A reason to keep going.

_______*Skylanders Academy*______

A massive explosion boomed in the infinite skies of the Skylands, this explosion was caused by a fight between two dragons who shared a name, Spyro, one of light, one of dark, two of the same dragon.

After the explosion, one of the dragons which was the original Spyro flew off towards the academy to continue the fight against Strykore, while the other was believed to be gone, defeated in the battle.

In truth, Dark Spyro, as he was now known, had survived, barely, his scales were damaged, his body was weak and his magic depleted, he flew off quickly towards the place that had been his home for a long time, ignoring everything around him, he landed at the door and quickly went inside, the door was locked but he managed to break it off its hinges, it hurt incredibly but at the moment Spyro did not care.

Ignoring all else, Spyro went upstairs to Jet-Vac's room, he went inside and frantically looked around for a specific device. "Come on you old bird, where did you put it now?" He winced as he felt his side throbbing.

Spyro checked Jet-Vac's desk and quickly found the device he was looking for, it was a small gray handheld remote looking device with seven silver prongs on the end, and various knobs and dials on the front. "I know this thing doesn't work, but it's my best chance." He said to himself as he channeled as much magic as he could into the device. "Just get me somewhere away from here." He muttered.

"Hey! Get away from that!" Shouted Jet-Vac with an authoritative tone.

And just like that, Spyro was sure he was done for. "Spyro! Err....Dark Spyro is up here!" The avian called out, Spyro looked at the bird and was about to just give up when the device sparked violently, he looked at it and his eyes widened as it overloaded in a electric flash of light, he instinctively threw up a magic shield before falling unconscious.

Jet-Vac covered his eyes and when he looked back, ready to fight, Dark Spyro was gone, but the device remained, sparking violently. "That's.....not supposed to happen." He said to himself.

_____*Unknown.*_____

Snow fell heavily and rapidly on Dark Spyro, his body fought against him and caused him great pain when he tried to move a leg, he winced due to a sharp pain coming from his right wing.

The dragon slowly opened his eyes and saw nothing but snow and a blizzard, he groaned and winced at the pain he felt, he breathed heavily and slowly stood up, despite the pain he kept getting up, he used one of his claws and shielded his eyes as he looked around, seeing nothing but snow, he began to slowly walk forward, his survival instincts telling him that this was the right way to go.

"Can't die here, can't die here, not now.......not now." Spyro told himself as he slowly walked through the blizzard in his hope to find help.....any help at this point.

The cold and snow quickly intensified, pelting the dragon constantly with no signs of stopping and soon it was an immense struggle to move a single step, Spyro growled and forced his body to let him keep moving he breathed a small flame in front of himself and kept walking, he shivered in the intense cold. "Kinda wish Eruptor were here, at least i would be warm." He said to himself as he walked.

The dragon walked for hours, only sheer willpower keeping him going, he continued walking until he saw something in the distance, he slowed to a stop and focused his vision, it was very tall, but he couldn't make out any more because of the blizzard, he sighed and walked slowly but surely toward whatever it was in the distance.

Spyro occasionally breathed some fire to keep himself from freezing, but it did little to help and only truly succeeded in hurting his lungs, as he walked his breathing became quicker, and he started to feel light headed as he walked, he mentally berated himself for the situation he was in. "Why did I pick that stupid fight? I shouldn't have bothered, I should have just left, at least then I would be warm, not injured, not possibly dying." He stated multiple reasons in an effort to stay awake.

Spyro noticed that the tall tower looking thing in the distance was getting closer, and that it was simply part of a much larger place, a city, he thanked his last remaining piece of luck and kept on moving.

Unfortunately for Spyro, he stepped on his one foot wrong, he tripped and fell in the snow before hearing something as he felt himself losing consciousness. "Over here!" Called out a voice before Spyro fainted.

_______*unknown*_______

Spyro felt his limbs killing him, intense pain shot through them and relaxed on and off, he groaned as he opened his eyes to a bright light, he closed his eyes and waited a little while, he tried to open his eyes again, this time he wasn't blinded by a bright light and actually felt a little stronger than he was out in the snow.

Spyro looked around and saw that he was in what appeared to be a room in a house, instead of a hospital. 'Maybe i died and went to hell, no......that would put me in a hospital with a bunch of angry Stealth Elf clones......or maybe Jet-Vac.'

The room was simple in design, it had the bed Spyro was laying in with warm looking gray blankets and sheets, some kind of crystal looking walls, dark gray carpet all across the floor, one window with closed blinds and black curtains, a desk made of some kind of light brown wood, a gray end table and a simple white wooden door.

'If this isn't hell.....where am I?' He asked himself mentally.

Much to his surprise, Spyro saw the door open, expecting it to be a Skylander, he thought of several things to say......which drew a complete blank because he saw someone he had never seen before.

It was a unicorn, that much was obvious, the unicorn had crystal skin, that wasn't obvious, the unicorn had green eyes, and had long hair. "Oh good, your awake." The unicorn, a female said in a clearly relieved tone.

Spyro blinked and nodded. "Yea.......I guess I am." He replied, but before he could do anything else, the unicorn hurried off somewhere, leaving the dragon alone and bewildered.

After a few minutes though, the unicorn returned with a bowl, and set it on the end table. "S-sorry about running off......I just thought you might need some food." She explained sheepishly.

