//------------------------------// // Beginning to recover. // Story: Righting wrongs. // by Sylif Daring Doo //------------------------------// ______*Sunset Shimmer's POV.*_____ I felt incredibly happy and proud of myself, not to say that I didn't used to before everything happened, but now I felt justified for my happiness, we had freed the slaves from the Mines and Dark Spyro was able to reunite Cosmo with her father and sister. The dragon in question was trudging along tiredly next to Twilight with Tempest on his other side, the poor unicorn was exhausted and most likely shaken at what had happened regardless of the outcome, I felt bad for her which was another thing I was not used to feeling, she was probably against violence and was probably going to vomit at some.....there we go, she just let it out, while Dark Spyro stopped to make sure she was fine I kept walking to the Capital. You see, I'm not very good when it comes to dealing with my emotions, I grew up as Celestia's personal student and I didn't have friends growing up, I interacted with some of the castle staff from time to time but I never really tried to make a friend, this combined with many years of solitary study and I ended up emotionally distant, so when the day came that Celestia asked me to spend some time away from my studies I went off, anger being the one emotion that I could still feel easily, we argued for a while and I ran away. In my state of anger I saw five friends who were perfectly happy with their lives and promptly tore that friendship to pieces, a day or two ago I would have been laughing about it but now? I find myself wondering why I did any of it, I look over my shoulder and I see Dark Spyro and Twilight walking with Cosmo and her family, I smile to myself and look forward at the Capital City. My thoughts quickly drifted from what I could learn from talking to the people of the Crystal Empire to Dark Spyro, I drop my smile and go deep into thought about the dragon. I don't know him very well, only that he says he made horrible mistakes back in the Skylands and obviously regrets it, I stop myself from chuckling when I realize that without knowing it, that dragon made me realize that I made terrible mistakes of my own, I felt particularly bad about one mistake and that was how I left things in the human world. 'I doubt I'll be going back there and even if I did I probably wouldn't stay.' I shake my head and focus on heading to the City. But even as I walked, my mind wandered to Dark Spyro and I wondered what he would do now that he fulfilled his promise. 'He might try to find a way to go home now, he did say he wanted to try and make things right with his friends, but I just hope he gets some sleep first, staying awake for too long can do strange things to a mind.' ______*The Crystal Capital.*_______ The slaves entered the city and walked until they were outside the Castle, all of the Crystal Ponies coats shined bright once more and they cheered at being free, some were reunited with their families, some went to houses that they once owned, and many simply basked in the sun outside the castle, Garnet, Silver and Cosmo however had nowhere to go, since their village was burned down by Sombra's soldiers. Dark Spyro simply laid back on the ground with his hands behind his head, he watched the clouds as they drifted peacefully through the sky, he watched a couple Pegasi fly up to them and land on them as though they were solid, Dark Spyro raised an eyebrow at this but made no attempt to get up even though the ground was hard and most likely bad for his back. "Are you Dark Spyro?" Asked a male voice behind him. The dragon shifted his head toward the direction of the voice and saw a white furred unicorn stallion with a blue mane and blue eyes looking at him. "Yes and why?" He asked nonchalantly, even though he was curious as to who the stallion was. If the stallion was annoyed by Dark Spyro's tone, he didnt show it much as he spoke, though his eyes seemed to say that he was a little bothered. "My name is Shining Armor, Twilight, my sister told me that you fought Sombra on your own, I wanted to thank you." He stated. Dark Spyro sighed and rolled over before standing up. "No problem, it used to be my job to help out." He replied as he stretched his wings and arms, Shining Armor looked confused for a second and opened his mouth to speak before the dragon spoke up. "But I know that look on your face, what else did you have to say?" He asked out of curiosity. Shining Armor didn't react to being interrupted and spoke with a level tone. "We're letting everypony stay in the castle while we get everything sorted out, you're more than welcome to do the same." He stated before walking away towards a group of former slaves. Dark Spyro looked around for his new friends, he saw Cosmo and Silver talking with their