Even though the cave entrance looked over the town the rocks around it hid it from prying eyes. It would be a great spot for a young dragon to nest in.

“Good evening young dragon.” 

The only response he got was the dripping of water and the sound of the breeze whistling through the cave. He knew the dragon was in there. The faint smell of sulfur drifted from within. If that wasn’t enough he had created a specific tracking spell from the scale he had found earlier. According to it the dragon was watching just beyond the light.

“Going to be quiet? Fine by me.” Harmony wasn’t terribly surprised. The dragon was probably surprised that someone, a stranger noless, found his cave so easily.

“I know it was you that destroyed the traveling bard’s wagon and instruments. I don’t know what your problem is with ponies or music. But it stops, now.”

“Here’s the deal. You are going to compensate very very generously the pony you terrified to help replace his wagon and instruments along with the bits he could have earned. Then you are going to wash off the graffiti that you spray painted on the tavern. You have three days to do this. And if you don’t like that I will notify the town who their ‘Phantom’ is and where you are. Trust me, my punishment is mild in comparison to what the griffins will do with you.”

“Don’t try and flee either because I will be watching.”

“Remember, three days. I shall be on the hill at sunrise on the hill overlooking town.” With that Harmony walked away from the cave and into the night.
> On the Road
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Harmony just loved the smell of a crisp fall morning. There was just something about the chill of the morning that seemed refreshing. And he was going to need it as he had to haul a nearly a ton of ore.

“You are going to have to be a lot better than that to sneak up on me young dragon.”

“How? I was downwind.” Came the voice of the Phantom of Strongberg.

“I may lack the excellent hearing and smell of a dragon but I do have experience on my side.” 

“Who or what are you? I smell dragon on you but you are no dragon.”

“I think I’ll keep that to myself for now.” Harmony finally turned around to see an annoyed whelp.

Harmony started to walk in a wide circle around the whelp examining him closely from head to toe. The dragon was white scaled with a cyan under belly and hair spines. His ear frills and spines were teal colored. Harmony couldn’t see what type of ear frill the dragon had as it was hidden by what looked like a headphone band. At the end of his tail was a forked spike. He was wearing a cream colored jacket with yellow scorpion embroidered near the collar. Well now I see why they didn’t see the wings… Wonder where he got the jacket… with minotaurs being somewhat rare in Equestria and even more so in the lands to the north...

The whelp yawned a bit, clearly bored. His black claws flexed into the dirt as Harmony made a second circle around him. Interesting coloration. It also looks like he may been a mix breed. Can’t say for sure… Harmony stopped and took a look at the eyes. Sharp emerald eyes stared back at him. A black triangle under the eyes? Don’t see that too often.

While Harmony was examining him the dragon was examining the cloaked figure. The brown cloak looked torn and tattered from use. Oddly, he couldn’t see into the tears, holes, or even the hood. Must be enchanted... He was getting bored as he really couldn’t get much of out a brown cloak and a dragon smelling non dragon that he couldn't see. He started getting uncomfortable when the figure finally stopped after two circles around him and stared at him. At least he thought he was staring at him he couldn't see the eyes. This guy is creepy.

Harmony walked past the whelp and hooked himself to the loaded wagon. “Come. I would prefer to get to End Junction before the night train leaves.”

“And what makes you think I’m coming with you?”

Harmony turned his head back to face the dragon. “You’re here aren’t you?” The whelp raised a claw for a second then lowered it when he had no retort to give. “I only required you to pay for the damages. I said nothing about you needing to meet me here.”

He turned back around and began to pull the wagon behind him. He wasn’t going to wait for the dragon to decide what he wanted to do. He figured the dragon would decided one way or another and would catch up to him if he was a curious as Harmony thought he was.

Knew it. Harmony smiled as he could hear the dragon running to catch up to him. “Here you may want to wear this. I don’t want to cause a panic.” He threw a black cloak behind him with his magic.

“What kind of town is End Junction?”

“Pony.”

“Ugh.”

“Get use to it. We have to go through the heart of Equestria to get to our destination.”

What did I get myself into!?





The sun was low in the sky when the traveling pair caught sight of the town. It was more industrial than most towns. End Junction was the end of line for trains which normally would mean a small backwater town. But considering its proximity to griffin territory and its mineral riches it was quite the place for the moving of ore and other earthly riches to and from Equestria and nearby griffin eyries

Harmony looked over to his companion as they got closer. The dragon was trying to hide his nervousness but to a keen eye like Harmony it was quite clear. “Don’t worry, we won't be in town very long. Ponies here are all business so you wont need to worry about unwanted attention… unless you keep looking like a reindeer being stalked…” Harmony had to stifle a laugh as the dragon went to the extreme opposite. “Now you're too stiff just relax.”

“Maybe I should have stayed in Strongberg…” 

“Wimp.”

“I am not a wimp!”

“Then maybe you should keep up.” Harmony laughed as he spend up into a gallop. 

The whelp jaw dropped for a second before he ran to catch up. He caught up to Harmony at the train platform. Harmony resisted the urge to say something foalish like ‘what took you?’

Harmony disconnected from his wagon to speak to the ticketmaster. “I need a boxcar and I need it taken to Ponyville.”

The pony inside the counter took one look at him and scoffed. He was in no mood to deal with a pair of train hobos. Harmony rolled his eyes at the reaction of the clerk. Not that he was terribly surprised given the condition of his cloak.

“I think this will be more then enough.” Harmony lifted a large bulging sack into the ticket counter. The clerk went wide eye when the bag burst open and bits pour out. Harmony smirked at the greedy glint he saw. “Keep the change.”

“I’ll get you a boxcar right away.” The pony zipped out of the booth so fast that Harmony had to hold the hood to his cloak down from the wind created in the pony’s wake. He could hear the dragon laughing hard behind him. He stole a glance to see that not only was the dragon laughing but was bent over slapping his knees. Harmony just shook his head in amusement.

The sun had fallen by the time Harmony and his companion dragon climbed into a boxcar at the end of the train. Once in Harmony lifted the wagon inside with his magic. The whelp took off his cloak, glad to be finally rid of it for the moment. The engineers were apparently waiting on them because as soon as they got in the train it began to move. The dragon lost his footing with the sudden movement and fell over. A golden object fell out of his pocket.

“A scorpion ocarina?” Harmony eyed the object. It had been a while since he saw one of those.

“Don’t touch it.” The whelp growled as he picked it up and began to inspect it for damage. Seeing none he sat down near the door.

“Wouldn’t dream of it young dragon.” This is interesting to say the least. Now I’m sure he is of mixed heritage… Scorpion ocarinas are usually made by dragons in the deserts east of Zebcoria. Of course this one is made of metal not by an actual scorpion.

The whelp eyed Harmony wearily. He wasn’t too sure about the cloaked whatever he was. After a  few minutes he shrugged and leaned back against the door jab. He crossed his legs and let his tail wag out of the door to flap in the breeze. He eyed Harmony one more time before he started playing his ocarina.

Harmony laid down a well. With a relaxed sigh he crossed his forelegs together to watch the stars twinkle above. The ocarina music was both upbeat and relaxing. Before too long he could feel the pull. He was more than happy to allow it to carry him along. 

Walking in the cool of the night...
Gazing at the lights....
A song so bright...
My fire alights….
As I see the lights...

Twinkling abound...
Flying on silver clouds...
Of light and sound…
Singing aloud...
With joy around...

The dragon stopped playing. His jaw slightly agape at Harmony’s ability to sing those lyrics to his playing so perfectly. It had to be impossible as he never played the tune before. He just made it up on the spot! “How did you do that?”

“You led I only followed.”

The dragon blinked in confusion.

“You led the song I only joined in.”

“Stop. Speaking. Riddles!” The whelp got up, angry at the cloaked figure. His rage built to scary heights as his teeth ground together. “You infuriating, annoying, unspecific…!”

He roared as he stopped thinking and let out a stream of neon blue flames. He smirked as the figure was engulfed. He kept up the flames until he could no longer see him from the brilliant light of his flames. He panted as he tried to catch his breath. His vision cleared up after a few moments.

“You done?” The voice caused the whelp nearly fall out of the boxcar. Harmony walked back into the light. His cloak the same as always. The dragon couldn’t believe it. His jaw dropped at not only seeing the cloaked figure still alive but also not having a trace of smoke or ash upon him. “Good. The music you just played? I’m not sure what dragons call it as I have not heard it done among dragons in nearly… uh… three thousand years take a century or two. It’s known in Equestria as a Heartsongs or Harmony songs. Its an extremely ancient magic.”

Harmony laid back down where he was before glad for the residual warmth from the dragon’s fire. “Normally it can only be done when there is harmony. There are exceptions. Some people are what are known as naturals. Naturals can initiate a song without needing the any of the usual prerequisites to start. I really don’t want to go over that right now. You are probably the only natural dragon there is given that dragons are not harmonious.”

“What? I’m a dragon not some soft and furry bunny wunny!” The dragon’s rage started to climb again as he clenched his claws together at what he thought was a slight against dragons. 

Harmony chuckled while shaking his head. “I think you are mixing sunshine, giggles, and softness with harmony… If you are wondering what dragon harmony really is you will need to see the Dragon Keeper.”

The whelp was shocked again, his arms dropping to his sides. “Wait! The Dragon Keeper has arrived!?”

“Let me guess... a bedtime story?” The whelp growled and tried to claw Harmony who slyly stepped out of the way. “Sorry, I couldn’t help myself… I was on assignment from him in Strongberg.”

“He had you get oscillarium ore?”

“Yes.”

“Why? It’s not exactly a very tasty mineral.”

“I take you have had personal experience as I can’t eat rocks. As for the why, I’m not saying.”

The dragon crossed his arms and grumbled, “Fine.”’

For a while neither one talk or did really anything but watch the world go by.

After a bit Harmony’s curiosity got the better of him. “Your ocarina…”

The whelp grumbled a bit before answering, “Yeah what about it?”

“Where did you get it?”

The dragon sighed heavily and turned to look at the scenery flying by. After a while he finally whisper, softly, “It was my mothers. I lost her and my father when I was merely a hatchling.”

“So as I figured, an orphan.” The whelp growled. “Chill, dragon, I too am an orphan. My ‘parents’ were killed by an agent of the ‘Nameless One’ when I was born.”

“‘Nameless One’?”

“The enemy of every living being on this planet and the personal nemesis of the Keepers.”

“I was out playing my mother’s ocarina at the pond near my parents cave.” He stroked the ocarina a bit before continuing, “There was this strange gurgling roar.  It didn’t sound like my parents. I… I… froze in fear.”

Harmony stared at the whelp who had stopped talking and was again staring off into the wilderness. A gurgling roar? This story will not end well.

“My parents answered a moment later with roars of their own. I started to run towards my parents. But then I heard my father roar in pain…” The whelp shuttered at the memory.

Harmony knew what must had come next. It was a story he had heard a few times before. Though he couldn't recall anyone of them becoming orphans because of it… This dragon must have got the parents by surprise.

“When I finally got the courage to enter my home… It was horrible… My parents were a bloody broken mess. The dragon that invaded and my father were… were already gone. Mother was barely alive and was fading…”

Promise me one thing my little Nova...

Keep living…

Mom!

Promise me…

I… I promise...

What the dragon said next came out in an almost indiscernible whisper. “That was twenty years ago…” With that the whelp fell into sobs.

Harmony tried to put a comforting hoof on the crying dragon’ shoulders but was quickly rebuffed. “You have nothing to be ashamed of.” 

“But I’m crying! A proud strong dragon doesn’t.”

“I would disagree and so would the Dragon Keeper.” Harmony took a calming deep breath. “Your parents died to protect you from the attacking dragon. From what you described it sounded like the dragon was under the Beast growth curse. One of several curses of the ‘Nameless One.’”

The whelp only stared at Harmony in response. For a few moments neither spoke as tears still streamed down the dragon’s face. Harmony slowly turned away. He could see that the dragon needed sometime to himself so he headed to the back of the boxcar where he promptly plopped down emotionally spent.

Harmony laid there for hours sleep never really coming to him as his own painful memories replayed in his mind. He understood the pain of the young dragon. He wasn’t going to push. The dragon would talk if and when he was ready.

It was late into the night when he awoke from the sounds of scraping claws. He looked up the see that the whelp was heading towards him. Harmony slowly got up into a sitting position. Even with the dim light he could see that the dragon’s eyes were dry but blood shot.

The dragon slowly sat down across from Harmony. “Nova Blaze…. My name is Nova Blaze.”

Harmony smiled. He figured that if he waited the dragon would most likely come to him. He doubted the dragon had hardly talked in twenty years so this was a good step. “Well Nova Blaze I think its time I get you caught up on the Dragon Code. But first, to repay for telling me your name. You may call me Harmony.”

“Harmony?!?” Nova Blaze snorted. “Really?”

Harmony groaned. It is going to be a loooong night.
> Golden Journal #12
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


From the Journals of Golden Heart, He of Hourglass, Firstclaw of the Clan of Hourglass, Dragon Keeper of Harmony.  


Entry #12



(10 weeks after Clan inception)




What is with He of Harmony and delinquent whelps? He went to Strongberg to get the oscillarium ore he needs for the communication matrix in the council chambers. Now he’s coming back with a whelp in tow that apparently has been “terrorizing” the town or should I say the ponies in town for the past few years. 

If it wasn’t for the fact that He of Harmony thinks that this may be a dragon that is a natural at Soul songs I would have a problem with the whole situation. He has assured me that he would try to find out the reason for the whelp’s behavior. He already suspects the dragon was orphaned at a young age or has had a past issue with ponies. Either way he had better not mess with the ponies in Ponyville, or he will regret He of Harmony’s mercy. For if that happens and He of Harmony doesn’t punish or punish him harshly enough I will. 

Speaking of “problem” dragons I think He of Harmony convinced Quartermaster to annoy me. How he did that is beyond me, given the low level of animosity between the two. For the past week Quartermaster on a daily basis has questioned my motivations for I quote: “Mothering the ‘outsider’ like a wayward hatchling.” Like I’m going to explain to him what He of Harmony means to me. 

At least I can look forward to another letter from the Ascended One. Her last letter was a marked improvement from her earlier “reports.” According to He of Harmony she had problems for the longest time being informal with the Sun Princess even after constant reminders to not be so formal. For her letters to improve from “reports” to a more friendly informal letters so quickly… I wonder if I could make the Sun Princess jealous. Sadly, I don’t see that happening. Ruling Equestria for as long as she has probably has made her somewhat immune to such childish notions.


> Next Stop: Crazy... Ponyville
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Ready?” Harmony asked as he hooked up his wagon. A sense of relief poured over him. To be walking on solid ground was wonderful thing after fours days. Being out of a swaying boxcar was a plus.

“Must we go through a pony town?” Nova whined.

“Afraid so… to begin with Ponyville surrounds the train station… It didn't used to, but it has grown a bit so I can’t do what I would in any other town: skirt around. Two, I would be remiss if I didn't check up on some things as we passed through. Finally, it will look suspicious if we didn’t go through town because this place a magnet for weirdness. It makes them more leery of two strangers deliberately avoiding town.” 

Nova grumbled as he grudgingly followed Harmony. The ponies at least where giving them a wide berth. Two cloaked strangers even in a town like Ponyville put them on edge. Harmony could care less about it while it put Nova on edge.

Okay lets see..I need to get Nova an instrument so he can fully utilize his talents… A bass guitar might be good. A progress report on the Bearer of Generosity would be nice. Although something tells me that she still in the dramatic crying stage. I should also check up on the Bearer of Magic to see if she was getting anywhere on learning the ins and out of the castle.

They were approaching the town square when two ponies stepped out of a side street to block their path. Well one stepped out; the other hovered. Harmony calmly stopped, smiling. He knew the two ponies so he wasn’t a bit concerned. They were the Bearers of Honesty and Loyalty. Nova slowly back away not wanting to be caught in an unfamiliar surroundings. He may be dragon but he wasn’t sure that he could take on the town guard, especially for a town of this size. These two ponies, even though they wore no armor, seemed to carry the air of knowing how to fight.

“Now partner, we are quite alright with strangahs buh y’all spookin’ everypony…”

Yeah, what brings you Ponyville and why hide behind hooded cloaks? Because if you know what’s good for you…” Rainbow accentuated her verbal threat with a couple of hoof jabs.

“Come now I’m not that strange.” Harmony smirked even though he knew full well they couldn't see it.

“Harmony!” Rainbow was shocked to hear that voice. “What brings you to Ponyville? I thought you were going to be in Hourglass for a while.”

“Just passing through with a load of oscillarium ore.”

“Osca-wha?”

At that moment the worst possible thing happened, a stray wind suddenly blew through. Harmony was fast enough to hold his hood down but Nova was not. Nova froze in fear as his hood fell back revealing to everypony that he was a dragon.

“Dragon!” Rainbow yelled, zooming to confront Nova who ducked down to avoid her initial attack before fleeing down a side street.

“Bearer of Loyalty!” Harmony reached out a hoof forgetting how fast Rainbow Dash is. 

Harmony and Applejack galloped after her. They had a tough time keeping up with her even though she was slowed down by the maze of streets, alleys, and other objects. Harmony hoped to catch up before they ran out of buildings as he knew that was all that was keeping Rainbow from fully unleashing herself against the dragon.

Nova resisted the urge to scream as he made a mad rush for cover but the rainbow pegasus pony was always right on his tail. It was like the day his parents died all over again. He didn’t get a chance to mourn the loss of his parents when a posse of ponies attacked. To this day he still have no idea how he escaped. He only found out later that the same dragon that killed his parents had apparently raged through a town nearby just a few hours before. 

The chase lasted for several streets and alleyways as Nova would barely slip out of the reach of the pursuing rainbow with wings. Nova ran around a corner just barely being missed when realized he was now in trouble. He had ran out of building to use as shields. He turned to ready his flame but he didn’t get a chance as a rainbow of color slammed into him knocking him through several haystacks behind him. 

Rainbow hoof pumped thinking that she got the dragon. She saw that Applejack and Harmony finally caught up and was about to brag out loud about it when Harmony pulled Rainbow back towards himself with his magic.

“I was hoping that R.E.P.G. training would stop you from this kind of stunt!” He sighed heavily as he put down Rainbow. “But, I can’t fault you given Ponyville’s track record with dragons. Plus, I should have sent word ahead…” 

“Yeah, yah should have. ‘Speically aftah wha’ happened at tha Salt Flats…”

Harmony winced as the Bearer of Honesty brought up that fiasco. “Please forgive me, I’m still not used to having to work with others after working solo for so long… and I don’t have the excuse this time of being under immense pressure and stress.”

“It’s okay, sugarcube, just try an’ do bettah next time.”

It was at that moment that Harmony remembered something important about Rainbow. “Wait a second! R.E.P.G. training takes six months! Why are you here in Ponyville?”

“Celestia’s orders. After we left for Hourglass Ponyville got attacked by mobs of monsters from the Everfree. She felt that with the increase in danger and the threat of attack from ‘whatever the bad guy is called again’ that Ponyville should have a military presence…”

“She always was a sly one… makes her a good ruler. I always struggled being sly enough to get ponies to do what needed to be done without giving away my objectives…” 

“Buh yah were King of Equestria! Ah can’t see how yah could have lasted with those fancy-shmancy nobles withou’ bein’ sneakier than ah fox. Not tha’ Celestia…”

Harmony waved his hoof dismissively. “My name is Harmonious Knight, emphasis on Knight... Knights are usually not good at the subtly needed in ruling. Or appeasing nobles,” He shuddered at the memories of dealing with the nobility.

A muffled groan startled Harmony as in all their talking they forgot about Nova. He went right to work digging through a pile of hay trying to find his ‘charge.’ He hoped Nova was not hurt or his wonderful ocarina. He was not looking forward to a furious whelp dragon if it was damaged. As he shifted some more hay he saw a glinting object. He quickly picked it up to find that it was the ocarina and none the worse for wear. Now he just needed to find the owner. With the ocarina safe he felt that he could just send the hay flying. With a single magic blast every hay pile around them exploded. He could finally see Nova’s crumbled form nearby.
 
“You okay Nova Blaze?” Harmony ran forward to help Nova up who was busy trying to get the invisible tweeting birds circling his head to go away. He sighed in relief as he saw no wounds except maybe pride.                

“What about me?” Rainbow Dash pouted as she shook the hay out of her fur and feathers leaving a few strands in her usual messy mane.

Harmony and Applejack both facehoofed. Typical. Rainbow jumps head first into battle without thinking and then wanting symphony for screwing up. 

“You know this dragon?” Applejack eyed the dragon suspiciously. She wasn’t too sure of the dragon but wasn’t going to attack then ask questions like Rainbow.

“Yes. He has been traveling with me for the past few days. But your instincts about him are not far off. Do keep an eye on him so that he stays out of trouble…” He leaned in whispered to Applejack. “And especially keep him away from the Bearers of Loyalty and Joy.”

“Sure thing.”

“Nova Blaze, I must apologize for the Bearer of Loyalty's actions. I should have sent word ahead to expect a dragon whelp to be traveling with me.”

“Nah, it’s okay…” Nova stopped when he felt around his pockets and couldn’t find his ocarina. “Where’s my ocarina! If you damaged it…” Rainbow and Applejack shrunk back as Nova went into a rage roaring at them with such power to knock Applejack’s stetson hat off. His maw glowed bright blue as he readied to release his flame.

“Relax, I have it and it’s perfectly fine.” Harmony waved the instrument in front of the dragon as proof. 

The still angry dragon grabbed it affectionately to examined it personally. He growled threateningly at Rainbow before he tested out the ocarina by playing a few notes. “You got lucky, pony.” To prove his point he shot a large neon blue fireball near Rainbow who yelped as she leaped out of the way.

Harmony felt that it was best to calm everyone down by asking a question to divert attention away from the whelp. “I see that you two seem to being doing well. How about the other Bearers?”

“That’s it?” Rainbow nearly yelled. “The dragon nearly flambes me and you calmly ask how everypony is doing?”

“That instrument is all he has left of his parents who were killed by a raging dragon when he was but a hatchling. And if I recall correctly, you attacked him without provocation.”

“Oh, right…” Rainbow rubbed the back of her head.

“Well?” Harmony tapped his hoof impatiently. “My question still stands.”

“Fluttershy has been training along with me with the local REPG squadron.”

Harmony was surprised to hear that. Fluttershy was just too kind to be able to do what was required for a soldier. “And is she holding up? I only had her train as a field medic not as a guard.”

“Relax, she is the field medic for the squad. She still get nervous and apologetic at times, but she is improving.”

“Good. I hope Big Mac wasn’t too angry for me sending her off like that?”

“Ah bit, buh he got over it.” Applejack admitted as she put her hat snuggly back on her head.

“The Bearer of Generosity?”

Rainbow and Applejack both gave each other a look. “Uh…”

“No, don’t tell me, the Bearer of Generosity is still being a drama queen?”

“Yes…”

“No surprise there… How’s the Bearer of Magic holding up? I do see her, but not on a regular enough basis to know much.”

Again Rainbow and Applejack gave eachother a look before Applejack responded. “Ah think maybe we uh should show yah.”

Oh, this can’t be good...





Harmony could see guards posted at the doors of the castle ahead. “Wait here, Nova, by the cart, and stay out of trouble. We are teleporting in as I’m not in the mood to deal with guards.”

“Wait…” Rainbow yelled as she noticed the tell signs of teleportation. But it was too late as Harmony teleported her, Applejack, and himself inside.

“For corn’s sake! A warnin’ next time…” Applejack danced around dizzy before nearly hurking on the floor.

Harmony put down his hood so they could see him. “Sorry, about that.”

“That’s… erk...” Rainbow’s face went green and bulged out. She quickly ran behind a pillar to throw up. She called out from behind the pillar, “That didn’tㅡerkㅡ help Harmony!”

Harmony blushed in embarrassment. While he waited for their stomachs to settle he stole a look around. He could see that something was off. The magic aura of the tree castle seemed dimmer than it should be. The latent harmony magic was weakening. This was not good, especially not now. Hopefully it was temporary and not being caused by the ‘Dark One.’ They must be obvious to the dimming of the crystal. Of course, they aren’t magic users. Still they should have noticed because of the Elements that they are wearing...

Once Rainbow and Applejack were ready they led the way. As they moved from the public area to the private areas Harmony was shocked at what he saw. The castle was a literal mess. Dirty floors, cobwebs in the corners, and the windows could use a washing. He even had to sidestep what appeared to be a week old banana peel. Clearly Twilight was slipping, and it was having a perverse effect on the castle’s magic. 

“How long has this been going on?”

“‘Bout a week aftah we returned.”

It’s being going on that long!? Harmony was shocked that she managed to go this long without his knowing. He had seen her several times since their return and he didn’t see or notice anything too far out of the ordinary. She must had used her experience as a princess to hide it. Obviously her friends could see that something was wrong, and he hoped they knew that they were allowed to contact at least Celestia if Twilight went off the deep end, again. Of course an assistant, a good one like Spike, should be able to snap her out of some of her bad habits. It was clear from this mess she clearly didn’t have one.

“What about getting her an assistant?”

“She keeps driving them away she claims that only…Spike,” Rainbow hoof quoted, ”could be her assistant.”

“I hope she didn't really use the name Spike around anypony beside you girls.”

“Not tha’ ah know of.” Applejack answered while Rainbow nodded in agreement.

“Good. What about the Bearer of Generosity as an assistant or at least have her help clean?”

“Seriously?” Rainbow raised an eyebrow and his suggestion.

“Oh yeah…” Harmony facehoofed. He knew better than to suggest that but he did it anyway. “Well, time then for tough love.”

“Uh… Wha’ is tha’ goin’ to entail?”

Harmony ignored her as he rummaged around looking for a clean piece of parchment. It was proving to be quite difficult as nearly every scrap was torn, crumpled, or covered with senseless scribbling. Why does this remind me of Starswirl? He was beginning to think he would have to go buy some parchment when he finally found a clean sheet under a stack of pizza boxes. He quickly wrote a letter.



Greetings River Guardian,

I hope this letter finds you well.

Can you convince Mangy Mutt to come to Ponyville? I have a job for him. There is a chance that he will not feel like coming to a pony town. So if that happens, tell him that he if he comes that he may find the pack that will accept him. He always wanted that after his pack abandoned him for being a runt. I shall see you soon.

He of Harmony



He sent the letter off with his magic. “Okay, I have someone coming that should fix this. However, I’m going to need—YEEEYAH!”

“ME!” Pinkie Pie yelled. Harmony fell back onto his haunches from the sudden appearance of the party pony’s head sticking out of his hood. “AndI’msoexictedarn’tyousoexictedbecauseIamIgettogiveawelcometoponyvillepartytoadiamonddogforthefirsttimeEVER!”

With that the hyperactive pony gasped and jumped right out from Harmony’s hood before turning, still in midair, and zooming out of the castle in a pink blur.

Harmony blinked. “I’m going to pretend that didn’t just happen.”

“Okay, correct me if I heard that wrong (and that’s possible considering it’s Pinkie) but did she just say Diamond Dog!?!”

“Yes, she did.”

Rainbow waved her hooves around. “Are you crazy!?”

“So based on the action of one, rogue, pack you don’t trust Diamond Dogs?”

Rainbow tried to come with an excuse but couldn’t think of anything good. “Uh… yes?”

Harmony rolled his eyes. Some things never change. “Okay, moving on. Where is the Bearer of Magic?”

“Uh…”

Harmony blinked then shook his head. What is with all the ‘uhs’ today? “Lead the way.”

After a minute they stopped next to a closed door.

“Was this…?” Harmony inquired.

“Yes, it was.”

“This might be a while. Bearer of Honesty can you stay with Nova. Bearer of Loyalty you’re free to do whatever.”

“Woo-hoo!” Rainbow whooped flying a bit higher.

“...Unless you have training.”

“Darn it!” Rainbow pouted.

Applejack and Rainbow reluctantly left. One to keep an eye on Nova; the other to REPG training. Harmony took a deep cleansing breath. He wasn’t sure what to expect on the other side of the door, but he figured it wasn’t going to be good. With a nod to reassure himself he slowly opened the door.

The lights were off and the curtains closed as he peered into the dark room. The room looked like a typical teenage male room. He could see comic books piled on the nightstand next to a bed. All around he could see posters of the Wonderbolts and of Power Ponies. There was a writing desk in a corner with covered haphazardly with half finished drawings. He couldn’t see much more than that as the only light was coming from the hall. He scanned the room again as they had implied that Twilight could be found inside.

“Twilight?” He called out. A slight movement in the darkness told him where she was. Purple on purple crystal in the dark had obscured her until then. She seemed to make no other indication that she heard him. Harmony slowly stepped into the room. The subtle hint of sulfur confirm it to him that this was a dragon’s room and more specifically his room. He slowly made his way next to Twilight who has sitting as still as a statue next to Spike’s bed. She was just sitting there staring off in the distance and away from the door.

Sure, he knew she would stumble when she returned but he wasn’t expecting this. He stole a glance at her eyes and what he saw didn’t bode well. Her eyes seem dead and grey. It looked as if she had lost all hope. This was not healthy this long after a death especially one that she knew was coming. If it had been unexpected he would have understood why she was this bad for this long.  

“You were right… I tried remaining strong but… I couldn’t.” Her voice was flat and emotionless. 

“Twilight…” 

Twilight continued to stare at everything and nothing. Harmony waved a hoof in front on her but she gave no response. She had become again dead to the world. He waited for nearly an hour before his patience wore out.

“Enough is enough… You need closure. Have all the Bearers gather at the Castle of the Two Sisters one hour before sunrise, sharp, tomorrow morning. No guards of any kind this is for family only. In the mean time, you are not to step one hoof in this castle. I suggest spending some time with your friends.”

Twilight slowly turned her head and looked up to Harmony, her eyes still dead and lifeless. She stared at him for a while before she lowered her gaze back down and slowly dragged herself out of Spike’s room.

Harmony sadly watched as Twilight leave. He hung his head in shame as he knew what he needed to so. I’m sorry to do this but until you truly let go I can’t let you back in his room. He slowly released the spell his was conjuring and the walls shimmered brightly. After a moment the walls dimmed and the door to Spikes room disappeared. Harmony inspected it closely and was please when he could see that it looked as if the room was never there.

You erased his room just like you erase him!

You could have done something, anything! But instead you did nothing, murderer…

Yeah, killer…

Mwhahaaha! He knows he’s the villain! How else would he let him DIE!?


> Of Dreams and Closure
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Harmony knocked on the door in front of him. Hopefully he had the right place as it was a bit difficult to get directions from nervous ponies. After a minute of waiting and not hearing anything he tried again, only louder. This time he could just make out a crash and a couple of selective curses. He must have awoken the pony within from a nap. A moment later an irritated white unicorn pony mare with a two tone mane and purple tinted shades precariously positioned over her eyes opened the door.

“DJ-Pon3?”

“That’s my stage name. The name’s Vinyl…” Vinyl took a closer look at the stranger. “Hey, aren’t you…”

“Yes, I was one of the two ‘strangers’ that spooked the town. Relax, I’m not some diabolical mythical creature out to suck out the brains of ponies.

Vinyl backed up a bit. “You sure that you’re not?”

“Gah! Of course not! I know Ponyville is the capital of weirdness but I would think this town would have learned its lesson from that of fiasco with Zecora fifteen years ago.”

“You know about that?! How?”

“Not important right now. What is important is what I need from you.”

“Lay it on me then.”

“I need a custom built instrument.”

 “I’m a DJ. I play music not sell instruments.” Vinyl facehoofed, apparently this was a common misconception.

“I know that, but what I want to get requires somepony with connections to the music business.” Harmony could barely make out a eye raise behind her shades. He took that as a the opening he needed. “I need a custom built magic four string bass guitar. Here is a rough sketch of what I’m looking for as the design.” Harmony hoofed over a rolled up scroll for which Vinyl unrolled to quickly take a look at. “As for the other specs I will need the strings to be grade eight oscillairum steel”  

Vinyl’s shades fell off and her jaw dropped. “Grade eight!? Are you plan on using a saw to play it!?”

Harmony chuckled a bit before he answered. “No, but while we are on it the guitar will also need to be made of the same grade of as the strings”

“What!?” Vinyl wide eyed for a second before they narrowed into a dangerous scowl. “Did Pinkie Pie or Cheese Sandwich send you?”

“Uh, no…”

“Because, I’m not going to send off for a party cannon proof instrument! I don’t want a repeat of...

Harmony waved a hoof negative fashion, “It’s not for the party ponies…”

“Oh... good.” Vinyl sighed in relief. she glance at the scroll again noticing that there was some things not specified. “I see that you didn’t specify a color scheme.”

“No color or any finish of any kind I will be adding that detail personally. Also, whatever the asking price tell them that I will pay four times the going rate if he or she rushes it without compromising quality.” Harmony grabbed a bulging bag from his saddlebag and levitated it to Vinyl. “Here is an initial hundred bits for your troubles. When the instrument is done have it delivered to Zecora. She will have the payment. She will know what to do from there.”

Okay that’s stop number one next stop, ugh…





A blue stallion opened the door and sized up the tattered cloaked stranger. “I’m sorry but we are closed.”

“I’m aware of that Sir Spotlight. But, I’m here for Rarity.”

The stallion eyed him again before sighing heavily. “Is this about that Keeper?”

“No, this is about Princess Twilight. I will also need privacy.”

Spotlight stared at him a bit longer before answering, “Okay, but she’s not exactly in the best of conditions herself.” Spotlight opened the door further to let Harmony in then calmly walked outside.

Harmony could see that the shop had a layer of dust. He was glad that Spotlight had kept Rarity from working, at least here at the Carousel Boutique. He hoped that she wasn’t sneaking off and designing fashion in other locations. He took off his traveling cloak before he took the stairs. He didn’t want to add fuel to what was going to be drama queen drama. As he took the stairs to the private area above the shop he could make out sobbing.

He followed the sounds of sobbing to a room down the hall from the stairs. From the appearance of the room it must have been her inspiration room. Rarity must have heard his approach as she looked up from her crying couch.

Rarity stopped crying and angrily glared at Harmony. “What are you doing here.” 

“I need you to go to the gem fields and find the most flawless amethyst and emerald you can find. Preferably the size of an orange.”

“First you take away my life’s work, and now you want me to go out and get you two flawless gems?!”

“I need those two gems otherwise I may need to use the fire ruby necklace and I’d rather you keep that.”

“How dare you. You...You.. How could you even suggest that I would ever give you the that?! It was a gift from my Spikey-Wikey! I would never give it away much less to a cowardly brute like yourself…” Rarity grabbed the mentioned fire ruby necklace from a nearby drawer. She looked at it lovingly. “If you cared as much as I did for him…”

A beastly growl stopped Rarity. She looked up and somehow managed to go whiter. What she saw shook her to her core. The visage of what Harmony looked like would forever bore into her mind and disrupt her sleep for the remainder of her life. The fur that usually shifted lazily had become dark almost black. His eyes were like fire and she was almost certain that he now had razor sharp teeth and fangs. A primal fear came over Rarity like that of prey being chased by a predator. And at the very moment she was the prey and Harmony the predator. She had gotten on his bad side before but now before her was Harmony in a full draconic rage. He opened his mouth, took a deep breath, and roared. It was clearly an angry draconic roar.  

Rarity lost all bladder control as a booming harsh voice echoing around her and rattled her bones. Every word pummeled Rarity with anger and power and it was as if the voice was everywhere at once. NEVER, ever, ever question how much I cared for Spike. You have no idea what I had to go through and what I had to give up so YOU could ‘care’ for him! Do you know that if I hadn’t taken responsibility for Spike’s egg that he would have met the fate that Garble wanted for those phoenix eggs?!? He was and is my brother, even more so than Twilight is his sister. Do you know why? His parents, in pony vernacular, adopted me. Only family is ever allow to care for another. 

To be allowed to care for a dragon’s egg requires passing trials that make some of your deadliest encounters seem like foals play. I also had to disown and forsake ponykind! That’s what happens to a dragon whelp or hatchling who wants to take on responsibility for their siblings eggs! They have to give up everything they had prior to prove their willingness in raising their siblings! It’s only because I’m honor bound to fulfil my duties as a Keeper that has allowed me to have anything to do with ponies. MY OWN FLESH AND BLOODㅡso to speakㅡBUCKING PEOPLE! I CAN NEVER BE WITH THEM BECAUSE I DON’T GET A RESET BUTTON LIKE DRAGONS DO AT CHOOSING!

Harmony took a few breaths allowing his rage to slowly dissipate before he continued. “I cared for his egg for centuries! Centuries! I would have hatched him if I was able to, but I wasn’t! I made sure Celestia had the necessary knowledge to care for him when he hatched! I spent many a night talking with him in his sleep but unable to see him face to face. I left Spike in Twilight’s care because my work requires a ton of travel into dangerous places. Not something that you what a dragon hatchling be a part of. It took everything in me not to tear him away from his ‘sister’ and his friends. Raising him right and safety took priority over what I wanted.”

By this point Harmony looked like he usually did. Bright fur and feathers shifting colors and normal looking teeth. His eyes lowered and his voice dropped to barely above a whisper. ”I lost everything that night when he chose. That night was when I was the most proud and the most devastated. I know you are angry at me for your forced ‘vacation,’ but that is no excuse to drag Spike into this. You have a friend who is in so much grief that she has been dead to the world for the past nine weeks and hardly leaves Spike’s room. Its extremely unhealthy and she will waste away if something drastic isn’t done. Now go get those gems. I need them by nightfall.”





“Princess Luna and Princess Celestia what are you two doing here?” 

“We cared for Spike, too.” Luna responded. 

“I thought that…” Twilight was confused. She was sure that the memory spell had erased the princesses memories.

“No…” Celestia shook her head, “but now that we are all here we can begin.”  

“Y’all know wha’ is goin’ on?” 

“Not entirely. Come my little ponies, Harmony is waiting for us.”





As Harmony waited for the arrival of the Bearers, Celestia and Luna he saw movement from one of the upper floors of the castle. Harmony looked up to see something jump down from the castle walls. A moment later he saw a glint of eyes nearby. Apparently Nova noticed the ponies approaching the castle. Either that or he was curious about a strange pony with fur that color shifted. For a dragon that disliked ponies he was sure curious about them. Harmony surreptitiously cast a noise suppression spell so that Nova couldn’t hear what was going to transpire.

A crack of a twig pulled Harmony’s attention to the path. He could see that a procession of ponies was walking towards him. Harmony put his hood down so that they could see him better in the darkness.

When he did that everypony finally could see him standing next to a black rounded, rectangular tombstone in the middle of the courtyard garden. A small glowing hole was in front of it. As they got closer Rarity could see what the amethyst and emerald gems were for. Embed in the stone apparently using the gems was written.




Assistant Friend Brother
You shall be in our hearts
Always




Harmony waited for the ponies to gather around. He could see everyone of them was looking grief stricken. Pinkie Pie’s mane was flat and Celestia’s and Luna’s were not flowing. “It’s a tradition among some dragons to spread the egg shells in a lava pool or volcano at sunrise after the loss or choosing of an offspring. To a dragon a choosing is in not a passing away but a rebirth. For just as the lava destroys the shell, the choosing destroys the memory of the dragon  The flip of that is the hope is that the lava would cool and become a part of the collective whole that is the land much in a way that the reborn dragon will contribute to dragon culture as a whole.”

“Sounds corny…” Rainbow muttered, sniffing a bit.

“A bit. I simplified it heavily for the sake of time. Plus some things in dragon culture just doesn’t make a lot of sense to those not born into it. I don’t completely understand it myself. Ponies don’t of course use lava as a burial method and dragons don’t used graveyards. So I combined elements from both so that you have a place to come and remember.”

Harmony nodded to Luna and Celestia who lowered the moon and raised the sun respectively. His ears pricked as he distributed the Spike’s egg shell to the gathered ponies. He could hear drifting in on a breeze the sound of an ocarina. The tune was the most heart wrenching he ever heard but within he could hear the occasional string of notes that sounded hopeful.

No one questioned where the music was coming as the grief had welled up too much. One by one they walked up to the lava pit said a few words then added their pieces to the lava. Twilight and Harmony were the last. 

Twilight tried to say something but was too choked up to from any words. The music in the air increased in volume and Twilight could do nothing but bawl. There was so much she wanted to say but now she felt that words would be meaningless. Soon she was out of tears and shakily put her piece into the lava.

Harmony was next but as he had to keep the lava hot he didn’t have to move closer. They of Glowstone Mountain I hope that I made you proud. Spike was raised right. I hope that you would be proud of Golden Heart. He dropped the remaining shell into the lava and slowly watched it melt. After the last little bit melted he let go of his spell keeping the lava hot. The lava quickly cooled and he put fresh dirt over the pit. The ocarina music picked up in volume again and at that he couldn't hold back any longer. The grief and guilt that had plagued him since that night flowed out in a wail the rose to a roar. He put all of it into that roar. The gathered ponies backed up, unsure of what was going on. He then collapsed into a sobbing mess. 

Twilight cautiously approached him. She could see it just was him letting go. He must had been holding back this whole time. She whispered softly, “You needed this as much as I.” Twilight put a comforting hoof on Harmony’s quivering shoulder.
 
Harmony didn’t respond other than to slowly get back on his hooves. For the first time in longer than he could remember his heart felt light. He still felt sad but he felt that things could only look up now. Harmony snuck a look around and could see Nova watching them his ocarina still in his hands. A natural, indeed. 

In time, one by one the ponies left, leaving just Harmony and Twilight. The sun as high in the sky when Harmony was finally ready to leave himself. He took a look at her and could see that life was returning. It was clear she still need some more time and to be alone.

“I can see you need some time alone. I will be at Zecora’s for the remainder of the day if you need me.”

Harmony turned to leave and could see a slash of white trying to hide. Harmony casually walked the towards it. As he got closer the white mass moved further away. Harmony made sure that he didn’t show that he saw the movement. He just kept walking. He should be running out of cover soon.

Before that though Harmony called out. “Nova.”

The white mass gave moved at that. Harmony stood there waiting patiently.
 
“Nova Blaze.” Harmony called out again trying not to chuckle at the white dragon failing miserably at still trying to hide in the green foliage.

Nova tried to shrink back a bit more. “Who… who… are you and how do you know my name?”

“Nova, brother, it’s me, Harmony.”

Nova cautiously came out into the open. “You’re a pony!!?”

“Yes.”

“I have been traveling with a rainbow, candy colored, pony for the past week!? A pony! I can’t believe this! I suppose everything about dragons was a lie too! I mean...”

Harmony wasn’t surprised that Nova started ranting and raving. He really was never surprised anymore as he had seen every type of reaction possible. Nova continued to conplain while Harmony just calmly starting to count “3… 2… 1…” Cue sudden realization.

“Wait, did you say brother? Didn’t you say that when a dragon called another a brother its a sign of high respect?”

“Yes, I did. And you are correct. But we are going one step further than that.”

“Sharing a Hoard Name?” Nova scratched his head in confusion “How? You’re not a dragon!?” Although that roar was strangely draconic...

“How perceptive.” Harmony rolled his eyes. “You recall what I said about the Acolyte Code?

“Yeah…I kind of wondered why you went over that… But I think I get it now. I still don’t understand why you would give me your ‘hoard’ name?”

“It’s because of what you did this morning.”

“I only played my ocarina.”

“And by playing it I’m in debt to you that I will never be able to repay. Normally, I’m known as He of Harmony among dragons but as Harmony with non dragons. Harmony of course is not my ‘full’ name. My full name would be equivalent to a dragon’s Hoard Name... Harmonious Knight, my full name is Harmonious Knight.”

“Harmonious... Knight!?!” Nova snorted. “Your name is Harmonious!?” He lost it, going into a full blown laughing fit on the ground. He even slammed the ground with his hands.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, laugh it up.” Harmony rolled his eyes. He figured that the whelp would have that kind of reaction. Nova was starting to hurt from all the laughing and grabbed his legs rolling about in a ball. Harmony couldn't help but smiling at the childish antics. “Come let’s go see if we can trip up Zecora’s rhyming.” Harmony laughed before galloping off into the trees.

Nova stopped laughing, completely frozen in confusion. What is with this pony? His brain then finally caught up to what Harmony had just said. He had been annoyed at the Zebras rhyming and the idea of tripping up the zebra…

“Wait up!” Nova yelled out, running after Harmony.





Harmony couldn't see a way out. The flames seemed to climb up to forever. He was going die a horrible death if he didn’t figure something out and fast. In the corner of his eyes he could see Draco and it looked like he was laughing. I’m not beaten yet! 

He lit his horn and attempted to conjure a blast of ice cold wind to push part of the flames aside. He could feel the wind swirl around him in preparation. With a shout he threw the wind at the wall. His smirk fell when the fire acted as if there wasn’t a breeze much less the hurricane force winds conjuring by the now jaw dropped alicorn. 

The fire shifted angrily. Harmony was suddenly pushed back with blast of searing, hot wind. A rolling mass of of hot ash and smoke followed and crashed into Harmony. In his surprise he had gasped in some of it. His lungs burned from the heat and soot. A coughing fit started as his body attempt to expel the ash. Wooziness came over him and he retched up a massive amount of ash. 

He pulled himself together spitting out the remain ash. There was no way he was going to let a little bit of ash get to him. A burning sensation on his back said otherwise. An ember had fallen between his wings singeing his fur.

A clawed hand touched him on his withers. Harmony jumped in surprised. He spun around to face what he was sure was another threat. What he saw made his jaw drop. There standing with a crooked smile was a purple and green hatchling waving at him.

“Spike!?!?”





Harmony for once didn’t scream after the fire dream/vision/unknown whatever. But he did gasp as he shot up from his lying position. It was different this time in a way that he never expected. Spike or a very good look-a-like was there. He grumbled hoping it wasn’t the cosmos playing a cruel joke on him.

As he pondered this a tickle in his throat formed. He knew what it meant. He cast the spell that he and Scorpan developed for just this type of occasion. The tickle went away but he got a sharp pain in his stomach. He bent over and retching up a mass of ash and bile.

“Zecora. Draconic ash cure.” Harmony managed to croak out before vomiting another glob of ash.

Zecora, who had awoken from the sound of Harmony vomiting, galloped into the main room and quickly rummaged through her potions before finding the right one. Harmony was struggling to remain awake. It would not do him well to pass out. Ponyville Hospital would not have a clue how to treat draconic ash inhalation on an unconscious pony and most of Zecora’s potions need to be drunk.

“You are lucky you were in my room, or you could have met your doom.” She rhymed as she handed him the bottle.

Harmony gulped down the nasty concoction. He almost spit it back up as it was so nasty and his body wanted to be rid of it. He swallowed hard a couple of times before he felt that he wasn’t going to lose it.

Zecora noticed that Harmony seemed to be physically better except that he was still quite pale. She knew it wasn’t from the vomiting. “What troubles you? Please tell your host. For it looks as if you saw a ghost.”

Harmony wasn’t sure what to say. The ‘vision’ was confusing enough and with the addition of Spike he was totally at a loss. “I… I don’t have a clue...”
> Golden Journal #13
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


From the Journals of Golden Heart, He of Hourglass, Firstclaw of the Clan of Hourglass, Dragon Keeper of Harmony.  


Entry #13



(10 weeks after Clan inception)






He of Laughter showed up out of the blue today. He unfortunately popped up near Quartermaster. Questreamster rightfully took this as a violation of Clan territory and proceeded to attack. He of Laughter smartly ‘snapped’ into my lair. I wasn’t happy about the that violation either but I could tell there was something extremely important that he needed to tell me.(More on this in a second) It took me nearly an hour for me to calm Quartermaster down. That draconequus really knows how to press buttons. 

As much as I want to I have to hold my claw from shredding him. His antics can come in handy in tempering my baser draconic instincts especially with those that do know know the rules of interaction. Of course I didn’t mind when the Bearer of Generosity violated one of the biggest and least tolerated infractions. I suppose it had a lot to do with her status and the fact that I knew she was trying to right a ‘wrong.’

Now as for why He of Laughter barged into Hourglass without warning:
He had felt a strong disturbance in Harmony’s magic. I’m ashamed to admit that I panicked. All I heard that something happened to He of Harmony. I thought maybe it was the return of that strange ash coughing/vomiting illness of his. When I related that I manage to hear the draconequus commented almost to himself I quote: “So that was what that was…” 
 
He of Laughter had to drop an anvil(A real to claw anvil! I hope it wasn’t Quartermaster’s) on my head to get me to listen fully. He was positive it was not another ash related episode. The Hermit of the Oasis still has no idea what caused it, how it was triggered, or how to cure it. The most he has been able to do is develop a spell as well as a nasty smelling concoction to treat it once it starts. At least He of Harmony no longer has the Magic Wasting Disease. How exactly, neither He of Harmony or the hermit know for sure (Not that I am complaining). 

