//------------------------------//
// A reason to keep going. 
// Story: Righting wrongs. 
// by Sylif Daring Doo 
//------------------------------//

_______*Skylanders Academy*______

A massive explosion boomed in the infinite skies of the Skylands, this explosion was caused by a fight between two dragons who shared a name, Spyro, one of light, one of dark, two of the same dragon.

After the explosion, one of the dragons which was the original Spyro flew off towards the academy to continue the fight against Strykore, while the other was believed to be gone, defeated in the battle.

In truth, Dark Spyro, as he was now known, had survived, barely, his scales were damaged, his body was weak and his magic depleted, he flew off quickly towards the place that had been his home for a long time, ignoring everything around him, he landed at the door and quickly went inside, the door was locked but he managed to break it off its hinges, it hurt incredibly but at the moment Spyro did not care.

Ignoring all else, Spyro went upstairs to Jet-Vac's room, he went inside and frantically looked around for a specific device. "Come on you old bird, where did you put it now?" He winced as he felt his side throbbing.

Spyro checked Jet-Vac's desk and quickly found the device he was looking for, it was a small gray handheld remote looking device with seven silver prongs on the end, and various knobs and dials on the front. "I know this thing doesn't work, but it's my best chance." He said to himself as he channeled as much magic as he could into the device. "Just get me somewhere away from here." He muttered.

"Hey! Get away from that!" Shouted Jet-Vac with an authoritative tone.

And just like that, Spyro was sure he was done for. "Spyro! Err....Dark Spyro is up here!" The avian called out, Spyro looked at the bird and was about to just give up when the device sparked violently, he looked at it and his eyes widened as it overloaded in a electric flash of light, he instinctively threw up a magic shield before falling unconscious.

Jet-Vac covered his eyes and when he looked back, ready to fight, Dark Spyro was gone, but the device remained, sparking violently. "That's.....not supposed to happen." He said to himself.

_____*Unknown.*_____

Snow fell heavily and rapidly on Dark Spyro, his body fought against him and caused him great pain when he tried to move a leg, he winced due to a sharp pain coming from his right wing.

The dragon slowly opened his eyes and saw nothing but snow and a blizzard, he groaned and winced at the pain he felt, he breathed heavily and slowly stood up, despite the pain he kept getting up, he used one of his claws and shielded his eyes as he looked around, seeing nothing but snow, he began to slowly walk forward, his survival instincts telling him that this was the right way to go.

"Can't die here, can't die here, not now.......not now." Spyro told himself as he slowly walked through the blizzard in his hope to find help.....any help at this point.

The cold and snow quickly intensified, pelting the dragon constantly with no signs of stopping and soon it was an immense struggle to move a single step, Spyro growled and forced his body to let him keep moving he breathed a small flame in front of himself and kept walking, he shivered in the intense cold. "Kinda wish Eruptor were here, at least i would be warm." He said to himself as he walked.

The dragon walked for hours, only sheer willpower keeping him going, he continued walking until he saw something in the distance, he slowed to a stop and focused his vision, it was very tall, but he couldn't make out any more because of the blizzard, he sighed and walked slowly but surely toward whatever it was in the distance.

Spyro occasionally breathed some fire to keep himself from freezing, but it did little to help and only truly succeeded in hurting his lungs, as he walked his breathing became quicker, and he started to feel light headed as he walked, he mentally berated himself for the situation he was in. "Why did I pick that stupid fight? I shouldn't have bothered, I should have just left, at least then I would be warm, not injured, not possibly dying." He stated multiple reasons in an effort to stay awake.

Spyro noticed that the tall tower looking thing in the distance was getting closer, and that it was simply part of a much larger place, a city, he thanked his last remaining piece of luck and kept on moving.

Unfortunately for Spyro, he stepped on his one foot wrong, he tripped and fell in the snow before hearing something as he felt himself losing consciousness. "Over here!" Called out a voice before Spyro fainted.

_______*unknown*_______

Spyro felt his limbs killing him, intense pain shot through them and relaxed on and off, he groaned as he opened his eyes to a bright light, he closed his eyes and waited a little while, he tried to open his eyes again, this time he wasn't blinded by a bright light and actually felt a little stronger than he was out in the snow.

Spyro looked around and saw that he was in what appeared to be a room in a house, instead of a hospital. 'Maybe i died and went to hell, no......that would put me in a hospital with a bunch of angry Stealth Elf clones......or maybe Jet-Vac.'