Spyro looked at the bowl, it was a soup, it had potatoes, peas, and what appeared to be.....was that a gem? he looked at the girl and spoke. "So uh.....where am I exactly?" He asked out of curiosity as he picked up the soup bowl and slowly drank out of it, it was hot and kind of bland if not for some salt and pepper, but it was filling.

"Your in the Crystal Empire right now, the village of Jade to be precise." The unicorn replied.

Spyro paused as he processed that information for a second, idly sipping on the soup. 'That isn't good, I have no idea where this place is in the Skylands, or even if it is part of it.'

The girl seemed to notice his discomfort and spoke up. "Are.....you alright?" She asked nervously.

Spyro contemplated that question, WAS he alright? he had been turned against his friends, lied to them on a daily basis, almost let them die to complete his mission, he fought back against Strykore only to be turned into a rampaging lunatic, captured and forced to drink a curing elixir, and then he almost died twice.

He looked at the unicorn and saw she was concerned, and in Spyro's mind, he decided that it was best not to lie for once, so long as he worded it differently it should be fine. "I feel better now, i just have a lot to process." He answered.

The unicorn smiled a little and walked a little closer to him. "I'm.....I'm Silver, I found you in the snow." She introduced, holding out a hoof.

Spyro set down the bowl and shook her hoof with his claw, he winced a little at the action, but he didn't let it bother him. "I'm....." He froze as he thought of something. 'What if the Skylanders or Strykore show up and i say my name is Spyro!? aarrgh! why didn't I consider a new name sooner?' He mentally sighed at the stupidity of his only option but decided to go with it. "I'm Dark Spyro, nice to meet you." He replied.

Silver blinked and tilted her head. "Dark? why not just Spyro?" She asked curiously.

Dark Spyro sighed physically, but then he mentally laughed at an ironic fact, that just came to him. 'Might as well.' "Well, I have a twin brother, he looks just like me aside from color, so i was given the name Dark Spyro, not very creative, but i got used to it." He said, knowing it was a partial lie.

Dark Spyro sipped up the last of the broth, he then looked at the gem curiously, wondering why it was there in the first place. 'Well, i doubt she can eat it, her teeth don't have that kind of strength, so are gems considered a form of food for dragons?.....might as well humor her.' Spyro popped the gem into his mouth and carefully bit down on it, the gem was surprisingly easy to break and it dissolved in his mouth after it broke, he swallows it down and nearly gagged, not because it got stuck in his throat or an allergic reaction, no it just tasted like rotten eggs.

Silver rushed up with concern and spoke. "Spyro! are you alright?" She asked.

Dark Spyro managed to finally get it all down, and then he looked at Silver. "Ok, good to know, don't eat gems." He said as he shivered from the memory and lingering taste of the gem.

"That's strange." She said, she quickly corrected herself when Spyro looked at her with a perplexed expression. "I-I-it's not that! it's just that dragons have always eaten gems, I guess your just the first one I know of that doesn't." She explained, embarrassed over the mix up.

Spyro sighed and shook his head. "It's alright, it was just an accident, now we know about me not eating gems, it isn't so bad anyway." He said reassuringly.

Silver stuck around and kept Dark Spyro company, the two talked for a while, learning some things about the other, And while the dragon was reluctant to share too much, he didn't want to lose the only one who actually trusted him, even if it was only a little bit.

Dark Spyro learned that Silver was only fourteen years old, and when he asked a little more, he learned that Silver's family took him in when they found him, he also learned that the Crystal Empire was usurped and is now being ruled by a unicorn named King Sombra, a madman who enslaves more and more daily to mine dark crystals throughout the land.

In exchange Spyro told Silver about the Skylands, she seemed skeptical but listened to him talk, he told her about the various creatures that live in the Skylands such as the Chompy's and Mabu, he also talked about the various places he had been, such as the Falling Forest.

Eventually though, an older male voice called for Silver to come downstairs.....or at least to where ever it was the voice called her to, he wasn't paying much attention, and she had to go, Dark Spyro simply nodded and rested his head, seeking to allow his body to recover since he felt fatigue taking him, it also gave him more time to come to terms with who he was now, and who he wanted to be.

He closed his eyes and tried to get to sleep, but soon enough, he heard a voice in his head.....one he was all too familiar with. "It's true......you did betray us!" The words made Dark Spyro's eyes snap open and he shot up.....which he immediately regretted thanks to his sore and damaged body, pain shot through him but he held it in as he eased back down, he took a few deep breaths and waited for the pain to die down.

It took longer than he expected for the pain to become bearable, he then closed his eyes again, seeking to get some sleep.

Unfortunately for him though, he was unable to rest due to constant interruptions from voices in his head, he held his ears and winced at the pain caused by the action, it did nothing to block out the sound and he eventually gave up, so he just lay in bed, wide awake and unable to sleep, so he decided to try something.

Dark Spyro sat up again, very slowly this time, the pain was there but it was dull, he took a deep breath and managed to fully sit up, he looked his arms and body over and sighed, a lot of his scales were damaged and he noticed a few cracks, his wings were otherwise undamaged aside from some bruising, he mentally dreaded the inevitable work he would have to do, removing the damaged scales, then waiting a long time until new ones grew back, or using magic to heal himself, and while he did notice his magic had replenished quite a bit, he wasn't willing to use it right now, as it would probably lead the Skylanders to him somehow.

Dark Spyro shook his head and put those thoughts aside, he started to move his right arm around in various ways, it hurt a little, but he noticed that it had begun to get a little stiff from almost freezing to death, once he felt comfortable with using that arm after a few minutes, he focused on the other arm, it was more stiff for some reason but he didn't let that bother him.

