Even Gods Make Mistakes

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.

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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.