Emperor Spike Meets Spyro the dragon

Chapters

Purple dragon meet the Purple Dragon.

Purple dragon meet the Purple Dragon.

Somewhere, deep in the Everfree Forest, a dozen smooth stones rose from the river and snapped together, forming a keystone arch... and four young dragons flew out of the new portal.

"Whoa, the gem detector that Zantor gave us is going crazy!" Spyro grinned, sweeping the device in an arc. "So many gems, and not a gnorc in sight!"

Cynder rested a paw on his shoulder before he could fly off. "Don't get greedy, now. I sense other dragons here. Lots of them... and one that's especially powerful." She looked up towards Canterlot Castle, Emperor Spike's new aery...

"Nothing my darling Spyro can't handle," Ember said, earning a death glare from Cynder.

"Flashwing's gonna be sorry she missed this," said Flame.

"Hey, purple dragon, immune to fate and born with the power to change destiny over here," Spyro boasted.

"Oooh, ahhh." Flame rolled his eyes and nudged Ember. "There's nothing to worry about. If Spyro's too weak, I've got it covered."

Cynder started forward, shaking her head, and froze. "What if... this powerful dragon was also purple..."

"Well, you and I kicked Malefor's tail while the babies-" "HEY!" "-were helpless at home. One on one I guess we cancel each other out. But the point is that we've taken on other purple dragons before. And I can't be the only purple dragon in the world who didn't go nuts."

Cynder smiled. "You're right. I'm sure we'll be fine." A flicker of green seemed to pass before her eyes. "I can sense Lord Spike's power all the way from here. Once our world is under his protection, Malefor won't dare return to cause us more trouble."

The same green spark seemed to pass before Spyro... except it flickered out before it could finish. The same flicker occurred again and again, fading out faster the harder it tried.

"Uh, who's Lord Spike exactly? And I'm pretty sure even without me we've got other dragons and friends doing the protecting already."

The air rippled subtly, as if breezies were having a tug-o-war. Flame snorted. "Typical Spyro. So eager to rush off to be the hero that he didn't even pay attention to the mission briefing!"

Ember nodded along. "There's more treasure to be had here than just gems. Although... when did we get his name?"

"He told me," said Cynder. She tapped a claw to the side of her head. "He's eager to meet us, too!"

"Okay, I know I tend to go for the cliff notes when dragons don't tell me everything in just a couple sentences, but I don't remember anything about us wanting to recruit another new Guardian dragon. And hey, Flame, you've gone a whole five minutes without copying me or worshipping the ground I walk on, great to see you finally being your own dragon, buddy!"

There was a leathery swoosh of dragon wings, followed by the thump of something massive settling to the ground. Flame gaped, looking past Spyro. "Huh? Eh, whatever... Check that out!"

Ember looked distinctly weak in the knees, and Cynder... knelt down!? "Lord Spike! You came here yourself, and so swiftly!"

Standing over them was an elder that would give even Malefor pause! Mighty... magical potential pouring off him in waves... purple, lighter than Spyro but very definitely purple... and green. "Well, well..."

"Okay, I'm guessing you're Lord Spike?"

"That's me!" The same subtle flash of green came towards Spyro, but snuffed out before it could even get close.

"... Well, nice to meet another fellow purple who isn't out to conquer the world. But if you used telepathy to have a chat with Cynder, she kinda implied you'd be waiting for us at whatever you wanted to meet us. And Cynder, what's with the kneeling? I know we're in his neck of the woods, but since when do you kneel to anybody?"

Spike grinned handsomely, chaotic starlight flickering in his green-slitted pupils. "I changed my mind. After all, it's not every day that I get to meet dragons from a whole other world." His gaze settled on Cynder. "Go on, Cynder. Tell us."

"Because he's the one I've been searching for, Spyro. Power calls to power, after all." Cynder was nearly as large and strong as Spike, dwarfing her friends from the other world, even kneeling. Yes, of course she always was. Her platinum bands and tail spike fit her huge body perfectly, nothing odd about that. "Malefor... He's fallen. Not worthy of me, like Lord Spike is. It was Malefor's fault that I fell."

Spyro gasped, "Whao! Cynder! I didn't know you kept that trick of changing to adult size instantly after we got Malefor's magic out of you! Ya should've said something... imagine all the 'not without an adult' rated movies we could've snuck into!"

Cynder's adult form looked a lot better than Spyro remembered from the last time he saw it... healthy and strong, rather than emaciated. The blackened scales even had a hint of the purple sheen she must have once had. Could time heal even that, give her the full power of a purple dragon again someday?

Ember and Flame looked at Spyro like he'd grown an extra head and started singing about imagination.

Ember said, "Spyro, what kind of nonsense are you saying..." Ember felt a bit dizzy and confused. "You'd never sneak into a 'not without an adult' rated movie! That'd be like taking two parking spaces!"

"Hey! It's not THAT evil! ... Besides, heh, everyone and their granny knows I'm a little scamp, ask all the sheep I've roasted. ... And I had to save Flame from some very angry rams when he tried to imitate me."

"You just have to keep bringing that up," rumbled Flame, chuckling and ruffling Spryo's fins. "It's been a quite a while since I was smaller than you, Spyro!"

"You certainly are strong," agreed Lord Spike. "Nowhere close to me, but what drake is? You'd make a good soldier in my Dragon Guard."

Spyro asked, "You talking to me or Flame? Cause I've kinda already got a gig protecting my realm from trouble makers who seem to always pop up."

"He's talking to me, of course," said Flame confidently. "It's a tempting offer... but me, Ember, and Cynder are honored to serve as the protectors of our legendary purple dragon pal. You know, since he turned out to be the runt of our generation, even with all those legendary powers. Heck, Ember hardly trains, and she still turned out way bigger and stronger than... hey!"

Spike was narrowing his eyes, looking mildly annoyed about something... until Ember rushed over and leaned against his flank, nuzzling and cooing.

Cynder gasped. "Ember, you can't just... What if you've offended Lord Spike?"

Spyro looked at the new equally large sized Ember and Flame then focused on Ember fawning over Spike. "Hey Ember, nice to see you understand that you can fall for someone else besides me. But you gotta learn to stop coming on so strong! Gotta get to know a guy first. And Cynder! If you were gonna teach the babies the same trick of growing big out of nowhere you learned while you were Malefor's minion, you could have taught me first!"

Cynder felt dizzy for a moment, before saying, "Sorry Spyro, you're kind of super-powerful as it is. I was worried even MORE power might go to your head more than usual."

Spike frowned, taking a step back, as Cynder confirmed and elaborated on what Spyro said. "Could he have the same..." He shrugged off the odd expression, smiling again. "I'd love to find out more about purple dragons. Believe it or not, my egg was orphaned, and no creature knows where it really came from."

"Really?" Spyro said sympathetically.

Ember said, wilting, "That's so sad."

"Sorry to hear dude," Flame added.

"That's kinda the story for all of us," Cynder said.

Spyro asked, "Was your egg stolen? I've head-butted more egg-thieves than I can count! Even once permanently took out a witch who stole a buncha eggs just so she could chop off all their wings to make herself live longer, which she'd already done once before! Monster was gonna kill'em just so they wouldn't squirm!"

Lord Spike recoiled. "Whaaat?! Things like that... Creatures like that... That shouldn't happen, ever!" He caught himself. "But of course, you took care of that a long time ago already." He huffed some green flames. "If there was anybody who even thought about hurting dragons like that in Equestria, I'd..." He seemed to realize that he was getting too worked up again. "I'd make them regret it, and then some."

"Well, nice to hear, big guy," Spyro said. "Trust me. I know exactly what you mean. Really it was just me taking care of it... and a buncha friends I picked up along the way, including this one cute fawn." Cynder gave Spyro a look. "I hadn't even met these pals yet."

Spike got a thoughtful look and sat, leaning down. "I can't figure you out... Spyro." The other dragons became oddly fixated on other things, seeming to pay no attention to this conversation. "You have more power than you know, and you've done so little for yourself with it." He waggled a claw. "Haven't you ever wanted to be big and strong, like your friend Cynder? Why would you need to be taught some trick? Just do it."

Spyro tried to picture himself doing that, tail swishing thoughtfully. "Huh, that would be a neat trick to have. And seriously, the attention would be cool. Who am I kidding, it'd be awesome! But I'd never hear the end of it from the elders. And I wouldn't hear the end of it from Sparx neither. And it would be harder for Elora to give me a hug like that, don't tell'er I said that! I never get tired of trying out a new power, but a guy's gotta have some challenges right? And if I could 'just do' stuff, I wish I could've 'just done' that running leaping edge race course above a smelly swamp, instead of banging my head, over and over... and over."

Spike chuckled. "Challenges. I've done plenty. Helped, organized, slaved away, saved the world a few times... I don't mind taking what I've earned, enjoying what I'm due. Your elders wouldn't scold you if you'd always been big. This Elora fawn that you care about, she could be big too. Or a dragon like you." He cleared his throat. "If you could use your imagination, play a little what-if... Heh, sky's the limit."

"Eh… Imagining stuff was never really my strong suit, I kinda AM just a 'do it to it' kinda dragon. If I was always big, that just means I was small before. Elora as a dragon? Geeze! At least right now I can say we're 'just friends', but having THREE dragons who are girls and are my friends? ... Okay, Ember's more like a dreamy fantasy fangirl. But I feel comfy around Cynder. And Elora is the first girl anything I made a connection with... being raised by the elders and everything... they're BIG on the whole 'division of the guys and gals' things. Boys are looked after by guys, girls are looked after by ladies."

“Sheesh, you’re selfless. I was like that, once…” Spike casually waved a claw, and Spyro's friends tuned into the conversation again. "It's been interesting meeting you, Spyro the Dragon and protectors." A scroll appeared in a flash of green flame. "Take this letter of introduction back to your Elders." Spike looked to the three rather large young dragons, and the one small purple one. "All of you, please enjoy the gifts you've received here. By that, I mean these fine Equestrian gems of course." A basket full of them appeared, sparkling with an eerie green glow. "Travel safely..." He winked. "And don't be afraid to dream big."

As they flew back into the portal, beginning their journey through the mystic in-between skies, Spyro glided higher, waving to get the attention of his friends. "Hey guys? Being big like that is cool and everything, I mean super-cool... but it's kinda awkward for us to fly in formation like this. Ya mind gettin' back to yer real ages for me?"