The room was simple in design, it had the bed Spyro was laying in with warm looking gray blankets and sheets, some kind of crystal looking walls, dark gray carpet all across the floor, one window with closed blinds and black curtains, a desk made of some kind of light brown wood, a gray end table and a simple white wooden door.

'If this isn't hell.....where am I?' He asked himself mentally.

Much to his surprise, Spyro saw the door open, expecting it to be a Skylander, he thought of several things to say......which drew a complete blank because he saw someone he had never seen before.

It was a unicorn, that much was obvious, the unicorn had crystal skin, that wasn't obvious, the unicorn had green eyes, and had long hair. "Oh good, your awake." The unicorn, a female said in a clearly relieved tone.

Spyro blinked and nodded. "Yea.......I guess I am." He replied, but before he could do anything else, the unicorn hurried off somewhere, leaving the dragon alone and bewildered.

After a few minutes though, the unicorn returned with a bowl, and set it on the end table. "S-sorry about running off......I just thought you might need some food." She explained sheepishly.

Spyro looked at the bowl, it was a soup, it had potatoes, peas, and what appeared to be.....was that a gem? he looked at the girl and spoke. "So uh.....where am I exactly?" He asked out of curiosity as he picked up the soup bowl and slowly drank out of it, it was hot and kind of bland if not for some salt and pepper, but it was filling.

"Your in the Crystal Empire right now, the village of Jade to be precise." The unicorn replied.

Spyro paused as he processed that information for a second, idly sipping on the soup. 'That isn't good, I have no idea where this place is in the Skylands, or even if it is part of it.'

The girl seemed to notice his discomfort and spoke up. "Are.....you alright?" She asked nervously.

Spyro contemplated that question, WAS he alright? he had been turned against his friends, lied to them on a daily basis, almost let them die to complete his mission, he fought back against Strykore only to be turned into a rampaging lunatic, captured and forced to drink a curing elixir, and then he almost died twice.

He looked at the unicorn and saw she was concerned, and in Spyro's mind, he decided that it was best not to lie for once, so long as he worded it differently it should be fine. "I feel better now, i just have a lot to process." He answered.

The unicorn smiled a little and walked a little closer to him. "I'm.....I'm Silver, I found you in the snow." She introduced, holding out a hoof.

Spyro set down the bowl and shook her hoof with his claw, he winced a little at the action, but he didn't let it bother him. "I'm....." He froze as he thought of something. 'What if the Skylanders or Strykore show up and i say my name is Spyro!? aarrgh! why didn't I consider a new name sooner?' He mentally sighed at the stupidity of his only option but decided to go with it. "I'm Dark Spyro, nice to meet you." He replied.

Silver blinked and tilted her head. "Dark? why not just Spyro?" She asked curiously.

Dark Spyro sighed physically, but then he mentally laughed at an ironic fact, that just came to him. 'Might as well.' "Well, I have a twin brother, he looks just like me aside from color, so i was given the name Dark Spyro, not very creative, but i got used to it." He said, knowing it was a partial lie.

Dark Spyro sipped up the last of the broth, he then looked at the gem curiously, wondering why it was there in the first place. 'Well, i doubt she can eat it, her teeth don't have that kind of strength, so are gems considered a form of food for dragons?.....might as well humor her.' Spyro popped the gem into his mouth and carefully bit down on it, the gem was surprisingly easy to break and it dissolved in his mouth after it broke, he swallows it down and nearly gagged, not because it got stuck in his throat or an allergic reaction, no it just tasted like rotten eggs.

Silver rushed up with concern and spoke. "Spyro! are you alright?" She asked.

Dark Spyro managed to finally get it all down, and then he looked at Silver. "Ok, good to know, don't eat gems." He said as he shivered from the memory and lingering taste of the gem.

"That's strange." She said, she quickly corrected herself when Spyro looked at her with a perplexed expression. "I-I-it's not that! it's just that dragons have always eaten gems, I guess your just the first one I know of that doesn't." She explained, embarrassed over the mix up.

Spyro sighed and shook his head. "It's alright, it was just an accident, now we know about me not eating gems, it isn't so bad anyway." He said reassuringly.

Silver stuck around and kept Dark Spyro company, the two talked for a while, learning some things about the other, And while the dragon was reluctant to share too much, he didn't want to lose the only one who actually trusted him, even if it was only a little bit.

