Even Gods Make Mistakes

Chapters

Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 3
I'm sorry

Prologue

Both Spyro and Cynder were, inevitably, at the end of their strength. Fighting for over four days, with only minimal time for rest, would take its toll on even the strongest of dragons. And now, as Malafore advanced towards the two heroes, stalking over the large purple crystal, all hope seemed lost. What none of the combatants realised however; was the spirits of purple dragons, who had lived in the millennia past, were watching and stirring. Each and every one had watched over Avalar, witnessing its gradual destruction at the hand of The Dark Master. They all decreed; no more. No more would the many species of their planet, sentient or not, be forced into tyranny. No more would The Dark Master pollute the world with evil. Rising as one, the spirits dragged Malafore into the crystal upon which he stood, imprisoning him inside its depths, the now hapless dragon screaming, loud as the destroyer itself.

“NOOOOOOO!!!” Once he was finally gone, Spyro and Cynder landed on the crystal, haggard shards of light, illuminating the interior of the planet, caused by the many cracks in its surface.

“Spyro, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” She could hardly look her companion in the eye. Cynder now knew how it felt to betray someone. It wasn’t the mere act which was important, it was the reaction from the dragon who finds out, an inevitable ending, as the young dragoness had discovered. It was like having a dagger stabbed through the heart, then twisted. For this reason, Cynder could not describe the happiness she felt upon hearing Spyro’s reaction.

“Don’t be, it’s over now.” Even as he said it, he knew it wasn’t true. Rocks started to fall around them, tumbling in all directions as the cavity around them continued to expand. Gravity meant little at this stage, no match for the power of the destroyer. Spyro knew that soon, if nothing was done to prevent it, his planet would slowly decay from its orbit around the sun, falling to its doom.

“So this is it?” Before Cynder could say anything more, a shadow appeared behind Spyro. It was in image of Ignitus. He had his eyes closed, as though concentrating, but Cynder could not think what it was that her companion was hearing. Whatever the elder dragon was saying, it was meant only for Spyro. Suddenly, his eyes snapped open, revealing a new sort of determination. It was that of a martyr.

“I know what I need to do, get out of here, Cynder.” The sudden realisation of what Spyro was planning to do brought a lump to Cynder’s throat. Tears started to streak down around her maw.

“Spyro no, you don’t have to do anything, let’s just go.” She moved closer to Spyro, she didn’t want to lose him. He was the only dragon in the world who understood who she was. He could see past her history, making Cynder feel like she mattered. It was a gift which no dragon had ever given her.

“Where, Cynder? There will be nothing left. The world is breaking apart. But I think I can stop it… I think I’m meant to.” She finally understood how she felt. Why she didn’t want to leave him.

“Then I’m with you.” As Spyro started to rise, enveloping himself in energy, Cynder found the words to express how she felt. “I love you.” The world seemed to shine a brilliant white, broken only by spots of purple. The magic emanating from Spyro was enormous, more than enough to bring the now broken pieces of planet together again. Eventually, molten rock began reforming, encircling the two dragons. Spyro toppled back onto the crystals surface, unconscious. Cynder knelt, and then laid down next to him, draping a bladed wing across his body. The temperature started rising, it would not be long now. Closing her eyes, Cynder tried to remember the few moments of happiness her memories possessed. All of them contained Spyro.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

The Spirits continued to watch, and, just as with Malafore, they came to an agreement. They would use their strength to save the young dragons facing death. Where they would end up, none of them knew, but it would not be here. The spirits could only hope it was a world of peace, for these dragons had seen enough blood flow to last a thousand millennia. There was a flash of magic… and then they were gone.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Books lined the walls, surrounding an enormous hour glass. The passing of blue liquid inside was almost complete. The Chronicler levitated a book in front himself, reading its contents for the last time.

“Be welcome, friend. I have long been expecting you.” He gestured to the final page of the book, revealing the planet, still recovering, slowly but surely. “A new age is beginning. With each new age, a worthy dragon is chosen to chronicle the many triumphs and failures of that age. This has been my duty for many millennia.” He then turned to face his lone guest. “And now, Ignitus, I pass this honour, to you.” The fire dragon walked with his head held high, trying not to reveal the worry on his face. Still, he needed to ask.

“And… what of Spyro? Is he…”

“Hmmm, that is the question, isn’t it?” He closed the current book, before returning it to the wall. In its place floated another. “You see, each time a dragon dies, a new page is written in this book.” He looked Ignitus in the eye, making sure he understood. “I’ve done my best, but, I can’t seem to find any trace of Spyro.” He then disappeared, partially blinding the fire dragon for an instant. Ignitus was confused for a moment. That was, until, he looked down at himself, to find his scales a light blue, now adorned in the Chronicles gear.

“Well young dragon, where might you be?”

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Tia, did you feel that?” The blue alicorn rose from her table, approaching the windows lining the walls of the royal kitchens of Canterlot Castle. She had a dark blue mane and tail, which sparkled of a million stars. Her flank was adorned with a crescent moon against a dark blotch.

“I did.” Celestia, a white alicorn with pink, blue and aqua mane and tail replied. Her cutie mark, as they were known amongst ponies, was a star, albeit from a close perspective. “I’m not sure what it means, but I would fear not, it came from Ponyville. It was probably just one of Twilight’s spells gone wrong.” Luna shook her head fiercely.

“No, what if it is a threat. We could be caught unawares.” Luna had always been worried about her sister’s trust in the other nations. Especially following the Changeling invasion, that caught everypony by surprise. “We should at least send an expeditionary force, find out for sure.” Celestia sighed, realising her sister could not be convinced.

“Very well.” She then called over a messenger. “We shall send Captain Ericson to Ponyville along with a platoon to investigate a possible magical disturbance.” Once her will was done, Celestia turned back to her sister. “Happy?”

“Yes” The princesses then resumed their lunch in peace.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Pain… It was all that existed. Where was she? Who was she? Suddenly, memories flooded back. Cynder, that was her name, was it? Of course it was; how could she forget her own name? She remembered fighting in the burnt lands, confronting Malafore, the world breaking apart… Spyro. SPYRO! Where was he? Why wasn’t she dead?

Ok, calm down and think, Cynder. You are not dead, which probably means neither is Spyro. She pondered the situation for a while longer, before she dared to open her eyes. The light was soft, thankfully. She was in the middle of a forest of some kind, though the young dragoness did not recognise the plants which grew thick around her. Upon standing up, she found herself to be shaky on her legs. Damn, she would need to find prey; else she might well starve to death. Closing her eyes once more, Cynder stretched out her mind, searching for Spyro. She soon found him, a tingling sensation, in a westerly direction. All dragons had an innate sense of direction, thanks to the presence of an enlarged lobe of the brain which could detect a planets magnetic field. Suddenly, Spyro’s aura flared. It could mean only one thing. Spyro was defending himself from attack. No. Cynder started sprinting towards her companion, the canopy preventing her from taking flight.

“I’m coming, Spyro” She whispered to herself. “I’m not going to lose you again.”

Chapter 1

The thudding against Spyro’s skull was intense. It was as though somedragon had managed to jar the belt of fire and dump it all in his head. Stumbling to his feet, he tried to walk forward. Nope, that wasn’t going to happen, not in his current state. Besides it was night time, he should prob… wait, if it was night time, then why in Avalar could he feel the suns warmth, unless… Oh heck no. If he was blind then he couldn’t hunt, and if he couldn’t hunt then he would have to ask Cynder to feed him.

Ok, I’m an Idiot. How could he have forgotten Cynder? She had been there for him, even when tainted by Malafore’s controlling magic. She gave him a reason to fight, a reason to kill. Killing was something he hated, only ever doing so when he was protecting his friends, or when it was necessary to feed. Certainly, the red crystals dragons consumed provided him with energy, but they did nothing to promote cell metabolism or mitosis. And right now, Spyro felt as though he could eat an entire flock of sheep. Even so, he still couldn’t move far, on account of his impaired vision. So he just sat there, waiting for something to happen, be it death or rescue. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, but in reality was only a few minutes, his eyesight returned, revealing a soft green meadow, much like those surrounding the Cheetah tribe homelands. And then, in a most delightful irony, Spyro spotted a single sheep, grazing by a small tree. Spyro’s hunger got the better of him. How could he find Cynder without the energy to fly? Stealing himself for the attack, Spyro created a rough plan on how to instantly kill the beast, and thus cause minimal suffering. A strong, swift bite to the base of the creature’s skull would suffice, but it would require that he attack from above. Launching himself skywards, he used some low-lying clouds for cover, gliding through them easily. Fortunately, though his head hurt, flying helped to clear the purple dragon’s head, the wind feeling surprisingly refreshing. Once he was at the right angle, Spyro tucked in his wings and dove towards his prey, as a falcon might when ambushing a pigeon mid-flight. He landed just as planned, griping the terrified ewe’s skull. One second and a twist later, the sheep was lying on the ground, peaceful at last. Using his flames, Spyro singed away most of its fur, allowing him to feed unimpeded. The meat was tender, which suited Spyro just fine. Surviving for days on dried meat alone was not the most pleasant experience. Once he was half way through his meal, Spyro thought he heard a rustle next to him. That was all the warning he received before he was roughly kicked sideways by a pair of iron clad hooves.

“Get away from her, you monster! Go on, get. Next time, you’ll spend the rest of the afternoon puttin’ your face back together!” The orange pony stared at Spyro, looking like she had daggers for eyes. Spyro backed away, still processing what the mare had said. Not wanting to start a fight, he tried apologising.

“I’m sorry; I didn’t mean you any harm. I was hungry you see, and well, I can’t survive without meat.” He took a deep breath before continuing. “I am sorry, honestly.”

“Well, it don’t make much difference if you’re sorry. Ponies don’t take kindly to dragons, especially those who kill livestock.” The orange mare started to advance, eyes locked with the dragons. Spyro knew he was running out of options, but continued to talk.

“Listen to me, please. I had no such idea your kind were here, let alone that you had livestock.” Spyro backed away, considering a retreat. “I mean you know harm.” Unfortunately, this pony was as stubborn as a mule.

“Well I sure as hell mean you harm, you monster!” That’s it, he was out of options. Lowering his stance, Spyro flared out his wings, baring his teeth.

“I told you, I’m not one to fight needlessly. But if that’s what you are looking for, I shall not hesitate to defend myself.” Despite all attempts at a peaceful resolution, it seemed this mare was intent on being foolish. The pony in question, simply grunted, spun on the spot and bucked, aiming for Spyro’s eyes. The dragon had been in the centre conflict for most of his short life, and thus had no trouble in side stepping the pony and then sweeping at her front legs with one, deft swipe of his tail. The orange pony fell flat on her face, before getting up and charging directly for Spyro.

“Seriously… again?” Spyro was tired and simply wanted to end this battle as quickly as possible. Feeling the earth within and around him, the dragon encased himself in rock, levitating a few metres into the air. When the pony was close, the purple dragon dropped down, creating a shock wave which knocked his assailant a good twenty metres away. He flew over to investigate. Much to Spyro’s relief, she was alive, albeit unconscious. If it were not for his acute hearing, the dragon would not have heard the sound of footsteps behind him.

“Cynder, you found me…” He looked down at the pony’s unconscious body. Upon following his gaze, Cynder’s eyes lit up.

“Food!” Before Spyro could stop her, Cynder went to grab her flank within her maw. Spyro acted quickly, in utter desperation. He locked one of his horns under her neck, pulling Cynder away from the pony.

“Wait… Cynder, ugh, I have already made a kill, see?” He pointed a front paw towards the dead sheep. “We will have to feed elsewhere, these ponies are sentient. I fear that they won’t take kindly to what’s happened. Cynder eyed the pony suspiciously, a trail of smoke curled from her nostrils, a sign of agitation.

“And what exactly did happen?” Spyro shook his head, whilst walking towards the half consumed carcass. He gripped with all four paws and then flared his wings.

“I’ll explain later, we need to get out of here first.” Nodding in agreement, Cynder took to the skies effortlessly. Spyro followed, slower than his mate, but with a swift pace nonetheless. They landed in a clearing on the edge of a vast forest, broken only by a few small areas of grass and distant mountains. Unbeknown to the two dragons, a cyan Pegasus followed close behind. Landing from cloud to cloud, she observed as the darker of the two purple figures began to, much to her disgust, consume the meat offered by the other. When she was close enough, the pony let out a furious war cry before diving, directly at the monsters that had hurt her friend. Just before she struck, Spyro shouted out to his companion.

“Cynder, dive now!” She unleashed the power of shadow, disappearing into the ground with a cloud of smoke, just before she was tackled by the Pegasus. The pony in question crashed to the ground with a soft thud. Before she could react, the assailant found she was pined to the ground, by none less than the dragon who had disappeared just moments ago.

“Hey, get off me, you over grown piece of…” Before she could say any more, Cynder whipped her tail forward, placing its bladed tip against the creature’s throat, who stopped squirming immediately.

“Cynder, stop, don’t kill her. Doing so will just make their population fearful of us.” Spyro, by no means felt particularly compelled to become friends with this pony, but nor did she deserve death. Cynder bared her teeth, before roaring into the ponies face. The force of her breath alone caused the Pegasus’s rainbow coloured mane to flap in the wind.

“Leave now and do not bother our kind again. Understand, pony?” The cyan Pegasus nodded roughly. The moment Cynder let her go; she flew out of the clearing as fast as possible, short of creating a sonic rainboom. Cynder snorted with amusement.

“Wow, she is desperately slow, a poor fighter too. Spyro, were you met with such hostility?” Cynder decided to feed later, opting instead, to nuzzle her mate’s neck. The male dragon sighed.

“Yes… I thought we were done fighting, Cynder. I had hoped, no, I believed that we wouldn’t have to do this anymore.” All of the pain, misery and violence, was starting to catch up to him. “We have both killed, countless times. Can’t… can’t we just have some p-peace.” Tears began making tracks down Spyros face, wiped clean by Cynder’s paw.

“It is over, Spyro; we can just leave; fly away from here… just the two of us.” Cynder cast a wing over her mate, just as she had when trapped in the centre of Avalar. But this time, Spyro stirred.

“No… we have to make peace, I have to apologise. I don’t want enemies, Cynder, even if we can just leave them behind.” Spyro looked towards the edge of the forest. Cynder nodded, realising that she could not leave in good conscience. The sun was now directly overhead, offering warmth and courage to the companions, despite the challenge they faced ahead.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Rainbowdash was terrified, A dragon that can use magic? Two of them? I have to warn Twilight, she’ll know what to do. Her thoughts were rapid and confused, but she still managed to reach the library before lunch. Crashing through the door, she called for Twilight.

“Rainbowdash, what’s the matter?” Twilight was utterly confused. She had never seen her confident friend so fearful. The last time she had seen any traces of terror, was during the young flyers competition.

“Twilight… Applejack was attacked by dragons!” The first image which sprang to mind was that of huge beasts, bigger than mountains, ripping her farm pony friend apart, piece by piece. It was a completely impossible scenario, but for Twilights fear ridden brain, it was all that made sense.

“WHAT! HOW MANY?! HOW BIG WERE THEY?!” She immediately levitated a quill, ink and blank letter onto her desk. A letter would need to be sent to the princesses immediately.

“Umm, there were two and they were about your height. They were both purple, like Spike, but one of them was a darker shade.” This caught Twilight unawares; she thought for certain Applejack could handle even two dragons, assuming they were the size Rainbowdash described.

“Is Applejack ok?” Twilight asked, now curious at the answer.

“Oh yeah, they just knocked her out. I was kinda surprised really; I thought they would have just killed her.” Rainbowdash paused for a moment, bringing a single hoof up to rub her chin. “When I followed them into the Everfree forest, I saw they had taken one of Applejacks sheep… and… and were eating her.”

“So what did you do?” Twilight asked, as she scribbled furiously on her draft letter.

“Well, I tried to tackle the darker of the two, from sound her voice; I think she was a female. But just as I was about to hit, she disappeared. Then she pinned me to the ground, flicked her tail forward and put this weird, blade thing at the end of her tail against my neck.” Twilight dropped her quill, shocked at the dragoness’s apparent violence.

“How did you escape?” Rainbowdash looked away, embarrassed about what had happened.

