______*The Crystal Capital, A few minutes ago.*______
Dark Spyro walked through the beautiful streets of the city with a feeling of anger, normally walking around the city calmed his tired mind and brought him a sense of peace, but that was when he was alone and right now he was being pestered by an annoyance that wouldn't leave him be.
Said annoyance took the form of a large brown eagle with yellow eyes and a temper that matched that of Eruptor, for a while now the eagle continually attempted to coerce Dark Spyro to do something outrageous.
"Why are you so insistent that I do something stupid like that?" The dragon asked as he glanced at the eagle, not paying attention as a crystal Pegasus walked past and looked at him like he was crazy.
The eagle huffed and gave him a mocking glare. "Because it will get you home!" It stated with aggravation as it flew next to the dragon.
Dark Spyro turned a corner and began walking back to the Castle, his mind briefly wandered to a conversation he had with Princess Cadence and Shining Armor, they were talking to him about possibly joining the city guard if he decided to stay in the Crystal Empire, he was unable to continue thinking back to this as the annoying eagle spoke again.
"Come on! It's just one small dark magic distortion, it won't be that bad I swear!" The eagle stated with confidence and energy, seeming to forget it's anger for a moment.
"And I told you, I'm not doing that! So stop trying!" Dark Spyro snapped angrily at the eagle, causing it to recoil and after a second it glared at the dragon, who ignored the looks he was getting and continued walking.
"At least I am trying to get us home! you seem to be content with running around in pony land forever and never making things right back home!" The eagle shouted, it's anger returned at full force.
Dark Spyro felt his anger bubble up instantly and he looked at the eagle with furious eyes. "Don't you dare, I want to go home more than you ever will, I want to make amends but I'm not going to destroy anything to make it happen!" He shouted.
The eagle said nothing as they entered the main courtyard outside the Castle, in fact Dark Spyro didn't even hear the eagle flying next to him anymore, he paused and turned to his right to look for the annoyance avian but he froze at what he saw instead.
Standing in place as though hiding but just as wide eyed as he was, stood five people he was all too familiar with, the lava monster Eruptor, the blue haired, green skinned and ghostly eyed Stealth Elf, the bluish gremlin Pop Fizz, the wingless sky baron Jet-Vac and none other than his purple and orange half, Spyro, standing next to them was Cosmo and she waved at him.
Dark Spyro stared for a few seconds before continuing his walk to the castle and chuckling half-heartedly. "Great now I'm hallucinating, that's all I need." He grumbled as he approached the door to the castle and pushing it open.
_______*Inside the Castle, Dark Spyro's POV.*_______
I sigh as I enter the first room of the castle, there were a few ponies walking about, some guards and some servants to name a few, I walk to the stairs with the intention to go to my room before I hear a voice. "Dark Spyro?" I turn to face the owner of the voice and see Princess Cadence looking at me with a concerned expression.
I give the Princess a small smile and speak. "Yes? how can I help?" I ask as I step off the stairs, curious as to what she wanted.
"Could we talk?" The Princess asks, she gestures to the meeting room that was behind the doors to the left of the entrance when entering the castle, I shrug and then nod, not seeing a reason not to.
Cadence smiles and we both walk to the meeting room, as we near the door her horn lights up and the door opens, we step inside and see three guards standing around the table, they look over at us and salute at the sight of their ruler. "At ease." The mare says. "Could you give us some privacy?" She asks calmly.
The guards nod and walk out of the room, the door closes behind us and I walk to one of the chairs around the large table and sit down, Princess Cadence does the same and sits near me, it is silent for a few moments and the mare has a thoughtful expression on her face, as though she is thinking of what to say.
I say nothing as I wait patiently for Cadence to speak, my curiosity about why she wanted to talk to me overriding my desire to go to my room and possibly sleep, it took about a minute but the Alicorn eventually spoke. "I am concerned about you." She eventually said.
I say nothing in reply as Cadence continues. "I know you've heard this from both Sunset and Tempest, but I truly think you should sleep, your friends told me that you seem afraid to do so." She says, I detect no subtly, only concern in her voice.
"What all have you heard?" I ask carefully, I mentally slap myself for doing so, I knew that Cadence cared but for some reason my paranoia got the better of me.
Cadence didn't seem bothered by my question as she doesn't react to it but still replies. "Other than your bizarre actions lately, I heard about you actually flinching at the mere mention of sleep, I heard about you talking to an unseen figure in a hallway one day, having a heated argument with yourself." She stops herself and sighs. "You get the idea." She adds, knowing she didn't have to say any more.
I bite my tongue to keep myself from replying right away, I wanted to tell her who I was talking to, but if no one else could see the eagle... that meant that I've been hallucinating for a while now, I just never registered it. "If it helps, I was going to go to my room and try to sleep today, I doubt I will be able to, but if I am hallucinating I need to try." I say before getting off the chair.
