Spyro had woken up again, only, this time he was tucked into Pinkie's bed. After yawning and stretching for a while, he slumped back down on the bed. "What am I supposed to do today?" It was an odd feeling for the child; usually his life was scheduled. Even in an orphanage they still attended class and did what they were told. But in Ponyville, he had choices and it felt weird. He seemed to have no school unless you counted Twilight's lessons, which made him feel like he was getting away with something. It wasn't a guilty feeling, but it was not far off. So he figured asking Pinkie about it was best.
He found the pink mare doing the same routine as before with the same bowl of gems waiting for him in the exact same seat. He still got odd glances from other ponies but shrugged it off and began to ask his question. "Um, Pinkie?"
"Good morning, my little magician!" She winked and he giggled. "What's up?"
"Well, how come I'm not going to school? Not that I'm complaining or anything, but…" He bit his lip and she sighed.
"Well, Twilight is kind of your teacher now, but it's not the same. Um, did you go to school in that orphanage?"
He nodded.
"I see. We can talk to the school teachers, but I don't think the school in Ponyville allows it. Does that upset you?"
"Nope! It's weird, but I think I'm good!"
She giggled. "Yeah, well, you are still going to learn a bunch from Twilight. So don't think you are getting off that easily, mister!"
"Fine. But what should I do today?"
"Well first, eat you're gems, mister!" He groaned at the number of times she kept using that word. It just made her giggle more. "Then you need to talk to Twilight on what your schooling schedule will be. After that, you should probably check in with Spike and definitely Claws."
"Oh yeah! I totally forgot about them!" He smacked his forehead, causing more giggling from his mother.
"Yeah, after your lessons you should check in on both. I want you to make friends after all! Now go eat while I deal with these mean ol' customers!"
He looked to the line and noticed several ponies giving her odd looks. Now, he knew the rules with being polite, or some of them, and Pinkie was certainly not being that way. But for some reason, he was glad for that. She was still the random pony that he chose from the start.
He laughed a bit at the odd glares that were mainly aimed at his mom. Sighing, he went to eat his bowl of gems in silence. Mentally, he tried to recount Twilight's lessons so he would be ready. He remembered a few of the magical symbols but most alluded him at the moment. While eating, he tried to study the other families that seemed to be packed in the tiny bakery. One family consisted of a mother and a father and two children. The kids were facing him while the parents had their backs for him to see. The children were curiously studying him. He smiled and in return they had waved. He waved back, but just then the stallion of the group turned around to face whatever his kids were studying. He huffed and turned his attention away from the dragon. He obviously did not approve of Spyro's existence or presence. Scanning around, he found that the groups were mostly split; some gave him smiles while others angry glares. It was then that he hatched an idea, a simple one that he hoped would not blow up in his face.
Following the same instructions from before, he reached out his claw and began to channel some magic. His right claw started to glow with a shiny color of red which brought the attention of a few onlookers. He then gently lifted a gemstone into the air which was surprisingly light when compared to the cup from before. It was floating in midair for several seconds before he popped it into his mouth with one fell swoop. Chewing with his eyes closed, he savored the taste of the lemon-flavored gem. He sighed and opened his eyes to see at least two other families that were staring at him in sheer amazement. Pinkie was still helping customers and did not notice a thing. He grinned.
He first repeated the process by levitating a red gem into the air. It was then that he looked at his left hand. He had yet to use both at once but figured it might work. To his shock, not only did it work, but it felt right, natural in every sense of the word. He now had a fire-colored ruby hanging in the air along with a blue one right next to it. At this point, most of the restaurant had taken notice, but his eyes were focused on his food. It took him all of two minutes to realize a few things. First, that his magic was not making him as tired as before. If anything it felt like lifting up a heavy box but nothing more. Second, everyone, including Pinkie, was staring at him with unreadable expressions. Finally, that he felt super self-conscious all of a sudden which was making the magic itself waver. He sighed and ate the rest of his gems in one bite after releasing the magic from his claws.
"Later, Mom!" he called and grinned. She then broke out into a grin herself.
"Have a nice day, Son!" she called out and turned her attention to the last customer in line who was still staring off in utter amazement. "What?"
Outside, he decided to sprint directly to the library, ignoring any odd stares from ponies along the way. As soon as the door was in sight, he leapt through. "Hey, Twilight!"
"Spyro, I was just finishing breakfast here. I guess we need to make a regular schedule, huh?"
