After Spike, Spyro Sparx and Cynder finally escaped the Catacombs with the help of Hunter, they all flew they're way through the caves that had a river flowing through it, it would lead them to a safe place where they can regroup and discuss on what's been happening in the last 3 years, and judging from that dragon that almost caught them, and the new creatures called Grublins that look to be replacing the Apes, who look to be gone by now, it tells Spike that really bad stuff has happened here.

Spike was still trying to process the fact that they were frozen in a crystal for 3 whole years, somehow growing older alongside the time that passed, but not being able to stop what could be the Dark Master's return after they went missing. IT not only meant that Twilight and the others haven't seen him in years, it may mean his visions have really come to pass with who he saw being captured.

That dragon looked in a worse state then Cynder did when she was corrupted, because while Cynder had some control of herself, this dragon looked to be lost in her rage, and the darkness corrupting her, and if this dragon really was the one he saw being taken in his visions, this all may say that something very bad has happened in Equestria, and Ember and the others weren't able to save her..

As Spike was thinking about this to himself, he, and his friends were flying through the caves along the river, they could see the light at the end just ahead, which meant they were finally almost free.
"Finally, it's been so long since we've seen the outside.." Spike said with relief as he flew alongside Cynder.

"It's hard to believe we were stuck in that crystal for 3 years, how are you handling this son?" Cynder asked with concern while she looked at him.

"It's... a lot to take in.. to know we were out for that long is just.. hard to accept, I'm taller then Ember at this point, but to know she, and my other friends have possibly missed me for over 3 years, that's.. insane to me. And not to mention that dragon that almost caught us.. the one.. that looks to have replaced you.." Spike said with regret to know that, and Cynder felt remorse for this dragon too, knowing what's happened to her.

"You said you saw something like this before we left the temple, do you really think this dragon came from your world? If so, why did the Dark Master need her to replace me?" Cynder asked with a worried look.

"I.. don't know honestly, I feel like he may have needed a weapon or something to help spread his conquest across both this world.. and maybe my own. I.. don't know how to handle it, we spent so much time away from our friends.. I.. feel like we've failed them when they needed us the most.." Spike said with regret as they saw Hunter moving through the cave with swift and fast moves.

"It's okay son, we'll figure this out soon, for now, let's just find a place to talk things out and hope there's a way to stop this, okay?" Cynder asked while they were catching up to Spyro.

"Okay..." Spike said with some guilt still as they were flying out of the cave finally.

And as they emerged into the world around them once again, they were greeted with a beautiful sight of the night sky in front of them, the Celestial Moons were far apart from eachother, shooting stars could be seen in the sky's flying over the world, and the waterfall they were flying down from showed tons of mist coming from it.
"Wow.. at.. least we still have beautiful nights like this.." Spyro said with awe as they all flew close together.

"Yeah, even if we're in quite the state right now, something like this is so nice to see. Especially after the last time we saw the night sky.." Spike said with relief as they finally landed down near the river.

Hunter landed down next to the group as they were finally free from all they went through , and now they had to reach the Enchanted Forest before they could talk some more.
"It's a beautiful sight yes, but we must move quickly, she won't let us simply move ahead without her coming after us, we need to stay in the shadows, and avoid any unwanted attention." Hunter instructed as he was looking in the sky's to make sure that dragon they saw before won't follow them.

"Who is she anyway Hunter? Why did she look so much worse then what Cynder used to be?" Spyro asked with a worried look, Hunter sighed hearing that and tried answering this the best he can for them.

"She is known as the Terror of the Sky's now, like Cynder used to be known as, but some call her Deathstorm, she can easily slaughter anyone who go against her, and even her own forces if they fail her orders, or if she just feels like it. She became a threat not too long after you three went missing. Deathstorm's been one of the worst threats for us since Cynder, but even Cynder hasn't done as many cruel and twisted stuff as her.." Hunter explained with a regretful look, and that made them all really scared knowing who this.. Deathstorm is.

"But.. where did she come from anyway? Spike thinks she may have been taken from his world Equestria, but is that known to others here with how long she's been a threat?" Sparx asked with a really scared look.