Cadence nods and smiles at me. "Thank you...do you want anything to help you sleep by any chance?" She offers me. "I happen to know a sleep spell and we received some sleep aids with the last few shipments." She adds.
I shake my head. "No thanks, if I change my mind I'll let you know." I reply before walking to the door to leave and push it open, I walk out of the room and leave the door open for Cadence, I walk to the stairs and make my way up the stairs.
The walk to my room is quiet, I don't see anyone on my way which I feel is a little eerie but I decide not to question it, I walk into the hallway and continue on my way, I keep on walking until I reach the second room on the right, I open the door and step inside, I close the door behind me and sigh in relief.
I walk to my bed and go to climb up as I hear a painfully familiar voice. "Hey, can we talk?" I turn to look at the owner of the voice and I see Stealth Elf looking at me with an unsure yet wary expression, I say nothing as I stare at the elf, the staring went on for what felt like forever but in reality was only half a minute until she spoke. "Um...so...this is awkward." She says with a voice that sounds like she regretted being here.
"No it isn't." I say flatly, surprising Stealth Elf, I roll my eyes and turn my body to face the elf. "It isn't awkward because you aren't here, you are still in the Skylands and I'm hallucinating." I state as I take a step closer to the hallucination.
Stealth Elf's expression soon becomes annoyed. "I am NOT a hallucination, I want to talk to you." She says as she crosses her arms.
I let out a short laugh and look at the hallucination. "Ha! yea right." My expression turns serious as I stare. "I got transported to this land and at some point the whole place was banished for one thousand years, so unless you either have time travel or are a thousand years old, you are a hallucination." I reason as I take another step closer.
Stealth Elf raises an eyebrow at me. "Look, we came here using the same device that you did, we managed to stop Strykore from destroying the Core of Light." She says, she did not move.
"That is exactly what a hallucination would say!" I declare as I turn around. "Telling me what I want to hear so that I will listen, and where does all of this lead? nowhere!" I say with a manic voice before looked back at the hallucination. "If you are not a hallucination, prove it to me! hit me!" I challenge.
Stealth Elf blinks in surprise but makes no attempt to move. "We didn't come here to fight you, we were going to try and talk to you tomorrow but I personally couldn't wait." She says in an attempt to dodge the challenge I gave her.
"Aha!" I state with a feeling of victory, I knew now that this was in fact a hallucination. "Next you'll tell me something crazy like Cynder is back or Glumshanks fought Kaos!" I laugh at the mere thought of the troll actually fighting anything and I give the hallucination a maniacal look which causes her to slightly tense up.
Stealth Elf shook her head with a sigh and looked at me. "Well-" She didn't get to finish as I interrupted her.
"Don't even say it." I say flatly and with a serious expression before I feel my mind trail off. "While I could easily throw a fireball and get rid of you hallucinations, I'm not even going to expend the energy, so if you don't mind I am going to bed!" I state as I climb onto the bed and look over at the now annoyed hallucination. "Good night and good-" I am interrupted this time when I feel a hand deliver a strong slap to my face, my head is thrown to the side a little.
I look up in surprise at Stealth Elf who is staring down at me with her hands at her sides, she has an annoyed and yet somewhat relieved expression on her face, I find myself doubting the situation as I speak. "Again!" I demand, I watch as the elf promptly slaps my face just as hard and my mind takes a minute to process this.
'Hallucination=not real, not real=cannot use physical contact, not insane=Didn't slap myself, conclusion, Stealth Elf=Real.'
I look up at Stealth Elf with wide eyes and I speak in a very quiet voice. "Elf?" I receive a nod and her expression softens a little, I slowly reach out with my right claw and gently touch her left hand, I feel myself shake as I pull away and my breathing speeds up as I feel panic. "That means that...the team is here." I mutter and force myself to sit up normally, my eyes wide and my expression panicked, I lower my head and keep my eyes trained on the floor.
"So, can we talk now?" Stealth Elf asks as she crosses her arms, she moved over to the other end of the bed to give me some space.
I nod wordlessly and listen as my former teammate speaks. "Like I said before, we came to this land using the same device that you overloaded, Jet-Vac was confused when we ended up near a ruined village and Spyro thought you were to blame at first." She explains which makes me raise an eyebrow.
"At first?" I ask the elf, not looking her in the eye.
"Master Eon taught Spyro a spell that allows him to show us any of his memories of a location, and since the two of you are the same dragon..." She said no more as I nodded in understanding. "Anyway, as we watched the memories of you in the village of Jade, we were unsure of what to make of them, Spyro insisted that it was all an act." The elf said.