He nodded and waited.
She finished her food in silence and joined Spyro back in the common area. She smirked. "While you will have a schedule soon, I think it would be best if, for today, you go out and either make some new friends or hang out with your old ones!"
"But I want to learn more magic!"
"And you will. But there is more to magic than just spells. There is also the magic of friendship!" She finished with a grin, but the human mind of the child was not buying it.
"I can make friends anytime. I want more spells. C'mon, please?"
"…Don't give me that face. Spike does all the time and it NEVER works. Just be back here by two again and DO NOT head into the forest without an adult. You really need to check on Claws over at Applejack's farm. Spike will be around later."
He grumbled and sighed. A small part of him wanted to check up on Claws anyway, so he nodded and left the librarian. He was about to break into a sprint when he realized something, something important. "This town, it's like I can just walk wherever I want. Nobody at the orphanage is going to come drag me back or tell me what to do… This is awesome!" He almost decided to explore the town in greater detail but figured it was best to check up on Claws at the apple orchard. It was practically the main feature of the town which meant that it was almost impossible not to see. Still, when he found it he stared on anyway. "That's a lot of apples!"
Out of nowhere, he heard a very loud noise. It sounded to him like a thumping.
"What was that?" He looked around and followed the sound deeper into the farm.
The thumping continued.
It didn't take him long to spot a sight that was way out of place. Applejack was busy hitting a tree with her back hooves. Claws, standing off to the side, was busy collecting the fallen apples in buckets. He looked exhausted. Shrugging, Spyro walked up and leaned up against a nearby tree.
She thumped her hooves on the the tree trunk over and over.
I wonder how long it'll take them to notice me. A nearby apple landed next to his feet. He was about to pick it up but had a better idea. He used his magic to pick it up. It only took him a second to realize that it was kind of pointless since he did have fingers but shrugged anyway. Without thinking, he took a large bite out of it and sighed. It tasted wonderful.
The noise had stopped. He looked up and saw both pony and dragon staring at him. The pony was glaring while the dragon looked relieved. Spyro smiled sheepishly.
"What's up?" he said dumbly.
"A freeloader is up…" he heard her mutter. Claws snickered a bit, who received a glare from the cowpony.
"I'm not a…" He looked at his apple and sighed. "Okay, never mind. I was wondering if I could hang out with Claws today."
Applejack sized up Claws for a while. He grinned as wide as possible. She sighed. "If ah let him go for the day then you hafta promise to help tomorrow, the both of ya!"
"Sure! I have lessons each day with Twilight but not all day. I'm bored anyway!" Spyro's cheerful attitude caught her off guard.
"Well if ya feel bored right now, maybe—"
Claws cut her off. "Too bad we need to do that thing. Right, Spyro?"
"Um… n—"
"Yep, goodbye, Applejack! See ya later!" After pushing and shoving the purple dragon away, he groaned and fell down on the edge of the farm in exasperation.
"Uhh…"
"You have no idea how much work that pony makes me do! Over and over and over… I'm happy to help and all but man! I needed a break. Thanks, Spyro."
"…No problem?"
"No I mean it. So what's up with you?"
"I know magic now, well a bit…" He shrugged.
"Cool. What can you do?"
"Just what you saw with the apple, stuff like that. I also um—"
"Apple Bloom told me what happened. You're okay right?"
"Yeah. So what should we do?"
Claws pondered this for a bit. All around, ponies seemed to walk around the tiny group of dragons. After a while he shrugged.
"Well that bites. What do you think Spike is doing?"
"No clue. But we can go check it out."
Spyro nodded and they left for the library. After asking Twilight, however, it was clear that the other purple dragon was over at Rarity's Boutique. They walked in and spotted the dragon doing whatever the pony wanted. To them it felt weird.
"Hey, Spike!" Spyro said, causing the small reptile to drop all of the cloth he was carrying. Rarity was not amused.
"Spyro, Claws was it?" The last name was said with a bit of spite. He shrugged and nodded.
"We were wondering, can Spike hang out?" Spyro asked the question more to Spike than Rarity.
She looked over at Spike and frowned. "Oh I don't know. My little Spikey Wikey is such a big help! I would hate to send him away…"
Spike blushed at the comment, but it went right over Spyro's head.
"Well if you could convince Twilight to teach me more magic right now then I wouldn't be asking."