father about something, he spotted Twilight and Sunset over by the five mares from before and Spike, the younger dragon held a scroll up in one hand and breathed green flame on it which confused Dark Spyro as he did so, he also spotted Tempest nervously walking around, as if she didn't know where to go. Quickly making his decision, Dark Spyro walked over to where Sunset and Twilight were, as he approached the group, the two Pegasi in the group spotted him and the pink maned mare saw him and hid behind the rainbow maned mare, when he got close enough he spoke. "So, that's our little adventure over." He said, Sunset turned to face him while Spike climbed onto Twilight's back and they both looked at him. "What are you guys going to do?" He asked. "Well.....I'm probably going to go back to Ponyville with my friends." Twilight replied, she looked over her shoulder at Spike who shrugged. "So am I, as......exciting, as this all was I would love to just sit back and eat some ice cream or some gems, just relax you know?" Spike said, which Dark Spyro could agree with aside from the gem eating. "Oh! by the way, these are my friends!" Twilight stated, in the tone that sounded like she remembered something important. "This is Rarity and Pinkie Pie, Applejack and Rainbow Dash, and that's Fluttershy." She introduced, as she talked, the ponies in question nodded, all save the last one who only shrunk back into her long mane. "Girls this is Dark Spyro, he's the one who fought Sombra to buy time for Spike to deliver the Crystal Heart." She introduced. Dark Spyro said nothing as the mares looked at him in shock and some gratitude, Fluttershy seemed to calm down a little but returned to being timid when the dragon looked at her. "Nice to meet you, so what about you Sunset?" He asked the fiery maned mare. "What are you going to do?" He asked. Sunset sighed. "I need to patch things up with Celestia, we didn't exactly part on good terms after all, then I need to settle things back in the other world before coming back." She shook her head. "After that? I have no idea what I'm going to do." She stated with tiredness, she then looked at Dark Spyro. "What about you? you going to stick around or head back home?" She asked. Dark Spyro sighed and shrugged. "I'm stuck here unless someone from the Skylands finds a way to get here, so until then I'll probably try to get some sleep." He replied before walking towards the Castle. "Where are you going?" Sunset asked. Dark Spyro yawned and looked back at the group of mares. "I'm going to look for a bed, I overheard one of the new guards say that this castle changed after Sombra was defeated, so I'm crashing in the first bedroom I see." He stated before heading inside. As Dark Spyro entered the castle, he noticed that many things hadn't changed, the only real difference was that a lot of guards and other ponies were running around and carrying things back and forth, he ignored them all as he tiredly walked towards the stairs and headed for where the sleeping quarters were. He stopped and moved aside at the top of the stairs as a few guards lifted chunks of debris down the steps, he then continued on to the room and walked through the broken doorway, once inside Dark Spyro mentally groaned, for what was once the sleeping quarters was now void of beds as a long hallway took its place. "Guess the rumor was true." He complained. Dark Spyro walked through the halls and saw that there were six doors nearby, he opened the first one on the left. "Bath." He said as he closed the door to the bathroom, he walked up to first door on the right and opened it. "Bed." He stated before closing the door, he didn't go inside because the room was occupied by a sleeping pink furred Pegasus mare with a tri colored mane and a horn, he paused and did a quick mental double take before shaking it off. "Whatever." He mumbled. Dark Spyro opened the second door on the right and found that it was a bedroom that was unoccupied thankfully, he walked inside and closed the door before opening his wings and flying to the bed, he landed on the bed and let himself relax on the comfortable blanket, he paused as he thought on what he was about to attempt. 'I don't think I'm ready, but then again.....I probably will never be ready.' He shook his negative thoughts away and climbed under the covers, he sighed in contentment before closing his eyes in an attempt to get some sleep. Much last like time, there were no voices or visions at first, and after a few minutes he felt like he was finally free of the visions and could actually sleep. _____*?