There was another one of those odd ripples, as the young dragons remembered that their current size was a magical enhancement. It felt great being stronger, but Spyro did raise a good point.

"Ugh, fine..." grumbled Flame, switching back in midair.

Ember dropped back a bit, then rose quickly, catching Spyro and carrying him on her back! "If you want to rest your wings, I could always carry you like this. Mmm, don't worry, it's no trouble..."

Flame grinned slyly. "Well, if you're offering!" But Ember dodged before he could land on her back too. "Um, oh no, turbulence! I really shouldn't carry more than one, heehee!"

Cynder groaned deeply. "And you wonder why he calls you the babies." She shrank herself back to normal, setting a good example.

"Well, we're pretty sure you and me hatched first. I mean, it's not like we know when you hatched but still... Ember, I thought, uh... " More like hoped, but Spike resisted saying that. "I thought you wanted to fawn over Spike some more. And Cynder, what did you mean by Spike being 'worthy' of you unlike that abusive jerk who called himself your father?"

Now Ember did waver in her flight, as did Cynder, as both felt a wave of confusion. Those things had happened... but it was like they'd been 'swept under the rug' somehow, it wasn't like they'd forgotten, but someone, more important, had forgotten about it. There was an odd sense of alienation now that Spyro brought it to their attention. Lord Spike had made clear it was time for them to immediately withdraw after their few minutes stay with his gift of treasure and letter of peace to the elders... But they'd already acted like they'd completely forgotten they'd said those things before.

On a minor note, Flame and Ember were now certain that while the four of them WERE very close in age, Spyro and Cynder had indeed hatched first.

"We do need to report back to the Elders," mused Ember, "but I wouldn't mind spending more time with Lord Spike after that!"

"Well, don't think you're getting him all to yourself!" said Cynder. She blinked. "I mean... If we have time to visit again. Actually, I'm not sure why Spike impressed me that much. I guess I just had a good feeling about him. I can definitely appreciate a dragon as strong as he is."

"Well, after we blew away Malefor, any dragon can tell ya size doesn't matter." Spike said proudly making a statuesque pose. "You don't need to be big to kick big tail!"

"Sounds like something a small dragon would say," teased Flame. Ember swatted at him with her tail, then whistled innocently, until Cynder glared at her, pointing a thumbclaw down. "Okay, alright already." She shrank abruptly, leaving Spyro to plummet until he got his own wings spread.

Spyro was quick to regain his dignity, flying in perfect formation with the others. As much as he loved his friends he'd made fighting Ripto and the Sorceress, there were some things he needed a fellow dragon or three to relate to.

Something about the encounter with Lord Spike still felt not quite right. The way he’d brushed off the idea of becoming big and strong like his friends… it was like seeing a Superfly relic or a fairy offering magic kisses, and just passing them by. Then again, he'd never been tempted to try those magic berries himself...

Spyro glanced towards Cynder, flying in formation beside him. If Cynder was the oldest and she'd known about the trick longer, shouldn't she be able to get even larger than Flame and Ember? Heh, that would be cool to watch, sometime when she wouldn't be overshadowing their host.

Cynder blinked, seeming to fly with stronger, more confident wingbeats.

Then she smirked, and Spyro realized that he'd been staring and hastily glanced away. "Maybe I should teach you," she mused aloud. "Show you the basics, at least. Show you what I can do..."

"Heh! I'm sure it'll be fun!" Spyro said. "Just don't go telling the elders, or they'll tell us not to do it!"

"Naughty forbidden knowledge, huh? Speaking of which, I'm not responsible if you get nightmares from watching Invasion of the Egg-Eaters From Space Part VII." Cynder quipped.

"Hey, I'm not Flame."

"I did not have nightmares!” protested Flame awkwardly. “I was... fighting alien invaders in my sleep, that's all."

Wait, why was Cynder thinking about Spyro like this? Wasn't Lord Spike the one she was interested in? ... Of course, no one would say a dragoness couldn't change her mind! As they flew out the exit portal, she made a decision. "Just after dark, at the Forest Edge camp." Cynder lowered her voice so Ember won't overhear. "We should have the place to ourselves then."

"So how was it?” asked Flashwing, seeing her flightmates return. “Looks like I don't need to rescue you from any other-worldly evil mind control mushrooms."

Yeah, things had gotten strange in the Dragon Lands after the third realm merged into their own, bringing floating sky islands and all kinds of interesting tech. And Flashwing too, coincidentally.

Flame razzed her. "Oh, nothing much. We only discovered the world of Equestria and met Spike, the super-cool dragon who rules it!"

"Ah! So you weren't put under evil magical mind control that I need to zap out of you?" The alien dragon slyly summoned some crystals around her that glowed with power within.

"Flashwing... I know you're eager to hit us all with like, five different laser-breaths all at once, but can ya be a little less trigger happy?" Flame asked.

"Blasting us with lasers is just her way of showing off, only cause she likes you," Spyro teased.

Several beams of scorching light shot from the half-crystal dragon at once.

"I didn't mean for you to actually do it!" yelped Spyro, but the lasers missed them, instead blasting a small blue round fuzzy creature with insect wings and big green compound eyes. It's shape remained for a moment in mid-air, before the remaining soot crumbled away.

"Just taking care of some unwanted guests that came with you."

"That could have been their version of a fairy who came through to make friends!" Ember declared, scandalized.

"Possibly, but I'm pretty sure it was an invasive species," Flashwing said, not disturbed in the least.

When the young dragons delivered their report, the Elders were cautiously optimistic about adding Equestria to the portal network.

"Such fascinating gems," mused Nestor, as he examined one with a small magnifying lens. "Why do you suppose Spike packed valuable gems in these little paper cartons with napkins?"

"We need to investigate further before we get all buddy-buddy with this Spike," insisted Magnus. "We haven't even met any of the dragons he supposedly rules."

"It was kinda hi-bye," Spyro admitted.

Flame shrugged. "We... didn't want to give Flashwing an excuse to fly to save us by lasering everything in sight."

Cynder defended, "We were just making sure the portal worked."

"And what if it hadn't?" Sparx asked. "You come out as a four-headed dragon thingie?"

"Ancients forbid!" said Flame.

Ember brightened up. "I would have been together with Spyro!" Her face fell. "And you other guys..."

Flashwing said, "I'd rather have some private conversations with some of you rather than have it all shared... But would you all be on the shoulders? Or would one of you be the tail?"

Flame covered his face with his paws. "Why are we still talking about this?!"

Speaking of private conversations... It took a while to answer all of Flashwing's questions so she'd stop pestering them, but eventually Cynder and Spyro were able to meet up at the training ground as planned. It was a cool and blustery night outside, lanterns swaying in the breeze.

"So," mused Cynder, shifting from foot to foot a bit self-consciously. "How to describe this..."

Spyro said, "Don't worry, I'm sure you can explain it well enough for me to get it."

"It's sort of like a fairy kiss," Cynder began. "Except that technically I'm the fairy, and it's not really like that... Sorry, let me start again." Deep breath. "The way it works for me is, I build an image of myself, big and grownup. That part was easy for me, because... you know, but I had to coach Ember and Flame through it. Then I focus my dragon powers, push them into the image, and..."

In mere moments, Cynder grew into a strong, mature dragoness, looming over Spike like one of the Elders again. She shivered, taking a few quick breaths before opening her eyes again. "I can go bigger than this, but I haven't shown anybody that yet. I wanted to build a different image, so I could help the others better."

"WOW! Cool!” Spyro took to the air, hovering nose to nose with her. “You look kinda rad like this... I mean, now that you're not ... I mean, now that you're you, instead of not you! You’re great at teaching, too. I understood all of that, no problem!”

Cynder shuffled larger paws, blushing, but she stood tall and confident afterwards. "Thanks, Spyro! Now, don't get discouraged if you can't do this right away. Even as good as you are at picking things up fast, this, well... it's quite a trick!"

Spyro settled back to the ground. "Humph! This is me we're talking about! You know how many times I had to roll my eyes listening to elders telling me how to glide for like, what? The fifth time? The last time I had to practice, it was that skateboarding stuff!"

"I still don't know what you saw in it."

"It was a phase!"

Cynder crouched down to look her friend in the eyes. "Okay, then, Mr. Rad Dragon Skater." She grinned. "Show me grownup Spyro."

"You want it! You got it!" Spyro said confidently. Nowhere in his mind was there any doubt he could pull this off.

"So, has the 'Spyro's turned evil' alarm gone off?" Flashwing asked.

"Flashy, I find it MORE disturbing how often you ask that!" Sparx said. "And no it hasn't!"

"I'm an alien crystal dragon who doesn't even know where she came from, whose powers are focused on creation and destruction. I'm too young to get a construction permit. And there's a distinct lack of nasties for me to show off my other talents on lately.” Flashwing turned away, pouting. “Spyro won't spar with me, either."

"That's because you never know how to hold back."

"Hey, I give everything my all!" Flashwing said indignantly.

In Spyro's mind's eye, he saw himself growing bigger, stronger, more handsome looking, and all and all around cooler. And before Cynder's eyes, Spyro DID grow larger, and larger, becoming more majestic and mighty than Lord Spike, an awe inspiring sight that radiated power!

"I can see my nest from here!" Spyro declared. "Whoa! That's my voice? Neat!"

Cynder's jaw hit the ground. Where before she had been looking at Spyro, now his paws took up her whole field of view, until she sat up and looked past a broad armored chest... to a familiar face grinning down at her. "Spyro! You... you did it in ONE try? And you're so..." She felt faint, had to remind herself to breathe. "Oh my gosh..."

"Even more 'totally rad' than before? Oh I know it!... " Spyro grinned, showing off the side of his body, lifting his tail and spreading his wings. He looked down. "Though I don't think they make skateboards in this size... Whao... " Spyro lifted one foot, testing his balance. "So this is what it's like on two legs? Feels weird." Spyro said, obliviously showing off his muscular legs and hips to Cynder.

Cynder had become a sizable four-legged dragon, the same as Flame and Ember, the same as her old corrupted form, and that had seemed fine and perfectly natural... until now. "If you're going to do that, Spyro... you won't mind if I do this!" The dark dragoness twitched in eager anticipation, then summoned that other form to mind, rising up, growing as she shifted to a two-legged form of her own. She didn't know if she would turn out taller than Spyro or shorter... either would work for her, oh yes...

As it was, Cynder found herself maybe a little bit shorter than Spyro maybe, but only just enough so she couldn't say she was taller than him.