For now there is nothing I can do but try and not bite my claws for the two days (baring something like weather) it should take for He of Harmony to return to Hourglass.


 
> When Dragons Meet
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“How much longer?” Nova whined. His wings were burning from the long distance flight coupled with flying above the Untamed Wilds and its chaotic leyonic magic.

The green dragon of the Everfree Forest snorted fire as his anger reached his limit. “I swear by my claw if you say ‘are we there yet’ or anything like it one more time I will drop this wagon and…”

“He of Everfree,” Harmony turned around, flying backwards. He wanted to make sure the Hidden Claw didn’t misunderstand him, “ignore him. I really don’t want to have to explain a fight to He of Hourglass right now.”

“Then remind me again then why I agreed to come with this hatchling of a whelp!”

“Hey!”

Harmony facehoofed. “Because you are a dragon of your word. Plus, I know you are curious about the first dragon clan since before Discord’s time.”

“Um, Harmony…”

“He of Harmony, whelp.” He of Everfree growled. He knew the whelp knew the proper honorific.  The hatchling like behavior was grating enough but the apparent lack of respect was making him reach his limit, again.    

“He of Everfree, Nova, can we please stop this!? You two have been figuratively at each others throats for the past two days!” Harmony turned back around to look ahead. He narrowed his eyes and could just make out something on the horizon. “I do believe Nova has spotted our destination.”

“Destination!? Are you saying we are going to that!?”

“An upside down shouldn’t be possible mountain? Yes.” 

“wha… bu… e..o….i” Nova lost all control in speaking words or flying as his wings locked up.

Harmony was not surprised with this reaction. He rushed after the now falling whelp. His horn glowed brightly as he caught Nova. Sweat poured from his forehead and the strain as almost too taxing. “NOVA BLAZE!”

“Huh?” Nova shook his head before looking up to see the struggling alicorn.

“Flap. I can’t hold you up indefinitely.”

”Oh… right..” Nova started flapping again so Harmony thankfully ended his spell. 

Now that Nova was flying under his own volition again Harmony took the lead. Given the current conditions he figured it would be another couple of hours before they could finally land. Fortunately Nova and He of Everfree were too busy pushing ahead to get on each others nerves. With any luck he hoped it would remain that way. Two days of one of them bickering and the other whining would make even the ever patient Clestai lash out.

Sadly, Harmony’s luck ran out as they approached the rim of the mountain and suddenly saw that something was off. He signaled for everyone to hold. Both dragons grumbled at stopping so close to Hourglass.

“He of Harmony, why are we hovering out here? The city is just ahead.”

Harmony pointed towards the city. “Take a look again at the city, He of Everfree.”

He of Everfree squinted and noticed a strange almost imperceptible shimmering. “Is that a shield?”

“I think so, and if it’s on there will be no way to land either because the the magic cannons will most likely fire as well.”

“Then turn them off.” He of Everfree ordered. He was not in the mood for any delays. The wagon was really starting to get heavy and being so close to Hourglass only made it worse. And the less he thought of the whelp the better.

“I can’t and it shouldn't even be on. The defense system stop working a while back and we have not been able to get it back up. He of Hourglass would have sent a letter… I’ll try contacting him.” Harmony quickly wrote a message and tried to send it off. The massage burned up like normal but instead of heading off to Hourglass it just hovered in front of him. “It seems that the barrier also blocks dragon mail fire.”

A flash of light temporarily blinded everyone. Nova wobbled in his flight from being startled. Harmony and He of Everfree were a bit less affected by it and managed to remain hovering steadily.

Harmony managed to blink away his blindness first. “Discord!? What are you doing here?” 

Discord was floating next to a tray with tea and biscuits. He was drinking as if nothing spectacular was going on. “Can’t I just pop in for tea?” He casually dipped his biscotti into his tea.

“He of Laughter enough of your snarky remarks and magic tricks. I may not be able to claw you but I can still burn you.” 

“Fine.” Discord snapped the tea away. “First of all let’s get you in the city…”

“And how are you going to do that? The shield is up.”

“Yes, it is... Oddly though I can pass through the soap bubble.” Discord pulled out a giant bubble wand from Nova Blaze’s ear frill who was still trying to figure out what in Tartarus was the mix mashed freak.

“Then GET ON WITH IT!” He of Everfree roared shooting off a stream of flame over Discord’s head close enough to singe a few of his hairs.

Discord swung the bubble wand enveloping all of them into a bubble. With a snap the bubble floated towards the barrier.

“Must he do this! I…”

Harmony interrupted the ranting dragon. He knew It was rude but he was also at the end of his rope. “Yes. His magic can’t follow ‘logic.’”

He of Everfree grumbled but said nothing else as the the bubble floated through the shield. As soon as they went through the bubble and the shield popped out of existence.

“Wha?” Harmony looked about trying to figure out what exactly why the shield disappeared as soon as they passed through.

“Hmm… interesting.” Discord wondered out loud Harmony only response was to nod in agreement. 

Harmony shook his head to get rid of his stupor. “Leave the wagon here. I’ll get it later. We need to first properly greet our hosts.”

“They are waiting near the library.” Discord said, leading the way down the boulevard.

“This is like some sort of ghost city.” Nova commented, observing all the half destroyed and dilapidated buildings they passed by.

“It was until recently and it still feels like it with only two dragons and an alicorn occupying a city that could easy hold a couple hundred dragons.”

A thought came to Nova, one that had plagued him for a while. As the moment of reckoning was approaching he couldn’t hold back his nerviness. “Um, Harmony?”

“This again! Whelp, use the ‘He of’ honorific.”

“He of Everfree quit being so antagonistic to my brother.”

“Brother?” He of Everfree eyed Nova for a moment. “Interesting…”

Nova tried to ignore the stare from the elder dragon and began to ask his question again. “Harmony after all I have done do you think…”

“The Dragon Keeper of Harmony is not a typical dragon, Nova. He is actually a bit like you to be honest.” He of Everfree huffed in irritation at that possibility. Harmony sighed, “I said he was a bit like Nova. I never said he has no sense of respect. If he did I would l say he was like Discord which he is not. I would have also not had even suggested for you to help out He of Everfree.”

“You do realize I can hear you.” Discord pouted.

With that silence came over the group as each were left in thought over recent events. Harmony and Discord were both trying to piece together why the shield activated and why it seemed to be affected by Discord. Discord also was thinking about the change in Harmony’s magic. Nova was still a bit nervous about the Dragon Keeper but didn’t want to keep pestering Harmony right then.  He of Everfree was trying to wrap his head around Harmony’s revelation about the Dragon Keeper. He knew he would be different then most dragons due to growing up with ponies but he still hoped that it didn’t affected him in the wrong way.

Soon they made it to the library. The group could see a red and orange dragon standing near a purple and green dragon without wings and sparks flowing off of him. He of Everfree was a bit curious as to why the Keeper was wingless. Nova was more curious as to the sparks.

Before anyone could say anything He of Hourglass ran up to Harmony to the complete shock of He of Everfree and annoyance of Quartermaster. “He of Harmony thank the stars you are back and in one piece.”

“He of Hourglass I’m perfectly fine. I...” 

He of Hourglass interrupted him by pulling him into a tight hug. Harmony could feel the tension coursing through the body of the dragon. He hugged back giving a reassuring pat on the dragon’s back. As suddenly as he was pulled into the hug it ended and He of Hourglass push him back to peer into his shimmering eyes. For a while He of Hourglass gazed unblinkingly into the eyes of Harmony. Both peered into the hearts of each other. Harmony saw the depths of the care that He of Hourglass had for his own. He of Hourglass saw something that brought tears to him. “The pain, it is gone…”

When they finally separated Harmony couldn't help but laugh at the shocked stare from the He of Everfree. “What were you expecting? Keepers were always known to be strange.”

“Right…” Nova crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. He of Everfree agreed with the whelp although he wasn’t to thrilled with the sarcasm.

“Firstclaw of the Hourglass Clan. I am the dragon of the Everfree Forest.” He of Everfree introduced himself with a slight bob of his head.

He of Hourglass let his gaze move upward. He had forgotten about his guests. “He of Everfree welcome to the City of Hourglass. I am known as He of Hourglass.”

“I am known Quartermaster.” Quartermaster made sure to show off his fangs as he growled out his name.

Quartermaster then eyed Harmony and Discord. He really hated the draconequus. The creature had popped into the city without permission and then He of Hourglass had the audacity to let him stay for a while. So far the creature had been lucky enough to stay out of his sight. To see the outsider again was not helping his mood. He had hoped he would not be returning.

It was then that he noticed the whelp. The white and neon blue whelp tried to put on the look of cool indifference but he could see right through that. He was clearly a scared little hatchling in the body of a whelp.

Though he was no taller than him Nova could tell that this dragonㅡQuartermasterㅡwas a force that could rival his brother Harmony. The other dragon also was much different though he still had a fierce air about him. At least it was much calmer, much like a bubbling creek then the rage of rapids. He couldn’t stop the urge to gulp as Quartermaster kept his glare fixed solely on him.

“I smell the stench of the outsider on you whelp. What makes you think you…”

“You dare call him ‘outsider’!” He of Everfree let his rage boil over. He shoved his head right between Nova and Quartermaster knocking over Nova.

Nova backuped along with Harmony. He shook as he whispered to Harmony. “Is it like this every time when dragons meet?”

“Yes.” Harmony facehoofed and shook his head.

“I expected more from your Secondclaw He of Hourglass. How a Keeper as Firstclaw would allow his clanmate insult a fellow Keeper. Is there no honor here?”

Quartermaster and He of Hourglass eyed each other at that. Both where unsure of how to respond to the accusation. There was no secondclaw of the clan… or if there was but they had yet to figure out who it was.  And as much as it riled both to be accused of having no honor to answer would mean revealing that there was a weakness in the clan.

“Why do you let them treat you this way?” He of Everfree turned his head towards Harmony but when Harmony did not immediately answer he went back to Quartermaster. “Such talk is the mark of dragons who are weak.” 

Quartermaster was losing his control. While he didn’t care for the outsider much less He of Everfree for defending the pony he did care about the attack on his Firstclaw’s honor.

“Watch it. You are in our territory.” Quartermaster clenched his claws in his anger.

“He of Everfree.”

He of Hourglass was at a lost on how to get the two dragons apart. While he was annoyed at Quartermaster usage of the word ‘outsider’ to describe He of Harmony he had not yet found a way to effectively stop him without resorting to a challenge. True, it would stop it but he wanted them to become friends in a natural way not by forcing it.

“He of Everfree!” All the dragons present turned their attention to the annoyed alicorn. “As much as I’m honored by your willingness to defend my honor, I will fight my own battles.” Harmony slowly closed his eyes to collect himself. “Having said that…” His eyes shot open and a brief visage of a dragon could be seen before he spoke with power. NEVER ACCUSE MY BROTHER OF LACKING HONOR. 

Quartermaster and He of Everfree were shocked by Harmony’s ‘draconic’ rage outburst. He of Hourglass swelled in pride at hearing Harmony calling him brother as he was defending him. He was also a bit let down with himself with he indecision on stopping it sooner. Nova Blaze made a mental note not to anger Harmony as he attempted to shrink back.

At that Harmony turned and walked away from the dragons towards the council building. Discord has long disappeared clearly not wanting to be around postering dragons. Harmony wanted to know what he was doing here and figure that the draconequus was most likely there. Hopefully not doing anything to mess up the spell matrix.

Harmony walked in and to his relief the spell matrix was intact. He looked up to see that Discord was floating upside down near the ceiling apparently examining Harmony’s work. “I figured you might wait in here.”

Discord coiled himself right side while tying an anvil to his tail. The added weight cause him to drop like a rock to the floor. Harmony cringed, shutting his eyes from the expected impact. When nothing happened he opened his eyes to see that Discord had snapped the anvil away before it hit the floor and that he was now floating just off the floor. “I would have waited in the Council of Harmony chambers but I’m not sure if He of Hourglass would know that’s where we ran off to.

“Ha! Run for you; walked away for me.” Harmony mocked as payback for nearly being scared to death from Discord’s disappearing anvil.

“Do I want to ask?” The look that Harmony gave him answered his question. “Yeah I didn’t think so.”

At that neither one of them really had anything else to talk about. Discord twiddled his thumbs as time slowly past. Harmony was okay with the silence with so much going on it was nice to have a moment with nothing going on. It, however, got onto Discord’s nerves as he summoned a pink cotton candy cloud which proceeded to rain chocolate rain upside down and into a glass. “Chocolate milk?” Discord offered. Harmony facehoofed.

It was nearly an hour before the sounds of He of Hourglass opening the doors caught both Keepers attention. The dragon keeper look worse for wear. Harmony got up to greet him.

“He of Hourglass! Is everything going well, I hope.”

“For the moment. The whelp you brought seems to like you as he asked to be directed to your house.”

“He probably thought it was best to stay away from both Quartermaster and He of Everfree and must have thought that I would be there.”

“It’s more than that…” He of Hourglass knew there was something off about the whelp. Harmony’s most recent letter did confirm him being orphaned. Judging from his reactions it was clear he was orphaned very young. Hopefully that was why he seemed off. Note to self: talk to He of Harmony about Nova Blaze.

“He has not been around dragons for twenty years and I think the reality was not exactly what he expected...”

“That would explain it…” Well that did confirm to him that the dragon whelp had little to no experience dealing with dragons other than his parents. Still he seemed skittish and he knew that Harmony had at least given him a crash course on the code.

“I hope that Quartermaster and He of Everfree didn’t get into a challenge.”

“No.” He of Hourglass rubbed his forehead in frustration from the memory of the past hour. “He of Everfree has requested to rest in the forest on the edge of the mountain. That should be enough distance between them before He of Everfree leaves.“

“As much as I like all of this ‘dragon’ talk, I’m not here for that.” Discord finally piped up after letting He of Hourglass and Harmony dominate the conversation.

“Sorry, Discord. Go ahead.”

“Something occurred while you were in Ponyville. Your magic… Uh… er…” Discord trailed off as he found himself at a loss for the correct words.

He of Hourglass growled in annoyance. He of Laughter had two days to sort out what he needed to say and now he was stuttering. “He of Laughter, enough. What is it?”

“That’s just it. I’m not sure that’s just it. Something crazy happened to Harmony’s magic.”

“Discord.” Harmony rubbed his forehead trying not to get upset himself. “I have been coughing and vomiting draconic ash… Are you sure it’s not that?”

“No. I’m positive it wasn’t a negative fluctuation but it definitely was a doozy whatever it was.”

“Hm… Let’s go to the Harmony Plane maybe between your and my memories we can figure it out.”

In a flash all three had disappeared from the Hourglass council chambers and appeared in the Plane of Harmony. Harmony quickly took off his cloak. He always felt it was disrespectful to be wearing clothes in the Harmony Plane even though it wasn’t that sacred of a place. He quickly folded it up and put it into his saddlebags.

He of Hourglass noticed something odd about Harmony’s normally shifting colors. “Harmony did you fall into paint?” 

“Huh?” Harmony craned his neck to examine himself. He slowly checked himself over but he couldn’t see anything until he saw that a small area on his flank was static. He collapsed from the shock while tears burst from his eyes. 

“He of Harmony what is wrong?” He of Hourglass asked. The concern and worry that had lifted off of him came back with a vengeance.

Harmony just kept crying. To see the return of his cutiemark even if only a piece was too much.“‘You will find your joy again.’” That pink mare is freaky… but she is very attuned to joy.

“What is that suppose to mean?” He of Hourglass blinked in confusion. He looked at Discord for an explanation but he only shrugged.

Harmony sniffed a few times before he answered. “You remember my lesson on cutiemarks, He of Hourglass?”

He of Hourglass nodded even though he was still not entirely sure what was going on. “Then what does it mean?”

“Joy.”

“A Blueish…” Discord pulled out an overly large magnifying glass to examine Harmony's cutiemark. “Fireball is joy?!?!

Harmony roughly grabbed the magnifying glass and smashed it. “Yes.” Discord knew better than to examine a cutiemark in that fashion. 

“Does that mean...?” Discord massaged his head feeling like he was going to get a headache.

“No.” Harmony shooked his head. “The Joy Harmony Magic is still within the Element that much I’m sure of.”

“But then how can this be? I thought it was impossible for you to get your cutiemark back without taking the Harmony magic back… Also, it’s different than before. Are you sure its not some sort of cutiemark related disease?” Discord snapped a large book with the title Unusual Pony Diseases and preceded to to flip frantically through it.

“I know every disease known to ponykind dealing with cutiemarks. It was part of my the research into finding a cure for Magic Wasting Disease. I’m positive this a real cutiemark and not something like Cutie Pox. Still… I’ll have Scorpan take a look.”
> Brother Bonding
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The three Keepers stood in the bowls the the council building. All around them was the crystals and controls that made up the control center for the defense grid of Hourglass. 

Discord lazily flipped a piece of chalk in his paw. “The defense grid was designed to work in manual and in automatic.”

“If recall correctly that was accomplished with some sort of artificial intelligence.” Harmony added as he looked at the console. He knew there wasn’t going to anything different about it nor would he find the answer but he still wanting to take a look at it in light of recent events just encase he was wrong.

“Yes, the problem is the auto was not working and now it is. The question is: why.”

“No idea…” 

“Could it be reprogrammed?” He of Hourglass had done a lot of research in the last several weeks. He had found some passing comments on the system but nothing concrete or extensive. There was something about reprogramming in one of snippets.

“Crystal programming was never my forte. And as intelligent and resourceful as Harmony is he has no hope of reprogramming it. A skilled Crystallian could.”

“The last…” Harmony trailed off for a moment in frustration. He couldn’t believe the audacity of what Discord just said. Although it may have been for He of Hourglass benefit. Discord may be a bit mad in his old age… well more mad but he definitely hadn't gone senile. “She died protecting the Crystal Empire, remember?!”

“I know that!” Discord angrily shook a fist at Harmony. “It is possible that she may have passed on her skills.” 

“Crystal is way more precise than stone or metal… and way less forgiving. I’m afraid the art is gone.” 

“What about my library?”

“Yes, its possible but it still would take years to learn and at the level needed… As I said, the art is gone. Which leaves only one recourse, of which Quartermaster will not like.”

“Somehow,” He of Hourglass crossed his arms. “I think I’m not going to like it either.”

“Discord…” Harmony began.

Discord snapped his tail and suddenly he was wearing a lab coat and black rubber gloves. He rubbed his paw and claw together declaring, “Mad Scientist time! Mwahahaha! It lives! It lives!”

“He of Laughter/ Discord!” He of Hourglass and Harmony slapped their foreheads.

“Well, given that there is nothing left for me to do here I think I should go get the mithril ore I need.”

“I’m coming.”

Harmony smiled and looked up at the dragon who was looking down at him. “I wouldn’t have it anyother way. But first we have to make a quick stop at the Northern Oasis.”





“Harmony, Dragon Keeper! Welcome.” Scorpan was a bit surprised to see the two Keepers. About Harmony, not so much, the dragon on the other hand. He eyed Harmony before doing a quick scan. “Don’t tell me another problem, Harmony?”

“No, not this time. I just need you to confirm something for me.”

Scorpan blinked in confusion. He looked at Harmony for a second then the dragon. It was then that he realized this must be about the dragon and not Harmony. “Uh... Sure let’s go to the lab.”

He of Hourglass was amazed at the lab. Contraptions, vials, and potions bubbling lining every square inch of every table, cabinet, and shelf. The floor was almost covered as well from books, scrolls, and scrap pieces of paper and parchment. Scorpan led them to the back of the lab where he quickly cleared some space. “Now, tell me what is…” Scorpan eyes went wide when he saw the mark on Harmony flank. “May, I examine it closer?”

“Yes.” At least he asked...

Scorpan slowly ran a claw around the mark testing it with his magic. Harmony had to bite back the urge to buck. The area around a cutiemark can be sensitive to touch and more so with claws. The gargoyle could feel it in the subtle movements coming from the alicorn but he kept tracing. He could have done this via his paw but it was not as precise. After several minutes he withdrew his claw. “It’s a true cutiemark. But I don’t sense any harmony or dark magic. The mark is also different from what I recall… Are you sure it’s joy?”

“Yes, I am. I’m still meditating on the possibilities for why it returned and the change. Both dark and harmony magic can alter a cutiemark. This mark is too recent for dark magic. I haven’t been exposed to any in nearly three months. Harmony magic in the form of heartsongs, yes. The problem is I have never heard of a heartsong causing a cutiemark to change unless it was affected by dark magic, much less appear... Unless the cutiemark is related to music.”

He of Hourglass listened to Scorpan and Harmony intently. He recalled the lesson that Harmony gave him a while back. Since then he had managed to find a book on alicorn cutiemarks in the library. Given the age of the books he had to assume that it was quite outdated. Still, there was something about this that seemed off almost as if Harmony left something out. Something that he didn’t think of until just now. He wasn’t sure, however, if it was intentional or not. He pointed to the mark. “Your cutiemark was based on your destiny as Keeper and it disappeared when you gave up harmony magic. But the other ponies don’t have harmony magic. How come they have cutiemarks?”

“Normal pony magic… but if they lose that, the cutiemark will disappear.”

“But you had two types. You still possess normal magic. Is it possible that you have a separate destiny that is not tied to being a Keeper?”

“That is one of the possibilities… Alass we are going to have to let this play out as there is no precedent to compare with.”





I hear you are looking for me. Why?

I am He of the Flight. I am looking to start a dragon migration of sorts… A moving place for dragons to...congregate, I guess, without the worry of protecting their hoards from the greedy eyes of others.

Why come to me? I am merely an acolyte in the code…

You are the Alicorn Keeper are you not?

Yes, I am.

You were so young and eager back then.  Harmony looked around trying to hold back the tears. To be here so soon…

Remind me again why you think ponies and dragons can get along?

“Are you going to be okay?” Golden Heart was unsure of allowing He of Harmony to get the mithril here. He wasn’t sure how the alicorn would take being in the area of such senseless carnage especially not after his reaction to the news.

Cackling laughter, the horrible laughter… they poured over everydragon like water…. and the laughter…

Harmony slowly closed his eyes trying to shake off the imagined horror from Garble’s recollection. He took a cleansing breath before finally answering, “Yes.”

Golden Heart could tell that Harmony's ‘yes’ was a bit lethargic. Just when he thought that Harmony was doing better another thing brought him low. Is this the life of a Keeper of Harmony? One of continual pain and sorrow?

“Promise me something…” Harmony whispered.

“Huh?”

“Treasure those whose heart you share. But not as other dragons do. Hearts are not like gold, silver, and gems that can be stored away in the tight grasp of a dragon’s hoard. For hearts to truly shine they must be free. Entrapped hearts tarnish and die. No dragon wants tarnished treasure.”

“But there is something else. Your hoard is not a lasting one.” 

“For the hearts one treasures are like the flowers of the field. For they grow for a while, bloom, then wilt away. All that remains is the memories. But in that fleeting moment in time those flowers outshine than any treasure that lasts forever.” 

Golden Heart once asked him what he hoarded. Unfortunately before he could answer he fell into a fainting spell from the Magic Wasting Disease. Could it be that He of Harmony was speaking from experience? That his hoard, his treasure was another that has passed on? But what started him speaking in metaphors? And why?

“Why are you telling me this?”

Harmony looked up and into the eyes of the dragon. He smiled slightly before answering, “Because… Because You are my brother but also because I know that I am a part of your hoard.”

The look on Golden Heart only confirmed it for Harmony. “Golden Heart I know what is it like to feel the desire to protect another. I did pass the Rite of Guardianship. The truth is, you are being overprotective of me… You’re as bad as Discord sometimes…”

“I… I…” Golden Heart was shocked that Harmony would accuse him in such a way. But the more he tried to deny it the more that the truth of it became apparent. The weight of it was too much for him and he collapsed putting his hands to his face in shame. Tears began to fall. “I am a fool… I just couldn’t bare to…”

Harmony whacked the dragon hard with his hoof knocking him over. Golden Heart stared open jaw for a moment before he growled in anger.

Harmony remained stoic not even flinching from his position at the growling dragon. “You are more wise then you will admit. For its a wise dragon that knows when he doesn’t have the answers and is willing to swallow his pride to ask for help or admit his mistakes.”

“I had to gain wisdom from centuries of mistakes…You have more wisdom than I was when I was younger. Garble would have died and not given the mark of dishonor for a chance for redemption. Like wise he would have never landed or actually crash into Hourglass. I would have followed the code instead of discovering why he was attacked by dark magic. To be able to hold back what must have been screaming instincts shows great strength and wisdom. I would go as far as to say that it is one of your traits of harmony.”

“Hmph.” Golden Heart grumbled a bit. Inwardly he was quite proud. 

For a while neither spoke. Golden Heart thought about his reaction to Garble. To be able to hold back what must have been screaming instincts shows great strength and wisdom. He was a Keeper of Harmony so he had a task. He glanced over at Harmony. So was the alicorn. Maybe he could get some ideas from him. 

“Tell me than what is preventing the dragons from obtaining harmony?”

Harmony blinked. He couldn’t believe that a dragon would ask him such a question. Was he trying to knock him off balance? The look on the dragon face told him to take it seriously. “You’re serious.” Harmony puffed a breath. “The code is broken.”

“I see…” A wisp of green smoke came out of the dragon’s maw. A scroll materialized in his claws. “Here..”

Harmony took the scroll and scanned it quickly a single line jumped out at him:



Somehow the Keeper Memories are Harmonizing with the Dragon Heritage Memories.



“Golden Heart is it possible that the Keeper Memories fixed some of the damage to the Dragon Heritage Memories that the ‘Nameless One’ did?”

“Possible.”

Harmony smiled. He was right about wisdom the dragon just needed a push. This meant that he was already dwelling on how to fix the dragons. The clan was obvious a part of it, the code must be the other. “Don’t worry too much about it. How to bring the dragons into harmony will come in time don’t try and force it.”

For a while all the could be heard was the crackling of the fire. Harmony was content to just sit there and let the world pass on by. He had learned long ago the innate value of just calmly being.

“So tell me about the whelp. He intrigues me.”

“What’s there to say?” He is like you when you were growing up… a dragon with a heart of gold. He even has your snarky attitude. Harmony heart and eyes fell a bit as he continued to think about Nova and how he was a lot like Spike.

Golden Heart saw this but was unsure of why. He was beginning to see it wasn’t a heart pain but one of bittersweet remembrance. He of Harmony was seemingly happy and sad at the same time. Maybe it had something to do with the joy cutiemark but he wasn’t sure. Was it possible that the ability to be happy and sad at the same time was the true strength of joy? Golden Heart sighed. So many questions and yet he had no answers.

Harmony turned to face Golden Heart but he didn’t raise his eyes. “He is a lot like you.”

Golden Heart raised an eyebrow. He didn’t get much time to really get to know the whelp as Harmony did but he wasn’t so sure about Nova being like himself. He of Harmony was speaking in riddles. He didn’t mind that around other by why was he like that with him? Everything about the pony was mysterious and shrouded. First his sixth element, than the ash coughing along with the discovery that his Magic Wasting Disease vanished and finally the return of part of his cutiemark.

Harmony looked upward to the sky and the twinkling stars. The night sky was always beautiful to behold even outside of the lands of Equestria. He could lose himself watching the stars. “He is the reason I got my joy cutiemark back.”

To say that it shocked the dragon would be an understatement. He would have never expected the whelp to be the reason for the Harmony's pain to be healed. Here was a whelp who didn’t understand the code but there was more value in this dragon than most. Harmony was still staring off at the stars above and seemed to not have anything more to say. Not that there was anything that needed to be said. Those few short sentences spoke volumes. 

Golden Heart looked up to gaze at the stars and particularly The Voice constellation. If that is true then I would be honored to have him as a clanmate when the time came if Nova wished it so. To do something like that…. to bring back a piece of harmony that he lost. To heal his broken heart. It is but a small way of repaying my debt to this whelp. This Nova Blaze.

As Golden Heart lowered his head caught a glimmer in the darkness. “We are being watched.”
> Quartz
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“We are being watched.”

Harmony avoided looking about. No need to scare whatever it was off, yet. “By what?”

“A dragon whelp.” Golden Heart popped a gem into his maw and chewed on it thoughtfully.

“Hmm…” Harmony rubbed his chin, “Possibly a survivor of the massacre. I did tell Discord to not look for survivors.”

“Smart…” He of Hourglass absentmindedly stuck a stick into the fire shifting some of the coals around and sending sparks into the air.

“Did you see the scale colors?” 

“White and yellow… unlucky for the whelp. Any darker colors and I may not have noticed.”

Harmony closed his eyes and cast a scrying spell. In the minds eye he flew upward from his body and above the campfire. He spun slowly around looking for white and yellow. Luckily white and white shows up well in the dark especially against the rusty red of the desert. The whelp was quite a distance away. Alicorns eyes were good in the dark but not in comparison to a dragon’s. The whelp has just outside of his normal visual range. Hmm downwind as well... This dragon is smart… too smart and the color…

Harmony opened his eyes, releasing the spell. “I think I know who the dragon is. I’m sure he is a survivor and knowing his history I’m not too surprised.”

“Then he might be able to tell us more on the attack?”

“I doubt that… he doesn’t trust anyone,” Harmony sighed. And with me around even more so, “but I see no harm in trying. The name of the whelp is Quartz. I might as well fill you in on his story before we go confront him.”

“His parents lived in a gem and prey poor area. Which require them to migrate around a lot. (For the life of me I do not know why they hatched the entire clutch so quickly.) Not only that the area is known as The Razorback Expanse.”

“The Razorback Expanse! Even for a dragon to go there is to court death.”

“I know…” (He of the Flight said the same thing…)

“There was animosity between Quartz, the eldest, and his younger siblings. For reasons I’m not sure of his mother always payed more attention to Quartz. It went to the his head. He always found ways to put down his siblings (or at least from what He of the Flight was able to get out of the whelp). It all came to a head one day when his younger brother knocked him from the sky. By the time he was discovered missing it had been many hours. Given that he was a whelp I guess they figured he could catch up or if not take care of himself if he was still alive. Although most likely they abandon him as dead.“

“He managed to survive for three years before he finally left. He got lucky that he ran into some dragons heading to the Migration. It was at the migration that he found out the fate of his family. In their desperation they foolishly attacked a griffon eyrie on the north edge of the expanse. After a protracted battle both of the parents were killed.”

“The griffons of course investigated why. It was clear that the dragons were a bit emancipated.
His siblings had died of starvation and were found further up the mountain. The griffons managed to get word to me somehow. I sent a contact in to see why dragons would be in the Expanse. It was then that it was discovered why. The parents were dishonored. Quartz, as far as I know, does not know that part.”

With the end of his story Harmony and Golden Heart fell into silence. Golden Heart mused about Quartz. A dragon with survival skills would be helpful the only question was if the whelp had the right attitude. Knowing the story it was understandable that he would be untrusting but that wasn’t a mark against him. The only way to really know for sure was to confront the dragon. 

Okay I think I know how to do this. Let’s hope it works otherwise we may never find him. Harmony could see that Golden Heart had stopped his own reflection at least. “Can you do teleportation?”

“Yes.” Golden Heart looked at Harmony in confusion. What are you planning?

“Okay, I’m going to set up an illusion spell and you teleport us downwind from the dragon. Be careful he is very smart and due to spending his early years in the Expanse he has some formidable fighting skills.”

With a nod of readiness Golden Heart teleported them right behind the whelp. Golden Heart cringed a bit at looking at the whelp. He had scars all over him. Most of his spines were missing or in shreds. Marks that would be a badge of pride to an adult but to a whelp this was terrible.

“Quartz.” Harmony called out.

Harmony threw up a shield. Quartz fire poured over and around the shield. Harmony teleported out and behind Quartz. The whelp suddenly smelled the alicorn behind him and spun with his claws extended. Sparks flew as his claws scraped against metal. He was a bit shocked seeing that his claws were stopped by a sword. On instinct Quartz whipped his tail about to trip up the figure that surprised him.

Harmony saw the movement and flipped up and over the dragon. He conjured another shield as flames shot up at him. His swung the blunt end of the sword into the back of the dragon. The whelp only stumbled forward for a microsecond before recovering. 

Quartz was livid whatever had surprised him soon learn why dragons were the apex of predators. With a glance into the distance he could tell it wasn’t that dragon and what appeared to be a pony. They were still by the fire. He needed to end this before the sound of the fight got the two’s attention.

In a flash Harmony noticed the barely perceptible difference in how Quartz was moving. He’s moving into a four legged stance. This is going to make it harder. Time to get serious myself then. Harmony gave a smirk as he ended his illusion spell and readied a light spell that he learned from Luna.

Stars beckon my call
Let your light fall!

He of Hourglass could feel the pressure from the spell. What is this? He looked up in awe. The stars were falling! He quickly closed his eyes at the light quickly overwhelm everything around them. Even with his eyes tightly shut the power of the light was almost too much.

Quartz wasn’t so lucky he didn’t noticed the change until it was too late. The intense light not only blinded him but stunned him. For a moment his world was white then darkness once again filled his vision.

“Quartz...” A voice called out to him. It was oddly familiar. He didn’t like the voice for some reason either.

“Quartz…” The voice called out once again. The whelp blinked as his vision slowly came back. It was still night as he could see the moon out. A dark figure moved blocking some of the light. Quartz could feel his whole body ache but he suppress the urge to moan. No way was he going to show weakness. He rubbed his eyes a bit to clear the final fogginess. 

The whelp went wide eye for only second before angrily growling. “Outsider.” Quartz was beginning to see nothing but red. No way he was beaten by that pony.

I’m beginning to really hate that word. He of Hourglass let out his sparks to hold down the now raging whelp. The whelp was clearly not a fan of He of Harmony and being beaten by him seemed to only anger him further. The whelp fought for a while trying to break through the spell with pure force.

Quartz soon expended all of his rage and was panting hard from the exertion. “The same as always I see.” Harmony noded a thanks to He of Hourglass who ended his paralysis spell.

Now that his rage was diminished he finally took the time to notice He of Hourglass. His snout crunched up at seeing him. To see a dragon without wings and odd multicolor girly sparks dancing around his body hanging out with the outsider disgusted him. This was no dragon it was an overgrown lizard.

“If you are here for the Migration forget it nodragon wants you around.”

“I’m already aware of the massacre and the death of He of the Flight.”

“He was a weak dragon to be taken out so easily.”

Harmony narrowed his eyes to slits in anger. “You dishonor the memory of He of the Flight. I knew him for many millennia and he was the strongest dragon I have ever knew.”

Makes me wish to have known him. I could use that strength. He of Hourglass called out with his mind.

Harmony was surprised that he would initiate a thought sharing spell. But on further thought figured it would better coordinate their ‘interrogation.’ You have, in spirit, inherited his strength.

“And what do you know? You are no dragon, Outsider.”

“He is more honorable than you whelp.”

Enough, He of Hourglass, I have dealt with many dragons like him. They will never change… with one exception.

Quartermaster…

Exactly. This is what he could have become.

“Enough.” Quartz angrily shouted out before crossing his arms. “What are you doing here in my land.”

“We are here to get mithril ore.” Harmony decided to ignore the ‘my land’ part. As usual Quartz was just being his smug smartass self.

He of Hourglass was not happy to hear the ‘my land’ part and unlike Harmony made his irritation known. “Your territory!? You are merely a whelp.”

“So? My parents are dead! I am allowed to protect and feed myself! I don't see you claiming this area as your own!”

“Yes, you are allowed to protect and feed yourself but as He of Hourglass correctly pointed out you are merely a whelp. You are not allowed by code to have a territory.”

“And yet you do.” Quartz smirked. Maybe he could get the other dragon to help him take down the pony a bit. “Why can’t I, a real dragon, not have one but a non dragon outsider have the entire ‘country’ of Equestria?!?”

“Ugh…” And now his know-it-all part. “You know what! I am not dealing with this anymore. He of Hourglass, let’s just get the ore now and leave.”

“No dragon would allow an outsider to push them around!” Quartz yelled out to the retreating Keepers. “Hmph.”





“Here we go a vein of mithril this shouldn’t take too long…” Harmony commented as he began to dig about a pile of rocks.

Golden Heart sighed a bit he had hoped for another potential clanmate but no way would he allow Quartz into the clan. Somehow I think building the clan is going to be more difficult than I figured…

As if He of Harmony could still hear his thoughts (which Golden Heart knew he couldn’t as he severed the mind link) began to address his musing. “Dragons like He of the Flight or even yourself are a rarity. Less than forty dragons are in my firemail network. I am on good terms with maybe a hundred more. That is out of tens upon tens of thousands of dragons scattered across the globe.” 

“He of the Flight had nearly five hundred in his network. And he was on good terms with countless more dragons. Like Discord mentioned, your task is not going to be as easy as before. My ability to help is hampered by my non dragon status. Most of my network is here on the western continent. Of the eastern continents I only have three contacts…” 

“I’m sure the Migration started out small as will our potential associates and allies. I supposed it was best that I was here and not on the other continents.”

“Maybe…” Harmony stopped to examine another rock but after a second rejected it as threw it to the side. “Equestria and several griffin eyries are the two major powers at least in the north. The south is a lot less settled. A few trading posts and a couple of ports. The Southern Crystal City being the only major city in the south and its population is a lot smaller than its counterpart in the north: the Crystal Empire. This however pales to the continents to the east. Don’t be mistaken Equestria is powerful but it is weak in comparison to some of the nations to the east.”

Having nothing else to say for the moment Harmony went back to quietly shifting rocks around. All the talking had slowed him down. The darkness of the night didn’t help either. Outside of dealing with Quartz it was kind of nice to spend some time with Golden Heart.

“I have to ask.” Harmony lifted another rock to examine. “Why did you ask me what about what was wrong about dragons?”

Golden Heart thought on that for a while. Harmony seemed content to allow him time to respond as he nodded in approval at the rock he had and place it in the chest. Golden Heart remembered when he once wrote about trying to figure out the strangeness of He of Harmony. He ended up asking He of Laughter about him.





“Harmony has spent nearly half of his nearly ten thousand year life with the dragons. Do you know why? I don’t. I can only speculate that he believes that there is something the dragons are missing or that something the dragons have that the ponies are missing…” 





“No Keeper went as far as he did to help to races beside those in his charge. I suspect that he is the only nondragon to be a ‘friend’ to dragons since the dark days prior to the sealing of the ‘Chaos Bringer’ though I do believe it’s ‘Nameless One’ to your kind.”





“I hate using the term but I needed an outsider someone not bond by instinct to the code. Someone that wouldn’t let the pride of being a dragon interfere with being objective...”

Harmony stopped digging around for mithril. He may not have his honesty cutiemark back but it was clear that Golden Heart was leaving something out. He looked straight at the dragon. “No, it’s not just that…”

“You are right brother it is also because we are Keepers of Harmony tasked to restore it to this world and with the ‘Nameless One’ unbound it will take cooperation like at its sealing to win.“

Harmony chuckled, whispering to himself as he closed the chest, satisfied with the amount of ore. “Wisdom...”

He of Hourglass didn’t have anytime to respond. A ripple of a sensation went over both of them. 
“Dark magic.” Both growled.
> Legacy of an Unicorn King
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Dark magic.” Both Keepers spun around to scan the darkness about. Harmony could tell that it was powerful and oddly familiar. Hopefully, they had enough strength to take it on alone. He could teleport them away but the problem that may only delay the coming battle and would also weaken him unnecessarily.

“Can you see anyone or anything He of Hourglass?”

“I’m seeing a dark movement like the waves of the sea.” He wanted to put out a light to get a better look but felt it was best to let He of Harmony to take the lead.

“Waves of the sea?” There were several things that could move like that. At least it wasn’t shadowlings otherwise he was sure He of Hourglass would have reported seeing yellow eyes. A flashing glint in the darkness caught his attention “Did you see that?”

“Yes, it’s hard to tell for sure with the black whatever but I do believe it’s from a battleaxe.”

That got him thinking. A battleaxe? hmmm… could it be? If so, why stay here for so long? It was not long before he got the confirmation it was the minotaur and inklings that massacred the Migration. The minotaur grinned as he stopped a little ways away. The dark magic he felt was definitely was Sombra’s. So far it meant that it was less likely the minotaur was working for the ‘Dark One.’

He of Hourglass eyed the mass of inklings. My guess is that the dragons didn’t used their magic and relied too much on their claws, fangs, and fire. Magic it is then.

“You take the inklings the minotaur is mine.” He of Hourglass growled in agreement.

The minotaur bellowed out a war cry. Harmony and He of Hourglass answered with their own.
Harmony ran forward summoning his sword as he jumped over the inklings. The minotaur rose his battle axe in answer. Sparks flew as the two weapons slammed into each other.

Meanwhile He of Hourglass started off by sending of a stream of flame at the first wave. Several of the inklings ran off screaming covered in flame and setting other inklings on fire. He of Hourglass didn't let up though as he slammed his hand to the ground. The ground rippled outward like it was water. Many of the inklings fell backwards before being trampled to death by the rush of their “comrades.”

He of Hourglass roared in pain and grabbed a inkling that was attacking his back. Okay, this is going to be harder than I thought… Unfortunately while his attention was on the inkling that was attacking him from behind a dozen more pounced from the front. With a roar his sparks rushed outward in a sphere flinging the mass off of him.

He wiped his snout clearing it of the blood dripping down from a cut. They just keep coming and will if He of Harmony can’t take out that minotaur. I wish I could help more but I have less experience than him. For now, I guess, it’s once more into the breach. With that he gave a roar of challenge and the inkling swarm complied.

Harmony never saw the reason for naming swords… swords were tools not beings.  That did not stop people from trying to give his sword a name. He of the Flight even once tried… He of the Flight…

A splash of sparks pulled Harmony out of his musings. He was in a middle of a life and death battle and here he was thinking about sword names of all things. He knew better than to drift off. He of the Flight’s death is really affecting me it seems. Harmony thought as he parried another swing.

“Dragonssssss…. Crystallssss” The minotaur licked his lips tasting the blood dripping down his face.

“Sombra!” Harmony went wide eyed in momentary shock before his he narrowed them in anger. “So you finally decided to come out.”

“Thatsss king, peasssant.”

That was enough to send the raging alicron over the edge. His anger was already high from the fact that the minotaur had killed He of the Flight but to find out that the minotaur was being controlled by the dark unicorn and not just his dark magic.

I AM HARMONY THE ALICORN KEEPER OF HARMONY! DRAGON ACOLYTE! CREATOR OF THE ELEMENTS OF HARMONY. GUARDIAN OF THE CRYSTAL HEART! 
I WAS KING OF THE LANDS OF EQUESTRIA LONG BEFORE YOU GRANDFATHER WAS A GLEAM IN HIS GRANDFATHER'S EYE! I PUT YOUR ANCESTOR ON THE THRONE OF THE CRYSTAL EMPIRE! YOU ARE BUT A FOALISH COLT BENT ON PETTY VENGEANCE! 

“Harmony! Don’t over do it…” The rest of what He of Hourglass yelled out was overpower by a roar of a dragon on a warpath. Wind whipped around him pulling up dust and small rocks. When the wind dropped enough for him to see what he saw shocked him to the core. There in the center of the vortex was He of Harmony. His mane and tail were no longer hair but a fire of rainbow colors. This was different than before. What was more as another roar issued from the alicorn He of Hourglass swore he saw a dragon in place of the alicorn for a flash.

NOW YOU WILL FACE THE FULL WRATH OF HARMONY! AND THIS TIME YOU WILL NOT ESCAPE JUSTICE!

With his eyes glowing is power Harmony’s sword was joined by five others.

He of Hourglass jaw dropped. Was this the full power of the Alicorn Keeper of Harmony without his harmony magic!? His eyes had a hard time following the movements of the battle. It was as if Harmony had become a blur. The spectre known as Sombra somehow manage to keep up. A rumble below tore his attention away from the battle momentarily. He jumped back as a black crystal shot out of the ground. Dark magic in the form of crystals!? He could see now how this ‘Sombra’ could escape justice.

He of Hourglass sat down as with Sombra too busy with He of Harmony the inklings had disappeared. He could do his part is making sure that this dark magic user met his final end. He hadn’t gotten a chance yet to figure out how his harmony magic work but now seem like the perfect time.

Sombra was a warrior as well as the minotaur and that meant Harmony had to fight with everything he had. Harmony managed to catch subtle hints of hesitation on the part of the minotaur. So he’s fighting from within… Good. Then I won't let up either! He smirked as he pushed forward sparks flying off of his swords.

Harmony deflected the battle axe with two of the swords while simultaneously trying to swipe at his gut with two others. The sword suddenly clattered to the ground. Harmony was momentarily surprised that there was a wall of dark crystal protecting the minotaur’s side. Right... forgot this is Sombra…

Harmony picked up his swords as Sombra counter attacked with his now freed battle axe. Harmony brought his two remaining swords as a cross to slow down the descent of the axe. His front hooves dug into the ground as he slowly lost ground as the axe slowly pushed the swords down. 

The ground suddenly glowed with purple green and golden light shattering every dark crystal. This stunned both for a moment giving them both time to regroup. The glow dimmed but remained.

Sombra angrily spat. “You may hassss sssstop my cryssstals for now but I ssssshall win thissss either way…”

“That’s where you are wrong Sombra. I have been studying that amulet that is tethering you to this world and is allowing you to possess the minotaur.” Harmony smiled at seeing a slight hint of fear. “I now know how to remove it! Without that you lose you hold on that body.”

That got a bigger reaction out of Sombra. The teeth of the minotaur ground in rage. Harmony laughed. “I’ll teach you a lessson in pain likesss you never knew alisscorn.”

“Wrong. Take a look.”

Sombra for once was confused. “Where issss…”

“The sixth sword? Look behind you. I’ll let you.”

Sombra turned around and what he saw made even his cold heart freeze. The mentioned sword was resting on the neck of the minotaur and but what made it worse was the fact that the sword was holding up the amulet. “How?!”

“Same as always. You always managed to become hyper focused at the wrong time.” Without another word Harmony sliced the amulet off. It along with the minotaur clattered to the ground. Harmony poured light magic into his hoof and smashed the amulet. He took the shattered pieces at flung it far into the air with his magic. “He of Hourglass hit it with a flame mixed with harmony magic.”

The dragon complied engulfing the amelet with a golden flame. Both could hear the screams of Sombra as he and the amulet faded into the ether and even though Sombra was never coming back it still sent chills up both of the Keepers to hear his screams of pain and defiance.

Harmony took the unconscious minotaur and sat him against a boulder. He lit a fire nearby and patiently waited. After a few moment the minotaur stirred. Harmony sighed in relief. It appeared that Sombra didn’t damage the body too much and neither did the fight. Although he figured that he was not going to be going anywhere for a bit.

“Your name young bull.” He asked once he saw that he was awake enough to talk.

“Aonghus. Third son of Óengus of the Broken Horn tribe.” He tried getting up but his legs gave out.

“Easy… easy…” Harmony gently pushed the minotaur back into a sitting position.

“I failed…” He couldn’t face he savior he just couldn't. “I am a shame to myself, my father, my tribe, my people…”

“No Aonghus. It was I that failed you. I was unable to fully stop Sombra, twice…”

Aonghus shook his head slowly. He was not going to let the Alicorn Keeper take the shame that was rightfully his. “Keeper… I did not have the streng... the strength to fight him. I have brought shame to myself and my tribe.”

He of Hourglass grumbled he was really getting annoyed at the stubbornness of the minotaur. “Sombra was extremely strong in power and hate. In the end he lost because you fought back giving He of Harmony an opening.” 

“No…” Harmony saw the movement from He of Hourglass’ claws, “don’t. He needs to heal without magic intervention it’s the way of his people.”

Harmony coughed a bit. Buck! He could feel it coming as he quickly cast the counterspell. For a moment he thought it would be enough before he retched. Vast amounts of ash and bile poured out of his mouth.  His vision began to blur. 

“I told you not to over do it!”

Harmony only smiled at the panicking dragon as his vision faded away. Just like Discord...

He of Hourglass’ wings sprouted outward. In one arm he grabbed the chest the other a passed out alicorn. He took off in a sprint pumping his wings as he went.





Aonghus could hear the sounds of something approaching. He didn’t have the strength to move much less defend himself. His whole body ached and groaned. Being possessed by a crazy unicorn spirit bent on revenge on all dragons would take a toll on anyone. He pooled all of his remaining strength and managed to pull his battleaxe onto his lap.

“I can’t believe how weak they were…” A cruel voice echoed in the darkness. Aonghus searched but his eyes would see nothing. A primal fear creeped into his mind. He was in extreme danger.

“I didn’t care for He of the Flight or the Migration, but it was free food. And you took that away from me…”

“Who... Who are you?”