*_____ My body aches and burns, that is what I feel as I groan and open my eyes, it isn't very bright and I feel grateful for that fact as I blink and shift my body so that I'm resting on my chest, I then stand up comepletely and hold my head as a migraine assaults me, I wince at the pain and close my eyes In a futile attempt to dull the pain, I stretch my limbs and my muscles protest it with an intense burning sensation, I hear my bones pop and I feel a creak in my tailbone before I open my eyes again. I felt my heart skip a beat as I look out at the world before me, it was a lifeless and gray forest, all around me i see dead trees barely standing and rotting, I see stone withering away and grass dull and colorless, I look to the sky and see that it is gray and lifeless as well, the sun which normally gave off a pleasant warmth was now little more than a light source. I turn and look being me and I feel my blood freeze at the sight, before me stood a garden, the flowers and bushes which were most likely beautiful once stood lifeless and dead, I walk through the rotting arch and towards the most haunting items in the garden, statues stood in a circle around a lone pedestal which had a plaque facing the entrance, I look around at the statues and let out a shaky breath as my heart beat quickly. There are nine statues in total, and they all face the center of the garden, the first starting from the left of the entrance was a statue of Eruptor, the lava monster was always a good friend to me, and while he had a tendency to let his anger get the better of him, he was invaluable as a friend. The next statue was of Pop Fizz, the little and absolutely insane gremlin was a genius when it came to potions, so much so that he was the one who came up with a cure for me. "A cure to kill me." I say grimly to myself and with a sad sigh, I berate myself for that thought however, knowing that my friend only did what he believed to be right. The next statue was of Jet-Vac, the wingless Sky Baron drove me mad with his old fashioned style and obsession with planning, but his knack for inventions and skill in battle were just two of the things that made me view him as a friend. The next statue was of Master Eon, and this one made me let out a shaky breath, I remembered just how close I came to using his vast power to complete my mission and let my friends die, the man was a father to Spyro......to me, he raised me and trained me to be a Skylander and I threw it in his face. "I'm sorry Eon......I really am." I say to the statue before moving on to the next one. The next statue was of Stealth Elf, the Elven ninja was my best friend for many years, she stuck by my side through so many dangers and I did the same for her, and instead of repaying her trust with the truth I betrayed and almost killed her, I feel tears fall down my face as the painful memory floods back to me and I force myself to look away. I moved on to the next statue and saw Cynder, a dragon born of evil who wanted to be good, I remember teaching her how to be a Skylander......no, I remember SPYRO teaching her, I sigh in shame as I remember telling her that those who are evil will always be that way, I quickly decide not to dwell on her statue and I pause on sight of the next one. The next statue was of Sunset, the unicorn mare who I barely know, her fiery personality brings a smile to my face, she may not know me and I don't know her, but the simple understanding we share fills me with some measure of strength in my broken state. The next statue is one that confuses me and terrifies me all at the same time, as it is of Tempest, the young griffon that I saved in the Mines and who quickly saved me, I don't know what to make of this statue so I quickly move on to the last. The last statue was one that I felt my blood go cold and my heart skip a beat upon seeing, it was of Spyro himself, the dragon whose body and name I stole and the dragon who almost killed me when I attacked in my rage induced state, I sigh and lower my head so I'm looking at the ground, I feel all my sins crawling on my back and I soon hear voices. "You betrayed us." Said the voice of Stealth Elf, I cringe. "You sold us out!" Cried Eruptor's voice, I shudder. "We trusted you!" Jet-Vac's voice added, I close my eyes. "You helped a nut job crazier than me!" Added Pop Fizz In his usual hyper tone, which only made me let out a shaky breath as a shiver ran down my spine. "Did you hate me that much?" Said Eon's voice, I open my eyes and freeze at those words, I looked at the statues of the Skylanders and saw that they were pointing towards the center. "We believed you could be better." Came Tempest and Sunset's voices, that made me tremble as I looked down at the ground, I put my hands on my head in a futile attempt to try any block out the voices. "You left me alone, without any attempt for a rescue." Came Cynders voice, I feel my muscles grow weak and I shake in fear. "You made me watch......I had to watch as you betrayed them and you didn't care!" Shouted Spyro's voice, I let out a pained sob as I look at the statues of my friends and Spyro, they too pointed to the center of the garden, the first thing I spot is that the plaque now had writing on it, mustering what strength I have left I walk to the plaque and read it. 