//------------------------------//
// Doing what's right. 
// Story: Righting wrongs. 
// by Sylif Daring Doo 
//------------------------------//

_____*The Crystal Empire, The village of Jade, a few days later, 3:20 PM.*______

The weather was now calmer than earlier, it was still cold but at least it wasn't acting up, the sky was blue with large patches of gray clouds in the sky, with darker clouds seeming to last forever in the distance, those clouds were above the capital city, and never dissipated due to King Sombra.

Dark Spyro noted that the villagers didn't seem to mind his presence, some greeted him and some didn't, but he doubted they would mind if they knew what kind of magic he used, regardless he explored the village to get used to his surroundings, as he did he ran Garnet's, Silvers father's conditions for him living here through his head.

'The first is that you help out, with my son in the capital and my back the way it is, we need help with the heavy lifting.

The second is that if you can use magic, don't use magic, we have been left alone by the Kings army because we have little of value but they keep tabs of magic users, it's why we have almost no unicorns here.

The third, is that you keep our fires going as long as you can, we almost froze to death last year because we couldn't get any heat.'

But in Dark Spyro's opinion, he was getting a lot in exchange for so little, paranoia told him that there was a secret condition he wasn't made aware of, while his survival instinct told him just to accept the deal, and deal with whatever came up later, he was thankful that his wounds were mostly gone, his wings were a little tender still and his magic was mostly depleted, but otherwise he felt ok.

The village of Jade was pretty small, and subsided mostly through mining, but it also had a small farm, and one of the very few forests in the Crystal Empire, it used its resources to trade with the Capital for food and other things like blankets.

Dark Spyro eventually made his way back to Garnet's house, it was only one story tall but it was decently sized, with at least three bedrooms, a living room and a kitchen, other than that he wasn't sure, he approached the house and went inside, knowing it wasn't locked, inside was Silver tending to the fire and Garnet in the kitchen preparing......something.

"Oh, Spyro, back already?" Silver asked, looking over at him after hearing the door open.

Dark Spyro nodded. "Yea." He answered simply.

Garnet spoke up as Dark Spyro walked by. "Dinner won't be for a couple hours, go get some rest, Silver tells me that you haven't slept a wink for the past few days." He said.

Spyro nodded, but he shook nervously, something that he didn't see Silver notice, he walked through the house and to the guest room, he didn't see Cosmo around anywhere and assumed she was napping, he entered the guest room and sighed to himself as he slid down the door and sat on the floor, not willing to move right now.

It was true, ever since he woke up three days ago, Dark Spyro hadn't slept for even a few minutes, in fact he was afraid to sleep for every single time he closed his eyes to do so, the voices would return and he would be haunted by visions, he had seen many things happen in these visions and none of them were pleasant, and the voices always tormented him by reminding him of all the horrible things he had done, many times, the voices spoke of him getting his friends killed so that he could complete his mission, and he knew what they spoke of.

Dark Spyro clutched his head as another migraine assaulted him, he winced and his eyes instinctively shut, thankfully there was no vision or voice, but he wasn't risking it as his eyes snapped open just as a voice spoke. "Dark Spyro?" Silvers voice asked with concern.

With a sigh of relief, the dragon spoke in a quiet voice. "Yea?" He asked as he wiped some tears from his eyes. 

"Can.....can I come in?" She asked.

Dark Spyro thought on it for a second before taking a deep breath and speaking. "Sure, give me a second." He said before getting up and opening the door, he saw the face of the teenage unicorn who was the closest he had to friend right now, his expression was neutral but his strained eyes betrayed his emotions.

Silver entered the room and looked at Spyro, he saw genuine concern in her eyes as well as a hint of curiosity. 'She wants to know why I can't sleep.' He noted.

"I uh.....I wanted to talk to you, about you not sleeping for three days." She answered as she closed the door, exactly as Spyro predicted.

Dark Spyro sighed and walked to the bed before sitting down. "It's.......complicated, don't get me wrong, I am tired, and I mean TIRED, go to sleep forever tired." He replied before rubbing his eyes. 

"Does it....does it have anything to do with the way we found you?" Silver asked.

Almost immediately Dark Spyro's muscles tensed up and Silver noticed it, but she didn't say anything. "You could say that, I guess." He replied with worry.

Silver waited a while for him to speak, but the dragon didn't say a word, so eventually Silver spoke. "Do you want to talk about it?" She asked quietly.

Dark Spyro looked at Silver with a pained expression. "I really don't, i can probably handle it myself....because I'm me, but maybe I should." He said before taking a long breath.