His left arm was soon back to normal, at least in moving it, Dark Spyro then got to work on his back legs, he moved around on the bed, starting slow because he was sore and hurting from his fight, he then decided to move around more freely, and climbed down off the bed, he quickly got his legs back to normal and stretched to get the stiffness out of his back and anywhere else relevant, he got back on the bed and then began to stretch his wings, instantly froze from the sharp pain he felt just by beginning to open them.

Dark Spyro took a few deep breaths and stretched his wings out fully, it hurt immensely and he had to bite his tongue to keep from making any sound, but he managed to do it, he then closed his wings, noting that they did not hurt as bad as the first time, but he decided not to test his luck any further, especially with his wings.

Once he was sure of himself, Spyro got off the bed again and headed for the door, he stepped though and looked around, the room exited into a very empty hallway, having nothing to decorate it, there were two doors and a corner wall leading elsewhere but that was it, Dark Spyro headed for the corner wall, finding that it led to a single door at the end of the hall. "Hey." A young girls voice spoke up behind him.

Spyro looked back and then down, seeing a young looking Pegasus, again with crystal skin, but this one had ruby colored eyes. "Um......hi?" He said, unsure of what exactly to say.

The young Pegasus tilted her head. "Are you dragon?" She asked curiously.

Spyro nodded slowly, keeping his eyes on the filly. "Yeah." He replied.

The filly seemed to smile at that. "So you are the dragon that my sister said she liked!" She stated with a smile.

Spyro blinked and raised an eyebrow. "Uh.....huh? what are you thinking?" He asked, though with how the filly spoke, he was sure he knew the answer.

"Your her friend right!?" The filly asked eagerly.

Dark Spyro paused, closing his eyes, both relieved that he was wrong, and conflicted at the dilemma, Silver was nice at first glance but he didn't have any idea what would happen if Spyro found out if they were friends, so he put that thought on the back burner for now and looked at the filly. "I've only known your sister for about an hour, she saved me from freezing out in the blizzard." He admitted. "So......maybe we are friends, maybe." He added before walked around the filly to explore a little more, and the filly followed.

Dark Spyro headed down the other side of the hallway, he stopped just outside his room and spoke. "Which way do I go to get out of this hallway?" He asked the filly.

The filly pointed to the door closest to his door. "That door leads out of here." She said.

Hoping that he wasn't getting pranked, Dark Spyro walked up to the door and opened it slowly, peaking inside, he was relieved to see a far more open room ahead, with a couch, a large table which was most likely a dining table, and a few chairs, he walked in and looked around as he did so, he saw a few paintings on the walls, one of a beautiful city with a large spire of a castle in the center, another painting was that of a mare, again with the crystal skin, but this time the skin was more mild than the others, her eyes were sapphire colored and her hair was long, styled in a braid and smiling a little bit, Spyro did have to admit it, she was beautiful, painted with extreme detail.

"Why are you out of bed?" Silver's voice asked.

Dark Spyro looked towards the large room and saw Silver walking over. "I heal quick, and I was getting restless, so I decided to move around, sorry doc, but I'm not a cooperative patient." He joked as he looked at the painting again.

Silver could be heard sighing, she then spoke. "That's my mother, she died a few weeks after Cosmo was born." She said, looking out into the large room where the filly was looking around. "You would have liked her Dark Spyro." She added, looking at the dragon.

Spyro said nothing as he looked at the painting a little more. "She was a lot like you." Silver said suddenly, making him look at her with curiosity and doubt. "How so?" He asked out of genuine curiosity.

Silver smiled and looked at the painting of her mother. "She never gave up, she kept fighting until the end." She answered with pride in her voice.

Dark Spyro thought on those words as he followed Silver through the hall and to the larger room, and just how much they meant to hear, even coming from a stranger who barely knew him, he was silent as he followed the teenager, she led him to a large room with a dark gray cotton couch, a matching sofa, a worn wooden rocking chair and a red stone coffee table, there was also a fireplace and a Pegasus stallion putting firewood inside, the stallion was short but well toned, he was clearly strong, his crystal skin was a mild prismatic color and he appeared to have no hair.

"Dad?" Silver spoke quietly, and the stallion sighed. "Yes Silver?" He asked in a low voice, not turning around as he tried to light the fire with two rocks by scraping them together quickly, it was not working.

"Um....dad, this is Dark Spyro, the dragon we saved from the snow?" Silver tried, but again no reaction as the father kept trying to light the fire.

Spyro narrowed his eyes and briefly contemplated setting him on fire, but he discarded that idea, as it would piss off literally everyone here, except maybe villains or dragon pranksters. "Plan B then." He said nonchalantly as he walked around the father to the side and spit a small fireball at the fireplace, it lit instantly, and thanks to a tiny amount of magic, the fire would burn longer.

The stallion stared at the fire in awe for a moment before facing Dark Spyro, his eyes were Emerald in color. "Well, that made it easier." He remarked.

Dark Spyro shook his head and sighed. "I owe you for saving my life from the blizzard, so its nothing." He replied easily.

The father looked at Silver. "Have you finished up outside?" He asked.

Dark Spyro looked at the Father as though he were nuts. "Isn't there a blizzard outside?" He asked.

"That was hours ago, the blizzards kick up and then relax for a day, but yes, I finished up." Silver said, answering Dark Spyro's question.