"What do you mean, dear?"
"She said it was important for me to make friends and yada yada whatever."
Spike and Rarity shared a glance. They mouthed words to each other, having a semi-private discussion in front of the dragons. Finally, he won the silent conversation. "Alright, I can hang out for a while, Spyro."
"Cool. Let's go!" Three dragons left the building in awkward silence. "So what do we do?"
Spike shrugged. "I don't know. I usually just help others around town or sleep…"
"Or make kissy faces with Rarity?" Claws smirked at his own comment. Spyro looked confused.
Spyro placed his claws to his chin. "Kissy faces… Are you in love with—"
Spike clamped both of his claws over Spyro's face, muffling his voice. "Finish that sentence and I will personally guarantee you will never use magic again!"
He nodded, doing his best to keep his snickers to a minimum. "Fine. But what do we do? I'm so bored!"
"I'm not sure. I guess we could always… Why are you upside down?" Both dragons stared at the human-brained child who was standing on his head, his tail wiggling about.
"Like I said, I'm bored."
"You are weird. Anyway, we could ask Fluttershy if she's needs any help, maybe?"
Spyro fell flat on his back and smiled. "Sure, why not? Dragon Crusaders go!"
"Like I said, weird."
Spyro ignored that and all three made it to the cottage. They spotted the mare singing to some birds. They waited patiently for her to finish and when she finally did, she sighed, only she seemed happy.
"That was neat!"
She whipped around and spotted three dragons, but it was Spyro that made her eyes fly open wide.
"Oh, Sp- Spyro, hello. And to you two as well."
"Hey, we were wondering if you needed any help today. We're kind of bored," Spyro admitted while looking at her birds. She instinctively glanced back at her chicken coop. She knew that she was being silly, but she remembered what Spyro had said about what humans eat.
"Um, no I don't need any help today I'm afraid. But thank you."
"…Are you sure?" Spike asked.
"Yes." She replied almost too quickly. The three dragons sighed and left, Fluttershy silently wishing that she didn't hurt their feelings.
"Well, now what?" The human dragon was growing frustrated.
"I suppose there is always going back to Apple—"
"No. No way. I'm finally getting a break for the rest of the day and that's that!" Claws demanded. Spyro snickered while Spike rolled his eyes.
"Well, I already helped Rarity. Does Pinkie ever need any help, Spyro?"
"Hmm, I never asked. We can try!"
"Sure." Claws seemed to be just going along for the ride. He hadn't been given the chance to explore Ponyville since he arrived. No matter what they tried, he was enjoying himself.
They arrived at Sugarcube Corner and noticed it was only partially busy. Pinkie was still running the register. "Hey, Son!" Her face did not move from helping the customer in line. The customer shrugged, paid and left, leaving behind three dragons and one crazy pony. "What ya doing?"
"Well, we're kind of bored."
"I was doing fine with Rarity…" Spike muttered, but no one seemed to hear it.
"I guess I'm bored too," Claws admitted.
"Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, did you try asking Fluttershy?"
"Yes."
"Rarity?"
"…Yep."
"Appleja—"
"Yeah, I've helped out Applejack enough for a lifetime."
"What about Rainbow Dash?"
"I guess we didn't… Uh, where do we find her?" Spyro had no clue, he admitted.
"She's probably out doing tricks near the park. Or pranking ponies."
"Pranking?"
"Yep! When she gets bored, that's what she does. Sometimes I come along too." Pinkie said it all with a straight face. Spyro couldn't help but feel a tinge of pride and weirdness. His mother admitted to pranking others, something that he should be doing.
"Okay. Bye, Mom!"
"Later!"
Not two steps outside the store, Spyro could not help himself. The words just came out.
"My mom's weird."
"No argument here," Spike and Claws said in union.
"She's so awesome."
Claws and Spike shared a look and sighed. They had an argument there but kept quiet.
They found the rainbow-maned pegasus, but they also found a certain filly that Spyro had met the other day. With nothing better to do, they decided to sit there and watch the mare teach the filly the basics of flight. Spyro had to admit to himself that it was at least interesting, but it only made the three dragons wish for wings that much more. After a while, the dragons went their separate ways. It was time for Spyro's lessons with Twilight. He only hoped the unicorn mare had food as well. He found the mare in question quietly reading a book by herself. When he walked in, she lowered her book as if she was expecting his presence.
"Have a nice time?" she asked. He assumed she meant hanging out with his friends.
