Here is the next chapter. I apologize in advance about how slow this story might be going but I wanted to make sure that I took care of all the detail stuff before diving into the actual heart of the story. I’m hope that it won’t be too long until that time.
Chapter Eight: Capital City
Spyro and Cynder woke up to the sound of the train whistle, only to find that somehow during the night they ended up cuddling next to each other. It was a scene that, thankfully, Sparx was oblivious to due to the fact that he was still sound asleep. The two dragons were quick to separate themselves and they both felt the air in the room get slightly warmer.
It wasn't that the two dragons were uncomfortable sleeping next to each other, since it was sometimes the only thing keeping them warm and comfortable when the temperature was too cold. However, considering the events that had occurred in the last few hours or so; there was a feeling of uncertainty between them.
Spyro, for his part, was still trying to sort out his own feelings for the black dragoness he once called his foe. He knew that he did feel a kind of emotion that went farther than friendship, but the purple dragon was unsure as to what those feelings were. In fact, ever since peace was restored; Spyro had quickly realized how little he knew beyond fighting and survival. It didn't help much that Cynder was also in the same boat as he was, considering that her life had revolved around the fury of battle and war. It was in those fields that they were masters, but social gathering, dragon nutrition, history beyond the rise and the fall of the Dark Master were unknown to them. It was moments like these that made Spyro wish he could get the chance to talk to Ignitus about these strange emotions that he had about Cynder but the opportunity never came up.
Cynder, on the other claw, was trying to recollect her calm demeanor that she lost back at the train station. She cursed herself for not seeing this coming ever since they had that awkward meeting with Fluttershy. Whatever that clock was doing to disguise them was working as well as she had hoped. However, the clock didn't seem to hide the heroic aura that she could feel when she was close to Spyro. Truthfully, she had gotten used to his presence due to all of the time she spent with him. However, that kind of familiarity was unknown to the ponies. She would have to pay more attention lest she lose the one dragon she owed so much.
Before either dragon could attempt to break the awkward silence; the whistle of the train sounded again and this time it was loud enough to rouse the sleeping dragonfly. Sparx took a moment to get fully awake after his sudden wake up call, only to find the two dragons to be looking around the cabin, without really looking at anything. Already he could feel the urge to make a joke at the expense of his brother, but the joke died when Spyro finally said “We might as well get ready to head out to the castle.” Cynder nodded in agreement and the two dragons got to work on repacking their bags; leaving a confused dragonfly wondering what was going on.
When everything was all sorted out, the two dragons and dragonfly left the train and found themselves located in what felt like the middle of the city. All around them, they could see ponies of all shapes, sizes, and colors. However, it became quite obvious that the vast majority of them were unicorns and a good portion of those unicorns were wearing very strange forms of leather in a large variety of colors.
Sparx continued to look around the strange sights, before asking, “You ever get the feeling that you’re out of place?” It was a statement that both dragons agreed to, before making their way into the city proper.
Although Sparx was used to dealing with an active city environment, no doubt due to his time in the newly rebuilt Warfang; Spyro and Cynder were in a constant state of unease. It was a kind of unease that was born from spending so long in isolation that such a large and enclosed area was almost unknown to them. However, they did their best not to let that uncertainty show on their faces as they continued navigating towards the castle.
Eventually, the street they were walking on became more hectic as ponies started to quickly move away from the middle. The two dragons were surprised by the sudden change and were unable to stop themselves from being pushed along. It was by some miracle that they were at the edge of the crowd so they had an unobtrusive view of the now empty street.
At first nothing happened and our heroes were just about to question the mental stability of these ponies, when a trumpet sounded off in the distance. Cynder, being able to sense sound waves through her fear power, was able to judge the distance and found that it wasn't too far away. Not that she needed to tell Spyro this, as they and everyone else could see the source of the sound coming into view.