“Oh, I will tell you my name…” A body slammed right in front of the fire nearly blowing it out. It was a white and yellow dragon whelp. Aonghus’ eyes went wide. “Right before I kill you I want you to know who killed you. I hope you can still scream. A lot.”

Golden Heart could faintly make out a roar mixed with a scream. He slowly closed his eyes. It seems that I was right. The dragon's eyes flung opened as he pushed himself forward, faster. All that matter now was He of Harmony who he could feel with his magic was fading. Come on don’t you die on me, Harmonious Knight, brother.
> Golden Journal #14
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


From the Journals of Golden Heart, He of Hourglass, Firstclaw of the Clan of Hourglass, Dragon Keeper of Harmony.  


Entry #13



	(3 months after Clan inception)





He of Laughter was finally able to decipher our problems with the defense grid. He of Harmony wasn’t kidding that that it would take years to get the skills necessary to reprogram the artificial intelligence or ‘A.I.’ Apparently it was an ability to know who the ruler of the city is even without any input from the control room. It just knows. Or at least that’s the only part that made sense(I’m still nursing the headache).

Of course I asked who the A.I. thought was the ruler which turned out to be He of Laughter. When the catastrophe hit the city many millennia ago the only surviving citizen was He of Laughter so the it defaulted to him as the ruler. He was more than happy to I quote ‘turn over the keys’ to me (whatever that meant). We did some tests afterwards and it appears that I now have control over the defense grid. The true test will be when we have a real enemy attack.

On hearing that I could lock He of Laughter out of Hourglass made Quartermaster quite giddy. Which I immediately shot down when I gave him the task of constructing the spell matrix. Quartermaster was not happy to say the least and I nearly clawed him for using the word outsider. Ever since Quartz… I will not have my own clanmate speak about He of Harmony like that. I should have stopped it sooner.

I’m reaching a limit with He of Harmony. I’m okay with the need for privacy on some matters but this is getting out of hand. He of Harmony has nearly died several time by this mysterious ash disease. I can tell he is hiding something about it from me. Why I don’t know. I don’t want to resort to a challenge just yet.

I also don’t want He of Laughter to get involved. Even though I know he has known He of Harmony the longest I feel, somehow, he may be less likely to given me a straight answer or slip up in a way that would be helpful. The Ascended One, however, I think, will be the most open and honest.

For the moment He of Harmony is with the Hermit of the Oasis. They are trying various tests to figure out what triggers the episodes to better avoid and manage them in the future. As much as I wanted to be there for that (one because it will put extreme pressure on He of Harmony physically but also because I want to know what his is hiding and why.) The hermit wouldn’t allow it. If it wasn’t for the hermit’s extreme skill at dealing with magical illness and He of Harmony‘s extreme trust in him... Let’s just say I made sure he knew what would happen to him if anything went wrong.





> Songs on a Starlight Night
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Harmony groaned. He had just been akowen from the same fiery nightmare. Ever since after the fight with Sombra and the week at Scorpan’s to purposely trigger his illness he had been having them nearly nightly. At least they were right now just nightmares and not ‘visions’ like before. He could stop them but it still caused his heart to race. Also, Spike seemed to not be in them anymore so he figured that one time was just that: one time. Sadly, having the nightmare meant he wouldn’t get anymore sleep for a while. He stretched, yawned, and got up to go for a walk.

“We really need to rebuild the city.” Harmony commented out loud to himself. While Hourglass never scared him it didn’t mean that he liked the creepiness of walking at night in a nearly deserted, half-ruined ghost town where thousands lost their lives in a moment’s time. All in good time I suppose. 

Harmony was nearing the library when he noticed that Golden Heart was up and sitting on the Spire. “What are you doing up?” He called up.

“Listening…”

Harmony swiveled his ears around trying to pick up any sound. After doing it for several minutes and not picking up even the faintest of sounds he gave up. Must be too faint for me to hear… One thing did come to mind on why Golden Heart would be up so late ‘listening.’ “Nova?”

“Yes.” Golden Heart jumped down. Harmony was glad he was an alicorn as he could feel the ground shift. The dragon breathed a bit of flame then spun it around with his claws. The flame expanded and slowly was replaced by a guitar wrapped in cloth. “I managed to finish curing the enamel on the guitar for you.”

Harmony carefully took it in his magic. “Well then, I better go find him so I can give it to him.”

Harmony started to head off towards the forest to the west of the city. He stopped when he felt a clawed hand on his shoulder. Harmony looked back to see Golden Heart staring off in the direction of the forest and Nova. Golden Heart said nothing but Harmony could catch the implied meaning from how the dragon was staring off. “I see.”

As Harmony headed off his heart seemed to skip a beat. He just couldn’t wait to give the guitar to Nova. He just knew to see his reaction would worth the cost. At the edge of the city he could finally hear the faint sound of an ocarina. 





Where is he? This forest isn’t that big… Harmony was getting frustrated. He had been looking for a while trying to pinpoint where Nova was. The problem was that between the trees muffling and echoing sound and that Nova appeared to not be constantly playing he was not having much luck.

Hey dad look at me
Think back and talk to me
Did I grow up according to plan?
And do you think I'm wasting my time doing things I wanna do?
But it hurts when you disapprove all along

The song sounds somber. That is not something he usually does… Harmony ducked under some branches as he pushed through. At least the forest is no longer hostile to us. He stopped as he lost the direction of where the singing was coming in from.

And now I try hard to make it
I just wanna make you proud
I'm never gonna be good enough for you
Can't pretend that
I'm alright
And you can't change me

Good, he singing again. Harmony was a bit worried that he would have to rely on a tracking spell. No, it’s not that... its, its introspective! I wonder…

'Cause we lost it all
Nothing lasts forever
I'm sorry
I can't be perfect
Now it's just too late and
We can't go back
I'm sorry
I can't be perfect

Harmony could hear that Nova had stop singing and was playing his ocarina. He could tell he was getting close but he also knew he was running out of trees. As he approached the edge of the tree line he could see the whelp sitting on a branch on a lone tree near the mountain’s edge. As per usual the dragon was leaning against the trunk except his tail hung limply. Nova stopped playing his ocarina. Harmony stayed back in the darkness of the tree line. He wanted to see if he could find out more of why he was playing such songs.

Ever since I could remember,
Everything inside of me,
Just wanted to fit in
I was never one for pretenders,
Everything I tried to be,
Just wouldn't work

If I told you what I was,
Would you turn your back on me?
And if I seem dangerous,
Would you be scared?
I get the feeling just because
I’m a dragon with a dark, dark past

I'm only a drake with my flames to guide me
I’m only a dragon with a dream
But I can't move on with these memories

I just wish I could set aflame and move along
and ever since I could remember
I’m just a dragon....with a dark, dark past

ENOUGH! Harmony roared. Nova nearly fell out of his branch from the shock. “Have you become so clouded? Have you become blind? Nova Blaze this is not you!”

The wind picked up and the sounds of rustling leaves filled the air. Nova nervously looked about. All he could see was the moving trees and the twinkling of the stars. Harmony was nowhere to be seen. He couldn’t even smell the alicorn. At least he hoped it was him.

Suddenly, he could hear ocarina music floating in on the breeze. He quickly looked down and could still see his own was still on the necklace.

Why you so blind to see?
Please take it from me 
You have nothin’ left to prove
don’t let doubt be found in you

For I know who you truly are
Not what the dark says you are!
There a light in you bursting to come out!
Just let your heart shout!
Bring forth your worth!
Greater than gems
Brighter than gold!
Is the heart within you!

A light above got Nova’s attention. Above him he could see aurora lights dancing. But he still could not see Harmony anywhere.

Forget those others
Be true to yourself
To fit in only ends
With fates of pretending

Just let your heart shout!
Bring forth your worth!
Greater than gems
Brighter than gold!
Is the heart within you!

Harmony finally walked into the opening so that Nova could see him. His fur gave off light as brightly as the moon. Harmony had not caused this amount and kind of change with just harmonic music magic in a long time. He figured it was because of Nova Blaze.

Greater than gems
Brighter than gold!
Is the heart within you!

The hearrrrt with….in yooooooou!

The lights above and the shine of Harmony fur slowly faded along with the music. Nova tried desperately to restart his mouth and brain. Is that the power of harmony songs? I have also have that kind of power within me?!

“So, why so many introspective songs tonight?”

Nova just shrugged, not quite sure himself. “Just thinking about the future, I guess. What brings you out here? “

“I hadn’t seen much of you in weeks and I…”

Nova waved his claw dismissively, “Don’t apologize. I’m used to being alone.”

Harmony could hear the sadness in Nova voice. While he wasn’t here originally to apologize he could tell that while Nova was used to it he didn't like the loneliness.

“Nova, you are not alone anymore. But... I can’t be around all of the time. Did you try spending time with He of Hourglass?”

“Well…” Nova sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. “He...hehe...”

Harmony facehoofed “Let me guess Quartermaster?” A look from Nova confirmed it for him. “Listen Quartermaster can be scary and is a bit gruff but you will not find a more loyal dragon then him.”

Harmony trotted up so that he good see out to the lands below Hourglass. “Enough of that. With some help I just finished something that I want to give to you.”

Nova flipped down from the tree limb he was on. He could see that Harmony didn’t have anything with him. He eyed around to see if maybe Harmony had put it down near by before he sang. A flash of light confirmed it as before him was a long object wrapped in cloth.

Nova slowly unwrapped the cloth to reveal a bass guitar. It was in a shape of a scorpion. The body was white but the claws were the color of his hair/spines the stinger was black just like his claws and his triangle black eye scales. He could see that it has a neon blue strap. He fiddled with the dials for a moment. It has the same colors as me!

“The enamel coating is made, among other things, from your shed scales so it’s almost as resistant to scratching as typical dragon scales.” Harmony explained as he watched Nova excitedly pluck at the strings. He beamed from ear to ear. Totally worth it.

Nova didn’t know what to say to the gift. Everything about it was perfect from its scorpion shape to the scale enamel to the fact that Harmony his brother was so thoughtful. It was almost too much for him. He knew then that it would be as precious to him as his scorpion ocarina.

Nova looked at his ocarina lovingly. The only thing he had from his parents especially his mother and now he had something just as valuable from his brother. He still couldn’t understand the generosity of this pony but as it was from his brother it didn’t matter. His brother loved him like his mother, like his father.

Harmony had one last thing about the guitar he wanted to reveal. “Do you know something more? I been working to get you this guitar since that night in the train so you could fully use your gift. I ooph...” Harmony lost all of his air as Nova hugged him.

As Nova hugged Harmony he could hear the beat of their hearts but there was a beat of something more. Nova’s heart stopped for a moment. A metaphorical stone dropped into the pond of his life. It was as if the fog of his troubled mind cleared. For the first time he just knew what and who he truly was. He couldn’t help but let the tears fall. He felt the only thing left was to let his brother and the world know. It was like he just needed to roar to the heavens. 

“Harmonious Knight…” Nova pulled away from the hug. “I…. mphfth”

“Stop.” Harmony shut Nova’s mouth momentarily. “He of Hourglass wants to speak to you first.”

“But I wanted…” Nova protested as soon as Harmony let go of mouth. Why would his brother stop him?

“To have me hear the name you have Chosen?” Harmony smiled, his eyes shining. “I do have my ways…” Harmony hid his laughter behind his hoof. “But before I allow you to roar your new name He of Hourglass wishes to have a word. After that you may let your heart shout.”

“You just had to do that…” Nova facepalmed.

Harmony chuckled before taking the lead back to Hourglass. A single tear ran down his face as he sent off an invisible flare.
> The Beats of the Heart
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“So, why does He of Hourglass want to talk to me? And why now?”

Without looking back Harmony commented. “You know if you strap that to your back you can find out faster.”

Nova slapped his face. Harmony had to stifle a laugh at hearing the sound. Nova quickly strapped his bass guitar across his back. It felt snug on his back as his quickly over tooked Harmony blowing him a raspberry with a bit of neon fire mixed in as his ran by. Harmony yelped in fright before he realized that he had been had. Harmony chuckled evilly as he yelled out, “You are in so much trouble for that!”





“Does he have to be here?” Nova complained as they approached the library where Quartermaster and He of Hourglass could be seen waiting.

“Yes, because it concerns him as well.”

“Nova Blaze,” He of Hourglass stepped forward as they reach the dragons, “I want you to join the clan of Hourglass.”

Nova blinked in confusion. That’s what this is about? Which begs the question, “Why couldn’t you have Harmony invite me?”

“Because Nova, I’m not part of the clan.”

“You’re not?!” He turned to face Harmony fully, shocked. “And why not?”

“He he…”Harmony rubbed the back of his mane quickly trying to find a way to help Nova join the clan. It was the only way to make sure that he could make sure to stay close to his brother and for him to have a family that he lost… even though I will lose him either way... “It’s complicated. Remember I may live the code but I’m still technically an alicorn. The Hourglass Clan is a dragon clan. I am, however, an ally and will defend this clan as if it was my own self just as He of Hourglass and Quartermaster would.”

“I’m not so sure about this. I mean doesn’t it mean that I will no longer have Harmony as a brother?”

“Nova, no, you will always be my brother.” He leaned in to whisper into Nova’s ear. “He of Hourglass is also my brother.”

“To be in a clan is be apart of a family for a clan is family.” He of Hourglass added clearly hearing Harmony calling both of them his brother. Harmony nodded in agreement.

“I can’t make this decision for you, but this is a one time offer.”

Nova was overwhelmed. His mind was screaming at him that he need to roar out his chosen name soon, but to be with the clan or not weighed heavily on him as well. He looked to He of Hourglass then to Harmony and back. He so wanted to be a part of a family again after so many years of being alone. After all that time it was Harmony that first befriended him. He didn’t want to leave him, but… He looked back at Harmony to try and get an answer. He could see that in some small way Harmony was happy but at the same time sad. Harmony caught him looking at him and smiled. 

Nova heart nearly stopped again. He could somehow see into Harmony’s heart and hear his song. The song was filled with deep pain and sadness. But every so often he heard hope course through the notes. He also could sense the feelings of loss and yearning for family. 

It was just too much.

A memory bubbled to the surface.





“I don’t know Harmony…”

“He of Harmony is the correct way to address him whelp!”

“He of Everfree, please, he is nervous enough as it is.” Harmony turned back to face Nova. “Listen Nova He of Hourglass is uh… he is not like what you expect for a dragon. Believe me when I say this that he is one that is more concerned about what’s in your heart not by how well you understand the code. He has enough wisdom to be patient with you. Why? Because he knows that you have been alone for so long without another dragon to teach you the right way. The fact that you are willing to learn from one such as I will reflect extremely well on yourself.”

He of Everfree grumbled, “He should have gotten the ‘He of’ part down already…”





Nova looked now at He of Hourglass and as before he could hear his heart singing. What got him was he could hear a theme that he heard before. It was the same as Harmony. The one that he some how intuitively knew meant the yearning for family.   

Quartermaster’s song was gruff, more militaristic. He could hear the familiar family theme but it was slightly different than He of Hourglass’ and Harmony’s. His felt that it was about the longing to protect his family more than have a longing for one. Only, one last heart he needed to hear.

Nova closed his eyes and listened inwardly and could hear that he too shared the yearning for family theme as his friend Harmony and his brother. He slowly let it sink in. After a while of hearing it he made his decision. He knew what he wanted and hoped that Harmony would be proud of it. “I’ll join on one condition. He of Harmony is to be here so he can hear my name.”

“Hmmm…” He of Hourglass wasn’t terribly surprised at the request. Normally he wouldn’t allow but because as it was He of Harmony that Nova wanted he didn’t see the harm. The alicorn had already witnessed his and Quartermaster’s Choosing. Plus, He of Harmony wouldn’t be able to understand Nova’s Hoard name anyway… “I’ll allow it.”

Quartermaster was not believing that He of Hourglass would allow this it was bad enough that his choosing was tarnished by all those ponies being there but to also tarnish the whelp’s?! “But...” A quick glare and growl from his Firstclaw shut down any protest that he was about to make.

Harmony said nothing but Nova knew enough about the pony to see a glimmer of pride in his eyes. Than I made the right choice. Grinning ear to ear he turned to face his soon to be clanmates. Quartermaster was stoic but He of Hourglass grin seemed to match his own. 

Harmony whispered one last piece of encouragement to Nova, “Nova, let instinct guide you, brother.” Don’t cry; stay strong for him.

Nova nodded slightly as he moved closer. As Harmony watched closely he could see the nervous excitement in his body language. As before he could see He of Hourglass’ sparks beginning to frantically danced about. After a second they scattered about around the three dragons and just as before a few sparks floated around Harmony. With a shared nod He of Hourglass started to roar followed quickly by Quartermaster.

Nova’s roar instantly match in harmony with the other two dragons. Harmony wasn’t too shocked on that given his musical abilities what surprised him was the sparks from He of Hourglass changed into streaks of light that spun up and around them. The shared roar strangely changed. It sounded familiar… It’s a draconic song! It was so beautiful. Almost more beautiful than the egg name of Spike, He of Hourglass, Golden Heart. The streaks of lights that spun around each of the dragon changed to the color their scales. The singled streak near Harmony became a rainbow.

After the song ended and the moment of silence Golden Heart roared his name followed by Quartermaster’s but when it was Nova’s turn he turned his roar into something that sounded musical. Harmony ears twitched as he was sure he heard him sing the words: “Eternal Beats.” There it is again...

As the sound of dragon roaring fading Harmony choked up. Goodbye Nova Blaze, brother.

Harmony waited to see how this dragon would respond to him being at his choosing. He didn’t have to wait long as the dragon in question noticed him almost right off the bat. The dragon’s expression was unreadable and worse he was slowly approaching him.

“Hmm…” Harmony resisted the urge to back up as the newly adult dragon shoved his snout right into his face. After a moment of the close scrutiny he finally spoke ”You share the same gift as I... I like him.” The dragon backed up with a strange crooked smile. “You may address me as He of Music.”

Harmony blinked in confusion. I really was expecting something along the lines of scorpion. Or if not, a repeat of the ‘He of Hourglass’ problem with Quartermaster.

Golden Heart and Quartermaster shared a similar confusion. Without looking at his clanmates He of Music spoke. “I wasn’t going to do ‘He of Hourglass’ because I can tell he doesn’t have the ability to do it correctly. Now I want to find a place to hang my bass guitar up.” 

“Inside the city.” Golden Heart called out to the retreating, newly adult, dragon.

“Yes, Firstclaw.” Both He of Music and Quartermaster seemed a bit deflated at hearing that He of Music had to have his hoard inside the city.

“I am going to being in the southern quarter if you need me.“ Harmony flew off quickly he didn’t know how much longer he could hold out. Golden Heart turned to leave for the library leaving Quartermaster to stew as he watched the retreating figure of Harmony. 

He couldn't understand it. Having that pony around could bring dishonor and trouble on the clan. What was the angle of this outsider? Why was Golden Heart so lax is the sacred traditions of dragons? One way or another he was going to find out.





The sun was rising as Quartermaster finally caught up to his target. He slammed down in front of Harmony. “I don’t have time for this Quartermaster.”

“Make. Time.”

Harmony just moved around the dragon to continue on his walk. “You lost the last challenge within seconds. If you try now you will not come out of it unscathed. Now. Leave. Me. Be.” 

“No, because I think you just did something worthy of the mark.”

Harmony stopped and resisted the urge to grind his teeth into dust. If this dragon wasn’t a member of the Hourglass Clan, and if Harmony didn’t know why the dragon challenged him in such a way he would have challenged him to the death right there and forget the mark. Sadly, he knew it was because Quartermaster was so paranoid about letting anything harm the clan. He slowly turned around to face the smirking dragon to speak the only word he could. “Speak.” 

“You influenced the name He of Music chose.”

Harmony blinked for a second before bursting out in laughter. It stopped as soon as Metal Claws tried to burn Harmony who casually parted the flame with his magic.

Harmony walk up the parted flame until he was right in the dragon face. He then conjured all six of his swords around the dragon. All of them in positions to strike at life threatening locations. Metal Claws stopped his flames as Harmony began to speak, “I did nothing to influence He of Music’s Hoard Name. That guitar has been in the works for weeks! It just happened to be finished last night. Don’t believe me? Ask He of Hourglass as he was the one the cured the enamel on the guitar. 

“I got it to help him develop his music skills that he had long before I met him not to get him to choose faster or the ‘correct’ name. I had no clue that it would trigger his Choosing. If it truly did.” Harmony dismissed his swords and turned to leave but before he did he added, “And before you accuse me of the other thing I also don't know enough to even have a clue on how one could be triggered! Now if you excuse me, I must go grieve in a non dragon ‘outsider’ way.”





Metal Claws was deep in thought as he approached his forge and hoard. He stopped in surprise when Golden Heart appeared out of nowhere in front of the door. “What is it Firstclaw? I have a lot of work to do on that metal contraption.”

“You know exactly what Metal Claws.” Golden Heart crossed his arms trying hard not to let his anger come out in the form of lashing claws. “Don’t think I don’t know what you have being thinking and what you just did.”

“All I did was make sure the outsider…”

ENOUGH! Golden Heart’s roar of rage shut Quartermaster up. He stuck an accusatory claw at him while his eyes became flames. “My patience has worn out with you. I allowed this behavior to go on in hopes that maybe you would come around on your own but now I have more than just you to think about.”

“Tell me about the mark of Dishonor.” Before Metal Claws could say anything other than ‘uh’ Golden Heart pushed further “And the Rite of Guardianship?”

“The mark of Dishonor is a mark of shame and of death. The Rite of Guardianship is one of redeeming a life and if successfully completed gains the one who passes the highest honor and praise. That Rite? The one of bestowals great honor? To He of Harmony it is a mark of dishonor!”

Metal Claws jaw dropped. To call the passage of the Rite the same as receiving the mark was unthinkable. Yet, that is exactly what his Firstclaw said it was. His own rage now rose. “YOU DARE CALL THE RITE OF GUARDIANSHIP A DISHONOR!”

FOR HE OF HARMONY IT IS!!!! Golden Heart’s sparks deepened to a blood red black flames engulfed him. The air thickened with so much mana that even in Metal Claw’s rage induced stupor knew was beyond his ability to protect himself from. He now knew the immense power of a spark dragon. And he was moments from a surefire death.

Everywhere he goes he deals with dragons calling him an outsider even though they know fully his deeds as he passed the Rite thousands of years ago! The Rite ostracized him from his own people. Not only because he had to ‘disown’ them, but also because he was willing to associate with and disown them for beings that most ponies are afraid of and think of monsters.

Metal Claws inwardly breathed a sigh of relief as the black flames dissipated and the sparks surrounding Golden Heart lighten back to normal. He rage was still high, though, as he continued. “To be honorable to the ways of dragons he became a dishonor his own, and yet, it seems like nearly every dragon is like you. They consider him an outsider and shun and revile him because he is not a dragon by birth! Hence he has no place in this world. That is not harmonious.”

“If there was a way he would be part of this clan.” Metal Claws gasped as he saw his Firstclaw crying. “Every time I try to ease to his pain more comes to the surface. His heart is so scared it’s like all he know is pain and yet it he takes it on all alone, willingly. Well, no more. You once asked me why I’m ‘mothering the “outsider” like a wayward hatchling.’ Here’s why: He is one of the most precious treasures of my hoard!”

Golden Heart sighed as the last of his rage left him. He moved past Metal Claws to allow him access to his forge. As he was leaving he weakly added. “You have work to do. I’ll leave it to you.”

Metal Claws just stood there at a loss for what just happened.
> False Homeward Bound
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

As the weeks turned into months the matrix slowly came together. Both Quartermaster and Harmony stayed away from each other except when Harmony got the pieces for the matrix from his forge. They only exchange a few curt words during those short encounters. 

It was a cool morning when Harmony finally attached the final metal strip on the matrix. Now he just needed to check to see if the everything was correctly attached. He pulled out the schematic he made. The sound of an approaching dragon got his attention and he put the scroll away.

“Good morning He of Music.” Harmony greeted when he saw which dragon it was. He was not expecting him as he usually was a night dragon given that the cool of the night always carried sound better. “I’m a bit surprised to see you up so early…”

“Ha. Ha.” He of Music rolled his eyes before waved his claw at the large metal matrix. “How long have you been working on this strange…” He eyed it a bit more trying to figure out what exactly it looked like. It was clearly in the shape of a circle it was what was inside that circle was what made no sense. To He of Music it looked like a spider got drunk and tried to spin a web, “...contraption Harmony?” It sounds strange too. He added to himself.

“Just a week over six months, and all that is left is adding the power crystals and testing.”

“That’s good to hear.” Came the sound of Golden Heart as he walk in behind He of Music. He of Music looked back to greet his Firstclaw with a slight bob of his head.

“Just in time He of Hourglass.” Harmony threw a scroll to Golden Heart who caught it before throwing several crystals back. With some of his magic Harmony levitated each of the crystals into slots around the edge of the large webbed circle matrix. “Okay it is ready for testing He of Hourglass please send that scroll to the Bearer of Magic.”

Golden Heart obliged and a few minutes later he received a reply. “She’s ready.”

Harmony channeled a bit of magic into a specific spot on the matrix. And now we wait.

After a while He of Music could no longer stand the silent waiting. “Uh… I think your contraption didn’t work. We have been waiting for nearly ten minutes.”

“That was intentional… 5… 4… 3… 2…1.”

The entire matrix glowed than the room. He of Music nearly jumped and Golden Heart went wide eyed. It was as if they were standing in the Council room in the Crystal Tree Castle. Twilight could be seen sitting on her throne. She was slack jaw at seeing the Hourglass council room around her. 

“Bearer of Magic?” Harmony spoke. Twilight either didn’t hear him or was too enraptured

“Ascended One?” Golden Heart tried but she still gave no indication that she heard.

“TWILIGHT SPARKLE!”  Harmony yelled at the top of his lungs.

Twilight took off in fright nearly hitting the ceiling. She looked down and saw Harmony, Golden Heart, and an unknown to her dragon below. The unknown dragon was clutching his stomach and crying from the force of his laughter. With a hint of anger she slowly lowered herself back to the ground.

“Bearer of Magic, can you hear me well?” Harmony calmly spoke as soon as Twilight touched the ground. He needed her to focus on the task at hand and not at the laughing dragon that got the back of his head whacked by Golden Heart.

“Yes… but it’s a bit... buzzy? Also your image is blurry and distorted.”

“Let me make some adjustments.” Harmony eyes wandered around looking for the right spot.  

“Other way Harmony…” He of Music called out as Harmony tinkered with a slat.

“How do you know that!?” Harmony went slack jawed staring at the now amused He of Music.

“Because I can hear its song and its getting worse not better.” Harmony smiled at that as it meant it would speed up the process a bunch.

Harmony dug at the lattice structure for a while getting feedback from He of Music and Twilight. They even tested various situations like having the Hourglass shield up to test for interference. It was nearly an hour before Harmony seemed satisfied.

“Do you sense any more dissonance in the matrix?”

“No, but to be fair the song this matrix produces is so complex that it was a miracle that I heard what I have heard.”

Harmony nodded in acknowledgement. He slowly breathed in and out. His horn glowed brightly and He of Music and Golden Heart watched as the matrix sank into the floor below. Harmony slowly walked around the room inspecting the matrix to make sure it was flush with the floor. He nodded in approval then waved He of Music over to a spot on the matrix. “He of Music can you channel a small amount of dragon magic right here?” He tapped the floor to indicate the spot.

“Wouldn’t it make more sense to have He of Hourglass do this as he is more adapt at it then I.”

“That is exactly why I want you to do it.” Harmony turned to the image of Twilight. “Okay your cutiemark on your throne should vibrate with a magic glow. It will do that any time we need to talk with you. With any luck it should remain that way until He of Music uses magic again to stop it or until you answer. For this test, though, I don’t want you to answer it. Contact the Harmony council like normal in fifteen seconds.”

With that the image of the Friendship council faded. A flash and Harmony disappeared as well.

“Where did he go!?”

“To the council chambers of the Keepers of Harmony.”





“Twilight? Report.”

“The pulsating glow is dimming…”

“Hmmm…” Harmony was sure he knew what was mostly causing the problem. It was not unexpected. “I think the tree is dispelling the dragon magic. I was hoping it wouldn’t do that. Luckily, I have a solution already made up. But...It means I need to make a trip to Ponyville.”

Harmony rubbed the back of his head trying to remember what else he need her to do. “Okay, I want you to use the ‘knocker’ spell I gave you. Remember it will only work inside the council chambers.” He sent of a scroll with a bit of magic and waited.

A shimmer of green magic soon coiled in front of Harmony before a scroll popped into existence.



It is working.



“Okay, cast the spell again.”

Again a scroll appeared.



It has stopped glowing.



“Well it is working on your end at least. Now before I let you go remember the knocker spell is the only way to reach Hourglass without needlessly exhausting your or the castle’s magic.”





“Whoa!” Golden Heart had to stifle a laugh as He of Music fell over from being startled by Harmony’s sudden reappearance.

Harmony rolled his eyes before he helped He of Music back up from the floor. “The ‘knocker’ matrix is not working on the castle with dragon magic… Which I suspected would, but hoped wouldn’t, happen... Luckily I have a fix already made up. However, it will require a trip to Ponyville.”

Golden Heart sighed. At least it was going to be an easy fix they badly needed this matrix to work if the plans he had made up could even begin to be implemented. “Take He of Music with you.”

“Yes!” He of Music fist pumped. He had heard the most harmoniously bright song ever coming through the connection and he just had to hear it first hand. He started drooling in anticipation.

Harmony facehoofed as he watched He of Music drool like a dog. Golden Heart rolled his eyes at not only Harmony but the drooling dragon. At least he can’t get Greed growth… He thought as he pinched his snout.





They had been silently traveling for nearly a day before Harmony’s curiosity got the best of him. “So, what got you so excited about going to Ponyville?”

“The song I heard… Hourglass… It’s okay, but it’s quiet…”

“Wait, I thought that you could hear the songs coming from the ley lines spiraling around Hourglass.”

“I can but it has no soul to it. Its more like the crashing of waves. Relaxing, sure...”

“You never been to the ocean. For that matter this is the first time you have left Hourglass. How would you know how it sounds?” He of the Music just shrugged.

Hmmm… Harmony thought. He was sure he could fix that but how? The forest and the city has been without animals for a long time maybe it was time to fix that. But I can’t just bring animals to Hourglass Quartermaster eats meat and it may be too much of a temptation. Harmony started getting a headache as he spun around in his head trying to find a way to help He of Music that didn’t get Quartermaster seeing red. 

He looked over to see the ocarina hanging from He of Music neck then it hit him. Songbirds! Bear of Kindness!

“Whoa…” He of Music’s exclamation pulled Harmony out of his scheming.

“What is it?”

“The lands ahead…” He of Music nodded ahead.

Harmony looked ahead and could just make out the grasslands beyond the desert. “Equestria? What about it?”

“The sound coming from there is so different from the Untamed Wilds.”

“That’s because Equestria is of the land of ponies a land of Order not Chaos.”

“At yet they are both sound harmonious…”

“Yes. Different but the same…”Harmony noticed that the sun was close to setting. “Looks like Celestia is lowering the sun we had better land. Besides it will be easier to cross the border while not flying, at least on your first time.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. I do have the Dragon Heritage Memories you know.” He of Music puffed out a bit of smoke in irritation.

“It’s still not the same. Also the Memories are not all encompassing.” 

He of Music facepalmed while shaking his head in amusement, “Now you're sounding like He of Hourglass.”

“Then you will really like the Bearer of Magic then.”

They landed on the Untamed side of the boulders and walked through a gap between two. Harmony began to look to a good place to camp when He of Music asked, “Mind if we continue for a while?”

“Hmmmm…Harmony thought about that he pressed forward. “We can until we get to the edge of the Everfree Forest. The forest become more dangerous recently, and even with both River Guardian and He of Everfree it’s too large to completely cover. They also tend to focus on the other side…”

“Wait.” The dragon stopped trying to feel any draconic magic, “The Everfree is another dragon’s territory? Then why haven’t I sensed their wards?” 

“Their wards are not this far out.” Harmony stopped when he realized that He of Music had himself stopped walking from his confusion.

“What!?” He just couldn’t understand why Harmony was so calm with his answers. This was not something to be lax about. It was possible that Harmony didn’t know completely how wards worked. “That is odd that only happens if there is another more power or honorable dragon in the area.”

“Right you are and we just past through his ward back there.” Harmony nodded back at the large stones now in the distance. 

“WHAT!!? ARE YOU AN IDIOT! I MIGHT HAVE TO TAKE ON A FORCED CHALLENGE!” He of Music stomped right up to Harmony not caring that he was beginning to lose control of his fire.

“Relax.” Harmony showed no fear at the angry dragon. “All dragons from the Clan of Hourglass have free access to Equestria.”

“Huh?”

“The ‘dragon’ is me.”

“You mean…” His face redden from his building fury and lack of breathing. What he said next came out as a roar. “YOU DID THAT ON PURPOSE!!”

“Maaaaybe...”

He of Music vented his frustration in streams of dragon flames aim up into the sky.

At least he didn’t start a grass fire. Harmony deadpanned. It’s crazy, but the more I’m around them the more I see the whelps (and one hatchling) they used to be. Its almost as they are still here. Spike… Nova Blaze… Even Garble…

“Whoa… what in Tartarus is wrong with you?”

“Huh?” Harmony looked at He of Music and blinked. He had completely zoned out again... I really need to learn to stop zoning out in the past... Harmony turned to face forward again before responding, “Oh, sorry, when you get as old as I you tend to stack up a lot of bittersweet memories.”

“Well, that would explain the happy, sad song coming off of you. Is it because you are coming home after so long?”

Ugh… I have got to learn better control! Who would have thought that a natural dragon harmony music user would be so dang sensitive and powerful. Harmony snorted. “Home? Ha! Make no mistake Equestria is my territory but it is not my home for I have none.”





“I sense a dragon’s ward.” He of Music called out

“Hmm… We don’t actually need to ask permission but I think you should met him as in a way he is almost an ally. ”

He of Music followed Harmony lead as they dove towards a river. They landed next to a river and waited. Soon the water boiled before a purple dragon with orange hair popped up

“He of Everfree River, River Guardian!”

“He of Harmony. Glad to see you.” The purple sea drake waved a hand in welcome. He then noticed what had set off his ward there was a young adult dragon behind Harmony. He was hoping it was the Dragon Keeper but it seems that wasn’t the case. Why he was traveling with him did intrigue him but he could wait on that. “Welcome Dragon of White and Blue with Ocarina.”

“You may address me as He of Music.”

“If you are traveling with He of Harmony feel free to pass though my territory unheeded.”

“My thanks.” He of Music bobbed his head. He turned to face Harmony. “Harmony how much longer to Ponyville? I’m not used to this much flight yet.”

River Guardian raised an eyebrow at the lack of the use of ‘He of.’ Harmony didn’t seemed to care or maybe he didn’t notice. That, however, wasn’t like Harmony. He was know to be vigilant about the such an important part of the code. “Interesting. May I ask why you didn’t use the ‘He of’ honorific?”

Harmony laughed and answered to prevent He of Music from getting even more embarrassed. “I guess we should be glad that it wasn’t He of Everfree that met us. The reason for the drop of the honorific is mine.”

“Dare I ask why?”

“My reasons will remain my own. I don’t need you gossiping with the Bearer of Generosity any more then I’m sure you already do.”

He of Music laughed at the shocked look that RIver Guardian was giving Harmony. It reminded him when he first learned how to address him.




“Hey, you’re the pony that was there at my choosing.”

“Yes I am. I must say He of Music I’m not surprised you picked the amphitheater for you hoard.”

“Jealous?”

“No.” 

“So then what brings you here… Okay, how do I address you? You're not a dragon, but, still...”

“My humble apologies, He of Music. To the dragons I am known as He of Harmony. As for you address me as Harmony when you are around me…”





“My reasons will remain my own.” He said the same thing to me...

“Well I shall not press the matter as long as you fulfill my curiosity from the last time I saw you.”

“Hmmm... I will be around Ponyville for a while so I will make sure to add you to my schedule.”

“I’m free tomorrow afternoon for tea. Make it then.”

Harmony sighed. “Fine.”

With that River Guardian disappeared under the river’s surface. Harmony shook his head. There were times that River Guardian tested his limits. He was very much like the nobles that he despised when he was on the throne but there were a few key differences. River Guardian was always honorable and would always stand by whatever Harmony felt needed to be done. That and he knew not to push too hard.

“Hmmm… As to your question He of Music, we are maybe an hour out… better send a letter.”

A shrill whistle issued forth from Harmony. He of Music visibly cringed at the sound but said nothing. He didn’t want to offend Harmony in his own territory. He was curious though why he whistled like that. He didn’t get a chance to answer when he heard the screech of a hawk. He looked up to see a young hawk flying down to land on Harmony’s shoulder. 

“Hello. You must be Wind Slicer.” The hawk seemed to puff up in pride and screech out a clearly affirmative answer. “Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know…” Harmony responded as he busily wrote a note. He then sealed and tied it on the hawk’s leg. “Take this to Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy knows where she lives so go by her cottage first if you need directions.”

He of Music noticed that Harmony was now putting on a cloak. “Why are you putting on cloak? It’s not that cold and this is your territory after all. You should have free reign.”

“Ponies are by nature and instinct a herd animal. The only of two the twelve major races to be that way. The minotaurs however have always been more aggressive. Its hard to be ‘aggressive’ when your coat is bright and colorful.” 

“Tell me, what do herd animals tend to do when one of their numbers is different?”

He of Music thought on that he wasn’t sure if he wanted to eat meat or not but he at least understood how prey animals think. Still, even with that in mind it didn't matter to him. Prey animals are different then sentient beings.

“That, however, is not the only reason. My coat shifts color constantly and most ponies don’t have the stomach to handle it. I would not want to cause everypony I meet nausea or worse make them lose their lunch.”




> Eggland's Best
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Ponyville looks brighter and livelier than Hourglass.”

“Obviously,” Harmony rolled his eyes and almost face hoofed before stopping himself, “but with enough time Hourglass can be restored to its former glory.”

“I predict centuries…”

“Okay,” Harmony finally facehoofed which got the dragon to smirk, “quit it.”

“I agree with him.” Came a scratchy female voice.

“Bearer of Loyalty.” Harmony glanced upwards to see a grinning rainbow mare hanging half off a cloud. “I see that you managed to not try and kill a visiting dragon on sight. However, it is extremely dangerous to eavesdrop on a dragon.”

“Sorry, Harmony. Twilight asked me to watch out for you so I could escort you to the castle and hopefully lessen the townpony’s panic. You caused quite a stir last time.”

“Yes I did, didn’t I?” Harmony laughed. “Bearer of Loyalty say hello to He of Music.” 

He of Music studied the rainbow mare. Her song just screams of confidence.. like she could take on anything… interesting.

“He of Music, eh? What kind of music?”

He of Music raised an eyebrow. Harmony could only facehoof. She was definitely cocky and brash. He of Music could she this mare both getting into trouble and/or impressing dragons. “Any type but I only have an ocarina and a bass guitar…”

“A bass guitar? Cool! I’ve always wanted to get one.”

Rainbow lead the way followed closely by He of Music as he wanted to talk about the types of instruments and music in Equestria. Harmony smiled to see the quick friendliness between a pony and a dragon. Although to be fair neither were typical examples of their races, but still. Somehow to his amazement Rainbow managed to know enough about music to keep He of Music interested long enough to reach the Friendship Castle.

“That’s all that I’m aware of you might have better luck with Pinki or Vinyl… Just don’t ask the egghead Twilight unless you want to be stuck in a boring lecture for hours.”

With Rainbow no longer supplying a distraction He of Music finally noticed that he could hear, the song, the one he heard in Hourglass. He pulled off his headphones and dropped them. His eyes went all wide and sparkly while his tongue rolled out of his maw dripping hot dragon saliva on the floor.

Harmony could only facehoof while Rainbow thought it best to hover behind him a bit weirded out.

The dragon then started to run about giddily drooling like a puppy dragging himself about with his ear frill pressed against the castle. His headphones temporarily forgotten.

“Wha…?” Was all Rainbow could get out her brain not functioning.

“Let’s just say that he’s doing a Pinkie before we both get a headache…” Which for me is too late... Harmony shook his head in defeat.

“Right…” Rainbow thought now would be a good time to escape before the dragon really did pull a Pinkie. “I think, I think I should go do something… yeah, something…” Rainbow tripped as she tried to scramble out of the castle while keeping a worried eye on the dragon.

Harmony chuckled at that before he started walking further into the castle. He called back to He of Music “Coming, He of Music?

“Huh?” The dragon lifted his head to figure out where Harmony was. It was then he remembered that he should stay near Harmony for the moment. “Oh, yeah, sure!” He quickly grabbed his headphones before he ran to catch up to the alicorn.

He managed to catch up to him just as he was turning a corner. A diamond dog could be seen standing at attention at the end of the hall. The diamond dog seemed to be of average height, not quite going up to Harmony’s shoulder. He had white and black mottled fur and was wearing a sharp red vest.

“Hello Mangy. I hope everypony has been treating you well.”

“Mangy is quite happy in new pack. New pack is very friendly if a bit odd.”

“That is great to hear. Is Mistress Twilight in?”

“Mistress Twilight is in the library.”

Library? I don’t remember enchanting a library into the castle… Harmony then mentally slapped himself. Of course, this is Twilight’s castle afterall. “Lead the way.”

Mangy bowed slight and opened the door for them. On the other side of the door was a library. Harmony wanted to facehoof. Well that would explain why her assistant would be standing just outside...

Mangy closed the door once He of Music and Harmony walked through. He locked the door before he called out. “Mistress Twilight we have guests.”
A crash then the sounds of a grumbled mare could be heard from within the maze of bookshelves. 

“Mangy I thought I asked to be left alone…” Twilight stopped in mid sentence when she saw Harmony standing in her library. She had managed to hold back her anger during their occasional meetings but seeing him face to face was too much. “YOU!” In a span of less than a second she covered the distance between her and him and stuck him with her hoof.

He of Music growled and was about to make a move when Harmony held out a leg looked at him  and shook his head. Harmony turned back to Twilight once he was sure He of Music would do nothing. “The room is still there…”

“Then why did you make it disappear!”

“Because your grief was slowly killing you…” Harmony lifted her head and wiped away the tears falling from her eyes. “The door to that room will reopen when, and only when, you have truly let go.”

“Truly let go?...”Twilight whispered, confused. Then her brain finally got what the words were and her sadness switch right to rage. “TRULY LET GO!!!”

Harmony shooked her a bit. “TWILIGHT! Please. Listen. To let go never means forget him! It means to let go of the all consuming pain. To let go is to keep living… You will need to understand this one way or another! There may come a time that you will join him but don't waste your life in the mean time. If you do you’re no brother of him.” Harmony caught the hoof that tried to hit him again. “Enough. Being angry at me and hitting me will do nothing to change anything.” 

“Now, Bearer of Magic dry your tears we have work to complete in the council room.”

“Okay, you are giving me a headache!” A diamond dog and two alicorns faced the anyo dragon with expression of confusion.

What could be giving him a headache? Harmony heard a panting sound and looked to see that Mangy was panting. It was then the he figured it out. “Oh, I see. He of Music, I keep switching because not everyone are dragons and there are very few non dragons that know even a single bit of the code. You would have noticed this back in Hourglass if you hadn’t been laughing at the Bearer of Magic’s misfortune.” 

At that He of Music blushed his scales turning a beet red. Twilight put a hoof to her mouth to cover her snickering at the embarrassed dragon. Damn white scales… He grumbled crossing his arms.

Harmony continued on as if nothing was wrong. “There are only two non dragons that have the ‘He of’ honorific in their titles. One is myself the other is Discord a.k.a. He of Laughter. Also if you wish to make friends with races other than your own you need to understand their culture. To a Diamond Dog such as Mangy Mutt ‘Mistress’ is used as a honorific.”

“Just like ‘He of’ is to a dragon.” He of Music commented. He was quite fascinated but he needed a break to play his ocarina. The song from the castle was so inspirational. He hadn’t had a chance to play yet and he wanted to see how different it would be here in Equestria over Hourglass.

“Similar, but not the same, and I rather not go into all the details as it will get a bit... embarrassing…”

This time Twilight was the one that went red in embarrassment. He of Music chuckled, glad that the tables turned on her. This was a perfect time to escape. “I’m itching to play some music. Laterz.”

He of Music started to walk out humming a tune. Harmony and Twilight joined in after only two notes. Harmony smiled as he hummed knowing full well what was going on.

“Why was I humming?” Twilight wondered as He of Music disappeared and they stopped humming.

“That would be because he is a natural at Heartsongs.”

“Like Pinkie Pie is?” Twilight shuddered at the thought. If those two ever joined forces. It was already bad enough that she was married to another hyper party pony but at least he wasn't a natural at Heartsongs, or a natural song initiator as it was known to academics such as herself. At least she hoped he wasn’t.

“Yeah a little. But I don’t think Pinkie Pie is as strong as he is. If he were to ever apply himself to honing his natural skills in harmony music magic like you do to magic in general... He has the potential to be more powerful than the ‘Dark One’ at the height of his power. He would put the power of the Elements, the power of all five alicorns, plus the last Spark dragon to shame. Considering that a spark dragon’s magic to a younger race dragon is like a comparing an average unicorn to you… and He of Hourglass still has the dragon harmony ‘elements’ which boasts his power over normal spark dragon even more…”

Twilight jaw dropped. To have power like that was mind boggling and she once all the magic from the other three alicorn rulers in her. To think that a single dragon could eclipsed that power plus the elements. She didn’t know how powerful the friendship rainbow wave was but she was sure that He of Music could produce one all on his own. She shuddered at the thought of what if the dragon wasn’t apart of the Hourglass clan.

“Scary, I know.” Harmony seemed to echo her sentiments.





He of Music was glad he didn’t have to look too long for a suitable tree for him to lounge in as he played. The ley lines here were strangely quiet here in Equestria at least in comparison to Hourglass. It was odd that he didn’t really notice until now…Hourglass ley lines were like the sound of waves or rushing water it was chaotic and soothing but here it was like the ley lines were waiting in quiet anticipation. They had a song but it was so faint that he could barely hear it, even with his headphones off.

He cautiously played a few notes before stopping. What was that? He tried a few more notes training his ears to pick up what he heard before. He could hear the ley lines resonated in harmony to his playing. He wasn’t expecting that. This was so different from Hourglass. He could get the ley lines there to resonate but it took a bit of time… I need to ask Harmony about this… it is seems so strange….

He was about to start playing again when the ley lines began playing a joyful song all on their own. What’s this? He wondered. Someone else must be affecting the ley line song around me. But I don’t hear anyone singing, playing, whistling, or humming...

“Whatcha lookin’ at?”

“YeeeaaaaaH!” He of Music screamed at the sudden and unexpected intrusion of his personal space. He was so startled that he also fell backwards and out of the tree he was sitting in. 

“Silly dragon, you shouldn’t fall out of trees like that.”

He of Music grumbled a bit and he got up. He checked his ocarina for damage before he dusted himself off. He just managed to finish that when he nearly fell backwards again when a pink mare suddenly filled his vision.

“My name is Pinkie Pie but almost my friends, which is like everpony, calls me Pinkie of course you’re not a pony so I think that I should say everydragon of then there is Harmony who likes to call me ‘Bearer of Joy’ because I wield the power of joy or something like that… He told me that you liked to be called or was it address as...”

How in the world can this pony manage to say so much in one breath? He listened to her song for a bit while he ignored her never ending gibberish. He was annoyed with the pony but was too afraid of what Harmony would do if he did anything to any of the ponies here. Especially if he did anything to one of them that wielded part of Harmony’s power. He just listening to the peppy song for a while not thinking of anything else until something hit him. He went wide eyed as he noticed that it was her song that was effecting the ley line song.

To have someone else like him was fascinating. Harmony had told him once that he too was a natural at soul songs but he never was able to effect the ley line in the way that he could.

For some odd reason he wanted to be friends with this pink ball of fur but that would mean he would need to share his name… “If you wish to make friends with races other than your own you need to understand their culture.”  Which seemed alright. And why not, as she shared the same talent as himself…

“Can you promise me something… uh Pinkie?”

“I can do one better! I will give you my Pinkie Promise!”

“Pinkie Promise?”

“Yeah! No one breaks a Pinkie Promise. No one. “ Somehow when Pinkie said ‘No one’ A chill went up and down the dragon’s spine. He just somehow knew that she could end him right here and now if he were the one to break the ‘Pinkie Promise.’ “Because if they do they could lose a friend forEVER!”

He of Music smiled as it seemed to him that a Pinkie Promise was similar to how a dragon would swear by their honor… That was more then enough to trust her. “How much do you know about dragons and dragon names?