"Whao! Check you out!"

Cynder swayed on muscular legs, shifting her tail to balance. "This is so weird..." She curled and splayed her foreclaws... no, her hands... fists. "Oh! These seem useful."

Spyro used his own claws to catch hold of Cynder's shoulders just in case she fell over or something.

She twisted around, trying to see everything. "Should we be wearing something?" She looked Spyro over again, covering his hand with hers, feeling the warm scaled texture of it. "Mmm, not that I really want to cover up any part of you..." She blinked. "How do adults get anything done, with feelings like these? Oh, right..."

Spyro asked, "Feel like what? This awesome? Pretty sure that's just me. And... they probably get used to it over time. Instead of, you know, growing up all at once?"

Cynder started to answer, then closed her mouth with a knowing grin. Spyro had physically grown up in an instant, but mental maturity would take a bit longer, it seemed. "You are awesome," purred Cynder. "Even more amazing than 'Lord' Spike. I'm glad I taught you this, so I could see just how much better you are."

"WHAT IS THAT NOISE?!" Flashwing shouted as sirens blared, covering her head.

"That's my Spyro hitting puberty alarm!" Sparx called out, holding his hands to his head where his ears would be.

"What is that awful noise?" said Cynder, annoyed at the faint but shrill sound that was distracting her from feasting her eyes on Spyro. "I wish they'd keep those tech toys quiet."

That was when they were hit by full force of one of Flashwing laser barrages, causing the ground to shake as they fell over.

"I KNEW IT!" Sparx declared, swooping in with Flashwing.

Spyro winced. "WE HAVEN'T TURNED EVIL! … again."

"Oh, I can see what you’ve been up to!" buzzed Sparx. "What kinda magic were you two messing with?! You’re lucky we caught you before you did something you'd both regret!”

Flashwing, on the other claw, was flapping her wings to create a 'chop chop' sound, one of her crystals floating and creating a harsh spotlight on the two. "We figured you'd want us to cool you down instead of telling the elders."

Cynder gave Spyro a frustrated look. She'd planned on having them change back to not get caught like this. "Something we’d regret? What, like grow even bigger? Chill you two. Spyro didn't even want to do... that. Er, not yet. Not that it's any of your business!"

Sparx said sternly, "I'm his guardian! It's in my job description to be my business!"

Cynder hissed, her inner flame stirring. This was Spyro the legendary purple, several time savior of dragonkind, not some hatchling who needed to be babied. 'Tell them to leave us be,' she almost told Spyro. 'We're fine, this magic is fine and nothing to be worried about at all.’ Then it would be so... somehow? And they could do whatever they wished, together...

Wait, hold on... Sparx and Flashwing were their friends, as overprotective as they could be sometimes. And maybe someone should be concerned about this powerful new trick that she'd learned... when exactly? Too many questions...

"I guess I'd better teach you how to undo the transformation," Cynder said at last, clasping Spyro's hand in both of hers. "It's easy... You just let go of the changed image of yourself, breathe it out and find your true self at your core. I'm sure you'll have no trouble doing it."

Spyro truly and sincerely wanted exactly what Cynder did, but defying Sparx in this instance was incomprehensible in Spyro's mind. Considering the many things Sparx let Spyro get away with, when Sparx actually put his 'foot' down, it meant business!

Cynder tilted her head. "You're not stuck, are you?" Would it be so bad if he was? "Heh, we'd be in all kinds of trouble."

"Of course not!" Spyro said, no way he'd ever be humiliated by something like that! Spyro did as Cynder instructed, and shrank down to the cute little dragon everyone knew and loved. Spyro looked up at Cynder expectantly, and Cynder felt embarrassed and quickly followed suit.

"So how did you learn to magically grow? Did you find some forbidden spell book?" Sparx asked. That was usually how these things started.

Cynder opened her snout but Spyro spoke first, "Oh that's easy! Turns out Cynder never forgot how to take on an adult form. She just got around to finally teaching me and the babies."

"Shoulda known you reading a book was too much to ask," Sparx lamented.

Cynder bristled a bit, feeling oddly... constrained? Weak? As if the big Elder form was more how she ought to be than her proper young dragon body? Weird. "Anyway, you can see that it's not that big a deal." Smirk. "You complained less when I offered to train with him so we could get better at using aether."

Then again... if she and Spyro were around the same age, then her adult form being her true form wouldn't make much sense, would it? That adult form had been forced on her by... that thing calling itself her father. To make her a better living weapon. But... that didn't mean she couldn't use of it her own will now, right?

Sparx crossed his forelegs sternly. "At least THAT is Purple Dragon Standard Issue. I know puberty sucks, but you skipping right to that size would be nothing but trouble!"

"Sure you're not jealous because you're as big as you're ever going to get?" teased Cynder.

"Are you sure you're not under an evil spell?" countered Flashwing, waving her crystal weapon-thing around again. "An evil spell from a forbidden tome, making all dragons who read it more and more greedy!"

Cynder deadpanned, "You guys really seem hung up on the evil book thing."

"Weirder things have happened," Sparx said.

Flame asked, "Do you think Flashwing ever feels... lonely?"

Ember frowned. "If she ever did feel lonely, I’m sure she’d just look in a mirror."

Later, Flashwing lay hugging herself, curled up in her nest made of the remains of the meteorite that brought her to the world. She still had no memories of anything before her arrival.

At least she had a new research specimen to distract her from brooding over things she couldn't help... A particularly large and clear emerald, one of the gifts from 'Lord Spike.' The glowing gem made a comforting nightlight as she drifted off to sleep, imagining the strange alien world it came from, the spectra-graphic analysis she'd be running in the morning, how handsome Spyro had been, the tests she could conduct with his help to learn how strong he was, how much his magic had increased...

Flame snorted, dreaming of Spyro growing huge and showing off his new power. He hadn't actually witnessed that, but it wasn't hard to imagine why Spyro and Cynder might have wanted to sneak off by themselves. "Mrrf, zzzz.... About time you stopped being such a wimp, Spyro... but (yawn) you're not leaving me in the dust..."

The young red dragon squirmed and twitched, growing into a mighty elder form in his sleep. After that, he seemed to sleep a lot more contentedly, despite barely fitting in his sleeping nook.

Ember dreamed of marrying Spyro, having a large clutch of eggs, claiming enough jewels for her personal collection to bury a castle... basically the same dream she always had. Though there was no sign of the dancing penguins.

Cynder dreamed of Spyro... not unusual for her. But she also dreamed of Lord Spike, and Flame. All of them were elders, trying to prove their strength and win her favor. When the older elders started cheering the younger three on, the scene became so ridiculous that she realized she had to be dreaming. She didn't hurry to wake up, though. Dream Cynder smiled, soaking up the attention. She'd certainly had worse dreams.

Spyro dreamed he was in a ninja class underwater with Elora and Sparx and himself as the students as Stealth Elf taught about picking the right color for your ninja outfit...

Then suddenly he was on a throne made of jewels surrounded by every female dragon his age he knew, and dragon versions of every girl he was friends with, all fawning at his feet, as an adult Spyro as big as a castle.

"Well, well… How’s my other half?" said a Spyro with charcoal grey scales, silver horns, and blood red eyes. “Miss me?”

"What are YOU doing in my dream?!" Spyro snapped.

"Technically it's my dream too ya know," Dark Spyro replied. "I just thought I'd tell ya that somethin' didn't feel right about that Spike dude. Something about him reminds me of Strykore... right before he ate our light."

"You're not even real! You're just a figment of my imagination!"

"Says you."

"You aren't even a part of MY life! You were part of another Spyro's life!"

The dream went all fuzzy, and the dark version of Spyro became three... an eager young Spyro and a brooding adventurous Spyro, flanking the larger Spyro with the rounded head and burning red eyes. All of them had black scales with dull silver armored plates. "Many worlds, one dragon. There's only one Spyro."

Then they all blurred together, and a muscular bipedal Dark Spyro hovered before the castle-sized Spyro's face. "Don't get me wrong... I like the idea of us getting stronger and ruling this whole kingdom like we deserve." He perched comfortably on Spyro's shoulder without asking. "What I don't like is that Spike character pulling our strings. This all ties back to him, somehow..."

"This is just a dream! I can dream whatever I like. And I thought you'd gotten over that whole 'be super evil because bein' evil is what I do' .... Gnasty was a thin skinned thug, Ripto was a bully who just wanted power, the Sorceress wanted to cheat death... you? 'I'm evil! Blah!'" Spyro finished the last part with a cliche vampire accent.

"... Don't confuse me with how I was! ... I said I think we deserve to be top dragon for everything we've done and everything everyone keeps expecting of us... I... I didn't say hurt our friends... or..." Dark Spyro shivered. "Have THEM experience what it's like to have part of your soul eaten..."

Dark Spyro shrugged it off, chuckling. "But enough about me. You can dream whatever you like, you said. So you admit, you want to be this size. I bet you don't have to be dreaming to get it, either!"

Spyro folded his arms. "I don’t know… Being THIS big would be way too much trouble in anything but my fantasies. I'd rather keep myself travel size in real life. And if this is my dream, I can do whatever I want." Suddenly, Dark Spyro was dressed in a clown outfit riding a unicycle, juggling live fish while blowing a kazoo.

Dark Spyro poofed back to normal. "I'm your other half, stupid! That makes this my dream too!"

Spyro was suddenly a baby dragon in a shell diaper with a pacifier in his mouth, wearing a bib that read 'Never Getting a Fighting Game Cameo.' No one understood where baby dragons got those things before they hatched. Many theorized low level teleportation or creation magic.

Spyro poofed back to 'normal' elder size, matching the adult form of Dark Spyro. "Okay, okay, I get it! Don't mess with you, you won't mess with me. But seriously, what do you mean, Spike was pulling our strings?'"

"It’s simple. I'm your darkside, so I'm more attuned to this sort of thing. That I'm manifesting as a separate persona to talk to myself means there's something a part of you realizes something is up, but the rest of you is too dense to pick up on it!" Dark Spyro landed next to the green and blue dragoness Stealth Elf and leaned next to her, who returned to an adoring hug. "Something felt off about the meeting with him. Don't trust him."

"Why should I trust my own darkside?"

"Because I want what you want, to protect our friends!"

Spyro arched a brow, smirked. "You know, you can't blame me for being a little skeptical." He lifted a claw, and a memory bubble appeared floating over it. "I wouldn't waste your time!" snarled a small but vicious dark drake. "Your precious Spyro is going to lose, because unlike him, I couldn't care less about my friends!"

