Righting wrongs.

by Sylif Daring Doo


Fulfilling a promise.

______*The Crystal Empire.*_______

The city was in a state of celebration with the defeat of King Sombra, all over the citizens spoke of Spike the Savior, he who returned the Crystal Heart to the people and banished the Dark King forever, as the people celebrated, a small group of four made their way to where many slaves were being held to save them from their captivity.

Dark Spyro, a black dragon who was physically strained far beyond his limit, Twilight Sparkle, a lavender unicorn mare who vowed to make up for her mistake, Sunset Shimmer, an orange unicorn mare turned human turned unicorn that wants to help her friend fulfill his promise, and Cosmo, a young Crystal Pegasus filly that wants to save her family.

The four were an odd group to be certain, but the people of the Crystal Empire didn't seem to care as they celebrated their freedom, by way of song, dance, partying or just quietly enjoying the knowledge that the tyrant was finally defeated, but as they celebrated and cheered the name of Spike, Twilight looked at Dark Spyro, whose calm and determined expression made her wonder if he even cared that he wasn't getting any credit for defeating King Sombra, so she decided to ask him while they were still going in the direction Cosmo said to go. "Dark Spyro?.....aren't you a little annoyed that nopony is giving you any credit?" She asked, the tone of voice she used showed that she was just curious, not trying to start anything.

"Normally I would be, given the fact that I risked my life on it, but honestly I have a bad habit of letting fame and my own ego get the best of me." The dragon replied. "So no, I really couldn't care who the credit goes to." He added, and while he was sure that he would have surprised someone else with that reply, he found that he surprised himself the most, and he had to admit it was interesting at the very least.

Cosmo smiled while she rode on the dragons back, she looked at Twilight and then at Sunset, before focusing on where they were going, she pointed Dark Spyro and the mares in the right direction which was down an alley that entered onto another street and she pointed them in the right direction from there, it seemed that Dark Spyro understood where they were going but said nothing as they walked, soon enough the filly spoke up about something that interested her. "Hey miss Twilight." She said, looking at the lavender unicorn. "Why do you keep glancing at Dark Spyro?" She asked out of genuine curiosity.

Twilight blinked in surprise to the question. "Well I, I just......I mean, no I.....why....." She clearly struggled to find the right words and Sunset thankfully came to her rescue, speaking up at the best time to prevent any confusion.

"It's very simple Cosmo, Dark Spyro is a black dragon, which in Equestria are rumored to be a myth, Twilight here just doesn't know how to approach him about that." Sunset said, summing up what Twilight wanted to reply with very easily, and then smirking. "That or she's into dragons." She added, clearly amused while the unicorn in question stammered and blushed, unable to form words in her defense.

Cosmo peeked over Dark Spyro's neck and saw him barely containing his own laughter, she raised an eyebrow at this, wondering what the dragon found to be so funny, but she said nothing else on the matter, simply pointing them in the right direction, but she decided to ask later, after her family was safe.

It took a few minutes of silence for Twilight to finally calm down, and as they walked, she noticed that the crystal skin was fading on herself, Sunset and Dark Spyro, but she did notice that it faded especially fast from Dark Spyro, for as soon as it started to fade on him it practically went away all together, so as they walked, Twilight decided to ask the dragon a few questions, or even just one. "So, can I ask you something Dark Spyro?" She asked.

"Sure thing." The dragon replied, his tone revealed that he was fine with it, but he did seem a little passive.

Twilight took a breath and then spoke after letting her breath out. "What's your home like?" She asked curiously and with patience, figuring that she might as well learn some about dragons while she was at it, while at the same time not willing to anger the dragon.

"The Skylands are a good place, when they are at peace that is." The dragon began, Twilight raised an eyebrow at his statement, not recognizing the name of his home at all. "As the name implies, it's in the sky, the lands are mostly islands of varying sizes and importance, but it can be very difficult to find your way if you get lost, mostly because they are infinite." Dark Spyro sighed as he seemed to remember something. "Trust me, being lost in an infinite sky is not fun." He added.

"How can they be infinite? it's basically impossible considering how planets work." Twilight stated, trying to understand Dark Spyro's logic, but having a hard time with it.

The dragon chuckled as he followed Cosmo's directions. "That's what Redding the Explorer said, he flew straight in one direction for years, with breaks and stops of course, but he never found a familiar landmark, he eventually returned ten years later and declared his attempt a failure." He replied. "So yea, I think it's safe to say the Skylands are infinite." He added with an amused smile on his face that he refused to show Twilight.

Before Twilight could reply, Cosmo spoke up. "That way!" She declared, pointing out towards the frozen plains, Dark Spyro shrugged and walked to where the filly pointed, not even questioning her directions.