"Sure… Can we do more magic now?!"
"Yes. Just make sure to say please next time," she added with a giggle. "I will be teaching you one new spell for today."
"Yes!"
"Today you will be learning a light spell!"
"…What?"
"It's a spell that creates light in the darkness. It's very useful for—"
"Just use a flashlight!"
"Please don't interrupt. And yes you could use one, but they can be quite bulky to carry around. And you don't always have one with you. This is a very useful spell, Spyro. You can even change the color of the light you use!"
"…Can't you teach me how to summon a lightning bolt or something?" He knew it was a stretch, but he wanted to aim high.
"No. I'm definitely NOT doing that. Nothing violent."
"What about summoning something?"
She raised an eyebrow. "Like what?"
"An animal or something?"
"Spells like that don't exist, Spyro. Now, if you wanted to summon water maybe…"
"Okay, teach me that!"
"No. Light first."
"Awwwwwwwwwwwww, this day is so boring!" He threw up his claws in exasperation. She stifled a full on giggle.
"Well, I suppose we could always just hit the books and forget the spell—"
"Okay, please teach me the spell."
"Right. Here is the scroll." She levitating it over and he frowned.
"Why does it have more symbols than the other one? It's just light!" Twilight had to admit, he had a point. Surely levitating something in midair would require more memorization than summoning light.
"I'm not quite sure, but it's not so bad once you start to memorize each symbol properly. Now, if you want to do more powerful and interesting spells then you need to start off slowly. Now, let's begin."
Groaning, he tried the spell for the first time, but it faltered immediately, mainly because he forgot the first step. Sighing, he tried it again only slower. He was eventually rewarded with a faint glowing red light that came from both of his claws at once. He felt himself grow exhausted after only ten seconds of holding it up and stopped.
"Great!"
"How is that great?" He had only lasted ten seconds. He felt that he failed.
"I only lasted three seconds the first time I tried that spell, so it was great! Now you just need to keep practicing both spells on and off and in no time you will work up your magic endurance."
"My what?"
"It means the more you practice the better you will get and the longer you will be able to hold up that particular spell and many others."
"Oh."
"Oh indeed. But for now we need to focus on your other lessons." A loud moan was ignored as she began the same study practice that she had once put Spike through. Several hours later, he was exhausted.
"Good night, Spyro."
"Night."
Why is he so anti-social? Maybe I should make that a new lesson… Her thoughts stopped when the door slammed shut and she sighed.
The dragon returned to his mother just as she was closing up shop. "Hey, Son! Have a nice day?"
"More like a boring day…"
"Hmm, sorry. Did you learn anything though?!"
"Hmm…" He trailed off and cast his light spell. She beamed and scooped him into a hug. "It's just a light spell."
"But it's cool! Can you change its color?"
"Um, not yet."
"That's okay. It's still cool!"
"Hmm…"
"What's wrong?"
"I don't know." And for once the human child really did not know what was bothering him. It could have been a lot of things or could have just been one tiny thing.
"I see… Maybe you just need a cupcake. With gems on it!"
Or it could be that he was hungry. He would never know exactly because at that moment a treat would make anything better.
"Okay!"
"Coming right up!"
And so, two cupcakes and one bedtime story later, he was not the least bit tired. But she was. He was amazed at how quickly the party pony could just turn herself off and sleep. He was also annoyed that he wasn't tired. Sighing, he quietly stood up and gazed out at her balcony. Ponyville was weird, nothing like the human city he was from at all. Barely any lights at all except the one that seemed to be moving towards the town slowly.
"Huh?"
After a while, the light took form as he recognized an old-fashioned carriage, but it seemed to be custom made. The thing was seemingly moving on its own accord as a faint blue light had encased the wheels. He followed the light to spot a blue unicorn sitting up top. He scanned around and noticed that this unicorn was the only one in the middle of the town. He frowned.
"Does she live here?"
The pony seemed to be scanning the houses. She obviously did not live there. The thing she was moving seemed big enough to live in. Even with his limited knowledge, he guessed that he was right. He glanced back at Pinkie and then back to the unicorn and shrugged.
Maybe I'll say hi, just for a bit… The balcony was not too tall and with a hop he was down on the ground after bouncing from a wooden barrel that was conveniently placed near the balcony itself. The unicorn spotted him from the corner of her eye. Curious she turned to him and froze. He cautiously walked up and smiled. "Hi."