“I didn’t, the other dragon, a male, told the female not to kill me. He said that he didn’t want ponies to be frightened of them.” She snorted before continuing. “Guess they didn’t succeed with that one. Anyway, the female roared into my face, then told me to leave them alone. She released me after that, so I flew here.” Twilight finished writing and rolled up the scroll.

“Ok, I’ll get Spike to send this letter to the Princess, and then we can go look for Applejack. We need to get her someplace safe; maybe she can offer more information on the situation.”

Chapter 2

Once they had finished their meal, Spyro and Cynder buried the carcass, allowing its remaining nutrients to feed the lives of others. It was now early afternoon, but thanks to a lifetime of practise, the pair could easily cross the several kilometres in just a few minutes without much effort. The sea of green below, passed in a blur, revealing rolling fields and a small town on the horizon. There was very little cover on the ground, so the pair gained altitude, hoping to pass for small birds. Beneath their gaze, ponies of every shade and colour went about their business. Once over the outskirts of town, they dropped down to land. There was a soft thud as their paws struck the dirt, followed by a deathly silence from the dozen ponies surrounding their arrival. Cynder could not help but snort in disgust, was this really how ponies reacted to anything different? The next reaction was even more pitiful; everypony screamed and ran. A few larger individuals, led by one very big red stallion, advanced towards them, stern faced and ready to fight.

“Are you sure about this, Spyro? I don’t know what these ponies intend for us, but it doesn’t look good.” Cynder inched closer to her mate. Gripping the ground with her talons in anxiety, she flared out her wings, just in case.

“Yes, we have done enough killing, it’s time to stop.” He waited for Cynder to relax before addressing the ponies directly. “We mean you no harm. We wish to surrender unto you. Our claws are yours, our horns held high.” Once completing the speech of fealty, both Spyro and Cynder allowed themselves to be surrounded by the ponies. The large red pony, marched up to them glaring angrily.

“Ya’ll hurt my sister?” The ponies voice was deep, his tone even. Spyro knew he was no threat to him, but was not exactly looking forward to his reaction.

“Was she orange with a blond mane and tail?” This was all the conformation required. Like he had done, so many times before, the red pony spun and kicked out with a single hoof. Striking Spyro in the jaw, the dragons head snapped back, protected, fortunately, by his hard scales and tough skeletal system. Cynder growled, but remained still. Spyro would never forgive her, if she despatched the offending stallion. Cracking his neck, Spyro grimaced.

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

“Eeyup.” The red stallion gestured to his comrades, who proceeded to hog tie both dragons. Spyro remained silent, while Cynder growled the entire time, especially when her wings, along with Spyro’s, were secured to their sides with rope. Once arrested, two unicorns levitated them into the air. By some, unspoken consent, they were taken to the centre of town, where a large tree stood, apparently hollowed and converted into a private dwelling. They were dumped roughly on the ground, before being savagely kicked in the gut by a pair of stallions. Though they had intended to inflict pain, they only succeeded in producing a dull thud, their hooves stopped dead in their tracks by the dragon’s natural, protective armour. The door swung open, seemingly of its own accord, to reveal a lavender coloured unicorn and the rainbow maned Pegasus they encountered earlier. The first seemed bewildered, while the latter seemed to act with bravado. False bravery, both Spyro and Cynder knew, but they said nothing.

“You two again? You have some nerve showing up here. You’re lucky I don’t kick your flanks into next Tuesday!” She was silenced by the unicorn, who simply stared at the sight before her.

“Rainbow, make sure Spike stays in the bedroom for a while, until I figure out what to do.” The purple mare watched her friend disappear upstairs, before turning back to the two dragons. Cynder tried to think of all possible actions she could take, but decided to go with the simplest one. She allowed herself, despite the indignity of it, to be roughly carried inside and then locked in some sort of basement. Although dragons had excellent eyesight, there was no light whatsoever, thus the room appeared pitch black.

“Spyro, are you there?” Cynder was sick of being tied up, so she proceeded to cut the ropes surrounding her torso with the blades on her wings, and then ripped through the others with her tail.

“Yeah, hang on a moment; I’m going to give us some light.” A bright, but small flame soon filled the space in front of Spyro’s head, the purple dragon using it to burn away the ropes holding his paws together and wings shut. Once he was back on his feet, he suspended the flame in the air, revealing the barren room, within which they now resided. Cynder moved forward and nuzzled her mate, offering her support after having witnessed him getting kicked. She then leant back and blew smoke into his face.

“So now what, wise guy? Honestly, you are thicker than a log at times.” Spyro pouted, pretending to look hurt. He knew not, how the ponies would treat either of them, but hoped for the best.

“Well, I guess we wait. We could easily escape, I know, but what kind of message would that send?” Cynder sighed. She could break down the doors like they were paper, but, deep down, knew that it was wrong. They were the invaders, thus needed to suffer the consequences.

“So, what do you wanna do in the mean time?” To Cynder’s delight, Spyro replied with a sly grin.

“Well, we could always play.” Not needing any more encouragement, Cynder launched her entire weight at Spyro, wings and talons flared. Spyro rolled over backwards, planning to flip his companion back over towards the wall behind him. His plan succeeded, but at the last moment, Cynder grabbed his torso with her hind legs, pulling him with her. Spinning him around, she held Spyro against the floor for a moment, before blowing more smoke at him.

“Pinned you, HA!” She leapt off and retreated, laughing all the while. Spyro got up swiftly, shaking his head. He grinned broadly. The young dragon hadn’t had chance for fun since he was raised by dragonflies.

“Oh you are really going to get it now.”

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Twilight hadn’t the slightest clue of how to proceed. The dragons were secure, she hoped, but for how long? Would they try to escape, and if so, why hadn’t they done so already? Big Mack had been adamant that they were just monsters, but upon being pressed for details, admitted, judgingly, that the pair had offered their surrender and a call for peace. For this reason, she felt that it was her duty to talk with the two dragons, for better or worse. Anypony, or anydragon for that matter, deserved to have their voices heard. After making sure that Spike was out of the library, Twilight descended to the basement, magically unlatching the dead bolt. It was a magical lock, only able to broken by her, or one of the royal sisters. The door swung open, revealing a sight of absolute tranquillity. A pile of tattered ropes were lying in the centre of the room, while a dim flame burned, with no apparent source, near the ceiling. In the far corner, were the two dragons, curled up, the lighter colour resting his head over the neck of the other. The darker was resting her head on its companion’s front paws. While their tails intertwined, the bodies could scarcely be told apart, save for their colour.

“Ahem.” The interruption caused both captives to bolt upwards, apparently expecting an attack. When they saw the lone mare by the door, both relaxed. The two dragons glanced towards each other briefly, before the lighter purple dragon spoke up.

“Sorry, we have seen a fair amount of violence in our time, so we tend to be on constant alert.” The now obviously male dragon coughed before continuing. “My name is Spyro and this is my mate, Cynder.” The female simply nodded, allowing her companion to do the talking. Twilight hesitantly answered, still unsure of the dragon’s intent.

“Umm, m-my name is T-Twilight Sparkle. Is it true, that you attacked my friend applejack?” She quickly regretted the

situation, as the one named Cynder was quick to anger.

“Only in defence, if your so called friend wasn’t so stubborn, we would have had no reason to harm her. Then we come to apologise, but what do you do? You tie us up and throw us in your dungeon.” Once again, Spyro was forced to intervene. Cynder was a good dragon, but she was capable of losing her temper, especially when it concerned Spyro.

“Cynder, be nice.” The dragoness snarled, but allowed her mate to speak. “Now, I’ll start from the beginning. We were involved in a… war.” Twilight looked back to the door nervously, war was not something she enjoyed thinking about, and the mere mention of it gave her serious anxiety. “This was on a planet, one which is different to this I can tell, called Avalar. We were both destined to die, but for some reason, I woke up in a quiet meadow. I had not fed in days, so when I spotted a sheep a little while away… I was… forced to make a kill, else starvation for both myself and Cynder, would have been a serious threat.”

Twilight was now very worried, carnivores? I thought dragons just ate gems. She quickly recalled some defensive spells, just in case. Oblivious to this, Spyro continued his tale.

“While I was feeding, your friend kicked me away. I tried to apologise and explain the situation, offering that I would just leave, not wanting any trouble, but she could not be persuaded. I was forced to leave her unconscious. Just after I accomplished this, Cynder found me, so we retreated into a nearby forest with our kill. We landed in a clearing, where we were attacked a second time, in this case, by your blue flying friend.” Cynder could not help but laugh at the mention of the Pegasus.

“That pony couldn’t fly to save herself. She is one of the slowest fliers I have ever seen.” This caught Twilights attention; it was not every day Rainbowdash was accused of being slow. Cynder took over the role of speaking, by instinctive consent. “When she attacked, I used my magic to dodge and then pin her to the ground. Ha, we sure sent her packing!” Twilight nodded.

“And then you came here to apologize? Why?” Spyro resumed talking, so close was the bond between him and Cynder, that they could almost read each other’s minds.

“Because, we have seen too much pain and suffering in our lives, we want it to stop.” Twilight had heard enough. Although she could see that they had been through a lot, there was only one way to tell if they were telling the honest truth. It wasn’t something that either dragon would like, but it had to be done.

“Spyro, Cynder, personally, I believe you when you ask for peace, even if you are… carnivores.” Twilight sighed, still wondering how to deal with the situation fully. Celestia still had not replied to her original letter, and she was worried that its contents were slightly biased. “To be sure you tell the truth however, you need to meet the element of honesty.”

“And who might that be, young pony.” Cynder’s slightly agitated tone earned a glare from Spyro, but Twilight ignored it.

“The orange mare you left unconscious, and for future reference, her name is Applejack.”

Chapter 4

“Good afternoon, Miss Sparkle, what can I… umm, do for you and your… uh, friends.” The mayor’s office was, as usual, not very busy in such a small country town, so the dragons were given an almost instant audience. The mayor did not expect, however, that her petitioners would be a pair of dragons. Their request they made was even more unexpected. Still, her station demanded respect, so she pushed the confusion and hint of fear out of her mind.

“Uh, yes… well, these two dragons, Spyro.” Twilight gestured towards the dragon in question, then his mate. “And Cynder, would like to make their introductions to Ponyville.” The mayor raised an eyebrow.

“What did you have in mind?” Just before Twilight could open her mouth to speak, the mayor added, “I would proffer to hear it from our guests, Miss Sparkle, if that’s alright with you.” Twilight was at a loss for words, so Spyro decided to step into the breach.

“We were hoping that you could organise a public introduction to the town on our behalf. We wouldn’t ask normally, except that our arrival was met by, mixed reactions.” The mayor waved a hoof.

“Indeed, which is why I won’t be making this speech… you will be.” Spyro went cold. Glancing back at Cynder, he saw her smirking right back at him, trying to suppress a giggle. Him, giving a speech? The idea didn’t even seem conceivable.

“Uhh, I guess.” The mayor sighed.

“You guess, Mr Spyro? Are you a dragon or a coward?” The accusation snapped Spyro out of his stupor, much to the mayor’s obvious delight. “Ha, that’s the spirit! Think nothing of it Spyro, I just wanted to see some of that confidence.” Spyro smiled sheepishly, realising he had taken the bait, paying the embarrassing price. “I will introduce you both, and then you can tell the town about yourselves.” Spyro nodded, his former nervousness disappearing.

“All right we’ll do it.” Both he and Cynder answered together, their perfect synchrony unnerving all but Ditzy and her daughter.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Now, I would like to introduce, Spyro and Cynder.” The mayor clopped her hooves on the wooden stage, moving aside for the two speakers. Fortunately for both of them, the mayors warm up had brought most of the crowd on side. Unfortunately, Spyro’s stage fright had returned. As Cynder dragged her mate up the steps to the stage, rather indignantly by the tail, the audience turned deathly silent. Once on stage, Cynder stood proudly, adorned in her jewellery, she was a true spectacle to behold. Spyro on the other hand was turning a deep scarlet, trying to make himself a small as possible. A difficult endeavour, as the late afternoon sun illuminated him in all his shivering embarrassment.

“Ponies of Ponyville, I speak for both myself, and my friend Spyro, in saying that we are truly humbled to be given residence in your friendly town. Long have we fought for peace, and now that we are guests in your town, I can safely say that we could not find a more peaceful group of ponies. With your permission, we would like to get to know all of you, so that we might better be able to contribute to your community, rather than become a burden.” If Cynder was a pony, she’d have a cutie mark in public speaking. Manipulating the crowd to acceptance, trying to make them see she just wanted to be friendly, was something that she took pride in, filling the dragoness with an odd sense of happiness. All of these individuals, looking up to her, listening to her only world, was quite profound. Spyro on the other paw; was a different matter entirely. “I would now like to introduce my friend, companion and mate, Spyro.” The crowd stomped their hooves, most of them genuinely, some out of respect. Cynder leant down and whispered. “Come on, you can to do this, I believe in you.” Spyro rose slightly, still trembling.

“Um… hi, my name is Spyro, and uhhh, you’re all really… nice.” He smiled meekly, before receiving a round of stomping from the crowd. Stepping down from the podium, the two dragons allowed the mayor to retake the stage. Cynder grinned widely, pleased with their result. Turning to her mate, she took a moment to rib Spyro.

“Honestly, for the dragon who defeated Avalar’s worst tyrant, you really need to work on your confidence. Ha! If only Malafore knew, he could have had you begging for mercy if he but asked you to give a speech.” Spyro grumbled under his breath, his dignity barely intact. Ditzy and Dinky were there to meet them as soon as they were back stage.

“Hi guys, do you wanna hang out for a while?” Ditzy’s enthusiasm was touching, but Spyro shook his head.

“No thanks, Cynder and I would like to spend some time alone, if that’s alright. It’s been a stressful day for both of us.” His reply was met by an instant look of sadness, one which was quickly rectified by the dragoness.

“I promise we will spend time together tomorrow, but for now, we must rest. You two were our first real friends here in Ponyville; we shan’t ever let you down.” Ditzy stared for a moment, before breaking out in her trademark grin.

“Ok, see you guy’s later.” With a wave of her hoof, the Pegasus started walking home with her daughter. Both dragons watched, fascinated and saddened, that such a kind mare had such a difficult life. Turning back towards Twilight, Spyro asked if they could spend the evening freely.

“Oh, sure thing, Spyro, just don’t go into the Everfree forest.” Twilight replied, hoping that her warning didn’t fall upon deaf ears.

“Thank you, Twilight Sparkle.” Without so much as a goodbye, both dragons leapt into the air, faster even than Rainbowdash, producing two almost identical sonic booms, different only in that they were slightly different shades of purple. Once they were high above the town, the pair levelled off, enjoying the sight of the now setting sun. Gliding towards a nearby hill, a way’s out of town, they landed softly, allowing the soft grass to cushion the blow. Finding a small acacia tree, they laid down together, relishing in one another’s company.

“Spyro?” Cynder placed a paw over her mate’s.

“Yes?” Spyro knew what she was about to ask, and was just as apprehensive about the thought as she was. It was nevertheless, a pressing thought, one which had to be dealt with.

“Do you think we will ever get home?” Their tails entwined, wings relaxed. By now the Sun had set, and the vast moonlight began to fill the sky, only slightly dimming the stars it accompanied.

“I don’t know, Cynder, I just don’t know.” Spyro always tried to see the best in every situation, just as he did now. “But as I said in the library, I can think of a few ways to pass the time.” Rolling onto his back, now supporting his mate’s bulk, he smiled coyly, while Cynder blushed.

“Is this really the best place?” Spyro rolled back over, his grin faltering. Cynder decided she didn’t care, and took the moment to roll onto her own back, reciprocating Spyro’s previous action. Spyro smiled awkwardly, not expecting Cynder’s sudden change in attitude. The dragoness gently licked her mate’s cheek, whose eyes widened in surprise, though why, he knew not. “Now who’s nervous?” Cynder mocked, while Spyro regained his senses.

“Not me.” With no one to bear witness but the stars, the dragons allowed the night to draw on, not realising the importance of the new life they would create.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Dear Princess Celestia,

Today I learnt a very important lesson in friendship, but first I must put your fears to rest. The dragons I wrote about in my previous letter are not, in fact, a danger to our community. They are kind, compassionate and peaceful. From what they have told me, they mean no harm and simply desire a place to rest, until such a time as they can find a way back to their own world. If you have any doubts, keep in mind that I have consulted with the element of Honesty, who has determined that the dragons are telling the truth.

