Video Game Journeys: Spyro the Dragon Reignited Trilogy

Chapters

Welcome to the World of Dragons
The Adventure Begins...
A Sheepy Scarecrow
The Dragon Warriors
Sunset on Ice
Twilight's Breakdown

Welcome to the World of Dragons

One day, the girls were hanging out at Twilight's house after a long day of school. Spike, Twilight's companion and best friend, was sound asleep in his bed.

"I'm bored," Rainbow groaned. "It's been forever since we've had an adventure of any kind!"

"Rainbow Dash, honestly!" Rarity barked. "As much as I enjoyed being with Sam and Max, we almost got ourselves killed out there!"

"Rarity's right," Twilight said. "We should just take it easy for a while. Heaven knows we need it."

"That last adventure was intense," Fluttershy sighed. "I don't know if I can go on anymore."

As the girls continued talking, they failed to notice a yellow dragonfly buzzing around Spike.

The dragonfly eventually woke him up.

"Huh?" Spike said groggily.

After seeing the dragonfly, Spike got all excited and started barking at it.

"Spike, not now," Twilight groaned.

Spike then began to chase the dragonfly around the room. He then jumped into Twilight's lap, startling her.

"Spike, what are you doing?!"

"Chasing that dragonfly!"

The girls then noticed the dragonfly and were astonished at it. The dragonfly then led them to the GameStation. As soon as it did, a Quantum Rift appeared, and the dragonfly disappeared into it. Spike immediately followed after it. Twilight soon followed, along with the others. After everyone went inside, the rift closed and they were all transported to a different world.

Twilight landed with a thud and slowly opened her eyes. There was the dragonfly right in front of her. Just then, she heard a strange voice nearby.

"Hey, Sparx! Come over here!" the voice said.

It turns out that Sparx was the name of the dragonfly. Sparx flew over to the source of the voice, which was a young, purple dragon.

Twilight recognized the look of the dragon from the balloon float that she saw during her adventure with Crash and Coco Bandicoot.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"I'm Spyro," he said. "Who and what are you?"

"My name's Twilight Sparkle. I'm a human."

"Really? Because you look more like a pony-human hybrid."

Twilight ran over to a body of water and was shocked to see that she was in her powered-up form.

"What the--? I'm... ponied up? Okay, Twilight. Calm down. You've been in crazier situations before. I mean, there was that time you were an actual unicorn, not to mention the time you were kidnapped by a crazed evil scientist, and a certain other event which I would rather forget!"

"Hey, are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I'm just a little... overwhelmed, I guess."

"Well, I guess that makes sense. I mean, it's not every day you would wake up looking like that, right?"

"Right."

Just then, the two of them heard the voice of someone nearby. The voice turned out to be coming from a much larger dragon. The dragon was light blue in color with long, yellow-white hair, along with similar colored wings and underbelly, a little mustache and beard with black tips, several watches trapped around his arms, neck, and waist, and wore professor-like goggles with horn-like parts on his head. The dragon's name was Lindar.

"Spyro! There you are!" he exclaimed. "We're just about to be interviewed by DNN."

"Cool!" Spyro said excitedly.

Lindar then looked at Twilight.

"And who is this?"

"This is Twilight. Don't worry, she's friendly."

"Well, if you say so. Now, come on. We're about to start. And don't make a scene when it's your turn, this time."

Just then, Spyro spotted a sheep and started chasing it.

"That boy still has a lot to learn," Lindar groaned.

Twilight just rolled her eyes and smiled while shaking her head. The way Spyro acted reminded her a lot of Rainbow Dash. She followed Lindar over to where the dragons from DNN were. They had just started filming.

"Okay, rolling!" the interviewer named Bob said.

After he said that, a dragon by the name of Astor woke up with a start. Astor was an old light purple dragon with light brown frills, small spikes on his body, and yellow horns. He was wearing a necklace and a hat. He carried a shepherd's crook in his right claw.

"It's been peaceful here in the five worlds or is it... six ha, for a dragon's age!" Astor said.

"Five worlds?" Twilight thought. "Where exactly am I?"

She then decided to ask Lindar a question.

"Um, sir, where am I, exactly?" she whispered.

"This is the Artisans world, young lady," he whispered.

"Gotcha! Good to know," she nodded as the interview continued.

"We now have twelve thousand treasure or, is it fourteen thousand..." Astor continued as Spyro eventually headbutted a sheep for fun.

"What about this G-nasty G-norc character?" Bob asked.

As the interview continued, no one in the Artisan homeworld knew that Gnasty Gnorc, a green orc-like creature, was watching said interview in his lair on live television.

"I understand he's found a magic spell to turn Gems into warriors for his cause."

"I'll take that question," Lindar said. "Gnasty Gnorc is a simple creature."

Just as Gnasty was about to bite into a mutton, he stopped.

"SIMPLE?!" he grunted.

He was insulted and continued to watch the interview.

"He has been contained in a remote world and is no threat to the dragon kingdom."

"NO THREAT!?!?"

Gnasty tossed his mutton away as he stood up from his chair.

"Besides, he is ugly."

"UGLY!?!?!? THAT DOES IT!!"

That was the last straw. Gnasty put on his helmet and grabbed his magic mallet. He then thrust his mallet into the air, causing the gem on it to glow. The resulting blast caused the dragons around both Spyro and Twilight to turn into crystals.

"Well, Twilight, looks like we've got some things to do!" Spyro exclaimed as he ran off with Sparx.

"Spyro, wait!" Twilight yelled as she ran after him.

Gnasty just laughed as he turned off his television set. He knew they were coming for him. So, all he had to do was wait. He wasn't the only one waiting for them, though. Unbeknownst to them, a mysterious armored figure was watching their every move. Who exactly was this figure? Well, they were about to find out soon enough.

Author's Note

This story was originally scheduled to be released last year for the real-life year of the dragon. Unfortunately, due to complications with my own life and a bit of writer's block with Sam and Max Save the World, it got put on hold until now.

With that said, I can't thank you guys enough for being a part of this series. You've helped me get through a lot these past several months. And the continuation of the series wouldn't have been possible if not for your dedication to stay with me throughout the entire struggle of the last story.

The Adventure Begins...