"I don't blame him." I mutter to myself quietly, I take a deep breath and look at Stealth Elf for a second before looking away. "Why are you here? I would have thought you all wouldn't care what happened to me." I ask with confusion and uncertainty in my voice. "Especially you." I whisper.
"We're here to bring you back to the Skylands." Elf replied with a calm voice. "Most of us, me included, want to avoid a fight, Spyro is probably the only one who wants you to fight." She explained.
I nod wordlessly and look at Stealth Elf again. "You said tomorrow right?" I ask, to which my former friend nods, I let out a sigh. "There's a meeting room downstairs, it's behind the doors on the left when entering the castle, I'll let the guards know to let you in, might as well get this over with now." I say as I get off the bed.
I walk to the door and look over my shoulder at Elf. "For what little it's worth, I'm sorry for everything." I say before opening the door and leaving the room.
______*Two hours later, The Crystal Castle.*______
I sigh to myself as I sit in the meeting room, I stare at the doors to the room with growing dread as I await what I am certain is my doom, I steel myself as much as I can by silently reminding myself that I was going to do this if I ever met my former teammates again.
I hear voices and I tense up, I hear them approaching the room and I brace myself for who was coming, the door opened and I hear Cadence talking. "Take as long as you need, he's requested that you aren't to be disturbed." The Alicorn spoke.
Soon enough, Stealth Elf walked into the room followed by the rest of the team, I tense up a little as they each enter the room and I feel my blood freeze as Spyro enters the room, the second the other dragon spotted me his eyes hardened as he glared with barely contained hatred.
When the door closed an awkward and tense silence filled the room, I suddenly feel a need to say something to break the silence and I say the first thing that comes to mind. "How do you like the Empire?" I say simply and nervously, I try to hide my anxiety behind a neutral expression.
"It's nice." Jet-Vac replies simply, no one else speaks and I feel the tense air return.
I let out a shaky breath and try to think of something to say, but I was unable to do so as Pop Fizz climbs onto the table and stares at me with his crazed yet absent eyes. "You look worse than Jet-Vac does when he's up all night and running on coffee." The gremlin states with as straight a face as he can manage.
I couldn't hold back a laugh but manage to contain it to amused snickering, this seemed to break the ice and I spoke a moment later. "Yea I do, that's what happens when you stay awake for a long time." I reply with a tired expression and voice.
Next it was Spyro who spoke a short while later and he wasn't happy as he glared at me. "Where do you get off telling people we're brothers?" He asked flatly.
I shrug. "Honestly? I needed help and I figured that it was a better explanation at the time instead of 'I am the evil half of a dragon that helped a psychopath in his quest for world domination." I say truthfully, Spyro still looks angry but he doesn't say anything in reply.
"So you guys beat Strykore huh?" I ask, I get a nod from Elf and I speak. "That's good, glad we don't have to worry about him anymore." I say before blinking. "So...if you don't mind me asking, what did I miss?" I ask carefully.
Spyro gained a look like he wanted to say something but Stealth Elf stopped him. "After you and Spyro fought, we needed a way to find the Core of Light, so we got onto Flynn's ship and went to the underworld to rescue Cynder from Malefor." The elf stopped talking when she saw my eyes widened and became pinpricks.
All my muscles locked up and I felt weak, I felt my heart skip a beat and my breathing became unsteady at the mere mention of the dragons name, a few seconds later I found my voice. "I'm just going to assume you succeeded and rescued Cynder from he-who-must-not-be-named." I said shakily.
The Skylanders looked amongst themselves and huddled, they talked for a little bit and I used that time to calm down, they soon broke it up and Jet-Vac continued. "Back to the subject at hand, with Cynder's help we were able to get to the lost island of Arkus and uh, long story short we managed to save the Core of Light, Master Eon was almost killed saving it but we were able to tilt the robot that Kaos was controlling just enough to keep that from happening." The sky baron said as he rubbed his arm. "My arm is still sore from that." He mumbled.
The room was silent again, and even though it was quiet the silence was unbearable, I prevented myself for speaking for a long time and no one spoke, for a few minutes, at this point I spoke up with a question that was on my mind. "So, Elf told me that you want to bring me back to the Skylands?" I say, upon seeing the confirming nods I sigh and get off the chair. "Well, in my state I wouldn't be able to fight off a Chompy, so I'll go quietly." I say.
I can see the dissappointment in Spyro's eyes but he said nothing, instead it was Eruptor who spoke. "Great! so Jet-Vac, what do you say we get going?" The lava monster said his first words out loud since entering the room.