Now, my report on friendship involves these two dragons. One is a male named Spyro, while the other is a female, called Cynder. Today they met my friend Ditzy Doo. Ditzy has had an extremely difficult life on account of being bullied and taunted by other ponies. I understand this might shock you, Princess, but it is the truth. Her only friends until today were myself and her daughter. Until today, no one accepted her because she was different. Until today, she was ignored by everypony. Today, that all changed. I learnt that the things that make us different should never get in the way of friendship. Spyro and Cynder were able to look past Ditzy’s disability, and see her for the caring, loving mare she truly is. Not only that, but Ditzy and Dinky were the only ponies in all of Ponyville who had the courage to say hello. It takes real fortitude to become friends with somepony, or somedragon, when all others are too frightened even look them in the eye. That’s why I think that this lesson in friendship is so important, not only does it teach us to love and tolerate others, it shows that in doing so, we are stronger than those who reject all who are different from themselves.

Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.

“Twilight… Sparkle” Spike echoed. “Done.” The little dragon rolled up the paper and sent it to the princess immediately. “Hey, Twilight, when do you think I’ll get to meet these new dragons? From what everypony has been saying, they sound really cool. Not like those jerks from last time.” Spike was not sure if he would ever meet another dragon who wasn’t intent on destroying things for fun. Now that he had the chance to do so, he was becoming extremely anxious.

“Spike, you have asked me that four times already. You can see them tomorrow morning.” Spike hung his head, beginning his walk up the stairs but paused, deciding to stay up a little while longer. From what Twilight’s friends said, they came from a faraway land, and were heroes where they came from. This just made the young dragon more excited about talking with his kind. Spike never thought that he would be able to change the world, but now he felt a strange confidence emanating from his gut.

Or maybe I’m just hungry. He wondered, while walking towards the fridge. He grabbed a bunch of lupus lazuli and began to crunch down on the tasty gems. He wondered if the new dragons would like gems, or if they ate something else. It would not take long; after all, time always seemed to pass faster when one is asleep.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

The letter arrived just as Princess Celestia was finishing her last slice of cake. Wiping her muzzle with a napkin, she levitated the scroll so as to see it clearly. After reading it through, she placed it carefully in a filing cabinet with all the others. Each letter was dated and preserved, so that she could call upon them if need be. She called to one of the guard ponies, who were standing vidual outside her study.

“Tea please, Corporal, the usual kind.” The stallion nodded and trotted off towards the kitchens. Celestia pondered the two dragons now in Ponyville; they certainly seemed to have quite an effect on her little ponies. For some reason though, she had an odd resentment for the pair. What was it? A distrust of dragons, fear for her subject’s safety?

Jealousy the word whispered in her mind like a breeze through treetops. Even as she wondered of the possibility, she realised it was true. Cynder and Spyro were mates, this was certain. But why did this lead to Celestia’s jealousy? Because they have something I can’t ever hope for. The answer was obvious, but she fought her own faults nonetheless. Sure, she had fun with a few of the more… talented guards, but that’s all it was; fun. It never turned into a loving relationship. How could she? It would be torture for both of them, one who never aged, who would be forced to watch her mate wither and grow old, while she remained static and unchanging. Why! Why did she have to be immortal, when so many other ponies enjoyed the blessing of death? She stomped her hoof, cracking the marble floor, angered beyond reason. She slowed her breathing. I need to relax, you have Luna, she will always be there for you. She may not be a mate, but she still loves you, and that’s all that matters. The alicorn thought to herself. Perhaps there was something that could cheer her up; after all, the lack of affection didn’t make the action pointless. A smirk crept across the Princesses face. “Guard!” She called out.

“Yes, your Majesty?” He was overly thin, and not all that good looking. Shame really, Celestia would have to get somepony else.

“Send for Captain Maitland Apple please. Tell him that I have a special order for him.” Being an earth pony, one who had a lifetime’s experience of hard work in both the fields and the guard, Maitland knew how to fulfil his royal duty.

“By your word, your Majesty.”

As Celestia waited patiently, she still could not push the curse of Immortality out of her mind. This seething resentment was weak, thanks to her naturally caring and understanding nature, but it was, none the less alive. It was this seething resentment against all who could find a mate in life, while she could not, that would plant the spark of hatred within the alicorn’s soul, all too similar to that which found its way inside Luna over a thousand years ago.

Chapter 5

Waking in the embrace of her mate, Cynder yawned widely, her wickedly sharp teeth glinting in the sunlight. Before she could take the chance to wake Spyro, she felt a tingling within her lower abdomen. She knew instinctively what it was, but also understood it. After she was freed from her evil form, before she ventured to the “Well of Souls” she had read several scrolls on many different subjects, in an attempt to ignore the mounting guilt the dragoness felt. One of these, the one which interested her the most, had been dragon courtship and reproduction. Unlike all other creatures, dragons reached sexual maturity the moment the souls of two became entwined, like they had for Spyro and Cynder after Malafore’s defeat. From that point onward, a dragon would be able to, after mating, develop and lay an egg in a period of about two weeks. The egg would then take another two weeks to hatch, after which, the infant would develop at a natural rate. Although unique, this type of reproduction rendered dragons vulnerable. If one did not find their true mate, they would be destined to live alone. It was this that Cynder had feared more than anything, even death, another prompt to her inquiring’s within the dragon temple. But now that she fully grasped the situation, she broke out in a broad grin, truly excited for what the future would hold. “Spyro, wake up. Come on Spyro, you gotta wake up.”

“No, Sparks, I don’t wanna go to school… all the other dragonflies will make fun of me.” Cynder rolled her eyes and got up from the ground. She locked horns with Spyro, and roughly jerked his head up. “Waah, who… oh, Cynder, sorry, we must have overslept.” Cynder grinned slyly.

“Oh, we didn’t do much sleeping last night.” Spyro thought for a moment, before a smile crept across his face. He walked around in circles, remembering the many details from that night. “There is one more thing… I now bear an egg.” Spyro’s lower jaw practically unhinged, dropping like a stone.

“You mean… I… you… we…” Cynder held up a paw to stop him from talking. She leaned in close, savouring the time she could waste just looking into his eyes. They captivated her soul, revealing the heart of the dragon she fell in love with. Always doubtful, always fearful, but also determined, caring, kind and most important of all, Spyro was always willing to fight for what was right.

“Yes, my love… we will be parents.” Nothing could have made the young dragon happier at that moment, giving him an odd boost of energy. He looked up to the sky and, then back down to Cynder, who nodded in approval. Both dragons blasted into the sky, twirling around each other, laughing and crying with joy. Their motions became blurred as they continued to weave and dodge amongst the clouds, both exalting in each other’s presence. They eventually descended, both feeling slightly fatigued. They needed to feed again.

“Umm, Cynder, I think if we have to hunt, we should ask which area would be best, so we don’t kill any more livestock.” The dragoness lost herself in thought for a moment, not entirely sure how the ponies would react to a request for meat.

“I think we should ask Twilight Sparkle, she will know what to do… I hope.” Spyro agreed, and they both began walking towards Ponyville, giving their legs a chance to warm up.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Far below, the rest of Ponyville was also stirring from its slumber. Twilight was awoken, rather rudely, by Spike, who was urgently tugging on the mare’s mane.

“Come on, Twilight, the princesses are both on their way, they sent a letter.” Upon hearing the news, the lavender unicorn practically jumped out of bead, rushing to make herself presentable.

“Spike, why didn’t you wake me up earlier? What if the princess got here before I was awake? She would think I didn’t consider her important, she would banish me, or send me to Magic Kindergarten?” Spike grabbed her head, turning it towards his own.

“Twilight, don’t be ridiculous, they won’t be here for another two hours, that’s plenty of time to prepare. Do you want to read the letter first?” Not waiting for an answer, Twilight levitated the letter before her, eyes darting from one side of the scroll to the other.

Dear Twilight Sparkle: My most faithful Student:

I have received your news of the young dragons and, like my sister, am most excited to meet them. I understand that they made quite an impression in town. I hope to learn from their kind and hope that you intend the same course of action. I have a proposition for you, Twilight, which may well allow us to spend more time together, while also bringing my hopes of dragon education to reality. This and much more will be explained upon our arrival at around eleven thirty.

Princess Celestia

Sighing in relief, Twilight placed the page down on her desk, replacing her levitating magic from the scroll to her brush, smoothing out her mane and tail. Once convinced she was presentable, she went walked over to her basin, contemplating whether or not to add a few accessories for the monarch’s visit. Her stomach growled, helping her to realise that she probably wouldn’t mind.

“Spike, can you please make me a daffodil and spinach sandwich for breakfast?” Spike began his repetitive walk down the steps, mumbling why he got all of the domestic chores. He lightened up at the prospect of meeting the new dragons, after all, how often did you get to meet a legend? He was half way through adding the flowers to Twilight’s meal, when there was a hard knock on the door. Wondering who it could be, expecting to see Rarity or Pinkie Pie, Spike marched over and opened the library door to reveal two of the most regal looking dragons he ever saw. One was dark purple with bright pink scales on her underside, along with pink wings. She carried herself with an air of femininity, but was a far cry from what a pony would consider lady like. Adorning her neck, tail and front paws were rounded pieces of silver jewellery, matched by what appeared to be curved knives projecting from the joints of her wings. On the end of her tail, there was a long blade which looked perfect for hunting, a prospect which sent shivers up Spike spines. Her wickedly sharp horns gave her a fearsome frilled appearance, completely juxtaposed by her currently gentle seeming demeanour. The male dragon was also extraordinarily regal, what with his golden horns, wings and underside. A row of spines were only just noticeable from Spikes vantage point, only adding to the spectacle. Both dragons now looked down at him, in utter bewilderment. The male spoke first.

“You… you are a p-purple dragon!” The question confused Ponyville’s resident dragon, who had also noticed the bindingly obvious. “Do you know what that means?”

“Ah, no, I’m Spike by the way.” The female nudged his companion, who finally broke contact with the colour of his scales.

“Oh, right yes, sorry, my name is Spyro and this is Cynder.” The dragoness nodded with a smile, her tail flicking excitedly.

“It is a pleasure to meet you Spike; we honestly never expected to see another dragon here.” The dragons followed when Spike led them inside to sit on the couch. “Do you live with the pony Twilight Sparkle?”

“Oh yeah, she is like a big sister to me. I help around the library and what not. Say, you two want any food? We got gems, hay fries, tons of ice cream…” He was interrupted by a swift shake of Spyro’s head.

“Actually, that’s what we came to talk about. You see, Cynder and I are exclusively carnivores, and we wanted to ask Twilight where to hunt without upsetting every… uh, everypony?” Spike confirmed his use of pronoun before answering.

“I suppose that makes sense.” He had expected as much from what Applejack revealed, but it still unnerved the dragon who had spent his lifetime with exclusive vegetarians. Spike did his best to turn the conversation away from that topic and to more comfortable and interesting ones. “Twilight will be down in a few minutes. Say, aren’t you two heroes where you’re from?” Cynder snorted in slight amusement, although her manner was anything but mocking. Indeed, she seemed to pity Spike, as though he was ignorant of some life changing fact. Spyro answered, at first.

“We fought in a great war, in which the fate of our planet was jeopardised. Cynder and I defeated the one we called the Dark Master. He intended to resurrect an ancient destroyer and destroy the world. He succeeded, but… we were eventually able to confront and defeat him.” Spyro stopped to take a breath, allowing Cynder to continue.

“You see spike, on our world, there was an ancient prophesy; one which foretold that every thousand years, a purple dragon would arise. This dragon would be destined to either destroy the world… or save it from certain destruction.” Spike sat, entranced by the tale. He thought to himself about the dragon prophesy, he was purple, did that mean he was destined for some great quest? Before he could continue pondering his fate, Twilight’s hoof steps could be heard descending the stairs. Spyro’s eyes lit up, the prospect of soon being able to feed making the dragon excited.

“Twilight Sparkle, thank goodness you are finally awake.” Spyro got up from the floor, while Cynder rolled her bulk off the couch. “We need to talk about food.” Twilight’s face went slightly pale, but the mare tried to remain strong.

“I see, what did you… uh, plan on doing.” Cynder looked at Spyro, who nodded his head, giving the dragoness the call.

“We wanted to ask where the boarders of your lands are, so that we know where to hunt. I’m sure you would agree when I say that pony’s livestock disappearing might send mixed signals.” Twilight rubbed a hoof to her chin. It was true that Everfree was uninhabited by ponies, but there was one mare who might object. Despite the urgency of their current predicament, it would have to wait until the afternoon.

“Ok, we can discuss the arrangements of your… food, now, but could the actual act wait until later today? My monarchs will be here in a few hours to meet you and discuss your arrival; I would rather not keep them waiting.” A hint of disappointment showed in Spyro’s eyes, while Cynder remained stoic. The dragoness continued to speak, while Spyro groomed his wings.

“That would be fine; we would hate to miss meeting those responsible for allowing our safe haven in this town.” Cynder flicked her tail, a way of showing excitement, only known by Spyro. “We also have some great news to tell everypony.” Twilight raised an eyebrow, wondering what could have transpired in such a short period of time.

“That’s good, I’m sure the princesses will be eager to hear about it. Now, if you will follow me, we are going to visit Fluttershy, the element of kindness. She looks after all the animals who live in the Everfree forest, even the carnivores. If anyone has say of where you can hunt, it is her. Unlike most ponies, she will not judge you for eating meat.” Cynder and Spyro both gave each other looks of uncertainty, not sure if such a pleasant description could be true. Eventually they relented, answering in unison.

“Alright, lead the way.” Twilight sighed, she would never get used to that.

Chapter 6

“Fluttershy, are you in there?” The entrance to the small cottage was firmly shut, but Twilight could hear the Pegasus cowering in her living room. “Fluttershy, it’s me Twilight.” The mention of the unicorn’s name seemed to do the trick. Opening the door a few centimetres, the yellow mare peeked out of the cottage. The moment she caught sight of the two dragons, the terrified pony screamed, before further barricading herself in her cottage. Twilight laughed nervously before opening the door with her magic. She picked up the Pegasus, levitating her outside in front of Spyro and Cynder. The dragoness snorted in disgust at the mare’s pitiful attitude to her kind.

“Boo.” She blurted it out with calm finality, blowing smoke into Fluttershy’s face as she said it. Said mare simply shut her eyes, letting out a small squeak of terror. Twilight shot Cynder a glare, before trying to coax the timid Pegasus out of her shell.

“Fluttershy, it’s ok, they are not going to hurt you.” Despite her assurances, there was nothing the unicorn could do to help. After having nipped at one of Cynder’s horns, warning her to be nice, Spyro tried to talk to the now frozen Pegasus.

“Please, Fluttershy. We are both hungry and we need food. If you don’t help us, we might end up hurting your animals by mistake.” Much to everyone’s surprise and delight, this seemed to work, allowing Twilight to release her magic. In Fluttershy’s mind, anypony, animal, or even dragon, who needed her help would always get it, especially if the safety of her pets was involved. She was the element of kindness after all.

“Oh, umm, you… you need to hunt?” After the near fainting of almost anypony the dragons had talked to about meat, both were surprised with the ease of which the yellow mare spoke of predation, by her standards at least.

“Well, yes… you don’t seem particularly fearful knowing that we are carnivores.” Spyro lowered his head a bit, allowing himself to see eye to eye with the Pegasus. “I don’t mean to be nosey; it’s just that most ponies get a little… nauseous if we bring up the topic.” Cynder nodded, offering a newfound respect for the timid pony. If she was the only one of these equines that could talk about food like a civilised being, perhaps there was more to her than met the eye.

“Oh, I guess I’m kinda used to it. Many of my pets have to hunt for their food. I may be a herbivore, but I refuse to judge anypony… or umm, dragon for the way they are.” Cynder smiled in approval.

“That is extremely noble of you, fair Fluttershy. Both Spyro and I are grateful for your kindness. May I ask where it is we are permitted to hunt?” Looking forward to her next meal, Cynder couldn’t help but glance at some of the pets in the yard.

“Anywhere in the Everfree forest is ok, that is, umm, if you want to.” Catching Twilight off guard, the response made the unicorn balk.