“Harmony told us all about dragon names, I think… It was a bit sad…” Pinkie’s mane deflated a bit as she recalled the memory.

The way her moods change is so strange… Her mane seems to reflect her song… she is special… worthy of being a friend and more. He took a hand out and caress her head. He then sang a short song to lift her spirits back up.

Don’t be sad
Don’t cry
I’ll dry those tears
If you let me.

He stopped as soon as he noticed that she was back to her, he thought, peppy self. “Than can you Pinkie Promise me that you won’t reveal to anyone what I’m about to share with you?

“Anything, for a friend.” He of Music raised an eyebrow at Pinkie Pie as she wave a hoof and stuck it into her eye while saying, “Cross my heart and hope to fly. Stick a cupcake in my eye.”

She already thinks of me as a friend?! He had a strange urge to hug her. Maybe it’s her song… He leaned into her ear and whispered, “My Hoard Name is Eternal Beats.”

“Eternal Beats? Neato! ” She yelled in a whisper. 

Eternal Beats fell backwards in surprise. How in Tartarus did she both whisper and yell!? 

Somehow her mane went even more wild as she began to pace around the dragon. It only served to confuse then worry him as he watched. “OOooo you need a nickname! Something other than He of Music...” Nickname? What is that? Is it similar to how He of Hourglass is known as Quartermaster and He of  Everfree River is known as River Guardian?

She stopped for a moment to pull out a pipe and blow some bubbles thoughtfully. “Oooh I know EB!”

“E.B.?” 

“Yeah like you're a dragon and dragons come from eggs and this company, Eggland’s Best from the land of eggs, I guess, he-he that sort of rhymed, they claim their eggs are the best and they mark their eggs with an EB, just like the initials of your name and and I think you are the best dragon ever!”

Eternal Beats smiled as he reached out to ruffle Pinkie’s mane. “Feel free to call me E.B. anytime Pinkie.”
> Double Returns
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Hello,” Harmony looked kindly at the brown rabbit glaring up at him. “I take it she is hiding a bit because of the dragon in town?” Harmony gazed upward and mused, “Not terribly surprised…”

The rabbit started to thump his foot impatiently. Harmony blinked as he realized he had drifted off again. He sighed inwardly as he noted that he was doing it a lot more lately. He wasn’t sure if it was because of the return of the ‘Dark One’, his cutiemark, or if was the effect of recently losing family and friends… Though he didn’t remember being like this after the death of Spike’s biological and his adopted parents. It was thousands of years ago so maybe he was like that than as well but time had faded those memories.

Harmony kneeled down to make himself less imposing. “May I come in? I would like to see her for something important. I promise to be a gentle as I can.”

The rabbit looked up at him thoughtfully before slowly nodding. Harmony nodded his thanks as he walked into the cottage. Fluttershy, not surprisingly, was nowhere to be seen. Harmony slowly walked around calling out her name. With any luck he would be able make out where she was hiding without spooking her further. A slight tugging on his cloak got his attention. He looked down to see the brown rabbit pointing to the second floor.

Harmony again nodded his thanks as he made his way to the second floor and opened the first door he came to. It was a bedroom and from the looks of it appeared to be the master bedroom. He could just make out the sounds of pony panic breathing. Harmony leaned down to peer under her bed. “Bearer of Kindness please come out.”

Fluttershy responded by trying to cower further. A small glint coming from between some strands of hair told Harmony that she was fully aware that it was him in her bedroom and was watching. “He of Music will not harm you at all… he is as gentle as Spike was.”

Fluttershy still showed signs of being frighten but she at least no longer was trying to curl into a ball. Harmony waited for a while as he watched her slowly started to relax further.

“I would like you to gather all of your songbird friends.”

“W-why?”

“Because I would like to bring life back to Hourglass.”

Fluttershy stopped shivering, her curiosity overpowering her fear for the moment. Harmony sighed, glad that she was almost out of her spooked shell. With any luck he could get her the rest of the way. “You have my word I will not let any dragon to harm them. I’m not going to bring back all the animals that once roam the city as it would be too much of a temptation for Quartermaster. I will not force any of them to come. I do have a way to weed out those that may be too scared to go. You will not have to be outside when He of Music is here, okay?”

“Okay.” Fluttershy squeaked before she finally came out from under the bed.





A flash of blue could be seen by some ponies wandering the streets near Sugarcube Corner.  Most just shrugged it off figuring it was either Pinkie being Pinkie or her working on one of her cannons again. None even gave the thought that it could be from a dragon.

Eternal Beats was laughing at one of Pinkie Pie’s jokes and was caught off guard by the incoming mail and Pinkie Pie got a face of his neon blue fire. “Opps, sorry Pinkie!” EB cringed hoping that he didn’t anger her. He made a note to later smack Harmony for his bad timing. 

Pinkie Pie smiled as she shook hard to rid herself of the ash. EB was a bit taken aback at how she managed to shake the ash off like she did. EB couldn’t see a trace of ash on her and he couldn't see any singeing. He shrugged, figuring it must be just her unconscious use of soul song magic.

Pinkie Pie seemed not to be remotely annoyed as she bounced up and down excitedly “OOOoo You got a letter! I wonder who its from? Is it for you or maybe its for me! I hope it’s about frosting!”

EB ruffled her mane before he went about breaking the seal.



He of Music,

I need you at the Bearer of Kindness’ cottage (Just ask where Fluttershy lives).

Harmony



“Pinkie I need to head out as Harmony needs me. Do you by chance know where…uh…” EB glanced at the letter again to make sure he got the name correct. “Fluttershy’s cottage is?”

“Fluttershy’s? Are you sure?” Pinkie Pie tilted her head to the side. She knew that Fluttershy was a shy pony, and while she was getting better dragons still badly frightened her.

EB handed the scroll over to Pinkie. Pinkie started to read but as she read a look of confusion came over her. EB looked over to see that she was trying to read the scroll upside down. He tried not to laugh as he corrected her mistake. “Hmmm that makes more sense…Okie dokie lokie! Follow me. I’ll show you the way…” Pinkie Pie casually jumped off her balcony to the shock of the dragon.

“Pinkie!” He yelled as he ran to the edge of the balcony. Looking downward he saw his pony friend giggling while bouncing down the street. He smacked his face before smirking. When with ponies do as the ponies do I guess… He mused before he to jump down from the balcony scaring a few ponies. “Hey Pinkie! Wait up!” He called out before running to catch up.





A few minutes later they were approaching Fluttershy’s cottage. He of Music noticed that there was evidence that animals of all types congregated around the area and more so then they should in the wild.

“Overhere!” Harmony called out from a field next to the cottage. Harmony was surrounded by flocks of birds either perched or flying about him. “What do you think?” The alicorn nodded off towards the dragon. He of Music looked at Pinkie for help but she shrugged also confused. He really didn’t know what to think of the alicorn’s question. Clearly it was about him but not directed at him. Also adding to his confusion was the fact that Harmony was without his cloak. “Only go to him if you are absolutely sure.”

“Harmony?” The dragon called out as some of the birds flew over to him. A few even landed on his shoulder. He resisted the urge to shoo them away as he was sure that Harmony had arranged this and he was curiosity as to why.

“Bearer of Kindness ready fifty birds for the move!” Harmony called out. A moment later he could hear the sound of a tap on the window. “I’m just glad we got here just before egg laying time.” 

“HARMONY!” He of Music roared scaring the birds around him and Harmony. He cringed when he realized he had scared the birds. He lowered his voice to nearly a whisper before he asked, “What exactly is going on?”

“All of the birds that encircled you are now yours to care for.” Some of the birds returned to He of Music who gently knelt down and even picked up some of the birds who decided to rest at his feet.

“Okay…” He of Music pinched the brow of his snout with his free hand. This was only giving him more questions then answers. “And what makes you think I wanted birds?”

“They are songbirds He of Music.”

“Songbirds!?” Okay he could see that given his title… and he would love to have the sounds of songbirds. They would make a great additions to his hoard. The question was why would Harmony do this...

“Of course.” Harmony answered, shrugging as if it was nothing big. 

“Why?”

Harmony so wanted to tell him… to tell him of Nova and Spike. He would give anything to see them one last time but he knew that would never happen in this lifetime. But if he was to also to be honest it was because he wanted to… Ever since his Joy cutiemark returned he could feel the pull of the others on his psyche. 

The dragons of Hourglass to him also had sort of become like the Bearers were to each other: best friends. Even Quartermaster who always tried his patience was special to him. He would do anything for He of Music and Golden Heart. If he could just get through to Quartermaster...

“Hey, Harmony,” He of Music pulled Harmony out of his inner musings, “Why do you have another spot on your flank that is unmoving?”

Harmony conjured a mirrored a mirror to take a look. Along with the light blue flame symbolizing joy he now had a green flame. “Hmmm, it seems that Generosity is back…” Harmony’s horn glowed for a moment and in a flash Fluttershy appeared in the field. Before she could figure out what happened Harmony started speaking, “Bearer of Kindness make haste for Zecora’s. It’s a matter of life or death and tell her ASH CURE. Do you understand?”

“Eppp.” Fluttershy cowered at not only suddenly not being in her house but that Harmony was ordering her into the Everfree.

“Remember your training!” Harmony yelled.

“Zecora. Ash. Cure!” Fluttershy spouted out before she took off towards the Everfree.

“Are you going to be alright?” He of Music asked Harmony while he looked off in the direction of the Everfree and the zooming pegasus. He was not sure what to make of the complete turnaround of the pegasus. Are all ponies like this? Flipping from one extreme to another?

“To honest? Not sure. This was the one things Scorpan and myself had no way of testing so I don’t know if I will get an episode or not… The last time it did but not until after… after…”

“Harmony?” The dragon turned to face Harmony worried because Harmony had not only sounded off toward the end of his explanation but never finished it.

Spike… Harmony fell to his knees tears flowing. His vision already blurred from the tears become more distorted and faded as he lost conusiconious. The last thing he heard was He of Music screaming his name.





It was so odd, even after walking through the forest for some time now he still didn’t have a clue where he was…The forest had both seemed foreign and familiar. It was true he had not visited some forests in ages but even then he should have at least an general idea where the forest could be…

He finally managed to spot an opening in the forest ahead. With any luck he get could get his bearings there. He walked off the game trail he was on and into the underbrush. He grunted as he pushed past downed branches and prickly bushes. A final push and he found himself in a small meadow. Now he could get a good glance of the sky above.

Harmony frowned. The only stars he could see was the constellation known to most as Draco as every other inch of the sky was covered in a roiling mass of storm clouds.  Why only Draco? Harmony rubbed his head hoping to stem off the building headache. A single constellation was not going to be enough.

The smell of pine, smoke, and ash assaulted his nose. Smoke? Ash? He dropped his gaze to see that all around was fire. His knees buckled at the sight. How in tartarus? He could not understand how a fire could creep up on him like this. 

A sudden gust of wind sent a cloud of hot ash and smoke right into Harmony. He coughed hard as he attempted to clear his lungs. He blinked hard and rubbed his eyes. His vision blurred badly. Pain racked his body and he nearly collapsed. The sound of someone or something approaching caught his attention.

“Hey!” A voice called out.

Harmony spun around and again blinked and rubbed his eyes. Please tell me its just from all the smoke getting into my eyes. There standing in front of him was a purple and green dragon hatchling. This is impossible! He Choose! “Spike?”

The dragon hatchling smiled and waved. “Hello, Harmony.”





Harmony shot up. At least this time he managed to not scream. He looked around to see that he was sitting on a bed. He was not sure but given where he passed out he was most likely in Fluttershy’s cottage. The sounds of muffled argument could be heard through the door.

Harmony slowly slid off the bed unsure how weak he would be. After making sure that he wouldn’t collapse under his own weight he slowly made his way to the door.

“Try me if you dare shaman.” Harmony could hear He of Music’s muffled voice though the closed door.

“Your threats are nothing. Come back when they mean something.” The rhyming told him it was Zecora.

Harmony sighed it seemed that he was going to have to break up a zebra and a dragon and if he had to guess it probably had something to do with him. He slowly opened the door to see that he was right. Both the of them were angrily in each others face.

“He of Music, Zecora please.”

“Harmony!” Both of them nearly fell back at seeing Harmony. He of Music went red in embarrassment.

“Do you have the ash cure?” Harmony addressed Zecora giving He of Music time to recover. 

Zecora nodded and handed over a vial filled with a sickly green goo that appeared to be glowing.

“Did you bring more?” Zecora nodded and handed another vial over which Harmony promptly drank as well.

Zecora nearly fell to her haunches in shock at what she perceived as a foolish move by Harmony, “Double dose! Are you mad? Twice drunk could be double bad!”

“And the biggest magic flare that a pony can get is at getting a cutiemark. I am not taking any chances! Need I remind you that I’m full blooded alicorn unlike the Bearer of Magic or the Princess of Love?” Zecora had nothing to say in retort. “Speaking of the Bearer of Magic where is she?”

“Downstairs…” He of Music pointed towards a door off of the living room.

“Have you notified He of Hourglass yet?” Harmony asked Zecora who had to stop on the steps. She was heading down to speak with the girls before heading back to her hut now that Harmony was awake and appeared to be out of danger.

“Uh… no…”

“He of Music?” He of Music immediately turned away his scale reddening. Harmony had to suppress the urge to facehoof at He of Music’s silent negative answer. Oh boy… this could turn out to be ugly for both of them if I dont be careful. He took a deep breath to give him a second more to figure out how to deal with the latest development. “Okay… first things first we best get to the Friendship Council Chambers. Zecora, I’m sure you have things to do but I shall speak with you later about some possible changes to the formula...”
> To the East
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The air around Twilight, He of Music, and Harmony shimmered. Soon the Friendship Council room disappeared and the Hourglass Council room appeared. 

“Greetings,He of Hourglass,” Harmony nearly faltered when he saw Quartermaster standing to the side, “Quartermaster.”

“The same to you all.” He of Hourglass responded.

“I’m surprised that to see you Quartermaster.”

“I had him join us because now that communication has been fully established between the Kingdom of Equestria and the Clan of Hourglass I have tasks for both him and you.”

“What!?” Quartermaster yelled in shocked. When he was dragged into the meeting he wasn’t expecting that. He figured it was some show of force or something similar not a collaboration between the outsider, his people and his clan. He of Hourglass growled at him. Quartermaster shrank back a bit at his Firstclaw’s disapproval. Harmony was also shocked but kept his silence. What could He of Hourglass have for him to do that would require Quartermaster? 

“You are both to go to the eastern continents, together. Quartermaster is to look for potential clanmates and allies from the dragons there. He of Harmony, I need you to check for any signs of the ‘Nameless One’s’ influence especially in light how quiet it is here, the Migration massacre aside.”

“Of course, Dragon Keeper.” Harmony could see He of Hourglass flinch at the use of the title. Harmony knew that the use of ‘Dragon Keeper’ over ‘He of Hourglass’ would do that but something told him that He of Hourglass was up to something. Why else would he order him the way he did.

“May I suggest not spreading the fact that there is a dragon clan. It would be prudent to keep the enemy in the dark about that as long as possible and news of a dragon clan could spread like wild fire… for that matter so would the arrival of the Dragon Keeper. Which I’m actually surprised it hasn’t already…”

“I would have thought that those in your fire mail network would have already spread it…” He of Hourglass mused.

“The only ones that know about both are He of Everfree and River Guardian. He of Everfree as far as I know only has me as a connection left. Luckily, River Guardian prefers face to face communication when he ‘gossips.’ I have intentionally kept back information until I got your okay.”

He of Hourglass sighed. “Your point is valid He of Harmony. Leave the fact that there is a dragon clan out of any conversations either of you may have.”

Yes, Firstclaw/Dragon Keeper.” Quartermaster and Harmony agreed.

“Are you finished with me?” Quartermaster turned to face He of Hourglass directly. “If I am to leave for what I’m sure will be a long time I must prepare my forge.”

He of Hourglass knew that a forge needed to be properly prepared if it was going to need to go cold so it didn’t bother him that Quartermaster was itching to leave the meeting. “Yes, you may go.”

He of Music took this time to speak up his need to leave. “He of Hourglass I don’t wish to leave either but I have some pressing matters that I need to attend to.”

He of Hourglass raised an eyebrow at this. As he didn’t really need He of Music he nodded his consent. He of Music bobbed his head before leaving the room.

“Ascended One, is there anything the Clan needs to know?”

“There was something that Princess Celestia wanted more information on.”

“Let me guess, Sombra.”

“Uh, yes.” Twilight was a bit surprised Harmony knew exactly what Celestia wanted. She was herself curious as to why Celestia would ask her to ask the clan about Sombra. She knew about the attack on the migration and would have thought Harmony would have said something to notified them of any developments considering that Sombra may want to take revenge on her and her friends.

“I’m afraid the letter I sent her gave all the details of his ‘final’ defeat. There isn’t anything else to add…” He noticed that Twilight looked lost at that information. “Didn’t Celestia shared the information in that letter to you?” Twilight rubbed the back of her head in response. Harmony facehoofed when he saw that. “She didn’t say anything to you…” Harmony sighed, “Looks like I will need to have a word with her.”

“I shall give you the gist as well as some background to give you context. The name of the minotaur that had Sombra’s horn as an amulet is Aonghus. I’m not entirely sure how he found the unicorn’s horn and I highly doubt it was by chance. I was unable to interrogate him fully because I over did it during the fight. Unfortunately, that also means that Aonghus could be anywhere in the world now. I will check with his tribe during my trip but he may never be found again…”

“But how did Sombra’s horn survive the blast from the Crystal Heart?”

“I never told you that did I?” Twilight shook her head no. “Luna thoroughly investigated the attack on the Crystal Empire after his most recent defeat to make sure he was truly gone. What she discovered alarmed her enough to have me personally search the outskirts of the Crystal Empire with her.” 

“During one of the times that Cadance’s shield failed part of Sombra horn was cut off. That piece started corrupting crystals giving Sombra the ability to attack the empire in a two prong assault. If that hadn’t happened you may have found the Heart at the wrong time.”

“At the wrong time!?” Twilight gasped. She couldn't believe what she heard. She almost didn’t find the Heart in time as it was.

“Yes, at the wrong time. If Sombra was still on the edge of the empire when the Crystal Heart activated it may have only shoved him away ala the changeling swarm with Shining Armor and Princess Cadance’s love shield instead of obliterating him.” 
 
“Back to what Luna discovered. When she found out about that particular ability she was rightly concerned that if a piece of Sombra remained that he could return. I was called in to help search for any possible trace of Sombra which went on without even a moments rest for nearly three months. We were fruitless in our search and the hope was that it meant he was gone for good. However, I returned on and off to recheck. Too many times have villains like him somehow survive and counter strike just when you let your guard down.”

“Obviously a part of him survived because Aonghus had found the horn and was possessed.”

“Sadly… yes.” Harmony dropped his head in shame, a single tear fell. He of Hourglass was the only to see the tear. 

“Then why did he go after the Migration and not the Empire or the Elements Bearers like myself?”

“Not sure…” Harmony inwardly breathed a sigh of relief that she didn’t reveal the role of a dragon in saving the Empire. “If I hazarded a guess the Crystal Heart affected his memory. Being obliterated like like he was is way different then being sealed away for a millennium.”

“In either case we will never know the answers…”

“What is that suppose to mean?” Harmony asked wondering why He of Hourglass would say such a thing with finality. He knew it was mostly like going to be never but there was still a small chance the minotaur could be found.

He of Hourglass nearly gulped when he realized he nearly messed up and said something that he was not ready to talk about. “I doubt Sombra would have allowed his ‘vessel’ to remember much at all and now that we have destroyed his horn I don’t see him returning.”

“Hmm… very likely considering what he did to the crystal ponies…” 

He of Hourglass suppress the urge to visibly give a sigh of relief. He really didn’t want to tell Harmony the fate of the minotaur just yet. He turned to Twilight. “Ascended One, I wish to speak to He of Harmony alone.”

“Of course, He of Hourglass.” Twilight nodded. “I shall be in the library if you need me Harmony.”

As soon as she left Harmony called out with power. “Private: Harmony: Relock.”

Harmony sighed before he turned to face Golden Heart. The dragon now appeared tired and far older than he was. It was clear to Harmony that he was stressed out but he couldn't tell for sure if he was the source of the stress or if there were other factors at play. He was really impressed by how well he hide it as from what he could see he was approaching critical.

“Golden Heart! Are you okay?” The dragon looked like he was trying to come up with an excuse.  Harmony just shook his head with amusement. “Don’t try and hide, honesty trait remember?”

Golden Heart sighed. “It’s this task I needed you to do…”

“Golden Heart there was no need to order me to the eastern continents. All you need to do was ask... Actually, I am your senior when it comes to Keeper business. But...” Harmony paused as he trie “I know it’s because you are so worried about me... May I ask of something that is normally against the code?”

Golden Heart thought on it for a moment then slowly nodded his consent.

“Are those that you give your name to become a part of your hoard?”

“Yes…” Golden Heart was curious as to why he would as such a question.

“Then why is there more worry over me then someone like the Bearer of Magic? She is in just as much danger as me…” Harmony paused his questioning when the most logical reason came to mind. “It’s the illness isn’t it? It’s the inability to do anything about it. And the eastern continents means I won’t be close by if something happens.” The inability for Golden Heart eyes to met his own told Harmony everything he needed to know. And he knew how dragons tended to react to danger to their hoard. What was surely making it worse was that Golden Heart most likely felt he could not fulfill the true meaning of his name. Sadly, Harmony knew that even though Golden Heart was fulfilling his name nothing he could say would be able to convince him of that fact. 

“Brother, I understand more then you know what you are going through…” I went through something similar after you chose… and I never recovered until Nova… Harmony sighed. He had already tried to give advice but he was still stressing out. The problem now was he dangerously internalizing it. Ugh, I think I only made it worse when I gave him advice before on this… “I wish I could give you the answer or even provide advice, but how dragons think is fundamentally different than how ponies think. I will do everything possible to remain alive and well and I will make sure to be cautious about the ash illness.”

Golden Heart sighed heavily before sitting down. His exhaustion showing even further. “I know that He of Harmony. I ’ordered’ you mainly to placate Quartermaster. On that matter, have you seen He of Laughter recently? It would be helpful to be able coordinate our efforts.”

Harmony shook his head, “No I haven’t… It will be difficult to coordinate with him effectively, but I will find a solution, hopefully.”

“Is there something else?”

“Yes, another part of my cutiemark reappeared.”

“Did anything bad happen?”

“Just fainting… I took a double dose of the special ash cure but I can not be sure if that was what stopped the ash or not.”

Golden Heart eyes flashed in anger. “Why didn’t this get reported to me as soon as it happened?”

“Not sure…” Harmony shrugged, “But I don’t want to find out about any repercussions over this event.”

Golden Heart grumbled. He was not happy about not being told right away but as nothing terribly dangerous happened he could swallow his instincts that screamed at him. Though it did help that he was too tired to really do much about it anyway. “Very well.”

“He of Music will be taking a bit longer to reach Hourglass as he as some new additions to his hoard.”

“That’s fine.” Golden Heart waved a claw dismissively. Harmony raised an eyebrow at this but said nothing. “Quartermaster will meet you at the Oasis in three days.”

“Three days at the Oasis… that should be doable. Friendship Council out.”

The image of the Hourglass Council room faded out. Harmony rubbed his head. He oddly felt like Discord must have felt dealing with him all those years… “If there was such a thing as karma...” He muttered before he opened the council doors.





“Harmony? Quartermaster is here.”

Harmony put down the book he was reading. “Thanks Scorpan.” He put on his saddle bag that was lying nearby. He had already made sure the night before that everything he needed for a potentially long trip. He had four vials of the extra strength ash cure along with some herbs that were native only to the western continent to make more, if needed.

“Harmony.” Scorpan called out just as Harmony was about to head out of the den.

“Yes.” Harmony turned back. Scorpan was facing away from him. He wasn’t sure but it seemed to him that the gargoyle’s body language was downcast.

“Stay safe.”

Harmony raised an eyebrow at this. Scorpan was not one to be a worry wart. Of course, he knew the dangers of eastern lands so maybe that was the reason for the unusual remark. Either that, or He of Hourglass was getting to him. Probably He of Hourglass… “I shall do my best.” At that Harmony disappeared down the hall to head outside to meet with Quartermaster.

Harmony stepped outside to see that the sun had just peeked over the horizon. Quartermaster was pacing near the oasis. “Are you ready Quartermaster?”

Quartermaster stopped pacing to take a hard look at the alicorn. “I am, and you better be as well.”

“Of course.” Harmony shrugged not really caring at the moment that his actions would anger the dragon. He knew no matter what he did that the dragon would be unhappy.

Quartermaster crossed his arms and growled threateningly. Harmony just stared as he waited for him to gripe. “I’m going to make this clear, outsider, I don’t like having to leave Hourglass much less be stuck with you.”

“Good.” Harmony smiled. “You will make this trip easier. I have already made arrangements for transport with a merchant’s vessel in Hell’s Gate. If you follow me with any luck we shall get there shortly after nightfall.” Without giving the dragon a chance to retort Harmony took off and climbed high into the sky heading into the east.

Quartermaster slack jawed. He was not expecting that his ‘attitude’ would be a plus. For a moment he wondered if the alicorn was being sarcastic or not. Somehow, he felt he was not. Which begged the question: what was the pony up to? He grumbled as he followed Harmony into the east.
> A Dragon’s Problem
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Golden Heart sighed as he knew he wasn’t going to get anymore sleep tonight. He had not had a decent night sleep in nearly three weeks. There was just too much on his mind. He examined the clock above the door to his hoard chamber. It a few hours before sunrise. Eternal Beats may still be up…  He stretched popping some joints along his spine before he pulled himself upright. He found his music to always to be soothing and uplifting and right now he could use a bit of both.

As he got closer to the park where Eternal Beats had his hoard he began to think that maybe he was already asleep. The only sounds he could hear was the occasional chirping of He of Music’s newest additions in the trees around him beginning their day. He hoped that maybe he was listening to them as it was clear that these songbirds were very talented.

As he was getting closer to the amphitheatre Golden Heart could finally hear Eternal Beats. He was speaking to someone. “No, I think you should keep the first half; the second half still needs work.” He walked further down the path and turned a corner. As he turned that corner he noticed that Eternal Beats was speaking to a bird perched on his shoulder. The bird was chirping. Eternal Beats facepalmed before responding, “I know what I’m talking about! I can hear her inner song, remember?”

The white and neon blue dragon looked to see that Golden Heart was approaching. “Firstclaw, what are you doing up so early?”

“Can’t sleep.”

Eternal Beats looked at him with the look of ‘yeah, right.’ He could hear his song and it was clear that there was something troubling him. He was not going to dive deeper into the song especially without permission. That didn’t mean that he didn’t already have an idea of what and who could be troubling him.

Eternal Beats knew for one Golden Heart was carrying too much of the clan alone. Leadership of a clan was always meant to be done by two dragons not one. “Have you figured out what to do about the missing Secondclaw? Because the clan needs him or her.”

“I don’t know. There is nothing in the code that deals with this. Death of the Secondclaw, yes, but nothing about being missing! The clan should have started with myself and the Secondclaw which should have been Quartermaster. But he is not the Secondclaw… is he?”

“No,” Eternal Beats shook his head. “He is not. My Clan Memories are clear on that. I can tell you that the clan does have a Secondclaw but who I don’t know.”

Having nothing else to say neither dragon said anything for a while. Eternal Beats took that time to figure out what exactly he could do to help Golden Heart. The problem was that he only had an inkling of what could be the problem. The song one produces only gave broad impressions he would have to know the person well in order to be more precise. He already knew of the issue with Harmony. That would have to be dealt by Harmony. But it was more than just that. He knew it was only a symptom of a deeper issue. To Eternal Beats Golden Heart seemed more distant than his name should allow...

“Why do you hide in the library so much? I understand Metal Claws never leaving his forge for long, but you? And don’t say it’s because you want to be close to your hoard as we both know that is not where your hoard is.”

Golden Heart sighed this is what he gets with having a natural soul song user in the clan. He could not hide his feelings as Eternal Beats could hear his song. He wasn’t sure how to explain his problem. It wasn’t that he wouldn’t. Eternal Beats was not like Quartermaster, because his ability and what his hoard was he was more open and understanding. “To be truthful, I’m not completely sure…”

Eternal Beats had an idea that might help Golden Heart figure out for himself what he needed to do. “Hey, want to help me here?” He spoke softly to a red chested songbird still on his shoulder. The bird nodded and flew off to get the rest.

Golden Heart watched as the songbirds began to flock around Eternal Beats for a moment before scattering into the trees around both of them. Eternal Beats pulled his guitar from his back and began playing a tune. The songbirds shortly joined him.

When life brings us down and
all you see is darkness
Remember that we can bring back the light
When life starts to push 
its time for us to push back and survive through this darkness called life

Life isn’t and shouldn’t be the enemy
Life is what’s within us and makes us who we are,
we must stand together and take control of our lives because life....life won’t stop, 
the clock is ticking, its time to stand together and take control of life, 
one dragon at a time
Because when we stand together we’re stronger 

Golden Heart smiled as the song perfectly reflected what he wanted with the clan. Dragons standing together in harmony and lifting each other up in times of troubles. Both Quartermaster and Eternal Beats did that in their own ways. Even Harmony who was only an ally of the clan did this.

A proverb from one of his books came to mind: Courage isn’t about being unafraid but doing what needs to be done none the less. Okay, so how do I go about fixing this? Golden Heart dwelled on it for a while but it became clear that he would need help with not only fixing it but what to fix. The Ascended One is a ruler of Equestria and, yet, she seemed to be approachable. Maybe, she would have some advice.

Whoa… that was an interesting change in the song… Eternal Beats mused as he watched Golden Heart walk away. He yawned a bit. It was getting close to time for him to sleep. “I think you will do just fine...” He yawned a second time as he stretched.





“Good morning Ascended One.” Golden Heart greeted Twilight who was sitting on her throne.

“Morning Golden Heart.” She decided to emulate the dragon’s relax tone. She wondered if this was going to be a causal visit or if there she was going to have more dragon culture to learn. “What do you have for me today?”

“A bit on how dragon clans work and the related interaction codesss....” Golden Heart raised an eyebrow at the sudden twisted smile that formed on Twilight’s muzzle. He was not familiar with pony expressions but he was sure it was the look of a pony a bit too excited. Does Harmony have to deal with this everytime? He sighed. While it was true he wanted to teach her more on dragons as Harmony would not be able to for a while. (Nevermind that he knew very little on how clans affected various codes.) He also wanted to get to know her more than just from the occasional letters.

“Ascended One?” He slowly waved a claw in front of her in hopes of snapping her out of her daze. When that didn’t work he tried snapping his claw. That got her attention.

“Sorry…” Twilight sheepishly apologized.

“No need to apologize.” Golden Heart waved her off. “I understand the draw to knowledge. I live in a library, remember?”

Twilight giggled she remembered her time living in the Golden Oaks Library. At the thought she frowned a bit. Spike...

Golden Heart himself chuckled somehow not noticing the frown on her face. “Well, you ready?”

“YES!!!!” Twilight yelled jumping high into the air. She blushed when she realized she was making a scene. “I mean, yes.”

Golden Heart blinked for a second then started laughing. Twilight soon joined in. He wiped his eyes getting rid of the tears that formed. They had things to do before they could just hang. He lightly coughed to get her attention. 

“There is not much about clans in the Dragon Heritage Memories. I can’t say for sure if it because of time or a part of the ‘Nameless One’ curse. So my knowledge of them might seem fragmented and not because I’m withholding information due to some parts being part of the adult code.”

“In most things the code treats interaction between a dragon clan and another dragon (clan or not) as if it was either a single dragon or mated pair. A clan shares territory and may have a shared communal hoard. For example my clan’s, the Hourglass Clan, territory is currently just Hourglass Mountain and the immediate surrounding area.” 

“Each dragon within a clan will have their own personal hoard. Before you ask, yes there is some differences in the code between fellow clanmates and then say two non clanmates. I’m not going over that as you are not a clanmate.”

Twilight frowned in disappointment. She knew that there was things she couldn’t learn but it still was hard not to show a sense of disappoint. 

Golden Heart saw this and barked out a laugh. “He of Harmony informed me of your overly inquisitive nature.” As he smirked his fangs glinted brightly. 

Twilight instinctively shrank further. She was not only embarrassed but the smirk was a bit creepy. Golden Heart had grinned before but never before did his fangs glint like it did.

“Relax,” Golden Heart inwardly hit himself when realized that as a prey animal she may not be able to handle his fangs without flinching in fear. “I’m not going to eat you. Nor will I flambe you for if you ask ‘rude’ questions. You are going to do it no matter how polite and careful you are in asking your questions. After all you don’t know how dragons think or how our culture works completely, yet. It’s the fact that you are willing to learn and to put into practice what you learn that shows great character. One day you will be able to bring honor to yourself and your kind in the eyes of dragons...more than what you already have.”

Twilight expression brightened at Golden Heart’s praise. Golden Heart smiled, pleased that he got her happy again.

“Now back to our lesson. Like always you need to ask permission to enter an individual's hoard, for example you need permission from me to enter the library. You can gain that permission from either the dragon in question or in very narrow cases from the leadership of the clan. I would advise to never try asking the leadership to enter a dragon’s hoard. The City of Hourglass is considered the communal hoard of the clan so if you were to come back again you would need to get permission from somedragon in the clan to enter the city.”

“You have heard Quartermaster and He of Music use the title ‘Firstclaw’ when dealing with me. It’s because of my position in the clan. There are only two official positions by code though I’m sure there can be others that are clan specific. Firstclaw and Secondclaw are the leaders of a dragon clan. Unless one of them dies those positions are filled by the first two dragons of the clan. Firstclaw is the head of the clan while the Secondclaw would be his… uh... I think subordinate would be the right word...”

“Does the Secondclaw answer to the Firstclaw and everydragon answer to both of them with the Firstclaw having final say?”

Golden Heart rubbed his chin thinking for a moment. “Basically.”

“Than subordinate is an okay descriptor. At least that explains why Quartermaster and He of Music called you Firstclaw instead of He of Hourglass.” Twilight went wide eyed for a moment thinking that she had been doing something wrong recently. “Wait! Do I need to call you that?”

“No. That would be improper as you know my He of honorific and you are not apart of my clan.” He could see another question forming in her mind again. She is like a book in that regards. “Let’s say there was another clan that you didn’t know the He of honorific you could use Firstclaw or Secondclaw but the circumstances that would allow it would be very narrow.” 

He scratched his head as he tried to figure out how to explain those conditions. It soon became obvious that there was going to be hard to explain it without possible confusing her over something that would most likely never happen as the last time there was a clan was before the time of the Keepers. “You know, I think it would be best to never use it and fall back to the use of Dragon of ‘insert physical description and hoard location’.”

“While we are on names slash titles, He or She of Hourglass is the standard way of addressing one from my clan.”

“That sounds confusing…” Twilight shook her head at a certain memory. “...and it was.”

“As I’m sure you are aware a dragon’s hearing is stronger than ponies. And even though we use the same He of ‘name’ there are subtle differences. This can cause problems with those who can’t hear or speak those subtle differences like what happened when Quartermaster Chose.”

“Then what of He of Music?”

“What he did was not typical. He knew right away that Harmony could not properly address him as He of Hourglass. I think it has to do with him being a natural at soul songs…”

“Soul songs?”

“The ancient magical ability to use rhythm and tone in a harmonic fashion to create harmony usually in the form of songs.”

“Ah they are usually called Heartsongs by ponies.”

“The word soul is similar to heart… interesting. That is enough for today as I have something I wish your help on…” He tapped his claws together nervously, “If you have time that is.”

“I didn’t have anything planned for a while so go ahead.”

“He of Harmony explained your role as a leader of Equestria. I was wondering… that is... How are you so approachable?”

Twilight blinked in confusion for a second before she giggled. The question that Golden Heart had was reminding her of a time when a certain princess ‘suggested’ she make friends in Ponyville. Even though it was situation as a bit funny it was tempered by the loss of Spike and the fact that Golden Heart looked just like an older Spike.

“Make sure you become friends with He of Hourglass for he, by giving you his name, has marked you as a precious treasure just as Spike did.” Harmony’s voice echoed in her mind.

She looked up and remembered about the time the her friends decorated her new castle and Rarity explained why they made the root chandler. “We were hoping that being able to look at your beautiful old memories would inspire you to make new ones.”

Maybe by remembering the bittersweet memories of Spike I can find ways to make new ones with the dragon that Spike left behind to care for me: Golden Heart. Spike you truly were a dragon with a heart of gold.

Golden Heart looked up at the root chandler wondering why Twilight would gaze up at it. True, it was quite beautiful. Twilight smiled as she felt the same feelings come over her like it did then.

“You know,” Golden Heart snapped back to see Twilight was no gazing at the chandler but at him. He blushed a bit which elicited another giggle from her. “I once was never approachable. I had thought that friends was a waste of time and spent all my time in books instead. Let me tell you about how I learned that there was more to life than being locked up in a library with books as my only companion…”
> Disownment
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Harmony was a bit surprised that Quartermaster rage didn’t boil over during the week long boat trip. It had taken another long month trudging through the jungle where the boat had dropped them off at before a challenge was made. Again, Quartermaster had insinuated that Harmony was up to no good and again Harmony won in short order.

“Still, you won’t accept me?” Harmony commented as Quartermaster again shoved away his helping hoof. “I guess I should be used to it by now...”

“And what is that supposed to mean, outsider?” The dragon narrowed his eyes. Oddly, he didn’t like what he was hearing. And why does that bother me?

“Exactly what I just said: That I should be used to having dragons reject me by now.” 

Quartermaster was shocked, so much that he again became enraged at him. Why am I mad about this!!?! Sure, I’m mad that we have to trudge through this ill begotten jungle because Harmony needs to find what he called an ent grove. But, for him saying that he should be used to dragon rejecting him! I...

Before he could do anything in his rising anger Harmony asked him a question. “You want me to be as far from the clan as possible, never to return, never to contact the clan again.”

“I…” Quartermaster was confused not only at his own feelings but what Harmony was revealing.

“Well? Am I right?” Harmony pressed not letting Quartermaster find a way out.

Before Quartermaster would have agreed but now he wasn’t so sure. Why was he always after Harmony even after all the evidence that Harmony was truly was loyal to the clan but to the dragon ways. “Why?” Quartermaster looked downward not wanting to met Harmony eyes. For some reason he couldn’t look at his accuser. It felt almost like he had dishonored Harmony and as such should not look at him… But he knew he didn’t dishonor him...did he?

This surprised Harmony as of all the reactions he would have expected this wasn’t one of them. His mouth opened and shut several times as he tried to form words but couldn't. 

“Why do you keep trying?”

“Because... Because despite you treating me with contempt I still consider you a ‘hatchmate.’”

“Your only saying that because of He of Hourglass…”

Harmony shook his head. “That is where you again are wrong. No matter what, you are and will always remain as family to me. True, your animosity towards me is hard to take sometimes. But I know it’s just misguided and in no way malicious. You are one of the most loyal dragons around… It’s that sense of loyalty that drives your paranoia that somehow I might bring trouble or dishonor to the clan...”

I wish I could tell you Quartermaster that Golden Heart is my adoptive brother. That his egg was the egg that I guarded; the egg that I went through the excruciating pain of the Rite for… There are times I despise the code and dragon instincts as it forces me to be quiet when I so want to tell you everything...

“But you are still a pony not a dragon…”

“Technically… true…”Harmony rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. “There is an assumption everyone has, which I guess is to be expected, that I disowned ponies as would be ‘required’ of me for the Rite of Guardianship…” Harmony turned away, tears beginning to form. “The truth is different…”

“What are you saying?”

“Ponies were never my people. You can’t not disowned something if you never owned them.”

“But you’re their Keeper!” This pony was making less sense to Quartermaster. The more he spoke the the more he realized how little anyone really knew about him. Even with Eternal Beats and Golden Heart’s abilities…





“He is broken Metal Claws… Scars and wounds are etched across his heart… I don’t have a clue where to start… Every time I think his pain is gone another source surfaces.”

“It’s worse than that.” Eternal Beats interjected. “His true soul song is nearly non existent… It wasn’t until I was ordered…” He growled out the last word to let them both know his displeasure, “to dive deeper that I realized the depiction. He is merely a shell of whatever he once was. But there is hope… I can’t be sure until another part his cutiemark appears but it appears that those marks are beginning to heal him… from what I can sense they alone will not do it as they are merely a drop of water on an erupting volcano…”

Quartermaster didn’t argue. He knew that Golden Heart and even more so Eternal Beats would know about the state of one’s heart. “And what does this have to do with me?”

“Everything or maybe nothing.” Eternal Beats shrugged.

“Eternal Beats I don’t like riddles!” Quartermaster roared readying his flame.

“Such is life so get over it Metal Claws.” Golden Heart calmly stood between him and Eternal Beats. “One last thing… He of Harmony is hiding something, something that I feel is important… something about the ash illness of his… Try and see what you can get out of him about it.

“Ugh, do I have to? It’s bad enough I have to have leave Hourglass for a prolonged trip but to have the ou-” Quartermaster shrunk back at the look of murder coming from Golden Heart. “-him ‘tag along’...”

“We don’t have the time to indulge your animosity towards him just so you can wander about the eastern continents in peace and take longer because you have no guide!”

“Yes, Firstclaw.”

“Good. You are to meet him in the morning three days time from now. I trust that should be enough time to prepare your forge.”





... something you will understand in time.” Harmony ignored the annoyed growl coming from Quartermaster over the last remark, “Do you know how Keepers come into being?”

“They are the last born of their kind…”

“In a way that is right…“

“When no more can be born the Keeper appears. The spell takes the essence from the male and female (if the race reproduces that way) and combines them just like would happened normally through sexual relations. Then the spell births the child or in the case like dragons an egg is ‘laid’”

“I was born around ten thousand years ago. The last herd (and really the remaining) of alicorns had been on the run from the forces of the “Nameless One” for several years. I don’t know exactly who or what it was that pursued them. Celestia is the only one alive that was old enough to remember unfortunately her memories from that time are too hazy, the trauma was too much…”

“It wasn’t really her fault. she was still so young and in matter of a short time she lost her parents then her ‘uncle’ and ‘aunt’ nearly lost her sister Luna than to have me appear. It was too much for her. She struggled to show any signs of love and care to me. What made it worse was we were on the run for my early life.”

“When I was old enough to go out on my own I did. I was a lost pony unsure of why Celestia was so cold towards me. I didn’t understand why we were on the run all the time. I didn’t know about the Keepers or my role as one until much later. I didn't understand why I was so different. The ponies unlike the other races had been isolated for so long they didn’t realise who I was. The tales and prophecies surrounding the Keepers of Harmony had been lost. They just saw me as a freak or as a monster…” Quartermaster finally caught the glint of tears. “They were frightened of me.”

“Because of your fur.”

“Yes...” Harmony eyed the dragon closely for a moment before continuing, “Don’t think wrong. I will die to protect ponies and bring them harmony as is my duty and honor. Nothing has or will change that until my death or the final defeat of the ‘Nameless One’...  But… when it’s over they were just my duty and while it has brought and will bring me great joy and pride to see the ponies come into harmony... they… They aren’t family for they rejected me from the beginning.”

The concept of family was different for Quartermaster especially as an adult dragon. To a dragon family was only those that had the utmost trust with each other… Name sharers which Harmony and he had not done yet... But for Harmony he wasn’t a dragon adult or otherwise… so for him it had to be different. Hence the reason he felt that the alicorn was an outsider… right?

“The sun is setting we best find a clearing to make camp.”

Harmony lifted off and began circling just above the canopy. He was just beginning to circle a third time when he spotted what appeared to be a clearing not too far away. He motioned to the dragon below that he found a clearing. Quartermaster grumbled but quickly himself took flight to follow Harmony. It wasn’t long before they reached the clearing that Harmony found and had started a small campfire for warmth and light. 

Quartermaster had been going over everything that Harmony had told him. Something about Harmony not considering his own race as his own bothered him. It bugged him so much that he had to ask. “If ponies were never your people what race would you consider as your people?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Harmony nearly facehoof from Quartermaster’s blank expression. “Dragons.”

Again Harmony was surprising Quartermaster. How and why would he want to have dragons as his people. The Rite would have force him to disown his own race but Harmony seemed to be implying that dragons were already to him to be his people. He could only voice a single word. “How?”

“I inadvertently ran into a mated dragons’ hoard. Instead of killing me they took me in. For the first time I was accepted. They taught me the ways of dragons. They were the ones that in effect adopted me. Before them, I had no family. They are the ones who entrusted their egg to me…“ Harmony started sobbing the memories too painful to remain stoic or happy. This confused Quartermaster as he had no clue what would ever get him this messed up in front of him… “I tried everything I could think of to save them in the end. I watched the light in their eyes fade. It tore my heart asunder… The hoard they had was… unstable and exploded mere moments after the mother sung the egg’s name…”

“That was between five and four thousand five hundred years ago. It took me quite a while to find out about the Rite of Guardianship. Being an acolyte was one thing but claiming that I was entrusted with a dragon’s egg was understandably… hard to believe.”

“I did manage to finally found a dragon willing to hear me out. When I revealed that I knew the eggs name the dragon immediately told me of the Rite and without hesitation I agreed to go through it.” 

Harmony laughed at the memory of He of the Flight pacing back and forth agitated at him for immediately wanting to go through the Rite of Guardianship. Harmony wiped some of the tears from his eyes and took couple of deep breaths to calm himself down before he felt he could continue.

“That dragon tried several times to persuade me to forgo going through it knowing full well that it was almost impossible for dragons to pass much less an alicorn… As you already know, I did pass the Rite. Knowing what I now know about the Rite I still would have done it without hesitation...”

“You know what's ironic? Dragons have treated me with more disdain and hate than the ponies ever did… And yet...” Harmony smiled as he gazed upwards at the twinkling stars and specifically to Draco. Quartermaster followed his gaze. Both watched for a while until Harmony began speaking again and Quartermaster eyes lowered to Harmony as he declared to Draco. “I will never stop considering dragons to be family, to being my people.”

A small flash of light caught Quartermaster’s eye. He looked towards the source. On Harmony’s flank was now a red flame to go with his green and light blue ones. Quartermaster didn’t care that the alicorn had a new butt thing but He of Hourglass warned him to notify Harmony if his ‘cutiemark’ changed in anyway. Ugh, the things I have to do for my clan and my Firstclaw.

“Outsider…”

Harmony looked at Quartermaster and noticed that he was pointing to his flank. A quick glance and he could see the same red flame mark that the dragon had seen. “Loyalty…”

Loyalty? Quartermaster wondered. “You are one of the most loyal dragons around… It’s that sense of loyalty that drives your paranoia that somehow I might bring trouble or dishonor to the clan.”  Quartermaster grumbled as he realized it was getting harder and harder to not like Harmony.

A yawn from Harmony interrupted his thoughts. Begrudgingly Quartermaster motioned for the alicorn to get some sleep. He had a lot to think about and really wanted to do that as alone as possible. Before too long the sounds of sleep could be heard coming from the alicorn.





The crackling from the forest fire was overwhelming loud and yet he somehow he heard the sounds of someone or something approaching from behind. He surreptitiously readied his horn for a fight. When whatever was behind him seemed to have stop he spun around.

Who he saw shocked him. “Spike?!”

“Hello, Harmony.” Spike crossed his arms, smirking. 

“You Chose!” Harmony nearly yelled. He just could not believe this was Spike. “How can you be here?!”

This seemed to amuse Spike a bit because he chuckled a bit before giving his answer. “I’m here because of you.”

“But, but this is impossible! This isn’t real!”

“Who said this wasn’t real?” Spike’s voiced faded away as Harmony’s vision went to black.





“GAH!” Harmony shot up. He was getting know where on whatever vision like dream he was having. He still had no idea he was in it until afterwards and he never stayed long after he saw Spike. It seemed though that Spike only showed up after he got another part of his cutiemark. He was half way there and with the first three he only seemed to get only a few seconds longer with him each time. He need more time, especially if he was going to go through the ‘You Chose!’ and ‘This is impossible’ speeches every time...

His sudden exclamation got Quartermasters attention. The dragon was about to speak when Harmony held up a hoof.

“Hold that thought.” Harmony grabbed two vials of ash cure and down both in quick succession. “Sorry Quartermaster I needed to take those potions asap to prevent my ash illness from flaring up. Now, what is on your mind.”

“You claimed that that red flame marking of your is loyalty, but why are you hiding something from He of Hourglass?”