Twilight eventually caught up with Spyro as they stood in front of one of the crystallized dragons.

"Could you... maybe... slow down... a little?" she wheezed between breaths.

"Sorry," Spyro apologized.

Twilight then collapsed in front of the crystallized dragon. As she did, her hand brushed up against the platform, causing the crystal to glow. The crystal then started to shake as cracks began forming.

"Twilight, get back!"

Twilight just barely managed to get away from the crystal before it burst open. From the crystal emerged a large, green dragon with light brown frills, a pair of white horns, and lime green eyes. He was also wearing a dark green carpenter's vest that was linked with a gold necklace. He was also holding a hammer in his right hand, and had a tool satchel around his waist. The dragon's name was Nestor.

He dusted off his vest, then turned to face Spyro and Twilight.

"Thank you for releasing me," he said gently. "Free at least ten dragons in the Artisan World, then find Marco the balloonist. He'll transport the two of you to the next world."

"What about Gnasty Gnorc? I'm going after him!" Spyro said enthusiastically.

"Find dragons first. That's all I can tell you."

Nestor then vanished as a fairy with blonde hair and a beautiful red dress emerged from the platform. The fairy zapped Twilight with her wand, which caused her to regain her strength.

"Thanks," she said.

"Don't mention it," the fairy said, while winking.

Spyro and Twilight then flew down to another platform, where they freed another dragon. This dragon was a painter. He had red-brown scales and a plated tail. He was wearing a fancy vest and holding a canvas that had a painting of Sparx on it. The dragon's name was Delbin.

"Where's Gnasty Gnorc? I'll torch him!" Spyro said impatiently.

"Keep your horns on, Spyro!" Delbin said. "You and your friend have much to learn first. Do you know what Sparx the dragonfly is doing?"

"Umm..."

"Well then, let me tell you. He is helping and protecting you. Keep an eye on him and see what I mean."

Twilight facepalmed at that advice. It was incredibly cryptic.

"Keep an eye on him... just what does that mean?!" she groaned.

"You'll see..."

And with that, Delbin vanished as he flew away.

"Ugh! These dragons are so cryptic!"

"Maybe at first," the fairy on Delbin's platform said. "But if you keep rescuing more in other areas, you'll be able to piece stuff together. By the way, just where are you from, anyways? You don't look like you're from around here."

Twilight explained everything to both Spyro and Delbin's fairy.

"Interesting... I never thought that someone from another dimension would come here, let alone a new hero to help fix everything."

"A new hero?"

"Yeah. See, a long time ago, there was another person who came here to help fix up a bunch of chaos around here. We haven't seen or heard of anything from them ever since. But if you want to find your friends, then you're going to have to look high and low in all of the worlds. Who knows? You might run into them as your helping Spyro."

"I'll keep that in mind. Thank you."

"You're welcome. Oh! And don't forget to defeat Gnasty's minions and get our treasure back!"

"Will do!"

She then ran off and collected a few gems while Spyro used his flame breath to get rid of the cowardly gnorcs and collect their gems. They eventually found all 100 gems that were scattered throughout the Artisan homeworld. During their hunt, they also managed to free two more dragons. Tomas, a bard, who told them that they could glide for short distances, and Argus, a scholar/poet who was in front of a giant stone dragon head.

"Cool flash! Do that again!" Spyro said excitedly to Argus.

"The Artisans's boss is through a portal in the dragon mouth," Argus said, pointing behind him. "But you are not yet ready. First, you must complete one of the other Artisan lands. I will wait here until you decide to return."

"Got it! Thanks!" Twilight nodded.

She then went off with Spyro to find the balloonist. When they found him, he explained what Nestor had told them.

Knowing that they had to at least find ten dragons, they set off into the first level, Stone Hill, through a portal. Upon entering it, Twilight soon discovered that they were flying.

"Holy cow! This is amazing!" she squealed.

She then did a midair somersault in excitement. It didn't take long for them to reach Stone Hill, though. The two of them did a somersault, then landed on the ground with grace.

Upon arriving in Stone Hill, Twilight noticed a few rams in front of them. Spyro charged at them, causing them to turn into gems. While he was doing that, Twilight broke a few chests to obtain some of the gems that were in them. Once the main area was clear, they went into a hall and ended up freeing Lindar.

"Lindar! You're all right!" Twilight exclaimed.

"Thanks to you two," he said. "Now listen up, when you free a dragon or step on one of their platforms, you're creating a checkpoint of your last known location. That could be useful if you run into trouble. Not that you've had any trouble, so far."

"Uh... what?" Twilight asked.

"You'll find out as you go. But I must warn you, Twilight. You must find your friends if you are to stand a chance against a mysterious blue-cloaked warrior."

And with that, he vanished as a fairy took his place on the platform.

"Blue-cloaked warrior? What does that mean?"

"I don't know," Spyro said. "But we shouldn't worry about that, now. We should be focused on getting the treasure back and freeing the other dragons!"

"You're right. Let's go!"

Before they could go, however, the fairy stopped them. Twilight walked over to her and asked her why she stopped them.

"You'll be needing this," she explained.

The fairy then zapped Twilight with her wand.

"What did you do?"

"I gave you a new ability. You'll now be able to blast enemies while in that form from now on. If you need to, that is."

Twilight nodded, then ran off with Spyro to free more dragons. The next dragon that they freed just so happened to be Astor.

"After you've freed all the dragons, pass through this fancy vortex - ah thingamajigger... it'll take you back to the Artisan home!" he said.

He was just about to tell a story when both Spyro and Twilight decided to skydive to the shore below. Twilight used her wings to avoid getting hurt. As Spyro combed the shore for gems, Twilight noticed a mysterious key and picked it up. They then used a magic whirlwind to get themselves back up to where the return vortex was. Both Twilight and Spyro then headed back to the well and gently descended into it. Twilight used the key and unlocked a locked chest that was there. As soon as she did, a bunch of gems came pouring out of it. She collected the gems as Spyro freed the dragon in the well. He was a navy blue dragon that appeared to be a barista. His name was Gavin.