'Dark Spyro, traitor or savior?' I look around the garden and see that all nine statues returned to how they were, they stood tall and proud, I feel tears fall down my face as I climb onto the pedestal, I let out a shaky breath and face the entrance to the garden, but when I did I sat down and began to cry, as i cried I feel my body going numb, I open my eyes and see that I was turning to stone. Instead of freaking out like many others would do, I just return to crying, I find myself mentally begging for forgiveness, and soon enough, my crying ceased and I was fully encased in stone, I can somehow see the world around me begin to change, but I can't tell how it changes as I hear a voice. "Dark Spyro!" It sounds like Tempest, but it is faint. Before I could mentally chuckle at the possibility of her being free because I became stone I feel a powerful shake and her voice shouted again. "Dark Spyro! Wake up!" ______*The Crystal Empire.*_______ "Dark Spyro! wake up!" Cried a female voice. "Gaaaah!" Dark Spyro cried out as his eyes shot open, his breathing was erratic and he saw Tempest standing in front of him and looking at him with concern. "Are you alright? you looked like you were having a nightmare." The griffon asked. Dark Spyro waited a while so he could calm down a little before answering. "I'm alright." He lied. "What are you doing here?" He asked. "The castle may be back to normal according to the Castle staff, but there isn't enough room for a bunch of us." Came Sunset's voice. "So Shining Armor came up with a sleeping arrangement, it was the best he could do given the circumstances. Dark Spyro looked over and saw Sunset sitting on the other side of the bed, he also spotted Cosmo looking around the room with curiosity. "Where's Silver and Garnet?" He asked curiously as he examined the bedroom. The room was spacious, twice the size of the guest room Dark Spyro stayed in back in Jade, the walls were of course made of various crystals, the bed itself was made of a few different kinds of crystals and stone, the pillows were spacious and made with feathers if he wasn't mistaken, they had blue cases over them and the blankets were made of some kind of cloth, either cotton or silk, they were dark purple in color and had lavender trim. "They are talking with Twilight about moving away from the Empire, Garnet isn't very big on raising his daughters here anymore." Sunset stated. Dark Spyro sighed and rested his head on the pillow, he let out a long breath and looked at Tempest. "What happened?" He asked, wondering what led them to waking him up. "Well it was fine when we first walked in, you were shifting uncomfortably in your sleep but then it turned into crying, and from there it became panicked and you started to hyperventilate." Tempest stated. Dark Spyro nodded and got out from under the covers, he sighed and rubbed his eyes which were just barely better than they had been a while ago, they still burned from overuse and he got off the bed to look around the room. The carpet on the floor was a pleasant gray, the furniture included a wardrobe, a cabinet, two end tables and a table and chairs, the furniture was made of an ashen gray wood and was carved with snow patterns on them, he looked at the door. "Is anyone else hungry? I'm starving." He stated as he forced his overworked body to move to the door. Sunset sighed and followed the dragon who almost fell over, she used her body to support the dragon so he could stand. "Come on, I'll take you to the kitchens, they can make something for you to eat." She said as she helped the dragon walk. Hearing a wing beat or two, Sunset noticed Tempest and Cosmo following them, she said nothing as she helped her friend. "I call dibs on the bacon." Dark Spyro said, his voice was shaky and his stomach growled. "And probably some beef." He added. Sunset said nothing in reply, but behind her she heard a stomach growl. "Tempest, are you seriously still hungry?" She asked in a teasing tone. Tempest felt her face heat up and she stammered, attempting to find a reply but it didn't seem like she would be able to do so, of course Dark Spyro decided to speak up in her place but what he said didn't help either. "Sunset.......leave the cute griffon alone would ya?" The dragon said with a tired voice. Sunset paused and lowered her head to look at Dark Spyro's face, his eyes are now closed and they seemed to be twitching, she raised her head up and looked at Tempest who was frozen in place, her eyes were wide and her face was a brighter shade of red, Cosmo blinked and tilted her head. "Are you alright Tempest?" The filly asked. Tempest blinked and she seemed to return to normal. "I'm.....ok, just