Sunset however did speak up as they walked, curious about something that she actually felt a little stupid for not asking sooner. "Hey Cosmo, where is your family at exactly?" She asked, the filly looked at her, her expression saddened and her crystal coat grew a little duller.

"The slave mines." She said sadly, the tone she used made both Twilight and Sunset look at each other with sympathy for the filly, their Crystal coats faded completely and Sunset looked at the filly who was clearly putting on a brave face despite the circumstances, Sunset found herself impressed with the filly for being able to do this, to go with them and help them rather than hide and hope that her friend saved her family, and as she observed the filly, for a moment Sunset saw part of herself in the Pegasus, the refusal to give up was something that Sunset was noticing.

Dark Spyro kept quiet as he walked, feeling that he really didn't have anything to say, not without sounding like a total sap of course, so instead he kept quiet and kept his focus on the destination, he was thankful that his magic was replenished, if only by a little, so he felt that if it came down to it, he should be able to fight back, but part of him knew that he would have too fight, even if he absolutely did not want to fight in his condition.

The rest of the walk to the Slave Mines was quiet with none in the group speaking up save for Cosmo occasionally pointing them in the right direction, while also stating that she had found it earlier when she snuck away from the city, and while the expression on Dark Spyro's face told her that he was disappointed with her for doing so, he was also grateful for finding them in general.

Eventually after a half hour of walking, the group of four reached the place where the entrance to the Slave mines was located, the place in question was an old wooden fort, the walls were in serious disrepair and the place seemed to be abandoned, there were holes in the walls showing that there was a rampart that someone could stand on, the walls were about twelve feet high with spikes going up an extra foot from the walkways, the gate itself were two large wooden doors that were just barely connected by rusted metal hinges and was missing the lower and center pieces on each door.

"This is the place." Cosmo said, gulping as she physically shivered on Dark Spyro's back, she took a few deep breaths as the group moved forward and she spoke up again when they entered the fort. "The entrance to the mines is in that mostly intact building, the one that's furthest away from the gate." The filly explained nervously.

Dark Spyro looked around the fort, searching for any signs of recent activity or life, there were four buildings in the fort, the first of them was missing half of its front wall and roof which revealed a couple long tables with bench seats, showing that this building was a mess hall, it was the first building on the left and stood eight feet high.

The first building on the right was mostly intact, the wood was rotten and warped, showing that the structure was ready to collapse at any moment, there was a more recent sign saying 'Keep Out' in front of it, the group agreed that it would have been a decent spot to hide the entrance to the Slave Mines but according to Cosmo, the only thing in there was a rotten desk, chair, and some old cabinets, before any of them could ask how she knew this, she claimed that she got a glimpse of it while searching for the Mines, it stood about seven feet high.

The second building on the right was nothing more than a pile of rubble, which collapsed when Cosmo arrived to search the place, according to the filly it looked like it used to be the sleeping quarters for the soldiers stationed here, it was also about the same height as the condemned building, as Cosmo talked Sunset Shimmer found herself doubting the odds of finding the family or anyone else alive down in the Mines, but she kept these thoughts to herself as to not hurt the filly or the dragon of the group.

The last building was the second on the left, it was in decent condition, the roof was missing but the walls still stood, it looked as though it were only six feet high when the roof was on, the door to the building was crushed, as though someone had blasted through it with a strong enough spell or charged straight through with their body, they couldn't find anything at first glance so they were unable to find anything, Cosmo said that building seemed to be an armory judging by the weapons and armor on the inside, she also said that the entrance to the Mines was just behind the building, out of plain sight but easily accessible.

Dark Spyro took a moment to blink a few times and stretch before heading towards the entrance that Cosmo mentioned, as he walked he heard Twilight and Sunset talking a little as they walked. "I wonder what this fort was protecting." Twilight pondered as she looked around the fort.

"Probably the Mines, back when the Crystal Empire was and wasn't ruled by Sombra." Sunset theorized. "But right now, it's probably better that we worry about the present instead of the past, we can theorize all we want when we leave." She stated, clearly showing that she didn't want to be caught off guard should any soldiers loyal to Sombra be down in the Mines.

Dark Spyro nodded his head in agreement. "Alright, we should all be quiet until we know for certain we can speak freely." He stated, looking over his shoulder and seeing that Twilight and Sunset nodded, while Cosmo gave a short smile, with them all in agreement they went silent as they made their way around the wooden building, finding that the back and side walls were slightly rotten.