Spyro waved the bubble away. "How do I know you really care about them now?"

Dark Spyro looked at the memory... and hung his head in shame.

This genuinely surprised Spyro... because the guilt echoed in him too. One dragon. "You... No! This could be more lies. We've been really gullible in the past, but..." It's not an act. "When did you change... When did we change?"

"Happened so slowly and so gradually that I didn't even notice. By the end, we were acting just like, well, YOU before Strykor decided enough was enough and went super-charge on making us his slave."

Spyro scratched his head fins. "Okay. Bit awkward, but I kinda remember blowing you up and finding no trace afterwards, and yet here you are in my head again! Did I reabsorb you then? Or was it the dimension merge..."

"If I knew, I'd tell you. Maybe I'm just your brain figuring out a way to speak to myself after something set off some dark aether inside you. Like I said, something triggered me, and I know it wasn't good."

Elora the Dragoness waved, wearing knee pads and a helmet. As were the others. "Hey Spyro! Wanna judge our skateboard contest?"

Dark Spyro flew over, whispering slyly. "Let's get huge again. Our body can be the skating rink! You know, if you're too chicken to find out just how strong we really are, I could always do it for you. Just let me drive for a while, what's the worst that could happen?"

"I'd have to be crazy to let you drive."

Dark Spyro sighed. "... Yeah... you would. So do it yourself! You could find someplace deserted and go nuts. Betcha it would feel absolutely... amazing. But hey, you do you. Is that what the kids are saying these days? Oh yeah, and it's time to WAKE UP."

Spyro did wake up in his nest... in the older form... which kinda ruined the nest... he was really gonna get it from Sparx later.

"Dangit... I really wanted to see that skateboard contest!" Spyro let go of the image of an adult Spyro from his dream and shrank down to normal.

It was too early in the morning for all this noise. Spyro quickly became more awake when it turned out that Flame grew in his sleep too, and got caught by Flashwing... which caused him to sit up and bang his head on the ceiling, which damaged the ceiling quite a lot and his horns not at all…

"Did Cynder teach everyone this trick but me?" Flashwing asked.

"I'm sure we just hadn't met you yet when she did," Spyro said as naturally as breathing.

The talk with his dark self had left Spyro feeling introspective. He noticed his friends acting a little dazed following his words, then continuing like nothing strange had happened.

"Yes, that's right," agreed Flashwing. "I crash-landed on one of the floating islands, and I didn't find my way down here til recently." She grinned. "But I'm here now, so show me this trick of yours? Assuming it's not some dark ritual!"

"Cynder is the teacher, not me."

Cynder blinked. "I, um... No reason to exclude you, I suppose! It may take several lessons, though! Flame and Ember both took a while to learn it." Her eyes narrowed. "Flame, why did you sleep in that form? Heck, when did you even get strong enough to hold the transformation while sleeping?" She grinned, patting him on the back. "I didn't know you'd grown your dragon magic that much. Some teacher I am, not sensing it..."

"So that's one of the babies I don't need to babysit anymore." Spyro grinned.

In a flash, Ember was attempting to nuzzle up to Spyro. "I'll never complain about you watching over me, Spyro."

Cynder began the customary death glare. Flashwing rolled her eyes. And Flame asked, "Wasn't this supposed to be my big moment?"

Ember didn't grow big to one-up Cynder, but she was clearly considering it. Instead, Ember turned her nose up and trotted off in search of breakfast.

"You did good," said Cynder to Flame. "And you'll do bigger and better things yet! Now then..." She sized up Flashwing. "This could take days or weeks so we should get started right away. Come to the training ground with me now, if you really want to learn."

"If you're not scared me of me zapping our next problem into atoms before Spyro has a chance to make a new catch phrase," Flashwing said confidently.

Cynder allowed herself a chuckle. "If you succeed too well, you're going to need some bigger crystals to do those tricks of yours. You'd be better off if you learned to cast spells without ‘em." She led the way, in case Flashwing didn't know where the training ground was.

"My crystals are how I channel my magic, and I create them via my own natural abilities the same way you breathe... well, whatever element of the week you do." Flashwing said this matter-of-factly, annoyed at Cynder not knowing how her crystal magic worked. Not that Flashwing herself knew how Flashwing worked, really.

Cynder spotted Ember headed for breakfast. "Flashwing... you go on ahead, there's something I forgot about. I'm sure you can find your way there."

"Isn't the first time I've practiced... I'm sure of it," Flashwing said, feeling a bit dizzy.

Flashwing spread her wings and flew. Cynder waited till she flew off... then looked around for dragons or dragonflies. Confident there were none, she flew after Ember.

Ember said nothing, purposely not looking at her rival, so she had no warning when Cynder slammed her into a cliff face, quick as a cobra and hard enough to make the pebbles around them shudder. Ember barely had time to gasp before she found herself gripped tight, Cynder’s claws at her throat.

Cynder leaned in close, smoking coming from her nostrils and a dark glow from her eyes. "You listen here you little worm,” Cynder hissed through her fangs. “We've all tolerated your childish games, but if you even THINK of trying to lay claim to what's mine again... your ashes will sprinkle the flowers of the Artisan world!"

"Cy-Cynder! Please! Yo-you! You're hurting me!" Ember gasped out, tears flowing down her face.

Cynder closed her claws tighter. "And I'll do worse than hurt if you dare cross me. When I say to do something, you do it." Tighter. "Nod if you understand."

Unable to speak, and her lungs burning, Ember nodded. Cynder let go. Ember fell to her knees, coughing.

Cynder spoke in a sweetly 'big sister' voice. "Oh Ember! That was a horrible fall you had! You look hurt! Good thing I was here to help you, wasn't it?"

Ember looked at Cynder with fear, and Cynder saw she understood.

And somewhere else in the dragon lands, there was a spirit reduced to an impotent wraith of dark aether who could but remain in the shadows and gnaw at itself - its just reward for bringing about the destruction of the world, a perversion of its destined role.

But now it sensed something new. Something that had arrived unbidden into this world, something akin to the power of the purple dragons, but taken from a wicked goddess who had sought to usurp the throne of another world's spirit of chaos. Now that power was loose in their world... and it answers to the will of the purple dragon.

Its first dream had been to walk the world as a living creature once again. Then iit dreamed of Cynder... not the brainwashed slave screaming inside her own mind since the day she was hatched, but the loyal, obedient, dutiful daughter he'd always dreamed of having. One willing to infiltrate, and betray her friends once her father had need of it. And he'd drempt other things, worse and darker things... until good was a fairytale and all that remained was different shades of evil devouring itself.

And somewhere else, Spyro felt sick to his stomach... like something very very VERY wrong had happened... but he truly and sincerely didn't know WHAT!

Ember fled from Cynder, fighting back tears. "What good is it being able to grow if she can just grow more? How can she be so mean? What's wrong with her?"

Sitting at breakfast, Flame found himself gripping a fork hard enough to bend it into scrap. "What's this feeling? It's like... something precious is in danger? What, though..."

Suddenly Ember felt like someone had dropped a stack of cinder blocks on her back. Thoughts pressing down on her unbidden and unwelcome. 'There is nothing wrong with Cynder.' 'This is how Cynder naturally is.' 'This is the real Cynder.' Ember pushed back against the invading thoughts with more heart than any being would ever assume she was capable of... but the cursed power of Cosmos and the power of the purple dragon was still mightier than her.

By the time Ember got to the breakfast table, she was dragged herself like a broken beast of burden.

"Ember!" Flame leaped from his seat and rushed to her side. "Are you okay?"

"I... I fell."

That strange feeling grew as Ember approached, and then Flame was sure. He rose and embraced Ember, wrapping her in his wings. "Don't lie. Whatever, whoever it is, I'll protect you."

Malefor ... with the power now in his claws, tried to go for his biggest prize. But Spyro, much to his annoyance, felt like a bubble of air with no substance he could touch. Or, to be more precise, this power couldn't affect him, because it couldn't affect itself. No matter how much Malefor tried to retcon reality so Spyro had always been the blindly obedient right arm to Malefor's evil... Spyro's reality wasn't changed at all, and Malefor's attempts harmlessly washed over the dragon.

The one mercy upon creation was that Cosmos' power did not include omniscience. The purple dragon still needed to know of something to rewrite its existence.

"We've got a problem," said Dark Spyro's voice in Spyro's head.... while he was awake!

Cynder arrived at the training ground, where Flashwing was still waiting, tapping a paw. "Where did you go? I'm not chickening out."

"Oh, I know you're not, Flashwing,” Cynder said firmly. “Of all the things I've considered you, a coward was never one of them. Unlike these hatchlings who puff smoke and hide behind Spyro at the first sign of trouble."

Flashwing thought something was odd about how Cynder had said that... no, there was nothing odd at all, that was just how Cynder spoke. "Well, thank you."

"Yes, and there's no reason to wait for you to grow to your full might while being small and a fraction of your true power is there? Let's begin the image training. You... aren't a dragon of our world... so I'm not sure how the magic might work for you. But the principle should be the same."

Already Cynder was going over in her mind to report to her beloved and adoring father about the other new young dragons who could be remade to his will, since Spyro had dared defeat him.

Another limit of Cosmos' power combined with the purple dragon's gift to alter fate. Thankfully, it seemed they were not granted retroactive knowledge they would have in the new reality they created.

Flashwing was taken aback by the rough tone. Was Cynder this rough with all the dragons she trained to fight? She was still super-curious to find out how this worked, though, and the part about growing mighty was appealing too. "O- Okay. Let's do this!"

Herself, as an adult? When she had no memory, no idea what an adult of her own kind was supposed to look like? Still, it couldn't hurt to try...

Flashwing tried to imagine herself bigger, larger, more like the dragon elders of this world... were they kind to their hatchlings? Did they leave them to fend for themselves? Were any adults of her kind even still alive, or was she the only one?

Cynder slinked around Flashwing like a cat, coming behind her. She gently placed her claws on Flashwing's shoulders.

"That's it, dear,” whispered Cynder closely. “Just relax and picture it. Yourself, larger. Stronger. More powerful. Ready to fight and destroy those who stand in your way. It's what you want after all." Dark Aether slipped from Cynder's claws, a skill made easy by a lifetime of practice under her doting father's tutelage, exaggerating any emotional pain in Flashwing's heart.