Jet-Vac sighed. "Be patient Eruptor, Dark Spyro, we'll give you a day to say goodbye, but there is something that you should know." He said, this makes me curious and I look at the Sky Baron. "Officially, you are not a criminal back in the Skylands, because there is no evidence that says you are and the fact is, everything you did, you did as Spyro and not as Dark Spyro, in short you will not be going to prison, rather we are taking you to talk to Master Eon at the academy." He explained.
At this moment, my mind had to reboot at the new information, because ever since I ended up in the Crystal Empire I was certain and had come to terms with the thought of going to prison, but the thought of confronting Eon after everything I did? it terrified me. "What?" Was all I could say as I stood still with shock and disbelief.
"You lucked out, that's what's what." Spyro said with an aggravated tone as he started to hover in the air, anxious about something I couldn't figure out.
I could only blink and after a few moments I took a deep breath. "Alright, where do you want to meet up tomorrow?" I ask quietly.
"Either here or somewhere quiet will do, we could use your room even." Stealth Elf replied, she put her right hand on her hip and let the other one hang to her side, she was more relaxed yet still slightly guarded around me, not that I blame her.
"That's fine, by the way there's plenty of rooms here in the castle if you want to spend the night...Cadence did tell you this stuff right?" I ask with uncertainty.
"The nice pony lady? yep! I think she might have said something about breakfast, no idea though!" Pop added to the conversation in his unique way.
I nod and walk to the door to leave, I walk past Spyro as I do and we exchange looks, mine was tired and his was filled with suspicion, I open the door and walk out of the room, leaving the Skylanders to talk or do whatever.
'I need to sleep.' Was the first thought that entered my mind, and with that I headed upstairs to finally get some much needed rest.
I was able to get to my room quickly with no distractions along the way, I open the door and walk into the room, I see Cosmo sitting on the bed talking with Tempest and Sunset Shimmer. "Hey Dark Spyro!" Cosmo said happily and with a wave.
Her cheery attitude made me smile, but it feels forced and sad as I walk up to the bed and open my wings, I fly up on the bed and land, I close my wings and wince a little at how sore they feel. "Hey Cosmo." I reply as the filly hugs me, my voice is still strained but I hold it back.
"Are you alright?" Sunset asks me and I look at her while I return the hug to the filly, she sounds concerned as she looks at me intently.
I nod to her and release the hug with Cosmo. "I'm going home Sunset." I say, which seems to be enough to silence the others. "Tomorrow I'm going home, and I wanted to say goodbye." I add.
Cosmo sits down and tilts her head. "You're going to talk to that Master Eon guy right?" She asked.
I blink and look at the filly, wondering if she eavesdropped before I remember seeing her with the Skylanders. "Right, and I thought you should know." I say before looking at Tempest. "I'm sorry for driving you nuts with everything I've done, if at all possible, I'll try to visit sometime." I say to the griffon.
Tempest smiled and pulled me into a hug. "And maybe someday I'll tell you what happened the first day here." She whispered in a teasing manner.
I roll my eyes and return the hug, I patted the griffons back and a moment later I pulled away. "Thanks I guess, now uh...I don't want to be rude but I need to get some sleep." I say as I look at Cosmo. "If you and your family are still around tomorrow, I want to say goodbye to Silver too, can you let them know?" I ask.
The filly nods and hops off the bed, Sunset climbs off the bed as well and looks at me. "Get some sleep already you stubborn dragon, I'll see you later." She said as she led Cosmo out of the room.
I look over at Tempest and see that the griffon was under the covers to get some sleep, I roll my eyes and do the same, a few moments later I'm fully under the covers with just my head sticking out and I stare at the door which is closed, I sigh and close my eyes, allowing sleep to finally claim me.
_______*a few minutes later.*_______
My eyes open to the world around me, well...open was not the right word for it, I find myself once again in the center of the now life filled garden, I don't know how but somehow I am able to see everything around me as though I were looking around like normal.
In this garden I am alone and even though I cannot move my head or my body I feel at peace, the statue that I turned into was frozen in the sitting and defeated position, stone tears were frozen on my face and I watch as a squirrel climbs up onto my pedestal and curls up next to my front right leg.
I then hear someone approaching and I watch in that direction, to my surprise I see Tempest walk up to my statue and look up at me with sadness. "I don't know if you can hear me Dark Spyro, but I want you to know that everyone forgives you, Spyro naturally still doesn't like talking about you but that's just him being himself." The griffon let out a strained chuckle and continued. "It isn't fair that you have to spend your days here alone, you have done wrong but I don't think that you deserve to be trapped while we are free." Tempest's eyes watered and she placed a Talon on my statue. "You are a hero, you just need to forgive yourself." She said quietly.
Even in my stone prison, I could feel my heart ache at the sight of the crying griffon. "Don't cry Tempest, not over me." I say, though with my body in stone, there was no sound.