After he released the breath, it took him a minute before he spoke again. "I.....screwed up." He started. "I did a lot of horrible things to my friends back home, I lied to them and hurt them, but worst of all I betrayed them, I might not have had much choice in the matter, but that didn't mean I couldn't warm them." He shook his head as he closed his eyes, falling backwards on the bed. "But I didn't, I didn't even try to warn them until it was too late, and by then....." He stopped talking and opened his eyes before any visions or voices could pop up. 

"Ever since, whenever I try to sleep, or even rest, I just hear voices, I see visions, they torment me and I can't get to sleep." Dark Spyro let out a shaky breath and looked at Silver, who said nothing, deep in thought while listening.

Silver didn't speak for a while, and Dark Spyro was somewhat thankful for that, he let his thoughts wander aimlessly for a while until the unicorn finally spoke. "Did you ever hesitate?" The teenager asked.

Spyro looked at the unicorn with confusion. "What do you mean?" He asked.

"Did you ever hesitate to betray them, or choose not to complete your mission for their sake?" Silver asked, clarifying her question.

Dark Spyro thought back on his memories as a spy, he cringed at some of his choices but he did in fact remember something. "Yea, I did actually, I was actually going to betray the man who made me turn on them, but he used his magic on me and I just.......attacked." He admitted, guilt built up inside of him as he remembered his sudden attack on his friend.

Silver sighed and got off the bed, she looked right at Spyro and spoke. "You know what I think?" She asked, causing the dragon to look at her. "I think there's hope for you yet." She held her hoof up before he could say anything. "The fact that you are tormenting youself over what you've done is proof enough that you aren't all bad, what you need to do I think, is to prove to yourself that you can change." She said, her words seeming to carry great weight for the dragon.

Spyro sat up and looked at Silver, saying nothing as she went to leave, but just as she opened the door, he said something. "Thank you Silver." He said, the unicorn smiled before walking out and the closing the door.

Once again Dark Spyro was alone in the room, and while he was certain that Silver truly believed he could change for the better, he wasn't sure that HE believed it, and this uncertainty was what caused him to shake in fear, unwilling to even attempt to sleep, he simply sat there, awake in the room and unsure of what to do.

Dark Spyro wasn't up for going outside to train, for while he was respecting Garnet's rule of not using magic, he was going to at least keep himself in fighting shape, he had even come up with a interesting attack two days ago, but he wasn't sure if he would even need it.

He sighed and climbed off the bed, he walked over to the end table and picked up the book that sat on top of it, he got back on the bed and started to read it, it was a story about family that was split apart by a band of thugs and their journey to reunite, he only read for an hour before sighing and closing the book.

Dark Spyro returned the book to the end table and eyed the bed, he stared at it in hopeful desperation as he climbed back on and got under the covers. "To hell with it, those voices pop up, I'll kick their butts." He said to himself as he he closed his eyes to try and sleep.

At first it was fine, no voices and visions, but that's how it normally went, he allowed himself to relax a little bit as he felt sleep begin to welcome him with open arms.

All of this was shattered however when he heard a door slam open. "Spyro!" Silver snapped.

Spyro's eyes instantly shot open and he immediately got out from under the covers, Silver stood in the doorway with a panicked expression and a scared Cosmo behind her. "You have to hide! Sombra's soldiers are coming!" She said in a hurry, her voice filled with fear.

Dark Spyro got off the bed and hurried over. "I can fight them off!" He stated, with the guard here, he didn't have to hide his magic.

"No!" Silver shouted, she grabbed Spyro's arm and dragged him along as she hurried through the house. "Dad is going to stall them, but you need to hide Cosmo! please Spyro!" She pleaded.

Dark Spyro looked towards the front door, he heard heavy armor thundering by, he growled as he trembled with anger, as much as he wanted to fight them off, he didn't want to abandon the family, but the way Silver spoke, the fear in her voice, he swallowed his pride and looked at the unicorn, his anger made way for a calm expression. "Where?" He asked.

Silver quickly led him to a room Dark Spyro had never seen, it looked like a study of some kind, with carpet all over the floor, she rushed over to a corner and lifted the carpet up, revealing a trap door which she promptly opened. "This is my brothers secret cellar, hide here." She stated before leading Cosmo down cellar.

Dark Spyro walked to the cellar and looked on in shock as Silver climbed out. "What are you doing?" He asked.