"Fighting is all you're certain of, isn't it? And your beauty. All that polish and fury. Because better to be vain and brutal than to show weakness. Being all alone. An orphan. A freak. An outsider. Knowing you'll never be truly part of this flight. Being a weapon to be used takes away the pain. Imagine yourself as that. Giant. Mighty. Powerful. A blade to be pointed at the enemies of the one holding your hilt. A force of heavenly destruction that doesn't need to feel hurt, doesn't need to feel ALONE! ... You know, I think I saw Flame... hugging Ember. Seems she got the message about Spyro being out of her league. Seems though she caught the only other male drake around... leaves you the odd one out doesn't it? Makes you sad? Angry? Hurt? Isolated? Just let it all in. And imagine yourself mighty and make those feelings into strength!"

And Flashwing grew... larger, and larger, growing to an adult dragoness, her body turning almost transparent in place, her scales sparkling like diamonds in the sun. Pretty before, now she was transcendent, like a star, or angel. Flashwing roared, firing a laser breath into the sky that might have taken out a few satellites.

"Excellent," Cynder approved.

Still four-legged, Flashwing completely dwarfed the still-small Cynder. "This... is me? My power?" She wiggled her claws, then stamped down, crushing a training dummy to splinters and leaving an impressive pawprint. "Hah! Who knew?" Crystals spun out of the air, a red beam slashed the ground, and then the seared ground exploded!

Dark Spyro hissed in Spyro's ear more urgently. "No, no no! Hey, LISTEN! There is no truly evil force in this world. Nothing like that can hurt our friends. It doesn't exist! Don't ask questions, Spyro, just say all that and believe it."

Flashwing let out an only slightly maniacal laugh, seeing the increase of not only her firepower, but how easily she could conjure her crystals.

Cynder clapped. "Yes yes! That's great Flashwing! You're an excellent weapon! It's what you're best at! I'm sure it's what you were MADE for, it's what you were always meant to be."

Flashwing growled, pleased, and moved suddenly, catching Cynder in her paw and lifting her. "This is so easy now! Hah! Thanks for making me so much greater than you."

Cynder grinned. "Greater than me? Oh silly. That's no way to speak to me." The dark aether that had infected Flashwing as a hatchling and now had had a 'lifetime' as far as her body was concerned to entrench itself now spread through Flashwing, her crystalline body turning darker. Flashwing gasped out in pain worse than she'd ever experienced in her life. Cynder would know.

Cynder grew to her adult size, brushing off the crystal dragon.

As simply as that, the tables were turned. Or they were always turned in the first place. Where Flashwing had been holding a tiny young dragon, now it was one titan throwing another aside, then planting a heavy paw on the now obsidian chest. Flashwing gulped. "I... I misspoke! Please don't punish me!"

Cynder smiled. "Heh, punish a weapon? That would be silly. You're a weapon, Flashwing. It's what you were created to be. No family. No past. No memories. Only a purpose to serve. All these dragonlings, who were leading you astray of what you always were."

"What... what I always was..." Flashwing repeated.

And naturally... Cynder had retroactively infected Flame and Ember with dark aether as well during their training to assume an adult form. Spyro... something, or someone, seemed to absorb it with no ill effect on him... like something BORN of dark aether that had achieved a sense of self and freedom of will through the inscrutable power of friendship.

Spyro had been on his own way to the breakfast table, running into Sparx along the way, when Dark Spyro’s word tripped him up. “Whoa, did I hit my head?! How are you, how am -I-, speaking to myself?! How is this even possible?!"

Sparx looked concerned for his charge, worried that the new growth magic might have had some unintended side effects. "Spyro, are you okay?" he buzzed.

"Goth-Emo-Me is TALKING to me! In my head!"

"Oh no! I worried something like this would happen! Okay. Not EXACTLY like this... or really much like this at all, but I knew something unexpected and bad might happen! He's trying to tempt you?"

"Well.... maybe last night when I dreamed... but right now, he's REALLY seems more desperate and scared FOR our friends than anything else. I've fought enough baddies and alongside enough buddies to know the difference!"

Somewhere on one of those floating islands, Kaos was ranting about people setting world-shaking evil plots in motion and not inviting him. Unfortunately for him, that somewhere was currently inside a cell in Cloudcracker Prison.

Dark Spyro imagined a boulder so he could bang his head on it. "Hello! You're not listening!" He grabbed his own horns in frustration. "Okay fine, I know you can be pretty thick-headed when you're being all heroic, so I'll make this simple. You... can change the world... any way you want! That was cute when it was just you and you didn't know you were doing it, but now there's another frickin purple dragon, doing it to our friends, and I don’t mean ME! Ugh, it's like every time I try to get through to you, something happens and we all get distracted! He can't do that, can he? He can't get in our head!"

"What?! You mean Spike?!" Spyro asked in confusion and alarm.

Sparx was equally confused. "What?! What about Lord Spike?"

Ember and Flame arrived at the training ground and saw the great Cynder brutally holding down the dark crystal Flashwing.

The two merely bowed their heads to Cynder. Ember still had the obvious signs of Cynder's 'warning.'

"I've enlightened Flashwing about who she rightfully serves," Cynder explained.

"I'm...." Ember shivered. "I'm sorry for crossing you over Spike Cynder-" Cynder snorted. "Lady Cynder! We all serve Malefor, but we serve him through you."

Flame still put a protective wing over Ember. "She didn't mean anything by it."

"I didn't ask you to make excuses for her."

"Yes, Lady Cynder," Flame bowed.

Flame and Ember grew large and powerful to match the others, a lifetime of Dark Aether infection from hatchling to adulthood obvious in their dark forms. Flame's scales were the color of blood, and Ember's the color of dying roses.

"No! Not Spike! But I'm sure he's the one who started this game! Even if I can't be sure WHAT he changed about our friends before in his world! UGH! WHATEVER! It's Malefor!"

"What?! That's stupid! He's dead!"

"He was dead! But he wasn't gone!"

"HOW IN THE HECK DO YOU EVEN KNOW THIS STUFF IF I DON'T?!"

Sparx hated missing half the conversation.

Malefor meanwhile thought of everyone close to Spyro. If he couldn't have the little drake directly, maybe he'd turn everyone close to him FIRST, leaving the dragon broken and alone without a single ally to call his own... see what it felt like for him!

The familiar, if not exactly welcome voice chuckled. "Hey, what's a dark side for, if not picking up on the things that you're too nice to think about?"

"That's not an answer! If I really want to believe you're not just making this stuff up, I want a real answer! If I really haven't gone crazy and you're really trying to help, tell me how you could possibly have figured any of this out?! Because right now all I've seen is you being freaked out and telling me to believe there's no evil in the world!" Spyro shouted. Even as the sick feeling in the pit of his stomach only got worse, and worse! Not knowing Malfor was rewriting the reality of Spyro's friends, one by one, so they'd always been eager and loyal minions of the Dark Master.

Dark Spyro sighed grumpily. "You know who you remind me of right now?" He poofed into a black and silver version of Jet-Vac, complete with an Obviously Evil Goatee. "I'm sorry, Spyro, but blurting out the answer doesn't count. In this class, you need to show your work!"

He resumed his normal shape and paced, stalking back and forth in Spryo's headspace. "But fine, it's not like we're running out of time or anything!" He flew up suddenly and landed before Spyro, lightly poking his nose with a claw. "Pop quiz! Who are your friends!? What dragon has ever stood by your side, besides me of course? What are their names? What bad guys did they help you fight? When did you meet them?"

"Well, unlike you, I know I wasn't raised by a wizard who never told me about zapping my entire family into another universe because they'd been corrupted into monsters, which made me go do something stupid that got me turned into the same kinda monsters. And turns out they had a means of curing it that he never used."

"Yeah yeah, my backstory sucked compared to you, now start answering!"

"But you didn't answer mine!"

"Answer mine first!"

"I asked first!"

'... Because Cynder tried to retroactively infect you with dark aether to turn you into Malefor's minion, but I absorbed it instead, and I realized that HADN'T happened before and put two and two together!' thought Dark Spyro. He still hesitated to say it, worried that Spyro would trust him even less.

"Are you saying a couple universes getting smooshed together scrambled your brains so much that you can't even tell me about your own friends?"

"Hey! Of course I can!"

Meanwhile, Elora in her own homeland of Avalar, connected via the portals, didn't need to put up flags with the Dark Master's emblem. They'd always been there, except for when that little imp Ripto had usurped his rightful rule, and Elora had teamed up with a cute dork of a dragon to remove the pest, the professor having summoned another purple dragon to enforce Malefor’s rule.

Bianca of the Forgotten Realms, meanwhile, ruled with an iron fist, having disposed of the weak and vain Sorceress with the aid of a small purple dragon. She and the other inhabitants of the Forgotten Realms offered up that zodiac cycle's new generation of dragon eggs to Malefor, infesting them with Dark Aether from the moment they hatched, so they might grow knowing who their true master was.

If anyone thought Malefor the devil for this last revision to reality... they hadn't been paying attention to his sins beforehand. This wasn't how Dark Aether worked of course, not really... until Malefor had dreamed that was how it worked.

"Let's hear it, then!" snapped Dark Spyro. "Your first adventure. Who helped you?!"

Spyro rolled his eyes. "What, you mean Sparx?" he said brightly. "Yeah, I couldn't have put down Gnasty Gnorc's rebellion without him. It's a shame I had to deal with my dragonfly pal after he tried to stop our plan to keep all the elders in crystal stasis so we could give their power to the Master, but he knows better than to cross me again."

Spyro's grin held for a few seconds, and then his jaw dropped. "WHAT?!"

Dark Spyro threw his paws in the air. "And there it is. Finally! Now, tell me what REALLY happened."

Malefor couldn't change Spyro's existence directly, but having failed to retroactively corrupt him, he'd aimed instead for warping Spyro's interactions with others. But since Spyro’s own existence couldn't be changed except by Spyro himself, this resulted in a paradox, since Spyro himself would have still made those decisions as he knew them, meaning he couldn't have acted the way Malefor willed he did. But according to Malefor's changes to reality, Spyro had. It was the immovable object versus the irresistible force.

"But-but-but that doesn't make sense! Where did that even come from?! Why the heck did I even say that?!"

"I don't know, Master," Sparx said. "Why did you recount that?"

