Quest For Harmony
PROLOGUE
The brilliance of the rising sun shone down upon the realm of Equestria, thanks to the sky clear of clouds. But despite the beautiful day, many ponies were hiding in their houses, not daring to come out should they fall victim to those that would be passing overhead. Today was the legendary day of the great Dragon Migration, when all the dragons in Equestria would journey to an unknown meeting place once every generation; their path would take them directly over Ponyville, and anypony with any concern for their lives didn't want to be outdoors when they arrived.
However, some ponies just found this one in a lifetime chance to be too tempting to pass up.
One such pony was a unicorn who already had some experience with dragons, who was currently at her pegasus friend's house, trying to convince her to join them for this great advent.
Her fur was lavender-purple in color, while her long mane was a deep plum in color with a pink stripe running horizontally through it, her hair-like mane growing over her forehead in a trimmed look and running down her neck in the same manner, her long tail the same colors and kept in the same style. Her eyes were a purplish-indigo in color, and her cutie mark, the natural marking all ponies have on their flanks, resembled a large red star surrounded by multiple white sparkles.
Her name was Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celestia's personal student, and wielder of the Element of Magic, most powerful of the Elements of Harmony.
"Come on, Fluttershy. It'll be fun."
"There's nothing fun about dragons! Scary? Yes! Fun? No!" Fluttershy whimpered as Rainbow Dash, a fellow pegasus, was dragging her by the tail toward the door. She lost her grip and the vanilla pudding-coloured pegasus made a bolt for it, but didn't get far before the cyan pegasus caught her and push her toward the doors.
Fluttershy was a pegasus pony. Her fur was a gentle-looking creamy yellow in color, like that of vanilla pudding, and her hair was a bright, baby-pink in color. Her mane was even longer than Twilight's, growing down her head and covering part of her face in long, curved locks, her long tail grown and styled in the same manner. Her eyes were an innocent teal-blue in color, and cutie mark was the picture of three pink butterflies.
Rainbow Dash was another pegasus pony, but as different to Fluttershy was day was to night. Her fur was a sharp, bright cyan-blue in color, and her mane was literally a rainbow: it was colored in six stripes of red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple. Her mane was styled like a spiky, tomboyish mess of hair, the colors of red, orange, and yellow hung just above her eyes and the colors of green, blue, and purple running down her neck. Her long tail, also spiky and messy, looked like a singular rainbow growing from her rear, ending in sharp spikes. Her eyes were a sharp magenta in color, and her cutie mark was a symbol of a grey thundercloud with a rainbow-colored thunderbolt blazing from it.
"But Fluttershy, the great Dragon Migration happens only once in a generation." Twilight tried to reason. "Do you really want to pass up a chance like that?"
"Now that you put it that way, yes!" Fluttershy squeaked; now she was holding onto the sides of the doorway with all four of her legs, with Rainbow Dash trying to push her through with all her strength, but having little luck.
With a flash of her magic, Twilight teleported outside the house in front of the yellow pegasus. "Aw, Fluttershy, we just don't want you to miss out." She assured her friend sweetly.
"Miss out on what?" Fluttershy asked, still fighting the battle for safety against her fellow pegasus. "Dragons? Big, scaly, fire-breathing dragons?"
"Well... yeah!"
"Thanks, but... no thanks!"
Rainbow Dash, fed up with trying to push Fluttershy through the door, stopped and tried to 'reason' with her. "Look, Fluttershy, I watched that boring butterfly migration with you..." She said as she held up a picture depicting Fluttershy watching butterflies with binoculars while Rainbow Dash remained highly bored and irritated. "...So now it's your turn to watch the dragon migration with me! You owe me!"
"I. Said. NO!" Fluttershy screamed out and tackled Rainbow towards the ground roughly, even planting her back hooves on her torso harshly; Twilight gasped in surprise before Fluttershy began running towards the window in her home, releasing a high-pitched growl. When she reached it, she lifted up her hooves, looking as if she was actually going to burst open the window...but instead, she lowered herself and gently opened the windows, whimpering as she jumped out.
When Twilight ran toward the window in shock, she saw her running away. She then looked back to see Rainbow Dash lying on the ground in a daze.
"Okay, I guess I'll let you off the hook this time." The cyan-colored pegasus stated.
Twilight couldn't help but smirk as she looked down at her pegasus friend; this kind of craziness was something she was just recently introduced too...but now that she experienced the power and magic of true friendship, she had realized just how foolish she was trying to avoid it.
It happened during the Summer Sun Celebration, a holiday that celebrated Princess Celestia raising the sun to begin a new year. At the time Twilight Sparkle was Celestia's personal student, living in Canterlot; back then, Twilight didn't believe friendship held any use, the intelligent unicorn seeing it as merely a distraction from knowledge. This year would mark the thousandth's year of Celestia's reign, but through her studies, Twilight came across a disturbing prophecy that this year the stars would align with the moon to aid the escape of Nightmare Moon, a dark and evil mare - and Celestia's younger sister - who was banished to the moon a thousand years ago. Knowing this could mean eternal night and doom for Equestria, Twilight informed her teacher of this crisis...only to be told to that she needed to stop reading those old books and get out into the world.
Twilight was then sent to Ponyville with her assistant Spike to oversee the preparations for the Sun Summer Celebration...and to make some friends, much to her great disappointment. She had planned to get the overseeing preparations over with quickly and get back to the town's library that she was staying at to do more research of the Elements of Harmony, the magical relics that would stop Nightmare Moon. But, unfortunate for her studies, she was constantly delayed by the 'crazy ponies' of PonyVille that were so eager to be friendly toward someone new; these included the country-gal Applejack, the tom-boyish Rainbow Dash, the lady-like Rarity, the timid-sweet Fluttershy, and the hyper-active Pinkie Pie.
That night, when Celestia was suppose to raise the sun to celebrate the Summer Sun Celebration, the prochecy came true: the stars aligned perfectly with the moon and Nightmare Moon arrived in Ponyville. She quickly took the power and throne of Equestria, banishing Celestia to the sun and bringing forth Eternal Night, vanishing soon after. Twilight rushed to her library, and there she told Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash about the six Elements of Harmony, the first five hidden in the Ancient Palace of the Royal Pony Sisters, and the six a complete mystery. So the six mares journey deep into the heart of the dreaded Everfree Forest to find the Palace, encountering many dangers and challenges Nightmare Moon set up along the way, but each were conquered by each of the different ponies' positive nature and talents, the six arriving to the palace at last.
Once there, they found the first five elements, but before they could discover the sixth, Nightmare Moon arrived and swept the elements and Twilight to her personal throne in the palace. Twilight confronted Nightmare Moon in a mock-charge, teleporting herself with her magic to where the Elements lay and firing a 'spark' of magic at the five with the hopes that it would reveal the hidden sixth element as legends say. But it failed, and Nightmare Moon shattered the elements with her hooves, declaring that Twilight would never see Princess Celestia or her sun ever again.
The night...would last...forever!
But just as it seemed that evil had won, Twilight heard the others calling for her, telling her that they would be there. It was then, deep within Twilight's heart...that the true spark of magic was ignited: the magic of Friendship. She then revealed she had learned the truth to Nightmare Moon and the other mares: the elements of Harmony were not physical objects...they were incarnated in the spirits of herself and the five ponies with her!
Applejack, who reassured Twilight when she was in doubt, represents the spirit of Honesty.
Fluttershy, who tamed the ferocious Manticore with her compassion, represents the spirit of Kindness.
Pinkie Pie, who banished fear by giggling in the face of danger, represents the spirit of Laughter.
Rarity, who calmed a sorrowful sea serpent with a meaningful gift, represents the spirit of Generosity.
Rainbow Dash, who would not abandon her friends for her own personal desires, represents the spirit of Loyalty.
It was then Twilight felt the true spark...within her own heart the moment she heard the others calling for her. She realized just how wonderful it was to have them, how great it was to care for them, to be with them...when she realized they were her friends! And when that spark ignited within her, the final element was born: the most powerful of all Elements of Harmony, and the spirit she represented...the Element of Magic!
The six elements combined, the six friends joined together and defeated Nightmare Moon with the Elements of Harmony, destroying the evil monster and releasing Princess Celestia from her celestial prison...as well as purifying Princess Luna from her darkness. Celestia then revealed to a confused Twilight that she was aware of Nightmare Moon's return; she knew Twilight had the magic in her heart to defeat her, but couldn't release it without accepting true friendship into her heart...then it was time for another to do the same. Princess Luna, now freed from the darkness of jealousy and hatred, reunited with her older sister in a tearful reunion, and celebration filled the land.
Despite the rejoicing, Twilight was downcast; now the adventure was over, she was able to return to her studies in Canterlot...but now she had finally learned how wonderful it was to have friends, and didn't want to leave them. Celestia however, merely smiled and asked Spike to take a letter; she decreed that the unicorn Twilight Sparkle would take on a new mission for Equestria: She would continue to study the magic of friendship, and would write to Celestia her findings from her new home in Ponyville. Thrilled, Twilight thanked the princess greatly, and has been living happily in Ponyville with her friends ever since.
A full year has passed since then, and Twilight and her friends have gone through some crazy adventures together. Not much had changed since that day, other than Celestia decreeing, after a rather bizzare incident with Twilight not finding anything about friendship, that all of the Elemental Bearers would write to her when they discovered a lesson in friendship. They had quite a few crazy adventures of all kinds since that day Twilight came, from designed dresses for the Grand Galloping Gala to defeating an all powerful beast named Discord from destroying Equestria through pure chaos.
Little did Twilight know that her biggest adventure was about to begin, one that would change her and possibly all of Equestria for all time.
Dragon Watching Trench:
Right now she and her friends were currently hiding out in a rectangular trench that Pinkie Pie and Applejack, two more of Twilight's friends, had dung out while she and Rainbow Dash were busy with Fluttershy, all of the present ponies now dressed in army-styled camouflage and scanning the skies with binoculars.
"I don't see any dragons." Twilight commented in a hushed tone after observing the sky for a moment.
"Me neither." Applejack added, looking with her binoculars as well in the same tone.
"Me neither neither." Pinkie included, looking up with her binoculars as well...but in the opposite side. "Shoot!"
Applejack was an Earth Pony. Her fur was a sharp orange in color, and her mane was a sandy-blonde, growing in a messy style in the front, while growing back down her neck where it was tied off in a long ponytail at the end, her long tail styled and tied off in the same manner. Adorning her head resting a traditional brown, slightly-battered, stetson cowboy hat. Her eyes were a lime green in color, and her cutie mark was the picture of three red apples.
Pinkie Pie was an Earth Pony as well. Her fur, however, was a really bright pink in color, and her wild, curly, darker-pink mane could only be described as a combination of cotton candy and a coiffure's worst nightmare, her tail styled in the same manner. Her eyes were a very bright baby-blue in color and her cutie mark was a picture of three blue party balloons.
"You don't think we missed them, do you?" Rainbow Dash asked, causing Pinkie to look at her through the wrong side of the binoculars.
"No, I don't think so." Twilight stated, speaking in a soft whisper should the dragons arrive any moment now. "We're just a little early, and I'm glad we are. This way we can watch every moment of the migration without bringing any unwanted attention to ourselves!"
As if fate decided to mess with the unicorn's claim, the last of Twilight's friends arrived. "Yoo-hoo!" Rarity's voice announce from a distance in an overly exaggerated and dramatic tone. "Well?" She asked as she rolled over the end of the red carpet she was walking on, which then led to a bursting of confetti around the other girls. "What do you think? Am I the toast of the trench or what?"
Rarity was a unicorn as well. Her fur was pure white in color, like that of diamonds, and her rich, combed, and luster-styled mane and tail were a deep, rich purple in color. Her lady-like eyes were a deep sapphire blue in color, and her cutie mark was a picture of three blue jewels. She was currently dressed up in what supposed to be a camouflage dress, but it's bright purple style and golden laces didn't just cut the bill for 'blending in'.
"Ya'll be toast alright..." Applejack stated flatly in a hushed tone. "...when the dragons see ya parading around in that getup."
"You look very nice, Rarity." Twilight commented, trying to keep a straight face and a calm voice as she used her magic to form a bubble around the confetti and red carpet, causing them to disappear as Rarity joined them in the trench. "But could you maybe look nice down here in the trench with us?"
"Nice is an understatement. I look fabulous! Who says camouflage has to be drab?" Rarity said in a posh, sophisticated tone, apparently ignoring the looks her friends were sending her.
"Ahoy, maties! Dragons ho!" Pinkie Pie announced, causing them to look back and up towards the sky.
Dragons, thousands of them, filled the skies above as they flew past the ponies in the trench. They came in all sorts of sizes and different colors as well, being mostly red, blue, yellow, or green, though there also was the occasional grey, brown, and black. They all flew through the skies about two hundred feet above the girls' heads, all heading in one direction toward the mountains beyond Canterlot in one large straight line. It was an impressive, but at the same time, intimidating sight.
"Oooh... Ahhhh!" The girls all awed, using their binoculars to watch the mighty reptilians fly overhead.
One teenage dragon, a green one with golden, thorn-like horns and a long leaf-shaped tail, noticed the trench below; he then swooped down and performed a summersault in front of the trench before flying back up to the flock, as if showing off for the girls.
"Wow, amazing!" Twilight commented, she and her friends lowering their binoculars.
Rainbow Dash, however, wasn't very impressed and blew her tongue. "Pretty lame move. Is that all they've got?" She asked sulkishly.
One blue fish-like dragon bumped onto a fiery red-and-gold one, whether on accident or purpose; the red one did not like that one bit and fired out a huge wave of fire from his mouth, aiming for the dragon but hitting the trench instead. The girls all quickly ducked to avoid the flames...minus Rainbow Dash, who received the full force of the dragon's fiery breath.
"What do ya think of that 'move', Rainbow Dash? Still think they're lame?" Applejack asked with a smirk on her face.
Rainbow Dash, on the other hoof, contained an almost shocked expression on her face, which was a bit charred, along with her mane. "Uh, not so much. The word 'fierce' comes to mind." She admitted.