The father nodded, he then looked at Dark Spyro. "So dragon, my daughter convinced me to let you stick around until your ready to move on, or two months....whichever comes first, but if you do, there are a couple of things first." He stated.

Dark Spyro instantly weighed the pros and cons of staying here in his head, just in case.

'Pros: I will have a place to recover my strength, learn about this new land, stay warm and possibly fed, and will be with people who don't want to imprison me.

Cons: Staying in one place for too long could endanger myself and these people, this land has a mad King, sticking around could lead to trouble down the road, could possibly hurt Silver.'

Dark Spyro froze at that last one, he mentally pondered why that thought in particular bothered him, he felt no magic influencing him, he did not feel an emotional attachment to this family, and he doubted the Skylanders would use innocents as leverage against him, could Strykore have won? even with Kaos bumbling everything up? that could explain his nerves, but not the guilt.

Dark Spyro heard the father speak and this snapped him out of his thoughts. "So dragon, what is your name?" The stallion asked patiently.

Extending his claw out, he answered the father with the words he decided to go with, words that he vowed would signify a new beginning.

"My name is Dark Spyro, of the Skylands."

Doing what's right.

View Online

_____*The Crystal Empire, The village of Jade, a few days later, 3:20 PM.*______

The weather was now calmer than earlier, it was still cold but at least it wasn't acting up, the sky was blue with large patches of gray clouds in the sky, with darker clouds seeming to last forever in the distance, those clouds were above the capital city, and never dissipated due to King Sombra.

Dark Spyro noted that the villagers didn't seem to mind his presence, some greeted him and some didn't, but he doubted they would mind if they knew what kind of magic he used, regardless he explored the village to get used to his surroundings, as he did he ran Garnet's, Silvers father's conditions for him living here through his head.

'The first is that you help out, with my son in the capital and my back the way it is, we need help with the heavy lifting.

The second is that if you can use magic, don't use magic, we have been left alone by the Kings army because we have little of value but they keep tabs of magic users, it's why we have almost no unicorns here.

The third, is that you keep our fires going as long as you can, we almost froze to death last year because we couldn't get any heat.'

But in Dark Spyro's opinion, he was getting a lot in exchange for so little, paranoia told him that there was a secret condition he wasn't made aware of, while his survival instinct told him just to accept the deal, and deal with whatever came up later, he was thankful that his wounds were mostly gone, his wings were a little tender still and his magic was mostly depleted, but otherwise he felt ok.

The village of Jade was pretty small, and subsided mostly through mining, but it also had a small farm, and one of the very few forests in the Crystal Empire, it used its resources to trade with the Capital for food and other things like blankets.

Dark Spyro eventually made his way back to Garnet's house, it was only one story tall but it was decently sized, with at least three bedrooms, a living room and a kitchen, other than that he wasn't sure, he approached the house and went inside, knowing it wasn't locked, inside was Silver tending to the fire and Garnet in the kitchen preparing......something.

"Oh, Spyro, back already?" Silver asked, looking over at him after hearing the door open.

Dark Spyro nodded. "Yea." He answered simply.

Garnet spoke up as Dark Spyro walked by. "Dinner won't be for a couple hours, go get some rest, Silver tells me that you haven't slept a wink for the past few days." He said.

Spyro nodded, but he shook nervously, something that he didn't see Silver notice, he walked through the house and to the guest room, he didn't see Cosmo around anywhere and assumed she was napping, he entered the guest room and sighed to himself as he slid down the door and sat on the floor, not willing to move right now.

It was true, ever since he woke up three days ago, Dark Spyro hadn't slept for even a few minutes, in fact he was afraid to sleep for every single time he closed his eyes to do so, the voices would return and he would be haunted by visions, he had seen many things happen in these visions and none of them were pleasant, and the voices always tormented him by reminding him of all the horrible things he had done, many times, the voices spoke of him getting his friends killed so that he could complete his mission, and he knew what they spoke of.

Dark Spyro clutched his head as another migraine assaulted him, he winced and his eyes instinctively shut, thankfully there was no vision or voice, but he wasn't risking it as his eyes snapped open just as a voice spoke. "Dark Spyro?" Silvers voice asked with concern.

With a sigh of relief, the dragon spoke in a quiet voice. "Yea?" He asked as he wiped some tears from his eyes.

"Can.....can I come in?" She asked.

Dark Spyro thought on it for a second before taking a deep breath and speaking. "Sure, give me a second." He said before getting up and opening the door, he saw the face of the teenage unicorn who was the closest he had to friend right now, his expression was neutral but his strained eyes betrayed his emotions.

Silver entered the room and looked at Spyro, he saw genuine concern in her eyes as well as a hint of curiosity. 'She wants to know why I can't sleep.' He noted.

"I uh.....I wanted to talk to you, about you not sleeping for three days." She answered as she closed the door, exactly as Spyro predicted.

Dark Spyro sighed and walked to the bed before sitting down. "It's.......complicated, don't get me wrong, I am tired, and I mean TIRED, go to sleep forever tired." He replied before rubbing his eyes.

"Does it....does it have anything to do with the way we found you?" Silver asked.

Almost immediately Dark Spyro's muscles tensed up and Silver noticed it, but she didn't say anything. "You could say that, I guess." He replied with worry.

Silver waited a while for him to speak, but the dragon didn't say a word, so eventually Silver spoke. "Do you want to talk about it?" She asked quietly.

Dark Spyro looked at Silver with a pained expression. "I really don't, i can probably handle it myself....because I'm me, but maybe I should." He said before taking a long breath.