Cosmo climbed down off Dark Spyro's back and walked over to a cellar door which was between the wall and the building, giving five feet of space in either direction, it was an odd thing for a fort to have, but when she pointed at it they knew exactly what it was, an entrance to the Slave Mines, it was in great condition with no rot or decay on its surface, there was a large magical seal on the door, preventing access to the Mines.

Twilight lit her horn up with magic and the cellar door lit up with the same purple aura, within seconds the magical lock broke, the symbol disappeared into nothingness and the door opened slowly and quietly, allowing the four to enter the Mines to search for Cosmo's family.

Looking down into the Mines they saw only blackness, the furthest they could see was a stone pathway right inside the door, Sunset lit her horn up and headed in first, dimly illuminating the dark path with her teal aura, Dark Spyro followed in next, followed by Cosmo and then Twilight, as they walked down the path deeper into the Mines, Sunset and Twilight were the only sources of light to be found anywhere, for not a single torch lay on the walls or the floor.

The walls were dusty and clearly made of stone, they were held up by sturdy looking wooden beams that were right up against the walls, because of the dim lights, none of them could make out any specific details on the walls, the walk was silent as they headed deeper and deeper.

Dark Spyro felt unease as he walked through these dark and empty halls, he felt an oppressive aura hanging in the air and he was about to speak up when he heard a clang further ahead, the group stopped and listened, another clang sounded through the halls and was followed by a quieter one, they walked forward with caution, Sunset and Twilight dimmed their magic until they could just barely see where they were going,

They rounded a dark corner and saw light up ahead, Sunset's horn stopped glowing and Twilight's soon followed, they moved as quietly as they could until they reached the end of their wall, Sunset looked at Dark Spyro and motioned for him to look ahead, the dragon nodded and switched places with Sunset, he peeked his head out to look around and examined every obvious detail.

The area ahead was massive, at least three houses in length and width from what he could tell, the path straight ahead led to a single balcony that overlooked the rest of the mines, the path heading to his left led to a stair that headed down, the entire edge of this level was covered by a strong iron fence, with a few spikes jutting out as well and all Dark Spyro could see of the level below this one was light, as this level only had four dim torches.

Thankfully the dragon didn't see any guards on this level, but he could hear commands being shouted from below, possibly from the enforcers and taskmasters of the Mines, he crept up to the corner fence post and looked down at the area below, what Dark Spyro saw made him take a minute to calm down, for what he saw was horrible.

There were two more levels to this place, going down about twenty feet or more, there were also several tunnels split off from the main area, on the level right below which wrapped around the entire place, there were many slaves of varying species including the three main pony tribes, a few griffons and a couple thin looking bears that stood on two feet, and that was just a first glance, standing behind them and walking along the pathways were unicorns, earth ponies and bull creatures, which Dark Spyro assumed to be Minotaurs, the entire place was lit up, not to bright levels of course but they were bright enough to see with decent clarity.

The enforcers and taskmasters both wore the same armor, which was a more lightweight armor that looked like leather, it covered the bulk of their bodies and what wasn't covered was simply the lower arms and legs, they wielded cruel whips and heavy looking hammers, one of the enforcers cracked the whip hard on a poor unicorn slave who dropped a valuable looking crystal, his pained cries echoed through the mines and the mining picked up the pace, with the rest of the slaves not wishing to share the same fate.

The bottom level had eight tunnel pathways and had just as many slave miners as the previous level, only this level had a few more guards on it, one taskmaster shouted at a slave who had slowed down to unacceptable levels and threatened him with the hammer, which seemed to revitalize the slave. "This is horrible." Dark Spyro whispered to himself, he looked at the others who were peeking around the corner at him, his expression seemed to tell them all they needed to know, and they all came to the same silent conclusion, that a rescue was needed immediately.

Dark Spyro motioned for them to follow him down the stairs to the next level, and they did so, with Cosmo staying a little further behind them, as to not get in their way as they did what they had to do, they were quiet as they walked down the steps, they soon reached the second level of the mines and hid behind a crate that was nearby, it offered little in the way of cover but it was necessary because of a unicorn guard that was very close, thankfully his back was turned.

The downside to the hiding spot was that if anyone came from behind or saw them from their left side, they were doomed, but in a sad coincidence a slave had done something to draw the ire of the guard, who promptly headed over to them and cracked the whip, this promptly caused Sunset to ignite her horn and look out at the guard, and before anyone in the group could stop her, she gripped the mining pick the poor slave had dropped and slammed it into the guards face, who was struck and knocked unconscious before he could react.

Dark Spyro gripped Sunset by the shoulder and pulled, she looked into his eyes and he showed his disapproval with what she did. "Stealth first." He mouthed.