"Watch the dragonfly," he said. "His color indicates his power! When he's yellow, he's at full health. If you take a hit, he'll turn blue, one more hit, he'll turn green. After the third hit, he'll fly away, leaving you vulnerable. If you want him to replenish his color, then feed him butterflies. When that happens, he'll stay strong... like me!"

"Uhh... sure," Spyro said nervously.

"So that's what Delbin meant," Twilight said.

After exiting the well, the two went through the last hall, where they heard something strange.

"Nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah!" the strange voice taunted.

"Did you hear that?" Twilight asked.

She listened carefully. She heard the taunting again.

"Sounds like it's coming from the other side."

The two ran outside, taking care of the shepherds and collecting their gems along the way. They then flew up the tower and freed the last dragon in Stone Hill: Gildas, a light blue painter dragon.

"Spyro, my friend, how would you and your new friend like a hint on gliding?" Gildas asked.

"You bet!" Spyro said enthusiastically.

"For the longest glide, be sure to take off when your at the top of your jump, and trying extending using your wings to descend slowly if you want to drop down mid-flight."

And with that, he vanished. Well, Twilight Spyro glided over to the other side. As they collected gems, they saw the source of the mysterious taunting earlier. It was a mysterious figure dressed in a blue robe. The figure was holding a dragon egg.

"You little thief! Come here!" Twilight snarled.

The two of them then chased him for a while until Twilight decided to blast him with her magic. Upon doing so, the thief vanished and the dragon egg was retrieved. Once that was over, they went around Stone Hill and got the rest of the gems before going to the vortex to go back to the Artisans homeworld.

"That was easy," Twilight said as they flew back to the Artisans homeworld.

"Of course it was," Spyro replied. "It's only the beginning of a long journey."

"True, true."

Indeed, he was right. Still, what Lindar had said had Twilight worried. Who exactly was the blue-cloaked warrior he spoke of? And what of her friends, as well as Spike? Where were they? Well, she and Spyro were about to find out sooner or later.

A Sheepy Scarecrow

Well, once they returned to the Artisans homeworld, Twilight and Spyro decided to go into another portal. This one led to a place called Dark Hollow. Once they arrived, Twilight was amazed at how beautiful it looked.

"It's like something out of a dream!" she gasped.

After gushing over how the area looked for about a minute, Twilight set off with Spyro to free three crystalized dragons, Alban, a scribe, Oswin, a librarian, and Darius, a stage actor.

Upon freeing Alban, Twilight asked him a very serious question.

"Why is my magic not working on them?"

"Apparently, your magic is functioning like Spyro's fire," Alban said. "You see, metal armor is fire-proof. But something like Spyro charging into them with his horns should do the trick."

After he vanished, Twilight folded her arms and scowled. That was not the answer she wanted to hear. The fairy that took his place chuckled sheepishly.

"Your friend back in Stone Hill gave me the ability to shoot out magic blasts. Why is it functioning like fire?"

"We're uh... trying to figure that out ourselves," the fairy chuckled nervously.

Twilight wasn't buying it, though. She just raised an eyebrow at the fairy.

"Okay, look, you see, the truth is, we're not that good at getting things right on the first try. When my friend gave you your ability, she accidentally made it a fire-based attack. She's only starting out."

"That would make sense."

"Maybe once your in another world, one of my friends over there could fix it for you."

"I sure hope so!"

And with that, Twilight flew off and continued helping Spyro. After rescuing the other two dragons, both Twilight and Spyro gathered up all 100 gems in the area, then headed back to the Artisans homeworld. Once they returned, the immediately set out for the next portal, which led to Town Square.

Town Square was a massive place. It reminded Twilight of Times Square in New York. After collecting a few gems, both she and Spyro freed a skinny green sculptor dragon known as Nils.

"Welcome to Town Square," Nils said humbly. "Begin exploring by gliding to that area with the bulls."

He pointed to the area where the bulls were as he spoke. This made Twilight nervous. Bulls are very ferocious. Despite that, she knew that there was no choice in the matter. They needed to retrieve the treasure in order to stop Gnasty. So, once Nils vanished, both she and Spyro glided over to the area with the bulls. Spyro decided to have some fun and charge at them. Once he did, both of the bulls got their horns stuck in the ground. After a while of struggling, Spyro used his fire breath to put an end to their magical misery. After collecting more gems, they glided over the river and freed a blue pâtissier dragon named Devlin.

"Thanks, you two, haha. I had the worst itch on the tip of my wing," Devlin chuckled.

After that, Devlin vanished just like the other dragons. Twilight and Spyro continued collecting gems and defeating enemies until they eventually rescued another dragon. This dragon was a chef named Alvar.

"Hmph! Did you two happen to see a man dressed in blue running around here?" Alvar huffed.

"We saw one back in Stone Hill," Twilight said.

"Well, like that other one, he's a thief, and he's stolen a dragon egg! You've got to track him down and... and get that egg! Run, run!"

Alvar then gasped for air, as he was nearly out of breathe from talking like that. He then vanished as Twilight and Spyro decided to go after the thief. This one was a lot faster and craftier, though. Thankfully, Twilight blasted him with her magic, retrieving the dragon egg from him. Once that was over, they collected the remaining gems and freed the last dragon in Town Square. A ceramicist named Thor.

"Thank you for releasing me, you two," he said before he disappeared.

Once he did, both Spyro and Twilight used the vortex to return back to the Artisans homeworld.

Upon reaching it, they both went towards the portal where the Artisans boss was. And just as he promised, Argus was there waiting for them.

"Mr. Argus, sir, we completed all of the realms we can access as of now," Twilight said.

"That is what I hear," Argus said. "You can challenge the Artisans boss now, if you feel you are ready."

"I know I'm ready!" Spyro said excitedly.

Twilight, on the other hand, was a little bit nervous to go in unprepared. Seeing that she was nervous, Argus offered Twilight to take his fairy along with her. Twilight's eyes brightened up upon hearing that.

"Really?" she asked enthusiastically.

Argus nodded and sent his fairy along with Twilight as he vanished.

"Get used to the light show," she said. "That'll happen every time you free a dragon."

"Do you have a name?" Twilight asked.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I do. It's Ellie."

"Nice to meet you, Ellie. My name is Twilight Sparkle."

"Nice to meet you, too. So, are you ready?"