In the mindspace, Dark Spyro shook his counterpart. "Come on, say what really happened. That nightmare you just rattled off? Somebody out there is trying to make that the truth. You have to fight against him. Only you can make what really happened real again!" Dark Spyro racked his brains, trying to think of more convincing arguments. "Remember how you learned how to grow big so easily? You did that! There's some stupid flaming power just floating around our world now, that purple dragons can use to make the world whatever they want! ... Just like Lord Spike."
Dark blinked. "Flaming eggshells. Spike did this. He sent it home with us, somehow..." Again with the crazy intuitive leaps... or is it just crazy?

"THE GEMS!" Spyro's two selves said at the same time.

"What if it was the letter?"

"Then we'll just burn it next!"

"WAIT, STUPID! If we just get rid of this power now, then everything Malefor is twisting AND HAS twisted already is gonna be how things are! Do you think someone like Malfor is EVER gonna stop until every little thing fits with how HE wants?"

Four large, adult, and obviously horrendously Dark Aether infested dragons landed around Spyro. Not hostile, simply waiting patiently. All wearing adult-sized pendants that bore Malefor's symbol.

"Lord Spyro, Master Malfor desires your presence," said the giant dragoness with scales the color of dying rose petals, bowing her head with all the submission of a beaten dog.

Having been so focused on the argument in his own head, Spyro hadn't noticed. Where before had been the emblem of the Artisan flight, was now Malfor's symbol.

Dark Spyro groaned. "Well, that's that! Unless you think you can wish those monsters back into being our friends. I mean, if Malefor has any brains at all, he's been willing himself and his goons to grow stronger and more magical by the second since this all started."

Dark rolled up imaginary sleeves. "Guess we'll just have to wish for godlike power ourselves and beat the evil out of their scaly behinds. Don't worry, I'll take care the rough stuff, since you don't have the stomach for it." He cracked his knuckles. "I'll be sure to punch Malefor right through the planet's core too, right before I remake it into Spyrotopia." He slipped on some shades, caught up in the fantasy. "Eager and willing dragonesses as far as the eye can see..."

Spyro actually stabbed his own paw with a rock... just to make sure he wasn't just having the absolute worst nightmare of his life. A part of him admitted his friends did look kinda cool like this, but that was undermined knowing they were working for the worst monster Spyro had ever faced.

"Sure guys!" Spyro grew to his adult form. "Be right with ya."

'Oh come on! You're not giving up now!' Dark Spyro snapped.

'Thanks for figuring out what's going on. You're right, I wouldn't have gotten a clue without you.' Spyro thought to himself. 'Spyrotopia? All the dragonesses I'd want who'd be buddy buddy with me, not fighting each other? Elora able to relate to me the way a dragon can? All the reward, and none of the responsibility? Of course you want that, because I wanted it first, because you're a selfish brat, and you're me.' Spyro sighed. Tears in his eyes. 'And you're right, we gotta stop Malfor before we can fix everything he's messed up. Everything's going at turbo speed.'

Spyro, Sparx, and his honor guard flew to the portal set up to go to Malefor's throne realm. No need to collect jewels to power it. Malefor was greedy, like any dragon, he wouldn't destroy this power Lord Spike had brought to their world as long as even one speck of dust wasn't as how he wished it. It hadn't taken Malefor one day to twist the world, and continuing it twist it, with retcon on top of retcon, and wouldn't stop until it was unrecognizable.

"Hey guys," Spyro said. "You know what? Even if we didn't hatch from the same clutch, you guys are all family to me. And I'm family to you." The dragons all shuddered. "And I know for a fact none of you, even at your worst, are bullies." They shuddered again. "And seriously, GREAT JOB at getting this close to Malefor. I know it can't have been easy. But we know we gotta do something or everything forever will just be bullies bullying each other and everyone else. And I know, you all know, that isn't right."

The four dragons shuddered again. Cynder... began crying even as she kept flying. "I... I know, Spyro. I know he's done horrible things. But... I don't want to fight my own father." Malefor had willed Cynder to be his beloved and loyal child, but Spyro had willed Cynder to see that everything about Malefor's rule was wrong, and she herself was no bully. This was the result. "I wish there was a better way."

Flame had nothing to say, for all his current immense dark power. Malefor had made him little more than an empty husk, "the red one," a palette-swapped Spyro conjured for a cameo. His growth beyond a one-note role had been unforeseen, and of little use to Malefor. One more thing the dark tyrant needed to answer for.

When the portal spun open, a dark and oppressive presence was immediately upon them. ‘My nemesis will come before me... and he will DIE. I will it so. His feeble attempts at undoing my perfect world... ripples in a pond, there and GONE.’

Dark Spyro gulped, knowing that Spyro's fate would be his as well. "So you're not doing this the easy way. You just HAVE to do the hero thing. In that case..." He buried his face in his paws. "Ugh, I can't believe I'm suggesting this, but remember how you beat him before! You know, the elements and the Commander Planet thing! Light Aether! Or was it Convexity? Yeah, Convexity, let's go with that!"

Off to one side, a Glumshanks held up a cue card with four Element symbols: Fire, Ice, Electricity, Earth.

'Family... not just a weapon.' Flashwing thought.

Ember's mind shuddered, remembering the cruelty Cynder had publicly shown her... so Malfor would not suspect them of working together for Spyro.

'... Hey, Dark, if I power up with Light Aether... will anything happen to you?'

'... Not if you will it so. Right? You... You wouldn't want to ... 'get rid of me' right?'

'... You're me. I can't rid of myself.'

Dark blinked, flustered. "Well, uh... Don't expect a hug! I hate that sappy stuff! Besides, I might just be able to help..."

"Family," murmured Flame, as they glided into the dark portal. "You really think I'm... worth anything? Not just... 'that other drake who's just there to make the great Spyro look good?' "

Spyro was delighted to hear Flame say something instead of staring off into space like a zombie! "I've always known you had the power to be your own drake Flame," Spyro said, and shuddered a bit himself. Remembering seeing the whelp in the cave and knowing he didn't just have to imitate Spyro.

"So... I'm just a little sister to you, Spyro?" Ember asked, her words carrying a cargo of resignation.

Spyro beamed. "No, you're the best little sister. I know you can be your own dragon too."

"So you wouldn't be mad if I made a move on her?" teased Flame, thawing a little more. Ember blushed.

'Heh, so you're not so above it after all,' Dark Spyro said.

Flashwing sighed. "Just share!... Oops."

'Pretty sure we're community minded when it comes to raising our young anyway,' Dark Spyro thought.

Dark Spyro held up a shipping chart, pointing out the web of lines connecting every node. "Well, there are a few bets on Spyro getting together with..."

Spyro cringed. "Can we talk about this... never? Focus, guys!"

The portal exit had golden letters reading "MALEFOR", disturbingly. Beyond it... Malefor floated in space before them... and he lounged atop an entire planet waiting for them... and another planet with moons in his grasp, everywhere and always. Like he was trying to engulf this entire reality! Sticky green threads of magic bound everything... the cursed power of Cosmos, and they immediately started trying to tangle Spyro and his family.

"Father! We brought Lord Spyro like you commanded," Cynder gasped out.

Malefor rolled his eyes. "Yes dear, I can see that."

"Father, have you thought that perhaps not every planet needs to be victim or victimizer? That there could be another way to live?" Cynder asked cautiously.

"As a master of the universe, why would I foster weakness?"

"... Because you taught me that strength isn't to be wasted. And friendship provides a strength all its own?" Cynder offered.

"Pst. And why would you say such nonsense?"

"... Because we're family? And you've said my strength is yours. And friends are family." Cynder was doing exactly what Malefor had willed her to do. To protect him at all costs... She was trying to save him from himself.

Spyro spread his wings and rose through the void, getting in Malefor's face. "You brought five of us here to fight just the one of you! Bad guys never understand the worth of true friends!"

Dark Spyro cleared his throat loudly.

'You got something to say?' Spyro asked his other half in his mind. Sparx wondered what the heck was going on between the Dark Master and his most faithful servants.

Spyro's colors flickered to silver and black, just long enough for him to shout, "All this blah blah blah is putting me to sleep here! They should call you MaleBORE!"

Malefor clenched the very fabric of space with his claws. "Why do you defy me, knowing that I will destroy you for it? All purple dragons shall bow down, even that fool Spike, after he's yielded every last drop of this wondrous power to ME."

The others had no clue what Malefor was even talking about. Wondering if he'd gone mad.

Spyro's eyes widened, smirked, then grinned. "... All purple dragons will bow down? That's impossible."

"It's only impossible for you because you don't have the resolve to take what you want, remake the world as you wish to be, and waste the gift of the purple dragon!"

"So you're saying all purple dragons will serve? Every last one of them?" Spyro repeated.

"Yes! All to serve! All to obey!" roared the ancient purple dragon.

Dark Spyro though, 'Oh crud baskets. Spyro. You're actually gonna...'

Spyro narrowed his eyes, his heart trembling. "Maybe I'd want that for every last purple dragon too." said one purple dragon to another.

"Father, can you even hear me?!" Cynder pleaded. A faint purple gleam shimmering on her dark as night scales.

Malefor looked peeved. "Do not twist my words, when you well know my intent, whelp! All other purple dragons shall bow down to me. Dearest Cynder, my first and best instrument of terror, and you, the fool who had the universe in his paw and DIDN'T WANT IT." He snorted thunderously. "And I suppose, the piece of your own soul that you allow to amuse itself by continually mocking you. Unless he'd prefer to make a side deal and be on the winning side, I suppose."

Dark Spyro manifested again through Spyro, "Crud, he knows I'm here?! Okay, yeah... Your kinda fun isn't exactly my kinda fun. I mean, I like flaming sheep as much as any Spyro, but dragons tearing each other apart just to prove who's the bigger bully? No thanks! And I'd have to be crazy to think you'd honor any deal. Spyro remembers how you 'rewarded' the apes. And you're not the type to share power. Which means we still have cards you can't just take away from us, or you'd have done it already!"

Malefor scowled. "You, I understand least of all. You merely had to strike without mercy, and you would have had all the power yourself, and Spyro merely a ghost in your mind! You're a poor excuse for a 'dark side.' To think you ever thought yourself Pure Evil."

Dark Spyro started to retort, then sighed, hanging his head. "You got me there, Malfy. I can't be trusted. I did want to be in control again, to have all that power. I wanted to outgrow kingdoms and planets and stars and... and all I had to do was to betray my friends again. And myself."

Cynder hugged Spyro.

Dark Spyro hugged her back briefly, then looked into the face of the dark tyrant. “All the power in the universe wasn’t worth that.” Spyro’s colors became his own once more.