Sunset reluctantly nodded and Dark Spyro released his grip on her shoulder, she moved to the side of the crate facing the wall and peeked around the corner, she watched as one of the enforcers walked over to where the one she knocked out was and her eyes widened, she was about to light her horn up when she heard a loud shout. "INTRUDERS! INTRUDERS IN THE MINES!" Shouted a deep echoing voice from behind her, she looked back and saw a unicorn guard wielding two swords in a crimson aura and wearing the heavy iron armor of Sombra's soldiers.

Twilight quickly took action, she used her magic and gripped two pick axes from two nearby slaves and flung one at the guard while using the other to strike him from above, the guard managed to use the swords to block the first pick, but the second impacted him directly on his horn, a deep echoing scream echoed throughout the mines and the unicorns horn exploded in a nova of Crimson magic.

Sunset swiftly levitated the sword that Twilight didn't take over to herself and used it to fend off a unicorn enforcer who charged towards her, he used his magic and his hammer swiftly darted around her blade and swung right towards her head, her eyes widened as her sword flew towards the enforcer, knowing that she couldn't stop the hammer in time, luckily for her however she was not alone, as a pick axe came from out of nowhere and repelled the weapon.

Dark Spyro watched all of this after bashing his head into an earth pony enforcer and throwing him into a wall, all around the mines, the once broken willed slaves used their pickaxes and numbers and began to fight the guards, a few of them even grabbed a few weapons from what few they took out, but it was clear they were losing even as brave as the sudden rebellion was.

Sunset watched as the slave who helped her, a brown feathered male griffon slave battled a Minotuar taskmaster, she ignited her horn with her magic and the Minotuars left arm, his whip arm to be precise, quickly pulled him forward into the furious swing of the griffon who looked back at Sunset and nodded in thanks.

Twilight however was simply holding her ground to the best of her ability, she was not a fighter by any means, and she was panicking the entire time meaning that her fighting was replaced by survival instinct, she used the sword she acquired to defend while using a hammer she took from an unconscious enforcer to attack, her focus in this was to survive and keep Cosmo safe, she managed to glance behind her and noticed that Dark Spyro was gone. 'He must be looking for Cosmo's family.....good luck Spyro, we'll hold them off.' She mentally promised as she used her magic to make the hammer spin rapidly between three pinned enforcers.

Sunset had not noticed Dark Spyro's absence however and was focusing on helping the slaves fight back, she had lost the sword when a unicorn enforcer's hammer bashed it, bending it irreparably and forcing her to rely on just her magic, which would have been just fine had it not been for the fact that she was a pyromancer, she lit her horn up once more and formed a shield around a bear slave who had been too slow to dodge an iron mace swung by a griffon taskmaster, who was surprised by the sudden magical shield, long enough for the bear to charge into him and finish the fight himself.

______*meanwhile*______

Dark Spyro flew swiftly through the mines, avoiding all the action as the enforcers and taskmasters ignored him, he had been darting in and out of tunnels which were also filled with fighting, and while he did assist by breathing a quick burst of fire at the slaves captors, he didn't stick around, he just flew out of the last tunnel on the second floor and headed down to the bottom, where the fighting was at its fiercest.

While the rebellion on the second floor raged on and it seemed like the slaves were going to win that fight, the battle at the bottom was an entirely different story, the forces of Sombra were clearly winning and it was brutally obvious, they had the last of the slaves pinned down in corners and a few were surrounded by enforcers, Dark Spyro grit his teeth and felt his anger rise, while one part of him wanted to continue his search for Silver and Garnet, the other part wouldn't forgive him if he abandoned these people, he groaned and looked at a large group of enforcers.

With his mind made up for him, Dark Spyro channeled as much magic into his horns as he could, they crackled loudly with electrical power and he let it build up for a few moments, he watched as a couple guards noticed his power buildup and quickly scattered, but he wouldn't be deterred, he braced himself and threw his magic forward at the cluster of guards who hadn't yet taken notice of what he was doing, a powerful bolt of purple lightning arced out from his horns and shot straight at the guards, the lightning bounced between the guards and they screamed in pain for a few moments before collapsing to the floor unconscious, giving a few slaves some breathing room and allowing them to continue the fight.

Dark Spyro panted due to the drain on his reserves and resumed what he had been doing before, he darted into a tunnel and found that it was larger than the rest, he also noticed that there wasn't much fighting going on here, the entrance was guarded by three slaves but the rest of them which were inside seemed to be resting and out of breath, he quickly concluded that they had overwhelmed the guards here and were now using this large tunnel to prepare to assist the rebellion, he fully expected that all the guards here were defeated.