After he released the breath, it took him a minute before he spoke again. "I.....screwed up." He started. "I did a lot of horrible things to my friends back home, I lied to them and hurt them, but worst of all I betrayed them, I might not have had much choice in the matter, but that didn't mean I couldn't warm them." He shook his head as he closed his eyes, falling backwards on the bed. "But I didn't, I didn't even try to warn them until it was too late, and by then....." He stopped talking and opened his eyes before any visions or voices could pop up.

"Ever since, whenever I try to sleep, or even rest, I just hear voices, I see visions, they torment me and I can't get to sleep." Dark Spyro let out a shaky breath and looked at Silver, who said nothing, deep in thought while listening.

Silver didn't speak for a while, and Dark Spyro was somewhat thankful for that, he let his thoughts wander aimlessly for a while until the unicorn finally spoke. "Did you ever hesitate?" The teenager asked.

Spyro looked at the unicorn with confusion. "What do you mean?" He asked.

"Did you ever hesitate to betray them, or choose not to complete your mission for their sake?" Silver asked, clarifying her question.

Dark Spyro thought back on his memories as a spy, he cringed at some of his choices but he did in fact remember something. "Yea, I did actually, I was actually going to betray the man who made me turn on them, but he used his magic on me and I just.......attacked." He admitted, guilt built up inside of him as he remembered his sudden attack on his friend.

Silver sighed and got off the bed, she looked right at Spyro and spoke. "You know what I think?" She asked, causing the dragon to look at her. "I think there's hope for you yet." She held her hoof up before he could say anything. "The fact that you are tormenting youself over what you've done is proof enough that you aren't all bad, what you need to do I think, is to prove to yourself that you can change." She said, her words seeming to carry great weight for the dragon.

Spyro sat up and looked at Silver, saying nothing as she went to leave, but just as she opened the door, he said something. "Thank you Silver." He said, the unicorn smiled before walking out and the closing the door.

Once again Dark Spyro was alone in the room, and while he was certain that Silver truly believed he could change for the better, he wasn't sure that HE believed it, and this uncertainty was what caused him to shake in fear, unwilling to even attempt to sleep, he simply sat there, awake in the room and unsure of what to do.

Dark Spyro wasn't up for going outside to train, for while he was respecting Garnet's rule of not using magic, he was going to at least keep himself in fighting shape, he had even come up with a interesting attack two days ago, but he wasn't sure if he would even need it.

He sighed and climbed off the bed, he walked over to the end table and picked up the book that sat on top of it, he got back on the bed and started to read it, it was a story about family that was split apart by a band of thugs and their journey to reunite, he only read for an hour before sighing and closing the book.

Dark Spyro returned the book to the end table and eyed the bed, he stared at it in hopeful desperation as he climbed back on and got under the covers. "To hell with it, those voices pop up, I'll kick their butts." He said to himself as he he closed his eyes to try and sleep.

At first it was fine, no voices and visions, but that's how it normally went, he allowed himself to relax a little bit as he felt sleep begin to welcome him with open arms.

All of this was shattered however when he heard a door slam open. "Spyro!" Silver snapped.

Spyro's eyes instantly shot open and he immediately got out from under the covers, Silver stood in the doorway with a panicked expression and a scared Cosmo behind her. "You have to hide! Sombra's soldiers are coming!" She said in a hurry, her voice filled with fear.

Dark Spyro got off the bed and hurried over. "I can fight them off!" He stated, with the guard here, he didn't have to hide his magic.

"No!" Silver shouted, she grabbed Spyro's arm and dragged him along as she hurried through the house. "Dad is going to stall them, but you need to hide Cosmo! please Spyro!" She pleaded.

Dark Spyro looked towards the front door, he heard heavy armor thundering by, he growled as he trembled with anger, as much as he wanted to fight them off, he didn't want to abandon the family, but the way Silver spoke, the fear in her voice, he swallowed his pride and looked at the unicorn, his anger made way for a calm expression. "Where?" He asked.

Silver quickly led him to a room Dark Spyro had never seen, it looked like a study of some kind, with carpet all over the floor, she rushed over to a corner and lifted the carpet up, revealing a trap door which she promptly opened. "This is my brothers secret cellar, hide here." She stated before leading Cosmo down cellar.

Dark Spyro walked to the cellar and looked on in shock as Silver climbed out. "What are you doing?" He asked.

"Someone has to close the door and hide it, I won't risk Cosmo or you, and if my dad takes too long.....they will kill him." Silver motioned to the cellar. "Keep her safe, whatever happens.....please." She said.

Dark Spyro inwardly cursed as he reluctantly climbed down the cellar, it was dusty and smelled bad, he heard the door close and he breathed a small flame into his hand once he reached the bottom, the cellar was practically empty save for a few barrels, he had to bend down a little so that his horns didn't hit the ceiling, he saw a lantern and grabbed it, using his fire he lit the lantern, the light was dim but that was enough to see Cosmo sitting in a corner silently crying.

Spyro walked over and lowered himself to be on eye level with the filly. "Are you alright?" He asked.

The filly looked over at him and sniffled, she said nothing as she embraced him lightly, showing just how scared she was.

Dark Spyro set the lantern down, he was about to try and soothe the filly when he heard voices. "Please, we haven't done anything wrong, we just want to live our lives quietly." Came Garnet's normally stoic voice, but he was shaky.