"Someone has to close the door and hide it, I won't risk Cosmo or you, and if my dad takes too long.....they will kill him." Silver motioned to the cellar. "Keep her safe, whatever happens.....please." She said.

Dark Spyro inwardly cursed as he reluctantly climbed down the cellar, it was dusty and smelled bad, he heard the door close and he breathed a small flame into his hand once he reached the bottom, the cellar was practically empty save for a few barrels, he had to bend down a little so that his horns didn't hit the ceiling, he saw a lantern and grabbed it, using his fire he lit the lantern, the light was dim but that was enough to see Cosmo sitting in a corner silently crying.

Spyro walked over and lowered himself to be on eye level with the filly. "Are you alright?" He asked.

The filly looked over at him and sniffled, she said nothing as she embraced him lightly, showing just how scared she was.

Dark Spyro set the lantern down, he was about to try and soothe the filly when he heard voices. "Please, we haven't done anything wrong, we just want to live our lives quietly." Came Garnet's normally stoic voice, but he was shaky.

"Do not lie to us peasant!" A heavy voice snapped, it sounded like whoever spoke was talking through a helmet. "We have heard reports of magic being cast near this very village!" The voice stated angrily. "There were also reports of a dragon flying above the village and then landing here, now give us the dragon or face the consequences!" The voice, Spyro assumed it was a soldier by now, demanded. 

"Sir, my family are just trying to live our lives, we don't have a-"

"So......you have a unicorn daughter." The soldiers voice stated with anger. "By the requirement of the law, all unicorns are to either serve in the army, work the mines or have a magic disabler crystal on their horn." He stated, his words were followed by rapid heavy hooves storming inside and Garnet shouting. "Leave my daughter alone! She's innocent!" He pleaded.

Two loud thumps followed, accompanied by Silver snapping and pleading. "Dad! Let him go! Please just leave us alone!" Her voice rang.

Dark Spyro growled but managed to contain his anger in favor of protecting Cosmo, the soldiers voice could be heard again. "Split up! search the house and find that dragon!" It ordered loudly. 

Hooves could be heard thundering through the house and Spyro could hear the soldiers tearing the house apart in their search, a few minutes of this passed by but they never found the trap door.

Cosmo seemed to be in shock through it all, and Spyro couldn't blame her, after a while the soldier spoke up again. "Take these two criminals to the Capital! if they know where the dragon is, they will tell us!" He shouted.

Dark Spyro had heard just about enough but when he heard a loud crash, he shut off the lamp and used his body to shield Cosmo.

There was another crash, then another, and another, and another, the entire cellar shook violently and the ceiling crashed down around them, Dark Spyro did not fall asleep, but his vision turned to black as he shut his eyes.

______*hours later*______

In the rubble that used to be Garnet's home, a small area of rubble shifted slightly, a few more seconds later and the rubble was destroyed by a fire blast, and a black dragon with dark gray horns emerged from the rubble, he shook his head clear of rubble and pulled himself out entirely, he then pulled Cosmo out of the rubble, the filly was knocked unconscious and he gently placed her on his back, but not before noticing a cut in her head.

"We need help! please! We need.......oh no." Dark Spyro looked around the peaceful village of Jade, only to see that it was reduced to rubble, he fell to his knees and grabbed Cosmo absently with his magic, no longer caring about hiding it. "Is......is THIS what Strykore wanted?" He asked himself as he stared at the ruins in shock. 

Dark Spyro took a long shaky breath and looked at Cosmo, the unconscious filly floated harmlessly in his magical grip, bleeding and likely traumatized from this, he closed his eyes and growled. "You can't be all bad." Silvers voice rang in his ears, not taunting him like the other voices, but still haunting nonetheless.

"Take these criminals to the Capital!" The soldiers words rang clear as crystal.

Dark Spyro took a deep breath and stood to his full height, he turned his gaze toward the Capital in the distance, he narrowed his eyes and growled, knowing what he needed to do, he steeled himself. "I'll get you out of there, just hold on." He said to himself, full of determination.

Dark Spyro started to walk to the Capital with Cosmo in tow, but as he did he felt that something was wrong, he paused and looked back at the village. "If I really am going to change, I can't just charge in, I should search the ruins for survivors at least."He thought to himself.

He set Cosmo back on his back and searched the village thouroughly, he called out a few times even but he saw nothing and no one around, he sighed sadly and headed towards the Capital on foot, determined to at least save the family that took him in, the air was cold and his wings were still tender from his injuries, his magic also wasn't back to normal.