What he wasn't expecting however was a sudden wing cramp, Dark Spyro cried out in pain and fell to the ground, he took a few pained breaths and he heard a voice talk. "Hey! whose side are you on!?" The voice, a young male the dragon noticed, asked.

Dark Spyro looked up and saw a young looking unicorn stallion, around Silver's age shakily pointing a spear at him, he sighed and stood up. "I'm on your side." He replied, his answer didnt seem to put the young unicorn at ease and he shook his head. "I'm Dark Spyro, I'm looking for Silver and Garnet, they came from the village of Jade." He said.

The stallion paused and then a moment later his eyes widened. "You're him!" He said happily before running deeper into the tunnel. "Hey! Boss! You were right!" He shouted, his voice filled with hope.

Dark Spyro blinked and tilted his head in confusion, he slowly walked deeper into the tunnel, hoping that the time this took would be worthwhile, soon enough the young stallion returned as he wasn't alone, next to him was none other than Silver, her once long hair was now cut short and ragged, her horn was covered in magic disabling crystals but her green eyes were unmistakeable, she had a stern expression which clearly didn't suit her but it instantly changed to an excited one as she ran right up to Dark Spyro and practically tacked him into a hug. "I knew you were alright!" She stated happily, which slightly confused the dragon as he was expecting her to say something a little different.

"Ow." Was all the dragon could say as Silver pulled away from the hug with a concerned look on her face. "Are you hurt?"
The young unicorn asked with worry in her voice, to which Dark Spyro simply chuckled.

"I am in eternal torment right now, my muscles and eyes burn, my magic is depleted and I'm exhausted." He replied, he tried to sound amusement but it came out as pained.

Silver then took one look into Dark Spyro's eyes and sighed in disappointment. "Have you seriously not slept yet?" She asked, making the dragon in question blink. "I know I asked you to keep Cosmo safe, but I wasn't expecting you to stay up the entire time." She said with an annoyed tone.

At this Dark Spyro sighed. "How about a thanks for saving you? helping everyone here to fight back?.....kicking Sombra's butt so he could be defeated?" He asked.

The moment that Dark Spyro finished talking, all the rebel slaves whispered and spoke to another, surprise and determination dominated their expressions as they took in the news that Sombra was gone, and then another voice spoke up. "Alright alright! break it up! we need to get out of here before we can celebrate!" The voice of Garnet loudly stated, louder than everyone in the tunnel.

Dark Spyro looked over Silver's shoulder and watched as Garnet walked over to him, the stallion was worse for wear, he had bandages covering both of his front hooves, his wings had feathers that were far too small to allow flight of any kind, his eyes were strained and he had a bandage wrapped around his back. "Dragon.......Dark Spyro, it's good to see you again, do you have a plan to get us out?" He asked, getting straight to the point.

Dark Spyro shrugged. "To be honest? no, I do not.....we sort of got spotted before we could really do much." He replied, making Garnet raise an eyebrow.

"We?" The stallion asked.

Dark Spyro nodded. "Yea, a lot has happened, but for now I'll just say that I'm working with two unicorn mares and they are out there fighting right now." He said, his tone showing some urgency.

Garnet nodded in understanding, he then looked around at the rebels in the tunnel. "Go ahead back to the fight Spyro, we're going to spread out into the tunnels and get help from the slaves there." He replied.

Dark Spyro looked at Silver who smiled at him. "Be careful." He said to the unicorn before taking flight again, his cramp now gone as he darted out of the tunnel, he returned to the main area of the mine and landed, he realized that the situation hadn't really changed, the guards were still winning on the bottom floor and the ones remaining on the second floor seemed to be holding their ground, he did see Sunset cast a few fireballs which impacted a few enforcers.

Dark Spyro was unsure of where to go first, but as he looked over the situation, he spotted something in a tunnel on the opposite side of the room, he watched as an unarmed young female griffon ran away deeper into a tunnel, while two large bear enforcers chased after her, easily smashing aside a couple slaves who got in their way, the dragon narrowed his eyes and took flight again, he flew quickly towards the tunnel and breathed fire as he flew over a few enforcers.

Once he was inside the tunnel, Dark Spyro noticed that it wasn't very long, he didn't see many guards but did see a lot of unconscious slaves who still had their weapons next to them, so he assumed that the Bears simply swatted them aside to chase after the young griffon, with a growl, Dark Spyro flew in swiftly, he reached the end and saw the two bears advancing on the griffon, who had a look of sheer terror on her face.

The two bears wore armor like Sombra's soldiers, one wielded a large halberd and the other a large warhammer, neither of them had helmets and seemed angry and pleased at the same time, and then without any hesitation Dark Spyro shouted. "Hey! over here you overgrown cowards!" He taunted.

