The train ride was mostly uneventful. Pinkie's friends spent the time trying to teach her the finer points of being a good mother. They had to convince her to hold off on her inevitable Pinkie Party until Twilight could teach Spyro to keep his new magic under control. Meanwhile, Spike was doing his best to tell the two dragons about Ponyville and what they could expect.
"So I'm gonna be living in a bakery?"
"Well, that's where Pinkie lives. Yeah."
"Cool."
"Is there anything that you don't think is cool?" Spike snorted in a sarcastic manner.
"Hmm… Not in this world," Spyro replied and held his tongue out.
"Right… So, do you two have any other questions about Ponyville?"
Claws and Spyro stared at each other for a while until one of them spoke up.
"Yeah. What is there to do in Ponyville?" Spyro questioned in innocent curiosity.
Spike decided to smack his forehead and slowly roll his claw down his face in annoyance. "I just finished explaining all of that. Were you not listening?"
"I got bored…"
Spike resisted the urge to slap his own face again. "Alright, what do you mean by 'do'? What do you want to do in town?"
"I dunno. I never got to go into the city that often at the orphanage… Um, I don't know."
"I see. Well, I'm sure we can find you something to do. You’re lucky you got magic now. It should make your day more… intriguing."
"Yeah, if I knew how to use it. I don't want to derail the train or something."
"Good call, dude, good call" Spike said as he and Spyro shared a chuckle. "Did you ever do anything other than playing these video games?"
"Not really. I mean—"
"What about friends? Didn't ya have friends?" Spike asked in genuine concern.
"No I didn't! So what?"
"Hey, I'm not trying to put you down, dude. But both of your stays in Ponyville will be better if you went out and made some friends, other than me I mean."
"Okay, but aren't most people in Ponyville, well, ponies?"
"Yes. Never stopped me from making friends before."
"Oh," was Spyro’s only reply.
"Are you… nervous, Spyro?"
"No, I'm not nervous!"
Spike nodded. "What about you, Claws?"
"Same!"
Spike was not buying it. The closer they got to his home, the more distant they seemed.
"Some dragons you are," Spike replied, hoping to get some reaction out of the two. Claws was the first to respond.
"Hey! I am so a dragon! What makes you say that?!"
"Yeah! Me too!"
"Spyro, you’re a human," Claws deadpanned with his reply.
"I'm also a dragon, and a wizard," he replied with his arms crossed. Both dragons turned to him in confusion.
"A wha?"
"A wizard. You don't know what a wizard is?"
They both shook their heads.
"That doesn't make sense. This is a world with magic but wizards have not been heard of?"
"Never heard of a wizard before. I hang out with Twilight all day and learned all sorts of things about ponies, but I've never heard of a wizard."
"Ponies are weird."
"Now just why is that so weird? If it's a word from your world then why would we know of it?" Spike challenged.
"Because a wizard is someone that can use magic, duh."
"So, Twi would be a wizard?"
"Um, well, wizards are boys, so no. I guess she would be a… witch?"
"I don't know what that word means, but it sounds mean."
"Well I don't think it is. At least it wasn't in Harry Potter. Oh wait, that means I can be a wizard!"
"You lost me. Humans are weird."
"We are not! Right, Claws?"
Claws stared at his friend for a moment, giving him a sheepish smile. "Um, sorry, dude, but you’re pretty weird."
"Whatever," he replied with a grunt before choosing to remain silent. Spike and Claws decided to do the same, but Spike did not fail to notice Spyro's change in attitude.
The train eventually slowed down to a halt. A pony announced their arrival at Ponyville as the final stop. They all left the carriage with Spyro noticing the six ponies leaving first. He spotted his 'mother' happily bouncing up and down out of the train. It filled him with hope.
She is pretty cool. I hope she stays that way, the human-turned-dragon thought while slowly following behind. Normally, on a return trip, Pinkie would feel the need to throw a party, especially for this particular occasion. But she gave a promise not to for now which led to the others in the group quickly making excuses to get back to their lives.
"Well, that was fun, but I really need to get back to my weather duties soon and some more practicing for you-know-what," Dash said before flying off, not waiting for a reply.
"Ah need to get back to the farm. You ready, Claws?"
He nodded and gave a shrug. He felt it was too silly to ride on her back so he quickly followed behind and, after a few moments, they were gone.
"I promised Mother that I would be watching Sweetie Belle later today, so ta-ta for now, Spyro and Pinkie."