“I am allowed to have secrets you know!” Harmony nearly yelled. He then sighed heavily. Somehow he knew that He of Hourglass would keep trying, being a dragon and all. “...It’s about the illness isn't it?… Yes its true, I am hiding something from in relation to the ash illness. It seems he wanted you to find a way to pry it out of me… I don’t know why he is so focused on me… It makes little sense as he is nowhere near as worried about the Bearer of Magic. Even if without an ash illness she is in just as much danger as I…”

Harmony got up but could no longer met Quartermaster's gaze. “I wish I could help him, but to tell him would… I can’t. I will not cause him more pain… I just can’t…”

With that he walked out into the night. This left Quartermaster alone to his thoughts. Harmony had said much and he had much to dwell on because of that. 
> Quiet No More
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“What was that?” Golden Heart wondered. It had sounded like something both hard and soft had splattered against castle at a high speed.

“I don’t know…” Another large bang vibrated through the castle. Twilight didn’t want to end her conversation but she knew she’d better check. She really hoped it was nothing and if was nothing she would not be happy. “He of Hourglass... I need go find out what is going on… I hope it’s just another one of Pinkie and Rainbow Dash’s ill advised pranks…”

“Same time next week, then?” Twilight nodded. “Hourglass Council out.”

Twilight waited until the Hourglass Council room shimmered back to the Friendship Council room before she left. She stumbled a bit when another collision rocked the castle. What under Celestia Sun is going on? 

Mangy ran up as Twilight opened the council doors. “Mistress! Someone is attacking gem castle.”

“Do you know who or where?”

“Dogs no good in sight… But coming from near Everfree.”

Twilight grumbled. “Why is it always Everfree?!”

“Mistress?” Mangy Mutt tilted his head in confusion.

“Nothing to worry about Mangy.” Twilight shook her head, embarrassed that she vented out loud. “I will deal with this. If the girls come by let them know where I went.”

“Yes, Mistress.” Mangy bowed while closing his eyes for the flash to come.

In a flash Twilight teleported near the tree line of the Everfree Forest. She looked around and didn’t see anything right off. The sound of a contraption got her attention and she looked up to see a mass of moss and rocks and held together in a dark red magic aura. She slowly made her way through the trees.

What she discovered shocked her.  Ahead, in a small clearing, she could see three fillies that were part of the newest incarnation of the Cutiemark Crusaders. They were manning a crude cannonbolt. Twilight was confused as no current member of the CMC had a dark red aura. Something clearly wasn’t right. She remained behind the bush to investigate further. 

The unicorn filly known as Gentle Rays turned in her direction. Twilight instinctively shrank back hoping not to be seen just yet. What she had saw when the filly had glance in her direction chilled her. The eyes of the filly where coal black and her mouth was open and drooling.

Dark Magic?! No time to analyze! I need to disenthrall them and quickly! She jumped out and quickly zapped the CMC with a memory spell laced as much light magic as she dared that she could that hopefully wouldn’t hurt them.

The fillies at first tried to fight against the spell, thrashing around screaming demonically. Twilight cringed but fought through. After a tense minute the fillies stopped resisting. Twilight slowly released the spell and after a moment of complete silence the fillies started crying not wanting to look at her. Twilight breathed a sigh of relief as the spell seemed to have worked.

“Princess Twilight! Please don’t banish us. Or throw us in a dungeon. Or banish us and then throw us in a dungeon in the place that you banish us to!” The three wailed scared out of their minds.

Twilight soften her eyes and slowly approached them, “Are you three okay?” Twilight asked as she started to carefully examine the fillies for any residual dark magic. The trio, still crying, managed to nod. Twilight pulled the three into a warm embrace. “Relax, you are not in trouble but I still need to know something…” The CMC pulled their muzzles out of her fur. “What’s the last thing you remember?”





Golden Heart sat midway up on the Spiral Spire idly chewing a large amethyst. He wondered what interrupted his image call to Ponyville. He wasn’t too worried as according to the Ascended One Ponyville was known as the center of weirdness of Equestria. The stories that she had been relating for the past few weeks made him agree. Still it made him wonder.

As he ponder this and other things the sky darkened unexpectedly. Golden looked up to see that something was blocking part of the sun. At a glance it was too dark to be a cloud. For that matter he a quick look and couldn’t see any other ‘clouds.’ On further thought it seemed to be moving. He continued to watch, narrowing his eyes… hopefully whatever it was would be benign.

Suddenly a transparent, slight pink film rose from the ground. I guess not… a second later he could feel the wards going off in his head. This confused him. A dragon was approaching but the moving ‘cloud’ was too large to just be a dragon. He took off to hover near the edge of the shield to await for whatever was approaching.

He didn’t have to wait long before he finally could see some forms breaking off from the dark mass. He squinted a bit to try to get a better look. He finally could see that it the mass was comprised of pony-insect like creatures. Changelings! But why did the wards go off?

A few moments more and the changeling swarm stopped near the shield and hovered. He of Hourglass called out. “You are trespassing. Leave now and I might let you live.”

He watched as the swarm parted. A larger changeling, clearly female, buzzed through the opening. On either side on the changeling was a full grown dragon. A look at the eyes of the two dragons made his heart go cold. “Well, well, well. After all this time a dragon decides to make an old abandoned ruin his home. I have a counter proposal,” The queen rubbed an amulet on her neck seductively. Her horn glowed as she spoke, ”join me.”

If it wasn’t for the fact that He of Hourglass was livid he might have laughed at her poor attempts at seduction. As he eyed the dragons, trying to figure out why they would be with the changelings, he noticed that the eyes of the dragons were unfocused and had a strange tint to them. If He of Hourglass mad before what he saw made it rise to murderous rage… He was not going to let them leave. “Not happening lielzasalus usuths!”

The magic cannons obelisks scattered about Hourglass began firing at the dragon’s command causing the swarm to scatter in a frantic rush to avoid being shot out of the sky.

“Take down this shield…” The queen screamed in rage. ”I want that dragon!”

He of Hourglass turned away and glided towards He of Music’s hoard in the central park. He would need to discuss with his clanmate how they were going to defend their city. 

She enthralled a pair of dragons! How!? This does not bode well for the shields… I don’t think the shield is as powerful as it was when He of Laughter was young… or maybe they were never very powerful… Either way it would not last too long against two adult dragons and a swarm of changelings. 

“He of Music?” Golden Heart called out as he made a very rough landing.

“Yes Firstclaw?” Golden Heart watched as Eternal Beats jumped down from a nearby tree. “Do you have a plan for these interlopers who think they can take on a dragon clan?”

Golden Heart pinch his snout quickly thinking how to best defend such a large city… “For the moment let the shield and magic cannons do their jobs. We will need to save our strength for the queen and the two enthralled dragons. I just hope that taking her out will break whatever hold she has on them.”

Eternal Beats jaw dropped how could a changeling get enough magical power to over power not just one dragon but two. “H-How?”

“Not sure…” Golden Heart admitted as he moved his claws around shifting his sparks around. 

The air shimmered a bit and an imaged formed. The dragons could now see the changeling queen. The spell was unable to pick up sound but it was clear she was directing her drones. On her neck was an odd amulet. The amulet appear to be made from two red and one black crystal. The black crystal was in the center was cut in a kite style. The two red crystals flank the black looked to be smaller hexagonal prisms.

“What is that amulet she has?”

“It seems familiar…” Golden Heart was sure he had either seen that amulet before or a description but he couldn’t remember. It was important too, but for now they had a more pressing matter, “but we don’t time for me to find out exactly what it is…”

“Is it possible that this amulet gave her power like the amulet with Sombra’s horn gave uh... 

“Aonghus… and yes that is what I’m thinking… And I’m positive I’ve seen or read about this amulet!”

“Firstclaw, we need to focus! We can figure out about the amulet later when Hourglass is no longer under threat.”

“Right, right…” A plan finally formed in the mind of Golden Heart, “make your way towards the council and library and try to stay hidden if you can. When the shield fails try to draw as many changelings as you can to you. If the dragons come after do your best to elude them I rather not hurt them unless we are forced. I will take on the queen and dragons personally.”

“Yes, Firstclaw.” Eternal Beats acknowledged before he slid into the shadows.

He of Hourglass sat down to mediate and to think battle strategy. It’s probably going to take a mix of tooth and claw and magic… Which means I will need to hold back my instincts… which is already becoming hard…

A short hour later the shield finally fell. He of Hourglass took off towards the two dragons and the queen, flambeing any changeling in his way. He of Music watched as his Firstclaw engaged in battle. He needed to wait a bit before he could make his move. It was nerve racking to watch and not do anything. His instincts screaming to shred apart every intruder, to be bathed in their blood, and roar in prideful defiance. He then heard a certain roar. It was the signal and with a few flaps of his wings he took off.

He of Music lightly landed on the stop of the Spiral Spire. With a roar he poured his magic though his bass guitar.  A wave of Harmony music blasted forth as his strummed the strings hard in his anger. As the wave rushed through the swarm it did two things. Those closest to the dragon shattered into dust. Others further way seemed to become mesmerised by the dragons playing and lazily floated towards him only to become dust like their comrades as they got close.

He of Hourglass growled as he dodged stream of flame from the black dragon. The laughing changeling queen further infuriated him. He swallowed his building rage. He needed to focus if he was going to get out of this alive and stop this evil creature. Another stream of flame forced him to bank away and away from the changeling and towards the second, orange, dragon opened maw.

Now he had to dunk down and took this advantage to flip upside down and pound the softer belly scales of the dragon with a paralysis spell. The orange dragon fell from the sky roaring angrily and setting a few unfortunate changelings on fire.

One down, one to go… he spun around to hover. He of Hourglass smirked as he motioned with his claws ‘Your Next’. 

The insect pony monarch growled at the lost of one dragon. “Get him!” Was her only voiced response. The black dragon roared and dived right at He of Hourglass.

He of Hourglass had no time to react before the full sized dragon slammed into him. Nearly all the air explosively escaped his lungs. He couldn’t use a paralysis spell as he might not be able to abstract himself from the dragon and a teleportation spell wouldn’t work as he would end up teleporting the other dragon. Teleportation!

In a flash He of Hourglass teleported himself and the dragon further up in the sky. He of Hourglass shoved the bigger dragon, who was now dazed, away. He of Hourglass dived after him hoping that he could keep the dragon dazed without being hit himself from frailing appendages. He expanded his sparks like a shell then narrowed his body to increase his speed. The spark shell slammed into the dragon at high speed knocking the dragon unconscious.

He of Hourglass flung his wings out to slow his descent. A stolen a glance over his shoulder told him that the queen was now pursuing him and quickly gaining. Perfect. He turned back to prepare for the coming very fast landing. As he reached the ground he started running as his speed was still high. He ran for a bit tearing up the road from his clawed feet. He stumbled a bit at the end before he was able to come to a stop.

He turned around to see that the changeling was approaching him like a predator stalking prey. “I have you now you filthy lizard!”

Wrong. He slammed his two hands together. At the same time two chunks of broken walls slammed into the queen. She swayed for a moment before crumpling to the ground. He of Hourglass began panting as the excursion of the battle caught up to him. He finally noticed all the scratches and cuts across his body, dripping blood. He wiped the blood dripping out of his snout.

He slowly walked up to the queen. He could make out the queen wheezing. A smirk crept across his face as he kneeled down next to her. A part of him was going to enjoy seeing the life fade from her eyes. He grabbed her by the throat roughly then slammed her hard into the street.

“Who… are... you?” The changeling queen managed to choke out in the ever tightening grip of He of Hourglass.

He of Hourglass growled, no longer pulling back his rage. First this bug queen thinks it’s okay to attack his city, his clan, his hoard then thinks it has the right to ask who he was?! That went too far and his dragon instincts fully took over. THE DRAGON KEEPER OF HARMONY! He of Hourglass roared before let loose golden colored flames.
> True Loyalty
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Harmony pawed the ground a few times. From the way the soil looked and felt he was sure that an ent grove was nearby. He was glad for this as he was getting tired of Quartermaster breathing over his shoulder. Even though it was still quite early in the morning the dragon was already in a foul mood.

Harmony suddenly stopped to examine to what Quartermaster figures was just an ordinary jungle tree. He circled the tree three times looking up and down it. Quartermaster resisted giving an insult as he was too busy trying not to chuckle at his amusement of what he thought was Harmony losing his mind.

*May the sun give strength and the dew refresh your spirit.* Harmony spoke in a raspy tongue before he took a seat. Quartermaster was about to ask what in the world was the strange noise he was making when Harmony waved a hoof and shook his head to silence Quartermaster.

For a while nothing happened. Quartermaster was getting antsy and annoyed and he was about to complain. Some knots in the trunk high above Harmony moved. Harmony smiled when he saw that. He got it on the first try. Ents were very good at hiding amongst regular trees. 

Quartermaster looked up as well and noticed the movement as well. So he found tree that moves… He rolled his eyes at the whole thing. Great…

*Not… Not many know that greeting…much less our language... Who are you?* Quartermaster blinked, he could hear the same strange raspy noise that Harmony made earlier from somewhere above.

*Harmony the Alicorn Keeper of Harmony.*

*A Keeper?! Here?!*

*Yes… Where is your Eldertree? I need to speak with her.*

*How… As a Keeper of course you would know… But your firebreather companion will need to stay outside of the grove.*

Harmony sighed. He wasn’t surprised. At least this would give Quartermaster time to cool his jets while looking for dragons in the nearby mountains. “Quartermaster, this is going to be boring and will take some time. There are three mountains to the northeast of here. If I remember correctly there should be a dragon or two that you could speak to.”

“Gladly.” Quartermaster was glad for the excuse and he didn’t even care it was under the direction of the outsider. These talking matchsticks… if they were even talking were just too much for him.

Quartermaster took off and soon could spot the mountains that Harmony mentioned not too far away. The cool morning air was nice on his scales. The oppressive heat and mugginess of the jungle below was quickly forgotten as he jubilantly soared higher catching an early morning thermal.





The sun was high in the sky as he began his second circle around the mountains. Quartermaster was getting frustrated and tired. I think the outsider was wrong I don’t sense any dragon wards nearby. 

Quartermaster landed on a plateau halfway up one of the mountains to rest. He barely had time to fold his wings to his back when he heard what is usually described as a roar mixed with gurgle. That type of roar could only mean one thing! Before Quartermaster could do anything something slammed hard into him knocking him head of heels for several feet.





Harmony sat down in front what to the uninitiated would have thought would be a gnarled old tree. Still, he could see that this Eldertree was quite old. The grove may have a new Eldertree before too long. *Greetings, Eldertree, my name is Harmony and I am the Alicorn Keeper of Harmony.*

*Then, what the wind said was true…*

*Yes. I am here to check for issues that may be attributed to either ‘Eldersbane’ or someone like minded.*  

The Eldertree shuddered as if there was a breeze. *We are not sure if his influence is here but we have been having an issue with a firebreather recently.*

*I might be able to help… what is the issue?*

*A firebreather at random times will come down from the mountains burning and slashing everything in sight. We usually only have a very short warning in roar that sounds like a bubbling creek.*

Harmony nodded trying to figure out why a dragon would do such a thing. It would spook prey too much and make it harder to hunt. His eyes then jerked open wide, something that the Eldertree said got his full attention. *Wait, did you say a roar like a bubbling creek!?*

*Yes…* Harmony shot off into the sky at full spend panic written on his face.

Quartermaster hang in there I am coming!





Quartermaster winced as a fresh wave of pain coursed through him as he was slammed into a large boulder. He tried getting up but he couldn’t get his body to obey his commands. He growled feebly as the dark blue dragon stalked closer.

He was exhausted after trying to fight off the Rage Growth dragon for the past hour. His small frame had given him the advantage of speed and agility but his stamina was not as strong as the much older dragon. Now, he was sure that his life was now measured in less than a minute. He sighed as he felt like he failed. Failed as a dragon and failed as a dragon of the Hourglass Clan.

NO ONE. HURTS. MY FAMILY! Came a voice filled with power and rage from above.

Both Quartermaster and the dragon looked up to see Harmony diving toward them. Quartermaster could see a cone of air forming around the alicorn. As Harmony slammed into the dragon a rainbow shockwave shot out in all direction kicking of dust and other debris. Quartermaster painfully raised an arm to block some of the dust and dirt from getting into his eyes and mouth.

Quartermaster didn’t like the alicorn but if He of Hourglass found out that the outsider died on his watch he would be lucky to not be killed by him. “Outsider… the dragon is Raged! Get out of here while you still can…”

OH, SHUT UP! Harmony yelled at Quartermaster who immediately shut up. The look on Harmony was the same as He of Hourglass when he berated Quartermaster's treatment of the alicorn right after He of Music’s Choosing. “What part of ‘I consider you a “hatchmate”’ did you not get yesterday?” 

Harmony turned to the recovering rage dragon. I WILL DEFEND THE DRAGONS OF HOURGLASS! TO. Quartermaster could feel the mana in the air build MY. His horn began to glow brightly. LAST. Six swords each a slightly different color of the rainbow appeared around Harmony. BREATH! With that Harmony gave what Quartermaster was sure was the roar of a challenging dragon and as he watched for a less than second Harmony was gone and a dragon was there instead.

Quartermaster blinked, hard. That rage dragon must have taken more out of me than I thought…

I will never back down Harmony kicked the red sword which flew in the air and slammed into the raging dragons left, yellow wing. A scream of pain echoed across the battlefield.

I will never give up The green sword spun until it looked like a round shield. The dragon roared a stream of black flames which the green sword shield blocked.

I will keep up the fight A blue sword sliced at the right wing.

Harmony took a short breather before the next stanza. If he was in the middle of a battle he might have face hoofed over his use of a heartsong. It seems that after so long I’m starting to use heartsongs in battle again… I blame He of Music…

My life may end The yellow sword waved erratically in front of the dragon both irritating and distracting the dragon.

But I shall stand As the rage dragon tried to melt the yellow sword a purple sword whacked the front legs.

Even to the end With a roar of pain the dragon tried to back up but ended up tripping over its own tail trying to get away from the painful swords. An orange sword stabbed at the now exposed softer belly scales.

Quartermaster looked downward in shame. This alicorn was going up against a rage dragon to protect him. Him. A dragon that had accused him by virtue of being an alicorn of being a danger to the clan. But he was no alicorn. No. He was not. Quartermaster knew he could no longer think of this alicorn as an outsider. It was more than that to him. He of Harmony was never an outsider. He was a dragon. A dragon as far as he was concern that should be in the Hourglass Clan. Sadly, even he knew this was impossible… at least by the code. His heart on the other hand told him otherwise. Truly, he now understood He of Hourglass’ lament.

A scream jolted him out of his inner thoughts. He looked up to see that Harmony was on the ground the rage dragon rushing him. Quartermaster tried calling out a warning but before he could Harmony’s sword formed a barrier that blocked the charging dragon.

Harmony pushed himself, slowly, to his feet then roared. Again he seemed to disappear for a second and was replaced by a dragon. But it was so fast that Quartermaster again thought it must be a trick of the alicorn’s magic. After that, the fight began in earnest.

The rage dragon made the first move and roared a jet of black flames at Harmony. Harmony rolled to the side. Harmony shot out a magically compressed air missile at one of the dragons feet. The dragon shrugged off the attack swinging his tail around to try and whack Harmony. But Harmony quickly flew up avoiding the tail by inches. He sliced at the tail with two of his swords.

The fight kept up for nearly another hour with neither getting many hits in. While Harmony was slashing with his swords the dragon was so large along with his naturally hard scales that the swords usually only made small cuts if they managed to connect. Harmony desperately attempted to get an opening to stab the swords straight as that would be the only way to get a death blow in. However, the dragon was not letting Harmony have his opening.

Quartermaster gasped when one of Harmony’s knees gave out nearly taking him down. It was then that he noticed that the rage dragon was panting. It was clear that both were wearing out. The dragon’s flame was not as strong or lasted as long. Harmony was clearly straining trying to hold the six swords in the air.

I need to end this now! Harmony dropped three of the swords. He didn’t want to desummoned them just yet, just in case. Hopefully, with less swords in his levitation field he would able to control them a bit better. He summoned some parasprites near the dragon’s eyes. The dragon roared then reared up to swat at them blindly. Harmony took this opening to slam the three swords as deep as he could into the softer belly scales near where the dragon's heart would be.

The dragon wheezed then collapsed to the ground. Harmony watched the lights in the eyes of the dragon fade to black. He let go of a breath that he didn’t know he was holding. The battle was finally over.

Harmony nearly collapsed from exhaustion letting his swords disappear. He could feel every muscle in his body ache and he was sure he may have a few cracked ribs from when the dragon had side swiped him. He grabbed an ash cure vial and drown it down hoping it would be enough to keep him stable for a few minutes longer. Even with that vial he knew that he was going to go critical any moment. He had spent more alicorn mana then when he fought Sombra, and he nearly died after that battle. Right now, though, he was more concern about Quartermaster. He looked over to see Quartermaster looking downcast.

“Are you okay Quartermaster?” Harmony asked as he walked over to examine him closely. He could see various cuts and scrapes and few bruises becoming visible. Other than that, Quartermaster didn’t look any worse for wear. It was clear that he had only just exhausted himself out. Rage dragons are difficult to defeat and Quartermaster did not have the necessary battle experience or training to have a chance. 

“My name is Metal Claws, brother.”

“W-W-What!?” Harmony spurted out not sure he just heard what he heard. He thought he just heard Quartermaster give him his name and called him brother. 

“Metal Claws.” Metal Claws looked straight into the confused eyes of Harmony. “That is my name.”

Harmony fell to his hunches in total shock. I heard their Hoard Names!!
> Aftermath
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

He of Music’s arms started to ache. It was getting difficult to keep the Soul Song magic going so he quickly put his bass guitar back on his back. The drones noticed this and rushed in. He of Music roared in anger letting loose a blast of neon blue flame incinerating the first wave. The second wave, however, got through, and they started to blast him with either their magic or slam him with their hooves.

He of Music struggled to keep the changelings off of him. They were also making it hard for him to produce any flame. Reduced to just his claws, tail, and fangs he crouched down to make it easier to defend himself. He grunted in frustration as the drones got smart and would rush in to make an attack then retreat just out of his range. Come on He of Hourglass I don’t think I can hold out much longer...

He of Music head snapped off to his left when he heard the rage roar of He of Hourglass. A moment later nearly every changeling around him dropped dead from the sky. Those that didn’t die started to buzz about erratically. He of Music breathed a sigh of relief as he assumed that He of Hourglass must have succeeded in his part of the fight.

He looked down towards the ground. He felt an urge to get down and quickly. So tired from the fight he didn’t realize why he felt the urge to ground himself. He started to slowly glide down, too tired to be quick about it. He was halfway down when a spasm coursed through him and his wings suddenly snapped shut. He yelp in surprised as he fell like a stone. He only had a second to prepare to slam into the cobblestone pavement.

He slammed to the pavement a bit hard and he nearly lost his balance. His hand shot out instinctively to help steady himself. The moment his hand touched the street his mind changed. A growl of pleasure escaped his mouth as he felt tingling sensations all over his body. He put both hands firmly on the ground and stretched like a cat. He knew was coming and was excited for it.

Muscles stretched and bulged and bones and joints cracked as his arms shifted to became forelegs. This made his enjoyment to soar as it disgusted him that he had been on two legs. He was dragon not filthy minotaur or gargoyle. 

He panted hard as his snout stretched forward and he could feel his teeth lengthen and sharpen. Now he could really tear and shred up prey. He drooled hungrily at the images of the tasty blood dripping down from a dead prey in his jaws staining his white scales red. A grin crossed his snout as this made him feel like a powerful, deadly apex predator that his was. Now nothing could touch him as his body was becoming truly dragon.

His black claws sharpened and lengthen nicely as he shuddered in pleasure as the changes continued. He was loving every moment and so did a certain part of him. His wings flung open in sexual arousal and quickly doubled in size. He growled in frustration, though, as he had no mate to release these new urges. And he so wanted to act on those urges, to be consumed by it. His now longer, thicker tongue rolled out as his mind went through all the ways he would do the deed if he had a mate. His tail, that was lengthening, twitched back and forth pleased at those thoughts. I shall capture a female as soon as I’m done here.

The tingling sensation that had coursed through his body as it went though all his changes faded and he knew he was now complete. He gave himself a look over with his now longer neck and a vicious smile grew. He could see that his spines on his back and tail were now long and now went to a much sharper point then before. A look at a reflective part of the Spire nearby and he could see his now much longer fangs and that nearly a dozen were now visible even with his mouth closed. His head spines had not changed but because of his now longer, slightly larger head and snout made the spines to appear much shorter and more spiky, deadly. 

He laughed. He was now a perfect killing, greedy creature that he was always meant to be. But on that thought his smile turned that around as he realized that his hoard was too small he needed more… more instruments, more birds, and more gems… At least my ocarina and bass guitar survived my metamorphosis. 

As he turned away from the Spire He of Music suddenly blinked, shaking his head slightly… Whoa… He clutched his head with a foreleg trying to forget some of awful thoughts that his mind had as he went through his first growth. The urge to have a mate remained but it was now only in the back of his mind and not in the forefront. I never would have thought how much those changes would temporarily change my thoughts and increase my primal instincts… which means if... “HE OF HOURGLASS!” He shouted in a deeper but smooth bass voice.

In his panic he forgot that he could fly and bounded down streets dodging dead bodies and at one point an unconscious orange dragon. He sniffed the air as he went trying to find He of Hourglass by smell, forgetting he could use magic. He went down several dead ends as he would at times temporarily lose the trail. He finally found He of Hourglass crouched low to a patch of blacken ground.

He of Music slowly approached him not sure what to expect. “He of Hourglass? Firstclaw?”

He of Hourglass slowly got to his two feet. His rage and anger now evaporating quickly. He turned around to see that He of Music, as expected, had gone through his first growth spurt. He of Hourglass also noticed that even with He of Music in his quadrupedal form that his eye level only dropped a few inches as he only had to slightly lower his gaze to look into his clanmate’s newly slitted eyes. This he was thankful for as he was not really ready to deal with a full grown clanmate just yet.

He of Music tried not to let his jaw slackened in his surprise. This is odd. He of Hourglass has not gone though the changes he should have for his first life or death defense of a hoard.

He of Hourglass seemed to not make anything out of it as he watched the few remaining drones flying about in a confused manner. He mused, almost to himself. “It appears that without the changeling queen most of the drones died from the shock of the loss of the hive mind and it appears that the rest are not going to survive much longer…”

“But, Firstclaw…” He of Music tried to point out what was bothering him.

“I don’t know He of Music...” He of Hourglass responded without lowering his gaze from the sky. “It may have to do with me being a Keeper…” He finally lower his gaze to look at the still worried clanmate. “It’s not important right now. We need to clear the city of the dead bodies and see what we can do for the two dragons. I suspect that they will be out for a while.” 

Not important? It could become very important... He of Music shuddered as he thought of the worse case scenario. 

They worked on clearing out the bodies for the remainder of that day and long into the night. By night fall the remaining drones had died. It was midnight before they took a break. At that point there was still scattered spots where there was dead bodies but He of Hourglass felt that it was enough for the moment. It would take a few days to depose all of the bodies anyway. They had mainly got them into piles away from the clans individual hoards and away from Harmony small home that he used. 

It was a few hours before sunrise before they dealt with the two dragons. He of Hourglass grunted as his levitated the dragons carefully into a wider street and checked for signs of life while he did it. Both dragons appeared to be basically fine. The fall seemed to only knock them out so they should be no worse for wear and with their mind hopefully no longer enthralled. 

Should be fine… He of Hourglass thought. Hopefully...





A stirring in the mind and two dragons began to awake. While the sun felt good on their scales a dull ache ruined it. A ‘what happened?’ went through both of their minds as they struggled to awaken enough to find out.

“Welcome to Hourglass Dragon of Black and Green Scales and Dragon of Orange Scales and Spikes.” A voice called out in the retreating darkness of sleep.

Both of the dragons finally opened their eyes and looked up to see a very young, but adult, purple and green dragon with magic sparks flowing from his scales sitting on the edge of a building smiling down at them.

“How are you feeling?” The dragon asked.

Both of the unknown dragons looked at each other before the black and green dragon responded. “Confused. You said we are in Hourglass Dragon of Purple and Green Scales of Hourglass?”

“Address me as He of Hourglass, please. Do you remember anything?

The black dragon again took the lead. “I’m not sure…Other then that evil pony insect... creature... It’s as if my life is but a series of blurry after images and muffled sounds…”

He of Hourglass hoped that it was just temporary confusion that was causing the memory loss and that his memory would return as they awoken further. “And for you Dragon of Orange Scales and Spikes?”

“I am the same as the Dragon of Black and Green Scales…”

“Please tell me.. Do you at least know your own names?” A hesitant shake of their heads was their response. He of Hourglass paled at this. This does not bode well… 

“It’s too soon to say but so far your Dragon Heritage Memories are intact. It just seems that your normal memoires are messed up. Which is not good. I’m not familiar with changeling magic so I don’t have a clue what if anything can be done to help with your memories.” 

He of Hourglass went silent for a while putting a claw to his mouth in thought. “He of Hourglass!” He suddenly called out.

“Yes, Firstclaw?” A white and neon blue dragon that appeared to have gone through the first growth step out from the shadows of a near by grove of trees.

The two nameless dragons looked at each other in shock before the black dragon exclaimed. “Firstclaw?!” 

“There is a dragon clan!?” The orange dragon added.

“Yes. He of Hourglass is the third member of the clan.” He of Hourglass responded.

At this point the orange dragon had broken off his attention from the Firstclaw of Hourglass to the white and neon blue dragon that had a strange instrument strapped to his back and a black band wrapped around his head and over his ear frills. There was something on a gold chain hanging from his neck but he couldn’t get a good look. The orange dragon figured that the instrument was part of this dragon’s hoard but the black band and the strange object hanging from his neck really upped his curiosity.

The white and neon blue dragon noticed the orange dragon eying him with curiosity. “The black band is headphones I wear to lessen ambient sounds. The instrument is a bass guitar and the object on the chain is a metal scorpion ocarina. May I examine you with magic to check for invincible damage?”

The orange dragon titled his head in confusion it was clear this dragon was a bit young to have enough dragon magic knowledge to examine him effectively. The black dragon also turned when he heard the question and he also felt the same way.

“Why would you need to ask us permission to check for damage as I’m sure you already checked.”

“This is not a normal examination to check for something like internal bleeding. I need to hear your soul song itself and while I won't hear or see any memories its still is a bit... intrusive.”

“If it could help recover my memories please do so.” The black dragon gave his permission while the orange dragon just nodded his consent.

The white He of Hourglass shifted his headphones off of his ear frills then walked up to each dragon and put his ear against each of them in turn. After a moment he stopped and flew up to where the purple He of Hourglass was sitting so he could address the other dragons without straining his neck.

“What can you tell from their songs.”

“It’s more like: ‘What song?’” He of Hourglass turned to face the two dragons “Your songs are as muddled as your memories.” 

“Can anything be done about this not knowing my name troubles me.”

“At best I might be able to use Soul Songs magic to fix it but... While I’m a natural there are aspects I’m not clear on and I could end up doing more damage at worst…” He shifted his sight back to his Firstclaw. “He of Harmony might know more…” He scratched the back of his head trying to think of anyone else that could know. “...and possibly He of Laughter if what I’ve been told of him is true…”

“He of Laughter has been MIA for a while. He of Harmony’s Bearer of Kindness has promised to contact us if he contacts her. We’d better head to the Council Chambers. The Bearer of Magic has had some experience dealing with changelings. Though I suspect we will have to enter the Plane of Harmony in order to have a chance…”

He of Hourglass paused as he blew out a small flame revealing that someone had sent him a scroll. He frown as there was no seal on it so he had no clue who had sent it. What he saw inside drained all the blood from his face. He took off running at speeds that He Hourglass didn’t think was possible.

“He of Hourglass!” He of Hourglass called out.

“Council Chambers. NOW!” He of Hourglass roared back.

“Yes, Firstclaw.” He of Hourglass sighed. “Come. I’ll show you the way.”





Harmony could hear the sounds of birds chirping and a slight warm breeze went across his body. A stray leaf carried on that breeze and stopped right on the tip of his muzzle. The sensation of the leaf on his nose caused him to sneeze. He groaned as the bright light of day shined on his now open eyes. 

*He awakes.* Came a voice from above.

Harmony slowly got up to his feet. His whole body still ache but he still needed to know something. *How is my companion?* He called up blindly not sure which ‘tree’ had spoken.

*Other than the various cuts that leaked life sap he was just over tired. He has been hibernating since he came crashing through the canopy with you.*

Harmony continued to glanced around trying to find the ent speaking. *That is to be expected after what he went through.*

He suddenly remembered something and rummaged through his saddlebag that he noticed nearby, pulling out the his last vial of ash cure. *I need some help gather some supplies to make more of this potion.* Harmony lifted the vial. *It is medicine that helps counter an ash illness that I have. I’m sure you had to clean up some of the ash already.*

*We noticed the ash that was coming out of you. We used our arts to put life air back in so you are now stable and should not need any more of your medicine.* Harmony finally found the ent as the end has spoken enough to be found. 

*Thank you, but it is chronic and could return when I leave.*

*This is true.* The ent paused before continuing. *Please show me what you need.*

*I need the following herbs and plants.* Harmony conjured images of what he needed as he wasn't sure what the name were in entish.

*The sun might be low in the sky before the gathering of those will be completed.*

*No rush. Can you tell me where my companion is?*

*He is in a treeless area to your south.*

*Thank you.*

*No, thank you. For you have stopped the rampaging firebreather.*

“Quartermaster?” Harmony softly spoke hoping to not spook the dragon when he found him not more than six hundred hoofs to the south.

Quartermaster awoke in a start. “He of Harmony!” He exclaimed scrambling to get up.

Unfortunately, he did too much too quick and he collapsed from the his body protesting the sudden movement. Harmony shook his head in amusement before he leaned in to whisper. “It’s Harmonious Knight, brother.” He then held out a helping hoof that Quartermaster finally took.

“I need to ask... If you always thought of me as a ‘hatchmate’ why did you not call me brother until now and after I told you my name yesterday just before you passed out?” 

“If I called you brother before than what do you think would have been your reaction?” Quartermaster gaze shifted away clearly in shame. “Exactly.”

Harmony waited until Quartermaster recollected himself. He took this time to check his injuries and as far as he could see that they were already healing nicely and appeared to not be infected.
“Have you sent a letter to He of Hourglass yet?” Quartermaster shook his head. “Thought as much but given the circumstances not surprising…” Harmony wrote a quick letter.



We were attacked by a rage dragon yesterday. Rage dragon is dead. Only minor injuries. Still recovering, full report later.



He sent it off and less than a moment later a reply came back. That was unusually fast...



harmony council chambers one hour



“Hmm…” Harmony could see from the shaky claw writing that He on Hourglass was holding back immense emotion. This doesn’t bode well.

“What is it He of Harmony?”

“Not sure…” Harmony showed him the scroll, “but we need to get back to where we defeated…”

"You…” Quartermaster interrupted at nearly a whisper. “You defeated the dragon.”

“I may have given the final death blow but you still contributed.” 

“If you say so.” Quartermaster conceded a bit reluctantly.

Harmony raised an eyebrow at this. What is with him?! This is not the Quartermaster I know… He studied Quartermaster a bit more before turning around and taking off. After not hearing the dragon taking off he nearly facehoofed.

When he looked back to see what the hold up was he noticed that Quartermaster now appeared to be anxious. The dragon wringing his claws. Harmony landed and put a reassuring hoof on his shoulder. “Relax, Quartermaster. I will keep He of Hourglass off your back…” Harmony shifted his gaze downward. “If anything, it’s my fault for not making sure that you would be prepared for the possibility of a beast growth dragon.”

When the dragon body language remained that of one that was still feeling shame he shouted, “Quartermaster!” This got his full attention. “The past is. in. the. past. I never held it against you. I’m not going to now, and I’m sure as Tartarus that I will not He of Hourglass even glance at you in anger. And stop this. You are creeping me out. Where is the tough dragon that was confident?” Quartermaster looked at him still not sure if to believe him or not. Harmony sighed. It looks like Quartermaster will not believe me… Actions seem to him speak more than words… yep, loyal…

Harmony put his hoof down and turned around extending his wings in preparation for flight. Before he took off he glanced back. “Come, Quartermaster. Lets not dally any longer or He of Hourglass might have more of a fit than what I’m sure he will already has.”
> Golden Heart Vs Harmony
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Harmony teleported into the Council of Harmony with Metal Claws flashing in a second later. The dragon clutched his stomach from the typical nausea that tends to occur to those not used to teleportation. Harmony took a look around and noticed that they were the first ones there.

Odd... I would have thought He of Hourglass would be here first…

Metal Claws finally felt well enough to see where he was. His jaw nearly dropped at what he saw. It appeared that they were in some sort of artificial cave-like semi circular room. He could see nine white marble thrones against the back wall while three more were in front of those in a straight line. What intrigued him most was the nine that lined the back wall which had magic sparks similar to Golden Heart’s floating lazily above them. Between each of those thrones was a window to the outside and it appeared to be nighttime outside of wherever they where.

Both turned toward the ornate double wooden doors when they heard crackling sounds coming from its direction. A light rose from the ground causing Metal Claws to prep for a fight. Soon the light began an outline of large door and the inside became a swirling portal. From the magic signature Harmony could tell it was Golden Heart who was the first one through.

“He of Hourglass?” Harmony asked as he saw two fully adult dragons entering the Council Chambers through the portal that He of Hourglass had cast. At least he knew why He of Hourglass hadn’t arrived sooner and why he had his wings still out.

“Once that Ascended One gets here.” He of Hourglass responded to Harmony inquiry. Once he saw He of Music come through his portal he ended the spell and the portal disappeared.

Harmony took this time to take a look at both of the guest dragons. It was clear these dragons had a problem as they didn't seem to carry themselves as full grown dragons. The two dragon huddled together in the back of the chambers and they seemed lost and confused more so than for most first time visitors to the council. 

The orange dragon really got his attention as he had seen a single colored dragon only once before. His spines looked just like He of Everfree’s except he had a double row of them. It appeared he had a weaponless tail. As he continued to look him over it became apparent that he would have a hard time finding any other defining traits as the sameness of the orange made it hard for him to see much. He soon stopped as he didn’t want to look rude for staring for too long.

He turned his gaze now to the black and green dragon. His main scales were a deep ebony black that almost shone in the light of the council chamber lights. His secondary dark green belly scales, however, were dull and not shiny. He had no spines but he did have two horns on the side of his head in front of his ear frills and his tail had a curved stinger on the end.

It was at this time that he noticed He of Music and the fact that he had gone through a growth spurt since last he say him. He didn’t get anymore time to examine the changes before he facehoofed. He of Music had his ear to the floor drooling. It’s the Crystal Tree Palace all over again!

Quartermaster did more as his strolled up to his clanmate, backhanded him hard, then hissed in his ear. ”What do you think you are doing!?”

“Listening to the song.” He of Music growled, rubbing the spot that Quartermaster hit. In retaliation he snapped his now longer tail onto Quartermaster’s who yelped in surprise before growling back, readying his fire.

He of Hourglass facepalmed at both. Fighting like hatchling brothers in front of two dragons not affiliated with the clan and in the Council of Harmony as well! He turned to each, yelling. ”He of Hourglass, He of Hourglass enough!”

Harmony gulped when he heard ‘He of Hourglass’. I’m in so much trouble...

He of Hourglass sat on one of the ‘empty’ thrones and sent off a scroll before waving Harmony to join him. A moment later Twilight appeared before the council which got the attention of everyone there.

“Oh thank Celestia you are here, Harmony. There was an incident yesterday… Whoa. The entire clan…” Harmony quickly changed her perspective so she could see the two dragons near the doors. ”...and guests!? Is there something going on I need to know about?”

The same day as the Rage Dragon…. interesting… Harmony turned to see that He of Hourglass appeared a bit troubled at that… “What is it He of Hourglass?”

“We have a possible problem. I call the Council to order.” 

“I second that.” Harmony concurred and as he did the magic sparks swirled around the room as before. “I suggest that we let the Bearer of Magic go first given the strain of the spell she is using.”

“I’m in agreement, Ascended One?”

“Well, I found out what interrupted our chat yesterday. A group of fillies were accosted and temporally enthralled with dark magic by a cloaked figure with a pendant that looked like the moon during Luna’s banishment…”

“Was the moon was red?” Harmony interjected and when Twilight nodded he sighed. “The Cult of the Moon.”

Twilight had not yet been successful yet in finding the meaning of the pedant and Harmony had it figured out even before she finished describing it. “How…”

“They gave Celestia and me trouble after Luna’s banishment.” Harmony nodded and waved a hoof to tell Twilight to continue.

Twilight nodded. “What was odd was after the figure enthralled them he or she disappeared. Luckily the fillies caused no damage...”

“Clearly they were sending a message…” Harmony mused. “Has Luna or Celestia been informed yet?”

“No, not yet. I’ve only done some research into the pendant in hopes that it could help me understand the motive. I didn't want to disturb Celestia over what may be a minor issue and Luna will not be in Canterlot for another day as she had to deal with an political issue with Maretonia.”

“Ugh…” Harmony shook his head knowing exactly what could be transpiring. “I don’t know who to be more sorry for her or Maretonia. Glad I no longer have to play ‘smile and wave’ with them anymore… You did fine with what you knew of the situation. However, the Cult of the Moon is not a small problem so as soon as Luna returns let her know. She will notify Celestia if necessary.”

“What should I do in the mean time?”

“Wait. There is not much you can do at the moment other than remain vigilant.”

“He of Hourglass, I noticed our guests.” Harmony nodded to the two dragons in the back. “Can you fill me in on what is going on?”

“Neither dragon can remember their name.”

Harmony blinked, tried to say something, stopped, then blinked again. “Please tell me I heard that wrong.”

“I can’t.” He of Hourglass shook his head.

Harmony could only think of one thing to say. “How?”

He of Hourglass took a deep breath before he began. “Hourglass was attacked yesterday by a changeling swarm. The Dragon of Black and Green Scales and the Dragon of Orange Scales and Spikes were enthralled by the queen which thankfully ended with her death.”

“Chrysalis.” Twilight hissed. She was angry that again Crysalis had violated another sentient creatures will but was glad she was finally gone.

“Maybe. What was the color of the back chitin plate?”

“Dark green.”
 
“Not Chrysalis’ hive. Pity. But what has me puzzled is how a changeling queen could manage to enthrall two full sized, adult dragons.” At this the two dragons tried to make themselves as small as possible in their shame. Which didn’t go unnoticed by everyone but Twilight who was unable to see them as they were behind her.

“She was wearing an amulet that I suspect increased her magical ability.” He of Hourglass held out a scroll with a drawing of the amulet. “It looked like this.” 

“The Crystallian Amulet.” Harmony deadpanned. “Given that you are merely showing me a drawing it must mean that you managed to destroy it. Which means one more Elder amulet is now gone…” He of Hourglass nodded in confirmation, “Good. That leaves only the Wolven and Roc Amulets left to destroy. The Crystallian Amulet definitely could have given the queen enough power to enthrall dragons.” 

Harmony faced the two dragons directly for the next part. “I hate to say this, but I would wager a guess that she captured you both very shortly after you chose as it could explain why you can’t remember your names… As a young adult’s magic resistance to lower classes of magic is a bit lower than when fully grown. Though it is just as likely she chose young adults with the thought that it would be easier to capture you with the hopes of losing less drones while she went about casting an enslavement spell.” 

“Wait! Crysalis didn’t need a whole swarm to enthrall Shining Armor.” Twilight exclaimed.

“That would be because she took on the appearance of Candace which lowered his guard. Changelings have an extreme problem changing into anything much larger than themselves and dragons would have know that said changeling wasn’t a dragon. Also, even with the amulet I suspect it would have take a bit of time to build up the necessary power to cast the spell which I’m sure that our guests or any other would have fought tooth and claw to prevent.”

“Okay, then… on to the memory problem…” Harmony looked over to He of Hourglass. “It’s possible for your harmony magic will be able to fix the problem as without their hoard names they are in a state of disharmony. However, I don’t know if it’s fully manifested in you yet and even if it has you may not be skilled enough. Has He of Music tried using harmonic song magic?” 

“I could, but but I feel I would have the same issue that He of Hourglass would have using his Harmony magic.”

“Changeling magic is related to pony magic…” Harmony figured it would come to this but he knew that it in order for the dragons to accept his help that it would have to be a last resort. “Which means its a bit easier for a pony to counteract it. But it would also mean that I would have to examine your memories to be able to fix it.”

“Couldn't He of Hourglass do this?” The black dragon was not liking the idea of a non-dragon going through his memories even though he could tell the alicorn was genuinely wanting to help.

“Of course he can, but memories are fragile. While it’s true that dragon magic is very powerful, it has one major weakness: lack of precision.” 

“What about that portal? I’m sure that took some precision to create.” The orange dragon now spoke up.

“Making a clean looking portal doesn’t need that much precision but it does require a bit more mana output. Memories, as He of Harmony pointed out, are fragile and require a very gentle touch. If I mess up even in the slightest you may lose your Dragon Heritage Memories… In this case I would recommend that you have He of Harmony attempt to see what he could do.”

“I don’t think a pony and outsider to our ways…”

“He has passed the Rite of Guardianship. He is Dragon.” Quartermaster growled. He of Hourglass hid a gasp of surprise at Quartermaster’s defense of Harmony. The unnamed dragons, however, went slackjaw.

“Is… is this true?” The black dragon stuttered out in his shock.

“Yes, it is…” He of Hourglass acknowledged.

Both dragons seemed to not quite believe them. Harmony wasn’t surprised given what they were going through. “I’m a bit surprised you don’t believe your Keeper.”

The jaws of both of the unnamed dragons again dropped as they looked at He of Hourglass. “Y-You’re our Keeper!?” The black dragon finally managed to sputter out.

“Yes, I am the Dragon Keeper.” He of Hourglass nearly facepalmed at the dragons not putting the very noticable hints together.
 
The black dragon now turned a bit to address Harmony directly. “I apologize for my disrespectful behavior towards you just now He of Harmony.”

Harmony waved a hoof dismissively. “You didn’t disrespect me as it was an honest question and there was no way you would have known that I was not only an acolyte but had passed the Rite.”

For a third time in a short time the dragons were stunned. They were not expecting to have a slight like that to be forgiven so easily.

“You have my permission to try.” The black dragon bobbed his head.

“Same with me.” The orange dragon added.

Harmony walked up to the black one first and began a memory spell. He motioned the dragon to lower his head and he put his horn to his now lowered head. Harmony frowned as he went through the dragon’s memories. All he could only see and hear was blurry after images and muffled sounds. When he went through the orange dragon he had the same problem.

For a while Harmony couldn’t speak. When he finally found his voice it shook. “This...This is not good. Y-your memories are scattered and unfocused and as I-I already surmised you have been enthralled for an extended amount of time… I-I can’t say exactly how long but it has been many, many decades… I have never known of anyone being enthralled for so long…”

Twilight began bouncing up and down to try to get his attention. “Harmony?” 

“Yes?” Harmony moved so that she could see him.

“This sounds almost like what happened to the Crystal Ponies…”

Hmm… Harmony thought that Twilight might be on to something. “An avenue worth looking into as at this point I have no idea if I can help recover the Hoard Names… He of Hourglass there may be information on changelings in your library see what you can find. I will meditate on this issue to see if any ideas come to mind. I may not be the Dragon Keeper but I will stay on this until something can be done.”

“Now about the rage dragon that attacked you yesterday?” He of Hourglass could no longer hold back needing to know.

“You got attacked too!?!” Twilight nearly yelled “Great. All we need now is Discord to appear and say he was also attacked.”

I hope not… Harmony sighed. “He is not here at the moment…”

“How do you know he’s not already here and waiting to make an ‘amusing’ entrance?” 

“Take a look at the door.” Harmony helped by again shifting her perspective. “As you can see there is the image of my old cutiemark along with an image of the Spiral Spire stylized like an hourglass glowing on it. It means that only He of Hourglass and I are here and not Discord… All we know is that he is still alive as there are no sparks floating above his throne.”

“Anyway, I don’t have much to report concerning the rage dragon. The dragon had been attacking the surrounding jungle for the past few weeks. Quartermaster and I only sustained minor injuries,  mainly cuts and bruises. I thought I had cracked some ribs, but I’m not positive as the ents healing art has a way of accelerating natural healing. I was unable to find any evidence of it when I awoke this morning.”

Harmony started to pace. “I can’t say for sure but the ‘attack’ on Ponyville where my elements are, the attack on Quartermaster and myself, and the invasion Hourglass three places that have have a connection to the Keepers on the same day can’t be a coincidence. Ugh… where is Discord!”