“How very touching,” snarled Malefor. "Enough of this foolishness. My four generals! Be once again as I made you! Destroy the traitor Spyro!"

The four monsters turned towards Spyro.

"And I say no! They're still the friends I know and love!"

And they were the true friends Spyro held close to his heart.

"Amusing! But I can redo it with a gesture!" And it was so, the beasts, even more horrible than before leapt at Spyro.

"And I can undo it just as fast!" Spyro said, restoring them.

"Until their souls are torn to pieces from being remade again and again and again. Or their minds simply shatter from the contrary realities."

Spyro grinned. “Or, until I do this!” Light Aether burned away the Dark Aether and filled the bodies of Spyro's family. Earth magic filled Flashwing's crystalline form. Ice magic filled Cynder. Thunder magic filled Flame, ironically, and Ember got fire.

"Useless!” declared Malefor. “We are beyond such elemental forces!"

"Not if I say we aren't!" Spyro declared.

"Haven't you been paying attention?"

"Yes. I have!"

Malefor was struck from behind, and he turned to see a fully grown purple dragoness... with green markings. Elora's mind was focused. All her life she'd been training for this moment. To be there for Spyro for this time he'd need her more than ever. Even before meeting Spyro she'd known it was her fate to unmake Malefor's kingdom as if it had never existed!

"IDIOT! I can just undo this with a gesture too!"

"No, you can’t!" Spyro and Elora said together.

Malefor was stunned with disbelief, but only for a moment. “NO! The inferno of my rage will not be bested by mere sparks, no matter how many there are!” He roared, actually starting to push back against all of them.

In his mindscape, Dark Spyro’s expression hardened. “Guess we’ll have to fight fire with fire, then. Poison! Fear! Wind! Shadow!" Darkness swarmed him, and his eyes started to white-out, but he wrestled down the surge of power and was encased in darksteel armor, gleaming bands encircling his legs and neck and horns and tail.

Spyro’s Light Aether aligned with his darkside’s pure Dark Aether, and suddenly Malefor was driven back. Every last scrap of corruption burned away from Spyro’s friends, revealing their true adult selves.

Spyro himself floated in the center of the storm of power, then nodded, resolved. “It’s time to finish this.”

"SPYRO! PLEASE DON'T!" Cynder begged, knowing exactly what Dark Spyro intended to do to Malefor, actually coming between them.

"Cynder.. what in the black blazes are you doing?" Malefor asked, utterly uncomprehending.

Spyro said, "What Dark Spyro said was the key. You'd never share power. Me? If it was to save my friends, and everyone... I was willing to give it to someone else. You're right, I didn't want to remake someone's life from the ground up... But I had to for the sake of everyone!"

Elora nuzzled Spyro. "Don't be sad, you dork. I've always loved you. I always knew this moment was my destiny. Now together we can make it so Malefor's world was never like this, right?"

Dark laughed. "If we survive this and make the world anew, any chance I can get a body of my own?" he joked. "I don't want to be in your head when you two are getting all lovey-dovey!" In Spyro's mind, he staggered from the burden of controlling the pure Dark Aether, of keeping it from resonating with Malefor's corruption. "Maybe you should hurry this up... 'dork.' Hehe..."

A part of Spyro felt empowered and thrilled, but still not happy with himself. Elora had been the first person he'd thought of, someone he believed in and trusted and that Malefor was likely not thinking about in the least with his focus on Spyro's flightmates.

He could have easily remade Moneybag's life instead. Instead he'd done this to Elora. And as far as she was concerned, this was the real her. So did he have the right to remake her entire life from the ground up AGAIN to bring back the Elora he'd first known? He was gonna have to do that with EVERYTHING anyway to fix all the damage Malefor had caused…

He hadn't lied to himself when he said the fantasy of being catered to with a harem of girlfriends who all got along with each other wasn't something he rejected out of hand. But he was sick of this already having seen Malefor trash everything to make it his personal fantasy world. But... would he NEED a second purple dragon after, just to keep Malefor's spirit at bay as long as this power remained in this world? And it couldn't be undone once that power was thrown back to the idiot who'd placed it in Spyro's world to begin with.

Dangit.

"Elora. You were the first girl I ever made friends with. And I want you to know that means a lot to me."

"It means everything to me," Elora smiled back. The green tattooed purple dragon moved in closer.

"Ah screw it." Spyro said and they kissed. And Spyro realized, every change would have to meet with Elora's approval too... this Elora... and he doubted she'd be eager to be the Elora from his memories instead of her own ... Dang it again.

Spyro glanced at Flashwing, and realized there was ONE big change he DID want to make!

Everything went white as the two purple dragons remade reality.

Flashwing let out a small gasp. Her snout quivered. The whelp's eyes misted up. She whispered, "Mom?... Dad?" Flashwing cried. "MAMA!" And dove head first into the arms of the adult alien crystal dragons as her flightmates and the Artisian dragons watched.

The fraying remnants of the elder purple dragon Malefor shrieked in defiance. "NO! You will not unmake ME! I am Malefor! I am your elder! You cannot!"

Cynder stamped her paw. "Sorry, but you are not worthy of this power, father."

"Begone," said Elora the purple dragoness.

"Disappear!" said Spyro the Dragon.

"And don't come back!" put in Dark Spyro, once a fallen purple dragon, but still holding fast to his friends. "Jerk!"

Malefor and his realm vanished to dust, then less than dust... and the healing of the Dragon Realms continued in peace.

"Life remade from the ground up." Cynder said, holding a purple dragon egg.

"... You know you're gonna need another name than Dark Spyro." Spyro said.

Dark Spyro gawked. "I have to start from an egg!? Man, it'll be even longer before I can strut my stuff for hot dragonesses!" The more-than-a-soul-fragment smirked. "And why should I change? I'm technically the original, if you look at it from the right perspective." He waggled his brow ridges.

"That egg is Malefor's. Blank slate. You can't destroy a soul. Even with this power. So we did the only way we COULD make him 'deader than dead.'"

Dark Spyro blinked. "Oh. Right. Name, name... What am I, that isn't a knockoff of you?"

"That stupid emo-goth spike collar?"

“Hey, spikes are cool!!" He sighed, shrugging his wings. "I guess… maybe... Skyro? Embrace the whole brothers thing?"

Cynder hugged him. "Welcome to the family, baby brother."

"Still totally sappy," complained Skyro, squirming in her grip... Until it hit him like a ton of bricks that he had a body to squirm with, one that could feel, touch... even hug. "Flaming shells. I guess with all this crazy magic still in the air, to name a thing... is to make it real." He sat quietly, then touched a claw to the side of his head. "I still have all the memories we shared, in here." Skyro looked to Spyro. "Please say you do too.”

Skyro was, as he appeared before... Snazzy black scales with dull silver chest plates, tail spade, and horns. A dragon of the third world, somewhat unlike Spyro, who resembles the first world dragons more.

Spyro beamed at him. "It's still all in there."

"Hehe, awesome!" Skyro rubbed his forepaws together gleefully. "I can get up to so much trouble now..." Elora and Cynder were suddenly hovering over him, grinning. "Kidding! Yep, totally just kidding!"

Flame ambled over, amused. "So did any of you mighty legendary purples release the dragon elders from crystal yet?" He lifted a claw. "Also... can we still grow big when we want? Or does that have to go?"

Spyro said confidently, "I handled the elders being caught in crystal during my first adventure. With Sparx's help of course. Gnorc's back to sitting in his lair having pity parties. And I'm kinda done with the whole super growth stuff for a while I think." Spyro held the collected gems that Lord Spike had given them. "And it's time these were returned to sender!"

Skyro stretched. "Not gonna lie, I'm gonna miss that! I kinda want to march right over there and punch Spike in the schnoz... But he's probably a lot tougher of a cookie, and we just did the whole reality bending war thing."

Spyro sighed. "Sadly we don't have a clue what his world looked like before he began changing it. And we don't know if it was better or worse."

Elora was wobbling back and forth, trying to relax and trust in the instincts that said she'd been a dragon all her life already, and didn't need practice walking. "Can we close the portal, at least?"

"We have a whole group of purple dragons who can 'outvote' him," Spyro said.

"And if HE gets smart and retcons even more purple dragons to outvote us?" asked Skyro. “Getting his power out of our realm could leave us vulnerable, unable to counter him, but keeping it around would be a constant temptation."

Cynder was looking at Skyro curiously. "You're a lot calmer than I expected, little brother. You're not feeling any urges to run wild and experience every new thing, or brood over past sins?" She smirked. "Or mouth off constantly, like Spyro said you did in his head."

"I'm kinda burned out here, after everything that happened," Skyro admitted.

Cynder chuckled, nosing him. "Fair enough!"

Spyro said, "Well I have an idea with Lord Spike."

"'Lord Spike, you are courteously invited to the Dragon Realms as a guest of honor,” Jester Garble read to Emperor Spike. “The other dragons of our realm are eager to meet you.” The dragonesses Mina and Rarity lounged by Spike’s side, having already laid his first clutch of eggs. "'Free comic books.'"

"COOL!"

"... What's going on here?" Spike said, suddenly a quadruped teenage dragon instead of a towering adult.

He was surrounded by at least three purple dragons and a few others.

"Your surprise gift put our world in the hands of a monster, who turned all my friends into monsters... and I had to sacrifice my best friend's life to make everything right," Spyro said.

"I don't feel sacrificed," Sparx said. Elora innocently wondered what Spyro meant.

"We don't want a fight," Cynder said. "And I'm betting you don't either. We can't know if you made your world better or worse. But if you treat your subjects like they're your playthings to use, break, and discard, like my father did," Cynder showed Spike the egg. "We are coming for you. And I will know!"

"... You... weren't lying about the free comics books were you?"

Skyro didn't look like a purple dragon, but the aura about him suggested otherwise. Same with the other black dragon, the female one. "Eh, guess we need to use up the extra magic on something." A whole stack of comic books appeared, detailing the heroics of Spyro in three different pre-merge realms... maybe with a few tweaks to play up how unwise it would be to cross him. "Here. Let's not exchange any more gifts, 'Lord' Spike."

"But I brought my Power Pony comics!"