"Angel is usually good for a couple days, but I better go check on him. It was nice meeting you, Spyro, and, um, good luck, Pinkie."
"Yes, well, it's been fun. Pinkie, make sure to bring him to me so we can start a schedule for his magic lessons. Until then, no excitement. Got it?"
She nodded in understanding, much to the annoyance of Spyro. Without warning, Twilight lifted Spike onto her back and left Pinkie and Spyro alone.
"It's not like I'm gonna blow up or something. What's so wrong with excitement?" He turned to Pinkie and finally addressed her. She was looking back nervously as if she was trying to find the right thing to say but also fighting back in her natural behavior.
"We're just worried that something might spark that magic of yours and Twilight warned me that magical surges can be dangerous," she replied with her normally upbeat attitude entirely lost.
"Cool!" Her eyes widened at the mention of something so trivial.
"NOT COOL! WE NEED TO MAKE SURE IT NEVER HAPPENS! OR ELSE!" she hissed which caused him to pay attention.
"What happens?" He asked slowly in a meek voice.
She sighed, noticing his shift in attitude. "The thing with magical surges, well, they can be chaotic and random—"
"Like you!" He beamed proudly, causing Pinkie to stop and think.
"Yes, like me. Only, random magic can do bad things."
"What kind of bad things?"
She sighed before saying anything. Hopefully, she could scare him just enough to make him wary of his magic. "Well, when Twilight experienced her first she… turnedherparentsintoplantsandgrewSpikeuptoafullgrowndragon!" She was not sure how much he got of that, but the last thing she wanted was to traumatize him.
"WOW! That's pretty cool!"
Maybe a little bit of the trauma thing was a good idea.
"Random magic can do much worse. It can harm others… Even to, um, death." Pinkie hated saying those words. She hated herself right now and she hated having to be the pony to teach him a lesson. But she was told by all of her friends that sometimes being a parent meant saying things that the child did not want to hear. Spyro was struck dead in his tracks. He had nothing to say. What could he say? Both were at a literal loss for words, but Pinkie could tell by the shocked look on his face that her words had finally sunk in.
"Look, I'm not trying to scare you. I'm just trying to warn you so nothing bad happens. I mean, you don't want anypony to get hurt, right?"
"Of course I don't want that!" Spyro stomped his leg down which caused her to flinch in surprise.
"Why would you think I want to kill anyone?!"
"No one's saying that! Just take a deep breath. Please? for me?"
Spyro sighed but did just that.
"Good. I was just trying to warn you. I'm not trying to scare you away from using magic, but you need to learn how to use it carefully and, right now, those nails of yours could do anything…" She trailed off at the end, hoping he would get the message. He looked down at his nails, wanting nothing more to do with them. Sure, he wanted to be a wizard and help save the day and be the hero, but heroes don't hurt others or kill. Killing was for the villain. He never wanted to be a villain.
"I-I don't think I want to do magic anymore," he finally replied in a sickly voice.
Without any prior warning, the pink pony wrapped her front hooves around the dragon into what she hoped was a motherly embrace. Spyro didn't fight it, but he didn't hug back. She kept the hug for a good two minutes until she was confident that he was, in fact, calm.
"Feeling better?"
He was about to nod but stopped. Was he feeling better? Ever since he came to Equestria, not only had he been taking everything in stride, but he was enjoying every single minute of it. Even when he was bored down in the bowels of the ship, he was still enjoying himself. Magic was real and, for that, it was a dream come true. Dragons existed and now he was one, and he even had a mother now, although he still did not feel like calling her that. But for the first time since he came here, he truly felt sad. It wasn't like crying over something as simple as getting yelled at like back on the dragon islands. No, he felt more sad than he could ever remember feeling in his entire life. The bright colors of Ponyville seemed dreary. Hesitantly, he looked up at Pinkie and then slowly shook his head, trying to hold in all the tears that were building up.
Pinkie put a hoof to her chin and was intensely thinking of something to cheer him up. He finally saw the random, funny pony before him again, if only for a brief moment, and he had to admit that it cheered him up. No one can possibly think that long, but she was trying and, to him, it seemed silly, but it still didn't help. Finally, after a minute, she shot up in the air and turned her attention back to Spyro.
"Do you want a piggyback ride?!" Her enthusiasm and randomness returned full-form. It was such an odd question, but piggyback rides were not something that ten-year-old's generally indulged in, especially for him.
But she was smiling so much.
And he wanted to smile again.