He of Hourglass wasn’t hearing Harmony’s assessment all he heard was the fact that his hoard was in danger. Mine. “He of Harmony, you are to head back to Hourglass right after we are done here.” He spoke so softly that Harmony almost didn’t hear him. 

Harmony raised an eyebrow at the tone of He of Hourglass voice as it sounded like he was ordering and not requesting him to return to Hourglass. “May I ask why?” He asked even though he suspiciously knew the reason.

He is MINE… He of Hourglass resolve to resist his inner nature that had awoken when he should have grown began to crack as his thoughts continued to become more primal and in a sick way he wanted to be more primal if only to protect He of Harmony. He must be protected at all costs. I am dragon he is pony and he is a part of my hoard as such he has no say in his care. He is mine. ”Because I will not allow you to get hurt again not with the ash illness of…”

“I AM A KEEPER!” Harmony roared, annoyed that He of Hourglass was doing this in front of so many witnesses. Harmony turned to walk back to his throne. “I will not stop doing my duty to satisfy your concern over an illness that is manageable.”

He of Hourglass angrily ground his teeth. A piece of my hoard is trying to get away… A single word escaped in a whisper. “Mine…” 

“Firstclaw?” He of Music whispered hoping that he heard wrong.

He of Hourglass stood up screamed “YOu belONg To mE. You aRE miNe!” As soon as it escaped He of Hourglass mind snapped back to normal and he knew was in trouble. The inner voice that started when he should have grown had managed to overtake his mind, and he welcome it too.

Harmony froze in mid step and all the dragons flinched. He of Music shuddered as what he feared could happen just did. Quartermaster and He of Music backup just a bit when they saw the look on Harmony’s face when he turned to face He of Hourglass directly.

“Twilight Sparkle, leave.” When Twilight heard Harmony use her name instead of using her Bearer ‘title’ she knew that something very bad was about to happen.

Her image flickered then disappeared.

“He of Hourglass I have some important information that I can only speak to the clan. Can you send Dragon of Black and Green Scales and Dragon of Orange Scales and Spikes back to Hourglass. This shouldn’t take long...”

The moment that the two dragons were teleported back to Hourglass via a portal all resemblance of a stoic Harmony left. His mane and tail whipped about in an invisible wind and his fur colors redden ever so slightly. “I CALL THE CLAN OF HOURGLASS TO JUDGEMENT!” Harmony yelled out stomping to his throne. He saw that seven of the lights over the back thrones had darkened to black while two went white.

Call to Judgement is accepted for the Dragon Clan of Hourglass. Quartermaster and He of Music looked about to try and figure out where the chanting voices were coming from. He of Hourglass knew exactly what the voices were and moved off of his throne knowing that he was not to be on it during Judgement.

“I had hoped it would not have come to this…” Harmony suddenly seemed to have the appearance of someone overworked and tired.

“He of…” He of Music began.

“Shut. Up.” Harmony snapped. He started to rub his head trying to suppress his anger enough so he could properly deal with the situation and to ease a bit his massive physical headache. 

“You do not have that authority.” Quartermaster growled out angry that he would be like this. He understood being angry at his Firstclaw but not to He of Music.

“I don’t,” Harmony sharp gaze went from Quartermaster and moved to He of Hourglass, “do I?”

“Firstclaw?!?” Quartermaster couldn't understand. There was nothing in the code that he knew of even in light of the slip up that would give Harmony such control over the entire clan.

“You are standing in a different plane and one that is under the control of the Council of Harmony not the Clan of Hourglass. If you think for a single moment that the Council can’t have authority over the clan it’s time you learn a few things.”

“I am, not He of Hourglass, the ‘Firstclaw’ of the Keepers.” This shocked both He of Music and Quartermaster. For Quartermaster it was another confirmation that his earlier assumption of dragon superiority was wrong. “Now, normally I can’t exercise said control as the Council must keep very loose control over itself. This is necessary in order for the Keepers to be able to do their jobs. For the most part I can’t tell He of Hourglass what to do. I can advise him, help him, but not give commands. A Keeper can fall into judgement if they are interfering without good reason in another keepers duty or if they do the opposite of their duty. That is deliberately causing disharmony that will clearly not bring about harmony. Kind of an oxymoron but there are times that disharmony will occur or increase as you are trying to bring about harmony.”

“The issue here is that your Firstclaw stepped out of line claiming that he could order me back to ‘safety’ because I was ‘his.’ He not only broke a very strict dragon code with high consequences, if I choose to act upon the violation, but he violated his duty to preserve, maintain, and foster harmony. I can’t do my duty if he forces me to abandon it because he worried I might die over a disease that can be managed. Now if it was not manageable I most likely would not have been able to place Keeper Judgement on him. Challenge him over the code violation, maybe, but not Keeper Judgment…”

“He Hourglass has a separate set of memories as a Keeper that are similar to the Dragon Heritage Memories that deals with all of this. Which he knows instinctively, don’t you Dragon Keeper?”

“Yes, Alicorn Keeper.” He of Hourglass stated, flinching slightly at Harmony using his keeper title.

“But...” Quartermaster objected again this time trying to stall in hopes of finding a way to get He of Hourglass out of this mess.

“Do you think I ignorant of the Code?” Harmony snapped. Three heads quickly shook their heads no. “Yes, there are parts that I have no information on either because I’m supposed to not know or I have not been able to get a dragon to tell me yet. He of Music you are the only one here that doesn’t know exactly why I had to struggle to get information that was my right. It was even harder to learn the parts that as someone who has passed the Rite of Guardianship I should and needed to know. One piece however I was able to get right off the bat…”

“The very first thing...The very first thing I asked about when I learn I was to have a hoard was what kind of hoard I could have. I was trying to find a way to continue in my duty as the Alicorn Keeper… I asked about whether it was possible to have sentient creatures in it. I was advised to not do that and THAT IS WHY!”

An image shimmered in front of the dragons.

It first showed He of Hourglass from earlier. A snarl on his snout and his eyes were slitted and had started to redden. The image He of Hourglass then spoke in a demonic voice. “YOu belONg To mE. You aRE miNe!”

The image of He of Hourglass faded and another took its place. That next image showed the now dead rage dragon skinned, quartered and what was left of the head was nearby pounded into near mush. The fate of any dragon that died in dishonor. 

“I was warned to have a material hoard not only because having a sentient hoard was frowned on because it vastly increases that chances of the dreaded Beast growth. Right?”

When He of Hourglass didn’t respond like he wanted Harmony yelled out. “RIGHT!?”

“Yes, Alicorn Keeper.” He of Hourglass responded.

“But…” Harmony soften his voice. “I was also told that the dragons that managed to overcome that weakness were the most courageous, understanding, and wise of dragons. From what I’m told is that nearly every dragon that mentioned in the Dragon Heritage Memories have names that reflected an intangible hoard.”

“He of Hourglass your hoard name has a meaning that is intangible. My placement in your hoard will remain long after I’m dead, why? Because your hoard isn’t about the tangible me, the what I am as a pony and alicorn but because of who I am as your friend and brother.”

“I have no idea why you broke the code. The only thing I can think of is that there is something that I don’t know about dragons… I’m positive you really didn’t want to say what you said because you was able to stop the initial stage very, very quickly.” 

Harmony lifted a hoof which stopped He of Hourglass as he had opened his mouth to speak. “Don’t break anymore code if I’m not suppose to know.”

Harmony sighed putting a hoof this still aching head. “This is my judgement. You are to socialize with the two dragons that are now in the care of your clan. He of Music feel free to socialize with them as well. It might help us find a way to help them. He of Hourglass is to take the lead however. For an hour each day, He of Hourglass, you are to meet with a different bearer to do whatever I don’t care. They are to take the lead in whatever they plan to do. Keep teaching the Bearer of Magic anything you think she needs to know about dragons but you are to spend an hour with her a week that is not about dragons. This is to continue until I’m satisfied that you are able to keep your greed over me under control.” 

“Is the council in agreement with this?”

The all the sparks changed to white.

The Council agrees with the Judgment.

“Council dismissed.” With that Harmony got off his throne and walked slowly to the council doors not even looking at He of Hourglass. He was about to open the doors when he turned around to face He of Hourglass who was now on his knees still facing the thrones. Quartermaster and He of Music were on either side trying to console him as best they could. “Oh, and by the way, I have been aware for some time that you were trying to sneakily find out more about my illness. I’m not stupid. Discord did that all the time when I had my Magic Wasting Disease. He failed and he has way more years of experience then you do so do yourself a favor and drop it. You will not get the information you are looking for.”

“Come Quartermaster, we need to get back.” When Quartermaster hesitated leaving his Firstclaw He of Music nodded for him to follow Harmony as He of Hourglass was unresponsive.
> Consequences
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------



He of Music,

Ugh. I sometimes hate trying to communication this way but I don’t want to get He of Hourglass involved to do this face to face.

I have seen bits and pieces of his true self come out but he needs to be out of the library. I know you know what his real song is and I trust you can find a way to get it to come out. And please try to keep him from hiding his problems which I’m sure didn’t help in this situation. He needs at least one confident that he can go to for help and you know it can’t be me because there are some things he will be unable to tell me.

Harmony



Eternal Beats sighed as he quickly flamed the scroll from Harmony away. Here goes nothing...

“Firstclaw? It’s time to come out. Harmony wants you to begin your socialization with the Dragon of Black and Green Scales and the Dragon of Orange Scales and Spikes.” He really hated to enter Golden Heart’s hoard without permission but he had a job to do and that was to get Golden Heart out of the library by any reasonable means. With a gulp he entered the library.

“He of Hourglass? Firstclaw?” Eternal Beats asked as he slowly opened the door to Golden Heart’s Hoard Chamber.

Golden Heart was facing away from the door lying on his hoard bed. The desk that usually was next to it was in pieces next to the far wall. 

“I have lost him and I don’t even know him…” He sadly mused out loud not acknowledging Eternal Beats’ presence.

“What do you mean?”

“He has been around since I chose nearly nine months ago. And yet, I hardly ever really just ‘shoot the breeze’ with him… Usually it’s Keeper related...”

Golden Heart sat up and faced Eternal Beats. “You were right to be worried about not growing… It made the animal within that comes out frustrated and instead of being satisfied at the end of the growth spurt allowing our minds to reassert it stuck around... I… I… wanted it… I may lose myself and the thing is I want to lose myself. I want to be a dragon and take He of Harmony into my library and never let him go… as is my right… My mind slowing changing I no longer think of him as a friend but merely a thing that is mine.

If He of Music wasn’t already white all the color would have left his face. He could feel the distortion of Golden Heart’s song. He needed to get him back from the brink… again.

“Yes… mine...” Golden Heart rubbed his hand together, hungrily.

Eternal Beats angrily slammed his tail on the library floor startling Golden Heart off his hoard bed. “WHY DO YOU THINK HARMONY IS HAVING YOU DO THIS! YOU ARE GOLDEN HEART...  SLOZSZELTS SIRTS! What does your name mean?”

“You know exactly what it means.” Golden Heart snapped as he got up off the floor.

Eternal Beats clutched his head in frustration. Of course I knew what your name means!!! “What. does. your. name. mean!”

Golden Heart grumbled before he answered. “A heart that is like gold purified by heartfire.”

“Exactly, and if you let yourself become the beast your heart will know only hate, rage, and greed. Everything that would not purify aka strengthen your friendship with Harmony or anyone else for that matter. It will only tarnish it, and tarnish gold is not as valuable. No self respecting dragon wants to have a hoard that becomes less valuable.”

“What have I done! What was I thinking!” Golden Heart wailed as he realized that his clanmate was right. “I’m a horrible dragon!!!”

Eternal Beats eyes rolled before he started singing. 

Don’t let the mistakes and sorrows of your past hold you back
Because when you feel like nothing going your way
Take one step back and two steps forward

Eternal Beats smiled as he was really liking his new singing voice. He even almost lost focus as he admired it.

Don’t think about the past, the future is around the corner.
Now take one step back and two jumps forward
The future is right around the corner and you’re one step closer

The past is only the past, 
so we have to move onto the future cause its within your grasp
Now take it and never let go

“Thank you.” Golden Heart whispered as he grabbed Eternal Beats into a bone crushing hug. Eternal Beats took this time to listen to his Firstclaw’s song could hear that the distortion was fading away. 

Eternal Beats finally pulled away from the hug and started for the door. “Let’s go Firstclaw, all this serious talk is really not my style…”

“Of course not…” Golden Heart couldn’t help but roll his eyes. “Your style seems to only consist of leaning back on a tree branch and play or sing whatever comes to mind for hours…”

Eternal Beats looked downcast at that. “I’m too heavy for that now…”

Golden Heart smirked. “Let me guess… you tried it and the branch came crashing down?” 

When Eternal Beats rubbed the back of his head chuckling a bit nervously Golden Heart realized it was worse. “It was the whole tree!??!?” With the straightest face that he could muster, which was very hard at the image of Eternal Beats knocking down a whole tree, Golden Heart suggested, “Let’s go tell Dragon of Black and Green Scales and Dragon of Orange Scales and Spikes.” 

Eternal Beats narrowed his eyes. “You wouldn’t dare.”

Golden Heart gave his best fake innocent smile before whispering, “Try me.”

As Golden Heart slyly walked past Eternal Beats, Eternal Beats could hear that Golden Heart’s song was back to normal and even seemed brighter than before. He breathed a sigh of relief before he finally registered what his Firstclaw had said. “FIRSTCLAW!!!!” He screamed in fake anger before he ran off after him, laughing.





Harmony slowed his flying to get his bearings and as he did he noticed that again Metal Claws avoided his gaze. “You have been looking away anytime I merely glance in your general direction. Don’t try to lie.”

“I… It’s… I’m worried about my Firstclaw and.... I…” Metal Claws rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

“Still have feelings of shame from your past treatment of me and afraid of me over what I did about He of Hourglass yesterday?” Harmony sighed, normally he would let this run its course, but they didn’t have the time for that. He spotted a good area to land and began to glide down towards it. “Come, I think I should start training you so when the next beast growth dragon shows up you will have a fighting chance to kill it.”

Within minutes they landed in the clearing that Harmony had spotted. “Before we begin you need to actually listen for once… You know as much of I do that He of Hourglass risked the dishonor mark yesterday, but it never crossed my mind…. I just couldn’t... but something needed to be done or…” Harmony could no longer form any words as he started sobbing uncontrollably. He was so worried about Golden Heart. He couldn’t bear losing him after losing Spike.

He’s like an alicorn version of Golden Heart… “Harmonious Knight… brother… I,uh...” Metal Claws tried to find a way to console Harmony but found that he had no words. Between his shame and fear of him he wasn't sure how or what could help.

A scroll popped in front of Harmony and he stopped crying to read its contents. Metal Claws shook his head in amusement as by his count this was his eighth scroll today, and it wasn’t even noon yet. A small chuckle from escaped Harmony before he popped the scroll away. When he looked up he saw Metal Claws looking amused. Harmony was sure it was because he had gotten another scroll. “What? Can’t I correspond eight times in one day?”

“Don’t answer that.“ Harmony flashed the scroll away. “Let’s get started, shall we?”

Metal Claws reluctantly got ready as he knew how skilled of a fighter Harmony was. He gulped as Harmony started off by charging right at him without warning. Not expecting this, he only had a second to raise his arms in defense. Harmony hoof slammed into his poor defense and he fell backwards and onto his tail from the force of the punch.

Harmony stood over Metal Claws and shook his head in disappointment. “What are you? A tree?!?  Don’t stand so stiffly, and stagger your legs so that one is slightly in front of the other.”
 
Harmony helped the dragon to his feet then moved the appropriate distance from Metal Claws before barking out, “Again.”

This went on over and over for nearly an hour. Again and again Metal Claws would get knocked down only to be told to try again. Understandably Metal Claws frustration was beginning to build to rage. “How is being slammed on my tail repeatedly supposed to help!?”

Harmony looked at Metal Claws angrily. “With an attitude like that it’s no wonder dragons hide away in caves afraid that someone will discover that dragons are a bunch of wimps and not the apex predator that they claim to be.”

Metal Claws growled in anger at Harmony insulting dragons. How dare he insult dragon kind. He rushed Harmony claws ready to slash. Harmony just yawned as he watched the dragon run right at him. He stopped both clawed hands with his hooves which startled Metal Claws. The dragon didn’t have a moment to do anything else before Harmony flipped knocking down him down with his back hooves.

“Again.” Harmony commanded.

Metal Claws slowly got to his feet. This time he used his tail and fists randomly in an attempt to catch the alicorn off guard. Harmony seemed bored as his casually blocked or avoided every punch and tail swipe. Again Harmony insulted him. “You call yourself a dragon? I’ve had bunnies give harder punches then you.” 

Metal Claws roar was cut off by Harmony knocking him on his snout with a crouching spin.

“Again.” He shouted once Metal Claws got to his feet.

Now Metal Claws was furious, and he was not going to let Harmony win. He started off with a fake slash with his right claws with a uppercut right behind with his left. Harmony saw this and smirked as he blocked them with ease. “You are nothing but a namby-pamby, weak, useless, liz-ard.” Harmony barely got the insult out before he was hit square in the jaw by a red scaled fist.

Harmony tumbled back several feet before his back slammed into a boulder. His ears rang and his vision blurred for a moment. He rubbed his jaw before falling back to four legs. He got a good punch in… nice. Now let’s see if my plan worked.

Metal Claws lowered his right clenched fist before he raised his head. From the look on his face Metal Claws was beyond livid as smoke leaked out between his clenched teeth. “You... YOU… I SHOULD END YOU!” 

“Finally! This is the Metal Claws I know.” Harmony exclaimed as he shook off the dirt from his fur.

Metal Claws fire died as he blinked in confusion at Harmony’s statement before he realized what Harmony was trying to do. “You did this to get me to hit you in rage?!! Why?”

“It was two fold. You needed to regain your confidence and you need to be able to fight without letting your rage overpower you. Did it work?”

“Yes, it did, outsider.” Metal Claws smirked, cracking his knuckles.

Harmony frowned at the use of the term outsider before he realized that he was being messed with. Readying himself to start sparring again he proclaimed, “Oh, it is on!”
> How Dragons Mate
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Harmony was impressed at the rapid improvement of Metal Claws over the past week. When it came to fighting he was a very fast learner. Harmony figured that he would have to stop holding back any day now and that maybe in a week the dragon would finally be able to prove to be a challenge. It will be nice to have someone to be a challenge so that I can improve my own skills.

Or maybe not… Harmony thought when his hoof connected unexpectedly when Metal Claws suddenly looked around. “Focus, Metal Claws…”

“Sorry He of Harmony, I…” What is that smell? It’s as if I should know it...

“Metal Claws?” Harmony questioned when he saw Metal Claws forked tongue flicked out. What is going on?

Metal Claws only growled as his mind started to change. Thoughts of sex and female dragons invaded his mind and he wanted it. Metal Claws started to drool at those thoughts. Must find mate. Mate smell good. Must have sex. Sex good. His tongue flicked out as he attempted to to find where this female was. He turned toward the forest flicking his tongue again. Mate there.

“Damn it, Metal Claws! What is going on!?” Harmony yelled after the dragon now pushing his way through the underbrush and into the forest.
Harmony quickly composed a message and sent it off before rushing into the forest after the dragon.



HELP! something wrong with qm  
harmony council   
will allow image and sound of what i see   
bring writing stuff



Gah, he his fast! Harmony grunted as anything branch smacked against his muzzle as he struggled to keep up with Metal Claws.

A scroll suddenly popped up in front of him almost causing him to smack into a tree.



Speak.



“QM and I... Sparring… Something distracted him….  Tongue flicked out... Growled. Ran into forest. Following.” Harmony panted out as he dodged obstacles while trying to keep up with Quartermaster.



Sounds like he his smelling a potential mate nearby. Keep your distance, because if there is another male dragon nearby that also smells her as a potential mate it could get dangerous.



“Lovely…” Harmony deadpanned as he picked up his speed again as he noticed that Metal Claws was getting out of sight.

After a few minutes more Metal Claws suddenly stopped. Harmony had to dig in his hooves to get to a stop while not getting too close. From the actions of the dragon it was clear he was spying on something or someone.  Harmony moved around so that he could also see what the dragon was seeing. He saw that Metal Claws had stopped at the edge of a wide meadow with a cliff face on one side.

Quartermaster started to stalk a female dragon in the clearing. Harmony stay backed to observe. His potential mate is a sea serpent dragon?! I would not have never thought that he of all dragons… He could already see He of Music being amused by the irony of it.

He ignored Quartermaster for a bit to get a better look at the female. Her scales were a light, almost powdery, robins egg blue and her belly scales, in stark contrast, was a rich ruby red. What an odd coloration combo… Her wavy, hair-like head spines were a glossy black. A small red horn jutted up from the tip of her snout and tuff of the same wavy, black spines stuck out at the end of her tail. Like all sea serpents, even at her young age, she was walking on four legs.

His eyes then went wide in shock when he noticed something else about the female. “She’s only a whelp!”



So? It is typical for a female dragons to be mated when she is a whelp.



“What!?” Harmony whispered-yelled. A feeling of revulsion nearly caused him to see his breakfast.



You weren’t told of this?! You should have been told that given that your sibling would have most likely been female. (If your magic affected the egg like dragon fire would)



“No…” Harmony shook his head still fighting back his nausea. “I had enough troubles getting any information as it was...”



Well, it’s because a female that becomes a mate before she has a chance to choose has a stronger bond with her mate. So when a female dragon becomes a whelp she will produce pheromones to attract a mate.

 

“Makes sense, even if it seems…” Harmony couldn’t suppress a shudder “...a bit wrong to me…



I can say the same about pony herds.



“Touche.” Harmony conceded. 

Quartermaster finally made his move on the female dragon. He didn’t get far before the female roared in annoyance and shoot out a stream of her red flame right at him. Quartermaster ducked to his hand and feet to avoid it. He growled angrily at being rejected so quickly.

Quartermaster pawed the ground and Harmony watched as his arms twisted to become forelegs. His buck front teeth straighten so they no longer poked out of his snout at a bent angle. The quill part of his fin-like spine doubled in length and a few even sprouted along his back where they once weren’t anything. His wings expanded in size along with the rest of him. He was now the size of He of Music

“Whoa, did I just see that?”



Yes, you did… it’s possible for Quartermaster to fully grow before this is done. It really depends on the female and/or if there is a fight for her… But there doesn’t appear to be any male nearby that attracted to her scent.



“Thats good then.”



I said doesn’t appear it’s too soon to be sure…



Harmony bit back a curse before returning his attention back to the dragons.

Quartermaster had just roughly grabbed the female. He then forced her into what seemed to be a kiss but he was blasting his tanish-orange flame into her mouth.

“Is he nuts? Shooting flame like that into her mouth could kill her!”



That flame is not the usual flame… He’s trying to overpower her inner flame with his own



“He can actually do that?”



No, he can’t, not without killing her, but right now he doesn't know that...



“So, his mind is completely animalistic then?”



If I understand the Memories correctly, yes.



Harmony couldn’t help but chuckle at the female who had just slashed at Quartermaster. He let go of her in his attempt to avoid her claws. Again his size increased as he went after the retreating sea serpent roaring his discontent.

Quartermaster roared in pain. Harmony couldn’t help but wince. A claw to an ear would do that. This only angered Quartermaster as he roared a challenge, quickly doubling his size as he did. It appeared that he was now full sized as the female could easily fit in his mouth now with some room to spare. The now full sized dragon roared into the sky his flame going hundreds of feet into the sky. The female gazed him with an odd look in her eyes.

“Oh no, I know that smell…” Harmony stated with dread.



Then she has chosen to accept him as a mate. All that’s left is for them to join their souls together.

 

“I can’t tell what seems more embarrassing: having to watch this or having you explain what is going on…”



Then I wont tell you that it’s common and expected for other dragons to watch the miracle of mating.



“You just had to write that, didn’t you…” Harmony facehoofed, knowing that He of Hourglass had to laughing his tail off over his embarrassment.

Harmony didn't want to see this part as it would be extremely embarrassing for him to watch. The act that was about to happen he considered a private act even if it was being done in the open… He was beginning to turn away when another scroll popped into existence to stop him.



Keep. Watching.



“You weren’t kidding, were you, about the watching?” Harmony hug his head in defeat. ”Ugh… The things I do.” I think there are some things about dragons I think I rather never know…or see...



Given your earlier embarrassment keep your gaze at their heads because looking anywhere else



Harmony didn’t even finish reading before he responded, “Not going to be a problem…”

Quartermaster was about to lunge at the female again when he suddenly backed up a bit in confusion. The female instead of trying to get away was now charged right at him. She got right up to him and roared. Quartermaster seemed taken aback at the change in behavior. He whimpered as she roared again, shooting a small stream of flame at him. He lowered his head onto the ground. She stalked right up to his clenched mouth and smacked his beak like lips. He obediently opened his mouth and as he did the female sea serpent open her mouth and a stream of her ruby red fire flowed into his open maw. 

As she poured her own flame into Quartermaster showed no further signs of resistance (If the tongue rolling out of the side of open jaw dripping with saliva was any indication). Harmony jaw cropped as he noticed that she was beginning to grow to match Quartermaster's size. 

Quartermaster then roughly shoved the growing female down and straddled her. She responded by wrapping herself around him. Harmony doubled his focus trying to keep his eye off the regions of the dragons anatomy he was not wanting to see.

As he watched, both dragons started forcing their fire into each other at the same time. To Harmony it seemed odd as the fire was mixing together instead of repelling each other like normal. Something else about the flames really caught Harmony’s attention. “Did I just see their flames change color?”



Yes, remember when Quartermaster tried to overpower She of Hourglass’ inner flame? That was the draconic animalistic urge to hoard. Here, though, it’s the opposite. His flame will forever be her red color as it is her flame just as She of Hourglass’s flame is his tanish orange. They literally exchanged their inner fire.



“Whoa…”Harmony couldn't help but being awed at that. No wonder mated dragon pairs are so close, and why dragons have an issue with polygamy that is common or expected in some cultures. “I have seen dragons with different colored flame then their scales but I had not considered this was the reason…”



Dragons can change the color of their flames but usually don’t as it takes a lot of mana every time they breath that flame. It’s mainly used in feats of magical or flame prowess.



“I have seen a few of those contests during the Migration. Though, I admit, I never paid too much attention, given my inability to do dragon magic... or breath fire.”

Quartermaster suddenly roared in triumphant before biting down on his mate’s neck. His now ruby red flames leaked out a bit in his climax. This caused She of Hourglass to shudder a gasp of tanish orange flame escaping her mouth.



Let me know when they are done. It would be nice for She of Hourglass to meet her fellow clanmates.



“Ugh…I take it I can turn away from this now... Harmony then added, mostly to himself, “I think I might need a memory washing before the day is over.” More like a memory erasing magic bomb… He added as he tried to ignore the sounds of the dragons beginning to rut again.





The sun was low in the sky when Harmony awoke to the sounds of something large approaching. He looked around to that it was Quartermaster and his mate who had her long neck wrapped around Quartermaster's. Harmony yawned and stretched, glad for the nap. He was excited to meet She of Hourglass even though he was still a bit embarrassed over being forced to be a spectator of the ‘act.’

Harmony smiled as looked up at Quartermaster and She of Hourglass. He couldn’t help but show his joy for the two of them. He tilted his head when he noticed that Quartermaster seemed a bit embarrassed. Why would he be embarrassed? If what He of Hourglass said was right he should have no shame in his actions. She of Hourglass slowly unwound herself from him before nudging him gently

Quartermaster sighed. He knew the message his mate was giving him. “He of Harmony, sorry about running off without warning like I did. I wasn’t myself at the time.” Quartermaster spoke his voice now deep, rumbling, and raspy just like most fully grown dragons. He nodded to She of Hourglass next to him. “This is my mate She of Hourglass.”

“Evening, He of Harmony.” She spoke with the voice of chiming bells.

“Whoa…” Was Harmony’s response at the sound of Quartermaster’s mate voice. He knew that sea serpents tending to have softer voices over other types of dragons but he didn’t expect her voice to be so musical.

“I know.” Quartermaster looked lovingly at his mate. He flicked a tongue at her causing her to giggle.

“Keep her away from He of Music.” Harmony commented lightheartedly.

“And what is that suppose to mean, outsider?” Quartermaster shoved his snout at Harmony who was barely able to remain standing from the onslaught of the snout coupled with the hard look that the dragon was giving him..

Harmony gulped while She of Hourglass giggled at his apparent misfortune. 
> Path of the DragonWyrm
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Second Day of Judgement




“I brought a cake so we can celebrate properly!” A party cannon went off behind Pinkie, showering the Friendship Council with confetti. She giggled and then pulled out the mentioned cake from her mane.

It was a sheet cake decorated with diamonds and sapphires with the words ‘Happy-first-successful-defense of-hoard-and-first-growth-now-a-quadruped-dragon EB’ on it.

“How?!?” He of Hourglass puzzled. How she would know that? Then he noticed the initials on the cake. “EB?”

“She knows my Hoard Name.” EB grinned as he explained. “It’s her special ‘nickname’ for me.”

“Eeyup.” Pinkie Pie mimicked Big Mac, giggling. Then Pinkie Pie slide the cake forward and it somehow appeared in the Council of Harmony Chambers.

“Ba…” He of Hourglass brain went full tilt.

EB laughed at He of Hourglass’ confusion. He knew exactly how Pinkie was doing what she did but he wasn’t going to spoil it. “Don’t even try. Harmony’s Bearer of Magic tried once and it didn’t turn out well.”

“Now, before we dig in, I heard that you have been having ‘issues.’”  Pinkie accented the last word with a conspiratorial whisper and hoof quote.

He of Hourglass frowned a bit at the reminder of his recent lack of judgement and control. He felt so much shame in breaking the code but this punishment was not helpful. It felt like Harmony  hated him. While he like the Bearers he was not please being forced to socialize with them. And how is this going to help him control his greed over Harmony? Greed was a natural part of being a dragon. 

”So…. we need to turn that frown uuuuuupside down! EB? You have an idea?”

EB smiled wide as he pulled his bass guitar off his back and sat back on two legs starting to play. Pinkie Pie started to sing.

A true, true friend helps a friend in need
A friend will be there to help them see

EB now joined in with her.

A true, true friend helps a friend in need
To see the light that shines from a true, true friend

Pinkie Pie danced a bit then pointed to He of Hourglass with her hoof before she started the first stanza.

Harmony said you needed help
You’ve been trying hard, doing what you can
Would you try, just give it a chance
You might find that you'll start to understand

A true, true friend helps a friend in need
A friend will be there to help them see
A true, true friend helps a friend in need
To see the light that shines from a true, true friend

He of Hourglass was tearing up at the feeling of friendship just gushing from the two singers. Now EB took a turn singing a stanza.

You are in trouble
We are here by your side
We can try to do what we can now
For together we can be your guide

He of Hourglass could no longer deny the pull of the very powerful soul song from two naturals and joined in during the final chorus.

A true, true friend helps a friend in need
A friend will be there to help them see
A true, true friend helps a friend in need
To see the light! (To see the light!)
That shines! (That shines!)
From a true, true friend!

“It’s an oldie, but a goldie…Pinkie zipped up next to He of Hourglass, put a hoof to the side of her face, and loudly whispered, “Actually the author was too lazy to come up with a completely new song.”

“What?” Both dragons questioned to which EB added. Okay, that, wasn’t soul song magic...




One week later.




“Can I be frank Golden Heart? What we are doing is only a stopgap. I admit I don’t know what goes on inside the mind of a dragon and never will. However I have been thinking for the past week on this and I think I know how to help you.”

Golden Heart was a bit annoyed that a piece of his hoard was giving him advice but he swallowed his pride just enough to ask, “How?” The change in his mind started to creep back in. Mine.

“Tell me about Harmony.”

“Huh?” Golden Heart scratched his head, confused. “Well he’s a Keeper… uh…an alicorn...”

“No, no no nonono….” Twilight shook her head. “That is what he is… Let’s try this a different away. What is his favorite food? What does he like to do when not about Keeper business? What are his dreams and aspirations. Who does he look up to?”

Golden Heart blinked then looked down in shame. This was all the answer that Twilight needed. Now she knew exactly how to help him.

“You are Golden Heart right? I suspect a simplistic meaning of it being similar to the phrase ‘having a heart of gold?’”

“It’s crude, but close enough.” Golden Heart grumbled. Now she doing the ‘what does your name mean’ routine. I already got that from He of Music...

“Then you aren’t hoarding the wrong thing about Harmony?”

“What do you mean?”

“You are hoarding the what of Harmony not who Harmony is to you as a friend or brother...” Twilight stop talking seeing that Golden Heart was deep in thought.

She’s right… but to be my name I need a bond with someone… I must have more of him for he is mine… No... that’s not it… how can I have more of him? The only thing I truly have of him is the bond we share as brothers, as colleges, as friends … The bone we share….. Mine... the bond is mine. Yes, mine. In that moment, Golden Heart mind and heart irrevocably changed. His greed rose to new heights and he was glad as he knew his greed would never diminish again. Before he would avoid using the word mine with force behind it when talking about his hoard. He knew he never would be so weak about his hoard again. For what dragon would be? He couldn't understand why he didn’t say it like that before, at all times. 

Thinking of his hoard as his was intoxicating. He also couldn't believe he ever allowed anyone tell him how to hoard. He knew exactly the right way to hoard. Yes, I am dragon. I alone know how to properly hoard my hoard. A shiver of ecstasy went over him as he thought that. I will protect the bonds I share with others. No one shall take those bonds from me without my okay. NO ONE. Those bonds are “mine.”

“Golden Heart!” Twilight trembled as she thought he was going into the growth again. What she didn't know was this was different. “You have to fight back don’t let it take over you-”

“I AM DRAGON! DO NOT PRESUME TO LECTURE A DRAGON ON HIS HOARD!” Golden Heart roared at her before ending the connection from his end.

Twilight shivered in fright not only at the roaring dragon but the fact that the dragon said ‘mine.’  She had just enough sense in mind to quickly send an error filled note to He of Music. She didn't have time to have her usual care with it as she knew that every millisecond would count.



Hhe of Music Help!

he of Hourglass is goin into the initial stage agan and think its evolvg past tat.



A long, scary moment later, the signal on Spike’s old throne pulsed. She quickly tapped the center and the image of the Hourglass Council returned with He of Music smiling. 

He of Music was calm as he spoke, “He’s not going into the beast growth that I can assure you.”

“It sure sounded like it was…”

“Tell me word for word of what was said in the moments before.”

Twilight used a calming technique that she was taught long ago. Slowly, but surely, she told He of Music everything.

“Well, this is good news actually… And it confirms what I heard from his song.” He of Music inwardly was miffed that when he tried the whole ‘what does your name mean’ routine he had failed but she didn’t… Maybe it was the way I went about it?

“Good... NEWS!!! HOW COULD THAT HAVE BEEN GOOD NEWS!??” He of Music was about to answer when Twilight again yelled, “GOOD NEWS?!”

“Since you witnessed slash caused it I will try to explain…” He of Music rubbed his head sheepishly as he couldn't think he could... but he said he would try... “Uh, but, how will I put this in a way that you, as a non dragon, would understand… It doesn't help that you are not as well verse in dragon ways as Harmony is...”

“He is maturing as a dragon… and in this case he has matured in how to hoard.”

“Mature in how he hoards!? What does that mean?”

“I don’t truly know, I have not matured in the way of hoarding yet… I just know what it looks and sounds like... To be frank, most dragons don’t ever mature in hoarding.”

“Why don’t they?”

“It’s one thing to know it here.” He of Music pointed to his head before he pointed to his heart. “It’s another to know it here. A sign of a dragon becoming mature in something is when he or she takes something from his or her head to his or her heart. My guess most find it not worth the time or effort.”

“So is there a big difference then?”

“Yes. I will use Greed Growth as an example. When a whelp or hatchling goes through that growth (if they do) everything around them becomes just “things” to have with no rhyme or reason and they will just pile it all together not carrying if anything is damaged or not. Mature dragon hoarding is not that. It’s directed at special things that the dragon sees as valuable and he will take excellent care of it for however long he has it even if it can only have it for a short while.”

“Sounds just like normal adult dragon hoarding.“

“What did I say?!” He of Music facepalmed as Twilight was, as he figured, confused. “While I understand what hoarding is I still don’t know what it means to be mature in hoarding. I can only say that the difference from mature hoarding and immature hoarding is like the difference between an adult hoarding and a whelp or hatching in greed growth hoarding.”

“This is confusing… and makes little sense…Like Pinkie… Let’s just stop before my migraine gets worse.” Twilight popped a pill from her council room stash before tiredly sitting back down on her throne. “Can you at least tell me if He of Hourglass is safe from beast growth?”

“No, not by a long shot…” He of Music shook his head. “Not by a long shot… For now, the danger is past, but until the curse of the ‘Nameless One’ is lifted he is vulnerable. More so because it nearly happened once already.”

Twilight gave the usual laid back dragon that had just demonstrated a lot of wisdom a sly eye glance. “You know, you never seemed the type to be so knowledgeable.”

“I’m a quick study…” He of Music proudly stated.

“When you want to be?” Twilight asked, looking innocently.

“I am so going sic Pinkie on you for that.” Twilight paled visibly from He of Music’s threat and he smiled as he got the last laugh.




Present




“It seems so different now.” Quartermaster commented after he was flashed into the Harmony Council chambers.

“You are way bigger than the last time…” Harmony panted as the strain of teleporting a full grown dragon into the Council of Harmony, “and this is a joyous occasion and not marred by…” Harmony paused as he attempted to come up with the right world. He gave up quickly and just hoof quoted, “’bad things.’” 

Harmony then teleported She of Hourglass. She turned a bit green and Quartermaster gently rubbed her back to help ease her discomfort. Harmony then downed half a ash vial. The ash illness was beginning to annoy him more than the Magic Wasting Disease ever did.

A portal appeared and a moment later and He of Hourglass and He of Music stepped through. He of Music’s headphones were off his ears and it looked like he was struggling to resist the urge to got nuts again. He of Hourglass, however, seemed to Harmony to carry himself differently, with confidence. 

Did it work? Harmony wondered as he watched him.

It had been agreed on to allow She of Hourglass take the lead so she was the first to speak. “Hello He of Hourglass and He of Hourglass.” 

Harmony almost facehoofed. It was apparent that Quartermaster didn’t tell her about his problem. You just love to see me squirm don’t you Quartermaster? Harmony eyed Quartermaster who was trying to look innocent and failing miserably.

“Whoa…”  He of Music jaw dropped after hearing the musical sound of She of Hourglass’ voice. Harmony and He of Hourglass held their breath. They were not sure if He of Music was about to say something really stupid. “You sure know how to pick them Quartermaster.”

He of Music nearly yelped as Quartermaster put his head down in such a way so one of his large eyes look right at him. “I’m not sure whether to say thank you or smack you with my larger claws.” Quartermaster eyed He of Music for a second longer before he began to walk to the other side of the chambers where his mate was chatting with her Firstclaw.  As his tail went by it accidentally hit He of Music on the head. “Oops, sorry He of Music.” Quartermaster lied when He of Music roared at him. “Still getting used to my new body.”

Harmony shook his head in a mixture of amusement and annoyance. “Please, not here you two…For that matter, what is with you two? You never were like this before. You are starting to act like…” Harmony facehoofed as he stated the obvious reason, “actual clanmates.”

“He no longer has you as a target.” He of Music deadpanned, rubbing his aching head.

“Trust me, I’m still a target, but I know what you really mean.” Harmony smirked as he was now called outsider by Quartermaster as a teasing gesture and not an insult.

Harmony casually sat on his throne the dragons mingled. It was apparent to Harmony that He of Hourglass was going out of his way to talk to each dragon separately for a while. He especially spent quite a bit of time with the newly mated pair, together. Harmony could only think of it was about the shudder inducing ‘miracle’ he was forced to watch. The three dragons suddenly fall to uproarious laughter and somehow Harmony just knew it was about him being embarrassed.

After a while the dragons broke up with the mates showing signs of being overtired. He of Hourglass walked up to Harmony who was now resting on the floor. “We need to talk.”

“Sure. I assume privately, right?”

With a nod a portal opened and He of Music reluctantly stepped through. Harmony began the hard process of getting Quartermaster and She of Hourglass back. He of Hourglass noticed the sweat on the alicorn’s brow as he concentrated so he sent some of his sparks over and it boosted Harmony’s power enough so that he was able to teleport both dragons with ease.

“Thanks, Golden Heart, I needed that help.”

“Now, about that Judgement.”

Harmony suspected what was coming but still gave the customary, “What about it?”

Golden Heart eyes erupted in magic flames and he stomped right up to Harmony. “It is to end… NOW!”

Harmony tried to back up but his back legs gave out. He could do nothing but watch as the fire, enraged dragon eyes bored into him. But as he became transfixed on those eyes he realized that the fire was inside of him and that he was seeing the inner flame of the dragon’s soul through the eyes. He had only been under this gaze twice before and it meant that the dragon was about to say something from the heart not the head. This could only mean that Golden Heart was about to say something mature.

Golden Heart touched a claw to his heart and then touched a claw to Harmony’s heart. A light, like a cord, appeared connecting the alicon on one side and the spark dragon on the other.
“THIS IS MY HOARD!” Golden Heart held up the shimmering cord of light that connected the two. “THIS BOND IS A PIECE OF MY HOARD. NOT YOU. THIS.” He held up the bond again before he let the light cord fade away.

“I DONT CARE WHAT THE COUNCIL HAS SAID OR THIS PATHETIC PIECE OF LAVA SHIT YOU CALL A JUDGEMENT NO ONE TELLS ME, A DRAGON, HOW TO PROTECT MY HOARD!”

Golden Heart’s rage diminished enough for him to speak normally. “Mine. The bond is MINE. Mine to protect and mine to nurture.” He sighed as he collected his thoughts. “You are not dragon so I will explain this as best I can. Everytime I think or speak of my hoard there is force behind the word my or mine. I can’t even look at you or think of you… with... that... word… It’s just not possible as my mind can’t make the connections anymore. The only way I could is if I think of the bond we share then and only then can I say or think mine with any force or power. The key there is the bond we share.” 

“Dragons are magical creatures, He of Harmony, we mature magically physically and in certain magically mentally. Yes, we mature in the way all creature do with time and experience. However, there is a second maturing that a dragon goes through: his understanding of the dragon code… Magic maturing… uh, how to explain it?” Golden Heart put a hand to his forehead in thought before he dropped his hand in a clenched fist. “Gah! It is like trying to explain to a rock how to breath because without experiencing it you will have no grid for it... Uh, I guess all I can do is tell you the explainable part. The specific code that I broke when I said you were mine like some crazed whelp or hatchling in greed growth... I’m literally unable to break that code ever again… unless I succumb to the dreaded beast growth and I mean REALLY succumb.”

Harmony had waited for the dragon to finish as he knew that he would have had no chance to interrupt and to interrupt would have been detrimental to his health. It took a bit for his mind to start back up. He knew he needed to end the judgement because to Harmony great pride Golden Heart finally knew in his heart how to hoard. Hoard in the right way not hoard as most dragon incorrectly thought. “Judgement is rescinded… By the way, Golden Heart, I was told about this before… How else could I tell the difference between a beast growth ‘mine’ and a dragon mature in his understanding of hoarding ‘mine’? Kind of important for me to know so I didn't break code myself thinking that a dragon was entering beast growth when he or she wasn’t.”

“You knew... I… huh?” Golden Heart wasn’t expecting this. After what he found out earlier he figured that an extremely important (as in life or death) part of the code was not properly relayed to Harmony. But from what Harmony had said, this was not the case.

“I think you may have misinterpreted my whole ‘why you broke code speech’ when I said that I didn’t know what part of dragon that caused the breakage (as it wasn’t the challenge direction I was expecting) along with when I said you didn’t want to say ‘mine.’ I knew that you actually wanted to say mine but if I admitted that I knew that you really did... well…” Harmony and Golden Heart shuddered at the unspoken meaning. “I think, also, there was a desire to explain because of your earlier discovery of my lack of knowledge on how dragons mate and you thought that, again, an important part was not relayed to me like it should.”

“Remember I was warned about intangible hoards? When I was given that warning I MADE sure I had all the necessary knowledge. (I threaten a challenge.) I knew that because of the type of hoard you had that you were at very high risk for beast growth. I nudged you here and there when your immaturity or personality caused you to panic over my various illness or become upset in thinking you were useless.” Golden Heart blushed in embarrassment over the memories of those times. “I knew that pushing a dragon too far was not going to help. If anything, it would have increased your frustration because of your immature understanding and make you do something you would have regretted like challenge me. We both know how that would have ended. Sadly, I still failed and you went near beast growth on me.” 

Harmony was starting to tear up as he continued. “The judgement was my last, desperate attempt to get you to mature in your understanding of how to hoard before the beast growth overcame you. Giving you the mark could have shamed you into understanding the code but the bond between us would have broken. I’m a Keeper of Harmony, remember? My duty, like yours, is to bring about harmony not break it… if possible.”

Harmony started crying uncontrollably as his bottled emotions poured out. Golden Heart went up to him and hugged him. He knew that hugging Harmony would strengthen his bond and by extension increase the value of his hoard but he also knew it was the right thing to do nonetheless. After a bit Harmony stopped crying as he felt better. A warmth went over Golden Heart as he felt his hoard increase.

“Thanks, I needed that… I…”

A power came over Harmony like a tidal wave choking out what he was about to say. His eyes went white with arcane power. Golden Heart eyed him carefully not sure what was going on but not concerned enough yet to be spurred into action. Again, Golden Heart saw an image of a dragon in place of Harmony for a fraction of a second.

Why does that keep happening to him? Or maybe it’s just me... I swear I see a dragon for a split second but when I look it’s just He of Harmony…

Harmony rose in the air and pointed to the dragon. No more you are no longer to be the dragon known as Golden Heart for you are Golden DragonHeart. 

A rush of power overcame the dragon and he fell to his knees. Whatever was happening to him because of the power was painful, too painful to remain standing or to think. Thankfully, the pain was very short lived and after a few seconds it began to diminish. As the pain lessen enough for his mind clear, he no longer couldn’t see himself as Golden Heart anymore. And he had to invoke his name just like at his choosing.

“Yes, I AM Slozszelts CktüisSirts. I AM DRAGON!” He roared and a stream of green flame accompanied it.

The high from his new name quickly wore off as thoughts on how this could have happened swarmed in his mind. He just changed my name!? That name is never placed on a dragon unless he is chosen as worthy to take the Path of the DragonWyrm. How did he know that? Not only that but how was he able to invoke it!? How!? 

As control came back to Harmony and he slowly lowered himself back down, the only thing he could think of was. What in Tartarus did I just say!?! Before he could do anything else, however, he could feel the embrace of unconsciousness beckoning him.

I just got my hoard straighten out and he tries fainting… Golden DragonHeart facepalmed, the issue of the Path of the DragonWyrm forgotten. He waved his hand and a spark went right over the Harmony healing him. “Harmonious Knight, brother, are you okay?”

“Uh…” Harmony still felt very woozy as he answered. “Did somepony get the cutiemark of the pony that just ran me over?” 

“You just had to use a corny line…” Golden DragonHeart pulled Harmony into a headlock and gave him a noogie. “Yeah, you're okay.”

“Hey!” Harmony angrily protested, pulling himself out of the headlock. “Why’d you do that?”

“One, I believe it’s a sign of affection between two close males. Two, it was the easiest way to get you to snap out of your stupor. Three, I need more in my hoard and I will increase my hoard one way or another.” Golden DragonHeart smirked as he felt the warmth again.

Easiest my flank! Harmony thought before he asked for clarification on the last part. “We are talking about size and strength of the bonds that you already have? Like the one between you and me. Or are we talking new bonds?”

“Does this answer your question?” Golden DragonHeart grabbed Harmony for another noggie.

“Hey! I ought to…”

“What?” The dragon shrugged. “Will the poor baby waby pony colt do cry to his Bearer mommies?”

“Oh, you snarky little…” Harmony sneered before he noticed that the dragon was trying to get away. “HEY! GET BACK HERE!!!”
> Golden Journal #67
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


From the Journals of Golden DragonHeart, He of Hourglass, Firstclaw of the Clan of Hourglass, Dragon Keeper of Harmony.  
Entry # 67

(First day after name change)




I was way messed up with my journal keeping and so distant too. It was more of log of major events then a personal journal. There is hardly anything about my personal life and what happened in relation to my hoard for that day. (When I actually bother to journal) 

Speaking of my hoard, I have tried to get into contact with the Ascended One through both a letter and the spell in the council room but she had not answered either one. I hope she's just over busy and that she’s not avoiding me. I did kind of yelled at her. Well… more like roar. She’s too far away for my dragon hoard magic to tell me if my roaring affected the bond we have or not. I supposed I could ask He of Music to contact her through one of her friends… but that would be pushing. Bonds are never strong or will weaken if one sides pushes and I will not push. I want harmony in my bonds… huh I wonder if that is just my name or the fact that I’m a Keeper… probably both.