“But what about your animals Fluttershy, won’t they be in danger?” It seemed that the Pegasus expected such a reaction, as she immediately had an answer.

“They all know the risks. They choose to live in the Everfree forest because they value the freedom that pets don’t have. It is dangerous, yes, but that is part of what it means to be wild.” It took quite a while for Twilight to process this information. She had never seen the Pegasus so pent up. Before she could again respond, she was confronted by the unusually determined yellow mare. “What did you think my hawks and falcons ate? What about Wynonna, you don’t really think Applejack just feeds her produce do you?” This was all news to Twilight, having grown up a sheltered life in Canterlot; she hadn’t been exposed to the sometimes harsh realities of life.

“I’m sorry Fluttershy; I guess I never thought about it.” Offering a timid smile, the studious mare made sure to include this talk in her next report.

“That’s ok, we all make mistakes, Twilight.” Stepping forward, Cynder bowed to Fluttershy, flowed closely by Spyro. After offering their gratitude, Twilight guided the pair back towards town. Several ponies gave their greetings as they passed by, only a few of them with nervous stares. Maybe these ponies are not as stubborn as I thought. The thought lingered slightly in the dragoness’s mind, until they reached the centre of town. A pair of royal carriages waited, their respective owners siting regally amongst the now gathered crowd.

“Princess Celestia!” Twilight rushed forward ahead of the dragons, almost hugging the ground before the monarch’s hooves. Luna did not seem particularly perturbed by lack of attention. Since her return, she had learnt to get used to it. There was still the lingering fear of Nightmare Moon amongst some ponies, resulting in her being compared, almost constantly to Celestia, rather than her own acts.

“Rise, my most faithful student.” Twilight did so, before bowing, with somewhat less reverence towards Princess Luna.

“It is a pleasure to meet you again, Lady Sparkle, rise please, neither of us deserve such adoration from one of Equestria’s greatest heroes.” Blushing slightly, the studious mare stood upright, gesturing towards the two dragons waiting patiently. Luna addressed them directly. “I assume you are the individuals we have heard so much about.”

“Only good things I hope.” Spyro’s levity shocked everypony present, as neither dragon realised the respect they commanded. Much to the contrary of everypony’s expectations, both monarchs seemed to delight in the opportunity for a relaxed conversation. Being the rulers of Equestria seemed to demand almost permanent stoicism.

“Well, if I suddenly descended from the skies, amidst thunder and lightning, I would think that a similar reaction would be in order.” Luna paused for emphasis. A smirk plastered on her face. “Speaking from experience that is.” Cynder raised the bony ridge which could be compared to an eyebrow.

“It seems we aren’t the only ones capable of making a horrible first impression.” The dragoness chuckled slightly. “At least you didn’t try and eat anypony.” Both Luna and Celestia broke out in laughter, rich and pure. Its sound was rare, in fact, only a few ponies had ever heard either princess laugh. For everypony present, it seemed that the pair of monarchs glowed with happiness, iridescent in their delight.

“Well, from what my sister told me, everypony seemed to think so.” This surprised Cynder, who honestly could not picture either princess as vicious. She concealed her surprise however, instead choosing to formally introduce herself and her mate.

“At least now your ponies can have a chance to see a real pair of carnivores.” Much to Cynder’s amusement, everypony present except Fluttershy and the monarchs became significantly paler. “My name is Cynder, and this is my mate, Spyro.” The male dragon nodded, offering a warm smile.

“It is a pleasure to meet you. If I may ask, what would you have us call you?” Celestia raised an eyebrow at Twilight, who smiled nervously, before answering the dragon.

“You may call me Celestia.”

“And my name is Luna. Now, I believe it would be best if we found a more… private location to discuss your arrival.” The princess’s then lead their way through the crowd towards the library, the elements of harmony and both dragons close behind. Once at the base of the hollowed tree, Celestia opened the door, allowing Luna, Cynder and Spyro to enter, but baring all others.

“I understand you many questions of your own, but I must ask for some privacy, Twilight. We will be out in a while to discuss our arrangement.” Giving a silent nod of approval, the elements allowed the princess’s request, not that they had the option of refusal. Once the door was securely shut, Luna sat down on the couch, while Celestia chose to lie on the ground, but still managing to maintain an air of authority.

“Now, Spyro and Cynder, Twilight has informed me of the events which transpired since your arrival, so there is no need to go over that.” Catching the general direction of the conversation, Spyro interrupted, much to Celestia’s surprise, but she let it slide. It had been so long since she had an ordinary conversation with anypony besides Luna, she was willing to endure the dragon’s unintentional rudeness.

“You want to know how we got here, and if you are in any way fit to rule, I would imagine you want to know if we pose any threat to your ponies, intentional or not.” Cynder snorted, amused by Celestia’s surprised face, even if it was only for a split second. Still, part of her wished Spyro hadn’t said what he did, as it seemed to dampen the mood considerably.

What do they take us for, dumb beasts? Of course we know your motives. Hiding her slight chuckle amidst the smoke, the dragoness waited for the pony’s response.

“Quite right, young dragon. So, I will allow you to take your time, and remember, as long as you live in my lands, you will not omit any important information. I will know.” Spyro frowned slightly, seemingly having trouble working out what Cynder already noticed. She spared her mate the trouble, asking for both of them.

“My lands, Celestia?” The dragoness glanced to Luna before pressing the point. “I am somewhat confused as to which of you is the ruler of this nation.” Celestia blushed, while Luna rolled her eyes. She had gotten used to it, but her sister’s slip-up was a little hurtful.

“Oh, of course, I meant our lands. My sister and I both hold equal power in Equestria.” Cynder offered her apologies, realising she had clearly touched a sensitive topic. Without any further interruptions, Spyro began their story.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

“To think, that the entire planet could simply break apart. To be honest, your obvious power makes me quite nervous.” Celestia and Luna had remained silent during the entire story, but now that it was finished, the larger of the two began with her questions. “Tell me more about this, dark influence, as you call it?” Cynder looked down at the ground, ashamed of her past.

“When I imprisoned the elders, I was under the mind control of Malafore. I… I hurt and killed many thousands of innocents during that time, but you must believe me when I say that is not who I am. I’m not proud of the things I’ve done.” Luna nodded. If anypony understood what the dragoness was going through, it was her.

“Cynder, after this is over, I would very much like to speak with you personally. I think we have much in common.” Not allowing herself to interrupt further, Luna let Celestia to continue.

“And in the Well of Souls, what happened then?” Spyro sighed; reliving the memories was difficult enough without having to focus on the monster inside him. “Listen, Spyro, I know this must be difficult for you, but it is imperative that you do not withhold potentially dangerous information.” The dragon nodded slowly, continuing to speak.

“I was corrupted by a certain power, which allowed me to kill the Ape King, but it almost made me hurt my friends. If it weren’t for Cynder, I doubt either of us would still be alive.” Cynder crawled her way next to her mate, nuzzling his neck in an attempt to comfort him.

“But this wasn’t the last time, was it Spyro.” Luna took over from Celestia, allowing her to write some notes on a piece of parchment.

“No, it wasn’t. After the Destroyer made its way through belt of fire, Ignitus, Cynder and I followed. Ignitus tried to create a shield to protect us from the intense heat, but we only made it half way across.” Spyro’s words were becoming hollow and scratched, silent tears making their way down his cheeks. “Ignitus sacrificed himself, so that we could get across safely. In my… sorrow, a dark part of me came to the surface. I was, with Cynder’s help, able to suppress the creature.” Although Luna felt sorry for the young dragon, she couldn’t help feeling curious.

“You speak of this… creature as if you were separate from it.” This time Cynder spoke for her mate.

“We all have a dark side, Luna. What differs is whether we allow it to control us. The final time an event like this happened was when we confronted Malafore. He used his magic to again corrupt my mind, but by then, our bond was too strong, thus we were able to defeat him.” As the dragoness finished speaking, Celestia rolled up her parchment, looking coldly at the two dragons.

“So now you are mates, and expectant parents at that.” The pair in question raised their brow ridges in surprise, not expecting the monarchs to have known. “I knew the moment I saw you. My sister and I have the ability to detect the life force of all creatures in our domain, so long as we can see them. We both detected the second life emanating from Cynder, and realised what it meant.” While Luna smiled, offering her congratulations, Celestia remained silent, no trace of emotion detectable on her face. None could guess as to the personal battle which raged in her mind.

They are dangerous Tia. They’re hiding their true intent from you. Just wait; you will be consumed by their fire, most of all from their unhatched offspring. The voice in her head was starting to take shape, no longer just a small nagging within the princess’s mind. It was real.

Of course I am real. They have what you never will. They have each other, you have nopony. They have offspring, something you can never hope for. Admit it, you’re jealous. Struggling to fight back, Celestia tried to convince herself otherwise.

No, I’m not jealous. I am Princess Celestia, and I will not be swayed by you! Her anger flared briefly, which only seemed to amuse the voice.

We shall soon see. The… Other laughed, retreating into the deep recesses of her mind. Shaking her head, the white alicorn returned to the world, having only missed out on a few moments of the conversation, she was easily able to catch on.

“Don’t you agree, sister, I think a personal house for these dragons would be an excellent idea.” Celestia smiled, offering her affirmation to the situation.

“Yes, especially with a young dragon on the way, it would be important to have your own space. I shall commission the construction this afternoon, tax payer funded.” Celestia rose, opening the door to usher in Twilight and her friends. “We are satisfied with our talks, Twilight. You may now join us.” The elements marched inside. Twilight walked confidently with Applejack and Rarity, while Fluttershy hid behind an apparently bored Rainbowdash. Pinkie Pie was, as usual, acting like Pinkie Pie, bouncing into the room, barely able to contain her excitement.

“Hi my name’s Pinkie Pie but that’s not important because I want to know your names because if I don’t know your names you must be new in Ponyville and if you’re new in Ponyville…” She only stopped talking to gasp and then run out of the library. Cynder gave a glance to Twilight, who just rolled her eyes.

“She is always like that, you get used to it.” Pushing her way to the front, Rainbowdash angrily pointed a hoof at Cynder and Spyro.

“So, Spyro and Cynder, What kind of names are they? Sounds like some sort of drink to me.” The rainbow maned Pegasus flared her wings, trying to make herself seem larger than normal. “You think you’re faster than me? Ha! I am the fastest flyer in Equestria.” Cynder smirked at the mare’s arrogance, rather amused by the show of bravado.

“Shouldn’t that be in past tense?” Spyro shot his mate a stern look, her quip getting the desired effect.

“I’ll race you right now.” Rainbowdash lowered herself to the ground next to Cynder, who unfurled her wings in preparation.

“First to Fluttershy’s cottage wins.” The cyan mare laughed, expecting an easy race. Little did she know, the dragoness had a different plan. “Ready, set, GO!” The Pegasus shot off in a trail of rainbow, leaving Cynder behind, who was simply smiling at the mare’s stupidity. Luna laughed pleasantly and Celestia, although still pondering the now dormant Other, managed to crack a smile.

“Well, now that’s out of the way, there are some things we need to discuss.” The blue alicorn waved a hoof towards the elements and dragons. “Although everypony here appears to have accepted your arrival, the news is yet to spread. There may well be panic and disorder, as most ponies have a vehement distrust of dragons, large or small. As such, we are tasking you, the elements of harmony to protect and enrich the lives of our guests.” All of the ponies present, even Fluttershy rose, offering their confidence as affirmation.

“Don’t worry ya’ll, they will be fine with us. I’m sure RD can come around sooner or later.” Applejack and the others all smiled warmly towards the two dragons, ensuring an understanding that here, they were safe.

“Thank you, fair Applejack. Now, my sister and I would like to speak with Twilight alone. Could you please give us some privacy?” It was indeed a command, but Luna’s eloquence allowed it to come across as a request.

“Certainly, Princess Luna, Princess Celestia, thank you for your time.” Cynder then wrapped tails with Spyro, the pair walking swiftly to the door. “Fluttershy, you may not wish to enter the forest for the next hour or so, it is time for us to hunt.” Fluttershy simply nodded, not necessarily comfortable with their need of flesh, but nor did she condemn them. As the dragons flew off into the distance, the Pegasus thought to herself.

If only everypony was so understanding.

Chapter 7

Both dragons were now lying under an apple tree. Sweet apple acres stretched out below, providing a backdrop for the pair, as they cleaned each other’s scales of blood and gore. The buck they killed had been left in the Everfree forest, lest it be discovered by anypony. Once they were spotless, both sat for a moment, revelling in one another’s company. Eventually, Cynder’s thoughts turned to her newest friend and her daughter.

“Spyro, I think we should go see Ditzy.” It seemed that her mate had been thinking along similar lines, yet another example of the bond they shared.

“Yes, and perhaps we could share the good news?” Spyro smiled sheepishly, still unsure of how his responsibilities would be affected by a baby dragon. He thought back to the time spent with Ignitus, learning how to control magic, as well as the reasons for its use. Magic was something which should have been used to help or protect others. It was only through the twisted form of evil that magic should serve a more sinister purpose, one which Spyro had fought against all his life.

“Sure! Let’s go.” Taking off with a powerful stroke of her wings, Cynder took to the skies. Not needing any encouragement, Spyro followed in hot pursuit. They had just flown over Ponyville once, when a blue shape appeared next to the flying dragons. Rainbowdash’s mane flowed smoothly through the air, but her features appeared strained, in stark contrast to the dragons smooth relaxed strokes.

“Hey, you two think you’re better flyers than me?” Cynder simply snorted, while Spyro decided it was finally time to take the bait.

“So, what if we are? At least we don’t show off. Dragons let their actions speak for themselves. The rainbow maned pegasus gave a smug grin before pointing a hoof off into the distance.

“See that huge cloud over there? That’s Cloudsdalle. First one to reach it wins.” Once again, Cynder snorted in amusement, this time curls of smoke trailing in the air. The only thing faster than their flying was Spyro’s reply.

“You’re on!” The trio stopped in the air while, grudgingly, Cynder held up a piece of cloth Rainbowdash just happened to have. “Alright, we go when the rag hits this cloud.” Spyro dragged over a puff of moisture, its solid texture seemed extremely alien. Grasping the cloth between her claws, the dragoness rolled her eyes before letting it drop. Rainbowdash disappeared in a midst of her rainbow trail, leaving behind the two stationary dragons. Looking across with mild amusement Spyro winked to Cynder. “Somedragon need’s to deflate her ego, don’t you think?”

“Alright, I’ll find Ditzy and we will wait for you by the town hall. I suggest you get going, you’re fast but not that fast.” With a nod, Spyro turned tail, pushing his bulk effortlessly through the air. The air parted before him like he was in a vacuum. One flap latter and he had broken he sound barrier, passing a bewildered blue mare before making his way for the finish line. The dragon made an immleman over the cloud city as a braking manoeuvre, landing on the edge of cloudsdalle a solid ten seconds before the cyan pegasus. As the now wide eyed mare landed, Spyro sat and gave her a soft smile. Not wanting to appear arrogant, he offered a paw.

“You flew really well, not many can break the sound barrier like you did.” Unfortunately, Spyro’s attempt at being a good spirit fell upon deaf ears. Rainbowdash sat, dumbfounded at first, followed by a look of suppressed anger.

“I lost… I hate losing.” Felling sorry for his contestant, Spyro tried his best to cheer up the downed pegasus.

“Hey, you were great! Besides Cynder, I’ve never seen someone fly as fast as you.” Despite not providing reasons to antagonise the young mare, Rainbow could not respond except with the promise of a rematch. After giving a slightly hurt stare at the dragon, the cyan pegasus flew off to nurse her broken pride. It was quite a shame in Spyro’s opinion, that he could not impart a feeling of mutual respect upon his racing partner. Still, it had been fun to exert himself, if only for a few moments. Eventually his thoughts reached Cynder and the grey pegasus he had met the previous day. Ditzy was an odd character to be sure, but there was little that could be said to give her fault. Her devotion to raising Dinky was clear from the outset. The way she looked to her child, the way she held her within a loving embrace, all made Spyro ponder his own looming parenthood. At that moment he swore to himself that no evil would befall his child, no matter where it came from.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Well you took your time getting back.” Cynder nudged her mate playfully, the blade on her left wing scraping noisily over his scales. “I have been talking with Ditzy for nearly half an hour.”