Nevertheless, Dark Spyro kept moving, not stopping for anything, even though his head throbbed, and his eyes strained through overuse, he did not stop to rest.

______*Days later.*_____

The journey to the Crystal Empire's Capital was longer than he thought, he constantly had to avoid patrols, and the distance to the Capital was incredible, but in his journey he learned a few things.

For one, most of the soldiers he had seen were unicorns, but they lacked the crystal skin of the rest of the people of the Empire, and they also had a fondness for heavy weapons like war hammers or greatswords.

Cosmo had also woken up a few hours after Spyro started his journey, she was quiet due to shock, but she was at least moving, she listened to him when he said to hide, she tried to keep him in sight, clearly terrified of being alone.

Dark Spyro managed to finally reach the Capital and immediately saw something that was disturbing, the small amount of civilians, and what little he did see had their crystal skin dimmed to the point of not being there.

He moved through the city as subtly as he could, he didn't fly since Cosmo was afraid he would leave her alone, but he also knew that flying wasn't exactly subtle, Spyro snuck past a patrol with the filly right with her, he stuck to the wall as he slowly moved across it and checked around the corner.

On the next street were two guard patrols and many buildings that were wide open, there were also large black crystals jutting out from the ground and through buildings. 'What are those for?' He wondered as he snuck around the building he was at to the other side, he was about to cross to the other side of the street when he peaked around the corner and spotted a large patrol coming towards him, his eyes widened and he quickly dashed into the building he was next to.

He hid in the darkness of the abandoned house and Cosmo did the same, the heavy iron boots of the patrol marched by and Spyro held his breath, the hooves grew quieter and quieter as the patrol left, and Dark Spyro let out his breath, he looked at Cosmo. "Look, I know you don't want to split up, but I have a better chance of saving your family if you stay hidden here." He said, the filly hurried over quietly and hugged him tightly. "I'm not going to leave you here, but it's safer here." Dark Spyro said as he looked the filly in the eye. "Just stay hidden, I'll come get you when I free Silver and Garnet." He promised as he ruffled the fillies hair.

The action seemed to relax the filly a little, she stared at him a little bit before letting go and hurrying off to hide. "If that doesn't give me her approval, I don't know what does." Dark Spyro stood up and looked out the doorway, seeing no patrols around, he darted out of the buidling and headed for the castle, feeling that it was the best place to search first.

He snuck through the street carefully, sticking to the shadows in the gloomy city, he saw that he was a good distance away yet and dashed around a corner, but when he did so he rammed head first into an armored figure, they both fell over and hit the ground.

Dark Spyro shook his head and looked at what he hit, his eyes widened and then narrowed with clear focus, he shot up and fired a fireball at the armored soldier.

The soldier quickly threw his arm up and shielded himself from the fire, he then got up with a slight limp and fired a barrage of magical blasts at Spyro.

The dragon flew up a little, the magic missing him by a hair, he flew at a fast pace toward the soldier, he spun and fired a barrage of fireballs in quick succession, the soldier jumped out of the way of the fireballs but landed wrong, he tripped and Spyro flew right into him with a powerful charge, the force of the impact bent the soldiers armor and sent him skidding along the roads.

Spyro landed on the ground easily and used his magic, his horns glowed purple as his magic built up, he then threw a strong electrical surge at the soldier and he screamed in pain for a short while before going limp.

Dark Spyro cut the lightning and breathed, he knew that other guards would have heard the fight, so he quickly fled, flying over some buildings and landing on the ground on a different street, but as soon as he landed, Dark Spyro heard a soldier yelling. "WE ARE UNDER SIEGE! FORGET THE DRAGON AND PROTECT THE KING!" He shouted.

Dark Spyro paused for a moment before smirking. "Good, whoever is attacking is unintentionally buying me time, I can get Silver and Garnet out of here quickly then.' He thought to himself.

He quickly flew towards the castle, with the plan in mind that if they were being held there, then that was the best place to look, but as soon as he flew over a building that looked like an apartment, he noticed a lone citizen. "As much as I want to hurry, I should probably get some information." He said to himself.

Dark Spyro flew down to the lone citizen and noted the dull gray appearance of the earth pony, he spoke up to get his attention. "Hey, you know where these freaks take their prisoners?" He asked.

Just as soon as he finished speaking, the citizen spun around and knocked him over and started punching. "Freaks huh? I wonder what the King will say about that!" He laughed maniacally as he punched Spyro constantly.

Dark Spyro grunted and kicked the man off, thankful for his durable scales which all but negated the pain from the clumsy strikes. "So you serve Sombra then?" He asked, even though he knew the answer.