Spyro's friends exchanged glances. "I don't think you're quite understanding, here," said Skyro. "Near as I can figure, you hoped Spyro would 'wake up to his true potential' and become a big ol' reality-warping dragon playboy, like you. Unfortunately, he's kind of stupidly modest (Hey!) so a dead egomaniac got the power first. And he tried to turn our world into literal nightmare fuel. Now, that did lead to me getting this sweet new body, and Spyro a real girlfriend, but you really made a huge mess here, pal."

"Oh! .... Sorry. Was just trying to do something nice. Feels like this isn't the first time I've done something that backfired on the guy or gal I was trying to help."

More perturbed glances back and forth. "Great," deadpanned Flame. "Now I don't know whether to be hacked off at him or not."

Spike shrugged. "Well, don't feel like you need to stay tiny just because of all that." He grinned. "You guys looked great when you were bigger. Probably felt great, too! Eh, am I right?"

Spyro leaned in close. "Yeah... 100% right. Yeah. Felt awesome. But the elders are always yapping about enjoying being cute and small while ya can, so maybe they have a point."

"Pfft." Spike rolled his eyes. "My 'elders' never did anything useful. And who wants to wait centuries for that?"

"LIKE TARTARUS I DIDN'T!" A towering purple Ryujin dragon drake appeared in a clap of thunder, making every young dragon there shudder. "I fed you! Changed your diaper! Hatched your egg! All while juggling classes in the magic division of guard academy!"

"Oh..." breathed Spyro.

"... slag." finished Skyro.

"And this is why we didn't rush in blasting," muttered Cynder. A purple dragon god? Was that even allowed?

Spike, who they thought was so mighty, cringed before the new dragon. "Now Twilight... I mean, Dusk! You know I meant those other dragon elders like Torch." Spike was fast learning that he didn’t have enough power in this dimension to retcon away inconvenient conversations, like he usually did. "You know, the ones who practically disappeared after the Dragon Migration, when they weren't declaring dumb Gauntlets of Fire?"

And Spike couldn't exactly explain that Dusk Shine hadn't always... always been a Ryujin. Or a dude, for that matter!

Dusk Shine tilted his head. "Wait... so you DID keep Cosmos' power after eating the gems her magic was in? Well, at least I know I can trust you not to abuse it..."

Dusk cleared his throat. "I see you've finally met other purple dragons. … Are you Spike's biological family? Poor Spike had a very bad encounter with a fraud who tried to pass himself off as Spike's father before. For some reason I never did ask Celestia, or Princess Ember where your egg came from."

"What about me?" Ember asked.

"What about you?"

"You said Princess Ember!"

"So?"

"I'm Ember!"

"OH! Sorry! I meant a different Ember."

"So I'm a princess in your world!"

"Sorry, you don't look anything alike."

"Oh phooey!"

Elora shook her head slowly. "I'm sorry... We don't claim to be his family. You two resemble each other a lot more closely than any dragons of our world."

"Unless we smashed into a fourth world and didn't know it," muses Ember.

"Let's not go there!" Spyro declared. "This is getting confusing enough!"

Dusk being the worrywart he was, they wound up repeating the whole story yet again. Dusk was floored. "We're so sorry... Spike! You need to be much more careful with that magic in the future!"

Spike sighed and said, "I guess you're right, Dusk," already planning on removing this knowledge when they get home.

"So how did you end up a teenage dragon instead of the big tough adult Dragon Lord I'm so proud of?"

"Oh, we drained that power from him," explained Flame brightly. "Turns out he was younger without it! Ow, stop poking me, Cynder..."

"Spike? You aged yourself up with this magic? Didn't you learn anything from the CMC trying the same nonsense? ... Oh my gosh! Mina and Rarity! ... Okay okay. You're legally an adult under dragon law. So nothing to worry about at all." Dusk Shine flashed a slightly demented grin.

"It's no big deal, Dusk!" said Spike reassuringly... and leaning on the magic a bit. "I'd be old enough, even if I didn't... ahem, improve my stature! And actually, these guys shrank me a bit cause they didn't totally trust me!"

"No we didn't," said Spyro.

Dusk Shine glared more.

A devious thought came to Skyro's mind. "So, Mr. Dusk, sir... What have you done with the power? Made any big improvements to your own world? As a purple dragon, you're equally able to wield the power... heck, maybe more able than any of us in your own world, and you can choose to be immune to other purple dragons changing your personal reality. But of course, you probably knew all about that."

Spike was looking more and more alarmed by this.

Of course... since Skyro had said so... that meant that yes, Dusk Shine did now, and thus always did, have the same power as Spike. Able to retcon reality as he pleased.

And since Skyro had spoken such that Dusk Shine DID already know about how the purple dragons worked... That meant Dusk Shine retroactively had been magically scanning them when they visited Spike's world. Reality changing to fit what Skyro had declared to be so.

And Spike realized to his dismay... Dusk Shine's might over the power of Cosmos' magic... was now greater than his.

"Oh my! Yes of course I knew! I came to Spike to make sure he was alright! But I didn't know for sure! I've arranged a therapy session with him and myself with Discord, our world's god of chaos, so we can listen to his advice and know what NOT to do. Fluttershy does make the best cookies, oh, she's the nature goddess of our world."

"Well... seems like you'll be able to handle him just fine," Cynder said, unable to escape the grin on her face. "We shouldn't keep you."

The teenage Spike whimpered.

Cynder was somewhat alarmed too, feeling the magical shift from that. Being a purple dragon wasn't the universal key to the magic? Was it just a huge coincidence that Spike was purple? At least Dusk seems more likely to be restrained and responsible with the power, but they really needed to be careful who they attuned to it. And Skyro needed to learn not to retcon things he wasn't planning on!

Still... at least now they didn't have to fear Spike invading their world and turning everyone into dragon harem girls.

With more maturity and selflessness than he ever imagined he had... Spyro presented the collection of gems to Dusk. "By the way, I think it's best if you take these back... Spike gave us these gems as a gift for my brother, but I don't think they really suit us after all."

Skyro was super tempted to whisper that he could grow as big as he wanted, before the gems were gone, but his new brothers and sisters would have felt it, and... he really wanted to not let them down, more than he wanted power for himself? That felt so weird... but kinda good.

The usual diplomatic pleasantries followed, and the purple dragons present, including Elora, did indeed rack their brains for changes they might want to make to reality while they could.

Spyro considered bringing back Faun Elora... but how? It seemed this reality thing couldn't quite make souls out of nothing (due to Cosmos being a failure of a goddess who couldn't breathe life into things). And everything that made Elora, Elora, was still there, even if she now had scales and wings.

Flashwing finally had a past, an origin.

And after all that soul searching and resolve to be restrained, it was Spike who slipped in last minute changes. Unable to bear being so small any longer, he quickly murmured "Purple dragons can innately control their size and age" while he was still facing away from Dusk.
Dusk glanced over. Had he noticed?

"They can't do it instinctively,” countered Elora. “They have to practice, and they can never grow bigger than they are emotionally mature. And it's always harder to maintain anything other than their real age." Elora didn't want someday to babysit purple dragon hatchlings who could instantly grow up and step on their teachers.

Spike glared daggers at her, until he had to put on a diplomatic smile for Dusk. Eh, he could always readjust things at home! His face fell when he remembered that he now had mature oversight that he could never get rid of... to say nothing of whatever Dusk might decide to do to improve their realm himself.

And then he had a moment of panic, trying to remember what other dragons and other creatures turned dragon happened to be purple. Twilight's mom was still a pony, so he was okay there. Wait... Starlight Glimmer... Oh, no no no... Tempest Shadow?! Crapbaskets! Were there some purple dragons in Garble's old crowd? He honestly couldn't remember...

Okay! He and Dusk would out vote her, so they could override anything stupid Starlight Glimmer did. And Tempest Shadow wasn't evil anymore... just anti-social and aggressive and suffering from episodic depression.

"Uh! We need to go! Sorry for everything!" Spike said as he and Dusk Shine passed through the portal archway.

"Hey guys!" Flashwing flew down, seeming more casual, and willing to let her guard down now that she wasn't suffering from existential angst on the inside. "My parents wanna petition a portal between their world, and uh, our world." Flashwing admitted, she now felt awkward on which counted as which for her now. But no amount of reality warping could fix that.

Spyro and Elora had naturally made sure that Flashwing's people were NOT secretly hostile alien invaders, that had been done to death after all.

It suddenly dawned on several of them at once... Flashwing was light purple. They hadn't really thought of her as a purple dragon... being an alien, she wasn't part of that legend.

Well. Whatever changes to reality Flashwing wanted in her heart of hearts, none of them seemed to notice any retcons. Besides they'd learn Flashwing was now a princess of her kind, but allowed to come and go as she pleased since she'd been passed up as heir to the throne, with her little sister being picked instead that she had yet to meet, and her jewel collection was now bigger... But we all had little fantasies we wished were real.

Elora didn't say 'all's well that ends well,' because life never really ended, they just passed the torch to someone else.

Though that night they happened to have a big fireworks show... and Elora had given Spyro the biggest smooch he could have imagined... and Spyro was fine with that.

Meanwhile, Skyro visited the floating islands, arriving at a particular dorm room, and drew in his breath, and opened it, stepping inside. He found inside a white eyed elf with green skin, and a young magma elemental.

"Hey guys... I'm home."

~Fin

Epilogue:

Skyro tried to grow, and became dizzy with fatigue at only a few inches taller. "Oh, right... Zero practice doing this in a physical body. Heh, well-played."

"Don't worry, I'll be able to use you as my giant ninja summons yet!" Stealth Elf remarked.

"... Just don't summon me while I'm in the shower. Thanks for not shouting 'Oh no, Evil Spyro has returned' and throwing me in jail."

"Skyro, what are you talking about? Why would we assume you were your brother turned evil?"

Just how reconned was this new reality? "... No reason Stealthy, no reason!"

All these changed memories! Skyro sat in his room for hours, just tracing through them all. He was always called Skyro, always an edgier, more bad-boy hero. And Strykore failed to turn him evil! Master Eon wasn't dead! That made his last year a whole whirlwind of retcons.

Though it seemed his brother HAD BEEN brainwashed by Strykore, his heroic side slowly rebuilding itself until Strykore had had enough of his minion showing too much free will .... Making their battle actually Skyro saving Spyro from himself much as Spyro had Cynder... He'd be ribbing Spryo about that for weeks, hehe!

A lot of plot lines from the third world seemed to have been restored, just to make a place for him as his own dragon. When he turned out the lights that night, golden letters floated into the air, and Skyro couldn’t help but laugh.

"The Adventure Continues... in a sidestory!"