Even Gods Make Mistakes

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.

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“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.

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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.