The stallion grinned madly. "I do, and I will see to it that all of you rebels are wiped out!" He declared, laughing all the while, but he stopped when he saw Spyro smirk. "What's so amusing dragon?" He asked when he heard the dragon chuckle.

Dark Spyro looked up and stared at the man. "The fact that I know your trick, all those civilians aren't real, they are just assassins." He grinned. "That means I don't have to hold back!" He shouted as he flew up and took in a deep breath, the once laughing stallion now had a look of terror on his face. "No!" The stallion shouted, this time with fear.

Dark Spyro then unleashed a powerful breath of fire and it completely engulfed the man, he screamed in pain as he was incinerated, the dragon stopped his fire and landed, he then ran towards the castle, leaving behind him a trembling charred stallion, alive but unable to fight.

Dark Spyro rounded a corner and looked up at the castle, he stopped when he saw a portion of the top get blown off. "Is someone fighting up there?" He wondered.

He didn't have time to ponder this however when a massive flash of light exploded from the top tower, he shielded his eyes for a moment, and when he lowered his arm, it was gone and he grunted. "Whatever." He said to himself before charging off.

He ran down the crystalline streets and towards the giant castle, it didn't take long for him to reach it, but when he did he noticed a strangely empty looking pedestal. "Huh, weird." He commented before running inside.

The first room he found was small, it's ceiling was high enough for a nine foot door at the other end, it had four torches on the walls, two on the left and two on the right, but this mattered little to the dragon, he charged forward and with a small boost of magic, he broke the left half of the door down and entered what appeared to be the main lobby, it had a massive stairway straight ahead made of various kinds of crystal from the looks of it, the walls, floor and ceiling were all made from the same material, there was also a long red and purple carpet going from a massive door at the top of the stairs, right to the entrance door.

There were six other doors on the first floor of the massive room, there was one on each side of the stairs, and two on each side of the wall, they were all made of what appeared to be quartz, and were carved with the various kinds of ponies, whoever carved them was clearly a master, as the details were incredible, the second floor had at least three doors, the massive one straight ahead which was made of some kind of prismatic crystal with the symbol of a heart carved into it. "That's an odd carving considering everything I've seen." Dark Spyro said to himself absently.

The other two doors were by the corners of the upstairs, they each looked to be the same as the ones downstairs, they again had carvings of the same quality as the downstairs ones, but were of two different species Dark Spyro didn't recognize.

On the first floor however, there were dozens of crates, barrels and pallets of crystal, wood and what looked like grain or wheat, they were all stacked neatly and a few heads higher than him, there were about five ten foot areas where these were all stacked.

Dark Spyro took a step forward and he heard a door open, he quickly decided upon stealth this time and hid behind a nearby crate, he made sure neither his wings, horns or tail were sticking out and quieted his breath when he heard voices. "Why are we not assisting our king in battle? we could help him in his fight against those.....Princesses." A young yet fierce male voice asked.

Dark Spyro held his breath and silently repositioned himself when he heard whoever it was coming close. "Silence!" An older sounding voice snapped. "We have been ordered to the front lines to fight the Equestrian army, and we shall follow orders, am I understood?" He asked.

"Yes sir!" About five voiced replied in military fashion.

Heavy footfalls thundered by the stack of supplies Spyro hid behind and the door slammed open, the soldiers footsteps quickly quieted as the door slammed shut again.

Dark Spyro peeked out from his hiding place and looked around, he saw no soldiers and sighed in relief. 'Alright, now to find Silver and Garnet.' He told himself, coming out from behind the crates and barrels.

A quick look around told the young dragon nothing about where to go, he mentally considered his options before just choosing a door, he quickly ran as quietly as he could to the door to the right of the entrance, he looked over his shoulder out of caution before slowly opening the door, thankfully it didn't make much sound and he was able to step inside without a problem.

He entered into a downwards stairwell that was dimly lit, he steadied himself and walked down it. 'Okay, this might just lead to the dungeons, if I'm lucky I can find Silver and Garnet and then get out of here.' He told himself.

The stairwell wasn't very well maintained, and there were pieces of chipped wall on the steps, this naturally made the dragon believe that he was right in thinking this was the dungeon, the walk was long and took him ten minutes to reach the bottom, it actually wasn't very deep, it was just a matter of him going slowly just in case.