What they saw was what appeared to be a type of transport that was called a ‘carriage’. The carriage was pulled by two earth ponies which had the look of someone who didn't like doing what they were doing, but couldn't do anything about it. What was interesting was the fact that the carriage was surrounded by ponies wearing armor. The armor was gold and shined brightly in the sun.
As the carriage grew closer, Spyro leaned over to Cynder and whispered, “Could that be somepony of importance?” Cynder was in agreement, as there was no way any normal pony should have this kind of protection; though if Cynder was honest with herself, those pony guards looked like they were more for show then protection.
Sparx hovered between the two and asked “You think its that ‘princess’ we’re looking for?” Once again Sparx made a good guess based on what they were seeing, and the two dragons were both understanding that he would think that, and also a little surprised by this sudden maturity.
However, Cynder shook her head slightly and responded, “I don’t think so…if it was the princess; I would imagine there would be more of those guards.”
“Besides,” Spyro added “A princess would never put herself in this kind of a scenario. Out here in the open in broad daylight is just asking for trouble; especially if those guards are just there for show.” The purple dragon paused for a moment before saying “Come on, we need to get to the castle.”
However, the ancestors seemed to feel that Spyro needed a taste of his own medicine, because before any of them could take a single step; the carriage halted in front of them. Surprised by the sudden action, the three could only watch as one of the guards, a unicorn, went up to the side of the carriage and opened it with a flick of magic.
Now Spyro did his best to be non-judgmental when meeting new dragons…or in this case ponies, and he felt that it was one of his better qualities to have that kind of neutral mind set. However, the moment he saw the unicorn come out of the carriage; he felt like his mouth was starting to fill with bile and ash. The unicorn had a white coat and a blonde mane that looked like it had never even heard of the word ‘labor’. The overall build suggested that the unicorn was a stallion, and had that kind of leader presence about him. There was no denying the fact that there was that just something about him that made the purple dragon sick to his stomach. He wasn't sure if it was the way his eyes had that predator look to them, or if it was because of that cocky smile on his face, or if it was because of the reactions he was noticing from the general populace, especially the mares.
The white unicorn stopped in front of Cynder, and Spyro noticed his eyes were moving up and down her body, as if he was judging her. For some strange reason, the sight of him looking over Cynder like that caused the purple dragon’s blood to boil. That boiling spiked when he noticed that the unicorn’s eyes were lingering on Cynder’s backside. Spyro wanted nothing more than to break his cover and give this cocky unicorn a solid blast of earth energy, but the knowledge that Cynder would be able to handle herself was enough to keep him in check. That didn't stop the almost unheard growl to escape from his mouth.
Cynder did manage to hear the growl, and it caused a brief flare of joy knowing that Spyro wanted to just come up to this unicorn and give him a piece of his mind. However, she knew that Spyro knew that she was more than capable of handling herself, and didn't like the idea of having someone protecting her like some delicate flower. Still, the gesture was nice, and she was sure to file that away into memory. Pushing that train of thought to the side; Cynder returned her attention back to the unicorn that now appeared to be finished looking her over. She could already tell that this stallion was trouble, and in any other situation she would have been more than happy to deck him to the ground. However, the fact that the unicorn came out of that carriage suggested that he held some kind of importance in this world, and the last thing she wanted to do was tick off some government official.
Her inner thoughts were broken when the unicorn said, “I haven’t seen you in Canterlot before.”
“It’s my first time actually.” Cynder replied doing her best to maintain a neutral voice.
Her comment seemed to cause the slight grin on the unicorn’s face to grow slightly before responding, “Then how about I give you the ‘private’ tour.”
Now Cynder’s original curiosity was changed to downright distaste. She may not have had much practical knowledge of courtship, but she knew well enough when some dragon, or in this case somepony, was trying to charm her. She did wonder briefly if this unicorn would have still tried to charm her if he knew what she really looked like, but she quickly pushed that thought out of her head. She knew there was only one dragon that she wanted to be with, and she wasn't going to let some rich snob get in the way.