This seemed to anger the one with the hammer greatly and he turned around to face Spyro, he roared furiously and charged with surpising speed for his size, Dark Spyro lunged forward as the bear swung sideways to try and hit him but thanks to his speed, the dragon was able to dodge and promptly electrocute the bear, who screamed in agony for a while before collapsing to the floor.

The other bear didn't seem to care as he pulled back his halberd and stared at the griffon, a large grin appeared on his face and he thrusted his weapon forward, the griffon screamed in fear and the bear laughed loudly looking at the ceiling with closed eyes, he would have continued but he noticed that something was off, he looked back and his eyes widened when he saw that Dark Spyro had taken the hit and dented the polearm a little.

Dark Spyro took a deep breath and promtly unleashed the fire he quickly built up, the bear cried out as he was engulfed in flames, he charged out of the tunnel screaming, the dragon then managed to get a closer look at the cowering female griffon, her feathers were reddish brown and her wings were lacking any means to fly since she had so few feathers, she also had a light brown beak, otherwise Dark Spyro noticed a few things that forced him to calm himself, the griffon had bruises all over her body, scars from what the dragon assumed to be lashings were along her back.

"Hey, it's alright, your safe now." Dark Spyro said in a reassuring tone, he kept his distance from the griffon and she slowly looked up from the ground, showing that her eyes were sky blue and showed signs of constant crying, if the damp circles under her eyes were anything to go by. "Can you walk?" Dark Spyro asked, as he checked the tunnel behind him, seeing nothing coming he turned his attention back to the griffon who shakily stood up and stared at him with confusion and desperation.

"A-are you......o-one of t-them?" She asked fearfully, to which Dark Spyro shook his head, which made the griffon gulp and slowly approach him, he didn't move as she placed a talon on his cheek, her expression softened and a single tear fell down her face. "Your real......you really are real." She said to herself, sounding a little more confident.

Dark Spyro nodded and motioned his head to the tunnel behind him. "I'm here to help everyone escape these mines, I need to get back there to help them fight back, stay hidden." He told the griffon, who nodded slowly and with that, he took flight and flew back to the main area of the mines.

When he reached the main area, he noticed three key factors, the first being that the second level was practically clear of enforcers or taskmasters, he watched as Twilight fired a barrage of arcane bolts at a trio of enforcers, they tried to block with their hammers or magic but the volley quickly overwhelmed them and they fell to the ground, one of them was a unicorn who was unlucky enough to fall over the railing, falling into the bottom of the mine and landing on top of a griffon enforcer who was about to lash his whip at an earth pony.

The second factor was that there were a lot more slaves fighting on the bottom floor, either coming down from the second floor or from the tunnels, the third factor was that the fight was still pretty much undecided, the slaves were more numerous but lacked the training or strength to fight properly, while the enforcers and taskmasters were strong and trained to handle many opponents.

Dark Spyro was so focused on observing the fight so he could decide where to start, that he failed to notice an enforcer sneaking up on him from his right side, and before he knew what was going on he heard a yell behind him, he didn't even have a chance to do anything when he heard a panicked cry coming from his right, he looked over and saw the young griffon get thrown off by a unicorn enforcer who was getting back up off the ground, having been tackled.

Dark Spyro growled and quickly loosed a fireball at the enforcer, it impacted him and caused him to get thrown back and collide with a wall, he then charged what was left of his depleted magic and flew a few feet into the air, he channeled the magic into his left claw and it glowed purple, he held his claw out towards the enforcers who still fought and a powerful ball of dark purple magic shot out towards them, the ball was the size of four soccer balls and when it got close to Sombra's men, it broke apart and then as five seperate orbs it collided with five enforcers, throwing them forward and skidding across the stone floor, knocking them out of the fight and injuring them.

Dark Spyro's breathing quickly became labored and he landed, he folded his wings and looked to his right at the young griffon who helped him, she had gotten back up and gave him a nod, he returned the gesture and focused on the fight. 'I can't keep this up, my magic is depleted and it hurts to breathe fire, I guess I need to rely on my physical abilities now.' He took a single step forward and his entire body froze as a sharp spike of pain coursed through his entire system, he fell to the ground and took a few shaky breaths. 'Ok......nevermind, I can't fight until I rest, but I can't do that here.' He looked up at the fight unfolding before him and he growled in frustration, feeling a surge of adrenaline suddenly fueling him, Dark Spyro forced himself to stand up.