Twilight nodded her head in determination. Ellie zapped the stone dragon head, causing it to open, revealing the portal to the boss. The group then made their way into the boss realm to face off against them. Upon landing, Twilight realized that they were in a castle.

"Rarity would flip if she saw this!" Twilight gasped.

"Who's Rarity?" Ellie asked.

"A friend of mine. I don't supposed you've seen her? She's got purple hair and almost alabaster-like skin."

Ellie shook her head.

"Drat! I guess this means that she's somewhere else, then."

After talking with Ellie for a bit, Twilight and Spyro decided to start collecting gems. They even had to get past dogs that would attempt to squash Spyro if he got too close. Thankfully, these dogs were just some of Gnasty's minions and not actual dogs. After getting a few gems, the group freed the original owner of the castle. A brown dragon who was a painter by the name of Nevin.

"Gnasty Gnorc has put one of his most devious henchmen in charge of the Artisan World," Nevin explained.

"Bring him on!" Spyro said excitedly. "I think I smell a barbecue!"

"Be careful, Spyro. Toasty has many tricks up his sleeve."

Nevin then vanished as the group ventured forward. They eventually came face-to-face with Toasty himself. He was a scythe-wielding scarecrow with a pumpkin for a head.

Spyro took care of the guard dog, then used his flame breath on Toasty. After doing that, Toasty did something that shocked everyone. A sheep peered out of the red cloak and glared at the group. The sheep then ducked back inside and ran off to while seemingly struggling to keep balance. Twilight facepalmed at this revelation.

"Seriously? A sheep?! You're telling me that these dragons couldn't defeat a simple sheep?!"

She wasn't alone. Even Ellie had to facepalm at this revelation.

"UGH! You Artisans dragons are so stupid!" Ellie grumbled.

"I'm not stupid," Spyro retorted.

"Not you, Spyro. I meant the adults. My goodness!"

"Come one, let's just finish him off and get the rest of the gems," Twilight sighed.

And so, that's exactly what they did. After finishing off Toasty, everyone collected the rest of the gems in the castle until they got all 100 of them. After doing so, they all returned to the Artisans homeworld and decided to head off to the next world.

Twilight asked Ellie if she wanted to come along with them. Ellie excitedly explained that she would. She then did a bunch of aerial flips as she giggled in excitement.

"Okay, okay. Come on, then! Let's go find Marco!" Twilight said.

The group made their way to Marco the balloonist and headed off to the next world, which was the Peace Keepers world. Twilight and Spyro hopped into the hot air balloon with both Sparx and Ellie at their sides. Twilight didn't know it, then, but she was about to reunite with one of her friends really soon.

Author's Note

From here on out, Argus's save fairy will act as Twilight's guide and power-up dispenser. I gave her the name Ellie from a list of fairy names for girls I found.

The Dragon Warriors

Upon arriving in the Peace Keepers homeworld, Spyro and Twilight immediately freed the first dragon. A bright beige warrior dragon with a mohawk wielding a battle axe named Titan.

"Welcome to Peace Keepers," he said. "Look how our treasure has been stolen and turned against us! Please... recover our treasure, you two."

"Collect treasure, got it!" Spyro nodded as Titan disappeared.

Well, they eventually collected all of the gems and managed to defeat one of the stupidest egg thieves around. This thief was standing in an area that was close to one of the crystallized dragons. Spyro flamed him and got the egg he stole before freeing the dragon. The dragon was a dark green weathered soldier named Gunnar.

"Well done! Keep up the good work and I know you and your friend will fulfill your destinies!" he beamed.

"Destiny?" Spyro asked in confusion. "I just want to kick some..."

"Just get rid of those enemies and collect the treasure! And don't forget to free the other dragons and collect the dragon eggs, as well."

And with that, Gunnar flew off as he vanished. After freeing him, they eventually freed the last dragon. He was a rotund reddish orange-colored dragon that resembled a sumo wrestler. His name was Magnus.

"Hey there, you two!" he said enthusiastically. "Looks like both Sparx the Dragonfly and your fairy friend, Ellie, are doing a good job of protecting and guiding you! Spyro, make sure to keep Sparx strong by feeding him lots of butterflies!"

He then showed off his strong stomach before flying off, which disgusted Twilight.

"Does he always do that?" she asked Ellie.

"Unfortunately, yes," Ellie replied.

"Ugh! Let's just find a portal and free the dragons from there."

"Don't forget about collecting the gems. In order to move on, Gosnold over there wants us to collect at least 1,200 of them. And we have 900 so far."

"Well, we're not leaving this place until we get everything done! One of my friends could be in one of these realms."

"Fair enough. Let's go!"

They then went into the portal leading to Dry Canyon. Once they arrived, they defeated a few enemies and collected their treasure. They also retrieved a dragon egg from the egg thief. After doing that, they freed the first dragon. He was a yellow dragon with the appearance of a Spanish knight named Conan.

Realizing he was face the other direction, Conan turned around.

"Thank you for releasing me, you two," he said.

Conan then flew away as Spyro and Twilight continued collecting more gems. Once they collected a few gems near the exit, they went back to free a dragon. This dragon was a large-built yellow dragon with a dark orange underbelly. One of his horns was broken and he had black wings with orange membranes. He also had brown scales on his arms, hands, and back, and a rattlesnake-like tail with a small band. He was wearing a necklace with a bell and two bracelets on his wrist. He was also holding a rope in his left claw. The dragon's name was Boris.

"Dry Canyon rewards good gliders," he said. "You ARE good gliders, aren't you?"

"I was... born to glide!" Spyro said enthusiastically.

"Watch your mouth, Spyro, or you'll end up falling in the abyss," Twilight warned.

"Hmph!" Boris scoffed.

Boris wasn't kidding, though. There were some nasty-looking glides in Dry Canyon. One glide was actually performed just by luck. It was a good thing that Twilight had Ellie to help her make it, despite being a superpowered human. Even so, Ellie was struggling to get Twilight up on to the ledge, due to her being heavier than Spyro.

"Wow! You're heavy!" Ellie panted.

"You want a fist in the mouth?" she threatened.

"Uh-uh."

"Then watch it with the weight jokes!"