When Dark Spyro finally reached the bottom of the stairs, he peeked around the corner to see if there was anyone there, there was thankfully no one in sight, the stairs led to a long hallway which was dimly lit by a few spread out torches, he took a few calming breaths and quietly moved through the hall, the dim light made it easy for him to blend in with the dark stone walls.

Dark Spyro found a room with a torch inside it, the torch was barely lit but it was enough for him to see where he was going, he stepped inside and searched the room, it wasn't a large room at all, it was only sixteen feet in width and length, there were six overloaded crates of crystal, two pallets of stone and a few broken crates in the corner, the rest of the room was filled with wood, gems, barrels, and a few closed crates, he walked up to one of the barrels and opened it carefully, he sniffed and flinched as a strong smell overwhelmed his nostrils, he gagged and closed the lid on the barrel and looked back at the entryway. "Okay......not doing that again."

Dark Spyro started to walk back to the hallway so he could continue his search, but just as he took a step out of the room he sensed some kind of magic behind him, he reacted instantly and flipped around, flaring his wings and readying a flame breath, he paused when he saw nothing in front of him, he blinked in confusion because he still sensed magic ahead of him.

Before he could react, a flash of light shined in his face and he closed his eyes, he held a claw over his eyes when the light intensified and he soon heard something. "Whooooaaah!" A voice cried out and he was promptly knocked over and on the ground.

Dark Spyro opened his eyes and lowered his claw, he saw a swirling blue and gray portal vanish before his eyes and he groaned from soreness, but he was not alone in this as he heard groaning coming from on top of him, it was then that he felt something furred on him.

He looked at what was on him and blinked, it was a unicorn, and judging by its build, it was a mare, the mare had orange fur, bright red and yellow hair and matching tail, she groaned again and held her head with a hoof, she then seemed to realize she was on top of Dark Spyro, she tilted her head up and saw him staring at her, her eyes widened and screamed.

The mare shot up and Dark Spyro got up as well, the mares horn lit up in a teal light as she screamed, the dragon quickly clamped a claw over her mouth and used his magic to restrain her from moving as he grabbed her horn cancelling her spell, he stared hard into her frightened eyes and he spoke quietly. "Quiet! there might be guards nearby!" He hissed.

The mare's expression went from afraid to confused for a half second before Dark Spyro spoke again. "Are you with Sombra?" He questioned in a threatening manner.

The mare seemed confused and he growled. "Are you with Sombra! yes or no?" He asked again, the mare immediately shook her head no, the dragon calmed down some and sighed in relief. "I'm going to let you go, but be quiet." He warned before releasing the mare.

The mare quickly took a few steps back and stared at Dark Spyro warily, she looked around for a moment before she spoke. "Where am I?" She asked quietly.

"We are underneath the Capital of the Crystal Empire." The dragon replied quietly as he walked to the edge of the room bordering the hallway. "I'm Dark Spyro, who are you?" He asked as he peeked out into the hallway briefly before looking at the confused mare.

The unicorn was clearly in deep thought and Dark Spyro had to clear his throat to get her attention, she looked at him for a moment before speaking. "I'm Sunset Shimmer, what am I doing here?" She asked with both curiosity and fear in her voice. 

"Why are you asking me?" The dragon asked In turn. "I didn't bring you here." He added, his statement only served to confuse the already bewildered mare. 

Sunset Shimmer looked over her shoulder and she looked back at the dragon, anger barely overtaking her fear. "Where is the portal!?" She snapped.

"Will you shut up!?" Dark Spyro snapped quietly as he checked the hall for anyone, once he was sure there was no one around, he looked at the mare. "The portal I'm assuming you came through closed while we were on the ground." He explained.

Sunset walked to the other side of the entryway and looked at Dark Spyro. "Then where is the mirror?" She asked while motioning to the room, while she was there, Spyro managed to get a closer look at her, the mares eyes were teal and she had an image of the sun on her flanks, it's was red and yellow in a ying-yang style, the bottom half of the yang-yang was red and top was yellow with the right half and top half of the sun being red, the rest being yellow.

Dark Spyro raised an eyebrow at the question. "It wasn't a mirror you came through, you came from one of those swirling portals that you see in video games." He replied, now getting confused about what was going on.

"You mean the ones that close up at the most inconvenient time? great, and I thought my day couldn't get any worse." She said to herself, she and Spyro then did double takes and looked at each other in surprise. "How do you know know about those?" They asked each other, the two were then silent for a while as they pondered what was going on.

"They are kinda common in the Skylands." Dark Spyro replied first, seeking to end the silence. "I played a bunch, you?" He asked, genuinely curious about what she would say.