Dark Spyro learned that Silver was only fourteen years old, and when he asked a little more, he learned that Silver's family took him in when they found him, he also learned that the Crystal Empire was usurped and is now being ruled by a unicorn named King Sombra, a madman who enslaves more and more daily to mine dark crystals throughout the land.

In exchange Spyro told Silver about the Skylands, she seemed skeptical but listened to him talk, he told her about the various creatures that live in the Skylands such as the Chompy's and Mabu, he also talked about the various places he had been, such as the Falling Forest.

Eventually though, an older male voice called for Silver to come downstairs.....or at least to where ever it was the voice called her to, he wasn't paying much attention, and she had to go, Dark Spyro simply nodded and rested his head, seeking to allow his body to recover since he felt fatigue taking him, it also gave him more time to come to terms with who he was now, and who he wanted to be.

He closed his eyes and tried to get to sleep, but soon enough, he heard a voice in his head.....one he was all too familiar with. "It's true......you did betray us!" The words made Dark Spyro's eyes snap open and he shot up.....which he immediately regretted thanks to his sore and damaged body, pain shot through him but he held it in as he eased back down, he took a few deep breaths and waited for the pain to die down.

It took longer than he expected for the pain to become bearable, he then closed his eyes again, seeking to get some sleep.

Unfortunately for him though, he was unable to rest due to constant interruptions from voices in his head, he held his ears and winced at the pain caused by the action, it did nothing to block out the sound and he eventually gave up, so he just lay in bed, wide awake and unable to sleep, so he decided to try something.

Dark Spyro sat up again, very slowly this time, the pain was there but it was dull, he took a deep breath and managed to fully sit up, he looked his arms and body over and sighed, a lot of his scales were damaged and he noticed a few cracks, his wings were otherwise undamaged aside from some bruising, he mentally dreaded the inevitable work he would have to do, removing the damaged scales, then waiting a long time until new ones grew back, or using magic to heal himself, and while he did notice his magic had replenished quite a bit, he wasn't willing to use it right now, as it would probably lead the Skylanders to him somehow.

Dark Spyro shook his head and put those thoughts aside, he started to move his right arm around in various ways, it hurt a little, but he noticed that it had begun to get a little stiff from almost freezing to death, once he felt comfortable with using that arm after a few minutes, he focused on the other arm, it was more stiff for some reason but he didn't let that bother him.

His left arm was soon back to normal, at least in moving it, Dark Spyro then got to work on his back legs, he moved around on the bed, starting slow because he was sore and hurting from his fight, he then decided to move around more freely, and climbed down off the bed, he quickly got his legs back to normal and stretched to get the stiffness out of his back and anywhere else relevant, he got back on the bed and then began to stretch his wings, instantly froze from the sharp pain he felt just by beginning to open them.

Dark Spyro took a few deep breaths and stretched his wings out fully, it hurt immensely and he had to bite his tongue to keep from making any sound, but he managed to do it, he then closed his wings, noting that they did not hurt as bad as the first time, but he decided not to test his luck any further, especially with his wings.

Once he was sure of himself, Spyro got off the bed again and headed for the door, he stepped though and looked around, the room exited into a very empty hallway, having nothing to decorate it, there were two doors and a corner wall leading elsewhere but that was it, Dark Spyro headed for the corner wall, finding that it led to a single door at the end of the hall. "Hey." A young girls voice spoke up behind him.

Spyro looked back and then down, seeing a young looking Pegasus, again with crystal skin, but this one had ruby colored eyes. "Um......hi?" He said, unsure of what exactly to say.

The young Pegasus tilted her head. "Are you dragon?" She asked curiously.

Spyro nodded slowly, keeping his eyes on the filly. "Yeah." He replied.

The filly seemed to smile at that. "So you are the dragon that my sister said she liked!" She stated with a smile.

Spyro blinked and raised an eyebrow. "Uh.....huh? what are you thinking?" He asked, though with how the filly spoke, he was sure he knew the answer.

"Your her friend right!?" The filly asked eagerly.

Dark Spyro paused, closing his eyes, both relieved that he was wrong, and conflicted at the dilemma, Silver was nice at first glance but he didn't have any idea what would happen if Spyro found out if they were friends, so he put that thought on the back burner for now and looked at the filly. "I've only known your sister for about an hour, she saved me from freezing out in the blizzard." He admitted. "So......maybe we are friends, maybe." He added before walked around the filly to explore a little more, and the filly followed.