Aside from that little fiasco, both Twilight and Spyro freed another dragon. A very heavy-built yellow dragon with dark-colored spots and small wings. He wore a leather and fur-studded chest harness with a stone buckle. He was carrying a stone club as his weapon with a frying pan and two-pronged fork at his harness. The dragon's name was Maximos.

"Incredible glide, you two!" he congratulated. "I thought I'd be stuck here forever with those ugly vultures standing on my head. Those birds might look tough, but they're pretty tasty! Flame broiled, with a pinch of salt..."

Twilight and Ellie both stuck their tongues out in disgust. How a dragon manages to eat like this was beyond them. Plus, it was pretty disgusting to think about.

"That's gross!" Twilight cringed.

"You're telling me," Ellie added.

Despite that, they managed to go to the path containing the final dragon and collect more gems from enemies along the way. The even freed the last dragon in Dry Canyon. He was a light gray-brown elderly bottom-heavy dragon wearing aviator gear. The dragon's name was Ivor.

"Is that you Spyro?" Ivor asked. "Are you the young dragon I've been hearing so much about? And is that your new friend with you? I've got to say, she's really been helping you out big time. As for you, ever since you were a wee puff of smoke we've known-eh..."

"You've known..." Spyro asked in confusion.

"Ah. I forget. But your friend really needs to stick around. Trust me, she's going to be important in an upcoming battle that you can't interfere with. And one of her friends will be doing the same thing a lot later. So, make sure that nothing bad happens to her, all right?"

And with that, Ivor vanished and all of the dragons in Dry Canyon were rescued. That was a total of 23 dragons rescued so far. The group then managed to get the rest of the gems in the area for a total of 400 gems in Dry Canyon. That was it. Dry Canyon was done. The group then headed back to the portal and warped back to the Peacekeepers homeworld.

Despite the fact that they managed to rescue a few dragons and collect some gems and dragon eggs, Twilight still had no idea where her friends were. Where in these realms were they? Well, she was about to find out real soon.

Author's Note

Sorry for this chapter taking so long. A number of factors prevented it from being released earlier. The main reasons are that I was sick and I had a bit of writer's block. But it's out, now. And I thank all of you for being patient.

Also, the moment where Twilight threatens Ellie is a reference to the first live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie from 1990.

Sunset on Ice

Upon returning to the Peacekeepers homeworld, both Spyro and Twilight went into another portal. This one led to the realm known as Cliff Town. Cliff Town was a beautiful desert town that also had some gnorcs known as Pueblos. These particular gnorcs had metal armored capes that required Spyro to charge into them in order for them to relinquish their gem. After collecting some gems and retrieving the dragon egg, both Twilight and Spyro freed a dragon by the name of Halvor. Halvor was a pink dragon with dark-colored horns and spots. He wore leather bracelets on his arms and a battle skirt with an elongated studded front piece. As soon as he was freed, he immediately leaned on his his battering ram.

"How's a dragon supposed to flame metal armor, anyway?" Spyro asked.

"Remember Spyro, flame won't work on metal," Halvor reminded. "But charging with your horns... that should do the trick."

Halvor then flew away as he vanished.

"As if we needed to be reminded of that," Twilight grumbled.

"Did you say something?" Ellie asked.

"Just mumbling to myself."

After that was over, the group went over to the enemies and collected their gems. Not only that, but they also managed to free another dragon. He was a peach-colored dragon with a yellow underbelly, pink horns, dark-colored spots, and large green feathered wings named Enzo. He wore a gold-lined helmet, which his own feathers adorn, a red gold-lined collar with a sun motif, purple jewels on his chin, and shoulder pads. He carried a mace in his left claw.

"Hey, what's on the other side of that river?" Spyro asked.

"Why don't you get a running start, then glide over there and find out? Trust me, it's worth it," Enzo smiled before flying away.

So, that's what they did. Both Spyro and Twilight got a running start, then glided to the other side of the river. Upon making it, they had to deal with several vultures that charged towards them.

"Ugh! These jerks again?!" Twilight groaned.

She used her magic on them, while Spyro toasted them with his flame. Once all the treasure was collected and the vultures were defeated in that area, they freed the last dragon. He was slim brown-colored dragon with light green fins behind his dark shaded horns named Marco. He had metal prosthetic wings that were strapped around his chest, a helmet visor, and leather tassets on his hips. He was carrying a halberd battle axe in his left claw.

"You've reached the highest point in Cliff Town!" he said excitedly. "You can get to almost anywhere from here. If I were you, I'd use that magic whirlwind that just spawned over there. It'll help you get back up a lot easier."

And with that, he flew off and all of the dragons in Cliff Town were found. All that was left was to collect the remaining gems in the area. And that's exactly what they did. Once they collected all 400 gems, they headed back to the Peace Keepers homeworld to find another realm to go to.

The level that they decided to go into was called Ice Cavern. Twilight couldn't explain it, but she had a gut feeling that one of her friends might be in there. And how right she was. Upon entering the level, Twilight gasped in horror. Right in front of them was a crystal-like statue of her friend, Sunset Shimmer. Gnasty Gnorc had gotten her. Twilight knew she had to free her. So, she stepped on the platform, causing the statue to shake. The statue soon broke and freed Sunset Shimmer, who was now in her powered-up form.

"Twilight, is that you?" she asked.

Twilight nodded as she wiped a tear from her eye. She then ran up to Sunset and gave her a big hug.

"I'm just so happy you're all right," Twilight said.

"Well, of course I'm all right. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because you were trapped in crystal by Gnasty Gnorc."

"Gnasty Gnorc? Who's that?"

"He's a big bully that turned all of the other dragons into crystal just because we teased him on the air," Spyro said.

Talking dragons were nothing new to Sunset. She WAS technically a pony, after all. But Spyro managed to catch her off-guard, somehow.

"I'm sorry... Who are you?"

"Name's Spyro. And this is my friend, Sparx. He's protecting me, or so the other dragons tell me."

"Okay, but who's that?"

"My name's Ellie," Ellie said. "I'm helping Twilight better understand the Dragon Realms. And you must be one her friends that she mentioned."

"That's right, I'm Sunset Shimmer."