“Yes, sorry about that, how are you Ditzy?” The bubbly pegasus trotted over to hug Spyro, much to the purple dragons surprise. Her grip was strong, leaving the dragon somewhat uncomfortable, but he suppressed this out of respect.

“I’m great, so you finally want to hang out with me and my little muffin here?” Ditzy grabbed her daughter, rubbing her mane with a hoof as she addressed the young unicorn. The smile on the mares face remained constant, but even she could not hide the hint of desperation.

“Sure, where would you like to go?” Ditzy brought a hoof up to her chin, thinking for a moment before looking down with a smile at her daughter.

“How about it muffin, where do you wanna go?” It hardly took more than a moment for the filly to make up her mind.

“I want to go to Applejacks to play. That’s where the Cutie Mark Crusader’s hang out.” Upon her daughter’s request, Ditzy’s confident expression wavered slightly, causing Cynder to frown. Compared to her normal attitude, this was tantamount to the poor mare crying in the dirt. Did something exist between Ditzy and Applejack? It was a concern which the dragoness was determined to find out about, if only to help her new friend.

“Umm, Ditzy… are you alright?” The mare in question nodded, trying not to give much away, but failing miserably. “Are you sure you don’t want to talk about it?”

“Dinky, can you show Mr Spyro to Sweet Apple Acres, Mummy will catch up soon.” Dinky knew that her mother must have been worried about something; she only called her by her real name if she was upset. Not wanting to be any sort of burden, she dragged the dragon down the road, who also complied without question. Once the pair was out of sight, Ditzy turned to address Cynder.

“You know, I used to buy apples from that stall every day since I was just a filly.” Gesturing over towards a large red stallion behind an applecart, she was about to continue talking, but instead motioned down the road “Come on, I’ll tell you on the way.” Cynder could see the hurt in the mare’s eyes, for once not contrasted by a wide grin. The sight of Ditzy in such a state forced the dragoness into action.

“Was there… some sort of problem, between you and Applejack?” The mare nodded in reply, confirming her suspicions.

“It all started about a year and a half ago. The red stallion by the cart I pointed out; Big Macintosh was my very special somepony.” Unfortunately, the mare’s meaning was lost upon Cynder, requiring explanation. “He was my mate.” The dragoness winced slightly, realising that something must have driven the pair apart. “Dinky was a child of a single mother, something the rest of the Apple family was suspicious of. Don’t get me wrong, they are kind ponies, especially Big Mac, but they are kind of…” Ditzy waved a hoof in the air, trying to think of the right description. “Conservative. Applejack thought that Dinky must have been illegitimate, thus I got the reputation of being a loose mare.” Despite not being up to date with pony mannerisms, the meaning of the term was understood perfectly by Cynder. “Eventually rumour’s started going round that I was cheating on Big Mac. Applejack accused me of knowing that it was true, even going so far as to call me as a whore. Then she started insulting Dinky, so I told her what really happened.” The grey pegasus sighed shakily, looking up to the sky, then back down at her hooves, which seemed to move her bulk forward by instinct rather than conscious action. “A stallion… forced himself on me while I was visiting relatives in Trottingham, and I gave birth to Dinky nine months later. Before you ask, they never caught who it was.” By now, the mare had stopped walking, her legs threating to buckle beneath her. Cynder could not help wonder how the mare trusted her enough to divulge such personal information. The only explanation she could come up with was that this poor pony really did have no friends at all. When her legs finally did give way, Cynder ducked her muzzle under the mare’s neck, preventing her friend from hurting her jaw on the dirt track.

“Hey, it’s ok… I’m sorry.” Cynder draped a wing over the now weeping pegasus. It was not terrible wailing, just quiet sobs. “Look, I shouldn’t have made you re-live that, it was selfish of me to ask.” Eventually, Ditzy regained her composure enough that she could apologize for her breakdown.

“Needless to say, the stress led to Big Mac and I breaking up.” The mare then nuzzled Cynder’s cheek, before standing back up. “Thanks, It’s good to have a friend.” She gave out a small laugh, tempered by the tears still being fought back. “To think, my best friend would be a dragon.”

“To think I would be best friends with a brave pony like you.” Ditzy gave the dragoness a playful nudge with one hoof, making their way back down the track. Cynder thought to herself; An interesting conversation with Applejack was definitely on her to do list.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

The way her scales glistened in the light, framed by her fearsome jewellery, were simply entrancing.And her eyes, oh sweet Celestia, her eyes. All thoughts of Rarity had been obliterated, replaced by this princess, nay, goddess.

“Spike, stop daydreaming and help me repack these books.” Twilight’s orders snapped the young dragon back into the present.

“Sorry Twilight, I was just thinking about those dragons, you know, Cynder and Spyro.” The librarian gave a small huff, determined to get her work finished. Not despairing in the mare’s disinterest, Spike tried again. “Hey Twi, you think I might be able to talk with them sometime?” This time, the unicorn listened.

“Alright, you help me pack away this shelf with no more distractions; I promise you can meet them tomorrow.” Spike grinned grabbing the nearest book from the floor.

“What are we waiting for then?” Twilight just laughed, joining him in their laborious task. The dragon thought to himself while working; what would he think of him? How would she react, with kind rejection, gleeful acceptance or angry dismissal? After a while the young dragon came to a conclusion; he was going to make that dragon know how he felt, or die trying.

Chapter 8

As Spyro plodded his way towards Sweet Apple Acres, he continued to listen with vague curiosity to the little filly currently riding on his back. Dinky was making it quite clear that if he could both fly and use magic, he must be a princess.

“I mean, who else could do that! Nopony I’ve ever seen.” Dinky held her head high in triumph, convinced of her own infallibility. Chuckling softly, Spyro kept walking at a steady pace. It was not long before the vast orchids which made up the farm came into view. Once they reached the top of the hill above Ponyville, Spyro felt the updrafts begin to ripple against his scales. With a devilish grin, he turned his head back to Dinky.

“Want to fly?” He asked, tail whipping in anticipation. Dinky squealed with delight and fastened her grip. With seemingly effortless grace, Spyro unfurled his wings and launched into the air. He barely needed to flap once, as the wind carried the pair high off the ground. Houses, trees and ponies alike simply seemed like ants to the young filly, as Ditzy had never flown this high with her before. Having never had a male father figure in her life, the grey unicorn was immediately drawn to Spyro.

“FASTER!” She shouted, barely able to make herself heard over the rushing wind. Spyro gladly obliged and sent the pair rocketing down towards the ground before pulling up at the last moment. Gliding the rest of the way, the young dragon checked his trajectory before stretching out his front paws for landing. He picked a patch of soft looking hay next to what seemed to be an extremely small house. Once the pair had touched down, Spyro lowered his torso to the dried grass beneath, allowing Dinky to jump off his back. Looking the little hut up and down, Spyro tried to figure what lived inside.

“Dinky, what is this place?” The young filly grinned broadly, proud to introduce Spyro to the clubhouse.

“It’s the Cutiemark Crusader Clubhouse.” Dinky exclaimed with not an inconsiderable amount of enthusiasm. “It’s where us Cutiemark Crusaders plan how to find our special talents.” Although Spyro understood the concept of Cutie marks, having been informed by Twilight, it still baffled him as to why Ponies were forced into such a cast system.

‘What if somepony didn’t like their talent? Were they simply stuck with it, never able to enjoy life?’ The young dragon thought to himself. ‘Surely it would be much fairer if they had a choice in the matter.’

“Wait a moment, what do you mean us?” Spyro asked.

“Well duh, you don’t have a cutie mark either. You’re a blank flank like me.” The filly grinned, again assured that her logic was undeniable. Unfortunately, Spyro needed to correct her this time.

“No, I’m not a blank flank Dinky; Dragons like myself don’t get cutie marks. There is no such thing as a blank flank dragon.” He motioned to his new found friend. “That’s something only ponies get.” Dinky looked down to the ground in thought. Worried he had upset her, Spyro was about to ask if she were ok, when she lifted her head back up smiling.

“Then you can help me and the other crusaders find our cutie marks!” The little filly beamed. She then began walking up the ramp of the clubhouse. “Come on, I’ll show you how we crusade. My friends aren’t here yet, but they won’t mind.” Both dragon and pony walked up the ramp before stepping inside. It was a little cramped for Spyros liking, but he could move around well enough. Dinky took him on a grand tour of the many pictures and posters on the walls. Almost every one of the images depicted different cutie marks and ways of getting them. Just as he was about to ask who the other ponies were, there was a shrill scream from the door way.

“Dragon! RUN!!!” One of the voices said, while the others were just incoherent shouts of terror. Stepping outside, the pair saw three fillies around Dinky’s age run off towards the farmstead in the distance.

“Uhhh, what was that?” Spyro asked, somewhat dumbfounded. Dinky simply sighed and began walking after them.

“Those are my friends; I think you scared them a little.” She replied with a hint of disappointment.

“You don’t say.” The young dragon was about to follow Dinky when both Cynder and Ditzy dropped down behind them. Spyro hugged Cynder quickly before greeting Ditzy.

“We heard the screaming and got here as fast as we could.” Ditzy panted. Not being nearly as strong and fast as Cynder, the mare had only just managed to keep up. “What happened?” Spyro was at a loss for words, not quite certain of the answer himself. Fortunately, Dinky answered for them.

“My friends thought Spyro was trying to eat me.” She said simply. In all honesty, the young filly had expected a lot more out of her friends. How they could over react to things was annoying at times, but this was just pathetic, especially since all three of them were there when the two dragons introduced themselves to the town.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Applejack was busy helping her granny to make apple pie when the front door of the house practically crashed to the floor. The interruption was followed by the sounds of galloping hooves and screaming fillies.

“APPLEJACK! APPLEJACK!!!” Applebloom hugged her sister tightly. “The dragon tried to eat me!”

“The dragon did what now?” Applejack’s frown deepened. ‘I knew it!’ She thought to herself. ‘That dragon just can’t be trusted!’ Ever since she had caught him tucking into her livestock she knew. The orange earth pony grabbed her Stetson hat before rushing outside to protect her kin.

“Be careful Applejack, it’s too dangerous to go out there alone. Here, take this.” Applebloom grabbed her older sister’s lasso off the kitchen table before throwing it into the earth pony’s grasp.

“Ya’ll stay inside, ya hear.” Not wasting another moment, Applejack galloped through the orchids towards the crusader club house. When she reached it, the first thing she took notice of was the gold horned dragon. Twirling the rope in her mouth, the farm pony threw it around the dragon’s neck before giving it an almighty pull backwards. Spyro didn’t move an inch. His claws were dug deep into the ground. The young dragon simply looked down at the rope, back to Applejack and then back at the rope. A quick burst of fire incinerated a whole meter of the lasso, which in turn sent the earth pony falling to her haunches from the sudden release in pressure.

“And why did you do that, exactly?” Spyro asked, somewhat perplexed, but not overly surprised by her behavior.

“Well why did you try and eat mah kin!” She replied with a somewhat threatening tone. The young dragon’s eyes widened, in complete surprise this time.

“I…” Before he could say another word, Spyro was interrupted by Applejack, who was now back on her hooves, stalking forwards towards him.

“AH-HA! I knew it; you ain’t nothin’ but a bunch of filly eatin’ murderers.”

This time it was Cynder who interjected. Her wings were wide spread in clear aggression.

In fact, now that Applejack thought about it, how had she not noticed her? Or the dark grey Pegasus with her daughter…

“Ditzy, what in the hay are you doing here?” The farm pony asked furiously. “Ya’ll know I don’t want the likes of you on my farm.” Applejack’s eyes darted from Cynder to Ditzy, full of malice. No loose mare was going to corrupt her sister.

Before the frightened Pegasus could say anything, Cynder stalked right up to the earth pony and looked her dead in the eye.

“Before I turn your mind into a living hell, I suggest that you apologize to Ditzy, and I mean right now!” The dragoness growled through her teeth, small trails of smoke billowing from the sides of her maw.

“You tried to make a meal of Applebloom, why should I do anything for you other than give ya’ll each a broken nose.” Applejack retorted, a slight sense of aloof superiority creeping into her voice.

“Maybe you shouldn’t believe everything your kin says.” Their muzzles were almost touching now, neither able to contain their anger for much longer.

“Are you callin’ mah sister a liar?” Cynder stepped back with a smirk. One word; that was all it would take.

“…Yes…”

“Why you…” Applejack spun around to kick Cynder in the chest, only to hit nothing but thin air. Having used her shadow to move behind Applejack, the dragoness popped up from the ground, seemingly out of nowhere.

“Honestly, does everydragon fall for that?” She taunted, wagging her tail in excitement. The game was on. But then she thought about Dinky and Ditzy for a moment, before realizing it would be best to win with all haste. Just as Applejack pulled back to deliver what would have been a pointless head-butt, Cynder blew softly into the earth pony’s face, who dropped to the ground without a sound.

“What did you do to her?” Ditzy asked. She sniffed at Applejack’s sleeping body with confusion. Meanwhile, Spyro shot his mate both a look of concern and relief. He plodded up to Cynder and whispered into her ear.

“Thank you, I wouldn’t have wanted Dinky to see any more fighting.” Cynder smiled softly; glad she had been able to control her temper. “But did you really have to use fear?” Spyro added, with a slight smirk.

“What would you have done?” When the purple hero did not respond, Cynder decided to concede. “I’ll admit that was pretty harsh, but still, it should put her back a few.”

Spyro looked down to Dinky who was walking along sadly, her hooves trailing on the ground.

“Hey little one, I’m sorry you didn’t get to play with your friends.” Dinky sniffled, hardly able to hold back the tears. It wasn’t that she didn’t get to play; it was that her friends had lied about her new friends, and that Applejack had made her mummy sad. Ditzy simply cast a wing over her daughter.

“Thank you for looking after her Spyro.” She whispered softly. “We will head home now I think.” Spyro and Cynder nodded sadly before both giving her a tight hug. When they broke the embrace, Cynder touched her neck against Ditzy’s in affection.

“Remember, we will always be your friends.” The Pegasus mare smiled softly before turning off to go home, leaving the two dragons to head back to the Library.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

When Applejack awoke, she screamed for her Ma and Pa. Where were they? She had seen them, right before her very eyes. They were saying goodbye, telling Big Mac to take both her and Applebloom into the basement. And that’s when the sound of the huge, golden hydra’s bellow echoed across the field. Her parents kissed them on the forehead, while Applejack cried silently. She was getting dragged along by Macintosh and then…

The earth pony suddenly came to her senses and remembered where she was. The sun was starting to set for the day and she would need to get back to the homestead. Pulling herself up to her hooves, she shook the dirt off her fur, allowing it to fall to the ground. What had that bucking dragoness done to her? That was it, she was not going to let some dragon ruin her life and endanger the whole town.

‘They’re leaving whether they like it or not.’

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Twilight? It’s Spyro and Cynder… Twilight? Are you here?” The young dragon slowly padded into the huge tree, unsure whether they were welcome.

“Oh hi Cynder, Twilight’s at Zecora’s place. She is collecting herbs for her botany project.” Spike stepped to one side politely, gesturing with one of his claws. “Please, come in.”

“So… uhh, Spike, do you know when Twilight will get back?” Cynder asked nervously, wary of the green eyed dragon’s almost frightening stare.

Spike just shrugged, before turning towards the kitchen.

“Hey, Cynder, would you like me to make you some tea, or maybe dinner, I can make you hay fries, or maybe cupcakes, oh I have some really tasty gems that I saved for you…” Before Spike fainted from not breathing, Spyro interrupted, stepping in front of his mate.

“Look, we are both pretty tired.” He gave a quick glance back to Cynder who gave an approving nod. “I think we will head down to the basement and get some sleep.” Spike nodded slowly, his expression immediately becoming downcast.

“Oh, that’s ok. I guess I’ll see you two tomorrow. Have a good sleep.” Without saying anything else, the small dragon walked up the stairs before going into Twilight’s bedroom. Still not sure what to make of Spikes behavior, Cynder and Spyro headed down into the basement, clicking the door gently closed behind them.

Chapter 9

While the moon rose over the land, Celestia walked through the empty halls, her hoof shoes clinking softly on the marbled floor. It was quiet, almost deathly so, with only the sound of her own thoughts to keep her company… and they were not friendly. Almost everyone she knew would eventually wither away.