Dark Spyro headed down the other side of the hallway, he stopped just outside his room and spoke. "Which way do I go to get out of this hallway?" He asked the filly.

The filly pointed to the door closest to his door. "That door leads out of here." She said.

Hoping that he wasn't getting pranked, Dark Spyro walked up to the door and opened it slowly, peaking inside, he was relieved to see a far more open room ahead, with a couch, a large table which was most likely a dining table, and a few chairs, he walked in and looked around as he did so, he saw a few paintings on the walls, one of a beautiful city with a large spire of a castle in the center, another painting was that of a mare, again with the crystal skin, but this time the skin was more mild than the others, her eyes were sapphire colored and her hair was long, styled in a braid and smiling a little bit, Spyro did have to admit it, she was beautiful, painted with extreme detail.

"Why are you out of bed?" Silver's voice asked.

Dark Spyro looked towards the large room and saw Silver walking over. "I heal quick, and I was getting restless, so I decided to move around, sorry doc, but I'm not a cooperative patient." He joked as he looked at the painting again.

Silver could be heard sighing, she then spoke. "That's my mother, she died a few weeks after Cosmo was born." She said, looking out into the large room where the filly was looking around. "You would have liked her Dark Spyro." She added, looking at the dragon. 

Spyro said nothing as he looked at the painting a little more. "She was a lot like you." Silver said suddenly, making him look at her with curiosity and doubt. "How so?" He asked out of genuine curiosity.

Silver smiled and looked at the painting of her mother. "She never gave up, she kept fighting until the end." She answered with pride in her voice.

Dark Spyro thought on those words as he followed Silver through the hall and to the larger room, and just how much they meant to hear, even coming from a stranger who barely knew him, he was silent as he followed the teenager, she led him to a large room with a dark gray cotton couch, a matching sofa, a worn wooden rocking chair and a red stone coffee table, there was also a fireplace and a Pegasus stallion putting firewood inside, the stallion was short but well toned, he was clearly strong, his crystal skin was a mild prismatic color and he appeared to have no hair.

"Dad?" Silver spoke quietly, and the stallion sighed. "Yes Silver?" He asked in a low voice, not turning around as he tried to light the fire with two rocks by scraping them together quickly, it was not working.

"Um....dad, this is Dark Spyro, the dragon we saved from the snow?" Silver tried, but again no reaction as the father kept trying to light the fire.

Spyro narrowed his eyes and briefly contemplated setting him on fire, but he discarded that idea, as it would piss off literally everyone here, except maybe villains or dragon pranksters. "Plan B then." He said nonchalantly as he walked around the father to the side and spit a small fireball at the fireplace, it lit instantly, and thanks to a tiny amount of magic, the fire would burn longer.

The stallion stared at the fire in awe for a moment before facing Dark Spyro, his eyes were Emerald in color. "Well, that made it easier." He remarked.

Dark Spyro shook his head and sighed. "I owe you for saving my life from the blizzard, so its nothing." He replied easily.

The father looked at Silver. "Have you finished up outside?" He asked.

Dark Spyro looked at the Father as though he were nuts. "Isn't there a blizzard outside?" He asked.

"That was hours ago, the blizzards kick up and then relax for a day, but yes, I finished up." Silver said, answering Dark Spyro's question.

The father nodded, he then looked at Dark Spyro. "So dragon, my daughter convinced me to let you stick around until your ready to move on, or two months....whichever comes first, but if you do, there are a couple of things first." He stated.

Dark Spyro instantly weighed the pros and cons of staying here in his head, just in case. 

'Pros: I will have a place to recover my strength, learn about this new land, stay warm and possibly fed, and will be with people who don't want to imprison me.

Cons: Staying in one place for too long could endanger myself and these people, this land has a mad King, sticking around could lead to trouble down the road, could possibly hurt Silver.'

Dark Spyro froze at that last one, he mentally pondered why that thought in particular bothered him, he felt no magic influencing him, he did not feel an emotional attachment to this family, and he doubted the Skylanders would use innocents as leverage against him, could Strykore have won? even with Kaos bumbling everything up? that could explain his nerves, but not the guilt.

Dark Spyro heard the father speak and this snapped him out of his thoughts. "So dragon, what is your name?" The stallion asked patiently.

Extending his claw out, he answered the father with the words he decided to go with, words that he vowed would signify a new beginning.

"My name is Dark Spyro, of the Skylands."