The mare then checked the hall quickly and pulled her head back before before answering. "I played a couple, different dimension though, I had hands then." She replied carefully, which was not unnoticed by the dragon.

Dark Spyro nodded and visibly relaxed. "Well, what are you going to do?" He asked.

Sunset looked at the dragon with a now wary expression, she was silent for a while before speaking. "I'm going to find my way back, as much as I hate that world, it's better than this place." She stated with some venom at the end. 

Dark Spyro thought on what he was going to do now, his main focus right now was finding Silver and Garnet, he looked at Sunset, and considered his options. 'I could leave her to her own devices, she's obviously not one for teamwork, but on the other hand she might know more than I do about this place.' He made up his mind and spoke. "Can you fight?" He asked.

Sunset looked at Spyro with a surprised expression, she nodded. "I know some fire spells, you thinking of working together to get out of here?" She asked.

Spyro nodded. "I am, I need to find that family and you want to find your portal, no sense in splitting up." He said with a calm tone, going with the rational plan seemed best right now, given the circumstances.

Sunset Shimmer thought on it for a moment before nodding. "Fine, it's as good an idea as any I guess." She accepted.

With that, Dark Spyro led the way down the dark hallway, they walked for a while before reaching another room. "I'll look in here, keep an eye out." Sunset said before quickly searching the room while Spyro kept watch.

The search didn't take long, and Sunset soon walked out. "Is Sombra back?" She asked curiously as they searched.

"What do you mean back?" Dark Spyro asked out of confusion. "From what I heard, he emerged from out of nowhere and usurped the kingdom from the royal family, he then forced the citizens to mine crystals and has ruled like a tyrant ever since." He explained.

Sunset rolled her eyes as though it weren't a shock. "I know that, what I am asking is has the empire returned from its banished state?" She asked.

"Banished state?" Dark Spyro asked with confusion.

Sunset looked at the dragon as though he were mad. "You know? the banishment?" Seeing the dragon shrug she continued. "Sombra's fight with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna?" She added, she didn't say anything else as the dragon seemed to think on this.

Dark Spyro thought on this as they searched the next room for five minutes, it took so long because it was cluttered and filled with tones of junk and dozens of stone pallets. "I don't remember anything about that." He replied.

Sunset sighed as they exited the room, she looked at Spyro. "You must have been one of the ones banished then." She said quietly.

"Impossible." The dragon replied. "I'm not even from here, I was teleported outside the village of Jade around a week ago and I have literally been awake ever since." He stated.

Sunset gained a look of deep thought as they walked until they reached another room. "I think I understand it now." Sunset stated with a firm tone, stopping them both outside the room.

"Understand what?" Dark Spyro asked, looking at the mare. "That your wrong?" He added mockingly, he then shook his head a little, unsure of why he said that.

"I am not wrong, thank you." Sunset replied with a growl, she then calmed herself quickly before looking at the dragon again. "Let's look at the facts as we understand them, one, you were awake almost the entire time you were here, two, you don't know about the banishment of the Crystal Empire, and three, Sombra's guard are around." She sighed and shook her head. "From your perspective, it only lasted a moment, incredible." She muttered.

"What are you talking about?" Dark Spyro asked with both aggravation and confusion on his mind. 

Sunset looked right at Spyro and stared right into his eyes. "The Crystal Empire has been banished for over a thousand years by King Sombra, it was the final act of revenge by a mad King." She stated calmly as she searched the next room.

"I'm gonna call your bluff, his soldiers are still around, why would they be heading to the front if he was defeated?" He asked, following the mare.

Sunset shook her head. "Did it ever occur to you that it happened while you were down here?" She asked while she searched behind a large stack of crates, using her magic for light.

Dark Spyro grumbled and the two eventually finished searching the room, he looked at Sunset as they walked to the next room, he looked inside and saw that it was pitch black. "I can't see a thing." He stated.

"That's because it's not lit up, heh.....thankfully I have magic." Sunset said smugly as she lit her horn, illuminating the room and a torch on the other wall.

Spyro glared at the unicorn before breathing a small flame dart at the torch, lighting it instantly in a dark purple glow, it barely illuminated itself. "And I have fire breath, not exactly boasting about that now am I?" He snapped.

Sunset smirked and relit the torch with a small fire spell, dimly lighting the room. "Your right, you aren't boasting about fire that can't light up a room." She taunted.

Dark Spyro's eye twitched at the mares words, but he didn't act on them as they searched the room, they again found nothing and when they left the room, they noticed that there was no more hall to explore.