"And 'formidable'." Rarity added with some admiration in her tone.
"And 'super-duper scary'!" Pinkie included, lying on the ground in fear, but was immediately cheered up when Spike came along and brought a cupcake to her hooves.
Spike was Twilight's baby dragon assistant, whom she had hatched from an egg just before becoming Celestia's prized student; he was only half the height of a pony, and a soft lavender in color with no wings, a pale-green underbelly, and sharp-green stegosaurus-like plates on his head, back, and tail, the largest plates being the one's on his head. His over-all appearance was still chubby and babyish, despite being matured to a preteen mental age.
"Yeah. Us dragons are definitely a force to be reckoned with." He said with pride took out a cookie from the bowl of sweets he made and handed it over to Applejack. His sense of pride, however, was shattered when Rainbow Dash collapsed onto the ground on her back, laughing her head off at the sight of him.
"Yeah, right, Spike." She managed to squeak out. "That's one of the scariest aprons I've ever seen!" She said 'scariest' with obvious sarcasm before bursting into laughter again, with Applejack and Pinkie Pie joining her.
"What's wrong with wearing an apron?" Spike asked, looking at his pink apron with furry trims that presented a hot pink heart in the middle. "You won't be laughing when you spill blueberries all over your scales. Urh...Feathers. That's one tough stain!"
Rainbow Dash paused to breathe, a tear running down her face. "One tough stain against one lame dragon." She continued to laugh, much to Spike's annoyance.
"You leave him alone, Rainbow Dash!" Rarity scolded, causing Rainbow to stop laughing. "Spike's style is unique. He doesn't have to look like other dragons."
"Or act like them." Twilight offered.
"My little Spikey Wikey is perfect the way he is." Rarity complimented, fondly flicking his top scale with her hoof.
This comment seemed to worry Spike. "I don't...act like other dragons?" He asked.
"Oh, not even close!" Pinkie answered cheerfully.
"But why would ya want to, Spike?" Applejack asked.
"Yes. You've got something those dreadfully fierce dragons can only dream of." Rarity stated.
"What's that?" Spike asked in a hopeful manner. The answer, however, was something he didn't have in mind:
"The cutest widdle chubby cheeks!" Rarity fawned in a babyish voice while pressing her hooves on his face and squishing them. "Ooooo!"
"Cute? Dragons aren't supposed to be cute!" Spike stammered while blushing very heavily. "R-Right?"
But that just made it worse for the poor baby dragon. "Oh, sweetie, you are turning the most delightful shade of red, it is most becoming." Rarity said with a hint of a fond giggle.
Spike then he notice every one of the girls staring at him in acceptance, but that just made it worse; dragons are supposed to be scary, tough, strong! Not cute and chubby! "Rrrgh!" He growled in frustration, jumping out from the trench and storming off.
"Oh, isn't he adorable when he waddles off in anger?" Rarity expressed.
"Waddle? Rrrrrggggh!" He released before leaving the area angrily.
"Wow..." Twilight muttered, watching her number one assistant storming off. "And I thought he loved getting attention..."
"I don't see what's to get so upset about." Rarity responded. "He's so adorable! What's the harm in that?"
Twilight, however, just frowned in thought, wondering what could be bothering her number one assistant.
Twilight's House/Ponyville Library, midnight:
The rest of the day was spent watching the dragons on their migration, and then Twilight and her friends ended it by going out for pizza. After enjoying a long, exciting day ending with a delicious meal with your friends will leave any creature, human, pony, dragon, or otherwise feeling very satisfied and eager for sleep...but tonight, Twilight wasn't going to find it.
Spike hadn't enjoyed the day so much as Twilight and her pony friends; what they had said about him not being a dragon had left him greatly disturbed. It was true though; when dragons eggs are found and hatched by ponies, which is not uncommon, they use a spell to erase the strong, primal instincts of a dragon and replace them with the gentle instincts of a pony. Spike didn't even know how to act like a dragon even if he wanted too.
"What am I?" He asked himself as he laid in his basket-bed next to Twilight's bed, staring at the ceiling in thought. "Where am I from? Who am I suppose to be?"
Twilight, who had been trying to drown out the dragon's questions with one of her pillows, groaned in aggravation. "I don't know!" She nearly shouted for what seemed like the hundredth's time. "For the last time, Spike, you were given to me as an egg." Her voice softened in pity as she spoke. "I don't know who found you or where they found you."
"Seriously? That's all you know?" Spike asked, turning away from her in disappointment.
"I'm sorry, Spike." Twilight said as honestly as she could.
"That doesn't tell me anything about who I am!" Spike stated as he sat up and climbed out of bed; he made his way to the bedroom mirror, looking as his reflection in sadness. "I need answers! I feel like I'm...I'm looking at a complete stranger."
He then broke down and curled up on the floor, stricken with grief. Twilight's heart tightened in her own sadness and pity; she knew that she didn't know what he was feeling, but she knew that she needed to help. "Oh, Spike..." She said softly, getting out of bed and coming up to him. "Why don't we do some late-night research? See what we can find out." She offered.
Spike looked up, a small glimmer of hope passing over his face. "Really? You'd do that?" He asked hopefully.
"Of course." Twilight said as she used her magic to turn on the light and levitate the first book of Mythical Creatures in front of her. "I'm sure we can find something." She then opened the book with her magic and begun to read.
Nine Hour's Later, Morning:
"Nothing..." A now exhausted Twilight muttered, her hair a mess as she sat amongst enormous piles of books, still going through them one by one with no success whatsoever. "...Nothing in this one either..."
"Nothing at all about dragons?!" Spike asked, throwing his own book to the side in frustration. "This is getting ridiculous!"
"I know." Twilight stated as continued going through the books. "It's hard to believe but ponies know next to nothing about dragons. Apparently they're too rare and too scary to try to talk too or study." She then closed the book and put it way; she turned to see Spike looking as if he was about to cry.
"I-I-I wonder if D-Dragons cry..." Spike sobbed, already bursting into tears.
"Aw, Spike..." Twilight began, using her magic to levitate a handkerchief to the baby dragon. But Spikes choked down his sorrow, wiping his tears away as he pushed the handkerchief away from himself.
"It's okay, Twilight." He announced with determination. "I'm gonna who I am if it's the last thing I do!"
Suddenly the front door opened with a loud crash, revealing Rarity and Rainbow Dash on the side, both ponies giving their greetings. Their sudden greetings startled Spike, causing him to jump in suprise and fall into the large pile of books near Twilight.
"Good Morning!" Rarity spoke in a lively tone.
"Ya wanna join us for breakfast?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"That sounds great. I'm famished." Twilight answered.
"Count me out. I've gotta get an early start!" Spike replied, jumping out from the pile of books.
The three mares looked confused. "An early start?" Rarity inquired, her eyes revealing that she was growing concerned.
Spike turned to face them, standing in front of the door. "Yes! I'm going on a quest of self-discovery! I need to learn what it means to be a dragon!" He announced proudly. "And the only way I'm gonna do that is to join the dragon migration!"
The girls were not expecting that. "What?" They all exclaimed in alarm.
"Spike, that's nonsense talk!" Rainbow Dash tried to talk some sense into Spike, who was gathering supplies from the fridge. "I know that you're a dragon, but those dragons mean business!" When she said that, he turned around with a serious face, but ironically he had a picnic blanket, a sandwich, and that same apron he wore yesterday in his claw. "They're big, and tough, and scary..."
"And I'm small, and meek... and I like to wear aprons." He finished, presenting the apron in front of her. "See?" He threw the apron away from him. "This is exactly why I need to spend time with them."
"All I'm saying is that you could get hurt!" Rainbow told him.
"Darling, this time I really do have to agree with Rainbow Dash." Rarity stated as brought herself into the conversation as well. "I don't want those big, ugly, nasty dragons to hurt one little scale on your cutsey-wutsey head!" She rubbed her hoof gently on his head. Nonetheless, this made him even more irritated and he slapped it away with the old-fashioned 'run-away stick-sack' he finished making.
"I'm sorry, but I've made up my mind." Spike stated, walking toward the door.
"Oh, uh, quick, do something!" Rarity directed desperately to Rainbow Dash. "Stop him before it's too late!"
Rainbow Dash quickly flew over to the sack he was carrying and grabbed it with her teeth pulling it away and preventing Spike to move any further. "Ngh! Hey! Give it back!" He shouted, engaging the cyan-colored pegasus in a tug of war.
Twilight watched the two tug of war for a while, when she decided Spike was right. With a flash of purple light, she teleported in between the struggling two. "Hold it!" She shouted, using her magic to teleport both of them at the same time. Spike reappeared at the mouth of the doorway, while Rainbow Dash reappeared back inside the library near the center desk, the dragon hatchling and pegasus exclaiming in pain as they landed on their backs. Twilight, looking uncertain but knowing it was the right thing to do, she used her magic to levitate Spike's sack and, after staring at it for a brief second, handed in back to him.
"Really?" Spike asked, surprised.
"Don't tell me you think he should go!" Rainbow exclaimed.
"Yes, Spike." Twilight spoke compassionately. "I couldn't answer your questions. My books couldn't either. I understand why you want to look elsewhere. I truly believe you need to go on this quest. And we have no right to stop you." She directed the last sentence towards Rarity and Rainbow Dash.
"I suppose not." Rarity finally agreed, rubbing her head with her hoof.
"I still say you're nutty, but hey, I've done lots of nutty things." Rainbow added.
"We know." Twilight and Rarity stated flatly in unison. Rainbow groaned under her breath.
"Well then, I guess this is goodbye, Spike." Twilight said softly, hugging him before sending him off. "We can't wait to hear about it when you return."
"Yeah, we hope your trip-" Rainbow Dash began.
"Quest." Twilight corrected.
"-your quest answers some of your pesky 'who am I' questions."
"Thanks, everypony. I know it will." Spike stated before turning away and walking off, ready to find what he was looking for.
"Goodbye, Spikey Wikey!" Rarity waved as he continued walking.
"Go get 'em, big guy!" Rainbow Dash included, waving as well.
"We have faith in you!" Twilight finished, also waving.
There was a moment's silence, all of them still grinning and waving.
"We're following him, right?" Rarity asked through her grin.
"Of course." Twilight answered in the same manner.
Quest For Harmony
CHAPTER I: DRAGON QUEST
Dragon Mountain, 2 days later:
The name itself fits the place very well.
Far beyond the Everfree Forest and the mountain range cutting off Equestria's boundaries from the rest of the planet, was a great volcanic land where huge, dry mountains dotted the lifeless landscape. And amongst all the smaller mountains was an enormous extinct volcano. Here was where all the dragons from the multiple Fantasy Worlds came in their annual migration; this was a sacred place in their eyes, where young adults found mates and began new lives together, where females came to lay their eggs in safety and hatch their young, and where young dragons would pass from child to adulthood through rite of passage.
It was a truly wondrous place, a land of death where life would begin.
And it was here another young dragon was coming for the first time.
Just as Spike was making his epic quest, another dragon of a similar color was just finishing the great journey his kind made every mortal generation. This was also his first time, but he was by no means the cute, small, babyish dragon Spike was.
Standing on all fours he was eight feet tall and twenty-five feet in length. His body was like that of a mix between a cat and a dinosaur, walking upright on all fours with his long tail held out for balance. His hind-legs were like that of a therapod dinosaur, with the ankle joint and three toed feet, while his forelegs were more like human arms, with three fingered, one thumbed hands on each arm; the fingers and toes ended in long golden curved claws. His large bat wings had a wingspan almost twice as long as his nose-to-tail was, the longest fingers being the 'pointing fingers', and had fiery-orange leathery membrane. His long, serpentine, dinosaur-like tail made up half his body length, and ended in the usual, yellow arrow-tip, which was razor sharp and had two sharp spikes at each side of the base, making it even more lethal; his long serpentine neck was a third the length of his tail. His head and jaws were those of the typical dragon: dinosaur-like with flaring nostrils, webbed reptilian ears, and a short snout and jaws with sharp, knife-like teeth. He had two long, yellow, crooked horns jutting out the back of his head, and a spiky gold reptilian frill with orange webbing running through the middle of his head, beginning at his forehead ending halfway down the neck; the frill began a trail of yellow dorsal spines with orange webbing running down his back to his tail arrow. His large, snake-like eyes were a bright magenta and had silt-pupils. His entire body had smooth scaly skin that was like a snake's, except for his back, which was rough and bumpy like a crocodile's, and was a sharp royal-purple in color with darker purple markings and stripes running down his spine and a golden underbelly.
He was Spyro, the legendary purple dragon and guardian of the Dragon Realms.
Flapping his fiery wings to slow his descendent, the purple dragon touched down gracefully in the giant, volcanic crater that made up the meeting place of all the dragons of Equestria. It was at the top of an enormous mountain, or inactive volcano by the looks of it and by the pools of lava within the deep mouth.
He felt a presence land beside him, and he turned to see his long-time mentor and father figure landing next to him. Ignitus, Guardian of Fire.
Ignitus was much older and larger than the purple dragon, standing 18 feet in height on all fours and almost fifty feet in length, more than twice Spyro's size. His scales were smooth and a deep reddish-orange in color, with dark red flame markings decorating his body. He only had two horns, which were Z-shaped, facing backwards and upwards, and a flame-shaped frill ran down his head to his neck, as well as flame-shaped frills framing his head, limbs, and tail, the last ending in a fire-shaped tailblade. His underbelly and wing membrane were golden in color, and his eyes were a fiery golden in color with slit pupils.
"So this is where we gather for the great migration?" Spyro asked curiously. "Not exactly what I had in mind."
"Perhaps so, but this land is a sacred place for all dragons from both Equestria and Prehistoria." Ignitus told him. "For generations we dragons have come here to carry on in our ancestors footsteps in continuing the dragon race. It's an honor to be here."
Spyro nodded slightly, his thoughts elsewhere.