“Oh Celly, if only there was some way to allow longevity to everypony…” The voices were becoming easier to ignore now. They were less frequent than before and they were actually not giving bad advice anymore. Maybe having someone else that would be able to endure with her would be nice. The alicorn made a mental note to look into spells and thought of potential candidates. Her slight hum rose to meet her now lighter mood, not knowing of the victory the ‘other’ also basked in.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Cynder opened her eyes softly, something warm washing over her face lightly. The first thing which came to view was a blurry haze of purple. Assuming it was Spyro, she gave the mass a playful lick, taking in the scent… of… gems…

“SPIKE!” the blushing dragoness reared backwards, eyes wide as saucers. “WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU DOING?” By now Spyro was also awake, getting up to his feet.

“I made you breakfast.” Spike shoved the bowl of precious stones towards Cynder, who backed away further. “Would you like some?” Cynder was definitely beginning to feel uncomfortable now.

“Uhhh, no Spike, we absorb gems, not eat them.” Cynder nudged Spyro to get up faster. He always seemed to wake up slowly. “Spyro… get up now!” She whispered furiously. “Umm, why don’t we head upstairs and have breakfast there?”

“Oh, yeah ok!” Spike scrambled to his feet, before rushing upstairs. The dragoness looked back towards Spyro, who was barely able to hold back his laughter.

“I think he likes you.” Spyro said with a smirk. Cynder blushed heavily.

“He does not!” She retorted with a somewhat false anger.

Finally, Spyro could not hold back any more. Dropping to the ground, the dragon rolled around in laughter, holding his sides as stitches started to form.

“Ughh, whatever!” She huffed, frustrated at her mate. Stalking upstairs, Cynder greeted Twilight, who was buried in a book. “What are you reading about?”

“Oh, just a book about the differing cooling mechanisms of deciduous plants, but it’s just a basic summary.” She replied with slight disinterest. Twilight had serious doubts that dragons who had spent their entire lives in the middle of a war would have much scientific knowledge.

Unlike almost every other creature, and apparently ponies, Dragon’s had an instinctive knowledge of how all things in the entire universe worked. But this wasn’t their universe, and she was curious as to what was different.

Cynder looked over to see Spike preparing breakfast and decided it would be nice to take her mind off what just happened.

“So, do most plants use transpiration as a method of evaporative cooling in your world?” Twilight’s ears perked up, surprised at the dragoness’ knowledge.

“Yes… How did you know that?” Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow in curiosity.

“What, did you think I was a dumb barbarian?” Cynder asked, ribbing the unicorn quite successfully. In return, Twilight sputtered an apology before being stopped by Cynder. “It’s ok, I was only kidding. Let’s just say we dragons have a useful instinct for nature.”

Twilight rubbed a hoof to her chin, rubbing it in deep thought. “Hmmm, you might like Fluttershy; she seems to know more about nature than anypony in Equestria. You could visit her this afternoon if you like.”

Cynder smiled inwardly. She liked the little Pegasus, she reminded the dragoness so much of Spyro. So kind, but also willing to stand up for what’s right. The yellow mare had also been surprisingly understanding of their diet.

“I might just do that.” She replied with a slight grin.

Finally, Spyro managed to drag himself out of the basement. “Morning, what took you so long?”

Spyro flashed an awkward grin, while he stretched his wings. “I may have gone back to sleep.” The purple dragon blushed slightly as he took his seat. “Sorry.”

When Spike finished he had prepared a large banquet of salads, bread and egg. There were also various gems; all of which were either placed in front of Cynder or Spike’s chair. “Breakfast is served.”

“Spike, why did you make so much? You never normally cook this amount of food for breakfast.” Twilight stared at her assistant with bewilderment. Being the social recluse that she sometimes was, the mare was completely oblivious to his motives.

“Oh, nothing, I just wanted to make something special for Cynder… and uhh, Spyro.” Spike glanced over to the smirking older dragon. As Spyro stared at him, Spike could have sworn that he could hear his voice.

‘I know.’

“Ummm, Spike, why don’t you come help me with re-stacking the library.” Twilight asked nervously, trying to avert the current topic of conversation. “Maybe Spyro and Cynder could explore the town on their own today.”

“Ahem, yes, uhh, that would be good. Spyro and I might get going right now! In fact, we might stay out for the night, won’t we?” Cynder hastily blurted out, desperate to get out of range from Spikes frightening stare.

“Aww, but we haven’t had any breakfast.” Spyro teased, trying to get the most out of the situation. His mate just glared at him until he conceded.

“Oh, yeah, I guess so.” Spike agreed, eyes slightly downcast. He then took a big mouthful of gems and started chewing them dejectedly. As the two older dragons said goodbye to Twilight, the little assistant re-evaluated his situation. ‘Maybe she doesn’t like me.’ He pondered sadly. ‘Wait, no, you can do this Spike… you have to win her over.’ Suddenly, an idea sprung to mind out of the blue. ‘I know, what if… yes, then she’ll have to like me, cause if Spyro is a bad dragon, then she’ll want a good dragon…’ As he thought to himself, a wicked grin began to creep across his face.

“Spike, Spiiikkeee? Could you please help me with these books now?” Twilight called out. By now, the little dragon was smiling from ear to ear, like a wolf having finished its meal.

“Sure thing Twi… sure thing…”

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

More and more ponies were beginning to accept the two newcomers as part of the community, many stopping to say hello or chat. A few had even offered free produce as first time customers. Unfortunately, the pair had to respectfully decline, saying they weren’t hungry.

“We have to tell them sooner or later.” Whispered Cynder, her face cast into a deep frown. She was becoming more and more nervous about hiding the truth.

“Seriously, you saw how Twilight reacted; they would probably die of shock.” Spyro was just as worried as his mate, but was more frightened of what would happen if they just started eating meat in front of everypony.

“Yeah, and what if they find out by accident? They would never accept us.” Cynder gave her mate a piercing stare, one which lasted until Spyro finally relented.

“Ok, look, how about we tell Ditzy and see how she reacts. Then we can take it from…” Just as the purple dragon took another step forward, a mass of grey fur and feathers crashed in front of them

“Tell me what?” Ditzy interrupted, shaking her head from the impact.

After making sure the mare was ok, Spyro eyed her suspiciously.

“Were you… following us?” He asked in a slightly accusatory tone.

Ditzy frowned; clearly worried that she had upset her friends.

“No! I was just going in the same direction.” She replied angrily.

Spyro offered a calming smile, letting the mare know he wasn’t upset.

“Hey, it’s ok if you were, It’s just we would rather spend time with our best friend rather than have her look at the back of our heads."

“Wait, so you still want to be my friends?” The mail mare asked, quite surprised.

“Of course, Ditzy, what gave you the other idea?” Cynder asked. She was shocked that the Pegasus was so shy and expectant of them being friends.

Ditzy sniffled a bit, trying to form the words.

Eventually, with an exasperated sigh, the mare spoke. “Sometimes, really mean ponies pretend to be nice to me for a while so they can insult me the next day in front of their friends…”

Both dragons were horrified by this revelation.

Cynder especially was hit hard. She turned to Spyro, spluttering uncontrollably.

“Just like... when I took you… to the…” Whatever else was going to be said was stopped by a paw covering Cynder’s maw. He simply shook his head and smiled. Cynder felt what she had in the center of Avalar. She felt and more importantly, knew that she was completely forgiven.

“That’s absolutely awful Ditzy!” Spyro embraced the mare in a hug. “Both of us will never do that to you. I promise.” When he let go, the dragon gave both mare and dragoness a playful bump. “Now come on you two, let’s go have some fun!”

“Oh, can we play hide and seek… please?” Ditzy asked with puppy dog eyes. Both dragons just laughed until Spyro closed his eyes and began counting.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

“AH HA! Lu-Lu, look, I finally did it!” As Celestia called for her sister from the monarch’s private laboratory, she watched the insects run around with great excitement. It had been about eight hours without the insects dying, more than four times their regular life span.

“Celly, is thou sure that such a spell is wise and just?” Luna was concerned for the white alicorn. Ever since the second fall of discord, she had been acting strangely.

‘She is trying to control you… She wants revenge…’ Again, the other disappeared. When before she had argued against it fiercely, she now never got the chance. Now, the other’s ideas simply sat inside her head, plaguing her, causing the princess to doubt what her own thinking was and what were the other’s.

“It’s fine, just look… It worked, they are the equivalent of if a pony was four hundred year old.” Luna scowled, but eventually decided to give her sister the benefit of the doubt.

“It’s a very cleaver spell Celly, I must admit I probably couldn’t have worked it out. With a smile, the mare of the night gave her sibling a quick hug before returning to her bed chambers.

‘yes…’

Chapter 10

As Rainbow Dash finished her final loop, she glided softly down onto a fresh cloud. The cyan Pegasus was about to doze off to sleep when she felt her cloud shift ever so slightly. Looking down over the side she saw the two new dragons flying about and having fun. She also noticed a grey Pegasus flying with them, laughing playfully. Why would they be playing with a klutz like Ditzy? Tumbling off the side of the cloud, Rainbow made her way down to catch up with the trio, which wasn't hard. ‘Derpy’ was the slowest flyer in the whole of Equestria after all. Rainbow snickered; this would be funny.

“Hey, Spyro!” She called out, causing the dragon to pause up. He hovered for a moment before leaving Ditzy and Cynder to play.

“Hi Rainbow, what’s up?” Spyro began to glide to a nearby cloud, allowing him to rest his wings. He was pleased to see the rainbow maned Pegasus again, hoping she had changed her attitude.

“What are you doing hanging around the town retard?” Rainbow asked, not a hint of guilt in her voice.

“…What…?” Spyro was dumbfounded. Sure, he knew that Ditzy had few friends, but he didn't expect one of Twilight's friends to be a bully. When he finally came to his senses, he was left simply confused. “Why would you say that about somepony? Especially somepony like Ditzy?”

“Uhhh, cause she is. I mean, look at her eyes. And she keeps breaking stuff everywhere around town. She definitely shouldn't be allowed to raise a filly.”

Spyro did his best to keep calm. He was sure Rainbow wasn't a bad pony; maybe she was just ignorant.

“Have you ever talked to Ditzy?” He asked, a scowl beginning crossing his face.

“Not since we were fillies, why would I?” The cyan mare asked, not realizing how mean she sounded, not to mention foolish.

“Well, you might find out she is probably the most dedicated mother in all Ponyville. She pours every single one of her bits into looking after that foal, and still finds time to spend with her.” Spyro blew smoke as a sign of slight annoyance.

“Just because she is different doesn't give you any right to judge her!”

By now, Spyro had pushed his muzzle into hers in aggression, while Rainbow Dash shrunk back, a look of both fear and guilt plastered on her face.

“I didn-…” The Pegasus was interrupted by a quick, but gentle, symbolic shove.

“Don’t want to hear it, Rainbow. I thought you were a good pony, but you managed to prove me wrong.” With a flick of his tail, Spyro flapped his wings to gain altitude, soaring high above the stunned mare below before making his way back to Cynder and Ditzy.

As Rainbow Dash sat shocked, she thought about her behavior. Maybe Spyro was right... Maybe she was a bad pony. She didn't want to hurt anypony, did she?

All these thoughts and more ran through the mare’s mind while she watched the dragons and Ditzy play amongst the clouds. They seemed frozen in time, like a perfect image of peace and joy. And here she had come, intent on ruining it.

The picture painted before brought back many memories, both good and bad. She remembered actually being friends with Ditzy, back when they were foals Being bullied by the colts at junior speedsters, making friends with Fluttershy, the way her friends cared for her, and would protect her no matter what.

A sudden sensation of guilt built up within the mare. Before Rainbow could think about what she was doing, she was urged by instinct to go talk to Ditzy. Flapping gently over to the trio, she spoke softly, only just loud enough to be audible.

“Ditzy, could I talk with you please.” She rasped. The cyan Pegasus was speaking so softly that she reminded herself of Fluttershy.

Spyro was about to give the mare another warning until Ditzy spoke up.

“You… You haven't called me that since…” The last time she had was back when they were friends, before Rainbow Dash joined junior speedsters. Then she had met Gilda the gryphon.

“Not since we were fillies.” Rainbow finished for the grey Pegasus. The simple act of not speaking with a malicious tone, and calling her by her real name, was enough for Ditzy to at least listen to her former friend.

“I’m… sorry.” The cyan mare managed to force out.

“I was mean to you for so long, without realizing how bad I was acting towards you.” This was a big step for Rainbow, having said sorry in a meaningful way only a few times in her short life. She just hoped it made an impression.

“Thank you Rainbow Dash, I am sure that took a lot of courage,” Ditzy patted the other Pegasus with a hoof in a way only a mother would. Her voice had taken on a much more serious tone, one which was strong, smart and caring. It was a side Rainbow had never even bothered to notice.

“So, you forgive… me?” The rainbow maned mare asked hopefully.

Ditzy frowned in response before allowing the expression to ease.

“One day, Rainbow… maybe.” The grey Pegasus replied.

Dash’s eyes fell down along with her mane, guilt racking her body.

“But maybe we could go to Sugarcube Corner together sometime tomorrow.” Ditzy added, a small smile stretching across her face. She could not forgive her fellow pony for the years of torment, but she was willing to try and be friends.

“Really?!” Rainbow was beaming. A small sliver of the guilt she felt melting away.

“Thank you Ditzy, I won’t let you down. I'll be the best friend in all of Equestria!” In true Rainbow Dash style, she flew off without even saying goodbye. She may have realized what she did was wrong, but the speedster hadn't become any less self-absorbed.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Spyro asked, flapping his wings to side next to his friend. Ditzy just smiled, looking off into the distance.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

“GET OUT!!!” Celestia screamed. The voices in her head had become even more prevalent. The Other was constantly speaking to her, telling her what to do, how to treat her subjects. It was trying to convince her of her sister’s evil.

“Whatever do you mean, I am you after all.”

Celestia shook her head. She would not believe that she was the one thinking these, these… things!

“Oh really? I’ll make you get out.” There could surely only be one culprit to blame. She stalked her way out of her private chambers, opening the doors with a ferocity which startled her guards. “You will not accompany me.” She stated.

“But…” Before the unicorn could say another word, Celestia turned to face the pair.

“Follow your orders Captain! Or do I need to force you to do so?” The celestial god glared at the guards, daring them to question her authority. When they simply stared ahead, she turned and walked out of the castle towards the gardens. It did not take long for her to find who she was looking for.

“Discord, you will stop this now.”

“Oh, I am so scared. Please don’t blast away my little statue.” The Other begged half-heartedly. Celestia simply smirked in response, aiming her horn for the center of the mass, confident in her conclusion.

As her horn lit up, the Other started laughing. Not deterred, the goddess let loose with an offensive spell powerful enough to destroy a mountain. The rubble which remained only made up for a small fraction of Discord’s original form. The rest had been converted into it’s composite elements.

"Celly, Celly, Celly. You always were a self-righteous mare weren't you? I see nothing has changed.” The Other laughed horribly, like it was choking on food.

“No…” The white alicorn whispered. It couldn't be.

“Do you honestly hold yourself in such high esteem that you thought yourself a stranger to violence and disharmony?” The Other gripped Celestia’s mind with an iron-like grasp.

“It is you, Goddess, who has caused the most chaos in your land.”

Celestia tried to think back. Had she done anything to hurt her ponies? Surely not, she thought.

“Opulence is sinful, and we are all guilty of it. You have the gifts of life almost no other pony has ever wielded, but you did nothing for your ponies but sit back and watch as they were slaughtered and maimed. You even stripped those powers from your own sister, just so you could be completely infallible. That, is the nature of your greed, oh beautiful Celestia."

“But… I had to do it, she was…” The now pale alicorn was forced to the ground, the Other now screaming into her mind.

“WAS IGNORED, ABANDONED, FORGOTTEN!!! All because of you! When she asked for help, when she asked for just ONE day of darkness, you refused. She even found a way to keep the planet warm, and the life cycle working. BUT STILL, TO YOU, HER LIFE MEANT NOTHING!!!”

As the Other continued to destroy the imaginary world of justice that Celestia had created over the millennia, she could do nothing but whimper pathetically, like an abandoned dog.