"How much of the Empire was banished?" He asked as they made their way back to the stairs.

"Everything except the ground itself, just about everything else was banished, it's possible that no one knows that they were banished, so for all you know, you could have been here when it happened." Sunset stated, her tone was cold and clearly uncaring.

Dark Spyro said nothing to reply and the two quietly walked, until Sunset spoke up. "Why isn't your name just Spyro?" She asked suddenly, the tone in her voice made it sound like a taunt.

"That's my brothers name." Dark Spyro said instantly, surprising himself with how he said it without a second thought, he then shook his head. "When I was named, they didn't even bother to think on it, they saw me and said Dark Spyro, that's all there is to it." He explained, not entirely lying.

The two reached the stairs and Sunset went up first, she spoke as they walked. "I was named because I have an incredible affinity for fire and solar magic, coincidentally I ended up as the Solar Princesses student." She stated proudly. "Of course.....those were happier times." She whispered quietly.

"What does the mark on your sides mean?" Spyro asked.

"It reflects my talent with pyromancy, that's all." Sunset replied calmly.

Neither of the two spoke until they reached the top of the stairs five minutes later, then Sunset sighed. "Now that I think about it, it's possible that when I got flung through the portal, something went awry and I ended up in the past just in time for the banishment.....or there was a second banishment that lasted a thousand years or something, or it just lasted a really long time and no one knows how long it's been." She told herself.

Dark Spyro thought on that for a moment and then his eyes widened at the possibilities, he was silent as he walked behind a crate and sat down, he stared at the floor, lost in his thoughts. 'A thousand years? if that's true, then everyone I know, Elf, Eruptor, Jet-Vac? they're all gone.' He took a shaky breath and looked up at Sunset, who now had a different expression in her eyes other than neutrality or hostility, she seemed......sympathetic.

"It probably doesn't mean much coming from me, but no one will care that I'm gone in the world beyond the mirror." Sunset stated as she sat down, realization dawning on her from her own words as she fell silent.

Spyro looked at Sunset, a mare he hardly knew and up until now had been hostile, rude and just plain arrogant, but now that he looked at her, he felt at least some familiarity to her. "I'm searching for Silver and Garnet." He started. "A young mare and old stallion respectively, she is a crystal unicorn and he is a crystal Pegasus and were arrested for helping me, I need to find them and reunite them with Cosmo, a young crystal Pegasus filly." He sighed as he rested his head on the crate. "I'm doing this because I hurt everyone I cared about, they were my friends, family, teammates, and I betrayed them." He took a shaky breath as he stared up at the ceiling. "God I am so tired." He complained.

Sunset looked at Dark Spyro and looked away a moment later. "I broke Celestia's heart." She said.

Spyro looked at the mare who continued talking. "Years ago I was her personal student, I learned everything I could about magic, politics, economics and strategy, I wanted to make her proud.......but she didn't seem happy with me, I guess now that I think about it, I understand it now." She paused and closed her eyes. "She wasn't happy, not because I failed her, but because I had no friends, I was obsessed with learning to the extreme, it got to the point where I wouldn't go outside really." She rested her head on the crate and opened her eyes. "We argued, I yelled at her, I told her that she didn't understand or even care about what I was doing for her sake, she cut me off then, she sent me to my room and left me in there." She held her head and a tear ran down her cheek.

"I ran away, I went through the mirror portal to another dimension and lived there, and I did horrible things myself, I tore five friends apart because I was so angry, they hate each other for the things I did and I can't even fix that." Sunset said, finishing her story, she chuckled quietly. "Look at me, if this is just after the banishment, most of the people I knew are still alive, so why am I crying?" She asked herself sadly.

Dark Spyro watched the mare sob quietly and he felt......pity, he reached a claw out and gently placed it on her shoulder. "I almost let my friends die to complete a mission, I could have told them at any time that the man I was working for had me as a spy, but I didn't, even when I started to care about them again I told them nothing, and when I finally stood up to him, he drove me into a frenzy with his magic, in my rage I almost killed my best friend, and then when I had no idea what else to do, I fought my brother.....and almost died when our fight ended." He admitted, he could not explain it, but he felt like he could place his trust in this mare, he eventually chalked it up to them both feeling guilty for their past.

The two did not move for a while, they simply sat in silence, saying nothing as they worked through their problems in their own way, Dark Spyro was silent, his strained eyes burned from overuse but he would not sleep, he simply sat next to Sunset as the mare cried, finally allowing herself to do so after so many years.