Tempest looks at my stone face and speaks. "Thank you...for everything." She said sadly before walking away.
I sighed mentally and watch as the sad griffon leaves the garden, as I watch I feel a strange sense of determination and I find myself struggling to break free of my prison, for some reason I cannot understand, the image of Tempest walking alone triggered something in me. "You listen to me whatever you are, I don't care what I did to be turned to stone, but you imprisoned my friends, so you let me out, or I'll make your life a living hell!" I shouted in my mind.
The reaction I received was instant, as if on command all of the stone that kept me a prisoner crumbled and faded away, the squirrel next to me was startled and ran away as I feel my body come under my control again, my eyes blink and in a couple more seconds I am free of my statue form, I immediately jump off the pedestal and I call out as loud as I can. "TEMPEST!" As I call out I ran away from the garden, I find myself on a now life filled pathway with a cobblestone road, I soon see a familiar griffon on the road who stopped running and froze at the sight of me.
I slow down and stop when I'm about ten feet away, I panted a little and looked at Tempest. "Thought you were leaving without me seeing you off huh?" I ask with a slightly teasing tone.
Tempest promptly ran up and tackle hugged me, I fall to the ground and as the griffon hugs me, I feel the world around me fading, it was peaceful and without trouble, deep down I feel relief wash over me as I wake up.
_______*Dark Spyro's temporary room.*_______
My eyes open and I blink, I still feel incredibly sore and my eyes still burned but it was slightly lessened, I look at the small clock on the end table and see that it was now eleven, I breathe quietly and shifted a little, I pause as I feel something warm wrapped around me, I blink and raise an eyebrow.
I manage to turn my head until I can see behind me and I see Tempest resting her head on my shoulder, she had her arms wrapped around my chest and I feel her tail wrapped around mine, I decide not to wake the sleeping griffon to tell her that she was under the wrong cover, I then returned my head to the pillow and resign myself to the surprisingly comfortable position. 'Sunset was right, Tempest is a cuddler.' I note with a little humor.
Curiosity strikes me and I move my head to look for the fiery unicorn, I spot her asleep at her chosen spot on the bed and I roll my eyes at the strange smile on her face, I pondered something for a little before mentally shrugging to myself, I flip my body over gently as to not wake the griffon and I wrap my arms around her, being careful around her wings, Tempest's head moved and I stopped, she repositioned her head to rest on my neck and I hear her steady breathing.
I close my eyes and allow myself to drift off to sleep again, knowing that I desperately need it and not caring in the slightest if Sunset or anyone else saw.
_____*the next day.*______
I open my eyes slowly, my body feels loads better but it still hurt as did my eyes and head, I feel happy that I didn't dream last night and I smile at the sight before me.
Tempest was still asleep and we were in the same position that we were in when I fell asleep, I don't move a muscle and I simply lay completely still in the bed, I hear a quiet giggle nearby and I manage to just barely move my head, I see Sunset looking at us with a smile. "Comfy?" She mouthed the question, but there was great amusement in her eyes.
I simply stared at the mare for a while before mouthing my reply. "Yes." I then lay my head back down and simply allow my body to rest, feeling greatly fatigued and tired now, I was about to close my eyes when I hear Tempest yawn and I watch as she pulls her head back a little.
The griffon's eyes slowly drifted open and she sleepily looked into my eyes, she blinked a few times before she realized what was going on, her eyes widened and her face reddened out of embarrassment. "Um...m-m-morning." She stammered incoherently.
I simply smiled and released my grip on the griffon, though she didn't do the same, I raise an eyebrow at her. "So, are you going to release me or do you want to cuddle some more?" I ask with a teasing tone, though I wouldn't say it, I kind of hoped she wouldn't move.
"Eep!" Tempest gasped and released her hold, she looked away from me and whispered. "Sorry."
I rolled over and look at the clock, I see that it's around seven and I yawn, I slowly get out of bed and land on the floor, I rub my eyes carefully and blink a few times before stretching. "Alright, who's hungry?" I ask out of fake curiosity, knowing the answer already.
The reply I get comes in the form of three seperate growling stomachs, I chuckle and walk to the door, I open it and look back at the others who were slowly following me. "Come on, let's see what breakfast is today." I say before walking out of the room, the hallway for once is not empty, behind me Tempest and Sunset is a very tired Garnet and Silver with Cosmo who was somehow energetic.
Ahead of me was Jet-Vac and Eruptor who opened the door to leave the hall and walked out, so the three of us walk until we reach the door and I pause. "You two go on without me, I have something I need to say." I receive a nod from Sunset and Tempest and look back at Garnet and his daughters.
I wait patiently for them to approach and I smile at them. "So, how's the move going?" I ask when they get close.