I now understand why I picked the library. The bonds that characters(fake or real) share with each other. The brotherhood between soldiers. The love between two lovers… Its a joy to read the books just to see how the writer created them and changed them over time.

I know that I need to get out but as He of Music is the only one here so currently there is little reason. (Given that my other clanmates are currently away to seek allies, clanmates, and to check for anything that could be attributed to the “Nameless One.”) I suppose I could work on cleaning up Hourglass but that would be a futile exercise by myself.

Speaking of He of Music, he is still asleep from yesterday’s events. Normally, he would be up given that he usually sleeps from early morning until early evening. I plan to stay up late tonight to get some time to get to know him better. I didn’t get much time yesterday. Between Quartermaster mating with She of Hourglass and the ‘meeting’ in the Council of Harmony with He of Harmony it was overly busy yesterday. 

I have some plans but I will give him the led on whatever he wants to do though I have a good guess. He came in about a week ago looking for a ‘how to book’ on music instruments. At the time I had not found one. (I have a large library) But after I matured in the hoarding code I just had to find one right away and tore through the library (carefully of course). I managed to find several. I will be taking them to him later tonight. I will leave them with him as those books will be excellent additions to his hoard. (I know that he has been needing to increase his hoard since his growth.)


> The Hatchling
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“There is general unrest in Traxti City, but I can’t make head or tails the source. The city is larger the Manehattan, multiracial, in neutral ground, and… between three major powers… If that city goes to Tartarus there could be war between those three and possible a fourth if the war damages the nearby sea with is likely... I might be able stop it but without knowing the source or sources…” Harmony paused as he rubbed his massive headache. 

“We need Discord… I suspect that the unrest has magical element to it, but as I no longer have harmony magic I can’t sense where (if there really is a magic element to it)… I could probably find the source with enough time… or not. I suggest that for now leave this up to Celestia until Discord is found or returns.

“I trust your judgement on this matter He of Harmony... I will send a scroll on what is going on in Traxti City as soon as we are finished here. Continue onward with guiding They of Hourglass. I just hope He of Laughter will be found soon… Okay, enough of this.” Golden DragonHeart pinched the brow of his snout. “It’s been a month since your last report and nearly three since we talked about anything not Keeper related.”

“Well, we do have an hour before I need to head off to meet up with They of Hourglass. It’s just so weird it’s like night and day with you. The whelp has truly become the dragon. Just three months ago you would have gone berserk over my injury… of course I had troubles getting you not to panic while I was in Equestria which is so not Traxti City. And no way could I have been able to have communication silence for a month.”

“You are going into lecture mode there…” The dragon commented trying not to smirk at one of Harmony’s quirks.

“I am?” Harmony blinked before he blushed an apology. “Oops…Sorry…”

Golden DragonHeart waved him off. “I’m fine with a couple months, because I know that my bond with you is strong enough to stand even with longer absences. Also we are heading into war injuries are the norm and death is also possible not just for you but for the entire clan. Which I would rather avoid, but I will not stop you or anydragon else from doing what is right... Still, a month or three without speaking is not the same to us as ones like the Ascended One’s friends…”

“Now who’s lecturing, brother?”

“I…” Golden DragonHeart facepalmed. Harmony started to laugh at him, and it didn’t take long for the dragon to join in.

After a long time they managed to stop themselves. Harmony couldn’t help but smiled at his brother. This is what family should be like. Golden DragonHeart smiled back at Harmony thinking the same thing.

His smile faltered a bit when he remembered something that he had been wondering about. “I have been meaning to ask, why do you keep calling me by my titles and not my name when we are alone?”

“Uh...” Harmony sheepishly rubbed the back of his head nervous over the reason, “because I’m a bit afraid of fumbling it.”

Golden DragonHeart raised an eyebrow, inviting Harmony to explain in more detail. “Well, Golden Heart was easy to say, but with your name now being Golden DragonHeart I find your name is not as easy on my tongue. I’m having troubles of the H part of the your name. I don’t think you would find it funny if I inadvertently called you Golden DragonTheart would you?”

“No, I wouldn’t have, but…” Golden DragonHeart suppressed a snort.” Dragon… *snort* ‘TH’eart? I…*snort* Bwahhaa...”

Harmony became flustered at this. I hope that he never finds out about what poison joke does to ponies… or does to me for that matter. Last thing I need is for him is to come up with a punny ‘nickname’ based on my name and side effect… and why does this sound familiar?





Harmony stepped out of the Council of Harmony and took off flying to the south. A glance at the sun’s position told him that he was running a bit behind schedule.

I hope Quartermaster isn’t waiting on me… Though I suspect he and She of Hourglass will find something to do and I don’t want to be around for that. They of Glowstone Caves were never as frisky… Harmony shuddered that his mind went that way faltering a bit in his flight.

What is that? Harmony wondered just as he managed to correct and focus on his flying. It appeared to be something or someone on the edge of the cliff ahead. The same cliff where he was to meet They of Hourglass. Judging from its movement it was definitely alive, but he was having troubles seeing what it was.

I really should have been a bit more careful in Traxi… Harmony, for the millionth time, chastised himself. At least my sight will fully return in a few days. Harmony rubbed each eye in turn trying to get his vision to clear further without losing any flight. A dragon hatchling? What is it doing on an edge of a cliff like that?

His answer came a moment later when the dragon took a running leap right off the cliff. Buck. Harmony cursed as he tore into a steep dive to catch the falling hatching. What was he thinking! Purposely jumping off the cliff! He’s not a whelp; he can't fly! 

The hatchling was nearly to the ground when Harmony was finally able to catch him in his magic. Harmony quickly shifted his flight and began to to flap hard to get both of them back to the top.

“What brown sticky feather are you doing!?” The black dragon cursed, thrashing about trying to get out of the grip of Harmony’s magic.

Harmony ignored the hard core griffon curse for the moment and stated as if it should have been obvious, “Saving your life, young one.”

Now that he wasn’t focused on saving the life of the hatchling, he could get a closer look at him. His voice had confirmed that. The hatchling’s primary scales was black. A beginnings of two horns peeked out from the top of his head. It appeared that his tail would be a mace with spikes when he grew up, but, as it was, it was hard to determine. When he finally let go of the hatchling he could see the grey blue underbelly scales.

“What were you thinking!!? Jumping off the edge of a cliff as a hatchling!” Harmony snapped as soon as said hatchling recovered from his rough landing on top of the cliff.

“None of your business.” The hatchling asserted, glaring at Harmony with his icy blue eyes.

“Your parents should have told you to not do something so stupid… For that matter, where are you parents?”

“None of your business.” The hatchling repeated in the same smug attitude as before.

“Can I at least get a name young one…” The hatchling gave him an annoyed look before Harmony face hoofed. “No…” Harmony waved his other hoof. “Don’t tell me…none of my business.”

“Well you can be taught… what a surprise.” He snarked.

The hatchling walked back to the edge of the cliff again and just as Harmony was preparing to catch him again he sat down with his legs hanging over the edge. Harmony barely made out a disappointed sigh. I get it... he wants his wings… He smirked. They always want to grow up so fast. There is something about him… a quality...

The heavy thumping sounds of an large flying dragon approaching got Harmony’s attention. This should be interesting… Harmony thought at the pending arrival of They of Hourglass.

“More of your friends?” The hatchling commented still looking out to the forest below.

“Something like that.” Harmony commented as the wind around them picked up as Quartermaster made his landing with She of Hourglass right behind him.

Quartermaster eyed the hatchling suspiciously. “Outsider, what is with you and wayward dragons?”

You have no idea... Harmony facehoofed. Wait, how did he know...

“Outsider!!??! Your name is Outsider!? Well, that explains a lot. Makes sense. You probably get run out of everywhere you go for butting in when or where you are not wanted!” The hatchling nearly lost his footed as the ground rumbled as Quartermaster stomped right up to him.

“No one, but, no one besides me calls him OUTSIDER!” Quartermaster roared full face at the hatchling. Somehow the hatchling managed to remain upright and smirking. This only infuriated him further to the point that that a glow could be seen coming from deep within Quartermaster’s open maw.

She of Hourglass wasn’t thrilled about the hatchling either but she needed her mate to calm down before he did something to make He of Harmony mad. She put a claw on his shoulder which was enough for him to lower his anger. He looked back at her, his anger melting to affection. He silently sent his thanks.

“It that all you got you big lug? A bunch of…” The hatchling’s further insulting was interrupted by something suddenly whacking the back of his head.

“Do you like barbecue?” Harmony asked sternly when the hatchling turned about growling at the alicorn.

“What kind of a stupid question is that, and why da’ hit me?” The hatchling was getting really annoyed at the intrusive whatever the guy was.

Harmony narrowed his eyes, getting his face right up into the hatchling's face. “You keep up your insults young one and you…”

“Black Ice.” Black Ice interrupted. He hated being called ‘young one.’ He also didn’t like his own name, but it was so much better than being called ‘young one’ over and over... He smirked when Harmony backed up, taken aback by his revelation… “Name’s Black Ice.” He repeated just to be sure he was heard and understood.

Harmony raised an eyebrow at his name. Black Ice? Can’t sure at this stage but he must be part Ice Dragon. He figured it was that or that he was from one of the arctic regions… Though it still meant there was a high chance of him being part Ice Dragon… No way he’s full Ice Dragon with that coloration. “If you keep up your insults, Black Ice, Quartermaster will make sure you are Black ASH.”

For a second Harmony could see genuine fear coming from Black Ice before it changed back to his usual smug self.  But there was something else that he saw. He wasn’t sure but there was something redeemable about what he saw. This hatchling was no Quartz. No, this Black Ice was a Garble. He just needs the right push… which means… sorry Quartermaster… also note to self: Keep him away from He of Music, Bearers of Joy and Loyalty, and most of all… Discord. Somehow I see him giving them ideas for pranks and... Harmony shuddered in fear before he got to the matter at hoof.

“I suggest if you want to live to choosing that you, at minimum, learn how to address a dragon properly. The red drake is Quartermaster and his mate, the sea serpent next to him, is She of Hourglass, and if you wish to remain on Quartermaster ‘good side’ call me He of Harmony.”

“And why should I give a damn about you or your rules?”

“Because, Black Ice, you are coming with us.” 

If Quartermaster had been drinking he would have done a spit take. This cursing, smug, rude hatchling is coming with us? What are you up to outsider? Whatever it is, though, I will follow along… for now.

“Bwhaha… I don’t think so.”

“That wasn’t a request. Quartermaster?”

“With pleasure.” He chuckled, cracking his knuckles before he roughly grabbed Black Ice.
> Kindness of an Alicorn
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Why am I getting so many scrolls from Quartermaster about a certain ‘hatchling?’” Golden DragonHeart grumbled.

“Yeah, we picked up a hatchling named Black Ice just south of Traxti City… right after we talked actually.” Harmony admitted. 

“You mean you picked up the hatchling.” Harmony blushed just a bit which confirmed the dragons contention. “Need I remind you that I do have final say about dragons becoming clanmates or living here in Hourglass? If what Quartermaster is reporting is correct you have a Quartz with you. I will not have a Quartz in Hourglass.”

“No, he is not Quartz…” Harmony sighed. How was he going to explain to Golden DragonHeart what he saw in Black Ice. “Minus his propensity to curse he reminds me of Garble. And if I must I shall live near the Oasis. There is just something about him that draws me to him. I have learned to trust my instincts when this happens.”

“Yeah, but you had to dishonor Garble to get him to see the error of his ways… There is no way I will have a dishonored here in Hourglass... At least not at this point. I doubt Quartermaster would be able to handle it and with the two amnesiac dragons here...”

“I don’t think I’ll need to go that far…” Harmony was sure that the same way Discord was saved so to would Black Ice. ”I think kindness will do wonders…”

The Dragon Keeper eyed Harmony hard for a while before he sighed heavily. “If you say so… He of Harmony I’ll trust you on this. You have yet to do anything that would make me think otherwise. Just don’t come to me complaining about Quartermaster if he goes berserk… You know, I can’t say for sure but Quartermaster’s ranting is almost as bad when He of Laughter...”

“Someone call my name?” A voice interrupted.

“Discord/He of Laughter!” Harmony looked around trying to find him while He of Hourglass facepalmed, sliding a bit down on his throne.

Harmony caught Discord eyes floating towards his throne before the rest of him slowly became visible. “You had both of us worried as we had no way of getting ahold of you when you ‘disappeared.’”

“Sorry. I thought that you like to do things on you own.” Discord casually flipped a weird shiny thin box with an image of Harmony being torn down the middle and the words Me, Myself, and Harmony above his image.

Harmony chose not to even roll his eyes at Discord for whatever fourth wall breaking he was doing. “I may, but what about He of Hourglass?! And now isn't the time for being a lone wolf.”

“Hm… you have a point… and lone wolf?” Discord snapped his tail. A loan scroll appeared in front which he promptly signed and handed to an anthropomorphic wolf in a business suit with a briefcase overflowing with paper money.

“Ugh…” Harmony facehoofed. And what is sad that I missed this... “Can you check out Traxti City for me…”

“Already there. I would have been there sooner but I was delayed near the Southern isles.”

“Anything from the Hydro Hourglass then?”

“Of the two times I checked, nothing. He has not left it, but as before, I don’t know why.”

“Do us a favor Discord and leave frequent reports here in the Council Chambers and I suggest you go write a letter for the Bearer of Kindness. I’m sure He of Hourglass will be more than happy to send it to the Bearer of Magic to pass it on.”

“Your friendly neighborhood firemail deliverydragon at your service.” Golden DragonHeart snarked rolling his eyes.




“Why do I have to ride you?” Black Ice complained fidgeting on Harmony’s back.

“Because you have irritated Quartermaster to his limit.”

“Whatever.” Black Ice shrugged before he nearly lost his balance digging his claws into Harmony.

Harmony held back a yelp from the sharp claws digging into his flesh. “Will you stop squirming it’s interfering with my flight.”

“Your fur... is itchy.” The hatchling explained.

“Well next time don’t annoy Quartermaster so much. You could have been lying on smooth scales… So buck up and shut up.” Harmony grumbled.

“Buck up?”

“I forgot that I probably was the first pony you'd ever seen. The phrase ‘buck up and shut up’ is basically a pony saying that means stop acting like a child and grow up.”

“I’m not a child!” Black Ice pouted.

“Your a hatchling. How are you not a child?” Harmony asked, hoping that he could use it get him to open.

“I was taking care of myself long before you came along…”

“How long?”

“Why do you care?”

“Because I can see an amazing drake inside of you.” 

“You’re just saying that…” Black Ice crossed his arms for a second before he quickly put his arms back on Harmony.

“I repeat. I see an amazing drake inside the dragon known as Black Ice.”

Black Ice had nothing to say in response to Harmony praise. No one ever before had ever thought of him like that. He was always reviled and shunned not only because he was a dragon but because he was also a street urchin. He could only vaguely remember having parents but that was so long ago.

Black Ice suddenly could feel an itch all over him again. What is going on?

“Will you stop?” Harmony grumbled as he could feel Black Ice shifting on his back. All of a sudden he felt the weight slide off of his back.

“Not again…” Harmony grumbled as he dived after Black Ice. He tried grabbing him in his magic but oddly his aura seemed to slip right off of the dragon like water. What the!?! I should be able to grab him…unless...

Black Ice grunted and his horns lengthened and as the the right horn lengthen it twisted around the left one. As Harmony had earlier predicted his mace tail became spiked as long sharp spikes sprouted from it. His muzzle lengthen to a beak-like point and his claws sharpened. The typical baby fat stomach flatten as his body grew to whelp size. His tail lengthen to a quite a long tail. 

A pair of larger then normal wings sprouted from his back as the last change and Black Ice spun around as those grew in. The new whelp mock saluted Harmony before he corkscrewed away. Well no wonder he was so eager for his wings his a natural... well technically dragons are naturals but not like this. 

“Well at least he can fly on his own now.” Harmony commented as Quartermaster lowered his flight next to him.

“I fail to see how that is a good thing, Outsider.” Quartermaster countered watching the new whelp whoop and holler in celebration. 

“You’re right! It's worse! Now he will be impossible to control.” Harmony panicked.

“Like he was before?” Quartermaster rolled his eyes.

“Leave the snarky to Black Ice…”

“Twixt’d.” Came a high tenor voice to Harmony right.

“GAH!” Harmony’s flight path stumbled from being startled. He turned his head to face the grinning whelp. “Must you do that!”

“Yes. I do.”

Well at least he’s unable to do magic… we don’t need a Discord wannabe on this trip. “Twixt’d eh?” Harmony smirked. He was quite impressed as from his experience very rarely do whelps choose such a good name. “Great name. One of the best I have ever heard.”

“Think you can break him again?” Quartermaster chuckled as Twixt’d fell from the sky in shock.

“Not now Quartermaster!” Harmony snapped as he dived after unconscious whelp. Harmony chuckled as he heard the sound of a pain filled roar above him. Thank you She of Hourglass.

Harmony grabbed the whelp in his magic before he conjured up a glob of ice water which he threw at the whelp. Twixt’d immediately recovered and started flying again on his own power.

“You… you really think my name is that good?” He couldn’t believe his ears. This strange creature called a pony was really trying to be friendly with him. And it didn’t appear that he was trying to befriend him to later use him for anything either. Life on the streets had taught him to be cautious, but for some reason he felt less and less the need to be that way with him.

“Yes Twixt’d. It’s one of the most unique, amazing whelp names I have ever heard, and it’s so you. And trust me, I have heard tons over my nearly ten thousand years.” As he said this he could see a subtle change in Twixt’d’s demeanor. Somewhere deep inside of the whelp Harmony knew a dam had broken. 

After a short pause Twixt’d smirked. ”You’re not half bad. Though I can’t say the same for your name or your age… Gramps.”

Harmony shook his head and rolled his eyes. Twixt’d only laughed and spun off again doing tricks around She of Hourglass. I am not telling him my full name… ever.

“Twixt’d I don’t care if He of Harmony likes you (which makes zero sense) but if you throw off my mate’s flying I’ll make sure you learn what it is like to fly into solid rock.” Quartermaster roared at the laughing whelp. As soon as the whelp left his mate’s air space he turned to talk to Harmony. But as soon as he looked towards him he paled. “He of Harmony! Land. NOW!”

“What?” Harmony questioned before Quartermaster pointed at Harmony flank which Harmony immediately knew meant that another cutiemark had appeared. “Oh buck…” Harmony cursed as he fell from the sky, losing consciousness.

“HE OF HARMONY!”





“Welcome back Harmony.” A voice behind Harmony stated. A voice he knew all too well and shouldn’t be hearing.

Harmony spun around and was about to yelled out Spike when the aforementioned dragon snapped his muzzle shut. “No, don’t.” Spike shook his head is a mixture of amusement and disappointment. “You still haven't figured out how to regain your volition here yet.”

An angry roar echoed across the fire encircled meadow. Both Harmony and Spike looked about. Harmony eyes snapped up and narrowed at the star constellation ‘Draco.’ Spike however seemed to be looking towards the fire.

“What is that? I seems like it’s coming from Draco.” Harmony commented still gazing towards the sky.

“That was not ‘Draco.’ That was...” Another roar interrupted Spike.

Harmony once again pinpoint the sound coming from the direction of Draco. Sure sounded like it was coming from the constellation. He thought. “Then who is…” Harmony’s vision went to black as his voice faded away.





Harmony sat up suddenly. He could see that he was on Quartermaster back. She of Hourglass flew expertly between her mates beating wings to get close up to the alicorn.

“He’s awake, my love.” She called out.

“He of Harmony you gave us a really bad scare. What happened?” Came Quartermaster’s rumble.

“Kindness is what happened.” Harmony shouted hoping that he was heard over the wind and beating wings. Wait, why is he asking that? He was there when I got loyalty… maybe its for She of Hourglass as she wouldn’t know. 

“I wondered why you had a new flame on your flank.” She of Hourglass commented.

“Yeah,” Harmony sighed as he took a look at the pink flame cutiemark. Well I was right it was for She of Hourglass, “only two more to go…”

“Where’s Twixt’d?”

“He’s in my claw. The whelp went nuts when you fell from the sky. I had to knock him out.”

Harmony facehoofed. I think you enjoyed doing it too. He got up and took off. It took a bit for him to get underneath Quartermaster to check on Twixt’d

“HEY! Twixt’d! Wake UP!” Harmony yelled in the whelp’s ear.

“Huh? Wha?” Twixt’d mumbled incoherently. Quartermaster shook him roughly waking him further. “HEY! What’s the big idea you overgrown Liz… ooo I don’t feel so good.”

“Quartermaster!” Harmony shook his head in disappointment as Quartermaster roared in laughter. “You okay Twixt’d?” 

“I will be… I think.” He grunted as he squirm his way out of Quartermaster claws and began flying on his own. “But it’s not that… it’s just that... you see when you fell I for the first time I realize that uhh well that is…”

“Let me guess that you realized that I was your friend. You also want to see if it was okay to have me as your honorary brother?”

“How in Tartarus did you know that?” Twixt’d blinked in surprise.

“Yes, how do you do that!” Quartermaster agreed, sounding flabbergasted. He couldn't grasp how Harmony was able to make such strange friends and so quickly.

“I’m a Keeper.” Harmony shrugged trying not to join with a laughing Twixt’d.
> Tierra and the Temple of the Keepers
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“You need a name that only you or I know.”

“Why?”

“I was a street urchin... it’s…”

“A street thing I know.”

“You are such a know-it-all.”

“Eh.” Harmony shrugged. “So about this name among brothers.”

“Oh, yes…” The black whelp eyed Harmony over for a moment. “You seem like Knight to me…”

“Knight?” Harmony nearly burst into tears at that. 

“Yeah… I think Knight sounds cool…” At that the dam broke and Harmony grabbed Twixt’d into a bone crushing hug. “What is bucking wrong with you?” Twixt’d pushed Harmony away. “I don’t do mushy that well and you know it.”

“Sorry…” Harmony sniffed. “I couldn’t help it.”

“Whatever.” Twixt’d grumbled but allowed a quick smile through.

“So are you ready for our sparring match?”

“Of course,” Twixt’d grinned, “and this time, I will win.”

“Doubtful… You have improved quite a bit in the past month but you are not as talented as Quartermaster.”

“I can fly circles around that fatso.”

“Well in a non magic aerial battle you would have the advantage even I don’t think I could win against you there. We spar on ground to improve your weak area because what would happen if you are forced to fight on the ground?”

“Okay, enough lecturing Professor Boring.” Twixt’d gave an exaggerated yawn.

“Very well…” Harmony caught Twixt’d off guard with a spin knocking him on his back hard.

“Hey!” Twixt’d grumbled as he got back on his feet.

“Tell me, do those who fight ‘with honor’ live long on the streets?” Harmony asked. 

“Not very long.”

“Then don’t be afraid to fight dirty if and when you have to. Use whatever you can to your advant…” Harmony was cut off by Twixt’d’s tail slamming him on his side.

Harmony slide across the mossy ground before he was stopped by something hard. He shook his head to clear the dizziness. Well he can be taught. He smirked as he pulled himself to his hooves. He turned to see what he hit. What he saw, however, chilled him.

“Knight? Are you okay?” Twixt’d asked as he ran up next to Harmony.

“Stay here.” Was all that Harmony said.

“But...” Twixt’d began to object.

“I SAID STAY HERE. This building shouldn't be here. And if it’s the building that I think it is it will be heavily boobytrapped. I’m going into to destroy it like it was supposed to be. Once I figure out why it wasn’t in the first place.” Just before Harmony ducked into an opening he gave his final instructions. “If Quartermaster comes back before I return just wait with him.”

Harmony dived into the building through the hole in the crumbling wall. Harmony paused for a bit to wait for his eyes to adjust to the dimmer light.  He coughed as rush of dust blew through the corridor. The ground suddenly rumbled for a moment before quieting down. It sounds as if there is someone or something else in here…

He lit his horn to give himself more light and began his trek to where he knew he needed to go. 





Harmony slowly opened his eyes. What happened? He carefully got back on to his hooves not sure if he had an injuries. As he did he suddenly could feel something sharp pressed up against his neck.

“If you wish to live you will tell me what you are doing in this temple.” A scruffy female voice sounded behind him in the near darkness.

“Temple?” Harmony laughed. “You think this is a temple?”

“You think this is funny!? Do I seem like a jokester to you?” The female voice threatened, putting more pressure on Harmony’s neck with the weapon she was using.

“No.” Harmony admitted, not even fazed by the increase in hostility. “Anyone that enters a trap filled ‘temple’ is either serious or crazy. You don’t seem crazy.”

After a short pause the weapon shifted and Harmony figured that any more pressure and he would start bleeding. “You never answered my question. WHY ARE YOU HERE?”

“Just trying to figure out why this building is here.” He shrugged.

“Doubtful. I think you're just here to pillage the artifacts in here for money. You temple and tomb raiders are all the same. It’s all about how much money you can get for an artifact but only if its ‘valuable’. Smash everything else because screw the history because there’s no money in it.  Nevermind the mundane stuff is where the true value of places like this. I came here in hopes of preserving what was left behind. If I don't people like you come and destroy it and onces it’s destroyed it’s gone forever.”

“You surprise me…. the treasure you speak of is not the type that a dragon would normally be interested in.”

“How did you know that I was a dragon? And what makes you think I want gold or gems?”

“I didn’t say there was gold or gems here nor did I say that is what you are interested in. I merely made an observation that what you seek is atypical for a dragon. Which is interesting to me. But I doubt you will find anything of great interest here. As for the dragon part I’ve lived among dragons so long that I can tell by the sound of your voice… That and the sulfur.”

“Why do you think I wouldn’t be interested in gems or gold anyway?”

“Your pith helmet and the whip.” Harmony mused. I understand the pith helmet but what is with archaeologist-adventurers and whips!?

How did he? Nevermind it was probably the same way as him knowing I was a dragon.

“You are in a Keeper of Harmony buildings. One that I thought was destroyed. The only reason you caught me is that you activated the defenses and traps.”

“Likely story. The Keepers of Harmony is just a story. If they were real there would be evidence of them.”

“Don’t believe me? Smart, I guess. Very well, I shall lead you to your goal. What’s more, not a single trap or defense will activate, and further more I will purposely step on every trap.”

“You are crazy.” 

“Keepers generally are…” Harmony rubbed the back of his head, “well one is more the the rest.”

“I repeat: you are crazy…” The dragoness sighed. “I have no idea why I’m doing this, but lead the way. Just know that one false move and your head is mine.”

“I won’t make a false move… mind if I ask what you name is? I really don’t want to have to keep saying dragoness all the time.”

“Tierra.”

“Harmony.”

“Okay enough of this… March.”

Harmony began to lead Tierra through the building. As they went Harmony was impressed that the pressure from the weapon remained steady. They walked down corridors and hallways passing some and stopping a few times for Harmony to reorient where he was. He stopped when he got to a place with four hallways shooting off in different directions.

“We need to take the corridor on the left.”

“I went down there already it’s a dead end. See the chalk mark on the wall?”

“Looks can be deceiving.” Harmony contended. He had seen the chalk mark but there was a different mark that told him to go down there anyway.

“I think it is you that is deceiving in an attempt to save your sorry hide.” The sharp weapon pushed hard against his throat again.

“Hasn’t it occurred to you that a place full of traps would have secret passages?”

“And how would you know about there being secret passage there? This place hasn’t been touched in ages. I know. I had a head start. Who are you and quit lying!”

“I’m not lying. Tierra the reason is I know the way is what I said already: I am a Keeper of Harmony and this is a Keeper outpost of sorts.”

Tierra grumbled angrily before she finally let up. “Fine. But you had better be right.”

Harmony said nothing as he led her down the corridor. As Tierra had contented they soon found themselves at a dead end.

“See?”

Harmony rolled his eyes and casually touch the dead end with his hoof. The wall noisily lifted off the ground in response.

Harmony so wish he could see the face of the dragoness as they entered a vast rectangular chamber. As soon as they entered the door shut behind them. During all of this the pressure on his neck change. Oh she is good.

“Impressive.” She admitted.

Harmony took this time to finally slam the weapon away with his magic before he grabbed her tail to flip her over. He could see the shock on the face of the two toned pink dragoness as he expertly flipped her roughly to the ground, wings down. She had spikes from her head all the way down to the tip of her dagger like tail. Harmony nearly lost his smile when he saw that the dagger like weapon was the end of her tail. It wasn’t a dagger but her tail! 

“I was never in control was I?” The pink dragoness grunted when she recovered from the slam down.

“No, you never were.” Harmony offered a hoof which the dragoness reluctantly took. ”Like I said, one of the traps you set off temporarily knocked me out. I could have freed myself at anytime. Though it’s not for lack of any skill on your part. Not many can keep their tail that steady in that position while walking in dark corridors.” 

“You are right there wasn’t anything here of great interest.” Teirra commented as she looked around the non descript room a stone chair was at one end but that was it.

“That because you haven't the magic to see.” Harmony slid a hoof across a wall and Tierra could see that where his hoof had made contact she could see glowing light green and blue glyphs.

Whoa. She walked up to the glowing glyphs and slowly touched one. When nothing seemed to happen she put her whole palm on it. She could feel the warmth of magic from glyphs as well as she traced her claw through on of them could also tell that it was carved into the wall but when she felt the were there was no glyphs the wall was smooth  ‘Haven't the magic to see’… firemail fire is magical. She blew some of her magic flame on the wall but nothing happened. 

Harmony chuckled at her rather brilliant attempt. “Nice try, but there are only twelve that could ever get those glyphs to appear unless you’re a very strong dark magic user. You are neither a dark magic user nor one of those twelve.”

“Who are these twelve you speak of?”

“The Keepers of Harmony.” Harmony let his horn glow brightly and the entire room painfully brighten when every part of the walls glowed with glyphs.

Suddenly eleven shades rose from the floor. Tierra recognized some of the shapes from some painting closer to the entrance. 

We are the Keepers of Harmony. Twelve in all. One from each major Elder Race as absolution for the younger. Twelve voices chanted in power around the dragoness and one of them was Harmony who had led her here. This to her could only mean one thing and her jaw dropped. He really is a Keeper and they do exist! But why was all of this hidden?

Harmony’s eyes lost their white glow and the images faded away. He walked about studying some glyphs in a corner acting oblivious to what just happened. “A ha! Here’s the reason. Why don’t we fix that?”

“What are you talking about!?” She asked as she finally found her voice.

“Nothing that will be of any concern for much longer…” Harmony waved a hoof dismissively before standing upright and blocking Teirra from seeing what he did. “I think we should finish this conversation outside, shall we?

“What…” Was all she managed to get out before she and Harmony disappeared in a flash.

Damn magic. “Why’d you…” The ruins that she had spent weeks staking out and preparing to document and check out for artifacts glowed brightly then dimmed way into nothing. 
“WHAT DID YOU DO?!” She roared trying to swipe at Harmony who yawned as he blocked her with a hoof. This shocked her enough to lower her volume but not her anger. “There may have not been anything of value in that building but the building is got to be thousands of years old and you just up and wipe it off the face of the planet!”

“Until just moments ago you thought that the Keepers was just a story. Part of that story is the ‘Nameless One.’ He is very real and his seal is but a single breath from shattering like glass. I will not have the knowledge that was contained here to fall into his claws.“

“And what gives you right to do that just because you are a Keeper!?”

“YOU ARE NOT READY! THERE ARE SOME THING BEST LOST TO THE SANDS OF TIME AND NEVER SHOULD BE RECOVERED…” Harmony mane calmed down as he sighed. “I’m sure in your adventures you came across magical artifacts that you had to destroy because they were too dangerous for anyone to have even for someone with pure intentions like yourself.”

She hung her head a bit he was right there was a few artifacts that she had to destroy before it caused could cause untold pain and destruction.

“Besides, the glyphs that you saw I can recover from a more secure location than this mere ‘outpost.’”

Harmony fell into his usual lecturing. “Keeper lore, artifacts, and sites are sacred to the Keepers as they are the legacy left behind by the Elder Races for you. There will come a time that you younger races will come into your own and will become worthy to know the things lost to myth and time.”

“Then why destroy something that you claim is sacred?” She was fascinated at all of this new information but it still didn’t lessen her anger though.

“That building?” Harmony barked a short laugh. “It was merely a home and should have disappeared with the death of the owner. The only site that truly sacred that ‘anyone’ can access right now is…” Harmony suddenly could see something glinting on the neck of the whelp. It was a medallion on a silver chain. A very interesting medallion. “Hourglass… Where did you get that medallion?”

“I’ve had it for a long time.” She lovingly traced the design on it with a claw. “It’s one of the first artifacts I ever discovered… I actually found it not to far from here. Why?”

“Because that medallion has the crest of the City of Hourglass on it.”

“City of Hourglass?” This got her curiosity really going and the greed of adventure and discovery in her rose slightly.

“The City of Hourglass... A very ancient city that was abandoned due to a cataclysmic event for many millennia until very recently. It’s also the only remaining city of the Elder races remaining. According to legend it’s the birthplace of the Keepers themselves. That city is sacred to the Keepers because of that.”

“As for the lore and true ‘site’ of the Keepers I spoke of, those, for the moment, are out of the reach of ‘mere mortals.’”

“Dragons are not ‘mere mortals!’” Tierra snapped, almost letting lose her flame before she remembered who he was.

“I know that, but it's still out of the reach of dragons… As for Keeper Artifacts there are only seven that I know of: The Crystal Heart and the six Elements of Harmony. Those artifacts are not to leave the guardians that the artifact has chosen.”

“I wouldn’t dream of messing with your artifacts. Only to make sure they are preserved for future generations.”
 
“That is why part of the reason I created the Elements. I can’t speak for the Crystal Heart though.”

“Enough.” Tierra pinch the brow of her snout. If she wanted her curiosity to be satisfied so her next stop was going to be the City of Hourglass. “I’m coming with you. I want to see this ancient city of the Keepers. And there is nothing you can do to stop me.”

“Who said I was going to stop you?” Harmony smirked as he lead the dragoness into the jungle to where he left Twixt’d. Gotcha ya.





“Hey, your back! I thought... that…” Twixt’d trailed off as he noticed the pink dragoness with a pith helmet walking up behind Harmony.

“Who do we have here? Well,” The pink dragoness slide right up next to Twixt’d who gulped, “aren’t you a handsome drake.” She ran a claw around Twixt’d’s ear which sent shivers all up and down Twixt’d’s spine. Harmony stuffed a hoof into his mouth trying very hard to not fall over laughing. “You, me, and that twisted horn of yours, we are going to have a little alone time if you know what I mean.”

She’s the Forge of dragons. Harmony smirked. “Well you got one thing going for you Twixt’d your black scales mask your blush.”

“Shut up.” Twixt’d snapped, letting a puff of smoke to escape.

“You know this reminds me of a song.”

“Knight…” Twixt’d growled, clenching fists in anger. “I swear, if you…”

“You’re right..” Harmony conceded. “I should have Tierra help me sing it.”

“YOU GET BACK HERE YOU LOW DOWN NO GOOD PIECE OF…” Twixt’d roared taking off to catch up with the laughing alicorn.
> Return to Hourglass
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“He of Hourglass has recalled us back to Hourglass.” Quartermaster said as Harmony landed in the designated meeting clearing.

“Did he say why?” Harmony inquired. I wonder why he sent the orders to Quartermaster and not me… Well I am my own when it comes to Keeper things… maybe this is a clan thing. 

“No idea, but I’m glad. I’ve been away from my forge for way too long.”

“Fair enough. It’s not my place to question his motives... when it comes to the clan anyway.”

“I see you found another dragon and this time a female whelp.” Quartermaster noticed the pick whelp landing right behind Twixt’d.

“Well aren’t you the handsome one.” Tierra teased in a sensual way.

“Taken.” She of Hourglass growled poking the whelp with a claw to accent her irritation.

Without missing a beat Tierra added, “Don’t worry, he’s not my type, but I can give you some tips to really get those scales really red.”

“Oooo…” A wicked grin crossed She of Hourglass’ snout. “Tell me more.”

Harmony stifled a chuckle but Twixt’d had no desire to hold back and roared out in laughter. Quartermaster only crossed his forelegs hotly grumbling something about sexy dragoness team ups.

She of Hourglass smacked Quartermaster lightly on the top of his head. “You hush. You know you’ll like it.”

At that Quartermaster red scales got even redder. For just a split second it cross his mind to skip the preamble and dive right in with her. But the guffawing of a certain whelp soured it too much. Harmony could no longer hold back as he watched Quartermaster get flustered in two ways and joined in with Twixt’d who was now wheezing from the force of his laughing.
 




“So how how we getting to Hourglass? Didn’t you say that it was across the ocean?” Twixt’d asked.

“I don’t think there is a boat that could handle all of us.” Tierra commented.

“No you are right.” Harmony agreed. “We’ll have to island hop. How strong is your distance flying, Tierra?”

“Fair. I went on a few legs the Migration a while back… By chance, will the Migration be anywhere nearby on our way to Hourglass? I would like to ask He of the Flight some questions…”

A blinding flash interrupted Tierra.

“Uh… where is Harmony…” Tierra questioned once she rubbed the spots out of her eyes.

“The Migration is a touchy subject for him and it’s He of Harmony.” Quartermaster looked off to in the distance, smoke beginning to rise. He of Harmony you need to stop… You avenged them. You have done right by them...

“He of Harmony!? He only said Harmony... of course he was…oh, whatever. He of Harmony it is. But why would the Migration be a touchy subject?”

Quartermaster returned his attention to the dragons around him. “Because a minotaur processed by an amulet containing a spirit of a power dark magic user massacred the Migration at the Chimney Arch Desert and he blames himself for failing to stop it.”

“WHAT!?!” Tierra could hardly believe her ears. The Migration was gone?!

Harmony sighed. “I’m sure in your adventures you came across magical artifacts that you had to destroy because they were too dangerous for anyone to have even for someone with pure intentions like yourself.”

“Take me to him.”

“What?! I don’t think…”

“TAKE. ME. TO. HIM!” Tierra repeated roaring. She didn’t care the Quartermaster was full grown and could crush her like a bug.

Quartermaster was about to say no again when his mate nudged him. He looked at her and just by looking at her eyes he could tell that she thought that Tierra knew what needed to be done.

Quartermaster sighed. “Very well..:”

After a minute of flying Quartermaster and Tierra landed in what appeared to be a war zone. Trees were all over the place either burnt up or shattered like toothpicks. Harmony was in the center angrily taking out his frustration on a very charred large boulder.

“I take it that Quartermaster told you what happened.” Harmony whispered before he shot another magic missile at the boulder.

Tierra watched for a few moments before it got too much for her. “ENOUGH!!! Where was this supposed confident Keeper that even with my dagger tail end pressed to his throat was still in complete control?”

“THAT WAS A LIE!” Harmony roared, sending a concussion of magically charge air outward in his anger. His mane and tail whipped about in a non existent wind and his shifting colored fur went wild. “THAT DARK MAGIC USER WAS A PONY! MY RESPONSIBILITY TO TAKE CARE OF! I tried for months and years after his last defeat to make sure he was truly gone… and he wasn’t. He of the Flight and everydragon at the Migration paid the price of my failure!”

“Did you do everything that you could to prevent it?”

“I…” Harmony was caught off guard by Tierra’s simple question.

“Well did you?”

“Yes… but,” Harmony tried to counter.

“But nothing! All we can do in our lives is the best we can. If the truth is that you did everything you could within your power and knowledge then quit lying to yourself thinking you could done more and beat yourself up over that lie.”

“Now tell me again, did you do everything to stop the minotaur from being possessed?”

“Yes... I...”

“No. A truthful and simple yes or no.” She snapped.

“Yes.”

“When you discovered what happened did you do everything to stop it from happening again?”

“I… suppose so…”

“No guessing. Yes or no.”

“...Yes.”

“Well, there you go.” Tierra gasped as the alicorn fainted dead away. “He of Harmony!”

“Not again…” Quartermaster facepalmed. He checked the alicorn to see an orange flame along with the other flames. “He’ll be fine after a bit… But how did you know what to say to him?”

“I had the same problem once…” Tierra looked tiredly down at the passed out Harmony.





“Tierra is right…” A voice uttered.

When Harmony spun at the sound of his dragon brother he didn’t get a chance to speak anything before he found his muzzle shut by Spike’s hand.

“You have to let go of the self told lies that hold you back. You did alright by me. You did everything possible to make sure Sombra never returned… sometimes our best efforts are fruitless but that doesn’t make us failures Harmony. What makes us failures is giving up when we make mistakes or beating ourselves over things we had no control over.”

“One to go Harmony… One to go…” Spike’s voice faded to silence and Harmony vision faded to black





One month later…





“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m so sick of flying.” Twixt’d whined. One whole month of flying from near dusk to dawn had really taken a toll on him. It had taken a toll on everyone, but they had remained silent.

“Well, Hourglass is only a few hours away, but first we must stop at the Northern Oasis.”

It wasn’t long before Quartermaster, She of Hourglass and Tierra banked to the south while Harmony and Twixt’d banked north. After another hour of flight Twixt’d could see a stand of palm trees surrounding a small pond of water. Harmony started to descend and a few moments later landed next to a small house. Twixt’d landed a second later.

“Nervous?” Harmony guessed, seeing the dragon wring his claws a bit.

“What if he doesn’t accept me?”

Harmony understood his worry and unlike Nova Twixt’d was in worse shape. He let out a huff of air. “Then neither of us shall be entering Hourglass City.”

“But isn't that your home?”

“Technically, no...” Twixt’d could hear a hint of sadness when Harmony said that but said nothing. “But I wasn’t kidding when I said I saw potential in you, and how can I see that come about away from you? Scorpan will have no problem having us in his home.”

“Harmony! Long time, no see.” A voice called out from the house.

“He of Music?!?” Harmony spun around and was immediately pulled into hug by He of Music. “I see you guys must have been talking with Scorpan.”

He of Hourglass stepped out of the shadow of a nearby palm tree. “He of Music was. I was enjoying the warm day.”

Somehow I doubt that… Harmony rolled his eyes. “Sure… This is Twixt’d. Twixt’d this is He of Music and He of Hourglass of the Hourglass Clan.”

“What are you doing weirdo?” Twixt’d snapped when He of Music pushed himself from Harmony to grab Twixt’d pushing the side of his head to different parts of the whelp.

“Twixt’d…” Harmony warned.

“Well, he’s kinda creeping me out.” Twixt’d squirmed uncomfortably.

After another moment He of Music withdrew, and He of Hourglass followed him some distance away.

“Okay, what is going on?”

“Well, He of Music just used a talent of his… And I suspect that He of Music is discussing what he heard with He of Hourglass.”

“What do you mean ‘what he heard?’”





“Firstclaw, I know you no longer care about what he is hiding but…” He of Music glanced back towards Harmony. “But I was curious how cutiemarks could change someone’s song.”

“And?”

“His song is nearly healed.”

“WHAAAT?!!” Golden DragonHeart yelled in shock. He shrunk back when he noticed that Harmony had heard his outburst and was glancing in his direction. After a moment Harmony went back to talking with the young whelp.

“What?!” He asked again, this time in a subdued whisper.

“His heart is becoming whole again…the pain, the hurt, it’s no longer affecting it.  However, it seems to much quieter than before. I almost had to strain a bit hear it.”

“Meaning?”

“No idea. I’m not an expert on cutiemarks and how it affect one’s song. This may be typical just before a cutiemark fully manifests, or it could mean…” Eternal Beats trailed off.

“...that he is dying.” Golden DragonHeart finished what neither one really wanted to say. Before his heart understood hoarding this would have made him go crazy in worry and become possessive to the point of damaging his hoard. Now it just meant that he need to make sure that for whatever time he had left with Harmony that it was a good one.

He decided to change the subject to the other issue. “What did you hear in the whelp?”





“Just what I always wanted and needed a useless hair blow dryer…” Twixt’d rolled his eyes at his snark and He of Hourglass’ ‘poor attempt’ at intimidation.

“I could have told you that that tactic wouldn’t work on him.” Harmony facehoofed while shaking his head in disappointment.

“He is fearless just like you said. His respect for others however leaves much to be desired.”
He of Hourglass rubbed his chin for a while before finally giving a sigh. “Very well... I will allow him in the city on a probationary basis.”

He got right up growling in Twixt’d face. “You are to stay with a certain distance (which will be shown to you) from He of Harmony’s house. He of Harmony must escort you if you need to go elsewhere inside the city. If you need to hunt for food(if you are a meat eater) or need to stretch your wings you are to take the designated road out of the city. Under no circumstances are you to fly within or above the city. Finally there are two dragons within the city you are to stay away from. One is black and green the other orange.”

“And if I don't?”

Harmony facehoofed.

“THIS!” He of Hourglass roared as he knocked Twixt’d off of his feet before surrounding him in a sphere of green fire. Twixt’d curled into a ball as the sphere closed in on him. Just before the flames reached him they disappeared.

“I may not have the finesse of He of Harmony but I do have enough battle experience to know how to make sure you get exactly what you deserve. Don’t think for a single moment that you can escape me with your expert flying skills.”

Twixt’d was still trembling as he sideways commented to Harmony. “He is scary when he wants to be…”

“You have no idea.” Harmony recalled when He of Hourglass ‘ordered’ him to rescind his judgement. “But he is right, you lack respect for others. Something you need to work on… I don’t see you breaking your cursing habit it’s too ingrained, but, at least, you should know how to address dragons especially if you plan on living in a city of them.”

“I‘m beginning to debate if it is worth it or not…” Twixt’d admitted.

“Hmph.” He of Hourglass grumbled. There might be hope for him yet…  “I would like to speak with He of Harmony alone. He of Music, meanwhile, will escort you to Hourglass.”

“Let’s go Twixt’d,” He of Music called out to Twixt’d. “He of Hourglass and Harmony shall join us after a bit.”

“Fine.” Twixt’d moaned before walking towards He of Music.

He of Music rolled his eyes before he took flight. Twixt’d looked back at Harmony for a moment. Harmony nodded for him to go on.

“I hope I haven’t made a huge mistake…” Golden DragonHeart gave a heavy sigh.

“It’s a risk…” Harmony shrugged, “but you are the Dragon Keeper. This is the kind of thing Keepers do. He was a street urchin with no idea what it means to be a proper respectable dragon. This is not much different than trying to restore those dragons Hoard Names…”

“Ugh. I know…” Golden DragonHeart rubbed his face before giving Harmony a sideways glance. “and lecturing…”

“Sorry… But it’s kind of the unofficial role of an experienced Keeper; to be there to advise inexperienced Keepers on these things. I wouldn’t have been as good as a Keeper as I am otherwise.”  

“Why else do you think I asked what you thought was keeping the dragons from harmony? I value your insight into these manners… You have ten thousand years on me and it’s not the same as maturing in the code… it’s more…”

“Guess work?... Gut feelings? Yeah, I know. It will become easier to understand those and you are right it’s not like maturing in code its wisdom through experience… not magic… though I will admit that I wish sometimes it was by wisdom through magic.”

Golden DragonHeart let out a stress relieving puff of smoke before deciding to let it go for now. “Let’s go. I know its been a long trip, and I am sure you’ll want to sleep a long time.”

“Before we head off, I would like to formally request to be allowed to have permanent residence within Hourglass.”

Golden DragonHeart gave Harmony a curious look. “You never needed to request that because as far as I’m concerned you already have one. But I’m curious, why the formal request?”

“It’s been ages since I had a place to call home, and because I’m finding out more and more that I consider the clan as family. The family I never had… the family that fills my dreams… the family that I could call my own…”

As Golden DragonHeart listened to the reasons that Harmony was giving he could feel his heart break. For the first time in his life he wanted to curse The Voice. He now knew exactly what would bring Harmony to harmony but the magic of dragons prevented him from doing what he knew was right. A pained growl issued from his clenched mouth. “If only I could have you truly join the clan… If there was only a way to do so…” He fell to his knees crying and punching the ground in anger. A roar of pure anguish erupted from him. His lamentation came to an abrupt end when he could feel the hoof of Harmony on his shoulder. He looked up to see that Harmony’s eyes glistened with his own tears.

“Golden DragonHeart, brother, you already consider me a clanmate in your heart, and, for me, that is all that matters.” Harmony gaze rose in the direction of Hourglass. “Come, I long to finally come home.”
> To Find a Name
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Good Morning Tierra…” Harmony greeted the pink dragoness who was yawning loudly.