"Do not lie to us peasant!" A heavy voice snapped, it sounded like whoever spoke was talking through a helmet. "We have heard reports of magic being cast near this very village!" The voice stated angrily. "There were also reports of a dragon flying above the village and then landing here, now give us the dragon or face the consequences!" The voice, Spyro assumed it was a soldier by now, demanded.

"Sir, my family are just trying to live our lives, we don't have a-"

"So......you have a unicorn daughter." The soldiers voice stated with anger. "By the requirement of the law, all unicorns are to either serve in the army, work the mines or have a magic disabler crystal on their horn." He stated, his words were followed by rapid heavy hooves storming inside and Garnet shouting. "Leave my daughter alone! She's innocent!" He pleaded.

Two loud thumps followed, accompanied by Silver snapping and pleading. "Dad! Let him go! Please just leave us alone!" Her voice rang.

Dark Spyro growled but managed to contain his anger in favor of protecting Cosmo, the soldiers voice could be heard again. "Split up! search the house and find that dragon!" It ordered loudly.

Hooves could be heard thundering through the house and Spyro could hear the soldiers tearing the house apart in their search, a few minutes of this passed by but they never found the trap door.

Cosmo seemed to be in shock through it all, and Spyro couldn't blame her, after a while the soldier spoke up again. "Take these two criminals to the Capital! if they know where the dragon is, they will tell us!" He shouted.

Dark Spyro had heard just about enough but when he heard a loud crash, he shut off the lamp and used his body to shield Cosmo.

There was another crash, then another, and another, and another, the entire cellar shook violently and the ceiling crashed down around them, Dark Spyro did not fall asleep, but his vision turned to black as he shut his eyes.

______*hours later*______

In the rubble that used to be Garnet's home, a small area of rubble shifted slightly, a few more seconds later and the rubble was destroyed by a fire blast, and a black dragon with dark gray horns emerged from the rubble, he shook his head clear of rubble and pulled himself out entirely, he then pulled Cosmo out of the rubble, the filly was knocked unconscious and he gently placed her on his back, but not before noticing a cut in her head.

"We need help! please! We need.......oh no." Dark Spyro looked around the peaceful village of Jade, only to see that it was reduced to rubble, he fell to his knees and grabbed Cosmo absently with his magic, no longer caring about hiding it. "Is......is THIS what Strykore wanted?" He asked himself as he stared at the ruins in shock.

Dark Spyro took a long shaky breath and looked at Cosmo, the unconscious filly floated harmlessly in his magical grip, bleeding and likely traumatized from this, he closed his eyes and growled. "You can't be all bad." Silvers voice rang in his ears, not taunting him like the other voices, but still haunting nonetheless.

"Take these criminals to the Capital!" The soldiers words rang clear as crystal.

Dark Spyro took a deep breath and stood to his full height, he turned his gaze toward the Capital in the distance, he narrowed his eyes and growled, knowing what he needed to do, he steeled himself. "I'll get you out of there, just hold on." He said to himself, full of determination.

Dark Spyro started to walk to the Capital with Cosmo in tow, but as he did he felt that something was wrong, he paused and looked back at the village. "If I really am going to change, I can't just charge in, I should search the ruins for survivors at least."He thought to himself.

He set Cosmo back on his back and searched the village thouroughly, he called out a few times even but he saw nothing and no one around, he sighed sadly and headed towards the Capital on foot, determined to at least save the family that took him in, the air was cold and his wings were still tender from his injuries, his magic also wasn't back to normal.

Nevertheless, Dark Spyro kept moving, not stopping for anything, even though his head throbbed, and his eyes strained through overuse, he did not stop to rest.

______*Days later.*_____

The journey to the Crystal Empire's Capital was longer than he thought, he constantly had to avoid patrols, and the distance to the Capital was incredible, but in his journey he learned a few things.

For one, most of the soldiers he had seen were unicorns, but they lacked the crystal skin of the rest of the people of the Empire, and they also had a fondness for heavy weapons like war hammers or greatswords.

Cosmo had also woken up a few hours after Spyro started his journey, she was quiet due to shock, but she was at least moving, she listened to him when he said to hide, she tried to keep him in sight, clearly terrified of being alone.

Dark Spyro managed to finally reach the Capital and immediately saw something that was disturbing, the small amount of civilians, and what little he did see had their crystal skin dimmed to the point of not being there.

He moved through the city as subtly as he could, he didn't fly since Cosmo was afraid he would leave her alone, but he also knew that flying wasn't exactly subtle, Spyro snuck past a patrol with the filly right with her, he stuck to the wall as he slowly moved across it and checked around the corner.

On the next street were two guard patrols and many buildings that were wide open, there were also large black crystals jutting out from the ground and through buildings. 'What are those for?' He wondered as he snuck around the building he was at to the other side, he was about to cross to the other side of the street when he peaked around the corner and spotted a large patrol coming towards him, his eyes widened and he quickly dashed into the building he was next to.

He hid in the darkness of the abandoned house and Cosmo did the same, the heavy iron boots of the patrol marched by and Spyro held his breath, the hooves grew quieter and quieter as the patrol left, and Dark Spyro let out his breath, he looked at Cosmo. "Look, I know you don't want to split up, but I have a better chance of saving your family if you stay hidden here." He said, the filly hurried over quietly and hugged him tightly. "I'm not going to leave you here, but it's safer here." Dark Spyro said as he looked the filly in the eye. "Just stay hidden, I'll come get you when I free Silver and Garnet." He promised as he ruffled the fillies hair.