Garnet grunted. "Annoying as ever, but thankfully your friend Twilight set us up to live in a town called Ponyville, we should be able to move in tomorrow." He answered with both annoyance and relief in his voice and expression.
"What about you Dark Spyro?" Silver asked curiously.
I smiled and opened the door to leave the hallway. "I'm alright now...I hope, I'm going back to the Skylands today so I can't complain about that." I reply as I walk.
The large room we are in has a few people in it but I don't pay much attention to it as I hear Silver talk. "Will you be able to visit us at all?" She asks with a little sadness, but then she must have had an idea. "Ooh, what if WE visit you?" She wondered with a little more energy.
I chuckle. "Well, I'll have to see about finding a way to go back and forth between the Skylands and Equestria." I pause and look at Garnet. "And if I do find a way, you'll have to ask your dad about visiting my home." I add before heading to the dining hall.
"You'll do great in the Skylands! you know that right?" Cosmo asked in her energetic way as she walked alongside me.
I smile at the filly and ruffle her mane a little as I walk, not saying a word about the growing dread in my heart.
_____*a little bit later.*_____
I sat in the dining hall with Tempest sitting to my left as usual, Princess Cadence sat to the right of me as head of the table, Shining Armor sat next to her, next to Tempest was Cosmo and then Silver, followed by Garnet and then Pop Fizz.
Next to Shining Armor was Sunset, followed by Stealth Elf, then Spyro, and next to the dragon was Jet-Vac and then Eruptor, breakfast was wide and varied today because of the varying guests.
I didn't mind though and I just ate my bacon and French toast, happy to just listen to the conversations at the table, every once in a while I would notice Cadence and Tempest looking at each other and I raised an eyebrow and pondered this silently, I never said anything though but I did notice the knowing grin on the Princess's face occasionally. 'What am I missing here?' I wondered as I ate.
I drank my grape juice idly and looked around the table, Garnet and his daughters seemed to be enjoying the breakfast, Shining Armor was trying and failing to hold a decent conversation with Sunset, and the Skylanders were talking amongst themselves for the most part, one thing I was relieved about was that Spyro wasn't glaring at me, he lost any happy expression when he looked at me but he didn't glare at me for the most part.
After a while, most of us finished breakfast and I watched Tempest hurry to catch the Skylanders, or more specifically Jet-Vac for some reason, I chuckled a little and worked on eating the last of my food, which was just a few pieces of bacon and a couple pieces of French toast.
I finished off the last of my breakfast quickly and stood up as Garnet and Spyro finished eating, I quickly round up the scattered dishes and set them on a nearby trolley and then I walk to the dining hall entrance to leave, I find myself wanting to be away from Spyro suddenly, even though I wasn't afraid of him personally, I didn't want to be alone with him in my current state.
I pull the door open and I yawn as I do so, I feel a wave of tiredness wash over me and I shake it off as I walk into the main area, I feel the urge to climb back into bed but I ignore it as I walk to the door to go outside. "Hold on a minute." I stop at the voice of the one person I did not want to talk to, I turn around and see Spyro looking at me, he marched right up to me with a glare of suspicion. "We are all taking a big chance, bringing you back to the Skylands, but don't think you are forgiven, so if you even think about betraying us I won't hesitate to take you down." He warned with a threatening tone before walking away.
I watch as my counterpart walked up the stairs and away from me, I take a deep breath and let it out slowly. 'Noted.' I tell myself, I look back to the castle entrance and I then see Tempest walk out of the meeting room with Jet-Vac and Stealth Elf, she looked neutral as she ran up the stairs.
"Hey Dark Spyro, are you ready?" Elf asked when she spotted me a second later.
I mentally prepare myself before nodding, I take a final look at my surroundings before going upstairs, I take flight and fly up to the second floor, my wings protest the action but I don't mind as I land on the floor, I then approach the hall door and open it, on the other side I see Eruptor entering my room with Spyro, followed by Tempest.
I start walking to the room, but with every step I take I feel my heart growing heavy, I bite my tongue and force myself to keep walking. 'This is what I've been waiting for ever since I ended up here, it might not have been long but it feels like forever.' When I reach the door I place my clawed hand on it, I hear someone coming closer and I see Stealth Elf and Jet-Vac walking up to me. "Now or never I suppose." I mutter as I push the door open, inside the room are the Skylanders, Sunset Shimmer and Tempest.
"Good, we're all here." Jet-Vac said as he walked up to everyone, I notice that everyone is standing in a circle and that Jet-Vac stood in the center, Stealth Elf took her place in the circle and I hesitantly did so as well, the Sky Baron then pulled out a very familiar black remote looking device with two silver prongs and spoke. "Now, the device only has a limited pickup range so once I activate it, do not move at all unless it's closer, though I recommend not moving at all because of how painful it is when you move." He explained.