But it seemed so embarrassing. Slowly, his thoughts drifted back to a long forgotten memory.
"Listen up. Some folks will be stopping by soon."
"Yeah, so what?" A childish voice said, not really caring much for the adult speaking to him.
"So they might adopt you, that's what!"
"Oh," the child replied, suddenly standing at attention and doing his best to listen to everything the adult said.
"Yes, oh. Now, listen to me very carefully. Remember to be yourself, but under no circumstance are you to make them disappointed. I know that is asking a lot. I don't want to put any stress on you, but you do want to get adopted right?"
The child nodded as quickly as he could.
"Good. Then just do what they say and try your best to make them happy. Even if you do get adopted, they can still take you back. I know that sounds scary, but you are already here so it's not all bad. But, sorry, I'm getting off topic. Do you understand?”
"Yeah, I think so. Make them happy and do what they say or they might take me back?"
"Right. That's if they adopt you. You ready?"
"Yeah," the child answered without hesitation.
"Good. I will go get them."
The dragon blinked a few times and shook his memories away. He then noticed that Pinkie was still waiting for an answer.
Not screwing this up again! Spyro thought.
"Yeah!" He suddenly jumped up on her back without warning and screamed out, "ONWARDS TO ADVENTURE!" He then pointed to the town of Ponyville.
"Okie Dokie Loki! Although you might have to replace 'adventure' with meeting the Cakes!" Before he could respond, she had jumped up in the air and started her descent into town. To his amazement, she was jumping up and down, up and down over and over. He thought the other ponies might give them odd looks, but no one was batting an eye. Clearly, Pinkie did this often. He couldn’t get much more from the ponies since he was hanging on for dear life, but he did get one thing from their 'adventure'.
Ponies are so weird! But Pinkie is back! My M… Um, Pinkie is so random! AWESOME!
Luckily, throughout his journey, his emotions remained in check. His little breakdown earlier was quick to be wiped away with the excitement of the best piggyback ride he had ever had. The only disappointment stemmed from the lack of attention he was getting from the town. A baby dragon riding on the back of a pink pony who was jumping through town… Ponies had to be odd to consider THAT normal.
"Here we are!"
Spyro shook his head a few times to get rid of any dizziness and instantly looked up. If there was any doubt in the young child's mind that his life was about to get simple and boring, it was instantly squashed. He stood in front of a full-sized gingerbread house.
This was where she worked.
This was where she lived.
This is where I'm going to live?! The child's thoughts were frantic yet excited. To a boy, a gingerbread house was far from ideal, but to him it was just another thing to counteract the dreary, boring world he once knew.
"You ready to meet the Cakes and their Twins?"
"Um, sure?"
"Great! Let's go!"
He slowly climbed off of her back and they slowly walked into the bakery together. He quickly noticed a bright-yellow stallion running the register. He wore a bow tie and some type of apron along with a makeshift chef’s hat.
"Mr. Cake, I'm home!"
"Pinkie! Oh it's been… Oh, and who is this?" Spyro noticed his hesitant tone when addressing him. Pinkie looked down nervously at Spyro.
Can't disappoint her!
He ran up to the stallion and quickly started a conversation without warning. "Hi! I'm Spyro," he said while offering his claw. This simply made the stallion's eyes bulge out of his sockets.
"Oops, forgot about my nails…"
"Uhhh…" He was at a loss for words, but Pinkie quickly caught up.
"Yes. This is Spyro, Mr. Cake. Um, do you mind if I talk to you in the back?"
"S-sure, Pinkie, bu—"
"Great! You just wait here, Spyro, okay?" She did not wait for a reply and simply shoved the poor stallion in the back using her hoofs.
Spyro decided to sit down in an empty booth and wait. He only hoped that he did not overstep his boundaries. What was wrong with saying hi?
"Pinkie…" Mr. Cake paused to take in a deep breath to calm his nerves. It didn't work, but he continued. "…why is there a dragon down there and why did he come in with you?"
"Well, it's funny…"
"Pinkie."
"What?!" she said in an annoying, almost childish voice.
"I know when you are up to something, and I know when you try to make things seem less serious than they actually are. I want the truth."
"Okay, okay. Remember how I kind of ran off and yelled out something about the princess needing help with dragons?"
"Yeah?"
"Well, as it turns out, Spyro needed a lot of help. He needed a home and somepony that knows how to raise him right. I offered and now I'm his, well, mother."
