//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: Introduction // Story: Spike's Teacher // by Richer19 //------------------------------// Here is the next chapter for you all to enjoy. I really am thankful for the positive feedback. Chapter 4: Introduction Sparx had never known real terror until now. It was a strange thought, considering all that he had seen and been through. True, he was afraid most of the time, but he always managed to mask it with his witty banter, and the fact that he could count on his brother to make the problem go away. Yet now he was fully aware of what it meant to experience real fear. It was the kind of fear that made his entire body and soul freeze, and left him at the mercy of whoever was there. He tried to recall the events that had happened up until that point, which wasn't that difficult since it was constantly flashing in front of him. He recalled Spyro asking him to go and look for some kind of town or village where they could get information. He remembered asking why he had to do it and the answer that he got being one that left him in a rather distraught mood. He hadn't gone too far when his ears heard a familiar flapping pattern. Drawn by it, he had found a clearing that was populated by dozens of butterflies. Already his stomach growled from the sight of his favorite food and figured that he deserved a chance to get a quick bite to eat. Catching them proved to be no trouble for the dragonfly and was delighted to discover that they had a very rich taste to them. What happened next came as a blur as the moment he was about to eat his tenth butterfly, he heard a rustle coming from behind him. He quickly turned around and only had a chance to let out a scream of terror before his eyes were locked onto a pair of demonic cyan eyes. So here he was, in a staring contest with those same cyan eyes that just appeared to drill a hole into his psyche. He felt that whoever this was knew every bad thing that he did in his life and then some. They were eyes that rivaled the glare that Cynder would give him whenever he made a joke at her expense. It was a stare that made him feel like he was less than nothing, a disgusting stain that didn't deserve to exist and was about to be put down without any kind of sympathy or care. “Do you realize what you've done?” A voice sounded in his ears. The voice was hard, edgy, but had an undertone of sweetness to it. It reminded him of when his mom would scold him for something he did wrong and he found himself falling more into that fear. He didn't even realize that those eyes had a mouth and voice to them. It was a wonder that he was still able to maintain his hovering despite the fact that his entire body was petrified. Then he heard a new sound, the sound of bushes shaking followed by a distant voice saying, “Sparx! Are you there?” It was at that moment that those horrible, demonic cyan eyes broke contact with him. He instantly felt a large surge of relief flowing through him, which caused him to regain control of his body. He vaguely heard a clopping sound but was unable to identify it before falling to the ground in relief. Or he would have hit the ground if Spyro hadn't caught him. He knew that it was his brother because he could recognize that familiar body heat that Spyro seemed to create. Once again, he was thankful that his brother was able to drive away whatever it was that was scaring him and Sparx took a moment to collect himself. After a very brief moment to recover, Sparx got off of his brother and said, “Thanks for the save back there. Of course, I had everything under control, mind you.” Both Cynder and Spyro rolled their eyes before the purple dragon asked, “What happened?” Sparx quickly shouted, “Aw man you should have seen it. One moment I was minding my own business having a quick snack and the next thing I know I’m staring into a pair of cyan eyes that seemed to numb my very soul.” Spyro looked around the clearing and commented, “I don’t see anyone else.” At that moment there came the sound of faint rustling which caused the two dragons and dragonfly to tense up, waiting to see what was going to happen next. Eventually, the noise died down and the clearing became strangely silent. Attempt to maintain that silence, Cynder said in a hushed tone, “Spyro…I do believe that whatever attacked Sparx is still around.” Spyro nodded his head before raising his voice in a loud enough pitch to be heard but not angry, asking, “Hello? Is there anyone there? If there is, can you please come out so we can try to work something out?” They heard a small squeak followed by some more rustling. This time, they were able to locate the source of the rustling coming from a nearby bush. Glad that they were able to locate it, Spyro lowered his voice to a more gentile tone and said, “I apologize if we scared you. Can you please come out from behind that bush so we can talk?” The bush halted movement and Spyro just barely heard a voice say, “O…okay.” The bush then started to part way and what came out caused various degrees of surprise from Spyro, Cynder, and Sparx. What they saw was what appeared to be a kind of miniature version of a horse. Though unlike the horses that Spyro and Cynder saw after the war, this one was dyed with a coat of light yellow and had a long, pink mane. Spyro notice that the overall shape and build of the small horse would place it as a female and he was able to notice what appeared to be a pair of wings that were folded, though he was unsure as to how this horse had managed to acquire a pair of wings in the first place. Spyro also noticed the cyan eyes that appeared to be full of fear, but also had a soft expression under that fear. It was the complete opposite of what Sparx described and it left Spyro wondering if this was the right one. Putting that notion aside, Spyro tried to put on his best calm expression and tone before asking, “Hello there. My name is Spyro, what’s yours?” The small horse appeared to have been scared, despite Spyro trying to make his voice quieter, but he was just able to hear her say, “I… I’m Fluttershy.” Apologize for the short chapters but I really want to try and not rush this too much so I can get feedback. Let me know if the pace is good enough or if I should speed it up a bit.