He felt himself beneath clear fresh skies. Not something he expected within the confines of the dark crystals. The last thing he remembered was being dragged down into the aforementioned crystals by the spirits of his predecessors. He then remembered how it came to that conclusion. Spyro and that traitor, Cynder. Even though he knew he was on his back, he dug his talons into the air and threw his eyes open.
He was blinded by the pale blue of the sky. Having spent ancestors know how long in darkness, his eyes stung as though assaulted by a ferocious wind he was not prepared for. A groan escaped his leathery maw as he brought his front paws up to cover them from the blinding light. Is was through slightly ajar eyelids that he noticed something different about his paws. They were... a brighter shade of purple... stronger... younger.
Curiosity got the better of him and he tried to roll over so as to inspect himself away from the glare of the light, but his body ached beyond that of any previous pain he'd experienced. Another groan, more defined that the last practically flew out faster than any lightning element could. Stuck on his back, he was forced to let his curiosity fester along with the slowly subsiding pain. Unfortunately, he wasn't going to be waiting alone. A figure brought blackness to his vision of orangey-red behind his eyelids. Chancing a glance, he cracked an eye open to see a young and clearly vibrant red and blue dragon with almost silvery horns and spines standing over him with a rather amused expression painted on its face.
"What?" the wounded dragon asked, hoping the darkness in his voice would frighten the dragon off. To his own surprise, his voice was rather... plain. Still deep and slightly gravely (though the last aspect could be chalked up to his as of yet uncounted injuries), he felt he sounded rather... weak compared to what he used to sound like.
"Wow! You survived that?! That was the worst fall I've ever seen. You looked like you were dead before you even hit the peak of the mountain." an oddly feminine voice answered through the maw of the dual-coloured dragon (now identified as a dragoness).
"What fall?" he asked, frowning at the newcomer.
"Look to your right, Dragon. You landed on the peak of High-slope Mountain then rolled down to the bottom here." she replied, turning his head for him towards the scene. What he saw surprised even him. A high slope, befitting the namesake stretched high above the clouds. Not only was it high, but also very steep, littered with jagged rocks.
"I survived that?" he asked with as much shock in his voice as any dragon would at the unexpected result of the endeavour.
"Yep! Though you clearly didn't come out of it unscathed. Opened up your side real good there. You look half dead as it is, one of your wings are broken and you're covered in blood. I'd say you nicked your side on the way down and rolled around in the blood on the way down. That means the wound's probably infected." she replied. The Purple dragon tried again to roll over but was immediately shot down with pain.
"Any idea how to get me up?" he asked, looking to his new acquaintance. She put on a thinking face for a few moments before answering him.
"Well, I don't know about helping you up, you're too banged up to even stand, let alone walk or fly. I could drag you, but I don't wanna risk moving you too much. Tho only option I see is making a sort of...support to put you onto so I can drag that without moving you too much. How's that sound?" she suggested. The Purple dragon found no flaws in that logic and tried to nod his head.
"Please." he replied simply. Though he was a dragon of action, he was also intelligent, and being rude to the only known form of life nearby would not have been a good idea.
"Great! I'll bring down a few trees and make like a sort of raft thing. I may have to move you a bit to get you onto it. Think you can handle that?" she asked. He almost felt like that was a challenge against his power.
"Oh, the agony of choice." he replied with a hint of sarcasm within the humour. The dragoness took his words as he'd intended and chuckled.
"Kay be right back!" she called before leaving his line of sight and soon after, sound. The purple dragon took that time to collect on as much sleep as he could before the initial painful transfer from ground to wood. He also used that slumber to think on his plans for the future.
The dragon awoke to the sound of rustling. The first thing he saw was a slightly orange sky, followed by the sharp end of the tail belonging to the dragoness from before. While most young dragons would probably be disappointed at not seeing the other end of the tail, he thought about the tail spade and how easily that could slice a throat, dragon or otherwise.
"I'm back!" her voice called with some slight strain.
"I was getting worried. I've no knowledge of this place and I can't move. Not exactly a humbling situation for me." he replied, shifting his eyes towards the dragoness' location. This time he did get a glimpse of the other end of the tail, but she turned around to face him less than a second later.
"Enjoy the view?" she teased, sticking her tongue out at him as she closed an eye. It was kind of cute, actually.
"Just thinking how easily that spade could poke my eye out of you'd dropped it on me." he replied. The dragoness chuckled and looked behind her for a moment.
"Well, I've set up the support; are you ready?" she asked.
"Before we begin, could you tell me where you plan to take me?" he asked.
"To Equestria. Don't get me wrong; I find ponies as delectable as the next dragon, but you gotta admit, their medical expertise is out of this world." she replied. The purple dragon only understood about a third of that sentence.