“And then, when she begged, pleaded for you not to send her to the moon, you showed no compassion.”

Celestia began to fight back bitterly.

“NO, I did what was right, and I have always been there to protect my ponie…” Celestia stopped dead in her tracks.

A single memory forced its way into her mind. It was of her taking care of a young filly. What was her name… Celerity? There were others too, Clement, and the inhabitants of Whitewall. All the ponies she had sent on pointless battles against the northern estates.

“So, you finally remember. At last you remember all the times you have sat by and watched your world burn. The ‘War of Whitetail’ could have been finished in but an instant if you had even but made the slightest effort at Trellow. And let’s not forget the ‘War of the Three Tribes’. Ohhh, that’s right, you turned it into a stage play. You lied to your ponies, ensuring they would never find out about the horror of what happened. What did they call it back then? Ahh, yes ‘The Hundred Year War’. All the while you sat back and watched it happen!” Finally, the Other paused for a moment.

Only a few minutes had passed, but to Celestia, it seemed like an eternity.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry my ponies…” The alicorn sobbed to nopony in particular. When she had finally broken down completely, the Other seemed to hum, before fading away again.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

By the time Spike walked through the gates at the Apple’s homestead, it was nearing late afternoon. Everything seemed darker to the young dragon; it always did around this time of day.

Little could be said of Applejack’s opinion of the newcomers to town; thus Spike had decided it might be a good idea to pay the earth pony a visit. He found her carrying apples back from the orchard to the cooler shed.

“Well howdy Spike! What brings you ‘round here?” The mare tipped her Stetson forward slightly, offering her usual warm smile. Spike could see through it in an instant. It was the sort of smile somepony forces when they have had a really bad day.

“Hey AJ, I wanted to talk to you about the new dragons in town,” the moment Spike mentioned Spyro and Cynder, Applejack’s expression deepened into a fierce scowl. “Hmm, that’s what I think too.”

“Wait, you don’t like 'em either?” The orange mare stopped dead in her tracks, eyeing the dragon curiously. “I thought you would have been friends with em, you know, being a dragon and all.”

“Well, it’s only one I don’t like, the boy dragon, Spyro. I wouldn’t want to hurt Cynder.” Spike paused over the dragoness’ name, mesmerized by the thought of being with her.

Applejack on the other hoof simply frowned and went back to work, packing the apples away into the cooler, one basket at a time.

“Sounds like we have conflicting interests, wouldn’t you say so Spike?” Once she had finished her work, the earth pony headed back to the homestead, only to be stopped again by the persistent dragon.

“Not right now we don’t.”

Applejack narrowed her eyes at him, signaling for the assistant to continue.

“How about we tarnish Spyro’s reputation first, then we can quit being allies?” He finished with a hint of confidence.

Applejack rubbed a hoof against her chin for a moment before grinning.

“Deal.”

Chapter 11

As The Other looked down upon the world which he would soon move to conquer, he held little but distain for the creatures that lived there. The Entity would soon rule this world, before branching out into others. But first he would have to use more… subtle means of disruption. Although they were primitive in their knowledge of magic, the other was not yet ready to face them. The orange pony and the pitiful excuse of a dragon that he continued to observe had no idea that their minds had been infected by only the smallest amount of his will. So small they would not be able to detect any change in their being.

The opposite was true in the case of that wretched monarch. She was an interesting case, but enough snooping around in her mind gave him the perfect solution. She was indeed strong enough to sense any magic coursing through her mind, thus it had been necessary that The Other had to go in full force with the hope of convincing the pathetic alicorn that it was all in her own mind. This plan, as luck would have it, was the key. Though she commanded the respect of everybody who saw her, the demi-god had almost no control over the demons in her own mind. This was weakness The Other exploited. He had, at first not thought this plan possible, and yet, against the odds, the path to becoming a god had begun.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Marching up to the library, Applejack knocked furiously on the large oak door, almost breaking it down completely. Inside were Pinkie, Fluttershy, Twilight and, most importantly, the dragons she had been looking for.

“Hey, ya’ll might of fooled everypony else, but I can tell you that you ain’t fooling me!” The mare shouted the moment she caught sight of Spyro.

“You’re evil! EEEEEEEEEEVIL!” She cried. Everyone in the room stood in shock at the accusation. Everypony knew Applejack could be stubborn, but this was going over the top.

“Ummm, Applejack?” Twilight asked, completely baffled by her friends sudden outburst. “What’s going on?”

“These two dragons over there ain’t nothin’ but a pair of dangerous critters, I mean, why hasn’t anypony banished them or something?” Applejack blurted out in anger. She continued to scream and shout obscenities for another few minutes before running out of breath. When the ranting was finally over, everypony looked across to the dragons, expecting them to be snarling fiercely. Instead, both of them just appeared… tired.

“Well, you are right about one thing, Applejack, dangerous is all we are usually.” Spyro mumbled softly, only a little more than a whisper. Without so much as a sideways glance, the pair of dragons trudged towards the basement, shoulders slumped in shame. The only sound made by the pair was the sound of the door closing behind them.

The silence that followed shocked Applejack, almost to the point that it made her angry.

This was definitely not what the earth pony was expecting. Nopony walks away from her in the middle of a fight. Just as she was about to get angry again, the mare received what could only be described as a look of pity from Twilight. Before the earth pony could lose her temper again, Twilight turned to Pinky and Fluttershy.

“Girls, I think it would be best if you left. You too Applejack, I think we need to have a talk a bit later about what you just did.” Twilight ordered. Pinkie and Fluttershy obliged, giving applejack cold looks.

“I can’t believe you stole Aqua-man’s line, you’re not supposed to make pop-culture references!” Despite the seemingly random words that just came from Pinkie’s mouth, the meaning of her statement was clear enough from the tone of her voice; she was not impressed. Fluttershy decided not to say anything; rather instead she gave the cowpony a hard stare.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Hmm, that wasn’t as eventful as I had hoped. The other thought. Having known the dragons’ past, he was sure they would have retaliated in one way or another. Alas, this was not to be the case. Still, it was enough…enough to form the smallest of cracks between the harmony that ruled this pathetic planet.

And now that he had made the orange pony alienated from her friends as well as the dragons, he could now turn his attention the other purple dragon, Spike. Little by little, the pure magic that kept this new world in peace would be whittled away. The being had learned from past failed campaigns that, above all, he would need to exercise more patience than had previously been exhibited. The other silently scolded himself. Although his plan for the white alicorn had succeeded in allowing his presence to remain unknown, it was more due to luck than he would normally deem acceptable. Turning to meditation, he thought back to his ancestors. Why would they imprison him? And more importantly, how had he escaped?

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Slamming the front door shut, Applejack stormed into her house, knocking over a coat rack on her way. Without bothering to pick it up, she threw her Stetson onto the coffee table in the center of the living room before slumping down on to the lounge.

Gosh dang it! I can feel it in my hooves! That dragon is up to something… or maybe… he’s not telling us something. Instinct told the earth pony something was up, and she knew to never go against what instinct told her. While she continued to muse angrily, the farmpony’s brother Big Macintosh, swung the door open, carrying Applebloom on his back.

“Well howdy Applejack!” the young filly beamed. “What are you…” Applebloom’s expression fell suddenly at the withering glare. “W-what’s wrong sis?” She asked, while Big Mac looked onwards.

Upon hearing the concern in her younger sibling’s voice, Applejack’s frown fell into an apologetic smile.

“Nothin AB, come on and sit down here.” Patting the lounge space next to her, the orange mare gestured to both Big Mac and the filly. “So what have you been up to lil’ sis?” She asked softly, once all three ponies were seated and comfortable.

“Me and the crusaders were thinking of new ways to get our cutie marks!” She exclaimed, eliciting a deep rumbling chuckle from Mac and a roll of the eyes from AJ. “We’re gonna get our ambassador cutie marks.”

“When did you learn a fancy word like that?” Applejack asked, giving her sister a mane ruffle with one hoof.

“Miss Cheerilee used it when she taught us about the hearths warming eve story.” Applebloom giggled in delight as she got tickled by her older sibling.

“Well why in Equestria would you want an ambassador Cutiemark for?” The orange mare asked playfully.

“So we can talk to Spyro and Cynder, you know, cause they’re not from ‘round here.” The moment the young filly spoke the dragons’ names, Applejack’s eyes widened to the size of saucers before narrowing sharply in anger.

“APPLEBLOOM! I don’t ever want you hanging around those two, never ever! Ya hear!” She shouted heatedly. Getting up off the lounge, the mare grabbed her Stetson while walking up and down the length of the room.

“But… why?” Applebloom asked nervously.

“Why? WHY! Cause they’re nothing but dangerous critters. They came out of the Everfree for buck sake!” The moment she finished Big Mac got up and stomped his hoof on the floorboards, giving a very sharp and loud thud.

“NOPE! How dare you use that language in front of your own sister?” Mac leaned forward, planting his forehead onto his sister’s. “And what have you got against them anyway! Sure they killed one of the sheep, but they didn’t know she was ours and I am sure they are sorry about it.” Releasing the pressure between them Mac frowned before continuing. “Like Fluttershy said, they can’t help the way they are.”

“Well, if they can’t help it then maybe they should just be gotten rid of! Ain’t any room in my town for anything but ponies!” Applejack retorted.

The red stallion before, who had previously been snorting angrily, became deathly silent. Turning around, he gently grasped Applebloom’s hoof before taking her outside, all without saying another word.

“Well… Fine!!! Walk away!” Applejack shouted after they were gone. She couldn’t believe she had been abandoned by her own kin. The earth pony waited for a few minutes before leaving herself. Storming out of the house, she kept muttering to herself.

Yesss. A soft whisper of pleasure seemed to swim through her mind. It was almost seductive, the thought of which sent warm chills through her body. She felt… good, hating those dragons really was the right thing. At the sound of the voice, Applejack stopped for a moment, soaking in the feeling before continuing on, not realizing in her anger, that she was headed straight for the Everfree Forest.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Big Mac… w-why did Applejack get angry at me when I talked about my cutie mark?” The yellow filly walking slowly looked up to her big brother, concern obvious in her eyes.

“I ain’t sure AB… but something don’t sit right here.” Big Mac nudged Applebloom’s shoulder softly. “Come on, I reckon we need to have a talk with Twilight.” Leading his sister into town, Mac thought to himself angrily. Applejack would never act this way normally. He had known her for his entire life. Somepony or something was making her snap, and he was determined to find out what it was.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Spyro and Cynder sat glumly in the darkness, neither saying anything. Both were thinking the exact same thing, but it took a long time for either to say it.

“What do we do now, Spyro?” Cynder asked quietly. “I mean, we have been fighting for our entire lives… I don’t know anything else.” Crawling forward, she placed her cheek against his, soaking in the warmth that radiated from her mate.

Moving to curl up around her body, Spyro hummed softly, comforting the dragoness in his embrace.

“We raise our child after it hatches.” Spyro whispered softly. “It will be hard to adjust, I know, but we can do it, I’m sure.” He gently lifted her head up with his muzzle. “Come on, let’s hunt together.”

Smiling, Cynder nodded before following the purple dragon up the stairs and into the library. They gave a quick farewell to Twilight before leaving. Once outside, the pair wasted no time in launching off the ground and into the clear skies that waited.

Cynder had always loved flying, even in her darkened form. It gave her a sense of freedom that nothing else could. Once reaching half a kilometer in the air, she banked left with Spyro, heading out towards the carpet of dark green which loomed bellow. Once they were about three kilometers past the tree line, they swooped down under the tall canopy, a solid hundred meters still between them and the ground. They searched the immediate area for prey extensively, but not a single animal could be found. After a few more minutes of searching, they found out why.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Still fuming, Applejack galloped through the undergrowth, away from the village and the dragons she hated so much. Why did she hate them? The pony wondered for an uncertain, blurry moment. Shaking her head, she put her doubts aside. Those two were bad news, and that was that.

Suddenly, she tripped up over a log, her jaw hitting the ground sharply. Just before she could pick herself up however, the earth pony heard a low growling in the bushes around her. To Applejack it appeared to be coming everywhere at once. After a few tense moments, the culprits lurked out into vision.

Timberwolves, there had to be at least four of them, not counting those outside her field of vision. Just before they could pounce however, billowing black smoke rushed towards the ground, completely surrounding Applejack in a veil. She could hear the Timberwolves yelp in surprise and then, much to the earth pony’s shock, terror. Squinting heavily, the mare eventually noticed that darting in and out of the shadows were two figures, masked by the smoke. Each time one of the assailants swooped from the sky, another Timberwolf was carried off whimpering before a loud crack was heard followed by the individual wolf being silenced. After the fourth dull thud from a wolf’s body was heard, one of the figures fell from the sky right before her. It was the male dragon, Spyro.

“Stay here, no matter what!” He shouted over the sounds of the battle raging just out of sight. Applejack shook her head angrily.

“No way, I’m getting the hay outta here!” Before she could gallop off she was held down by a pair of Spyros paws. “Get away from me; you ain’t any better than the Timberwolves!” At that, Spyro frowned slightly before muttering.

“Sorry Applejack.” Using his earth elemental, he flung a piece of rock at the pony’s head, knocking her flat on the ground. Dazed, the orange mare got up shakily to her hooves. The first thing she noticed was her head seemed… lighter, like she had forgotten something important. Next, she noticed that, now the smoke had dissipated, it was clear the battle had been swift and terrible. Cynder was standing a ways away, flicking bits of twigs out of her mouth.

“Y-you saved my life! Oh my Celestia thank you! Oh how can I ever repay you?” She beamed, hugging Spyro suddenly. Cynder huffed and blew out a remainder of smoke from her nostrils.

“Yeah? Well don’t worry; I didn’t really want to... Wait what!” Cynder asked, her face mirroring the look of utter shock Spyro was giving Applejack.

“What’s wrong?” The mare asked, confused at the sudden hostility. “Ya’ll did just save my life back there.”

“But you don’t… hate us?” Spyro inquired slowly. Applejack’s eyes widened in shock and slight offence at the accusation.

“Why would I hate ya’ll, I haven’t even met you before.” Looking back to Cynder, Spyro gave her a questioning glance before receiving a shrug from the dragoness. “So what are ya’ll names?” The orange pony asked.

“Ummm, my name is Spyro a-and this is my mate Cynder.” The dragon said, gesturing towards the dragoness standing a few meters away, who nodded curtly.

“Well it’s mighty nice meeting both of you, especially after what happened with the Timberwolves. Speaking of which, would you two like to come with me to Ponyville? That’s the town I live in, come on; I’ll show you the way.” Applejack motioned with one hoof, before trotting off with the others in tow. On the journey out of the Forrest, Spyro tested to see how much of Applejacks memory was still intact.

“So… ummm, Applejack, what’s the last thing you remember before being attacked?” The dragon asked slowly, trying to discern what had happened. This caused the mare to frown noticeably, confused as to the reason she was being asked such a question.

“Well, I remember running through the forest, I was angry for some reason. And before that, I was… about to go check on the sheep…” Smiling sheepishly, Applejack slowed to a walk. “Don’t mind me; I must just be a bit forgetful.”

Still somewhat bewildered, Spyro took a deep breath before attempting to explain.

“You see, the thing is… Uhh, well, you already have met us. In fact, all of Ponyville has.” All three stopped dead in their tracks after he had spoken.

“What? Ain’t no way, I would have been there for that.” The Stetson wearing pony retorted.

“No, honestly, just let me explain.” Spyro exclaimed, continuing only after Applejack nodded in consent. “You see, we arrived on the outskirts of town a couple of days ago, your farm to be exact.” Sighing, Spyro began speaking a little more softly. “I know this will likely change your opinion of us, but we shouldn’t keep the truth from you. Not knowing any better, I killed and devoured one of your sheep.” Applejack’s eyes narrowed slightly in anger, but she kept her thoughts to herself. “For that, both of us are truly sorry. We are carnivores, that we won’t deny, but I know you must love all of those under your care, and so I apologize with the utmost sincerity.”

“Go on.” Applejack said simply, her face softening slightly. If he was truly and honestly sorry for what had happened, it was right that she should forgive the pair.