The action seemed to relax the filly a little, she stared at him a little bit before letting go and hurrying off to hide. "If that doesn't give me her approval, I don't know what does." Dark Spyro stood up and looked out the doorway, seeing no patrols around, he darted out of the buidling and headed for the castle, feeling that it was the best place to search first.

He snuck through the street carefully, sticking to the shadows in the gloomy city, he saw that he was a good distance away yet and dashed around a corner, but when he did so he rammed head first into an armored figure, they both fell over and hit the ground.

Dark Spyro shook his head and looked at what he hit, his eyes widened and then narrowed with clear focus, he shot up and fired a fireball at the armored soldier.

The soldier quickly threw his arm up and shielded himself from the fire, he then got up with a slight limp and fired a barrage of magical blasts at Spyro.

The dragon flew up a little, the magic missing him by a hair, he flew at a fast pace toward the soldier, he spun and fired a barrage of fireballs in quick succession, the soldier jumped out of the way of the fireballs but landed wrong, he tripped and Spyro flew right into him with a powerful charge, the force of the impact bent the soldiers armor and sent him skidding along the roads.

Spyro landed on the ground easily and used his magic, his horns glowed purple as his magic built up, he then threw a strong electrical surge at the soldier and he screamed in pain for a short while before going limp.

Dark Spyro cut the lightning and breathed, he knew that other guards would have heard the fight, so he quickly fled, flying over some buildings and landing on the ground on a different street, but as soon as he landed, Dark Spyro heard a soldier yelling. "WE ARE UNDER SIEGE! FORGET THE DRAGON AND PROTECT THE KING!" He shouted.

Dark Spyro paused for a moment before smirking. "Good, whoever is attacking is unintentionally buying me time, I can get Silver and Garnet out of here quickly then.' He thought to himself.

He quickly flew towards the castle, with the plan in mind that if they were being held there, then that was the best place to look, but as soon as he flew over a building that looked like an apartment, he noticed a lone citizen. "As much as I want to hurry, I should probably get some information." He said to himself.

Dark Spyro flew down to the lone citizen and noted the dull gray appearance of the earth pony, he spoke up to get his attention. "Hey, you know where these freaks take their prisoners?" He asked.

Just as soon as he finished speaking, the citizen spun around and knocked him over and started punching. "Freaks huh? I wonder what the King will say about that!" He laughed maniacally as he punched Spyro constantly.

Dark Spyro grunted and kicked the man off, thankful for his durable scales which all but negated the pain from the clumsy strikes. "So you serve Sombra then?" He asked, even though he knew the answer.

The stallion grinned madly. "I do, and I will see to it that all of you rebels are wiped out!" He declared, laughing all the while, but he stopped when he saw Spyro smirk. "What's so amusing dragon?" He asked when he heard the dragon chuckle.

Dark Spyro looked up and stared at the man. "The fact that I know your trick, all those civilians aren't real, they are just assassins." He grinned. "That means I don't have to hold back!" He shouted as he flew up and took in a deep breath, the once laughing stallion now had a look of terror on his face. "No!" The stallion shouted, this time with fear.

Dark Spyro then unleashed a powerful breath of fire and it completely engulfed the man, he screamed in pain as he was incinerated, the dragon stopped his fire and landed, he then ran towards the castle, leaving behind him a trembling charred stallion, alive but unable to fight.

Dark Spyro rounded a corner and looked up at the castle, he stopped when he saw a portion of the top get blown off. "Is someone fighting up there?" He wondered.

He didn't have time to ponder this however when a massive flash of light exploded from the top tower, he shielded his eyes for a moment, and when he lowered his arm, it was gone and he grunted. "Whatever." He said to himself before charging off.

He ran down the crystalline streets and towards the giant castle, it didn't take long for him to reach it, but when he did he noticed a strangely empty looking pedestal. "Huh, weird." He commented before running inside.

The first room he found was small, it's ceiling was high enough for a nine foot door at the other end, it had four torches on the walls, two on the left and two on the right, but this mattered little to the dragon, he charged forward and with a small boost of magic, he broke the left half of the door down and entered what appeared to be the main lobby, it had a massive stairway straight ahead made of various kinds of crystal from the looks of it, the walls, floor and ceiling were all made from the same material, there was also a long red and purple carpet going from a massive door at the top of the stairs, right to the entrance door.

There were six other doors on the first floor of the massive room, there was one on each side of the stairs, and two on each side of the wall, they were all made of what appeared to be quartz, and were carved with the various kinds of ponies, whoever carved them was clearly a master, as the details were incredible, the second floor had at least three doors, the massive one straight ahead which was made of some kind of prismatic crystal with the symbol of a heart carved into it. "That's an odd carving considering everything I've seen." Dark Spyro said to himself absently.

The other two doors were by the corners of the upstairs, they each looked to be the same as the ones downstairs, they again had carvings of the same quality as the downstairs ones, but were of two different species Dark Spyro didn't recognize.

On the first floor however, there were dozens of crates, barrels and pallets of crystal, wood and what looked like grain or wheat, they were all stacked neatly and a few heads higher than him, there were about five ten foot areas where these were all stacked.

Dark Spyro took a step forward and he heard a door open, he quickly decided upon stealth this time and hid behind a nearby crate, he made sure neither his wings, horns or tail were sticking out and quieted his breath when he heard voices. "Why are we not assisting our king in battle? we could help him in his fight against those.....Princesses." A young yet fierce male voice asked.