"She's... said to be from Equestria from what we know, while we barely know anything about Equestria at all, we have no way to get to that world or communicate with it, but with some investigations I've went into, I.. believe she may be. it's.. a tragic tale really, knowing that one day she was living a normal life in that world, and the next.. she was brought to this one, and forced into being a worse weapon then Cynder ever was..." Hunter said with guilt which made them all feel awful to know this.

"So it's true.. this dragon was corrupted by the Dark Master, just like my mother was? She was taken from my home.. just like my visions said would happen.. and I.. wasn't able to do anything to stop it.." Spike said with guilt for what she's had to go through.

"I know it's tough to accept Spike, but if we were able to save Cynder from her corruption, maybe we can do the same for her?" Spyro suggested with a hopeful look.

"That may be even harder then what you had to do with Cynder, the crystals around her body help protect her from the power you possess, and her armor is extremely dense, there's a chance they could overpower her. But the only way you would have a chance of stopping her, let alone freeing her, is if you were to have that armor be removed, there could be a chance to restore her with your Aether powers. But Deathstorm would not let anyone fight her without holding back, she never shows remorse or guilt for who she kills, some say she even killed her own family to prove her loyalty to the Dark Master when she was corrupted, and that was the last time she ever felt sad over anything, and from that moment on.. she's felt only rage and fury ever since..." Hunter explained with guilt for her which made them even more scared on what to do.

"Then.. how do we save her? What can we do to make sure she doesn't keep suffering a worse fate then.. what I had to go through?" Cynder asked with guilt for what's happened.

"I do not know currently, but once we reach the Enchanted Forest, we will discuss on what to do." Hunter concluded before he was making his way ahead of them, leaving the group to think over just how awful this was to hear.

Spike felt nothing but regret and guilt to know this, if she was a normal dragon like they were, she went through horrible pain and suffering like Cynder had to go through, it made him feel weak for not being able to stop the Dark Master from doing this to her, and Cynder just felt awful knowing someone had to go through what she did, and Spyro just.. didn't know how to respond to this.

But as they were walking through the Twilight Falls and near the river, the ground began to shake suddenly again, and they suddenly saw more Grublins emerge from the ground, and they were surrounded by a large group of them once again.
"Grublins! Stay on your guard!" Hunter ordered while he drew his bow and started shooting multiple Grublins down.

Spike saw more of these little monsters charging at him with sharp weapons drawn, and Spike focused his powers and formed his Poison hammer again to help take them down, Spike made a battle cry and charged at them with all his might, he swiftly dodged multiple slashes coming at him, Spike winded himself up a bit before he swung his hammer in a circle which took down multiple Grublins at once.

Cynder used her Shadow powers to phase through some enemy's in an instant, and she then breathed a large swarm of Shadow onto the group which was able to take them down, she then blocked another slash from behind with her blade tail, and wrapped it around the Grublins neck before she roared with rage and flipped around in the air before she crushed the thing under her claw with a hard slam.

Spyro used his Earth powers to roll up into a spiked ball that he recently learned how to do, and he quickly rolled over a ton of enemy's at once, and Spike threw the last one in the air with his Hammer which poisoned it for a moment, and Hunter finished it off by shooting an arrow directly through it, putting all of them down for good.

The group breathed heavily after going through that fight, they were a lot tougher then the apes were, which makes some sense considering they don't see them around anymore, which proved Spike's theory right, that once the Dark Master was freed, he didn't need the apes anymore, and brought them all to a painful end.
"Man, those things are everywhere, even more then those apes used to be." Spike said with heavy breaths while he went to the river to get some water.

"They've been the Dark Master's new pest problem since the Eternal Night happened, how he's able to create such disgusting creatures is beyond me." Hunter replied while he put his bow away now.

"Your really skilled Hunter, were you always like this? Or did you put some training in after you were captured by those pirates?" Sparx asked as he remembered he sent that letter to them too.

"I had some level of skill before those pests captured me, but once that ship was destroyed, along with the rest of the pirates, I went to the temple and received some training from Ignitus himself before I set out to find you. While the way the pirates were destroyed was still shocking to me, a lot of people agreed that it's best that they're gone, especially with what we've gone through recently." Hunter explained which was interesting to them all.

"Good, because the last thing we need is pesky pirates trying to attack us when we're already dealing with something else." Spyro said with relief just as Spike joined up with them again.

