Even Gods Make Mistakes

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.

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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.

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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.’

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“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.