I watched with curiosity as Jet-Vac turned what I'm guessing was a dial and pushed a few buttons, blue electric lights soon jolted on the prongs rapidly and soon enough the area around us started to crackle loudly, it soon picked up and then in a moment a blinding light shined and I had to cover my eyes.
_____*a moment later.*_____
I lowered my arm and heard Jet-Vac speaking. "Is everyone here?" He asked.
I reply yes as did the others and I saw Tempest shaking her head as though she was dizzy or something. "You alright?" I ask out of concern for my friend.
The griffon looks at me and nods with a smile. "Yea, I'm alright." She said.
I nod in understanding before I do a double take, I notice both Sunset and Tempest looking around the area we were in. "Wait, you guys came along?" I ask, finally realizing what was going on and staring with both surprise and confusion clear as day on my face.
Sunset nodded. "You didn't think I was going to let you go alone did you?" The unicorn huffed and later chuckled. "I knew you were stubborn but I didn't realize that also translated into being thick headed." She added with a teasing look.
"Same here...well, except the thick headed bit." Tempest replied quietly.
I force myself to push past the shock of the two following me to the Skylands, mostly so I can focus on other things, I take a look around and see the all too familiar floating islands of the Skylanders Academy, the large open courtyard like area in front of the Academy building which was insanely tall, I saw a bunch of Skylanders trainees and cadets walking about, I take a deep breath and look around some more, I see the many floating islands and I smile. "Welcome to the Skylands, and more importantly, the Skylanders Academy." I say to the griffon and unicorn.
I look to my left and see Jet-Vac waving me over, I nod to him and walk over. "Let's go talk to Eon." I say and follow the Sky Baron, I notice that Pop Fizz and Eruptor headed off elsewhere and the others were following me and Jet-Vac.
We walk for a while and while none of the trainees or cadets stop us, most of them glared at me, word most likely having spread about what I did, I avoided looking anyone in the eyes, we walk in silence for a while and eventually reached the main building, Jet-Vac stood next to the door and looked at me. "Go on In, Master Eon wanted to talk to you alone if you ever came back." He said, informing me that I was going to be alone in there.
I took a deep breath and opened the door, I stepped inside and gulped, the inside of the main building was the same as ever, it was open and spacious while having a large collection of books, I look around but I don't see any sight of Master Eon, I take a few steps forward and look around nervously.
My anxiety soon gets the better of me and I call out. "Hello!" I wait for a while before calling out a second time, and this time I seem to get a response, I hear someone moving and I pause, I wait for a while before I see the door to the vault open up, and leaving the vault is none other than Master Eon.
"Yes I'm here! What can I do for....you?" The old man's question slowed as he caught sight of me standing in the building, from first glance I can see that he moves like a great burden has been lifted from his shoulders, but upon seeing me he sighed, he slowly walked to the stairs and walked down them, he had a thoughtful look on his face as he stepped down onto the same floor that I am on. "...It would seem that your friends found you." The old man said, stroking his now long again beard.
I nod and sit down, I suddenly cannot look him In the eye. "They did." I say simply.
"Is your mind still affected by Strykore's magic?" The man asked calmly, his voice was level and I couldn't make heads or tails of it.
"No." I reply.
"Can you look at me then?" The Portal Master requested, I sigh and looked up at Eon, I look at his eyes and I see how he appeared to be conflicted, he was silent for a minute before he walked over to a desk and grabbed a pitcher of water, he poured two glasses and set the pitcher down, he then walked over and handed me one, which I took silently and drank, knowing that it was probably a truth serum, Eon did the same before speaking. "Do you...regret what you've done?" He asked carefully, making sure not to let any emotion into his voice.
"Everything bad?... yes." I say instantly, I take another sip from the water.
Master Eon was silent for a while and took a sip from his glass, he waited for a while before speaking. "Do you have a name you like to go by, by any chance?" He asked with a curious tone.
"I um...I just go by Dark Spyro, it's easier than thinking up a new name and all." I reply honestly, silently thanking Jet-Vac for what he said the day I was seperated from my good half.
Master Eon nodded and took another sip from his glass, his eyes moved around for a few seconds as he looked me over, he then finally spoke after half a minute of unbearable silence. "Dark Spyro, what is it you want to do? now that you are free that is." He asked with a flash of concern in his eyes that quickly turned apathetic.
The question made take a moment to think before speaking. "To make amends, I want to do the right thing...I don't expect it to be easy." I say truthfully before finishing the drink.
Master Eon was quiet as he hummed and then finished his drink and then took my glass, he walked back to the desk where the pitcher sat and filled both glasses again, he brought them back and handed me mine again. "So, what you want is a second chance? is that correct?" He asked with a flat tone.