"Cute name. So, what do you say we explore these caverns, collect all the gems, defeat the enemies, and free all the dragons? I'm not sensing any dragon eggs in here. Thank goodness. The thief would most likely just fall off the ice."

"Oh, no! Not an ice level! I hate those!"

"Well, consider yourself lucky. This is the only realm with ice in it in all of the Dragon Realms. Here, you might need this, though."

Ellie zapped both Twilight and Sunset with her wand.

"What is it?"

"I gave you two better traction on the ice when you come across it. You'll still slide just like Spyro, but at least you won't be falling down constantly, since you don't have ice skates."

"Kind of wish we did."

"You might in the future... Who knows?"

"All right, enough chit-chat! Let's go!" Spyro said impatiently.

So, they did. The group managed to get a few gems, defeat a couple of gnorcs and free the first dragon in the Ice Cavern. He was a red dragon with a golden underbelly named Ulric. He wore a rope belt on his waist, bandages on both his claws, a leather bracelet on his right arm, and a leather pauldron held by a harness. He had a Viking sword in his right claw and an arm-mounted shield around his left forearm.

"Hey, you freed that girl at the beginning of the cavern. Nice work!" Ulric congratulated. "Before you go on, though, here's a little reminder about those big gnorcs. You might already know this, but I'm going to tell you, anyway, in case you forgot."

Ellie facepalmed upon hearing him say this.

"Wait until you grow big, ehem, like me... before charging those large enemies."

And with that, he vanished.

"Seriously, Ulric? Twilight learned this back in Dark Hollow in the Artisans realm," Ellie groaned.

As they continued on, they managed to defeat a few more gnorcs and collect more gems, as well. They also managed to free the second dragon. A slim blue dragon with deer-like eyes and feather-like wings named Todor. He wore an antler-like horn helmet, a winter coat, and a cloth around his stomach. He had a quiver strapped around his back and was holding a bow in his right claw.

"Psst... Spyro! Listen up! You and your friends need to hear this," Todor said. "Some big gnorcs up ahead are wearing armor. And in the ice cave, armor can make their feet very slippery."

This gave Spyro a pretty good idea about what he had to do against gnorcs like that.

"Uh, say what?" Sunset asked.

"He means that Spyro needs to charge into the big gnorcs with metal armor and make them fall off the platform they're on," Twilight explained as Todor vanished.

"Okay, I'm a little lost. What exactly is going on, here?"

Twilight explained everything to Sunset, who then began to understand things.

"So, what you're saying is that this Gnasty Gnorc trapped the adult dragons in crystal just because he was offended by a news broadcast?"

"That's pretty much the gist of it."

"But then, why didn't he get Spyro?"

"It's because I'm too short. And Twilight barely managed to dodge the spell when it happened," Spyro said. "Now, come on! We've got things to do!"

Twilight held her hand out for Sunset to grab. Sunset grabbed Twilight's hand, then Twilight performed a glide with Spyro to get the key on a distant platform. They then performed another glide to continue on the path. After collecting some more gems and defeating more gnorcs, they freed a third dragon. He was a bright blue dragon named Andor. His wings were blue with an orange accent and he was wearing bracelets and a necklace. He had a tuft of hair on his tail that made it resemble a lion's tail.

"Thank you for releasing me!" he said gratefully before vanishing.

They continued on and managed to get a few more gems before coming across some gnorcs on the ice. While they did manage to defeat the ice skating gnorc, Twilight eventually lost her balance and fell into the abyss.

"TWILIGHT! NO!" Sunset called.

Much to her surprise, however, she heard magic sparkles coming from the platform where they saved Andor. She rushed back to it and saw Twilight emerge from it.

"Wha-- What happened?" Twilight asked.

"I thought you were a goner."

Spyro thought for a moment, then remembered what Lindar told them back in Stone Hill.

"Didn't Lindar tell us that whenever we free a dragon or step on one of their platforms that we create a checkpoint?" he said.

"Yeah, he did!" Twilight said. "That means if anything bad happens to either us, we'll just respawn at the last platform we touched via Ellie's friends."

"Bingo!" Ellie winked.

Well, once that was settled, the group went back to the icy area and collected more gems and defeated the large unarmored gnorc before facing off against the one with armor. Spyro charged into it, causing it to fall in the chasm below. Once it fell, it relinquished the gem it had. Once they did, Ellie remembered something important. She flew away, causing everyone to follow her back to the beginning of the Ice Cavern.

"Ellie, what are we doing back here?" Twilight asked.

"Follow me and I'll show you," Ellie winked.

Twilight grabbed Sunset's hand and glided to the area that Ellie was showing them. It was a secret area containing three purple chests.

"Break them open."

They did just that for each one that was broken, there was a nice little jingle that played.

Each one contained a different kind of statue. One for each of them. For Spyro, it was a small silver dragon statue. For Sunset, it was a stone statue of her cutie mark. And for Twilight, it was also a stone statue of her mark. They picked them up, resulting in extra chances.

"Extra lives?!" Sunset gasped.

"Yep. You now have six lives total."

"Waitwaitwaitwait! You're telling me that we share the total amount of lives?!" Twilight scowled.

"Hey, I'm just a fairy! Don't blame it on me!"

Twilight sighed heavily.

"Well, at least we have a way to get to the exit. Come on."

She took Sunset's hand and glided to the area that led to exit portal. While there, they collected more gems and defeated more gnorcs. While in the indoor area, Twilight noticed another chest and broke it open with her magic. Breaking it open revealed an extra life statue that resembled her mark. She picked it up, resulting in the life counter going up to seven.

"Never can have too many extra lives."

"Too true," Sunset smirked.

They then made their way outside and freed another dragon. He was a blue elderly dragon that was surprisingly muscular and fit for his age. He was wearing a belt, a necklace, and golden bracers. He also had tiny glasses and held a cane in his right claw. The dragon's name was Asher.

"Thanks for freeing me," he said as he adjusted his glasses. "Now where was I..."

"Leaving. You were leaving," Ellie huffed.

"Oh, my. Such sass for someone so young."

"Shut up, Asher."

After that little spat, Asher flew away as he vanished. Once he left, Twilight and the others continued collecting more gems and defeated more gnorcs. After having at least 360 gems in the Ice Cavern, they freed the last dragon that was there. He was a magenta-colored dragon with a yellow underbelly named Ragnar. He was wearing a necklace and armor around his arms. He also had a club at the end of his tail.