"You'll have to excuse me, young dragon, but the Guardians are required in the presence of the Dragon Lords of Equestria." The Guardian of Fire said, taking flight once more. "Good luck, young dragon."
And with that Ignitus left, leaving Spyro standing alone in the crater of Dragon Mountain.
Spyro sat there for a while in thought before he decided to at least see what dragons in Equestria were like...and what he found wasn't entirely disappointing either. The adult dragons, which were slightly bigger than Prehistorian Dragons, where exactly what he had expected: majestic, big, wise-looking. He said hello to a few of them, just a simple greeting, and while they usually looked surprised at being addressed in a friendly matter by a complete stranger they would greet him as well.
The teenagers though, which stood on their hind legs yet were still around the same height as Spyro was, left a lot to be desired.
The group Spyro had was watching at the moment all seemed to be part of a gang, which was lead by a red and orange dragon who seemed to be sneering almost ninety percent of the time. They were gathered next to several huge piles of gems and were currently having a wrestling competition. The classic one-on-one-in-the-middle-while-everyone-yells-at-y ou kind of thing. He almost joined them, as they were the only teenage dragons he could see and because he couldn't find Cynder or his other friends, but he had no intention of becoming part of a street gang.
So Spyro just laid there a distance away from the gang, lounging on a large warm rock like a big cat, watching the leader of these dragons, apparently named Garble, beat dragon after dragon. Looking closely, he could tell that the other dragons weren't trying very hard. Apparently the boss had a fearsome reputation.
As much as he enjoyed watching the gang leader assert his position as head honcho, it became boring after one or two rounds. He wished something would happen, or, more importantly, that he would find the willpower to get off his cozy rock and find some better form of entertainment.
It was times like these he could see how calm and maybe even boring his new life was when he wasn't saving the world all the time. It had been more than two years since his latest 'adventure', where he was flung far from the world of dragons to wind up a world called Starina, a world ruled by man, a race once thought to be extinct...and the world he learned to call home, alongside the merhumans he now called family. He was very grateful for the peace he and his new loved ones brought for both Starina and Prehistoria, but he had to admit: he was itching for adventure. A chance to journey to far off lands, battle enemies, collect gems, and save worlds from evil, if not for the glory then for the thrill of battle and adventure; he'd even chase a bunch of crazy baby dragonflies across the dragon realms again just for a chance of actually doing something different, other than spending his days listening to some loud-mouthed jamaican crustacean try to talk some sense into his and his sister's heads.
He wished something different and new would happen.
Little did he know he was about to get his wish.
Just as Spyro began to get up off his rock he spotted a small dragon about fifty feet away from him...a really small dragon, no more than ten if he had to guess. This caught Spyro's attention because he hadn't seen any little kid dragons since he arrived, something he thought was weird but didn't question. So he took his chance now to examine what an baby Equestrian dragon looked like: He was just less than half as tall as a teenage dragon, also standing on his hind legs, with green and lavender scales. He had no wings and carried a classic handkerchief-tied-to-a-stick carrying bag slung over his shoulder. The kid had just climbed over the rim of the mountain and was panting for breath, his eyes surveying the rocky valley. As soon as he saw the group of teenage dragons, his face brightened and he made straight for them, sliding down the side of the short cliff.
Now what does he think he's doing?
Spyro watched him reach the bottom of the hill, walk over to the group of teenagers, and start talking to them like nobody's business. He couldn't hear what was being said, but the kid seemed to be introducing himself, while the teenagers all just stared at him.
A little kid trying to join a street gang? That made no sense whatsoever.
The teenagers must have been thinking along the same lines, except they handled it in a completely different manner. Instead of informing the kid of his mistake and telling him to back home to his own personal happy utopia known as childhood, they started making fun of him. Soon the kid found himself the center of jeers, name-calling, and pretty much anything that a five-year-old would consider soul-crushing insults.
Spyro snarled angrily, a dragon's growl erupting from his throat; if there was one thing he hated above all other things, it was bullies! Especially those who pick on younger kids! He got up and was about to head down there and give the group of knuckleheads a piece of his mind, when he noticed...'something'...watching the kid and the teenagers from a short distance away.
Twilight, Rarity and Rainbow Dash had indeed followed Spike, just as they planned...but not in the most inconspicuous manner; Rarity had made a giant costume that was supposed to be a dragon for all three of them to hide in at once. The scales were studded with gems and each side of the dragon had holes for wings, which Rainbow Dash filled. There was a large bow wrapped around the neck, and it was clearly made to present a female dragon.
After a lot of effort, they had managed to drag themselves up the mountain top, stopping on the ledge to observe the scene below them. "I'm telling you, we'll never pass for a real dragon!" Rainbow spoke up in a hushed tone.
"Oh, pish-posh! This costume is fabulous, one of my finer creations." Rarity stated in offense, causing Twilight to shush them both.
"Shhh! We'll never pass if they hear three voices coming out of one dragon! Now come on, let's go!" Twilight snapped. Rainbow Dash took a first step, but being hard as it is already, they actually slid downhill.
Spyro could only stare in utter bewilderment and maybe even horror at the...'something'...he watched come down the hill; he used the term 'something' because it was most definitely not a living dragon. It fact, as he got closer, it appeared to be a very badly made costume of a dragon. It had all of it attention focused on the group of teenagers, so it didn't notice the purple dragon sneaking up behind it.
Keeping low to the ground and slowly sneaking up on the costume like a cat would, using slow silent steps, he discovered it was right on both parts. Yes, it was a costume, and yes, it was very bad: For one, it had eight pairs of legs, four white and four cyan, which were poking out of cut holes in the 'skin' of the costume. Sewn thread was clearly visible on the eyes and the body. Plus, it had tiny wings, though these seemed to be part of the cyan creature in the front part of the body.
He sniffed the air; nothing could hide in a costume from his draconian sense of smell. What hit him was natural scent of equine flesh. At first he thought horses; natural guess...but they were too short and small to be horses, the one in front actually being two stacked on top of each other.
So...he guessed ponies; three of them. He also assumed, from the wings, that the cyan pony in the front was a pegasus.
Ponies? What the heck were these ponies?
What confused Spyro even more was how they weren't attracting any attention. Despite all the obvious evidence to the contrary, none of the other dragons seemed to notice anything different about the oddly shaped mass of fabric and thread that vaguely resembled a giant lizard with wings. Were they really that dense...or did they even care?
This was a group of ponies that wasn't supposed to be here and certainly didn't want to be discovered...maybe. They seemed intensely interested in the kid-dragon that Spyro had been about to protect, which was either a good or a not-so-good thing.
Suddenly an idea hit him; a delightfully evil one that made him grin:
He slowly sneaked up behind the ponies in a stalking manner and, rearing up to full height, lifted his head up and unleashed a powerful roar.
Twilight and the others were watching Spike when suddenly a monstrous roar erupted from behind them. She, Rarity and Rainbow Dash jumped at least five feet into the air while letting out a very loud and long scream of terror in unison, forgetting they were in a confined area. The result was a very good impersonation of a dragon doing the wave with its entire body while screaming. Which, of course, ended with a crazy heap of fabric and limbs as they hit the ground.
Spyro fell over onto his back, laughing his head off. Best. Idea. Ever.
It took about five minutes, a hushed argument, and lots of tripping and falling before they were able to get themselves balanced again. They then turned on him, using a very deep voice that was obviously fake and yet succeeded in disguising the gender of the speaker.
"Hey! What do you think you doing?" Twilight said in her deep, 'manly' voice, only to nearly gasp in fright at the dragon in front of them, who was just getting back up off the floor.
He was monstrous! Standing on all four legs he was taller than they were in the costume and as the other teenagers that were standing on two legs were, and about twice the other teen's body mass...and by none means fat or chunky. His body was long, sleek, and deadly, but also muscled powerfully in all the right places to give him a strong appearance; a deadly combination of speed, strength, and agility. His body wasn't smooth, plain, and 'cartoonish' like the other dragons, but dark and sinister, every last sharp scale, tail blade, horn, claw, and tooth fined out in every last detail. His face, while gentle looking at the moment, was also fierce and intimidating, as dragons should be; when angry, this dragon could be terrifying! And his eyes! Those fiery reptilian eyes! They bore into her own as if staring into her very soul...and were locked onto her own eyes instead of the costume's, which was a very bad sign.
Spyro took this opportunity to take a look at the head: It's mouth had been left open, leaving a viewing port, and he could make out a shape inside. Again, he couldn't pinpoint the gender, but he could tell that one, it was a pony, and two, it had a horn on its forehead. A Unicorn.
"Just messing with you." Spyro assured her, wiping a tear from his eye. "Nothing to freak out about."
Twilight blinked in surprise by the dragon's calm, causal tone; she was expecting something more ferocious. "Why-" She began in her normal voice, but quickly caught herself. "I-uh...*Ahem!*...I mean, why would you do that?" She asked.
"I'm a dragon; it's what we do." He stated as if it was basic knowledge.
"Well stop it! Or I'll...uh...I'll roast you alive!" Twilight snapped, slightly aggravated by the dragon's attitude.
Spyro grinned, revealing his dagger-like teeth.
"You might want to get out of that costume first. You can barely stand as it is."
Twilight paled in horror, feeling the blood drain from her limbs and face; did he say costume? She heard an anxious Rainbow Dash growl 'I told you it wasn't going to work' at a close-to-fainting Rarity. This dragon was onto them! No, wait...calm down. Maybe she can convince him otherwise. "C-costume? I d-don't know what you're t-talking about." She stammered with her manly voice, thought her mind was about to snap under pressure.
Spyro mentally smiled.
Bullseye.
"Oh really, then perhaps you would know it isn't wise to lie to the legendary purple dragon from Prehistoria." Spyro said, slowly stalking around them in an intimidating manner; even he couldn't resist the chance to scare people with his dragonish nature once every now and then. "Any other dragon would've known that, even you dragons from this Equestria land we're in now. You're sure you're to really a bunch of ponies in a dragon costume?"
Twilight bit back a gasp. No wonder this dragon was so monstrous looking! It was a Prehistorian breed! The legends of Prehistoria had pretty much become virtually unknown to ponykind over the eons, but being Princess Celestia's prized student had granted Twilight access to these long forgotten tales: tales of a dark land filled with hellish monsters and dragons that put the dragons of this world to shame. It is said in these stories that this world was where all of Equestria's dragons first migrated from, having been simplified by this world's magic over the generations. She has never expected to encounter a monster from that world, especially a dragon.
She began dreading that she and her friends may not make it out of this adventure alive.
"T-two of my what? I don't know what you mean..." She began as one final, desperate attempt of denial, when an annoyed Spyro interrupted them.
"Oh, come on, unicorn! I'm not stupid! I can tell that you're not a dragon!" The dragon spat, his voice bordering an animal's growl, cutting Twilight's sentence with her frightened gasp. "Because one: I can see the stitches and buttons all over this outfit of yours! Two: Since when do dragons have eight legs, especially legs each ending in a hoof? Three: I could smell pony flesh from when I first spotted you. And Four:..."
He lifted himself slightly on his hind legs, becoming level with her own gaze, looking straight into her eyes.
"...I can see you in there." He growled dangerously.
Twilight stuttered desperately for a few seconds, trying as hard as she could to come up with a response...but she realized it was hopeless; this dragon wasn't fooled. He had just pointed out that he could see her in the mouth of the costume, and if that wasn't enough he had three other reasons to prove her wrong. When she spoke next, she used her real voice. "Okay, dragon. You've caught us. But I feel it necessary t-to warn you that I am the p-prized student of Princess Celestia. If any h-harm were to befall me or my friends, the princess w-will be notified and I d-doubt she will be very happy." The purple unicorn warned him, trying to sound calm and confident and utterly failing at it, fear gripping the edges of her voice.
Spyro paused in surprise at the voice that was unmistakably female, wondering why on earth was a female of all sexes would be out here. But now that she was willing to confess his aggression faded. He gave a soft, reassuring smile to the unicorn, his gaze softening as he lowered himself back down to his normal height.
"I don't really think that this princess of yours would be much of a threat to a dragon like myself, but you don't have to worry." He told her in a calm, comforting voice. "I don't have any intention of hurting any of you. I was merely curious about this costume and to why you ponies would be coming into such dangerous territory. You don't have to be scared of me; I not going to hurt you."
Twilight was surprised when she saw the dragon's gaze shift into a friendly look; she wasn't expecting a dragon other than Spike to ever be friendly with ponies, especially one of the Prehistorian monsters. She felt strangely comfortable and safe when she looked into his eyes; calm and gentle, showing her she had no reason to fear...but before she could respond Rainbow Dash had to open her big mouth.
"Hey bub! If you know what's good for you, back off! I ain't afraid to get tough with a dragon!" She snapped angrily; not only was she offended by the way he called Princess Celestia 'not much of a threat', but she also didn't like being referred to as being scared.
Spyro glanced downward and saw, very much to his surprise, a pair of magenta eyes glaring back up at him. "Wait, are those...?" He began, before he looked back at Twilight with an dumbfounded look.
"Please tell me those aren't eye holes." He deadpanned.
"Well, yeah..." Twilight admitted sheepishly, a lot more comfortable now that death wasn't glaring her down. "She was kind of adamant about being able to see where she was going..."
"And you actually thought this would work!" Spyro exclaimed, slapping his forehead. "I can't even began to understand the reasoning behind that!"
"To be fair, it was working pretty well until you came along." Twilight pointed out with a slightly exaggerated tone.
"Yeah, and that has me rather worried. Are Dragons of this world usually this unobservant?" The purple dragon asked, glancing about at the other dragons lounging about.
"I wouldn't know. This is...well...our first visit." Twilight stated. "Why, is this your first visit as well?"
"You could say that. Which brings me to my first question: why are you guys even here?" Spyro then asked, sitting back like a dog would. "You don't seem like the type to just wander into dragon territory. Except maybe your blue friend with the eye-holes." He then stated, motioning to Rainbow Dash with a claw.