"So how long is it till we reach the Enchanted Forest? It's best we don't stay out here all night right?" Spike asked as he noticed it was around midnight by now.

"It shouldn't be too far from here, if we keep moving, we should make it there in half an..." Hunter was about to explain how much they have to go now, but the familiar sound of a ferocious roar echoed over the entire area, and they all felt they're hearts sink as they heard it.

"Oh no... we need to hide, now!" Hunter said with fear as he quickly grabbed the group and hid them into the trees for them to hide. The group peaked they're heads out of the bushes just so they could get a view as to where Deathstorm was, and soon enough, they saw a huge shadow of a dragon fly over the area, and after looking up in the sky, they saw she was swarming the night sky's searching for them, she flew down to the river on the other side and landed down on the ground, and was searching for them now.

"What do we do? How do we get by her?" Sparx whispered with fear while Hunter looked for a path to take.

"This way, and do not make a sound.." Hunter whispered while he quietly made his way through the path he saw, the rest of them followed suit and tried not to get Deathstorm's attention, Spike carefully peaked over to her to see what she's doing, and Spike just got shivers seeing her.

She was even larger then Cynder was, at least twice as big, if not larger, she was tearing down some trees to find where they are, they could her growls of frustration as she was looking for them, and they could barely see her pure white eyes that could only show fury as she moved around to find them.
"Where are you?" Deathstorm asked in a malicious voice which sounded like the one Spike once heard, only far more chilling when up close.

The group quietly made they're way through the path Hunter lead them through, and they were finally making it away from Deathstorm as she couldn't find them anywhere, but that's when Spike saw some Grublins go up to her, she looked impatient with what's taking them so long, and already looked upset with them.

"Where are those dragons? You said they were just here right? Did you fail to capture them again?" Deathstorm asked with a disappointed look, and the Grublins only nodded in response while looking terrified, and that made her growl with anger for knowing it.

"You know the consequences for failing me and my master.. you had your chance, and now.. you will perish!" Deathstorm roared before she suddenly lunged at them, and the group could only watch with fear from the distance as she dealt with all of them in an instant, with they're cries of terror being the last thing to come from them.

"Oh.. my.. Celestia..." Spike thought with terror while he was trying to hold back whatever he's last eaten, and the others tried doing the same as this was brutal to see, Cynder even covered Spike's eyes with her wings to avoid any worse sights to seeing this.

"What did he do to you?" Cynder whispered with terror while Hunter just looked on with guilt seeing this.

Deathstorm had gotten done finishing off those pathetic Grublins that failed her, and decided that they weren't here, and she has to search for them somewhere else.
"I will find you pests soon enough, and when I do.. you will suffer a worse fate then those Grublins did.." Deathstorm said before she made another loud roar which echoed through through the whole forest, and she swiftly took off into the air in seconds, and soon enough, they saw her flying into the night sky, finally leaving them along.

The group sighed with relief to see that she's gone, but seeing her cruelty firsthand showed them just how dangerous she is, and they needed to be careful when around her.
"That is why I tend to avoid her, why we all do. She can easily deal with us if we're found by her, and until we know how to take her down, we need to avoid being seen by her." Hunter instructed which the group understood.

"You don't have to tell us twice.." Sparx said with fear as he felt like he was gonna throw up after seeing that.

"We understand what we have to do now Hunter, can we just keep moving now?" Cynder asked while she was staying close to Spike to protect him from something like this.

"Yes, we are nearing the forest now, come, we need to go before she comes back." Hunter advised before he quickly went down the path which lead to the forest, and the whole group soon followed after to keep up.

They all soon had reached the Enchanted Forest after a while of traveling, while the night was beautiful, and the forest around them was lit by the many fireflies and glowing mushrooms around them, what they had seen earlier was still something they had to think over, they had seen just how brutal Deathstorm in front of them now, and that showed that they need to be careful out here with her flying around.

Spike especially had a lot to think over as they finally found a place to rest for the night, they all were in a rough state right now after what they've had to learn in just a couple hours. It was a lot for them to handle, and they just needed time to think over this.