hungry is all." The griffon said as she looked at Sunset, her eyes asking the mare not to say anything. "Yea, it's just hunger....the big idiot here forgot to eat in all this time." Sunset said as she led the small group out of the hallway and towards the kitchen. Thankfully it was quiet on the walk to the kitchen, they walked down the main stairs with Tempest helping to keep them from falling and walked through the first door on the right of the entrance door, they soon entered the dining room where Princess Cadence, Shining Armor, Twilight Sparkle and a very familiar Princess were sitting at the main table. They stopped talking and looked at the newcomers, Twilight was annoyed at first but she lost that expression quickly when she saw who it was, Princess Celestia however, was wide eyed as she stared at her former student, and vice versa, but Sunset overcame that surprise quickly and spoke. "As much as I want to talk right now, we need to get some food into these two before it gets weird.......weirder." Sunset corrected herself as she and Tempest walked Dark Spyro over to the table and sat him down. "Try to wake him him up, I'll go talk to the cooks." Sunset told Tempest, she was about to walk to the kitchens when she realized that Cosmo was no longer with them. "Where did that filly run off to now?" She asked herself. Shining Armor stood up and spoke. "No it's fine, I'll go talk with the cooks, you obviously have things you have to talk about." He said before walking to the kitchens. As Shining Armor walked off, Sunset walked to a chair and sat down, the room was quiet and this led to an awkward silence between the ruler and her former student, the only sound that came into the room was Tempest trying to wake Dark Spyro up. Princess Celestia took a deep breath and let it out as a sigh. "This is awkward." She stated, breaking the deafening silence. Sunset Shimmer nodded in agreement. "It is." She agreed, they were both silent for a while until.... "How have you been?" They both asked at the same time, they then stifled a laugh before Princess Celestia spoke again. "I am good, ruling a nation is still tiresome work, especially when it comes to the nobles." Celestia said, some joy in her words. Sunset nodded. "Yea, it's been kind of boring on my end, I do need to go back and settle a few things, after that I'm coming back." She replied, Celestia had a hard to notice sad expression for a split second when Sunset mentioned going back to the other world, but she didn't say anything against it. "If that is what you think best, then so be it." Celestia looked at Dark Spyro who twitched slightly, she watched Tempest mutter under her breath. "And who is this?" She asked. "Oh, that's Tempest." Sunset said, as soon as she did, Tempest rubbed the back of her head bash fully. "And this.....hold on." Before continuing what she was saying, Sunset lit her horn and a small puff of flame appeared in front of Dark Spyro and flew into his head, his head hit the table and his eyes jolted open in surprise. "Three Fire Vipers!" The dragon called out before raising his head and looking around frantically for a moment before calming down. Everyone in the room was confused but no one said anything as Dark Spyro yawned and Tempest sat down, the dragon looked at Sunset with a tired look in his eyes. "Did we eat yet?" He asked groggily. "No you did not." Sunset stated. "Hey, I want to introduce you to someone, this is Princess Celestia, co-ruler of Equestria." She stated, pointing at said Princess. Dark Spyro turned and looked at who Sunset was looking at, he found himself staring at a beautiful unicorn mare that stood twice his size, her fur was pure white and her mane was a myriad of colors that billowed in a non-existent wind, her cutie mark was that of a sun and her eyes were purple, her horn was long and he didn't fail to notice the large wings on her back. "Hello." She greeted, her voice was calm, almost motherly. "Princess, this is Dark Spyro, he fought King Sombra on his own and bought time for Spike to return the Crystal Heart, he's also a friend of mine." Sunset stated. Princess Celestia smiled and gave Dark Spyro a short bow and then looked at him. "Then on behalf of Equestria and myself, I commend you, facing the dark King was difficult enough a thousand years ago even with my sister." She said. "It must have been difficult with as much dark magic he could wield." She added. Dark Spyro blinked as he looked at the Princess, he wondered if she was messing with him but he decided to not bother with thinking too much right now. "Uh.....thanks? but it wasn't too hard, I mean......I'm kind of used to fighting dark magic." He replied tiredly. Princess Celestia nodded and used her magic to lift a cup from the table and drank from it before setting it down. "May I ask you something?" She asked, at