"Uh, hello?" It was then that he noticed she was wearing a hat, a wizards hat if Mickey Mouse was anything to go on.
"My name's Spyro."
"And I am… Hmm, I guess everypony is asleep, huh?"
"Uh, yeah…"
"My name is Trixie, young dragon, but what are you doing in town?"
"I live here?"
"With… Twilight?" Her eyes practically bulged out of their sockets at her name.
"No, with Pinkie. She's my mom."
"Pinkie… I see…" Her head tilted to the side while she had a quiet conversation on where to go with said knowledge.
"Are you a wizard?"
"What?"
"A wizard."
"I'm a magician! The greatest that— Right, asleep. I'm a magician."
"Cool! Can you teach me more magic? Please?"
"More? What do you mean?"
He groaned. It was starting to get to him that most ponies assumed he couldn't do magical feats or any at all. Quietly going over the steps, he used his magic to gently lift a pebble into the air and grinned.
"See? I can do magic, but Twilight's only taught me like two spells!"
The mare groaned. "Ha! That hack. Why, I could teach you a dozen spells, young dragon!" Her voice sounded almost silly with a harsh whisper.
"Yes! Wait, you don't like Twilight?"
The mare was caught off guard. The shock from meeting a dragon that could do magic was basically tossed aside at the mention of the lavender unicorn. Now the dragon wanted to know how she felt about Twilight. Why should he need to know?
"No, I do not like Twilight."
"How come?"
"That is none of your business."
"Oh. So can you teach me magic?"
She could not believe her ears. All the annoying dragon wanted was to know more magic. She would sympathize with him, of course, if she wasn't so hungry. And as if on cue, her stomach grumbled.
"What was that?"
"Young dr—"
"Spyro," he interjected.
"Yes, Spyro, I can teach you magic, but first you must do something for me."
"Anything!"
"I need some food."
"Oh." He wasn't expecting that in the slightest, but the bakery did have lots of food and the front door was always unlocked. Even at night. He figured it would be okay to part with some food. "Be right back!"
She grinned and waited patiently. It was not as if she was starving, but life on the road would often leave her hungry at night.
He returned with no food in hand. "What did you want?"
"It's a bakery, kid. Just get me a loaf of bread or perhaps some cake if you have any."
"Oh." And there it was again. The repetition to just accept what she said with the dreaded word, oh. She wasn't sure if she should be annoyed or glad. Clearly this dragon was different. She should have figured that out from the moment that he approached her. He returned with one loaf of bread and half of a cake. He then relinquished them and waited. To him, the mare could put Pinkie to shame with how quickly she had finished.
"Thank you, Spyro."
"Sure. So… Magic?"
She groaned and rolled her eyes. "Very well. Trixie is a mare of her word. I will teach you one spell."
"Sweet!"
"What do you know, anyway?"
"Oh, some light spell and levitation."
"Nothing of illusions?"
"No."
"Hmm. Well, I will teach you a basic invisibility spell."
"I can turn invisible?!"
"I said basic. You will only be able to make small objects invisible."
"Oh."
"Yes oh. Now pay attention!" After a few tries, she gently levitated a scroll up to him. He practiced a few times on some pebbles. It took him fifteen tries to get one pebble to turn invisible, but he frowned when he realized it hadn't stopped being invisible even after his magic had ceased to be.
"Is it supposed to—"
"Yes, it will stop in several hours. You've done well, Spyro. Good night!" She was about to push the wagon away when he called out.
"Wait! Where are you going?"
Again she was surprised if not a bit annoyed. He was worried for her? No, he just wanted to learn more magic, she figured. "To sleep. I'm taking my wagon to the other side of town away from others. Good night—"
"Wait! Can I see you again?"
Okay, now it was time for her to feel really shocked. Even if Spyro wanted to learn more magic, and she was fairly sure that he did, his voice sounded genuine like he was losing a friend. And if she was being honest with herself, which she wasn't often, she had very few friends.
"I suppose you can see me tomorrow. Just bring more food please." She added the last part quickly, but it wasn't because she had trouble tracking food down. She felt embarrassed to admit he was her friend.
"Sure! Thanks, Trixie! Good night!" He waved and left to sleep soundly in Pinkie's room. The mother of a dragon would wake up to find that her alarm clock had gone missing, yet still went off. Spyro smiled having made a new friend.