“Well, we announced ourselves to Ponyville, with some… difficulty. But after having met your rulers and more of the townsfolk, we eventually settled in. The only pony who didn’t like us was you, and to be honest, we didn’t take a huge fancy towards you either. But even so, when we saw you today being attacked, the pair of us knew we had to step in and help.” Spyro hung his head slightly, as recounting the tale brought to him, for reasons the dragon couldn’t quite fathom, memories which he did not wish to see. “When you refused to cooperate, I was forced to hit you in the head with a rock, which would explain the memory loss, for which I am again sorry.” Applejack scrutinized Spyro for a moment before looking to Cynder, who just gave a curt nod.

“This certainly is a bit of news. I don’t really like the idea of my livestock being eaten of all things… but, I know an honest pony when I see one, well dragon. I can see you truly are sorry, so I guess I forgive you, especially given you just saved my life and all.” Applejack tipped her hat, smiling warmly, though she was still sad given the knowledge one of her sheep had been killed.

“And what about Derpy, are you still mad at her?” Cynder piped up, the smallest amount of venom dripping from her voice.

“Why would I be mean to her, have you any idea what she’s been through?” Applejack asked, horrified. Both dragons’ jaws hung open. Something was wrong, very wrong.

“Spyro, this isn’t right… If this is the real Applejack, then who have we been dealing with before?” Cynder whispered into Spyro’s ear. The dragon was at an almost complete loss, but he knew one thing for sure; something else was at play here.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

No! No no no no no! The Entity had grown careless again, still too arrogant. The cognitive re-calibration of the orange pony’s mind from that rock had really put a snag in his plans. Months of work, forcing the wretched mare away from her brother, using the Pegasus as a catalyst, all for nothing. The other needed to play his cards closer to his chest. Even so, the dragons were now a liability that would have to be dealt with. The Timberwolves had not been a part of his plans previously, a hindrance if anything else, but now they soon would be. Conjuring what spirits were left from the now broken lumps of wood, he twisted them to his will, before forming his weapon of choice.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

The trio had been walking for a little under half an hour when Cynder came to a stop. Looking about, the dragoness noticed a slight rustle in the wind which blew through the trees. Mist obscured most of her view, but just past the fog, she could see two glowing eyes. Cynder was about to warn her mate when Spyro whispered into her ear.

“I see it too.” Spyro whispered into her ear. Using his earth elemental, the purple dragon created a small shelter that could withstand most any force. “Applejack, stay in here and stay down.” The mare nodded, fear etched into her expression. Turning back to Cynder, they shared a look before the dragoness dove into the ground, preparing an ambush. Just as she disappeared, a Timberwolf emerged from the darkness. Spyro growled softly, a warning to the new threat. It must have been at least the size of a battering ram, not counting that it had wickedly sharp teeth and claws. Once in position, Cynder signaled mentally to her mate. Breathing in deeply, both veterans prepared to fight once more.

Chapter 3

By the time Celestia had received Twilights message, Ericson’s ponies were still being outfitted with armour. Celestia told them to disband, but remain ready in case she called for their accompaniment. By what her student had written, these creatures would require the intervention of royalty. Even so, the elder Princess was curious as to how her ponies would handle the situation. The day was still young, and so, she decided to wait until the next morning before investigating herself. She still had the rest of her cake to finish. Tons of free food was a great perk of royalty, and not one that Celestia was willing to waste.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

“What do you mean they want to apologize?” Applejack was furious, not just that the dragons were in town, but that they were also given a safe haven. If it were her decision, she would throw both of them in one of Canterlot’s dungeons.

“Look, Applejack, I know you’re angry…” Before Twilight could further argue her point, the orange mare interrupted, if only to vent her hatred.

“Damn right I’m angry, you can’t just let a pair of dragons stay in Ponyville! What if they attack somepony?” Snorting with frustration, Applejack tried to restrain herself from going too far. She was angry, yes, but had no intention of losing a friendship over the situation.

“That’s why you’re here Applejack; I want you to tell me if they are lying. But if they are in fact honest dragons, do you really think it’s right to keep them under arrest?” Still fuming, the country pony turned away. Despite her distrust, Twilight had a point; false imprisonment wasn’t something she was sure would leave her in good conscience.

“Yeah, I s’pose they deserve a chance.” She got up from the bed she had woken up in, Twilight’s, as it turned out. At first, Applejack had thought a series of very awkward conversations were in order, but soon remembered the two dragons. Twilight gave a relieved smile, and then led the way to the basement door.

“You ready for this?” Applejack grunted affirmation. The door opened slowly, revealing the two dragons, who were… slamming the door shut, Twilight turned to look at Applejack, who shared a look of utter bewilderment. Had they been… no way, why would they, not here at least. Opening the door again, Twilight found, to her relief that they had just been… playing… of sorts, Although playing would have been a poor substitute for the pitched battle that now raged between the two dragons. Both were laughing hysterically, whilst landing blows that Twilight was sure could rent a pony in two. So engrossed were Spyro and Cynder in their leisure, that it took Twilight’s verbal intervention in order that they stopped. Cynder was the first to speak.

“Oh hi, Twilight. Have you come to talk about honesty, because I realized that I do owe your kind an apology, you didn’t ask for us to come here, and, well, I’m sorry for hurting your friends” Cynder’s drastic change in attitude caught Twilight quite unawares, having expected some more arguing.

“Umm, thanks.” Straightening her neck, trying to appear confident, the purple unicorn got straight to the point. “Now, I need you to tell your story to Applejack here, she will be able to tell whether or not you’re lying.” She nodded to Applejack, who sat, waiting for the tale to begin. Spyro smiled awkwardly, before offering his voice.

“Well, As I already said to Twilight, Cynder and I, were part of a great war. We were forced to confront the enemy’s leader.” Tears were forming at the corner of his eyes, combat shock, as Ignitus had once described, becoming a very real possibility for the young dragon. “During the subsequent battle, we were trapped in the centre of our planet, which was, due to… certain… reasons, breaking apart…” Spyro began to break down. He knew that countless lives had been lost at the hands of the destroyer, lives lost because of him. Cynder took a moment to comfort her mate, before continuing their account.

“It’s true; our planet was falling apart, soon to fall out of orbit and crash into our star. But Spyro saved us; he brought the planet back to health, saving everydragon on Avalar, not to mention all the other species.” Cynder nuzzled her companion, trying to remind him of the good he had done, despite his mistakes. Twilight took this moment to ask for Applejacks judgement. The orange mare remained silent for a few seconds, before nodding slowly.

“Their telling the truth, but let’s wait for ‘em to finish first.” Twilight smiled, glad that her trust in these dragons was well founded.

“After the planet was saved, Spyro and I were trapped. We were surrounded by molten rock, and it seemed that the end was near. I… Spyro was unconscious, so I curled up next to him. For all rights we were dead, but then… everything went black. When I woke up, I was in the forest near this town.” Cynder paused, looking to Applejack.

“Keep talking missy.” Applejack was clearly still angry, but slowly, her frown was starting to soften.

“When I woke up, I searched for Spyro. I found him with the sheep he had just killed, and you were lying on the ground.” Cynder thought about omitting certain information, but decided not to. If this mare was symbolic of honesty, she would be able to tell if Cynder was hiding something. “I won’t lie, I was about to eat you, Applejack,” The colour drained from both ponies faces immediately, Twilight especially, seemed quite faint. “But Spyro stopped me. We flew away into the forest where you’re friend, the blue one…”

“Her name is Rainbowdash.” Applejack corrected the Dragoness.

“I stand corrected. Anyway, Rainbowdash attacked us while we were feeding. Using my powers, I was able to dodge her attack. If I hadn’t had my head in a carcass, that poor excuse for a flier wouldn’t have even come close. In either case, I pinned her to the ground, then released her at Spyro’s wish, with the condition she leave us be.” Cynder stepped closer to her mate, who had by now regained his composure. Before either could continue, Applejack again interrupted.

“That still don’t explain why you came back.” Spyro was the one to answer this time, but he spoke for both himself and Cynder.

“We came to apologise. We may not know much about your community, but we understand that fighting won’t solve anything. In addition, we are kinda stuck here, for the time being anyway, so we want to make a contribution to your people. It’s the least we could do after killing your livestock.” Once Spyro concluded, Applejack was forced to admit the obvious.

“I can tell your telling the truth. What in the hay makes you wanna play nice is still a mystery to me though.” Spyro looked to Cynder, a hint of sadness on her face. She had hoped that opening up to this pony would improve their relationship, but it seemed to have no such effect.

“Why do you have such trouble accepting us, even when you know we mean no harm?” Spyro asked, a little hurt by the response that followed.

“Cause dragons are nothing but no good, thieving brutes.” Applejack retorted. Cynder growled, answering softly, but firmly.

“Then you know very little of our kind, or at least the dragons of Avalar. Perhaps our kinds are not so different. In our world, we live by the code of freedom; the belief that all creatures should be free to live their lives. Those who try to enslave or needlessly kill others are brought to justice. Those who act in love and charity are treated in kind.” Twilight smiled as she listened. Perhaps the young dragoness was right, after all, love and tolerance were clearly values both Cynder and Spyro held dear. The young unicorn was now seriously regretting the letter she sent to the princess, but she could not send any more without spike. It seemed some introductions would be in order.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

Cynder raised her eyelids after facepawing. “So let me get this straight. We are just going to waltz out into town and suddenly everyone will like us?” It was mid-late afternoon by then, and Twilight knew the sooner everypony knew about Ponyville’s guests, the better.

“Well, not exactly,” she replied. “I am going to take you to see the mayor first, and then she will announce the news for you. I just hope Pinkie Pie doesn’t notice you before then.” Both Cynder and Spyro paused in confusion.

“Who’s Pinkie Pie?” Spyro’s ignorance caused Applejack to chuckle knowingly.

“Oh, ya’ll find out soon enough.” Spyro pondered the situation for a moment further, while Cynder narrowed her eyes in suspicion. Neither dragon wanted to start an argument, so they remained silent for the time being. Twilight walked up to the front door of the library, preparing for the hailstorm of odd, curious and likely frightened looks from other ponies.

“Alright, everypony…uh, and dragons, let’s go.” The door swung open, this time obviously due to the lavender Unicorn’s magic. The afternoon light was scattered by a few clouds in the distance, allowing an unobstructed view of the town. It was only a short walk to the town hall, but to the young dragons, it felt like trekking through the burning lands, twice. Just as predicted, everypony stared. Although there was only one scream of panic to be heard, there were also a lot of frightened stares. Much to Cynder’s surprise, there were also a few friendly smiles. One light purple unicorn came up and said hello.

“Hi, my name is Dinky. Mummy said it’s polite to say hello to new ponies in town. Why do you have funny colours and shapes?” Suddenly, an idea formed in the young filly’s head, causing her to gasp. “Are you special ponies? Are you a prince and princess?” Before she could continue with her assault of questions, an older grey Pegasus, with matching gold mane and eyes, apologised for her daughter’s behaviour.

“I’m so sorry; my daughter has never met dragons before. She loves meeting new ponies, or dragons as it may be in this case.” The new mare smiled sheepishly, her eyes beginning to cross curiously. “My name is Ditzy, and before you ask, I’ve had the defect from birth. Everypony asks, whether they are still willing to be nice is the important part.” Spyro frowned, while Cynder said her condolences.

“We are both sorry. I’m guessing that you have not always been respected as a… mare.” Cynder was confused as to why this mare remained so apparently happy, despite the sombre topic of conversation.

“Well, yes… but that’s ok. What are your names?” Both dragons smiled, Ditzy’s bubbling happiness was infectious.

“My name is Cynder, and my… friend here is Spyro.” Ditzy and Dinky, much to the dragon’s surprise, rushed forward, hugged the two dragons, and then bounced around in circles, seemingly overwhelmed with joy. Ditzy eventually stopped, only to resume talking to the purple dragons.

“Can I be your friend please, and can you be friends with Dinky too… please?!” It was becoming apparent to Cynder and Spyro that the thing Ditzy was asking for, the thing that makes life worth living, was what she received the least. It was heartbreaking, so Cynder made this her first official act in Ponyville.

“Of course we will be your friends; nothing would make us happier.” Spyro smiled, nodding a confirmation of his mate’s kind words. Both mother and daughter stood wide eyed for a moment, causing Cynder to wonder if they had really been treated so poorly in the past. The thought of anything tormenting the emotions of such a kind creature, filled the dragoness’s heart with anger, but she concealed it for the sake of her newfound friend. After standing still for a few moments, the ponies threw themselves at the now bewildered dragons, tackling them onto the soft grass, Ditzy and Dinky both laughing hysterically. They were soon joined by Spyro and Cynder, who enjoyed being able to, for a moment at least, set aside haunting memories and future troubles, in favour of enjoying the company of those they loved. It was hard for Cynder to fully understand, but she felt oddly relaxed around these two ponies, as though their mere presence made the world just that much brighter. When they finally got back up, Spyro and Cynder were still chuckling, as were the mare and filly.

“Would you two like to come with us to town hall? We are going to be introduced to the whole town by your mayor.” Spyro’s question was met by immediate regret.

“Oh… uh, would I have to…um, give a sp-speech?” Ditzy was not a good public speaker, and was certain she would mess up. This, the mare knew, usually ended with two results; stallions laughing at her, and mares whispering with gossip about her daughter, whom, contrary to some rumours, she loved very much.

“No, no of course not, we just wanted a friend we could talk to before and after.” The obviously nervous behaviour from Ditzy was indicative to Spyro, of her unfortunate standing in the community, a realization which made him, like Cynder quite annoyed. The mare’s eyes lit up again, relieved that her fears had been put to rest.

A small distance away, Applejack, who was still stone faced, watched the events unfolding before her eyes. She didn’t want to admit it, but these dragons were proving to be kinder than she had given them credit for. Twilight stood next to her, a broad smile growing rapidly.

“Isn’t it great that Ditzy made some new friends? You know that she is not exactly the most popular mare in town, and has faced the brunt of Ponyville’s bullies.” Twilight had been Ditzy’s only friend prior to this moment. Even the other elements, while not openly hostile, would often just ignore her. In fact, Rainbowdash could, at times, be quite mean to the poor mare. It was a proud moment for Twilight, as she had, like the grey Pegasus, been on the receiving end of bullies, thus they seemed to share an odd kinship, united by their own pain.

“Yeah, I guess so.” Applejack stood still, starting to feel just the slightest bit guilty for believing the rumours around town. She had especially regretted being sucked into anything concerning Dinky. Once, when Ditzy had been seeing her brother, Big Mac, the only stallion she had ever dated in her life, Applejack learnt one of her best lessons in life; never judge a book by its cover. Being a single mother, Ditzy had been ripe for gossip amongst other mares. Some said she had gotten a divorce, while others painted her out to be a whore. Neither was true, as Applejack had the misfortune to discover. While she could see through the lies others perpetuated, the orange mare did not want her brother seeing a dishonest mare. Upon confronting Ditzy, even going so far as to accuse her of cheating on Big Mac, she discovered the horrible truth of Dinky’s origins. Ditzy had been raped. Applejack’s behaviour had, at the time, led to an unnecessary break up. In truth, Ditzy was the only mare Big Macintosh had ever fallen in love with, and Applejack was, to this day, unsure if her brother had completely forgiven her for hurting his only mare friend. Snapping back to the present, Applejack noticed Twilight waving a hoof in front of her face.

“Applejack… still awake?” Twilight lowered her hoof, realising all was back to normal.

“Yeah I’m fine, let’s get going before it gets dark.” The motley crew of ponies and dragons began to make their way towards town hall. Spyro leaned in, whispering to Cynder.

“How do you think it’ll go?” Cynder shook her head before replying, her neck jewellery making the softest of chinks. Each time she walked, she sounded like a loose bag of bits, but nopony said anything. Spyro hardly even noticed, after all, it’s the dragon on the inside that counts.

“In all honesty, I haven’t a clue… I just hope they are half as friendly as Ditzy and Dinky.” The two dragons entwined their tails, resting the heads against one another.

“Me too.” They advanced towards the town hall, which now took up a significant portion of the horizon. For better or worse, they had to announce their intentions, else the serpent of lies and deceit, feed by ignorance, would begin to slither, making life all the more difficult.

I'm sorry

I have recently gone through some extremely bad personal stuff, so this story is taking a very long break until i can sort it out. In addition, i have completed the plot, and i can't use nyx. I'm sorry.