"I CAN hear you, y'know!" Rainbow shouted. Twilight promptly stomped a hoof on her to get her to shut up.
"Clearly." Spyro muttered. "So what is it? Business? Pleasure? Tactical insertion?" He asked the last one with a smirk.
Twilight thought about it for a moment. "I don't know what that last one is, but we are here to...help a friend, let just say."
"A friend? You mean the kid over there?" Spyro asked, pointing to the little dragon he had been distracted from, who had managed to convince the teenagers to at least give him a chance and was now engaged in a belching contest. Which basically consisted of each dragon blowing huge fireballs into the air. Hmm, he doesn't know when to quit does he? Spyro was gonna have to do something about that soon.
"Yes." Twilight replied. "How did you know?"
"You guys aren't exactly subtle when you spy on someone." Spyro stated flatly, a smirk adorning his snout.
"Oh..."
"What kind of 'help' are we talking about here?" He then asked.
"We're keeping on eye on him, making sure things don't get out of hand." Twilight stated.
The purple dragon resisted the urge to guffaw. "And what do you ponies think you're gonna do should things 'get out of hand'? Do I have to remind you yet again where you are?" He asked.
Rainbow Dash decided to speak up again. "We know our plan, and it ain't any of YOUR business! So I'm telling you again, BACK OFF! Unless you think you can take on the fastest mare in Equestria!"
"Rainbow!" Twilight snapped, bonking her yet again in the head.
Spyro shrugged. "So your just gonna wing it? Okay, I can respect that. Out of curiosity though, why this kid?"
"What?" Twilight asked in confusion.
"Why would you go to the trouble to protect one who isn't even the same species as you? And why do you refer to him as a 'friend'?"
The lavender unicorn softened. "Because he is also not from here, and because he is."
Spyro gave it a moment's thought, then simply nodded. "...I don't pretend to completely understand that, but it satisfies my curiosity anyway. Now, one last question before I depart to my earlier business: Where did you get that costume? To be quite frank...it sucks."
Rairty, who had remained quiet during the entire conversation, did not approve of this comment and stated her personal thoughts. "How dare you, you monstrous brute! I'll have you know that this costume is entirely hoofmade, and could pass for a real dragon any day! It certainly looks better than your ugly mug!"
Spyro held a claw to his golden chest as if pained. "Ouch. That hurts." He said in mocking sadness.
"GOOD!" Rarity screamed.
"Well, if your finished insulting my looks, I must be off." Spyro stated, getting up and turning away from them. "I have a fellow dragon to help out."
"Wait, what are you...?" Twilight began, but Spyro didn't hear the rest of what she said, as he was by then halfway to the group of teenagers.
They must not have taken that long talking, because the teens were still doing their belching contest as Spyro approached them, blowing fireball after fireball into the air. A big fat brown dragon, which reminded Spyro slightly of Bash, had just placed the record, blowing a huge torrent of flame that engulfed Spyro and the entire group of onlookers. When the flame ceased, the dragons were left without as much as a burn.
Spyro snorted: A fire pokemon's flames were hotter than that.
"Think you can beat that, peewee?" Garble growled at the kid.
Spike gulped audibly, and stood in front of the group. He looked like he was going to throw up for a few seconds, but then he burped and let out a tiny green fireball, which twisted and formed into a sealed scroll before floating to the ground.
Spyro cocked an eyebrow; what kind of breath power was that?
Garble immediately snatched up the letter and opened it, reading it aloud. "From the desk of Princess Celestia. Dear Spike, please te- Ha! Get this, guys! Spike's pen pals with the Namby Pamby Pony Princess!" He told the others. This was followed by torrents of laughter.
Garble was a strong looking dragon, standing just a tall as Spyro on two legs. He had fiery-red scales and a pale-gold underbelly, with a orange fin on his head resembling a punk-styled haircut; the fin started a trail of orange spikes running down his spine and tail, ending with the causal arrowhead tailblade, also orange. His teeth were extra long and sharp, and his yellow eyes always seemed to be glaring at everything.
Spyro groaned; was that seriously the best he could come up with? This had gone far enough, and the purple dragon wasn't going to stand by while these boneheads demoted the poor kid any further.
"'Namby pamby pony princess'? If you're going to insult someone, at least make them good insults!" Spyro snarled darkly, stepping forward in a battle stance, wings spread for battle.
The red dragon spun around, and his glaring eyes fell on the purple dragon standing before them. "Hey! Watch it pal! Don't you know who you're talking to?" He asked harshly.
"The guardian of wind for all I know." Spyro snarled, folding his wings back against his body. "I think a dragon like yourself would have better things to do than pick on children half his age."
"Ah, a new guy huh?" He asked, his aggressive tone softening just the tiniest bit. "Well I guess I can let you off the hook this time, Prehistoric Boy. But here's some advice: I'm head honcho around here. Whatever I say goes, goes, got it?"
Spyro cocked an eyebrow. "And if I don't feel like it?"
He grinned. "Than you become our new punching bag."
"So...it's like that now, is it?"
"Yeah, pretty much. So, what do ya say?" He asked.
Spyro glared at him for what felt like an eternity...then merely shrugged. "Suit yourselves; your business is your business, but I'll take on this flame breath challenge of yours...for his sake." He told them, motioning a claw to Spike.
Spike looked both surprised and awed by this new dragon, but Garble simply smirked. "Go right ahead; so us all what you've got." He said, mock-bowing the way. Spyro merely snorted as he took his position with the other dragons, standing next to the fat brown dragon who had recently won. flexing his joints before planting all four of his feet firmly against the earth, he inhaled slowly and deeply, charging up his own fire breath...the back of his throat began to glow as whisps of flame formed in the air around his mouth, being sucked into his mouth in a swirling motion...
VOOM!
An enormous stream of fire erupted from his jaws, dwarfing even the brown dragon's blast; it soared through the air and struck the side of the mountain; the very rock of the mountain was blasted away in an explosion of fire and rock, leaving a hole large enough for a teen dragon to walk through, the sides of the rock red hot and melting into lava.
The other dragons were stunned, but then they snapped out of it and began that street-gang-styled cheering again. Spyro snorted coyly, blowing away the excess smoke rising from his mouth and nostrils.
"Not bad, Prehistoria Boy." Garble stated, looking slightly impressed. "I guess you Prehistoric types really are tough enough to match us."
"And what the hell is that suppose to mean! I could beat you all with my wings tied behind my back!"
Spyro groaned as he and the other dragons looked up to see more Prehistorian Dragon teenagers, six other males and three females in total, flying down and landing near Spyro. They all had the same body structure as Spyro, as well as the dark, deadly appearances of true Prehistorian Dragons.
The one that had spoken was the dragon at the front of the group, and he looked pissed. This dragon was the same age and size as Spyro, bearing a slight resemblance to the purple dragon. His scales where as red as freshly spilled blood, and his wing membrane, underbelly, two Z-shaped horns, fire-shaped head frill, and arrowhead tailblade where as gold as the setting sun. His slit pupiled eyes were a fiery orange in color, and were currently burning with anger and indignity.
Standing next to him was a slight smaller pretty dragoness with pale-pink scales, almost like the rosy sky of a sunset. Her breast-scales and underbelly were a pale violet in color, as was the membranes of her wings. The tail arrow was shaped like an upside down heart and there was a golden necklace around her neck adorned with a glimmering ruby heart. The crest of her head was also pale violet, her bang-like horns were golden in color, and her eyes were vibrant sky blue, with round pupils.
Another dragoness landed in front of those two, being the same size as the first dragoness, but almost twice as beautiful. Her scales, however, were a dark shade of black, like the darkness of night. Her underbelly, breast-scales and wing membrane were a deep, ruby-red in color. Her tail arrow was shaped like a deadly sickle, her tail being slightly longer than Spyro's, as were the claws on her wings. She had three sets of horns, also sliver in color two large, blade-like ones curving slightly upward with four smaller ones lining her head underneath the larger ones. Her eyes were a deep emerald green, and her pupils were silted like Spyro's. Around her neck, where once a sliver choker was locked around, hung a golden seashell necklace with the letters 'C-Y-N-D-E-R' carved into it.
The red dragon was Flame, Spyro's best friend and rival. The pink dragoness was Ember, Spyro's friend and Flame's girlfriend. And the black dragoness was Cynder, once the deadly Terror of the Skies...but now Spyro's sister and potential mate.
"So there you are." Cynder stated, gently and fondly nudging her brother's head with her snout. "We've been looking everywhere for you."
"What are you guys up too this time?" Ember asked curiously.
"Hey guys." Spyro began. "We're..."
"We're busy trying to prove who's the better dragons!" Garble suddenly snapped at Ember. "So buzz off while we finish this!"
"Don't talk to her like that!" Flame snarled angrily.
"Oh yeah? What'cha do about it, hothead?" Garble challenged with a cruel smirk.
Flame, however, snarled right back and faced Garble angrily, the two glaring at each other eye to eye. "Shove your tail up your ass, that's what!" The fire dragon spat back.
A distance away from the group, Rainbow gasped in surprise and anger. "That's the dragon that torched me the other day!" She exclaimed angrily, glaring at Flame.
"Don't even think about it!" Rarity told her, pinning down her tail before she could take off out of the costume and tackle the red dragon. "You're not going to start a fight with dragons, that's for sure!"
"What is it with you males?" Whirlwind, a sliver wind dragoness, asked while rolling her eyes in annoyance. "Always having to prove who's best and fight all the time."
"Like you should talk!" Camo, the green plant dragon and Whirlwind's cousin, stated flatly in a laughing manner.
Whirlwind was a beautiful dragoness had sky-blue scales, with a light-sliver underbelly and wing feathers; like a pegasus or a griffin, she had feathery bird wings. Her tail ended with long dark-blue feathers instead of an arrowtip, and a mane of feathers starting at her head and running down her spine all the way to her tailtip. She had two long pointy ears growing back from her head, and a long, singe horn growing from her forehead like a unicorn's. Her horns and claws were sliver, and her eyes were sky-blue in color.
Camo had brilliant grass-green scales, with sharp, spiky leaves covering his back and tail, with a golden underbelly and wing membrane, and red lower legs; his legs were colored red from the elbows/knees down. His extra-long tail ended in a huge fern-like leaf, and yellow thorns decorated his body. He had three rows of horns on his head, with the smaller three of the rows in the front, the largest in the middle near the back of the head, and the middle running down his head to his neck. His horns and extra-long claws were yellow, and his eyes were blood red, and they twinkled with mischief.
"Hey, I was just trying to help him." Spyro stated as he motioned to Spike, who had been watching the other dragons in surprised silence. "These guys were picking on him and I came to help him out."
"Are we gonna finish this or what?" Garble asked in a bored tone, arms folded.
Zap, a blue water-dragon, suddenly got an idea. "I know! Let's make this all a contest: us Prehistorian Dragons VS you Equestrian Dragons. Whichever team wins will be the ultimate dragons!" He told the others.
Zap had bright blue scales, a few shades darker than the deep blue sea. His wings and underbelly were sea-green in color, and he had a set of long silver horns that curled back and upwards like a bull's horns. His long tail ended in a large, webbed fin like that of an eel's, and his long fingers and toes were webbed like a frog's. A large fin-frill grew backwards from his head, and started a long trail of webbed spikes running down his back, ending as it merged with his tail fin. Around his chest and shoulders he wore what resembled a diver's breathing gear, a pair of tanks strapped to his back between his wings. His eyes were a bright orange in color.
Everyone agreed on this, the two races of dragon taking sides, and most of the adult dragons lounging about nearby all lifted their heads up to watch this.
"Elemental Breath Contest!" Garble exclaimed. "Go!"
This match was set up simple and easy: whoever blew the biggest, coolest, and most impressive breath power, their team won. The Equestrian dragons went first, basically repeating what they did with their previous belching contest, which Ember and Whirlwind stated was 'so immature'. Since Spyro had always blew his fire before, he was told to sit this one out: Flame and the others complained that they were just being scared that Spyro had already proven himself stronger than all of them, but Spyro decided to sit this one out anyway...mostly so he could finally speak to Spike.
He made his way over to Spike, who managed to drag his eyes away from the contest and looked up to Spyro with a sense of respect, though he was still quite nervous.
"Hi there." Spyro said as he stopped and laid down next to Spike, looking down at him with a soft look. "What's your name?"
"S-Spike." Spike managed to stutter. He glanced over at the hole Spyro had left in the wall. "H-how did you do that?"
"The power of the purple dragon like myself is not one to be taken lightly." Spyro simply stated calmly. "Are you new here? I don't think I've seen you before."
"Y-yeah. I actually just got here today." Spike admitted.
"I was wondering why you were carrying a traveler's bag." Spyro stated, glancing sideways toward said bag. "Just what were you trying to accomplish by talking to these guys?" He then asked, gestured to the group, most of whom were still blowing different colored fire.
Spike blushed. "I-I was trying to find out what it means to be a dragon."
"From these guys?" They heard Cynder say as she sat down on the other side of Spike. "That's gotta be the craziest thing I've heard in my life." She stated like an older teen sister would when scolding her much younger brother. "Of all the dragons in this valley, why did you have to pick a group of bullies?"
"They were the youngest ones I could find, besides you guys!" Spike said defensively. "All the other ones were too big and scary!"
Spyro and Cynder glanced over at the nearest adult dragon, one with black scales and a grey underbelly. He was much taller than Spyro, had huge wings, large teeth, and was entertaining himself by melting down rocks with his fire breath. It took him about ten seconds per rock. "Okay, I can see that. Why though?" Ember asked.
"Why what?"
"Why would you be trying to find out what it means to be a dragon when you already are one?" Spyro asked, cocking his head in confusion.
"Well...I recently found out I'm not like most dragons." Spike admitted.
"How so?"
"I'm not fierce enough! All my friends call me cute and adorable! Dragons aren't cute or adorable! Dragons are fierce, dragons are powerful, dragons are cool, dragons are majestic. Like...like..." He paused, looking up at Spyro as if he was a glorious super hero or something. "Well...like you actually."