I nod as I drink a little from the glass. "Exactly." I say, I look at Master Eon who stroked his beard thoughtfully for a short while before drinking a little.
Soon enough the Portal Master spoke. "Dark Spyro." He started in a serious tone, I feel body tense up as he stared into my eyes, I nervously take a drink. "How would you like to be a Skylander again?" The question made me spit out my drink in shock, I feel my body freeze for a second and I blink.
"What?" I say mindlessly, not sure if I heard correctly before continuing. "I...would love that but...why?" I manage to add before I feel my mind reel back from disbelief as I drank from the glass.
Master Eon took a sip from his glass and then spoke. "You are looking for forgiveness and regret what you have done, you are also struggling to find a place to belong, that much is obvious." He finished his drink and spoke. "I will warn you however, if you choose to become a Skylander once again, I will have to place you with the cadets." He stated with a tone that said to consider it carefully.
I feel my excitement fade a little upon hearing that I would be put through training again, but as far as punishments go, that was enough of one, I thought on it a little more as I drink deeply from the glass, effectively finishing it off, I look at Eon who walked over, I handed him the glass and manage a nervous smile. "I wouldn't have it any other way." I say to him, I was being honest but I was still greatly confused.
Eon smiled back at me and walked over to the desk, he set the glasses down and walked back over to me, he knelt down and placed a hand on my shoulder. "Then allow me to be the first to say...welcome home Dark Spyro." He said with a kind tone of voice, it sounded a little strained but I didn't notice it as my mind fully recovered from the shock...which was a lie but I felt coherent enough to put it off until later.
I nodded and Eon stood up, he motioned for me to wait a moment as he walked away and out of sight, I feel relief wash over me and I look up at the ceiling, I close my tired eyes and I hear Eon walking back, I open my eyes and see him holding a small stack of paper, only about seven pieces. "Here you go, we have added new things to the training courses, these papers are test papers, finishing these will place you in the same grade as Cynder and the other cadets." He then took the top paper and held it. "This one is different, it is a admittance form." He sighed. "Though I'm sure you remember that much...just don't burn this one." He said.
I roll my eyes. "Come on, it was only three papers and I...well, Spyro, was a hatchling." I argue in my defense, smirking a little at the memory.
Eon shook his head as I take the papers. "Thirty three actually, and while it was funny and understandable at first, it got annoying quickly." He stated before looking at me. "I don't know if anyone has said it yet, but it is good to see you with a clear mind." He said.
"No they haven't...and I'm sorry if you feel like you need truth serum to get me to tell the truth." I reply, feeling a little bad about that particular detail, reminding me that almost no one will trust me around here.
Master Eon then raised an eyebrow at me. "Truth serum? that was simply water." He then smiled. "But thank you for telling me the truth anyway, now get some sleep, you look like you need it." He said before walking off.
I blinked at the statement that I wasn't drinking truth serum and I feel some of my negative emotions dissipate, I then shrug as I know that there was no point dwelling on it, I take the papers in my front right arm and fly up to the door even though my wings protested still, I open it and step outside, the first thing that I notice is that other than the cadets and trainees walking about, the only one around was Jet-Vac, I blink and look at the Sky Baron. "Hey Jet-Vac, where's everyone else?" I ask with a little confusion.
"Spyro and Elf are showing your friends the academy." Jet-Vac said before noticing the papers in my arm. "I see you're staying." He commented, he sounded a little surprised.
I nod. "Yea, I'm gonna end up being a cadet again." I yawn and stretch as I land. "I should probably get some sleep first." I add tiredly, feeling fatigue once again calling me.
Jet-Vac nodded in understanding. "Well, don't let me stop you, our house should still be unlocked." He said before walking off to do something else.
I feel a little happy knowing that Jet-Vac trusted me enough to let me go into the house again, but as tired as I am I decide not to question it too much and fly off in the direction of the house that my former team uses, It took about five to ten minutes before I reach the house at the speed I was flying, I land at the new door and open it easily, I thank whoever left it unlocked and step inside, I close the door and walk through the house, as I look around I feel nostalgia strike me as I remember all the good times we had here, from joking around in the living room to being the victims to Pop Fizz's failed experiments in the kitchen, I smile as the memories come back to me one by one, I eventually made it upstairs and enter an all too familiar room, my...Spyro's room, I look around and spot the computer that was off, I see the phone next to the mouse and I see the tablet on the bed, still online.
I sigh and walk to the bed, I turn off the tablet and set it on the bedside table while grabbing a small flat writing board and a pen, I start working on the papers, having changed my mind and deciding to work on those before getting some extra shut eye. 'Better than what I was expecting at least.' I find myself thinking.