“Is it?” Tierra looked around. It was light enough to be just before dawn. Not quite morning in her book. “It’s so strange here…”

“Welcome to Hourglass. The center of strange for the entire world… the only place the comes close is Hydro Hourglass.”

“Hydro Hourglass?”

“Well it can’t call it an hourglass without two halves now can we?” Harmony smirked. He waved for her to start exploring as he knew she was already itching to do so. He also let her take the lead figuring she would prefer that over a guided tour. “This one, ‘officially’, is called Terra Hourglass as it is composed of earth and rock. I think you can guess what the Hydro Hourglass is composed of.”

“So why is the mountain upside down? It doesn’t make sense and Quartermaster couldn't answer why yesterday.” Tierra asked as she poked her head in a small building. 

“Do you know how a compass works?”

“Yes.” Tierra answered pulling her head out of the building after seeing not of great interest inside.

“Well the two Hourglasses are the equivalent for the magic ley lines.”

“So it’s because of the massive amounts of magic ley lines that allow it to be upside down?”

“That is the theory.” Harmony shrugged there was things about magic even he didn’t know and the exact reason alluded him. He remembered there were some books on the subject in the library but found them to be a bit out of his league.

“I still can’t believe how little damage the city has for it’s age. Is every building like this?” Tierra gestured to the buildings around them most only having sections of plaster missing from them.

“There are some that have collapsed but to the most part most have relatively minor damage…” Harmony acknowledged as he followed Tierra through a side door of a mansion, “and it has a lot to do with the ley lines as well as how well the city was constructed in the first place.”

“Yeah….” Tierra absentmindedly agreed as she carefully examined a vase before moving into the main hall. At what she saw her eyes watered. “I think I’ll ever want to leave.” Tierra drooled a bit at all of the ordinary artifacts of everyday life scattered about in the main hall. It’s was as if she could close her eyes for a second to reopen them to see the past right before her. The City of Hourglass was a treasure trove that could keep a team of archeologists busy for decades.

“Then don’t.”

“He of Hourglass… I…” Tierra fumbled from the unexpected intrusion of He of Hourglass.

One by one the entire clan soon enter the mansion… which was a bit difficult for Quartermaster because of his bulk but he managed. 

“Is this what I think it is and how did you know?”

“It is what you think it is, and I knew you would never want to leave after what He of Harmony told me…”

It looks like time for me to make my exit. Harmony smiled before quietly leaving.





“Why’d you leave?”

“A Choosing is one of the most sacred rites of a dragon… I will not lessen it by being there. It was bad enough I was there for three… Yours, Quartermaster’s, and He of Music’s…”

“Oh Harmonious Knight, sometimes I wonder if your name shouldn’t be Golden Heart…” 

“My name has a broader meaning but part of it does mean to have a heart of gold…”

“So you weren’t kidding all that time ago when you said we had similar names?”

“I’m surprised you remember that as I barely remember that day as it is…One question though, am I going to have to go through the whole ‘No the other She of Hourglass’ like I did right after Quartermaster’s Choosing?”

“I have no idea…” Golden DragonHeart admitted. “As it was, He of Music not using He of Hourglass was surprising…”

“Swell.” Harmony deadpanned.





“This is stupid…” Twixt’d complained. “Having to stay so close to your house. The city is huge and so empty it’s not like I can really get into trouble here.”

“Life sometimes is unfair Twixt’d. Now I have to head out to help the Dragon of Black and Green Scales and the Dragon of Orange Scales and Spikes.”

“Why? From what you told me it’s sounds like a dragon problem.”

“Because I am a Keeper and what has ailed them was caused by a changeling so the thinking is that I might find a way to counteract it.”

“Sounds boring.”

“For you maybe… Why don’t you go out hunting. There is a forest to the south that has prey not native to the area around Traxti City. Take a scroll just encase you get lost.”

“Yes, father…” Twixt’d dramatically pouted. He took a scroll before exiting.





“Dragon of Orange Scales and Spikes you seem a bit down. How come?”

“We have not been able to find anything that I feel a pull to here and we have been at this what?” The orange dragon counted on his claws. “Five months?”

“I’m sorry.” Harmony looked downward in shame. “I still have not be able to find a way to fix your memories and as much as I don’t want to bring this up its very likely they are gone forever. He of Hourglass has tried several times to restore it as he not?”

“Yes he has.” He of Music spoke up. “I even tried to help with combining his harmony magic with soul song magic, but still nothing.”

“I’m okay with not regaining my memories if only I could remember my name or find one that calls out to me but…”

“Don’t give up yet…” A scroll shimmered into existence in front of Harmony, interrupting him. He read the scroll then flashed it away.

Harmony sighed heavily, “Twixt’d got himself in a bind… I have to go figure out where he is…”

“He didn’t say where he was?”

“No…” Harmony shook his head. “He says he can’t see the sun…” I’m surprised he was as detailed in his letter as he was...

“I could find him for you…” The black dragon offered.

Harmony raised an eyebrow. The way that the dragon sounded with his offer made him wonder. “I sense you want something in exchange for said help?”

“Of course.”

Harmony took a studying glance at the black dragon. “He of Music, has he been like this before?”

“Uh, yes, actually he has…” He of Music’s eyes went wide before he facepalmed. 

Harmony stayed his own facehoof. He didn’t want to embarrass He of Music any more than he already had… While it was true he had no idea how to direct a dragon to a hoard name he usually could see the general direction of what it could be. Sometimes having an outside perspective helped too.

“Dragon of Black and Green Scales let’s be honest, shall we? I have a feeling you already know the name that you want… what is stopping you?”

“I can answer that.” Came a voice.

“He of Hourglass!” Harmony spun around to see the purple and green dragon leaning against a nearby building. Has he been there this whole time? Harmony wondered.

“Dragon Keeper.” The black dragon bobbed his head.

He of Hourglass walked up next to Harmony. “I have tried finding a way but only the magic at an original choosing has the power to create clans. There may be another way but I have not found it or there really isn’t one. While it is possible that my harmony magic could help I can’t guarantee it will work. Another issue is as you said, Dragon of Orange Scales and Spikes, nothing seems to pull your heart here.”

He of Hourglass let his wings sprout and flew up to rooftop to better address the black dragon. “How long have you know what your name should be?”

The black dragon thought for a moment before answering, “About a week now…”

“Do you sense the instinct telling to to declare it right this moment?”

“I want to, but instinctively… no. I feel as if I can wait as long as needed.”

“Then it should be no problem for you to leave together to figure out what the Dragon of Orange Scales and Spikes name should be. Even if we find out at the Dragon of Orange Scales and Spikes Rechoosing that my harmony magic is unable to start your clan magically if you still wish to become a clan, if only in name, than a clan you shall be. You already operate like a clan as it is.”

Harmony could tell that it was time for him to leave. He needed to go rescue Twixt’d anyway. He wasn’t sure exactly how he could have gotten so thoroughly tied up by hanging vines. It should be an interesting story one way or another.

“Where are you going He of Harmony?” The black and green dragon asked Harmony when he noticed him turning away.

“I’m going to go get Twixt’d as it’s improper for me to be here. I don’t wish to lessen the sacredness of what is about to happen.”

“Nonsense,” The dragon blocked Harmony’s path with his tail, “You played a role in trying to help to recover my memories even though you were unsuccessful. And you leaving would lessen my name.”

Harmony sighed. “Very well Dragon of Black and Green Scales.”

“I will need to help you release the power to rename yourself.” He of Hourglass sat down and began to mediate. “When you are ready roar it out.”  

“Es izvēlēties Atlītzīsa Leülētājs.” The dragon roared. He of Hourglasses eyes glowed gold as he did.

Fascinating. Harmony wondered. I heard the draconic language but unlike the Hourglass Clan I can’t understand it… weird. Maybe it’s because this not a typical choosing… similar to when Golden Heart’s name changed...

The black dragon blinked a few times. His mind settling from the magic of renaming himself. “My name... My name is Reward Seeker.”

The two dragons from the Hourglass Clan and Harmony looked at each other and nodded.

“Golden DragonHeart.”

“Harmonious Knight.”

“Eternal Beats.” 

When Harmony heard Eternal Beats it confirmed that he he did hear his name at his choosing just like with Metal Claws.

Reward Seeker’s jaw dropped in shock. A very common occurrence during his stay in Hourglass. “You have been chosen by The Voice for the Path of the DragonWyrm!?”

“Yes.” Golden DragonHeart confirmed.

“Then I wish the best and may your name be remembered. By your leave Dragon Keeper.” 

“You have it.” Reward Seeker turned to prepare to fly but stopped as Golden DragonHeart continued. ”One last thing, Reward Seeker, before you go, remember the way the power from me felt when you Rechose. I say this because if, for whatever reason, you are unable to return when it comes time, hopefully soon, for your Secondclaw to Rechoose you can help him.”

Reward Seeker swung his head back to give his thanks. “Thank you, for everything. Whether or not you find a way for myself and the Dragon of Orange Scales and Spikes to become a clan or not we can never repay you. Come Dragon of Orange Scales and Spikes your name is out there somewhere.” 

“Yes, brother.” The orange dragon took off after him.

“It is starting in earnest…” Harmony spoke softly, smiling towards the dragons leaving Hourglass.

“What does that mean Harmony?” Eternal Beats asked. Golden DragonHeart eyed Harmony as he was pretty sure he knew what Harmony meant.

“The dragons are rapidly returning to harmony… I have only seen this once before with the ponies and to see it start happening to the dragons… it makes all the sweat, blood, and tears worth it.”

“How would you know that?” Eternal Beats asked in astonishment.

“I just do.” Harmony kept watching even as the new ‘clan’ disappeared into the sky.
> The Final Element
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

One Year Later…





It had been a very quiet year, at least for the Hourglass Clan. Sadly, the world at large was not as quiet.

Discord was working overtime, and even with the help of some diplomats from Celestia tensions were rising to critical levels in Traxti City. The fear was that at any moment a single spark would set the whole city off dragging three nations with it. Discord was actually beginning to think that it was past the point where he could do anything but delay the inevitable, and Harmony was inclined to agree. The only one holding out that there was still a chance to cool down the tensions peacefully was Celestia. Harmony and Discord hoped that she would be right but were preparing for the worst nonetheless.

Equestria was not without its own issues.

The Bearers had recently dealt with a village of ‘sameness’ and the report that Harmony got from it made him shudder. Twilight had asked why the Elements didn’t protect them. To which Harmony had to respond to not be so complacent with the Elements. They had limitations just like all magic. To begin with the spell that Starlight used was not disharmonious. There was medical uses for the spell. It was originally developed to try and cure the cutiepox… sadly all it did was make the symptoms less severe. Harmony could only figure she must have found journal that had information on the spell. (Which annoyed him as he was sure he had destroyed all of the copies to prevent this from happening after when the cure was found.) And secondly, they were caught off guard and unless the threat was extreme the Elements would only work with a conscious effort. In this case, it was not extreme enough. 

Harmony next had to admonish Fluttershy for nearly letting her still submissive behavior cost them everything. False kindness was one of the most dangerous and harmful deceptions around, and she once again fell for it. He felt, though, that it wouldn't happen again, given that she saw what it looked like now.

Harmony warned them that it most likely wasn’t going to be the last time they would have to deal with Starlight Glimmer. If anything, she would become more dangerous. Celestia was in agreement and had placed a bounty on her capture. Her abilities to disrupt a pony’s talent magic in a similar fashion to Tirek made her too dangerous to be allowed to toss in the wind. He predicted that it was very likely that more cults that had a twisted view of what harmony ‘truly’ was just like the one started by Starlight Glimmer would emerged, and told them to be on the alert. 

On that same line, the Cult of the Moon was beginning to really make its presence known. For the moment, they were relatively ‘peaceful,’ but past history of the cult said that it wouldn’t last long. To Luna’s chagrin, she had discovered there were branches of the cult in every major city and from what she could tell membership was growing at an alarming rate. Sadly for the moment, there wasn’t much to be done but to monitor the cult.

Harmony was getting impatient waiting for the the ‘magic’ cutiemark to reveal itself. All the others came in within a relatively short span of each other. One year was just too much time from the last one so he decided to take matter into his own hands.

For the past week he had been spending nearly eight hours meditating on the element in the Hourglass council chambers. He was beginning to think he would need to try something different  when in hour three and the fifth day something seemed to stir within him. His eyes shot open to see a familiar sight.

“Finally!” Harmony hollered, jumping up and down in his excitement. He finally found a way to enter the strange forest that had plagued him for nearly two years by his own volition. 

“I knew you could do it.” Spike called out from the clearing ahead of Harmony.

“Spike!” Harmony galloped to him and pulled his brother into a hug. After a moment he pulled away a million questions coming out. “Please tell me what is going on! And for that matter where are we!? Why are you even here?! How are you even here? What’s with the fire every time I’m here? Why is the only constellation I see is Draco?”

“Whoa whoa whoa. Slow down Harmony. You are just as bad as Twi.” Spike pinched his brow. This is going to take some time, but at least we finally have the time… “We are in a place known as the inner fire… more specifically, your inner fire. I think the pony equivalent would be similar as to say we are in the plane of the soul.”

“But why do I have one? Or do ponies even have one?

Spike groaned. “Dragon magic…”

“Oh right.” Harmony facehoofed. I can be a total idiot sometimes forgetting the obvious. “But if this is my ‘inner fire, how are you here?”

“We are connected because of the Rite of Guardianship. Being a nondragon there were some parts that you are either unaware of or as usual lack understanding. Thankfully, you did the Rite or there would still be no hope for us…”

“No… no hope!?” Harmony nearly lost his voice in shock. “What do you mean?”

“I can’t move on; no dragon can. We are stuck in limbo, Harmony. We can not become part of The Voice or what you call Draco the Constellation.”

“What!? And The Voice? Is that the dragon equivalent of the Pasturelands?”

“The Voice is like what you call the Pasturelands but it’s also not…” Spike waved his hand and shook his head to stop another question from Harmony. He really wasn’t in the mood for to be annoyed trying and failing to explain something that would only confuse the alicorn further. “As for the limbo part: It’s part of the curse, Harmony, and only you can break the part that prevents us from reaching The Voice. Golden DragonHeart will have to break the other half.”

“The other Half?”

“The part that prevents The Voice from helping the dragons like before.”

“The ‘Nameless One’ really did a number on the dragons…” Harmony grumbled. “I guess it’s not surprising as he probably felt betrayed by them and that the dragons could pose a real and serious threat.”

“Astute as usual Harmony.”

“Not really…” Harmony admitted. “I still don’t know exactly what my sixth element really is… Wait a minute! How do you know all of this?”

“What? You think I can’t talk with other dragons while in limbo? It’s not like we have much else to do being ‘dead’ and all…”

“Have you met your parents yet? I… uh…”

“Yes, I have, and, Harmony, they do wish they could speak to you like we are. Sadly, I’m the only one that can be here… But they wanted you to know that you did well, that they love you, and you have made them very proud.” 

Harmony knees buckled and he almost collapsed from the force of his emotions. In the back of his mind he always worried that he would fail Spike’s and his parents. The look on his mother’s face always forefront. He knew not to beat himself over it but the question still lingered. Teas of relief and joy came out in streams and even though he could not see them he could feel the love of They of Glowstone Caves wash over him. Spike only sat there patting him on the side. 

After a while, Harmony was finally able to collect himself. In a faint whisper he stated, “So you know the truth…”

Spike positioned himself in front of Harmony and gently move his face so that they could see each others eyes. Harmony nearly lost it again when he could see the love coming from Spike. “That you are literally my hatchmate? Yes… and Harmony it’s more than ‘by the code.’ When you passed the Rite magically you became my hatchmate.” 

“Somehow I’m not surprised, but all I could get was that a sibling would be ‘linked’ to the their sibling’s egg(s)”

“It wasn’t their fault remember its usually already a hatchmate you did something they had not seen before so they had nothing to compare it to… Of course, most don’t memory walk everything about the Rite, because, if they did, they may have discovered that you became linked irrevocably to dragons… which makes those that showed you so much disrespect...” Spike’s voice fell into angry growling. 

Harmony put a reassuring hoof on Spike. The hatchling sighed. “Harmony you payed a larger price than you thought. The Pasturelands are locked to you, because The Voice claimed you as his own.” Spike held up a hand already seeing the question coming. “Yes, the Voice is a he. Please don’t try and psychoanalysis it… you’ll understand when it’s time.” 

“Okay.” Harmony roughly rubbed his forehead already feeling the pain increase. “Let’s talk about something else before my developing headache becomes a migraine… What’s with the fire?” Harmony pointed to the flames surrounding them. At least this time the fire seems to be staying on the edge of the meadow and not try to overtake us.

“That would be him…” Spike stuck his thumb in what seemed to Harmony to be a random spot past the firewall.

“Him!?!?” There is someone doing this?!

“Yeah, ‘him.’”

A familiar draconic roar echoed across the meadow. “That was coming from a dragon and not Draco or as you said ‘The Voice’?” 

“Yeah he's frustrated, and you would be too being a dragon never having a name…” Spike shook his head sadly.

“WHAT!? Not another one!” Harmony growling in frustration. He looked towards the fire. “How do we reach him? I was never able to move or affect the flames before.”

“He has that control.”

Of course… Harmony sighed at he made his way to the edge of the meadow. “Well at least I know why I was never able to get the fire to go away.”

“Can you see him?” Spike inquired as soon as he caught up with Harmony. He could see the dragon clearly but he had an advantage over Harmony.

“Yeah,” Harmony shifted a bit to try and get a better view, “I think so.”

Harmony finally got a good look at the dragon staring hard back at him with one purple and one green eye. It was a quadrupedal white dragon. Clearly the dragon had reached its first growth how it could without ever having a name was mystery to Harmony. The belly scales appeared to also be at least whitish but it was a bit difficult to be sure. 

The dragon’s head was adored with six horns, each a different color of the rainbow. Two jetted out from each side of the face and were long enough to go cover the dragon’s ear frills. The two on the top curved up and over and were much bigger and longer than the ones on the sides of his head. The horns as a group looked strangely like a cross between a glossed back mane and a helmet. That was strange to Harmony. He never seen horns like that before. What kind of dragon is this? 

The dragon’s tail become visible when in a rage it roared and slammed the ground in front of itself. Six different colored spines in the coloration and order of a rainbow ran down the dragon’s tail which ended with a purple, white, and green trident. A purple right eye, horn, and trident prong and a green left eye, horn, and trident prong? Strange. That is the same colors as Spike’s/Golden DragonHeart’s scales...

He’s definitely angry… Harmony thought as could hear the sounds of the dragon growling and hissing from within the wall of fire. It looked as if the dragon wanted to leap out and attack but was being held back somehow. Harmony heart broke he wasn’t sure if the dragon was angry at him, its circumstances, or both. One way or the other he just knew that he dishonored this dragon somehow he wasn’t sure how but he just knew that he had.

He slowly lowered himself to the ground. He spread his legs and wings out in the same way as Garble did in an attempt to make himself as flat as possible. He put himself at the mercy of the dragon. The last thing he did was close his eyes in preparation for the carnage to come. The carnage that never came.

Harmony could feel a nudge under his foreleg. From the feel of it was a dragon muzzle. He opened his eyes to look up and he could see the white dragon. It whimpered before nudging him again. It was clear it wanted him to get up. Harmony complied. The fire was raged around them but Harmony was not afraid. The fire felt more like the fire of a fireplace or campfire and not the type that destroyed.

The dragon grabbed Harmony’s muzzle roughly pulling him hard to look straight into its heterochromia eyes. Harmony tried, but couldn’t, to pull his gaze away. Before too long he could see the inner flame of the dragon and it looked exactly like the area around them. This shocked him to his core. It meant that this dragon was him!

“I need to choose.” Harmony said the moment the dragon let go.

“You realize…” Spike began wanting to make sure that he knew the cost.

“To Tartarus with the consequences!” Harmony snapped angrily. “I never flinched with the Rite of Guardianship I ain't going to now either... I know fully what will happen.”

No you don’t. But I will be with you until the end. Spike put a claw on Harmony’s shoulder. 

Harmony sighed heavily knowing that even though he needed to choose there was still one small issue. “Spike, I don’t know draconic. How will I get across to him the correct name?”

“You got this far… Now where is that egghead brain of yours?”

Harmony couldn't help by laugh. “Don’t get snarky brother…”

Harmony thought for some time thinking back on what he knew about Hoard Names. He knew that it reflected what they hoarded for what was it that he hoarded? And how was he going to find the right name with the correct meaning?

Gah, I wish I knew more Hoard Names… It would at least give me a better idea...

Harmony felt frustrated. He now knew how Spike felt when he was approaching his time to choose. The difference was Harmony was not dragon he didn’t innately knew draconic… Maybe if I do the same thing as I did to get here…

It only took seconds of mediation before Harmony eyes shot back open. He knew the perfect name… as long as the dragon agreed. He leaned in to whisper into the dragon’s left ear frill and noticed that it was green. The red and blue horns had masked the frill and its color until then. What is with that pattern? The dragon listened and his eyes went wide at what he heard. Harmony pulled back to stand next to Spike.

“Do you like the name?” He asked.

The dragon responding with a nod of his head growling in contentment. His claws pawed the ground in excitement. He had waited a long time and finally he had what he needed: A Hoard Name. Now he needed to shout it out to complete the Choosing.

“You’d best go to the Plane of Harmony,” Spike smirked, “and drag the whole clan there too…” 

“Oh, Spike!” Harmony facehoofed, laughing. 
> The Choosing
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Golden DragonHeart dropped the book he was reading. He could somehow feel that something drastic was happening to the clan. Secondclaw? Was the only thing he could think of. The feeling he had left, and he momentary thought of picking up the book again. Maybe it was just that rainbow gem I had for breakfast.

The feeling return again this time stronger. “The secondclaw?” This time he wondered out loud. When it didn’t fade away his bewilderment turned to excitement. “The secondclaw has been found!” 

He stumbled on his gem bed trying get frantically so he could  find the Secondclaw. His vision suddenly went white. “What the!?” He cried out. Slowly his vision came back to him and he saw that he was not only no longer in his library but also not in Hourglass. Golden DragonHeart looked around to see a void filled with star-like lights. It was the Plane of Harmony. “How did I get here!?!”

“Sorry.” Harmony apologized as he stepped out of nothing. “That would be my fault.”

“He of Harmony, what is the meaning… I…” He of Hourglass trailed off when he noticed that a young dragon shimmered in next to Harmony. A dragon he had never seen before. Rainbow horns? That has to be unique among dragons. And speaking of horns those horns are just like Twixt’d’s twisted horn… atypical… where did he find this dragon? And for that matter how does He of Harmony keep running into dragons in the way he does? Sure, as a keeper it would make sense that he would attract odd company, but he’s the Alicorn Keeper not the Dragon Keeper… “Hello Dragon of White Scales and Rainbow Horns…” 

The dragon apparently was not thrilled about being called Dragon of White Scales and Rainbow Horns as he growled angrily at He of Hourglass. He of Hourglass was taken aback but readied to defend himself. He knew the code; he was being proper in the way he addressed the dragon. He studied the dragon a bit more to get a better idea of what he was up against. The eyes caught his attention. They were eyes of only a semi sentient creature. This dragon is feral!? Why would He of Harmony risk bringing a dragon in that state here? The Harmony Council, maybe, but he should have notified me first as I would have preferred to do this in Hourglass.

“Calm down…” Harmony put a reassuring hoof on the snarling dragons shoulder. “He is your Firstclaw after all.”

“Huh?” He of Hourglass scratched his head in confusion. “He of Harmony, I know all of the dragons in the clan, and he is not one of them. I don’t like the fact you are being that presumptuous that I would allow him in.”

Harmony put a hoof in front of the now furious white dragon. A small plume of white fire leaked out of his maw. Harmony grumbled as he stepped between them and mouthed ‘patience.’ The dragon slowly released his rage as he fully trusted Harmony. Harmony returned his gaze to He of Hourglass who was becoming very annoyed at what he perceived to be a massive breach of not only Dragon Code but Keeper protocols. “Why don’t we wait until the others have arrived, shall we?”

“He of Harmony…” He of Hourglass growled out a warning.

Harmony shut He of Hourglass snout with his rainbow aura. He of Hourglass was now livid and was about to put Harmony in his place when a series of flashes interrupted his train of thought.

“Good, everydragon is here that needs to be here.” Harmony noted, seeing the entire Hourglass clan now gathered. All of them in states of confusion except for He of Music who was drooling slightly at wonderful perfect song of the plane overpowering his sense of decorum a bit.

“ENOUGH!” He of Hourglass roared, snapping the Harmony’s aura like dry twigs. “He of Harmony what is…”

“You are here for the Choosing of your Secondclaw.”

This completely deflated He of Hourglass. He wasn’t expecting that response at all and it took a few minutes before his brain started up enough for him to respond. “I never told you…”

“That Quartermaster was never your Secondclaw? Yeah, I figured that one out when I found out how old this one was.”

How could this be?! None of it was making any sense to He of Hourglass. First, the secondclaw is not Quartermaster but a different dragon. Quartermaster was the first dragon he met after his choosing so he couldn’t see how it could have happened. The secondclaw is ‘found’ by Harmony, and it supposedly is a feral dragon?!? The dragon needed help, that was for sure as a feral dragon were barely able to function as sentient...if at all. Similar to a rage dragon but without the rage...luckily. A feral dragon could explain the reason nodragon knew the name of the secondclaw...

“He is your secondclaw.” Harmony reiterated,interrupting He of Hourglass’ inner debate. “If you don’t believe look harder, and if you need further convincing... He of Music could probably tell you if he is a member of the clan.  As I wouldn't be surprised if there is clan soul song melody.”

Everyone looked at He of Music who shrunk back a bit at the attention. “He’s right Firstclaw. I don’t know how he knows, but he is right… the Hourglass Clan has a melody.”

He of Music slowly tried to approached the dragon but the dragon only growled and backed up.
He of Music rubbed his chin in thought. How do I approach him if he keep growling… He snapped a claw when he got an idea. 

He began humming softly. The effect the soul song was immediate as the white dragon stopped growling in his curiosity. He of Music kept humming as he again tried to get close to the dragon. He let his humming slowly fade away once he was close enough to listen. For a split second He of Music was worried that the dragon would become aggressive again but all he heard was the white dragon rumbling in contentment. 

He of Music blinked and pushed his ear onto the dragon. He was like that for a long time before he backed away. “I don’t understand…” The look of concern on his face worried everyone but Harmony. “He was no song, at least one that I can hear, with an exception. The clan’s melody.”

Every dragon started talking and arguing at once. The revelation that the dragons song indicating that the dragon was a member of the clan was too much. Harmony rolled his eyes, everything had gone sideways. He could see that He of Hourglass was beyond annoyed now both at the situation and at the clan. 

“ENOUGH!” He of Hourglass roared, silencing the entire clan. “I’m sorry He of Harmony I… This is not making sense…” He rubbed his head, trying to calm his racing head.

“Stop.” Harmony ordered. “There is nothing to forgive brother. I can understand the confusion. Trust me, you aren’t the only one that has had to deal with that today.” The white dragon must have thought it was amusing because he started laughing or he seemed to be laughing. That was at least what Harmony thought. The sound that the dragon was making sounded like a cross between grunting and a throaty rumble.

Harmony walk up right behind He of Hourglass and gave him a friendly nudge. “Go on... Look dragon to dragon and what I have said will become clear.”

He of Hourglass carefully stepped towards the white dragon noticed the movement and stopped laughing and began snarling again. Harmony nodded for him to keep going when He of Hourglass glanced back. Still with hesitation he continued to approach the dragon. After a tense minute they were within inches of each other. The two dragons, He of Hourglass gazing down while the white dragon looking up, locked their eyes together.

The white dragon saw the inner fire of He of Hourglass and it was similar to Harmony’s. It was more than that. This bipedal dragon was Harmony’s brother. That was all it took for him to feel that he could trust the purple and green dragon. 

He of Hourglass could see the inner fire of the white dragon and it was strange it almost seemed… He nearly lost the eye lock in his shock. This dragon was his secondclaw. His missing brother and clanmate. He didn’t know how but his heart knew and that was all he need to know to know. He broke his gaze and grabbed the dragon in a hug. The white dragon was a bit shocked at first but then returned the embrace. 

Harmony smiled as he saw the affection that He of Hourglass was showing. He slowly backed away. As he left no one noticed except one who, as he watched Harmony, could see his cutiemark becoming complete.

He of Hourglass pushed himself out of the hug. “Are you ready, Secondclaw?”

The white dragon nodded.





“I figured you would notice me leaving.” Harmony commented, not turning at the opening of the council doors. He knew who it was, but he couldn’t turn his eyes from Golden DragonHeart’s throne just yet.

“I couldn’t bare to ‘die’ with him there…I couldn’t with Spike…” He glanced to the white dragon who was now beside him. “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!’”

Harmony stated to pace in frustration, mumbling incoherently. The white dragon went up to him and nuzzled Harmony a bit. Harmony calmed down and gave him a nod indicating that he was now fine.

“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.”        

Harmony suddenly noticed light like particles floating around that wasn’t from the nine usual thrones. “Hmmm fascinating…” Harmony lifted up his hoof to see balls of light forming on his now glowing form before floating away from him towards the white dragon. “It appears that it has begun in earnest…” Harmony returned his attention to the dragon. “Soul Fire take care of my hatchmate, my brother, Golden DragonHeart. He and his predecessor Spike… they are all the really matter to me in the world. For when all is said and done who else do you have but family?”

Soul Fire smiled and nodded. He place a clawed paw on his heart then close to Harmony’s.

“Thank you, Soul Fire… You will pass on what Spike said when the time is right? ….whatever that means… dragons and timing!” Harmony laughed at his joke. He wiped a tear from his eyes. “I’m sorry I wasn't able to name you sooner…” At that Harmony went silent his body now nearly faded away. He had nothing further to tell his dragon self and knew that things would be fine. His mind was beginning to fade as he walked away from Soul Fire to take a seat on his soon to be former throne, smiling. Yes, things will be fine...

The last thing Harmonious Knight ever heard was Spike calling out to him. “I love you, brother.”

The last thing Harmonious Knight ever did was cry a single tear.

The last thing Harmonious Knight ever thought was the feeling of finally being complete. For he finally had what he always wanted and needed: a family.

…

The Alicorn Keeper of Harmony is now in harmony.
> The Trials of Soul Fire
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Any luck finding He of Hourglass?” A voice called out in the darkness.

I am right here…

“No… He just had to disappear right after he Chose…” 

Come on…

“Well, it was the Plane of Harmony… It appears that He of Harmony is beginning to stir. At least I think it’s him, but his fur and horn have changed coloration. Might have something to do with his cutiemark.”

I... well, actually, I should probably keep that title… for now. 

He slowly opened his eyes. The pain from the sudden brightness almost made him want to close them again. All around him was the blurry shapes of his clanmates. A red claw appeared and he took it.

“Thank you, Metal Claws.” His voice sounded strange to him. Of course, he never was able to speak before today. Soul Fire blinked a few times to aid in ridding his eyes of its blurriness. When that didn’t work he rubbed his eyes with his foreleg which also felt strange. A glance at his foreleg told him that it was a pony’s leg. His eyes went wide. Okay… remain calm...

“Outsider, are you…” Metal Claws stopped when he heard a draconic growl from Soul Fire. This was not like the He of Harmony he knew. 

“Do not call me that.” Soul Fire snapped up at him showing off his sharp teeth. How dare he… Calm down, he thinks you are Harmonious Knight.

“He of Harmony? Are you okay?” Metal Claw’s mate asked. She was also concerned about the odd reaction from him. 

Soul Fire took a couple of deep breaths trying to stop his head from swimming. “I’m fine MetalEtched Claws.”

Both Metal Claws and MetalEtched Claws eyes shrunk to pinpricks. In a flash MetalEtched Claws was in Soul Fire’s face roaring. “I NEVER TOLD YOU MY NAME!!”

Oh, buck… buck!?? He could see her readying to unleash her tanish orange flames. No time to figure that out... “Yes, you did. At my Choosing in the Plane of Harmony.”

“Wha?” The flames faded away and a look of complete confusion came over not only her face but, from what Soul Fire could see, the entire clan. 

Eternal Beats slowly walked up to Soul Fire’s alicorn form and listened to his song. He only listen for a second when his eyes widened into saucers and grabbed the alicorn into a hug. “Brother!” 

Soul Fire laughed as he returned the hug. “Eternal Beats.”

Golden DragonHeart curiosity overruled his patience. “Eternal Beats? What did you hear?”

Soul Fire nodded his okay when Eternal Beats looked at him in worry. What he heard was not only private but was normally could not be revealed not at all but given the circumstances.

“The alicorn is the Secondclaw. The song I heard was … was interesting. Forgive me Soul Fire, the shell melody is just like Harmony’s but the core is different, yet familiar. I can only surmise that its Soul Fire’s... though the whole song is technically his… and he does have the clan melody.”

The shell? O, I think I get it now… Good. I was worried I was stuck somehow in this form. Alicorn just doesn’t feel like me at all...

Here goes nothing. Soul Fire pushed down on his alicorn magic until he felt it was suppressed enough. He then bound it so that it would not come up until he needed it again. 

A fierce pain came over his entire body. He grunted as he could feel his mane recede before horns burst out of the sides of his muzzle and top of his head. Sharp claws thrusted out of his hooves as they changed into dragon paws. The hair of his tail melted together and morphed into a dragon’s tail. All over his fur flattened and smoothed out into scales. 

“That’s much better.” Soul Fire commented as he examined his now scaly foreleg. He made a mental note not to change into an alicorn except when he absolutely needed the alicorn magic. Too painful to switch in his opinion.

“What?”

“HOW!?”

“That is for the Firstclaw to know and only in private. If he wishes he may reveal what I tell him.” Soul Fire could feel his mind becoming fuzzy. “I’m sorry to cut this short, but I need to mediate before I lose control. Come see me in as few days and one at a time if you like.”

“Of course, Soul Fire…” Golden DragonHeart stepped out of the way as Soul Fire walked out of the council chambers. Odd he said mediate over hoard… though given the meaning of his name...





The sounds of heavy thumping stirred Soul Fire from his mediation. “Metal Claws?” He turned and noted that he was right. He also noticed that MetalEtched Claws was with him. “And your mate MetalEtched Claws. Somehow I figured you would be first.”

“Secondclaw I…”

“Stop.” Soul Fire interrupted Metal Claw’s coming apology. “I shouldn’t have snapped, and I should have been a bit more careful about revealing that I knew your Hoard name, MetalEtched Claws. There was no way for you to know that I wasn’t Harmonious Knight. I…”

Soul Fire felt his hoard change and increase. It can’t increase… unless…

“May I suggest you sit down MetalEtched Claws, or better yet lie down.”

“Soul Fire?” The dragoness was not really worried as Soul Fire’s choosing was only a couple of days ago. It usually was a month before aftereffects of the choosing like volatile mood swings and the need to hoard nonstop dissipated. Still she wasn’t too sure what Soul Fire was up to.

“You need to start a nest.” Soul Fire stated the moment the MetalEtched Claws had laid down next to her mate.

“You don’t mean?” She nearly shot up in surprise. Female dragons did produced certain pheromones within hours of it happening but only her mate and herself would have known the smell. It would have started the nesting instinct and from the look that her mate had he was wasn’t being affected by anything. How would Soul Fire know something like that if even Metal Claws or herself didn’t know yet. 

“Three.” Was all that Soul Fire said.

“MetalEtched Claws!” Metal Claws panicked when his mate fainted away. “What did you do to her?”

“What is it with males being so oblivious?” Soul Fire snickered when he saw the lost mixed with anger look on Metal Claws face. “You’re going to be a father…”

At that Metal Claws also fainted away. Soul Fire resisted the urge to chuckle and silently took off. He knew they needed a bit of alone time once they awoke. Besides, he was getting hungry and a gem or two sounded nice.





Soul Fire saw his pink sister dunk into a small home. Might as well say hi. “Legacy Chaser! Fancy meeting you here.”

The pink dragoness nearly jumped when she heard Soul Fire. “Soul Fire!” She turned around with a vase in her hands. “You nearly made me drop this vase! Wait, what are you doing? You usually are high up on a building roof mediating.” She put the vase carefully down as she asked another question. “Why do you need to mediate anyway?”

“I’m trying to find a spot to meditate that I like… and as for why, I like to mediate.” That and I need to in order to deal with the alicorn magic... among other things.

“Thinking about getting some tail action? ‘Cause you know I’m free.”

“Nice try…”Soul Fire deadpanned, “but both of us know that I’m not your mate.”

“Drats. I was hoping to see some red on those cute white scales of yours…” She looked over her shoulder at him batting her eyes.

You want to play hard ball? Fine. I’ll play. Soul Fire grinned wickedly. “What I really was doing was trying to find a special dragoness... Babe.”

“Thats nice..” Legacy Chaser absentmindedly agreed as she turned to grab the vase that she had put down easier. 3...2...1... “HEY! You get back here!”

Soul Fire laughed ducking around a corner to hide from the angry dragoness. She really needs to learn that if one can’t take it don’t it dish out...

“Gotcha!” Legacy Chaser suddenly grabbed Soul Fire’s tail pulling him down with a yelp.

Soul Fire smirked as he saw that her face was red with anger. He needed to defuse the situation fast. “Don’t you have some artifacts to catalogue?” 

“You are so lucky…”  Legacy Chaser sighed, letting go of her anger as she knew he was right. To Soul Fire she seemed a bit down. “even after a year…” She had so much work to do and now that Harmony Chose and was now Soul Fire she lost the vast amount of knowledge he had about the city… She could still get all the information but it would take longer now. Still she was happy for Soul Fire. How could she not be happy for her brother’s choosing?

“Then let me lend a claw for an hour or two.”

“Why?” She didn’t think he would be that interested in the slow process of cleaning and preserving artifacts. She couldn't have his mind wander like when meditating. “My hoard isn’t exactly easy going…”

“I want to help my sister. What other reason should I have?”

“You are so lucky your horns make it impossible for me to trace a claw around your ear frills.” Legacy Chaser softly whispered before slyly slinking past him.

Soul Fire shuddered. If she keeps this up it will be a long couple of hours…





“The sunsets here are always spectacular.” Soul Fire mused as his laid on his side along the edge of a random building in Hourglass letting the remaining sun rays warm his belly scales. His tail lazily swaying from side to side over the edge. The sun had just lowered below the horizon of the mountain city when he could hear the almost imperceptible approach of his brother. “Hello Eternal Beats.” He greeted his clanmate without moving.

“Hello, Soul Fire, I hope I’m not disturbing you… It’s I just wanted… that…” Eternal Beats sheepishly chuckled as he attempted to say what he wanted to but was finding it hard to.

“Yes, I was once Harmonious Knight.” Soul Fire yawned and stretched before getting up. “That is why you heard his melody when I was in alicorn form, and now you are wondering what my song sounds like as a spark dragon?”

Eternal beats blinked a few times as his brain attempted to catch up. “If the song didn’t make me believe that you were once him, you being able to expertly guess what I was wanting would.” Soul Fire chuckled motioning Eternal Beats over. This time Eternal Beats took his time to listen. “The shell melody is gone… but everything else is the same.”

“Well that does confirm my suspicions…” Soul Fire commented.

Yep he differently was Harmony… and now I really have him as a brother and a clanmate!

“Hey brother… I’m having issues mediating and…”

“You want me to play my ocarina don’t you?” Eternal Beats gave his clanmate a sly grin, already sitting down letting his tail hang off the edge of the building.

“No, you don’t have to go out of your way like that.” Soul Fire chuckled at his brother’s exuberance in hopes of playing a song. “I was wondering if I could mediate in the park near your hoard.”

“The birds!” Eternal Beats laughed as he figured out what his brother was after. “Sure, why not? If it helps... Plus, I’m sure some of them would love having a dragon ‘statue’.”

“Some of your birds have already played ‘perch on the dragon statue’ with my horns.” Soul Fire grumbled as Eternal Beats laughed. Soul Fire facepalmed when he realized that he walked right into that. “You know… why not? I would love to hear your ocarina.”

The sounds of an ocarina drifted across Hourglass long into the night.





There he is again… Soul Fire sighed after he saw the black whelp attempting to again hide from him but remain close enough to probably watch him. Soul Fire rolled his eyes as he took off towards Twixt’d. Before Twixt’d could react He of Harmony grabbed him in his claws, flipped him on his tail, regrabbed him by said tail, and flew him upside down high above Hourglass.

“Hey! What gives! Let go of me you bucking jerk!” Twixt’d cursed trying to knock himself out of the grip of the dragon.

He of Harmony chose to ignore the insult for the moment. Though a part of him wanted to smack him for his crudeness. “Why are you watching me Twixt’d?”

“None of your business.”

He of Harmony couldn’t help but chuckle as he placed Twixt’d back on the ground before landing himself. “Now, where have I heard that before?”

Twixt’d growled threateningly. He was annoyed that he was accosted like he was. He of Harmony smirked before he himself adopted a stern attitude, growling. “I’m the clan’s secondclaw don’t think I don’t have the right to kick you out of Hourglass.”

“Fine. I’ll leave. I know when I not wanted. Tell Harmony when you see him that I’ll wait for him at the Oasis.”

That caught He of Harmony off guard a bit. Odd… he shouldn’t remember Harmonious Knight… Normally an adults dragon's aura protects any whelps or hatchlings that they know their innocence from the Choosing… could it be because of my magic’s hybrid nature? Though the aura is a recent addition... And he’s still a good twenty years or more from his Choosing… How to deal with this...

“Twixt’d…” He of Harmony stopped the whelp with a paw to his shoulder. “I was Knight…”

“How did you… know that name!? Only Harmony and I know that name.”

He’s not ready for the implication of a Choosing especially the way they are right now… But he’s going to find out about my alicorn form sooner or later and it will be easier to deal with it now then later when it may not be… He of Harmony clenched his teeth. This is going to hurt...

Twixt’d’s eyes went wide as he watch the white dragon with rainbow horns morphed into a white alicorn with a purple and green striped horn. He had spiky rainbow mane and tail that moved slowly about. The way his mane and tail moved was almost like it was made of a multicolored fire.

There has to be a way to make that less painful! He of Harmony grumbled as finished his transformation.

“Knight…?” Twixt’d couldn't believe that the dragon was his brother, but how? And how did the alicorn become a dragon in the first place?

“It’s He of Harmony. I don’t like being called by any of my former names and you are dragon so use the He of honorific.”

“But I thought you loved being called Knight by me.”

He of Harmony rubbed his head his rational mind fading a bit. I got to reign this in and fast... I got to get back to mediating. “Remember when you changed into a whelp? When one becomes an adult dragon they go through changes just like when a hatchling becomes a whelp but it’s all in the mind instead of growing wings. One of those changes is not liking former names. You didn’t like being called Black Ice, your hatchling name, did you?”

“No.”

“That is the same for me… An adult dragon however can’t stand being called by former names even ones that they loved because names to an adult dragon can’t taken lightly because they have a magical effect…have power.”

“What about Medallion? I know it's a nickname and that is what ‘Knight’ was…”

“Technically, Medallion is a title not a nickname… though in most cultures it would be considered a nickname... as for why I can’t be called ‘Knight:’ it’s because my name before I Chose was Harmonious Knight.”

“Oh… okay… I see now why you were so mushy when I called you that… So, just because you became a literal dragon you felt you needed a new name?”

“Felt, no? I really needed a new name... that and a hoard. Outside of those you don’t need to know what else entails becoming an adult.”

“That’s what they all say…” Twixt’d grumbled, crossing his arms, “that us chicks, foals, saplings, whatever are too young to understand, or aren't ready to know, or yada yada…” 

He of Harmony sighed. There was huge difference growing up as those races over a dragon and He of Harmony knew that he had to be careful with him. If he said the wrong thing it could make things worse than help. “I want you to know something. The type of Hoard I have is not typical. My hoard is family, specifically my clan, so it only can grow as the clan grows… With one exception. You.”

Twixt’d was a bit troubled at this but couldn’t come up with anything. He of Harmony noticed this so he decided it wouldn’t hurt to elaborate. “We became brothers by verbal agreement. What I’m talking about it… is more… If you continue along the path you began when you were…”

“Dragonnapped.” Twixt’d deadpanned.

He of Harmony rolled his eyes. “If you become the dragon that I still see in you. Then you will have my blessing to join the clan...”

“Why? I have been here a year and Quartermaster hates me, He of Hourglass disapproves of me, He of Music never wants to hang with me and the less I say of Medallion the better… I will never be anything more than a street urchin.”

“You think like a whelp…” He of Harmony shook his head. “A true dragon it not measured by this,” He pointed to Twixt’d’s head before pointing to his chest, “but this. Twixt’d, not just any dragon can join. Only those who character reflects the way dragons should be not the way they are now… Every dragon here including you reflect in some way the dragons as they were before the Nameless One’s evil.”

“Bah!” Twixt’d bark out a forced laugh. “A street urchin having the character of a good dragon that’s a new one.”

“Have faith in yourself and really start applying yourself to learning the Code. First learn to stop interrupting me… Do you know what it means to join the clan?”

“Well that is a stupid question as I don’t know. You, or the former you, never went over that.”

“He had his reasons…”

“He?”

Ugh, slip up… “You did say ‘the former me.’”

“Oh, right, I did… this is confusing…”

“Understandable… When you join this clan we would not be brother via verbal agreement and respect but heart to heart.” 

“Sounds just like what snooty rich people say to fool someone to accept being ‘adopted’ only to find out it’s so they can look good in the papers...”

“No…” He needs to learn to stop thinking everything in the negative… “We would be literally brothers… How do I put this is a way you can understand… we would be unable to think of each other than as brothers or clanmates… our minds would struggle to be able to even causally  form a sentence in our minds that said that ‘we were not brothers’ as a jest. You would have to fight hard to say anything one in the clan wasn’t a sibling. It’s worse for me because family is my hoard and a dragon never wants to damage their own hoard. A dragon and his hoard is magically linked I can’t even in jest come up with the words… I’m aware of the words but it’s impossible for me to link them together.”

“Like saying that He of Hourglass isn’t my brother?”

“Yes... I heard you said that’s because he isn't you brother, but I couldn’t repeat it for you my mind has already changed it to ‘Twixt’d isn’t He of Hourglass’ brother.’ And we both know that it was not the phrasing of your sentence.”

“That doesn’t make sense. How can you not say that line?”

Of course it doesn’t your mind is not dragon enough to understand. He of Harmony grumbled to himself. “I just can’t…”

“Try.”

He of Harmony growled. If this is what he needs to understand then I shall ‘try’. “He of Hourglass isn’t my… … …” He of Harmony blinked. “Uh… what was I trying to say?”

“You were trying to say ‘ He of Hourglass isn’t my brother.’”

He of Harmony face went red trying to get the words to come. He knew they wouldn't come but he still needed to demonstrate with all his might that he couldn’t. His mind nearly snapped and he stopped before he lashed out.

“I CAN’T TWIXT’D! I understand the words you say but I can’t be formed in my mind in that order… I just know that I can’t…” He of Harmony started to talk slow breathes as his rational mind holding by a thread. He would need to mediate and very soon. But first he needed to get Twixt’d to a place of understanding.

“I believe you, He of Harmony.” Twixt’d said softly.

“What?” He expected that response but not the way he said it.

“I said I believe you, He of Harmony.”

He of Harmony blinked at this complete turn around. He knew he would get through to him but for Twixt’d to sound like a whelp and not sound like someone who only knew the street that quickly. There was no scowl or smirk on his face hie voice sounded less gruff. And his posture was straighter. 

“I want what you have but I know I need to learn true dragon respect and dragon code like you said. So, can we get started… like now?” Twixt’d pleaded.

“I can not, at least not yet.” Soul Fire shook his head. I have to get myself at a point to function for more than a short while first. “I need a bit more time to recover from my Choosing. Talk with He of Hourglass I’m sure he will teach you... At least until I am ready to do it myself. Besides you are years away you still have time to just be a young dragon without all the responsibilities as an adult.” 

> 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…”
> Epilogue/Sequel link
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

An endless storm raged around. Flashes of lightning lit the sky and a vortex of water became visible shooting upward through the sky and mist.

An unearthly rumble and explosion overpowered the sounds of the storm. The side of the vortex bulged before another explosion blew out of the side. A large mass of darkness, smoke, and ash flowed out of the water vortex. A pair of glowing red eyes glare out from within.

FrEe at laST… roared a demonic voice. AnD aLL ShaLL buRn!





Discord, Soul Fire, and Golden DragonHeart noticed the sky became grey and dark. They all knew what that meant and they stood in defiance of it. All three as one declared their challenge of the ‘Nameless One.’

“Do not count us out.”

“We will stand firm.”

“We will fight.”

“And we will not fail.”



For we are...

“THE KEEPERS OF HARMONY!”



End of Book 2