Spyro couldn't stop the smile coming to his snout; he, like all dragons, did love flattery, despite having a stronger control over his pride, and it wasn't often someone just referred to him as himself being impressive instead of just complimenting his power as the purple dragon. Cynder smiled, rolling her eyes playfully at the proud look on Spyro's face.
"You know, not very many dragons have given me such compliments." He stated.
"But you're fierce! You're tough! You're powerful! You're cool!" Spike exclaimed. "You've got a cool set of Wings! Great Claws! Cool Horns and Scales! And Totally! Awesome! Fire! I...I don't have any of those." He murmured, head hung in shame.
Spyro cocked a half-smile. "Well, you have to be pretty tough already to have the guts to come here all by yourself from Ancestors knows where." He stated, lowering his head to meet the baby dragon's gaze. "And about the fierce and powerful thing, you're still just a hatchling. No one expects those qualities from someone your age. I would understand if you were my age and still eating gems, but you're not. You're just a child. And one of the advantages of being a kid is that you don't have to worry about stuff like that."
Spike brightened. "You think so?"
Cynder nodded. "Of course we do." She said. "Besides, why would you want to be big and fierce? You're the cutest widdle dragon I've ever seen." She cooed sweetly, gently flicking the top scale on Spike's head. Spike just blushed in embarrassment again.
Spike then noticed the pendant hanging from Cynder's neck. "What's that necklace you're wearing?" He asked, anxious to change the subject from his cuteness.
Cynder giggled at his anxiousness for a change in subject, but answered anyway. "It was a gift from my grandfather." The black dragoness explained. "You see, he lives in a far-off place from our home, and this necklace is the only connection I have from his kingdom to ours. It's my most precious belonging."
"Meaning she'll rip off the head of any other dragon who tries to steal and hoard it." Spyro warned with a grin. Spike just swallowed nervously. "Hey, Spike..." The purple dragon then asked. "The friends you speak off wouldn't happen to be ponies, would they?" He asked, eyeing the costume standing near the teenagers.
Spike perked up. "Yeah! Most of the other dragons make fun of me for being friends with ponies, but I'm still glad to have them as my friends."
"What are they like?" Spyro then asked. Cynder looked at Spyro oddly, wondering what he was going on about.
The baby dragon didn't seem to notice this, and gladly rambled on about his pony friends. "Well, let's see. There's Twilight Sparkle; she's a unicorn. She's the one who hatched me out of my egg with her magic, which she's really good act. She also likes to study...a lot. A real egg-headed bookworm if you ask me, but she's also the prized student of Princess Celestia. There's also another unicorn named Rarity..." He zoned out suddenly with a love-sick look. "...the most beautiful creature in the world..." He quickly caught himself, blushing ruby-red under the smug, knowing smirks Spyro and Cynder were giving him. "...S-S-She also works as a very lady-like fashion designer, making outfits and costumes. There's also Applejack, an earth pony Cowgirl that works in an apple orchard with her family; she's nice, hard-working, and honest. Rainbow Dash, a pegasus with a rainbow-colored mane; she's really brave and maybe a bit of a hothead, but she's really fast and very loyal. Also, there's Fluttershy, a pegasus who lives on the ground; she's very shy, but also very nice. And finally there's Pinkie Pie, another earth pony. She's really, really weird, but she throws great parties! And that's about all of them, except for you guys now."
Spyro nodded with a smile. "Thanks Spike. That's very helpful." He told him, once again turning his studying gaze to the costume.
"Yo, Prehistorians!" Garble shouted. "You're up!"
"Stay here." Cynder told Spike and Spyro. "And watch how real dragons blow fire."
Ember was the first to blow her fire breath, but she didn't accomplish much: it was the same strength of the purple blonde dragon's breath power. It was known that Ember wasn't much of a fighter, fire or melee wise, but she didn't really care, as long as she was good enough to get by in one piece.
Flame was next: his breath was far more powerful, almost as powerful as Spyro's. It blew across the field, engulfing the group of dragons watching, along with the costume of a dragon standing next to them; Twilight had to duck down into the neck of the costume to avoid getting turned to ash. At least Rarity was smart enough to make this out of fire-proof material.
Cynder came after: Being the once evil and dark dragon she was, her breath was that of Shadow Fire, a flame-like shadow power that burned like fire yet was as cold as ice. It was almost as large as Flame's breath, blazing through the air like a demonic cloud of darkness, both burning the costume and chilling the ponies inside.
Whirlwind was next, confidently leaping up into position: she unleashed a powerful gust of concentrated wind that blew throughout the crater, nearly knocking a few of the weaker dragons off their feet...including Camo. The costume almost blew off the ponies underneath it, but Rainbow Dash managed to pin it down by the front with her hooves before that happened.
"And that's how you do it!" She said coyly as she paraded off to the others, basking in their glares.
Zap was next: despite being a water dragon, he shot forth a beam of electricity forward, the lightning strands bouncing from the main beam and striking the ground around the watching dragons. Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity all cried out in muffled alarm as their costume and they themselves absorbed the electric static, causing the costume to cave in and constrict them.
Camo went after Zap, firing his impressive beam of pure solar energy that nearly blinded and fried the ponies in the costume. Then the earth-dragon Bash went afterwards, unleashing a green blast of tectonic earth energy as powerful as the fat-brown dragon's fire blast, blasting the costume and ponies inside several yards back. Drobot followed next, firing a single, solid laser beam from his mouth, nearly decapitating the costume and Twilight with it.
Bash was a huge wingless dragon that looked like a crossbreed between a Crocodile and a T-Rex, just a little taller than Spyro but much bigger in mass than the other dragons. His entire being was solid, firm, and seemingly made of rock, his massive, reptilian body and thick pillar-like legs built looking as if they could crush stone with ease. His long, thick, heavy tail ended in a huge, spiked, club-like mace, and his short, thick neck, thick, flat back, and tail were covered in salagmite-like spikes. His head was like that of a T. Rex, with large, heavy jaws full of sharp, bone-crunching teeth, large, flaring nostrils, and a frill of horns framing the back. His calm eyes were a deep green in color, standing out against his earthly brown color.
Drobot was a copper-brown in color with a green underbelly. His wings were part of his cyborg parts, resembling bendable airplane wings with helicopter propellers built within them. his tail ended in a large, golden metallic blade, and the length of his spine were plated in over-lapping, triangle-shaped plates, also the same color as his tailblade. His viper-shaped head was mostly robotic, with a green lower jaw fused by two large jaw plates, gold rimming the head, a long, golden shark fin-like crest going backwards from his head, and glowing green robot eyes. All of his robotic parts were a deep navy-blue in color.
And just as it seemed it couldn't get any worse for Twilight and her friends, Sunburn was last.
Sunburn had dark orange scales and feathers covering his body, with a dark blue underbelly and fiery-yellow feathered wings; at first Twilight thought he was a griffin, but she soon realized he was a Pheonix/Dragon hybrid! He had feathered wings like those of a bird instead of a bat, his long tail had feathers lining it but ended with a arrowtip, and all four of his legs knee/elbow's down were like those of a bird's, gold in color and with long bird-like talons. His head was like that of an eagle, with a sharp golden beak, a long, yellow, horn-like crest growing backwards from his head, and his red/blue eyes, with feathery crests surrounding them, held a calm sort of authority about him.
"MOVE!" Rainbow Dash cried as she saw the dragon began it literally glow with fire as he charged up his power. Twilight snapped out of her fascination and quickly preformed a teleportation spell, transporting out of the way and up onto the crater wall...and just in time too.
The beam of flame Sunburn fired was so dense and powerful it resembled a beam of pure orange light, blazing forward with the fury of the sun itself. It soared across the earth, leaving a molten line of lava in it's path, before blasting straight through the hole Spyro had made before. When he was done, the hole had been expanded to more than twice its original size.
"Prehistorian Dragons win!" Whirlwind cheered, high-winging Camo. All the Prehistorian Dragons cheered and high-fived each other, while the Equestrain Dragons grumbled in annoyance.
The three ponies laid there in exhaustion, their costume once again a crazy pile of limbs and fabric. "Should've...teleported away...before the first one..." Twilight wheezed dizzily before collapsing.
"Tail Wrestling!"
This games were set up in a diminishing-the-players fashion: one of each team start, and whoever lost of those two would be excluded from the match, and then the winner would face the next player of the other team and would continue facing those players until he would be defeated, kicked out of the match, and replaced by the dragon after him or her. Which ever team ran out of dragons first was the loser, and the other side won.
First up was Camo, who locked tails with the gray/blond dragon with ram-like horns. "Ready..." Garble began. "GO!"
The two dragons pulled hard, grunting in stress as they did so...but soon, Camo's sturdy, four-legged Prehistorian structure proved more durable than just two legs, and with one final yank, but pulled up the other teen, causing him to fall to the ground.
"The Winner!" Garble announced, holding up Camo's tail like a boxing-match winner's glove. Both sided cheered as Camo grinned, bowing comically to the crowd, while the loser clung to his now bent-up tail painfully.
"Alright, Spike. You're turn!" Garble stated, using his tail to push a freaked-out Spike forward.
"Wait a minute!" Ember shrieked, looking horrified. "We're the ones fighting for him! He's too small for these games of ours!"
But Garble merely snorted. "Sorry, chick, but Spike has yet to prove himself a real dragon." He sneered; Ember looked offended at being called 'chick'. Flame looked ready to tear the other red dragon's throat out. "Maybe tail wrestling is more his speed!"
Spyro was about jump into the argument himself when the ponies in the costume suddenly walked up to them.
"I challenge Spike to a tail-wrestle!" Twilight said in the same manly voice she had used with Spyro. Spyro cringed, fretting that their costume was going to-
"Who's this weirdo?" Garble asked as he and one of his lackeys, a fat, blue one with a spiky frill, look at the costume oddly.
"I think he's Crackle's cousin." The purple/blonde one whispered to him.
All three looked up to a ledge, and Spyro followed their gaze to see a large, green dragon that looked like virtually identical to the ponies' costume, only flesh and blood! Spyro paled in horror; creatures that ugly and freakish actually exist?! The 'dragon' let out a surprised croak before using his two right hind legs to scratch an itch.
"Ah, that would explain it." Garble stated.
Yeah...and a few other things as well... Spyro mentally wheezed, his right eye twitching slightly. There goes a few dozen nights of peaceful sleep.
"What the hell is that?" Flame asked Spyro, staring at the costume in utter confusion, all the other Prehistorian Dragons looking at it with freaked-out looks. The red dragon suddenly sniffed the air. "I smell ponies."
"Good; that means you're nose is working." Spyro said flatly, looking slightly worried.
All the other dragons of Spyro's group perked up in surprise. "What are a bunch of ponies doing here?" Ember asked in a surprised and worried tone.
"They're with me!" Spyro quickly stated, just in case any of his friends were hungry... "They said they're friends with Spike and are here to make sure he doesn't get into trouble." Spyro told them all as they watched the ponies-in-costume take position from Spike, the white leg kicking the tail up so that it locked with Spike's as if it were a real dragon's tail.
Camo, Zap, Bash, Drobot and Flame laughed. "And just what do they plan to do should trouble show up?" Flame asked, still chuckling.
"That's what I asked them." Spyro muttered flatly. "What are these 'Ponies' anyway?" He then asked.
Whirlwind answered that question: "Ponies are the 'main' race of this world, basically the same with humans of your world." She told Spyro. "They're a peaceful race that are split up into three groups: The Earth Ponies, The Pegasi, and the Unicorns. My mother was a Unicorn Pony." This interested Spyro; he knew Whirlwind's mother was a unicorn, but not one of these types.
"They're either very brave or very stupid coming here, especially in a badly-made costume like that one." Sunburn said sternly, glaring at the costume as Spike tried hard to pull against it, but to no avail. "Since they smell female, I'm guessing the former."
"What's that suppose to mean?!" All the other males dragons asked in unison.
Cynder made her way next to Spyro, standing next to him and speaking in hushed tones. "Are they some of the friends Spike was talking about?" She asked in a whisper.
Spyro nodded. "Yeah, they followed Spike here to watch him." He whispered back. "From the descriptions, I say that the one on top is Twilight Sparkle, the one with the eye-holes below the head is Rainbow Dash, and the white legs in the back is Rarity. I spoke with them earlier and they each fit the description Spike described them by."
"What are you planning to do?" She then asked.
"Make sure they get out alive."
Suddenly the ponies, who were obviously wanting Spike to win, suddenly collapsed, making it appear that Spike had actually won and pulled the other dragon down. "Spike's the winner!" Garble announced, holding Spike up by the tail. They all cheered and Garble dropped Spike. "Nice going, little Spike. Maybe you are a dragon after all." He stated, flicking the baby dragon's nose.
"Yeah! Maybe I am!" Spike said hopefully.
"Rainbow Dash, I can't believe your silly plan actually worked!" Rarity told the pegasus as they began moving away from the fighting ring. Rainbow frowned before she bucked Rarity with her hoof, causing her head to form in the costume for a second. "Ow." Rarity stated flatly.
"What were you three thinking?" Spyro hissed as he approached them, keeping his voice down so the other dragons wouldn't hear.
"We were just helping Spike." Twilight told him in a whisper, using her real voice. "We didn't want him getting hurt."
"Too late for that." Spyro suddenly stated, turning his gaze back to the arena.
"WHOOOOOOOOA!" Spike cried as he was flung through the air by a sea-green, almost nerdy-looking dragon with an enormous tail, smacking against the cliff wall near a pair of adult dragons rather painfully. Spyro and the three mares cringed at the sight, everyone watching silently as Spike slid back down the cliff side.
The rest of the Tail Wrestling contest was slaughter for the Prehistorians: Camo alone managed to best them up until the sea-green dragon from before. One by one this mountain-tailed dragon catapulted them out of the match: first Camo, then Cynder, Ember, Flame, Whirlwind, Zap, Drobot, Sunburn, and Bash. Bash actually had put up quite the fight, using his massive saurian strength along with his earth element to pull against the other dragon's strength, but lost when he lost his footing, joining the other Prehistorian Dragons at the big pile with Spike at the base of the cliff.