"You and your friends have done well, Spyro," Ragnar congratulated. "Some dragons thought you weren't ready, but I knew they were wrong."

"I'm ready, all right!" Spyro said enthusiastically. He then thought about what Ragnar had just said. "Uh... ready for what?"

"You'll find out soon enough."

Ragnar then vanished as Sunset facepalmed in frustration.

"Seriously?! Is he one of those cryptic allies that's trying to foreshadow something?!" she vented.

"Yes," Ellie nodded.

"Figures."

The group eventually went back to the area where the locked chest was and used the key on it. Upon using it, the remaining gems popped out of the chest, allowing them to get all 400 gems in the Ice Cavern. They then made their way to the portal, where they made their way back to the Peacekeepers homeworld.

Sunset had just been found. Things were starting to look up for Twilight. Yet, Lindar's words about fighting a blue-cloaked warrior continued to echo in her mind. What exactly did he mean by that? Regardless, with the three main realms in Peace Keepers complete, it was time to take on the boss.

Author's Note

For those wondering, I get most of the descriptions of the dragons from the Spyro fandom/wiki. And most of the pictures come from that site, as well.

Some of the pictures from earlier chapters had to come from different sites, due to the pictures from the fandom site not loading in to the story for some reason.

And I apologize for the 1-Up sound effect playing twice, if anyone is annoyed by that. It only plays once when they break open each chest. The jingle playing twice is just how it was in the video.

Twilight's Breakdown

Despite the fact that they were ready to take on the boss, Spyro had other plans. Twilight followed him to a new portal. It led to a level called Night Flight.

"Spyro, what are you doing?" Ellie asked, putting her hands on her hips.

"What does it look like? I'm taking on a challenge," he said.

Twilight facepalmed at his behavior.

"Sunset, stay here," she said. "I hate to say it, but only Spyro and I can take on this level. We're the only ones with wings, after all."

Sunset nodded, then both she and Spyro entered the portal that led to Night Flight. Upon entering, Twilight realized that she was still technically in the air.

"I don't believe it!" she gasped. "I'm flying! I'm flying!"

"Hey now, don't get too excited," Ellie warned. "We're on a time limit, here."

"Are you serious? How much time do we get?"

"You're starting out with 25 seconds. Luckily, whenever you do one of the tasks, it'll add a specific amount of seconds to the timer. The rings will add one second, but everything else, the chests, the arches, and the lighthouses, will all add two seconds for each one that you do. Be mindful of the order you do them in, though. If you run out of time or fall in the water, you'll have to do it all over again."

"Is there any point to doing this?"

"Actually, yes. Every tasks will award you with 60 gems once you complete all eight of a set. Doing all four of them in one go will award you with 60 more gems, making it a grand total of 300 gems in this flight level."

"Neat. Let's get started, then."

Ellie zapped Twilight with her wand, which started the time trial in the level.

"Good luck."

They all started by going through the red rings. Seeing the rings reminded Twilight of a game that Sunset wasn't too fond of. After getting all of the rings, they then destroyed all eight of the chests in the level. After doing that, they then barely managed to get through the eight arches, as some were in awkward places. After doing that, they then lit all eight of the lighthouses. They barely managed to get the last few in time, due to the weird positions of the lighthouses. After getting all eight of them, they flew up into the sky and went back to Peace Keepers with all 300 gems from the flight level.

Upon seeing both Twilight and Spyro return, Sunset could tell that Twilight was pretty upset.

"You are not going to believe what just happened!" Twilight grumbled.

"What?" Sunset asked.

"We got through the first challenge just fine. Fly through all eight rings... no big deal. They were all in a row in places where we could reach them. The others on the other hand, oh boy, you have NO IDEA HOW FRUSTRATING IT WAS TO GET ALL THE CHESTS, ARCHES AND LIGHTHOUSES ALL IN ONE GO! I HAD TO USE MY MAGIC TO GET THE LAST ONE BEFORE TIME RAN OUT!"

"Twilight, Twilight! Calm down!" Ellie pleaded.

"YOU'RE THE ONE WHO STARTED THE TIME TRIAL, ELLIE!"

"You're blaming me? I told you, I had no control over it. It's just how the flight challenges are. And all five of the realms have a specific time limit. You think you're the only one who's frustrated?! I've been picked on for being such a brainiac my entire life! So next time you want to let your anger out on somebody, DON'T TAKE IT OUT ON SOMEONE WHO'S HAD A ROUGH LIFE!"

Ellie then flew off and sat on a rock next to the portal leading to Dr. Shemp with her arms folded. Twilight and the others glided over to where she was and confronted her.

"Ellie... I-- I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"Well, now you do! Happy?!"

"Ellie, please, you're not the only who was picked on."

"Oh-- LIKE YOU KNOW HOW IT FEELS!"

"As a matter of fact, I do! Do you I think that my friends that I have now were always my friends? I used to go the strictest prep school in all of Canterlot City! And all I ever wanted was to get a scholarship and be out of that dungeon. Away from Principal Cinch."

Ellie turned around and noticed that Twilight was crying as she spoke.

"And then... the Friendship Games happened. An event that I would rather forget. It broke me. It-- It turned me into a-- a-- a monster. A literal magic-hungry monster. It was every personal struggle I was going through at the time. I just wanted to be accepted and viewed as someone special. And all that magic I gathered at the games turned me into that-- that twisted version of me. Midnight Sparkle. And it still haunts me."

Tears rolled down her face as she sat down next to Ellie.

"Twilight, you fought her off when we went to Camp Everfree, remember?" Sunset said.

"I know that, but... Do you honestly believe that I'll ever recover from it? All of this adventuring is taking its toll on me. And it's reminding me of how much I hate being alone."

Twilight then cried her eyes out from all the stress that she was enduring. Freeing dragons, collecting gems and dragon eggs, the flight level, everything was finally catching up to her. Ever since their first adventures with Crash and Coco, Twilight hadn't been the same. She had changed. And it was really stressing her out.