While Dark Spyro was capable of standing up, his legs wobbled and he could barely move, he prepared himself to breathe some fire into the slowly dwindling crowd of enforcers but was stopped when he felt someone moving his right arm, he looked at who it was and saw that griffon he saved, she put his arm around her shoulder and started to walk with him, understanding her intent, the two entered the fight, with the griffon helping him move, and with him breathing fire at any enemy who came near, it hurt his lungs to do this but he kept it up, he managed to look up and saw Cosmo coming down to the bottom, he mentally sighed and wished that she had stayed hidden instead.

Sunset Shimmer soon teleported into the center of the mine and proceeded to cast a few firebolts at attacking enemies that came close to her, she was followed by Twilight who teleported next to Cosmo to keep her safe, thankfully none of the enforcers came anywhere near the two and they made it down safely.

The fighting went on for a short while longer and Dark Spyro smiled to himself, seeing that they were going to win this fight, but that's when he noticed a unicorn enforcer up at the top level of the mine, he was looking at the entrance they came from and he shot a spell from his horn, Dark Spyro's eyes widened as the cave entrance quickly collapsed, the mines shook violently and the unicorn walked up to the railing. "NO ONE LEAVES THE MINES!" The unicorn shouted before falling forward over the railing and falling to the bottom.

The battle ended shortly after that since the slaves went into a furious rage and overwhelmed the remaining enforcers, Dark Spyro couldn't help but shy away from the brutality, as he did so, so did the griffon and his friends, when he opened his eyes and looked at where the fighting had stopped, he saw that the slaves were clambering to get to the entrance that collapsed, while they all headed for the collapsed entrance, Dark Spyro noticed that Cosmo was tightly hugging Silver and then Garnet, who had tears in their eyes as they reunited with the filly.

Dark Spyro and the griffon walked over to the small group and Sunset was the first one to walk over to him, she looked tired but she wasn't hurt, he stopped walking and sat down with the young griffons help, as he did this, Sunset's magic washed over him and he felt his pain lessening. "Who's your new friend?" Sunset asked out of curiosity.

"I don't know her name, I saved her from a couple of Sombra's soldiers, she helped me out in return." Dark Spyro replied, he felt the magic fade and he looked, seeing that Sunset was doing the same for the griffon. "So uh......what's your name? I'm Dark Spyro." He said, holding his right claw out.

The griffon looked at his with uncertainty for a moment before reaching out and gripping his claw with her left talon. "I'm Tempest......" She replied quietly, wincing as a few of her bruises faded.

"I'm Sunset Shimmer." Said unicorn added to the conversation as she cancelled her spell. "It isn't safe to heal you here, I can finish when we are safe." She stated, she looked at Dark Spyro. "As for you, you need to rest which means no magic, no fire and no flying." She said firmly before walking over to the others.

Dark Spyro simply allowed his body to rest while he watched the reunion of the family who took him in, he let out a genuine smile and felt relief wash over him, that's when he felt a tug on his arm, he looked to his right and saw Tempest looking at him. "What do we do now?" She asked, her voice was raspy and strained.

"We get out of here, somehow." Dark Spyro replied, he looked at the group and saw Garnet and his family walking over to him, he looked angry and grateful all at once.

"Dragon, thank you for reuniting me with my daughter......but what in the name of Tartarus were you thinking? bringing a filly to a place like this?" He asked, demanding an answer.

Dark Spyro sighed as he answered the stallion. "She was the only one in our group who knew where this place was, and I wasn't going to leave her alone outside, the only option I could see was to bring her along while keeping her safe." He replied truthfully.

Garnet shook his head in disapproval but said no more, he walked over to Twilight and Sunset to talk to them and Silver walked over to the dragon with Cosmo behind her.

Silver knelt down to Dark Spyro's level and pulled him into a tight hug, he winced in pain but didn't shy away from it, he heard the teenage unicorn speak quietly. "Thank you Spyro........thank you." She said, the dragon felt tears land on his shoulder and he simply returned the hug, not saying a word.

After they finished the hug, Silver walked back to the others and Cosmo walked over to him and gave him a gentler hug, she said nothing but Dark Spyro knew what she would have said, so when she pulled out of the hug she simply smiled at him and sat down next to him, he then heard a voice. "Now how are we going to get out of here?" Garnet asked.

"Well, we could try to clear the collapsed entrance." Twilight suggested to the group. "That's what the others are doing." She added, referring to the freed slaves who were busy trying to tunnel their way out.

"Um." Cosmo said quietly, only to be ignored as Sunset spoke up next.

"It won't work, it'll take too long and some of these guys are badly hurt, we need to find another entrance.....maybe in another tunnel?" Sunset suggested, motioning to the many tunnels.

"Excuse me." Cosmo spoke up, a little louder but she was still ignored, Dark Spyro didn't have the energy to speak up, or he would have gotten the groups attention for her.