Then it was Spyro's turn. He wrapped his tail around the other dragon's large tail, carefully avoiding the spikes covering the tip. "Ready?" Garble asked, watching with his arms crossed. "Go!"
Spyro immediately began pulling, but it took all of his strength to keep from being thrown; His claws dug into the earth as he struggled against the other dragon's strength. He cracked an eye open and glanced back to see said dragon breathing harder than usual; yes, his tail was big and strong, but the rest of him wasn't, and he was beginning to tire from the non-stop tug of wars.
That's when an idea popped into the purple dragon's head, and he grinned in anticipation: readying himself, he, quite suddenly took a step backwards. The sudden release of tension was too much for the green dragon's puny legs, and he let out a surprised cry as he stumbled forward, waving his arms around to keep his balance. His opponent's grip on the earth gone, Spyro closed his eyes, tapping into the power within him, letting it flow throughout his entire body: the power of the purple dragon.
His body glowing with purple fire, he opened his eyes, which were now blazing with pure white light like twin suns, and with a mighty yank, he pulled the entire dragon off the ground and flipped him up over his head, slamming him down in front of himself with a powerful crash.
There was a stunned silence at first...and then cheering. Even the Equestrian Dragons were congratulating him, both sides cheering in a gang-style.
"Nice going, purple boy!" Garble said, slapping the now-normal Spyro on the back in a friendly manner, completely impressed this time. "Nobody's been able to beat that guy in Tail Wrestling before! You're one tough dragon!"
Spyro grinned. "It's not the size of a dragon in a fight. It's the size of a fight in a dragon." He stated proudly.
Twilight, however, was stunned speechless, her jaw hanging agape in disbelief and her eyes wide with horror. Never had she seen a dragon, or any other creature for that matter...other than Princess Celestia, Discord, and Nightmare Moon...wield that kind of power! When he had tapped into that glowing purple energy, both her and Rarity's horns began radiating with a powerful magic: The air became saturated with arcane energy...magic energy...a kind that was disturbingly familiar, but just couldn't remember what.
Just what kind of dragon was this?
"Well, Spike..." Garble stated as he carried Spike up to the top of a giant pile of gems and gold coins. "Your Purple Prehistoric Pal and his friends have proven themselves tough dragons, but you haven't even proven yourself a dragon yet..." He dropped the small dragon onto the top of the gempile. "Have you?"
"But...I get an A for effort?" Spike asked once he got up, looking nervous.
"Well, maybe..." Garble said in a thoughtful tone. "Let's see how you do in this next contest." He stated. And with that, he pushed Spike off the hill with a slap to the back.
"Whaaaaa!" Spike cried out, bouncing rather painfully down the hill. "Oof! Wha! Oah!" Luckily, Ember caught him before he hit the ground, sending a deadly glare up at the red dragon.
"King Of The Hoaaaaaaaard!" Garble roared in a war-cry fashion. The other dragons all roared their own battle cries as they began scaling the mountain of treasure.
The dragons had decided to flip a coin to decide which team claimed the top of the hoard; it wasn't that hard to find one, having plenty gold coins throughout their hoards of treasure. The Equestrian Dragons won the coin-toss, which Flame claimed was bullshit, and decided amongst themselves who should have the top, which naturally turned out to be Garble. The goal of the game was for the Prehistorian Dragons to claim the hill for themselves, and for the Equestrian Dragons to keep their position, which would reverse should the Prehistorians succeed in gaining the mountain.
As planned, Spyro went straight for Garble while the others held off the other dragons, the purple dragon slithering in and out of the squabbling dragons as one by one went flying off the mound. Sunburn used his fiery power to shove the fat blue dragon off the mound. Poor Camo was completely obliterated by the big fat brown dragon, screaming as he went flying off the mound with a crash, followed by the green-grey dragon with ram horns that was smacked away like a baseball by Bash's tail.
Spyro soon reached Garble, who had just sent Ember flying; the red dragon spotted him coming, though, and the two locked in a fierce struggle or brute strength: Garble grabbed onto Spyro's horns, forcing the purple dragon back, but Spyro held his ground, pushing back just as ferociously, both dragons glaring each other down as they fought.
During the whole battle, Spike nervously made his way up the hill, panting as he went; he had no idea what he was going to do once here got there, though, but he would try...to prove himself a real dragon.
The purple/blonde dragon tried to come up from behind Spike and get him, but Twilight and the others stopped them. "No so fast!" Rainbow Dash cried, apparently dragging the costume and other two ponies with her as she tackled the surprised dragon, forcing them all to the ground.
"This is my chance!" Spike whispered to himself, seeing the two lead dragons teetering dangerously close to the edge of the mound. Using every ounce of dragon strength he had, Spike came up behind Garble and pushed him upwards from behind. The tiny amount of excess force was all the two surprised dragons needed to lose their balance and go tumbling down the side of the hoard, joining the other teens in a big pile of limbs, wings, horns, claws, and tails.
Spike cracked open an eye nervously, but his face turned to one of surprise and his eyes opened all the way to see he was the only one on the mound.
He did it.
"King of the Hoar-!" He began proudly... "-WHOAAAAA!" ...Only to slip on the loose coins and tumble down the mound. "Oof! Uh! Nuh! Oof!" Landing right at Garble's feet.
"Looks like this is another fail for you, little Spike." The red dragon sneered with his arms folded. "Can't wait to watch you fail at Lava Cannonball, too."
Spike swallowed nervously.
For the final event of their Big Contest, the dragons, including Twilight and her friends in their costume, all found themselves standing at the top of a large cliff in the crater, beneath which, about fifty feet down, was a large pool of molten lava. Spyro could feel the intense heat rising from the pool of molten rock, but what would be a instant death for a pony would be a dip in a hot-tub for a dragon. Both teams had competed in multiple contests before this, and now both teams were tied five to five in points.
"Whoever makes the biggest Lava Splash is the ultimate dragon!" Garble announced only seconds before diving off the cliff. "Geronimooooo!" He yelled as he dove through the air and touched-down into the lava, creating a large splash of lava. A drop of it flew up and landed near Rainbow Dash's hoof, who moved her limb to avoid the heat.
"Spike's on his own this time..." Twilight whispered to herself, she and other ponies sneaking away without any dragons noticing...except for Spyro.
No, he's not. The purple dragon thought to himself.
One by one the dragons all dove into the pool, all giving off yells of 'coolness' as they splash into the pool below; most of the dragons made moderate splashes, all being about the same size as the first one. Bash made a huge splash, thanks to his bigger size, but even that was outmatched by the fat brown dragon, who yelled "Cannonball!" as he too jumped off the edge. The splash was so big, a few dragons nearby might have thought the volcano was erupting.
Soon the only dragons left were Spike and Spyro.
"Come on, Spyro! You're the last chance we got to win!" Cynder called up to him from the pool.
Spyro nodded slightly, stepping forward to the ledge. He first glanced down to see where the pool was...before tapping into his inner power again. Once more Twilight, who was watching with the other two mares in the dragon costume some distance away, could feel the incredible power flowing through him, her horn slightly vibrating from the magic build-up in the air around the dragon. His body glowing with purple fire once more, he opened his glowing eyes once more and leapt off the cliff and into the air; just before he began falling, he curled up into a giant ball and spun at incredible speeds like a big wheel. A blazing purple fire of Dragon Magic burst around the spinning dragon, transforming him into a blazing comet of purple fire and magic, shooting toward the lava at blinding speed.
BOOM!
The impact was so powerful it drained the entire pool, creating a coloum of lava the size of the entire crater. From outside, it truly looked like the volcano was actually erupting, and every dragon on the mountain roared in alarm, the closer ones quickly flying away and the farther ones watching in shock. The lava then gushed back down in a single splash, creating a wave of molten rock that swept throughout the carter; the ponies cried out in alarm before Twilight teleported them all up onto the size of the crater.
Soon the pool refilled and Spyro resurfaced, shaking his head free from lava. He opened his now-normal eyes to see the other dragon teens, even his own friends, staring at him with eyes wide as dinner plates and jaws hanging slack in shock. Spyro chuckled; if only they could see the looks on their faces.
Cynder was the first to snap out of it, declaring the thought that brought her out of her stupor. "Prehistorian Dragons win! We're the Ultimate Dragons!" She cheered loudly.
This was enough to snap the other Prehistorians out of their daze, resulting in them all cheering in victory. Zap high-winged Sunburn, while Bash fist-bumped Drobot. Camo did a excited backwards flip back into the lava with a splash, which 'accidently' splashed over Whirlwind. Cynder nearly crushed Spyro in a thrilled bear hug, while Ember did the same with Flame.
The Equestrian Dragons were at a loss for words. "How...what was...how did..." Garble stammered, before shaking his head to snap out of it. "Dude! That was wicked! How'd you do that?!" He asked Spyro.
Spyro shrugged honestly. "To be honest I wasn't expecting a blast that big either. I was just using my power to assist my impact; I didn't know it would be that big." He told the leader of the Equestrians. "You guys did pretty well yourselves; gave us a real challenge."
Garble re-assumed his usual sneer, but it wasn't as hostile anymore. "Well, that comes naturally..." He said proudly. "...but heck, you guys won, and I'll admit it this time around...but don't expect us to lose so easily next time."
Spyro smirked himself. "I won't. You can count on that." He stated; the two then high-winged, the two sides all talking and laughing together.
Garble then looked back up at the cliff above them, an annoyed, impatient glare adorning his face. "Well, you guys may be the ultimate dragons, but SOMEBODY has yet to even jump!" He called up to Spike, who had yet to jump. The yell snapped Spike out of his stupor, the baby wingless dragon giving a cry of surprise and fear when he remembered how high up he really was, retreating back against the rock wall behind him. "What's wrong, Spike? You afraid the lava will hurt your soft pony hide?!" Garble taunted, he and his gang laughing soon after. Flame, Bash, and Camo also laughed, until Ember elbowed Flame in the ribs, sending a deathly glare his and the other two dragon's way.
"He doesn't have to do this!" Cynder whispered to Spyro, her face and voice full of worry. "Stop him! He's only going to get hurt!"
"I can't." Spyro whispered back reassuringly. "Spike's the only one who can decide."
But he made a rather stupid choice: After a moment, Spike stopped shaking and stood confidently at the end of the cliff. Finally, he took a gulp and dove in, screaming as he fell. Unfortunately, he dove the wrong way, causing him to bellyflop onto the lava.
SMACK!
"Ooooooh...!" All the dragons in the pool, including Spyro and Cynder, exclaimed, flinching at the sound and idea of the pain poor Spike must be feeling as he sank limply into the lava. Dragon or not, that had to hurt.
Surprisingly, Spike surfaced a few seconds later, seemingly unhurt, spitting out a stream of lava as he did so. He looked about to see the other dragons, who were all staring at him with surprised and even impressed faces. "Uhhh...was I...that bad?" He asked nervously.
"No, dude, that was awesome!" Garble responded. "No pony could live through a bellyflop like that!" He chuckled and lifted him by his scale. "You're one tough little dragon." He said before releasing him.
Spyro rolled his eyes; typical teenagers...oh well, at least Spike wasn't harmed and he gained the other dragon's respect. He had to admit, though. For someone that small and young to survive a bellyflop like that without a bellyache for the rest of the week was pretty impressive.
Once that event was over, they created some ritual they made themselves: at the blowing of the gray-green dragon's nose, the dragon teens all formed a royal-styled path toward Garble with their tails, the Equestrian Dragons on the left and the Prehistorian Dragons on the right, for Spike and Spyro to walk under. Spyro thought it was silly, and Spike seemed confused, but both dragons walked forward anyway until they stopped in front of Garble.
"Spike, by belly flopping so hard, you have proven yourself worthy." He announced; he then used his tail to pat Spike's shoulder's in a knighting fashion. "I hereby dub you 'Rookie Dragon'." He then turned to Spyro. "Spyro, for winning the Big Contest by that awesome comet ball, I hereby dub you 'Ultimate Dragon'." He said, repeating the same knighting fashion.
Spyro thought it ridiculous for someone to just dub him his rightful title, but he went along with it; It was kinda fun, anyway. He glanced over to Cynder, who grinned and gave him a playful wink.
"...and will now perform the initiation ritual." Garble then said; the 'initiation ritual' was locking them in a headlock and giving them a noogie, first Spyro and then Spike. Spike stumbled away with dizzily spinning eyes, while Spyro grumbled as he used a paw to straighten his head frill. "Now let's party Dragon Style!"
The dragons all cheered before partying like no tomorrow. The partying consisted of crazy dancing, chowing down on gems, and flying about the sky while performing all sorts of fun tricks. Spyro used his tail to scoop up Spike and set him on his back before taking off, joining Cynder, Flame, and Ember in the sky. The four prehistoric dragons partied by racing about Dragon Mountain, with an excited Spike riding on Spyro's back the whole time, all five of them enjoying the majestic sight of the sacred mountains and the dragons currently there. Many of these dragons complimented and congratulated Spyro for his amazing comet ball, to which he humbly thanked him.
In other words. The party was awesome.
As the dragons partied, Twilight and the other two ponies watched from the side of the valley, trying to keep out of the way without looking suspicious; they were failing, but as usual none of the dragons seemed to notice.
"Huh, I guess for a dragon, that purple one's not so bad." Rainbow Dash stated.
"Yes, he does seem nice enough; he also has a nice color combination. Purple and Gold gives him a bold and heroic aura." Rarity said thoughtfully. "But I just love the colors of his black dragoness friend." She then said. "Black and Red just sings danger and mystery! They're absolutely inspiring!"
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "Yeah, they're okay, I guess." She said, annoyed by Rarity's usual fashtonia persona. "What do you think, Twilight?" She then asked.