"What?! Pinkie! I… He… What about his nails? I've seen Spike and I've seen dragons, something is wrong with—"
"Nothing's wrong, but after a little mishap, he ended up with unicorn magic, silly. Although we do need to keep his emotions under control, which is why I can't throw him my super duper pinkie party yet."
"Unicorn magic? I… Why do we need to keep his emotions under control exactly?"
"He's prone to magical bursts…"
"PINKIE! That's extremely dangerous! We can barely contain Pumpkin's magical outbursts, let alone another."
"I know, but I always stop Pumpkin from doing anything dangerous. I can do this!" Her face now pressed into his face in an attempt to exert her domination. It usually worked.
"Pinkie, uh… Is he talking to my wife?" He forgot about Pinkie and went back to the shop with her following him.
"And then she was all like, WHOOSH, BAM, and then everything was fine! I don't know how she moves so fast though," Spyro said.
"Yes, Pinkie has been known for her speed, especially in the kitchen. That was quite the tale, Spyro. Oh, did you enjoy that gem cupcake?" The voice of Mrs. Cake could be heard from the kitchen as the two ponies entered.
"Yeah! That was tasty. Can I have another?" he asked with pleading eyes.
She had to stifle a giggle. "Oh, I don't know. We wouldn't want a certain dragon to have a tummy ache. Oh, dear, come in here and meet Spyro."
Spyro turned around to face a frantic-looking Mr. Cake and Pinkie Pie. "Um, I have and—"
"Oh, wonderful! He tells me that he will be staying with Pinkie from now on. Be a dear and help her set up their room, please."
"But, honey—"
"What was that?"
Mr. Cake knew that voice. It was the kind she used when she was NOT to be trifled with. He hesitantly nodded, noting her wide eyes and steady determination.
"Yes, dear," he said and left the room by use of the stairs.
Pinkie just watched it in awe. Meanwhile, Spyro couldn't help but giggle. He was about to ask for another cupcake again when Mrs. Cake spoke up.
"Pinkie, do you mind if we have a little chat in the back?" Pinkie looked over at Spyro with a worried glance but nodded.
"Wonderful, Spyro feel free to grab one more cupcake, but just one."
He saluted her off as the two entered the kitchen.
"Mrs. Cake, I'm sorry—"
"It's fine. I take it this young dragon is here to stay?"
"Yeah. I kind of adopted him. Please don't be mad." She gave her the best Pinkie smile she could muster.
"Pinkie, I don't think I could ever be mad with you. Granted, this is definitely up there with some of the crazy things you try… But I couldn't be more proud of you for helping a po… err, dragon in need."
"He’s actually a human that's now a dragon," Pinkie said without skipping a beat.
Mrs. Cake blinked once. "A what?"
"It's a long story, but basically, he used to be a human that was raised in an orphanage and he woke up as a dragon. The princess told us so herself. I know he's not a pony, but I always wanted to be a mommy and I jumped at the chance," Pinkie said but stopped herself when she noticed the odd glare Mrs. Cake was giving her.
"It really is a long story, Mrs. Cake. I promise I will tell you when I get the time. But there is probably something else I should tell you about his, well, his—"
"Nails? I believe he said something about having magic now."
"Yeah. He's prone to magical outbursts, but I'm taking care of it. Plus, I may have scared him a bit about using magic…"
"Pinkie, what did you tell him?"
"I may have said that it can accidentally cause things like… death," she admitted with a hint of shame.
"Pinkie! That poor dear. You know that is extremely rare. Why would you say something so awful?"
"I was worried that if he had another outburst that you two wouldn't let him stay! Twilight made such a big deal about keeping his emotions under control and I was worried. I panicked, okay?"
"Pinkie, I'm not mad, but do you honestly think that telling him that would balance out his emotions in the slightest?"
"Uh, no. I'm a terrible mommy, huh?"
"No, Pinkie. You just made a mistake. I understand that you thought you might lose him, but lying isn't going to solve anything. You best go tell him the truth, alright?"
"Alright. I'm just stressed. I have to act all motherly-like now and I don't feel like myself and I don't even get to throw him a party! How can we not throw a party for something so big?!"
"Oh, my little pie, I'm guessing this has to do with keeping his emotions in check again, hmm?"
She nodded with downcast eyes.
"Well, it couldn't hurt to throw him a small party for now. Say, inviting only a few guests. I don't see how that can hurt things, Pinkie, what—"
Without warning, Pinkie Pie burst into the air with glee. "YIPPEE! Oh my gosh, I need to get together some streamers and a banner and dragon treats and I can invite Claws and Spike and—"
"Pinkie, perhaps for now it's best to apologize to your son, hmm?" Pinkie stopped in midair, landed on the floor and nodded.