Hunter had helped set up a fire for them all for the night, and he managed to get the help of an bird friend he had to send a message to Ignitus.
"Go, tell Ignitus that I've found them." Hunter instructed the bird which flew off quickly to let them know that they're finally awake and on they're way now.

Spyro, Spike and Cyder were trying to remove the chain that's around them, but the magic was far too strong, and they couldn't do anything to remove it.
"Agh, it's no use! Cynder said with frustration while Spike sighed in defeat.

"Thing won't come off no matter what we do.." Spike said with guilt as the green magic line was keeping them chained together now, and they can't remove it to free themselves.

"Maybe we should twist it?" Spyro suggested which would not work.

"Twist what? it's magic!" Cynder said with frustration as they went up to the fire.

"Heh, I can watch this all day." Sparx said with a chuckle as they looked over a view, and they could see a huge volcano erupting in the distance, and to make it worse, it looked to be where the temple used to be, meaning it must've been destroyed during the time they were away.

"The Dark Master, he's returned hasn't he?" Spyro asked with a guilty look for letting this happen..

"As if the dozens of monsters and the terrifying replacement for Cynder wasn't enough to show that already?" Spike asked sarcastically while they sat down to talk.

"I'm afraid Spike is right about this, and he returned shortly after you all vanished too, he struck quickly, fueled by hatred and malice, reclaiming the throne at the temple, which means with some dark magic, he ascends above the land, a symbol of his dominance. And with Deathstorm at his side, we struggle to fight against him, but we have been at war ever since, hoping that one day we could stop them." Hunter explained as they saw the ruins of the temple in a sky island far above the volcano, and it just made the group feel defeated that this is happening so suddenly.

"It's our fault.. we failed Ignitus when he needed us the most.." Spyro said with regret while Spike punched the ground in frustration.

"It was that stupid ape king that got us trapped there for years! If he hadn't captured my mom again, we may have been able to prevent his return, now because of this.. not only was my home attacked and someone was taken from it, this world is at war, ugh, how could we let this happen?!" Spike asked with regret as this situation was the worst he's been in yet, it felt so stressful to know this, and if they don't do something soon, the Dark Master may fully seize control of both this world, and Equestria.

"It's not your fault you two, things were just beyond our control. You shouldn't blame yourselves." Cynder advised which the others agreed too.

"Spyro, Spike, you are lucky to be alive, all of you. That was no ordinary creature back there, it was an ancient earth golem from the deep. They are the embodiment of destruction, summoned by Malefor himself. And Deathstorm is now his right hand, these are dark times for all of us." Hunter said with a serious tone which really showed how much they need to stop this now.

"He needs to be stopped, we have to stop him." Spyro declared while Spike stood up and looked over the view with the volcano in the distance.

"He needs to pay for what he did to my home, and the dragon he forced to be his slave.." Spike said with anger while he clutched his fists.

"Whoa, whoa whoa! Slow down there guys! We don't need to be going around and picking fights, we just woke up from being frozen for 3 years! We got stuff to do" Sparx reminded which made them shake they're heads, this needs to be stopped as soon as possible.

But before any of them could decide on what to do next, a strange magical blast hit Cynder by the side which knocked her out in an instant.
"Mom!" Spike shouted with worry just before he got hit in the side to, along with Spyro as well.

"What the?! Are they asleep?!" Sparx asked with worry just until he saw a strange shadow come at him from the trees, and it looked like Hunter a bit, and before he could even say anything else, Sparx blacked out next, leaving them to sleep the night away. While this night was a lot to take in, one thing was clear, the Dark Master Malefor's returned, and if he isn't stopped, this world and Equestria may both be destroyed in his conquest...

Author's Note

Hey guys thanks for reading this! Good news regarding my computer situation, I have just finished up with setting up a new computer that works way better then my old one, while I'm still adjusting to using it now, it's working far better then my older one, I'm able to write story's without worry now, so you don't have to worry about delays on stuff now! Sorry for the worry.

I wanted to give the new character I called Deathstorm to show off how dangerous she will be for an addition to this game, I'm gonna go more into detail about her later then what I've already given thanks to Hunter, but there will be more to her soon, I'll do a few aftermath chapters to wrap up the story when I'm almost done, and I think that'll be it for now. But I just hoped that you liked this chapter and look forward to more of it guys!