the dragons tired nod she continued. "How does a young dragon like yourself battle dark magic without side effects? and you said you were used to fighting it?" She asked. Dark Spyro took a moment to process the questions before groaning and placing his claws over his eyes. "The one conversation I didn't want to have and I go and blurt out something dumb." He complained to himself. The dragon took a moment to breathe before talking. "The truth of the matter is? is that I use dark magic." He sighed and leaned back as Twilight and Cadence stopped their private conversation, Sunset didn't really react, Tempest looked at Dark Spyro in shock while Celestia was impassive. "Please, continue." Celestia said, her tone was calm as was her gaze, her expression was unreadable. Dark Spyro nodded. "Dark magic back home is very different from what I've seen here, but I can tell that they are essentially the same in their own right, dark magic basically exists in everyone who can use magic, whether or not you can use it is another matter." He stated before rubbing his right eye. "What I sensed from Sombra was dark magic, but it felt more corrupting, like its sole purpose was to infect and not so much empower." He said as he leaned on the table. "Simply put, dark magic is strong but weird." He added before yawning. Before any of them could speak, the door to the kitchens opened and Shining Armor walked in. "Food will be here soon." The unicorn stated as he walked over to the table. "Sunset, I would like to speak with you, if you want to that is?" Celestia asked, her former student nodded and stood up, the two then left the dining room from the door behind Dark Spyro. The dragon in question struggled to stay awake, now that he was allowing himself to feel the fatigue he could barely keep his eyes open, he watched as Twilight got up from her seat and walked around the table towards him, Shining Armor had taken his seat next to Cadence, Tempest was quiet as usual. Twilight walked over and sat down on the right side of Dark Spyro, and started a conversation with the black dragon who was grateful for the distraction, food soon arrived for the dragon who split some of it with Tempest, the cooks had made some turkey sandwiches and some bacon. Dark Spyro tried to give Tempest some bacon when he saw her eying it but the griffon refused. "You said you called dibs.....whatever that means." She replied. "I did?" Dark Spyro asked with confusion, which seemed to perplex the griffon a little. "I don't remember it." He added. Tempest blinked but said nothing as Dark Spyro put some bacon on her plate anyway, she glanced at the dragon who ate a sandwich hungrily before eating her own food at a more relaxed pace, she kept sneaking looks over at Dark Spyro but said nothing. Time passed quickly and soon enough the food was gone along with Shining Armor and Cadence who left the room to go and help get things settled down, Twilight excused herself which left Tempest and Dark Spyro alone in the room. It was quiet for a time until Tempest spoke. "Um.....Dark Spyro? why um, why do you use dark magic?" She asked timidly, as though afraid she was overstepping her boundaries. Dark Spyro sighed and leaned back on the chair, he knew the answer but part of him didn't want to tell the griffon, but his thoughts drifted to the garden of statues and how she was there, he closed his eyes. "I was......born with it." He stated, not entirely lying. "My dark magic is as much a part of me as my horns or wings, even if I wanted to be rid of it I couldn't do anything without hurting myself." He continued. "And while I know that there is a way to remove the darkness, it isn't pleasant by any means." He explained, he sighed at the recent memory. "Is it.....painful?" Tempest asked, a little less nervously. Dark Spyro shook his head and smiled, happy that the voices were gone now. "No, it can corrupt if you aren't ready for it, but otherwise it's awesome, I can do all sorts of cool things!" He replied with a little enthusiasm, but this faded as he remembered how well he fared after he said something very similar to Spyro in their fight. Dark Spyro opened his eyes and got off the chair, he started walking to the door to leave the dining hall, Tempest followed close behind. 'I don't think trying to sleep is a good idea right now......then again, maybe if I count enough flying sheep I can go to sleep easier.' He then picked up the pace. "Are you in a hurry?" Tempest asked out of both curiosity and confusion as she kept pace with the dragon. 'Oh yea, she's following me.' He noted mentally. "I'm going outside to count flying sheep, throw houses and rebuild people." He stated tiredly. Tempest could only raise an eyebrow at the odd statement, she decided to follow Dark Spyro as he headed outside, if only to curb any crazy ideas he might come up with.