Still, despite her best efforts, she couldn't think of a way to politely turn down his offer without there being some long term consequences on their part. She didn't know how much influence this guy had on the princess, and it was generally a good idea to make a first impression. Not for the first time, Cynder silently wished she could use her dragon abilities…
Her eyes slightly lit up in realization at where her thoughts had taken her. She could use her elements since the clock was only acting as a cover and not actually preventing them from using their elements. It was even better for Cynder since her elements were more subtle than Spyro’s were. However, even though they were subtle, they were probably more dangerous, do to the dark nature about them. Truth was, that Cynder was still scared of her dark powers due to the nature of how she gotten them. It was Spyro always being by her side that gave her the confidence to use them.
Returning her attention back to the white unicorn, Cynder quickly decided on what to do and wasted no time in executing it. She started to arrange her face to her best romantic expression she could think of. The effect was almost instant as the white unicorn’s smile grew more cocky, his thoughts already in the gutter, if they weren't there already. Cynder then slowly made her way closer to him, sparing no effort in her movements to keep them both playful and flirty. When she got close enough, Cynder placed her right claw on his face and applied enough pressure to keep his attention focused on her.
Once his eyes were staring into her own, Cynder didn't hesitate for a moment in activating her ‘Eyes of Terror’ ability. If anypony had been paying close enough attention, they would have notice the sudden flash of red in her eyes before returning to the normal green color.
Whatever Cynder had done, Spyro notice the effect soon enough. He watched as the unicorn’s expression was slowly changing from cocky to absolute terror. Spyro took a quick look around and notice that none of the other ponies had any idea what was going on. He returned his attention back on Cynder and the white unicorn, and saw that the unicorn appeared to be rooted in place, his body wanting to move but was unable to act.
Eventually, the white unicorn let out a blood curdling scream and broke eye contact with Cynder. Without a second thought, he raced back into the carriage and it took off leaving the guard scrambling to catch up and the rest of the crowd in a mixture of shock, fear, and confusion.
Before the ponies could have a chance to recover, Sparx hovered over to Spyro’s ear and said “It might be a good idea if we got out of here before things get ugly.” Spyro nodded in agreement and relayed the message to Cynder before the three disappeared through a nearby alleyway.
No longer using the main road, it took them longer to reach the castle. Luckily, the castle didn't seem to be on high alert, but there was always the chance that white unicorn managed to cause some kind of problem. Sparx was practically breath taken by the sheer size and scale of the castle. However, Spyro and Cynder were less than enthralled.
“It’s too big to protect from bombardment.” Spyro pointed out first while looking at the castle with a rather neutral tone.
“The colors are clearly destroying any hope of camouflage.” Cynder chimed in.
“Very few positions for cannons”
“Too many glass windows that could break”
“Appears to have too many choke points that could impair a tactical retreat”
“Main door appears to be made of light material with very little chance under a direct assault”
“Walls are too thin to stop siege weapons”
“As well as too narrow for troop placement”
Sparx looked back at the two dragons and said “Wow, way to be overly critical about something.”
Spyro blushed slightly in embarrassment and replied “Sorry Sparx. I guess old habits die hard sometimes.”
Cynder nodded in agreement, and the three made their way into the castle proper. After getting passed the gate guards, which consisted of nothing more than Spyro showing the still unopened scroll with the sun wax seal, the three were then escorted by another guard to what they believed to be the main audience chamber.
They reached a set of large ornate double doors and their guide informed them that the princesses were waiting on the other side, before making his way back to his post. Once he was out of sight, Spyro and Cynder looked at each other and a kind of mental agreement was established between them. They both nodded their heads before Spyro opened the door to meet with the ruler of this world.
Sorry for the delay, but…well college can be kind of annoying sometimes. Anyhow, I promise that all this dancing around exposition is almost done and then we can get into the actual meat of the story. A thought I had while typing this chapter was that I was curious what you all would like to see in terms of the actual training. Like what lessons would you like Spyro (or Cynder) to teach Spike? Just wondering.