"There aren't any other entrances, the only one was collapsed up there when that unicorn cast his spell, we are stuck here until the others clear the rubble." Garnet stated, sounding annoyed.

As the group argued, Dark Spyro watched as Cosmo stood up and took a deep breath, he raised an eyebrow at her, curious as to what she was going to do.

"HEY!" Cosmo shouted, loud enough to get everyone's attention, at least those on the bottom floor, they all looked at her and she pointed at a bare wall. "Why are you all acting like there isn't another exit?" She asked out of curiosity, her voice was filled with confusion and aggravation.

"Because there isn't one Cosmo." Silver said as she walked over. "There's only one entrance to these mines and it collapsed in the fight." She stated gesturing to the collapsed entrance.

Cosmo tilted her head and walked over to a bare wall, everyone on the bottom floor watched as the filly approached the wall and placed her hoof on a spot that was seven feet away from the corner, she then pushed and to the absolute shock of them all, the wall was pushed back a little, revealing a secret door.

Dark Spyro stood up and so did Tempest, Twilight walked over to the door and used her magic to push the door open, it was heavy and tough to move, but when Sunset assisted with her magic and Dark Spyro helped push it open, the hidden door was soon fully open, revealing a lit passage that seemed to go up. "How did you know this was here Cosmo?" Sunset asked, and everyone seemed to agree with the question.

Cosmo blinked and looked at them all with confusion. "You.....didn't see it?" She asked, comepletely bewildered.

"Arcane Eyes." Twilight spoke up as if she came to a realization, they all looked at her with various degrees of confusion, only Sunset seemed to be hit with understanding a moment later, and then the lavender unicorn elaborated. "To those who don't know, Arcane Eyes is an exceedingly rare occurrence that takes place during birth, it allows the individual who has them to see through all magical illusions or trickery such as invisibility or concealment." She explained.

Dark Spyro looked down at Cosmo who seemed to be absorbing this knowledge eagerly. "How do you know all of this? do you have them or something?" Silver asked.

Twilight shook her head. "No, if I did I would have seen this door as well, I just happened to research it one night when I was younger, there is more to this ability but I would rather we get out of here first." She stated.

Garnet nodded and walked to the center of the mine, he then looked up towards the freed slaves who were trying to uncover the path. "HEY! WE FOUND A WAY OUT!" He shouted, the digging and sounds of rocks moving ceased a moment later and Garnet walked to the door.

Silver was the first one to head down the path, followed closely by Dark Spyro, Tempest and Cosmo, Twilight and Sunset followed them after Garnet told them he would lead the others out while they left, the path was long but with the torches lighting the way it was obvious they were indeed going up.

The pathway was wide enough for four to stand side by side and walk forward at once, and it was carved skillfully enough so that it would not collapse, Twilight and Sunset also stated that there seemed to be an enchantment on the pathway, which allowed it to be moved with ease and that it was warded to be more durable.

The group walked for a while, but they eventually saw a faint glimpse of light up ahead, Silver eagerly ran ahead and they followed behind closely, Dark Spyro noticed snow was starting to fill the tunnel and he heard shoving, he looked ahead and saw Silver trying to force the exit to open. "Let me try." He stated.

Silver stepped aside and everyone got back, Dark Spyro took a deep breath and with all his might, he lowered his head, closed his eyes and charged forward, moving with great speed he smashed into the door and went right outside and landed in the snow, he heard the others cheering as they left the tunnel and stepped out into the bright outside world.

Dark Spyro heard the voices begin to speak and he immediately opened his eyes to found his nostrils covered in snow, he let out a powerful breath and blew the snow off, he then heard Sunset speak. "Are you going to just lay in the snow?" The unicorn asked.

"The snow is the most comfortable thing around here, I would happily fall asleep here if I didn't have these damn voices in my head." Dark Spyro remarked as he lay in the snow, he soon sighed and forced himself to stand up, he looked back at the other and turned to face them, he watched as Silver and Tempest stood in the sunlight, happily basking in the warm glow of the sun, Cosmo stood near Twilight and listened as she explained the ability she had.

And when the slaves left the mines from the secret exit a few minutes later, Dark Spyro looked to the city that stood in the distance and smiled sadly. 'My adventure is over.....Cosmo, Silver and Garnet are reunited and the Crystal Empire is free.' He sat down and closed his eyes, the voices almost instantly came to him and he opened his eyes, they burned in pain from overuse and he bit his lip. 'I'll face them when I'm ready, even if I need to face my old friends again.' He sighed and shook his head.

"I just hope they'll give me one last chance." He told himself quietly.