"Oh yeah. I'll just go do that. Thanks, Mrs. Cake."
"Anytime, dear, anytime."
Pinkie left the kitchen in a flash leaving a bewildered Cake.
"That Pinkie…"
"Oh, Spyro."
"I did nothing!"
Pinkie rounded the corner and caught the young dragon red-clawed with a box of cupcakes open and clearly missing three. Pinkie snorted and rolled her eyes. "Put the box down. There's something I need to tell you."
He looked down at the box but nodded and brought his attention to her. "Listen, what I said earlier about the magical bursts, they can't kill anypony… I lied and I'm sorry."
"Why did you lie?" His voice sounded strained but he kept it under control.
"Because I was worried that if the Cakes saw a magical outburst from you, even if it was an accident, that they might not let you live here. It was stupid, but I'm just trying to keep you balanced and it's pretty hard. I've never been a mother before…" She paused when she noticed he winced at the word mother but continued. "…and I just want to makes sure that I don't screw it up."
"So that's why you’re not all crazy anymore?"
"Yeah. Trust me when I say that it's killing me inside but—"
"Then stop it! I liked you crazy. It's why I picked you in the first place!"
Pinkie blinked and had to stop talking at the sound of this. Before this, she had never questioned why she had ended up with Spyro. She had simply thought that Twilight's recommendation had helped. She never thought that Spyro had actually wanted her. But had she left that deep of an impression on him that she was simply thought of as the random pony? Is that all he saw in her? She was about to agree with him. She was about to do a complete turnaround and switch back to good old Pinkie, but then a nagging feeling in the back of her mind stopped all of that.
"Good mothers aren't random. Good mothers do what is necessary. Still…" Pinkie shook her head of those thoughts and glared down at him.
"I'll tell you what. If you promise me that you will listen to Twilight, and that means listen to EVERYTHING she tells you about your magic, then I will go back to what you saw before. But until you get your magic lessons, I can't be the random pink pony you saw before."
"But that's no fair! That's not fun!"
"I know, but you still want to use magic, right?"
"…Yes."
"Then those are the rules. Do you promise me to listen to Twilight?"
"Yes, I promise."
"Make a pinkie promise."
He looked down at his claws and noticed that he still did, in fact, have a pinkie. He was about to bring it up to her's, but then he realized something. Ponies don't have pinkies. "Huh?"
"It's easy. I'll show you. Lift up your, um, claw and repeat after me. 'Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.'" Pinkie finished by hurting her eye which caused him to giggle. He repeated the phrase. The simple, silly action gave him hope that his home was still, at the very least, not normal.
"Good. Now how about I show you your new room?!"
"Sure," he replied and, without warning, he jumped onto her back which caused her to giggle.
They walked up the stairs and were about to round a corner when Pinkie heard the sound of a certain foal crying. Without warning, she jerked up ahead and opened a door which lead into a nursery.
"Pound? Pumpkin? What's the matter now?"
Spyro looked ahead and spotted two pony foals who were locked inside a crib. He noticed the unicorn foal was on the verge of tears. Pinkie grabbed the unicorn and immediately began checking her all over until a realization dawned on her.
"Pumpkin, I think somepony needs a diaper change!"
Spyro flinched at these words, but what grossed him out was the way that Pinkie was carrying Pumpkin. Pinkie was holding the little filly with her teeth on the hem of her diaper as it drooped down. He watched in awe as the pink pony quickly changed the diaper with speed that should be impossible, but in a flash, she was changed and placed back in the crib. He wanted to make some comment about how odd it was to carry a foal by their diaper with bare teeth, but he shook it off. He just had to accept that not all surprises in this new world were going to be positive.
"Now that we've taken care of that, I can finally show you my room!" She kept walking but then stopped in her tracks to speak up again. "Sorry, I mean our room."
She rounded the corner and slowly opened the door to her room, letting the dragon in. He looked around and noticed it was the perfect atmosphere of random and neatness. He spotted her bed, but right next to it was a basket with a blanket and a pillow. He hesitated but asked anyway.
"I thought they said they were going to set up the room. Where do I sleep?"
"In the basket, you silly filly… uh, silly human?"
He looked back at the basket and noticed it was, in fact, the perfect size for his new body, but it still didn't stop him from repeating himself.
"Ponies are weird."