"Okay... and how far is it to this... Equestria?" he asked.
"You're obviously an outsider, probably from the Skylands. Equestria is about... three hundred miles West of here. I contemplated tying you to the support and dragging you there in the air, but then there was the issue of landing, not to mention turbulence. Plus, rope isn't exactly reliable... or available. So I'll be dragging you on the ground. It could take a few days." she replied. In all the Purple Dragon's years, he had never felt air-sick before, but thinking about being dragged through the air like that nearly made him gag on the spot.
"That might be the better of your ideas. But if it's going to hurt just getting me onto that support, I'd rather wait until tomorrow before we head out. My body might not be able to take it as it is." he said, sounding rather ashamed of his weakened state and the request he was making of this dragoness who barely knew him and vice-versa.
"Not a problem. I would have come back sooner, but I thought ahead and set up a shelter for us on the tree-line just a few yards West of here using what remained of the support's components. I kinda took down too many trees. I aim to impress, and I go overboard sometimes." she replied, scratching the back of her head in a sheepish fashion.
"Well I am overly impressed, and extremely thankful." he replied, closing his eyes afterward with a sigh of relief. "Okay, I'm ready." he said, taking a deep breath. He saw the dragoness seemingly rotate upside down from his point of view before feeling her front paws curl under his shoulders.
"Alrighty... One, two... three!" She tugged on him in a gentle manner, but with a great amount of strength behind it. The purple dragon felt his body stretch and he couldn't help but roar out in pain.
"Sorry! Try not to bite your tongue, okay?" she said as she pulled again. The purple dragon had already expended the air in his lungs after the first pull and couldn't get anything else out during the second. All there was was a slight exasperated squeak before he sucked in air once again.
"One more pull and you're up." she assured him. That was a very reassuring statement to him as he felt the pain once more. He felt the raft-like support beneath his scales and felt the edge slide past his hind legs. He was up, like she'd said.
"Th...thanks!" he said, never having been so grateful in his life.
"Don't mention it... Phew, you're heavier than you look!" she said, grabbing something in her mouth . She left his field of vision and he felt a slight tugging sensation beneath himself. The dragoness was puling him to the shelter.
"I'm glad we decided not to start going to Equestria now. I'm not sure I could go without complaining." he tried to chuckle, but the motions made him hurt even more.
"Yeah... Besides, it's almost nightfall. Dangerous to travel through the woods for a grounded Dragon. There are things that could catch even us off guard." she replied. The purple dragon figured nothing short of a Golem could get him in this state.
It was only a few minutes before his ride stopped to a halt. Looking skyward, he noticed a roof made out of large leaves supported by tree branches of medium diameter. This dragoness was resourceful.
"Nice architecture." he commented.
"Just something I threw together. I had some spare time and you weren't going anywhere." she joked.
"Funny." he said sarcastically. A few moments passed before either of them spoke again. By then, it had started to rain.
"Alright, here we go. This should get rid of any infection in your wound, but I'll warn you now, it stings like a swarm." she said, drawing his attention away from the rain.
"Maybe I thanked you too soon." he commented before feeling the 'sting'. Surprisingly, it didn't hurt as much as being pulled onto the support did. This was just bearable. He got away with a hiss and a groan.
"Damn, I was hoping to call you a big baby. It's like a rule these days." she said, chuckling.
"I haven't been a baby in a long, long time." he replied. There was another moment's silence between them.
"I'm Zonoya, by the way. In case you were wondering." she said, sounding rather... upset. The purple dragon turned his head just enough to catch her out of the corner of his eye.
"Zonoya... I don't know why, but that name suits you." he said, earning a sheepish smile from the dragoness.
"You really think so? Most other dragons make fun of me for it. Because of that, I kind of hate it. But I just can't bring myself to change it." she explained. Perhaps he could use this to his advantage. He could do with another General once he was back to his old self, and who better than the one who willingly helped him?
"Well, it's nice to meet you, Zonoya. My name... is Malefor."
A young purple dragon felt as happy as could be. A dragoness whom he had developed a relationship with over the past few years had confessed her love for him. Cynder, once known as the 'Terror of the Skies' was now his to call his own. She loved him, and he loved her. He'd done so for a while now. He considered the defeat of Malefor to be a sort of Pre-binding gift to each other. Oh, the plans the young dragon had for him and her. He would cherish her for the rest of his days, and they had so many to days to cherish.
Spyro flew in the sky with the love of his life. Nothing was better at that moment. They were free, free to live how they wanted, and they wanted to live together, forever more. Nothing could take that moment, nor the countless other moments to come from them...