Twilight, however, didn't answer. She just watched Spike laugh and cheer about while riding and playing with the purple and black dragons with a sad face. He seemed so happy, the happiest she had seem him in a long time...like he truly belonged here. Her number-one assistant was finally in a place where he felt like he belonged, and in good company; true, the first dragons weren't the type that would be good company to hang around, but the purple one from before and his friends gladly accepted him, even standing up for not only him, but for her and the other ponies, even if he didn't even know them. She guessed dragons were more like ponies than most thought: there were good dragons and bad dragons, just like there were good ponies and bad ponies.
'Spike would be happier here.' Twilight thought to herself, the tears already forming in her eyes. "Let's go girls." She then said sadly.
This surprised Rarity and Rainbow Dash. "What?! But what about Spike?!" The latter asked.
Twilight sighed, the first tears flowing down her cheeks. "He's staying here."
"But, darling!" Rarity began.
"Please Rarity, don't." Twilight begged, her voice sounding close to heartbreak. "Look at him; he's so much happier here than he would be with us. He...he belongs here...with his own kind." She sobbed, more tears flowing from her eyes.
"But-"
"Let's just go." She whispered, closing her eyes sadly.
"LOOK OUT BELOOOOW!" They heard Spike scream.
That snapped Twilight out of her sorrow and Rainbow Dash and Rarity out of their horrified confusion. At that moment Spyro had been tackled by Flame in another friendly fight, both dragons and Spike plummeting to the earth below...and right toward the girls in their costume! All three of them screamed and tried to run, but with Rainbow trying to fly and with Rarity running in the opposite direction, it was completely hopeless.
CRASH!
The two male dragons crashed into the costume, ripping it to pieces with the sounds of tearing fabric. Twilight screamed as she and the head when flying to the side, crashing into the ground where Spyro slid to a stop, Spike flying off his back with a scream, while Flame tore through the body, sending Rainbow Dash and Rarity tumbling out and crashing into a big pile with him.
Spyro groaned as he stood back up on his feet, looking down to see the decapitated head of the ponies' dragon costume...and a form within the cloth of the neck, struggling and squirming about trying to free itself, a muffled voice sounding from within. Spyro cocked his head in confusion before using his claws to rip the costume open near the head of the person trapped inside.
Twilight stopped struggling for a second...before slowly pushing her head out of the tear made in the costume, looking up from under the cover of the cloth at the large saurian before her, fear filling her eyes.
Spyro blinked in surprise when he saw the unicorn before him. Her face wasn't like a horse's at all; it was almost human in appearance, very closely resembling the faces of the Eeveelution Pokemon from Poke-World. Her mane was more like human hair as well, even styled like hair, and instead of just a thick horse skin she was covered in short, soft-looking fur, even her 'hooves', if that's what her feet were supposed to be. Her fur and horn were lavender-purple in color, and her hair was a deep plum in color with a pink-and-purple stripe running horizontally through it. Standing on her legs she would only be almost four feet tall, a little less than half his own height.
Flame groaned in pain as he lifted his head up, opening his eyes to see a pair of magenta eyes fluttering open in front of him. His and Rainbow Dash's eyes snapped open when they saw each other, both Pegasi and Dragon jumping back in surprise, crying/roaring in alarm.
Rarity opened her eyes to find Spike laying on his stomach in front of her, the baby dragon groaning as he sat up, opening his eyes to see the object of his romantic desires sitting in front of him.
"Rarity?!" He exclaimed in shock. He looked about at the other ponies. "Rainbow?! Twilight?! What are you guys doing here?!" He cried in shock and disbelief.
"Good question..." Spyro growled sternly, glaring down at the unicorn before him. It was merely a glare of thought, but it certainly didn't look that way.
Twilight whimpered in terror, retreating slightly back into the costume. "P-P-Please d-d-don't h-h-hurt u-u-us." She begged, cowering to the ground before the purple dragon before her; he was much bigger when she was looking at him from ground level. "W-W-We d-didn't m-m-mean any h-h-harm."
Spyro's angry glare faded, a sympathetic smile taking it's place. "Like I said before, you won't get any from me." He told her softly, a reassuring warmth filling his tone; he then reached his paw forward and scooped it around Twilight's waist, lifting her up out of the shreds of cloth in a saurian fashion. Twilight cringed, covering her eyes with her hooves and trembled in fear, but found no harm as the dragon slowly lowered her back down to the ground in front of him; the moment the lavender unicorn touched the ground she scrambled away from the purple dragon, backing up her trembling body against the side of the cliff, her eyes full of terror. Spyro's eyes narrowed in concern before he lowered his head down to her level.
"N-N-No...p-p-please..." Twilight whimpered, tears running down her cheeks.
Spyro paused, staring with pity at the terrified unicorn, before closing the gap between them and gently nuzzled the side of her head, purring softly. Twilight froze, curling up in a fetal position while whimpering in fear.
"Shhhhhh...calm down." He soothed softly, continuing to caress the side of her head with his snout. "I'm not going to hurt you." He then continued to soothe her, purring softly as he nuzzled her mane.
Suddenly their was a multitude of thuds on the ground around them, and Spyro looked back to see dozens of dragons landing around him and the ponies. His Prehistorian friends and the Equestrians Teens were there, along with many adult dragons, Equestrian and Prehistorian alike; most of them were glaring at the ponies in anger and distrust, some even growling in response. Twilight's heart tightened in terror at the sight of these giant monsters surrounding she and her friends.
"I knew I smelled pony back at Tail Wrestling." Garble growled, arms folded against his chest. "Well, boys! Looks like dinner's been served early!" He announced to his gang, who all growled hungrily in response.
But before any dragon could make a move, Spyro turned around and stood in front of Twilight and the other two, slamming his forepaw to the ground warningly.
"No. None of you will not touch them." He growled threateningly, glaring at the other dragons.
"Ponies aren't allowed on this mountain without permission from the Dragon Lords. They have shunned and forsaken the peace agreement between our kinds by doing this." A large, red Equestrian Dragon told Spyro; Rainbow Dash's eyes widened in fear and recognition when she realized he was the same dragon that had settled in the mountain almost a full year ago. The one Fluttershy had cowed with her 'Stare'.
"I doubt that these ponies here even know about the ancient laws of old, let alone mean to willfully break them." Spyro stated calmly back. "They came here to help and protect an orphaned hatchling that they had raised since egghood; if anything else I believe they are honoring our peace, not forsaking it!"
"Yeah!" Spike suddenly said, stepping forward with his newfound idol. "They're my friends, ponies or not! If I can come here, why can't they?"
"Spyro's right!" Cynder said, flying up from the crowd and landing next to her brother, joining him at his side. "They've done nothing wrong! Why judge them for something they haven't done against us?!"
Flame got up from his fallen position, joining his rival with protecting the 'intruders'. "To punish them for something so minor is an act only Humans would commit!" He snarled as Ember walked up to him and stood by his side. "Do you really want to demote yourselves down to their level?"
"Besides..." Whirlwind suddenly spoke up, joining the other teens. "...my mother was a Unicorn Pony, one of them!" She told them all. "To kill them would be killing the ones who brought a fellow dragon into this world."
The dragons began murmuring amongst each other, some actually moved by their words.
Twilight could only stare up at the dragon standing above her, her eyes full of wonder and graditute.
"They are under my protection, and as the Legendary Purple Dragon, I will die protecting their lives." He growled, now all of his friends joining him. "So...who whats to battle the defeater of the Snakeasaurus first?" He challenged, his eyes glowing purple as he charged up his power.
"That's enough, young dragon."
All the dragons turned to the voice to see a large dragon approaching them, the crowed quickly parting to the sides to allow this dragon plently of space, all the other dragons bowing in respect...even Garble and his gang, which surprised Spyro greatly.
This dragon was even larger than Terrador and possibly the largest on the entire mountain, standing a good twenty-five feet tall on all four legs. His scales were a very dark red in color, almost black, and his underbelly, wing membrane, and tailblade where all a dark gold color. He had four long horns that grew backwards and curved upwards, the top-right one being broken at the halfway point. A large scar ran down from the broken horn, across his undamaged right eye, and down to his upper jaw near the tip of his long yet thick snout. A row of large spines ran down his back all the way to his tailblade, which was shaped like a deadly sword with sharp spikes framing the sides. His arms, shoulders, chest, legs, and massive wings bore large, fire-shaped plates that formed around his body like armor. His eyes were a brilliant golden-orange in color with silt pupils, and adorning his head was a impressive helmet/crown with a black crystal in the center.
The dragon approached Spyro in a way that reminded Twilight of Princess Celestia: tall, proud, noble, but at the same time calm, understanding, and willing to listen. Spyro took a defense stance, ready to battle should the need arise to that. The dragon merely chuckled in an almost fatherly manner at his stance.
"You do not need to resort to battle, young dragon." He told him, his voice deep, strong, yet surprisingly gentle. "For you have no need to protect the ponies." Spyro softened, looking confused. "Your words are truly ones of wisdom, far exceeding your age. Ignitus said this was one of your many honorable traits, purple one...and because you are the purple dragon of prophecy and wish these ponies safety, they will be pardoned of their trespassing, and no one is to harm them." He said this strictly to the crowd watching, all of which quickly back down.
Twilight felt like she was going to faint, a heavy sigh of relief escaping her lungs as she slid limply onto her stomach; Rarity actually did, with the usual over-dramatic flair. Rainbow Dash looked extremely relieved herself, this time making no attempts to hide it from anyone.
"Who are you?" Spyro asked.
"I am Lord Volcanus, High King and Fire Lord of the Equestrian Dragons." He told him, standing tall and proud, before turning away. "Your presence is required at the Mountain Council, Spyro...and is yours, Twilight Sparkle."
Twilight looked shocked at the mention of her name. "H-H-How did you..." She began, her voice fading into flummuxed stammers.
Volcanus chuckled as looking back at the flabbergasted unicorn. "Your mentor and ruler is awaiting your presence there." He said. That only made it worse for the already frazzled unicorn, who merely fell backwards with a wheezing 'Bleaaaaahhh...', landing on her back with a crash.
Mountain Council, a few minutes later:
The council was possibly the most impressive part of the entire mountain, carved from a large crater near the center of the volcano. A grand draconic throne stood at the north end of the large round room, with multiple smaller thrones set up around the center room, the floor of the great hall carved to resemble the great image of the Dragon Elements, each element facing the throne they represented: Fire at the grand throne, with Electricity, Ice, Shadow, Earth, and Wind around the room in that order clockwise.
It was on the grand throne Lord Volcanus was currently sitting, overlooking the currently empty council, being nearly empty since the debate at hand didn't involved the other Dragon Lords. Sitting in the other thrones of the council Ignitus, Volteer, Cyril, and Terrador, Cyril and Volteer on the dragon's left, and Ignitus and Terrador to his right, each sitting in their respective elements...except for Ignitus, who stood next to Volcanus.
Spyro, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Spike were currently walking (or flying in Rainbow Dash's case) down the path that would lead them into the great crater.
Twilight looked up at Spyro, gently nudging his upper arm with her snout, getting his attention. "Thank you for what you did before." She said softly. "Spyro, was it? You saved our lives."
Spyro nodded in response. "I couldn't just stand there and let them tear you apart, especially for something you didn't truly do." He told them truthfully. "Anyone with a good heart would've done the same."
"But you're a dragon." Twilight continued quietly, looking really moved and grateful. "We're ponies; nothing more than food toward your kind...so why even bother?"
"Does that really matter?" Spyro asked, looking back at the much smaller unicorn. "I have nothing against your kind, and even if I did, were still the same in here." He used a wing to point to Twilight's chest. "Our bodies and ways may be as different as day and night...but we all have a heart, no matter if we have fur or scales. It's that simple."
Twilight smiled.
Spike, however, just looked cross, puny arms folded against his chest and eyebrows furrowed. "Well, I guess I couldn't handle myself after all, huh?" He muttered bitterly.
"We're sorry, Spike." Twilight said apologetically. "But we only followed you because we care about you; we just wanted to make sure you were safe."
The baby dragon sighed. "Yeah, yeah, I know." He stated whistfully. "At least we are going to make it outta here okay, thanks to Spyro here." He then paused. "We are making it outta here okay, right?"
"Naturally." Spyro said with a grin just before they stepped out into the floor of the council; from there Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Spike headed off to the side, standing next to Ignitus and Terrador, leaving Twilight and Spyro standing alone before the Kings and Queens of the Dragon Kingdom.
It was then Spyro and Twilight saw another bearer of a royal title standing next to King Volcanus, accompanied by a duo of royal guards...one that the latter regconized with a shocked expression and Spyro looked upon with awe.
She was another pony, but she was far larger than Twilight and her friends, standing more than twice the unicorn's height at a impressive nine feet, even taller than Spyro...but by no means big, bulky, and heavy. She was the vision of pure beauty, her entire being radiating with a heavenly appearance and form. Her mane and tail looked like they were made of an aurora light of light pink, blue, and green shades, flowing through the air like a flowing river, her mane also covering her right eye. Her fur was pure white, even brighter than Rarity's, and she seemed to glow with a gentle, golden gleam of light. What's more she had both wings and a horn; An Alicorn, if Spyro guessed right. Her horn was more than three times the length of Twilight's short horn, and were wings were large and majestic like an eagle's. Her cutie mark was that of the sun, and it too seemed to glow with power. On her head she wore a large, golden tiara with a purple jewel in the center, along with a matching gold chestpiece and horseshoes.
"Princess Celestia?!" Twilight asked in utter surprise, her eyes wider than dinner plates. "What are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same thing, my young student." Celestia said in a warm tone; her voice was calm and motherly, a gentle loving tone to her every word. "I always come here during the Dragon Migration to discuss peace and diplomatic meetings with the Dragon Lords, to ensure peace between ponies and dragons. However, the Guardians of Prehistoria have asked me of a special request concerning the purple dragon next to you."
Spyro perked up in surprise, looking toward the guardians. "What request?" He asked.
"You have yet to learn the Element of Magic, Spyro." Terrador, Guardian of Earth, told them. "And since a Guardian of Magic is non-existent, we've taken the matter up with Princess Celestia."