"Twilight, I-- I'm sorry," Ellie said. "Look, if it makes you feel any better, Gosnold over there told me that he heard that one of your friends is somewhere in Magic Crafters. That's the next homeworld in the Dragon Realms."

She pointed over to the balloonist at the bridge. He looked like Marco from the Artisans world, except that he was wearing a green scarf.

Twilight looked up at her, as she was flying next to her.

"Really?"

"Yes, really."

Twilight wiped the tears away from her face, then stood up.

"Okay. Let's go take on Dr. Shemp and move on."

"You going to be all right?" Spyro asked.

"I'll be fine. As long as my friends are with me, I know I'll be able to overcome anything."

And with that, they all entered the portal leading to Dr. Shemp's lair in order to confront the boss.

Upon arriving, they were immediately met with hostility from a Kamikaze Tribesman gnorc that was pressured into running towards them by a fat lady gnorc.

"Jump!" Twilight shouted.

They all jumped and the Kamikaze tribesmen ended up falling to the abyss, relinquishing a gem.

"There he goes," Sunset said as she looked down.

After that, they defeated a few more gnorcs, collected more gems, and eventually freed the dragon that was being held captive in the boss realm. He was a raggedy orange dragon with scaly dreadlocks named Trondo. He wore bandages on his hands and feet, a bandana, a brown feather-rimmed cloth around his waist, and weapon bags across his chest. He was also holding a kunai in his right claw.

"Doctor Shemp thinks he's so cool," he groaned. "You don't know what it's been like listening to him over and over! But I tell you one thing, he should watch his back!"

Twilight looked up and saw Dr. Shemp on the platform. He looked like a gnorc trying to imitate a shaman with sunglasses. His appearance reminded her of the way Fluttershy described Papu Papu when she was captured.

Well, Twilight decided to confront him while Spyro took care of a few things. Most notably defeating the last fat lady and metal chests. After eventually defeating Dr. Shemp, they finished the level and the entirety of Peace Keepers. All of the dragons, dragon eggs, and gems were found. It was time to move on to the next homeworld, Magic Crafters.

Spyro and Sunset hopped into the balloon upon returning to Peace Keepers, while Twilight used her wings to fly to the next area. Once they reached Magic Crafters, they defeated a new type of enemy called druids. The ones inside the building had armor and needed to be charged. Inside that same building, they also confronted an egg thief and eventually got the egg it stole. They also freed a dragon.

This dragon was a dark green dragon named Cosmos. He had plates on his shoulders held together by a golden strap, metallic spirals on his horns, was wearing purple armor, and wielded a magic staff in his left claw.

"Welcome to Magic Crafters!" he greeted. "I want you to release the dragons, reclaim our treasure, and recover the eggs from those pesky blue thieves! Oh, and also free a certain someone that was wandered into one of the portals, as well."

"You mean one of our friends has been turned into crystal like you guys?" Twilight asked.

"In a word, yes."

And with that, he flew off as he vanished.

After exiting the indoor area, they managed to run into some green druids. The green druids enjoyed using their magic to terraform the earth and mess with its properties. One druid even laughed upon creating what looked like an impenetrable wall in front of them.

"DARNIT! WE'VE GOT TO GET TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THAT THING AND TEACH THAT DRUID A LESSON!" Sunset snarled.

So, they went a different direction and collected more gems from there, as well as catching a second egg thief. This put the total amount of eggs they had at seven so far.

"Seven eggs down, five to go!" Spyro exclaimed.

They then confronted the green druid that laughed at them earlier. In fact, he was still laughing at them as he terraformed the earth again. His laughing stopped when Twilight used her magic to defeat him and collect his gem. After that, they went up a hill and freed the second dragon in the Magic Crafters homeworld.

He was a slender yellow dragon named Zantor. He was wearing a purple wizard's hat, bound-up cape and cloth around his waist held up by a rope belt, and a small necklace. Upon being freed, he resorted to doing some magic tricks with a deck of cards.

"When you see arrows like these ones on the ground, you can charge along with them to begin a new ability called a supercharge!" Zantor said as he did some magic tricks.

"Supercharge? Excellent!" Spyro exclaimed excitedly.

"Go ahead, try it!"

And with that, Zantor vanished as he flew away. The group decided to use the Supercharge Ramp to get the druid before it could terraform the earth on them. Not only that, but they also managed to break open a chest called a Strong Chest that could be opened by either using fireworks, or charging at them with a supercharge. The latter of which worked on this chest, since there were no fireworks in the Magic Crafters homeworld. Once they got that chest, they returned to the cave, where they managed to free the last dragon in the Magic Crafters homeworld.

He was an elderly light green dragon with yellow wings named Boldar. He was wearing a purple cloth around his waist with a brown sack attached to it, as well as a purple hat that reached down to his chest, and bronze bracelets. He carried a walking stick with a potion bottle on top in his right claw. He also had a cauldron in front of him.

"This portal leads to a special place where you can do flight challenges!" he said. "I remember when I was a young dragon, earning my wings..."

"So we've noticed," Twilight grumbled.

Boldar then vanished in a puff of magic. After that, the group managed to get all of the remaining gems in the area, completing the Magic Crafters homeworld. It was then decided that they would start by going into the portal leading to Alpine Ridge, first. That's where they would begin their search for one of their friends.

Author's Note

For those wondering, yes, I went there. I made a reference to the infamous DC Comics video game, Superman 64 and its infamous ring challenges. I think ProtonJon put it best in his playthrough of that game. Superman in that game controls like a car. I've never owned it, I'm just aware of its infamy.

Also, Twilight's frustration mirrors my own. I mean, seriously, what were the developers thinking?! They made the flight levels harder in the remake! The lighting and camera placement in the original were good, plus Spyro controlled pretty well in these levels for a PlayStation 1 game.

Here, the flight controls are reminiscent of Super Mario 64's flight controls! Plus, the lighting is a bit darker and the camera is super random on where it wants to be in certain flight levels! WHY?!?!?!?!?!?! 😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠

And another thing, I based Twilight's emotional breakdown on one of my favorite scenes from Hazbin Hotel. It's the scene where Angel Dust and Husk finally connect with each other, as both of them are broken in their own way. The clip is on YouTube for anyone who's interested. Just type in It's not an act Hazbin Hotel in the search bar.