Terrador was the largest of the guardians, standing almost 20 feet tall on all four legs; his entire body was solid, thick, and made of pure muscle and bone, indicating he was an earth dragon. His scales were a dark earthly green in color, and his underbelly and wing-membrane were a deep rust-red in color. His horns were huge, and curled downwards like ram horns, starting a trail of brown stalagmite-like chunks running down his spines and decorating his limbs/head, his tail ending it a solid, spiked-covered mace, also brown in color. His eyes were a brighter green in color, with silt pupils that were more rounded out than the others.
Celestia nodded. "Spyro, was it?" She asked. "I have agreed to help you learn Magic; the guardians and I have arranged for you to live and learn under my guidance in Equestria."
"WHAT?!" Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity all cried out in surprise and disbelief.
"But, Princess!" Rainbow Dash said aggressively, zooming over to Celestia and hovering in front of her face. "He's a Dragon! And not a cute, little dragon like Spike! But a big, ferocious dragon-"
"That just saved your life, Rainbow Dash." Celestia reminded her, still keeping a calm tone and volume. "Don't you believe that's enough proof needed to know how good he really is?"
"Well...I..." Any argument that the rainbow-maned pegasus had died in her throat at those words.
Cyril, Guardian of Ice, snorted an icy mist from his nostrils. "You're not the only one who holds distrust with the other race, pegasus." He stated in a pompus, slightly aggravated manner. "How do we guarantee that we can trust you ponies with our hero of legend?"
Cryil was only slightly smaller than Ignitus, about 17 feet in height, and his body covered in light-blue scales. He has six horns, two large ones that went straight backwards and slightly upwards, and four smaller ones framing his face beneath the first two, all colored a pale lavender, except for the short nose horn standing between his nostrils. His underbelly was also a lavender purple in color, as was the spike-covered tail blade ending his tail, but his wing membranes were a sliverly blue in color, just like the jagged stripes running down his body. His eyes were lavender in color with silt pupils, and were filled with pride and dignity.
"That's why I'm here to discuss this with you." Volcanus said. "The dragons of Equestria will keep an eye on him should things get out of hand."
"B-But, Princess." Twilight began, stepping forward. "Won't you be too busy with your royal duties to tend to a dragon? Who else could possibly watch over him and teach him your magic?"
All eyes fell on the purple unicorn.
"...Oh, No. N-n-n-n-n-n-no!" Twilight quickly stammered, similar to the day Fluttershy stole Celestia's pet pheonix to nurse it back to health. Celestia had that familiar 'I've suddenly got a brilliant and possibly dangerous idea' smirk on her face; a look Spyro regconized from his mother and sister constantly.
"You are the only unicorn in all of Equestria that wields magic of alicorn levels." Celestia told her panicking student. "And, as I have told King Volcanus just recently, you also have the most experience with dragons of anypony. That's why I had sent a letter to you just before requesting your presence here...but I see now that you and Spike had already found your way into sacred dragon land." She said this last part with a slightly stern tone, giving her student a questioning look.
"Wait...you mean that was the letter Spike coughed up during the dragon's..." Twilight paused, grimacing at the next word. "...belching contest?"
"The one you said was from the 'Namby Pamby Pony Princess'?" Cynder, from the dragon teens' hiding place, where they were all watching the council, whispered coyly to Garble; the red dragon cringed, grinning sheepishly with a nervous chuckle.
Celestia nodded, making good use of her eternal wisdom and ignoring the comment of a belching contest. "Twilight Sparkle, I hereby place the purple dragon known as Spyro under your care and tutorship; he'll be staying with you in PonyVille and you'll be teaching him the Element of Magic during his time in Equestria. You may also consider it your punishment for violating this sacred land, as minor as your offense may be."
"B-B-B-But I'm not ready for this!" Twilight panicked, fidgeting about nervously on the spot. "I'm still under your tutorship! I can't take an apprentance of my own yet! And the only dragon experience I have is with baby dragons!"
"Hey!" Spike snapped, folding his arms in indignity.
"I-I-I can't do this!" The purple unicorn gasped, beginning to hyperventilate. "I-I'm not a good teacher! I'm not fit for this big a task! What if I mess up and start a great dragon-pony war! What if-!"
She never got to ask the next 'What if', for at that moment Celestia's horn lit up with a golden aura of magic, which covered Twilight's entire body. Spyro nearly cringed when he felt the sheer amount of power radiate from the alicorn's horn; it was at godly levels, matching that of even Arceus or Spode themselves! Little wonder she was the ruler of this world.
As for Twilight, all the fret and worry frying her brains out immediately faded into a wonderful, soothing feeling filling her entire body. She gave a relaxed sigh as she sank down onto her rump, her dreary head hanging slightly in exhaustion; the spell faded some time later, leaving the unicorn tired but relieved.
"I wouldn't be selecting you if I wasn't confident in your abilities, Twilight Sparkle." Celestia assured her gently, a warm smile adorning her face. "You are a wonderful student, Twilight, and you always have been; in all the years you've been my student I have never once doubted you, and I'm not starting today." Her smile then faded into a slightly worried one. "This task is very important not just for this dragon to learn magic, but to insure the future safety of both ponies and dragons alike, including you both. It is a heavy task, and that's exactly why I chose my most trusted student to carry it. I believe in you, Twilight...and I'm counting on you."
Twilight nodded softly, her eyes looking tired but willing. "Yes, Princess." She said with a slight bow. "I'll try."
"Good. That's all we can ask." Ignitus said, nodding in approval, before turning to Spyro. "Pack your things, young dragon; you'll leave for PonyVille before sundown."
Spyro nodded before spreading his wings and taking off into the sky, heading back toward the great crater where he and his friends held the contest. Ignitus watched him disappear over the mountain before turning to Celestia. "Are you sure he's the one?" He asked.
Celestia lowered her gaze, a deep, thoughtful gaze adorning her features. "Yes. I am." She told the Fire Guardian softly.
Prehistorian Teens' Cave:
"So, basically, you're going with Twilight and the other ponies back to their kingdom to learn how to use magic, and may not return for a few months or so." Cynder stated as she laid on the outward crop of rock above Spyro; the purple dragon was currently gathering a few things to take with him for his trip. The cave they were in was where Spyro and his Prehistorian friends were currently living in during the Great Dragon Migration. All ten dragons slept and lived in this cave, each having a large outgrowing ledge against the cave wall to sleep on and keep the stuff they had brought. Cynder had chosen the ledge just above Spyro's.
"Pretty much." Spyro stated as he packed; he used his jaws to grab a large bag full of red and green crystal shards, placing it in a dragon's version of a pony's saddlebags.
"And what will mom and dad stay when I return to Coastalis without you?" The black dragoness asked crossly...though Spyro could easily detect the longing in her voice.
"What else?" Spyro asked, placing a large, ancient-looking book in the bags. "Tell them I've just taken up another task from Ignitus and the other guardians, and may not return for a few months." He then placed a bag of dragon treasure from his hoard next, just in case he needed currency. "They'll understand."
"It's not fair." Cynder then murmured, rolling away from him and facing the wall. "You always have to go away on these 'big quests and tasks' and leave us with no brother or son to make our family whole...especially now that we finally have peace in our world; I don't what to lose another brother...not after I just lost one..." She finally whispered, tears forming in her eyes.
Spyro paused, still holding the retracted Sword of Light above his shoulder-bags. The purple dragon then sighed as he placed the sword in the bag, pushing his head under the strap of the his bags, working it past his horns and frill before letting them slide down his neck and come to a stop at his shoulders. "You did all that you could, Melody." He said, using her true name as he turned toward the door. "Remember that."
At the sound of her real name, Cynder turned to see her brother leaving the cave, her emerald eyes widening in slight horror; Spyro was about to spread his wings when the black dragoness came up from behind, wrapping her arms around her brother and squeezing him tightly, nuzzling the side of his head with her snout.
"I'm gonna miss you, Spyro." She whispered to him.
Spyro smiled warmly. "I'll miss you too." He said, using his wings to hug her back.
They stayed like that for a long time.
"I cannot believe Princess Celestia is actually letting a mature dragon stay in PonyVille! With her own personal student, no less!" Rarity exclaimed as she, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Spike all waited on the Flight Chariot for their guest, which was standing on the edge on the mountain's peak; the golden chariot appeared to have two large wings of gold, and hooked up to it where the two of Celestia's Royal Pegasi Guards, ready (and eager) for departure.
"I can't believe that Princess Celestia actually comes and talks to these overgrown lizards." Rainbow Dash stated.
"Overgrown lizards that could probably crush Equestria if they wanted too." Twilight stated tiredly as she rested against the interior of the chariot, exhausted from the rough day behind them. "I always wondered why dragons never attacked Equestria with their great numbers; I guess I now know why."
Spike, however, seemed very excited about the whole thing. "I'm glad Spyro's coming to Ponyville! I'll finally have another dragon to hang around with, one that's both not mean and very cool!" He continued one excitedly. "I mean, didn't you see the way he blasted down that entire wall with his awesome fire breath, or how he totally flipped that big-tailed dragon over his head, or how he made that super awesome incredibly big Lava Splash! Or-"
"We get it! He's a cool dragon." Twilight finally groaned, annoyed to her rope's end with his continued rambling. She then looked thoughtful. "I'm actually looking forward to this as well."
"What? But just before you were this close to snapping like a lunatic with panic." Rainbow Dash said, using her hoof to measure her 'closeness'.
Twilight blushed slightly in embarrassment. "Yes, I'm still worried about teaching him, but I'm looking forward to what we could learn." She explained. "Ponies know nothing about dragons, and now I'll have a chance to spend time with a living, breathing one without getting eaten or roasted. We could learn lots about dragons from him! Think of all the scientific implications!"
"Twilight, darling. When I hear the fact that a mature, possibly carnivorous, and obviously dangerous dragon with legendary powers is staying in my hometown, 'scientific implications' is the last thing that come to mind!" Rarity stated quite flatly. "Frankly, I'm more concern with the gems in my shop; if this brute gets any hoarding ideas, I'll...!"
"Rarity, the one time we ever got involved with a dragon's hoard, you were the one trying to steal its gems!" Twilight growled dangerously. Rarity's tense look quickly turned into one of embarrassment, the fashion designer laughing weakly and nervously.
"Well, if any dragon has to come to PonyVille, I'd rather have this 'Spyro' than any of the others, being nice for a dragon and all." Rainbow Dash admitted. She suddenly perked up. "I wonder how fast a flyer he is!"
"I'm just glad I'll finally have another guy to be friends with." Spike stated. "I need a change from just a bunch of girls! No offense."
"None taken." The cyan pegasus grumbled.
Spike chuckled a bit before he turned to Twilight, his laughter fading when he saw the unicorn staring at him, tears in her eyes. "Twilight? Are you oka-?"
Twilight quickly scooped up her number one assistant in a bone-crushing hug, tightly squeezing her baby dragon close as the tears began running down her cheeks. Spike's eyes looked as if they were going to pop out of his skull; even with a dragon's super-strong skeletal structure, he could swear he heard and felt his ribcage caving in against her death grip. "Twilight...can't...breathe!" He wheezed.
Twilight quickly released Spike, giving him a chance to gasp in much needed oxygen. "Sorry, Spike. It's just..." She sighed sadly. "...when we were watching you play with Spyro and his friends, I thought you would be happier staying here instead of PonyVille. I thought I was going to lose my number one assistant."
"Aw, come on, girls; you know me better than that." Spike said in a sheepish manner. "You girl are my true family; it's great to be with other dragons, but I couldn't leave you guys even if I wanted too. PonyVille is my true home."
Twilight smiled warmly, pulling the baby dragon in for another, more gentle hug.
The sound of flapping wings announced the arrival of their newest friend and guest, the three ponies and one baby dragon looking up to see Spyro approaching from above, carrying what appeared to be dragon-sized saddlebags around his shoulders. The purple dragon seemed a little downcasted, but nonetheless eager to venture into this new world of wonder and adventure.
"Hey, Spyro! Ready to go to PonyVille?" Spike asked eagerly.
Spyro nodded, hopping up into the chariot with the others. "We'll leave at your word, Twilight." He said calmly.
Twilight nodded, turning toward the guards and tapping on the chariot top; that was enough of a message for them and they took off, running across the ground before they and their chariot lifted off the ground and into the sky, beginning the trip to PonyVille. The roars and flying dragons could be seen even as the mountain itself shrunk behind them, reminding them all of the crazy adventure they just had.
Spyro suddenly heard the sound of someone scribbling something on a piece of paper; he turned toward the sound to see Spike sitting near Twilight, using a red feather quill to write something in a scroll, reading his writings aloud as he did so.
"Dear Princess Celestia, seeing the Great Dragon Migration made me wonder what it meant to be a dragon, but now I realize that who I am is not the same as what I am." He said as he wrote. "I made a great friend amongst the dragons, and I had a great time learning about my fellow dragons, but my new friend and my old ones helped me see that not even all that could ever replace my real home in PonyVille. I may have been born a dragon, but Equestria and my pony friends had taught me how to be kind, loyal, and true. I'm proud to call PonyVille my home, and to have my pony friends as my family..."
The feather suddenly glowed purple as Twilight levitated the quill and scroll from a surprised Spike and brought it in front of her, smiling reassuringly to Spike as she began writing her own lesson.
"And I, Twilight Sparkle, have come to learn that not everything is set in stone or can be seen in black and white." Twilight said aloud with her writing. "If we just look at the other side of a story, we can learn to look at the grey and decide if someone who is suppose to be an enemy is truly what he appears to be based on their choices and heart. It's good to be cautious and realize that some books can be judged by their cover, but it's equally good to be open-minded..."
She then looked to Spyro with a friendly smile. "...And with just a little bit of faith, trust, and kindness, sometimes those that are supposed to be the greatest of enemies can become the best of friends.
Yours Truly, Twilight Sparkle and Spike."
Spyro smiled himself, finding wisdom in his new friend's words.
The adventures had begun.