Dark Spyro held his breath and silently repositioned himself when he heard whoever it was coming close. "Silence!" An older sounding voice snapped. "We have been ordered to the front lines to fight the Equestrian army, and we shall follow orders, am I understood?" He asked.

"Yes sir!" About five voiced replied in military fashion.

Heavy footfalls thundered by the stack of supplies Spyro hid behind and the door slammed open, the soldiers footsteps quickly quieted as the door slammed shut again.

Dark Spyro peeked out from his hiding place and looked around, he saw no soldiers and sighed in relief. 'Alright, now to find Silver and Garnet.' He told himself, coming out from behind the crates and barrels.

A quick look around told the young dragon nothing about where to go, he mentally considered his options before just choosing a door, he quickly ran as quietly as he could to the door to the right of the entrance, he looked over his shoulder out of caution before slowly opening the door, thankfully it didn't make much sound and he was able to step inside without a problem.

He entered into a downwards stairwell that was dimly lit, he steadied himself and walked down it. 'Okay, this might just lead to the dungeons, if I'm lucky I can find Silver and Garnet and then get out of here.' He told himself.

The stairwell wasn't very well maintained, and there were pieces of chipped wall on the steps, this naturally made the dragon believe that he was right in thinking this was the dungeon, the walk was long and took him ten minutes to reach the bottom, it actually wasn't very deep, it was just a matter of him going slowly just in case.

When Dark Spyro finally reached the bottom of the stairs, he peeked around the corner to see if there was anyone there, there was thankfully no one in sight, the stairs led to a long hallway which was dimly lit by a few spread out torches, he took a few calming breaths and quietly moved through the hall, the dim light made it easy for him to blend in with the dark stone walls.

Dark Spyro found a room with a torch inside it, the torch was barely lit but it was enough for him to see where he was going, he stepped inside and searched the room, it wasn't a large room at all, it was only sixteen feet in width and length, there were six overloaded crates of crystal, two pallets of stone and a few broken crates in the corner, the rest of the room was filled with wood, gems, barrels, and a few closed crates, he walked up to one of the barrels and opened it carefully, he sniffed and flinched as a strong smell overwhelmed his nostrils, he gagged and closed the lid on the barrel and looked back at the entryway. "Okay......not doing that again."

Dark Spyro started to walk back to the hallway so he could continue his search, but just as he took a step out of the room he sensed some kind of magic behind him, he reacted instantly and flipped around, flaring his wings and readying a flame breath, he paused when he saw nothing in front of him, he blinked in confusion because he still sensed magic ahead of him.

Before he could react, a flash of light shined in his face and he closed his eyes, he held a claw over his eyes when the light intensified and he soon heard something. "Whooooaaah!" A voice cried out and he was promptly knocked over and on the ground.

Dark Spyro opened his eyes and lowered his claw, he saw a swirling blue and gray portal vanish before his eyes and he groaned from soreness, but he was not alone in this as he heard groaning coming from on top of him, it was then that he felt something furred on him.

He looked at what was on him and blinked, it was a unicorn, and judging by its build, it was a mare, the mare had orange fur, bright red and yellow hair and matching tail, she groaned again and held her head with a hoof, she then seemed to realize she was on top of Dark Spyro, she tilted her head up and saw him staring at her, her eyes widened and screamed.

The mare shot up and Dark Spyro got up as well, the mares horn lit up in a teal light as she screamed, the dragon quickly clamped a claw over her mouth and used his magic to restrain her from moving as he grabbed her horn cancelling her spell, he stared hard into her frightened eyes and he spoke quietly. "Quiet! there might be guards nearby!" He hissed.

The mare's expression went from afraid to confused for a half second before Dark Spyro spoke again. "Are you with Sombra?" He questioned in a threatening manner.

The mare seemed confused and he growled. "Are you with Sombra! yes or no?" He asked again, the mare immediately shook her head no, the dragon calmed down some and sighed in relief. "I'm going to let you go, but be quiet." He warned before releasing the mare.

The mare quickly took a few steps back and stared at Dark Spyro warily, she looked around for a moment before she spoke. "Where am I?" She asked quietly.

"We are underneath the Capital of the Crystal Empire." The dragon replied quietly as he walked to the edge of the room bordering the hallway. "I'm Dark Spyro, who are you?" He asked as he peeked out into the hallway briefly before looking at the confused mare.

The unicorn was clearly in deep thought and Dark Spyro had to clear his throat to get her attention, she looked at him for a moment before speaking. "I'm Sunset Shimmer, what am I doing here?" She asked with both curiosity and fear in her voice.

"Why are you asking me?" The dragon asked In turn. "I didn't bring you here." He added, his statement only served to confuse the already bewildered mare.

Sunset Shimmer looked over her shoulder and she looked back at the dragon, anger barely overtaking her fear. "Where is the portal!?" She snapped.

"Will you shut up!?" Dark Spyro snapped quietly as he checked the hall for anyone, once he was sure there was no one around, he looked at the mare. "The portal I'm assuming you came through closed while we were on the ground." He explained.

Sunset walked to the other side of the entryway and looked at Dark Spyro. "Then where is the mirror?" She asked while motioning to the room, while she was there, Spyro managed to get a closer look at her, the mares eyes were teal and she had an image of the sun on her flanks, it's was red and yellow in a ying-yang style, the bottom half of the yang-yang was red and top was yellow with the right half and top half of the sun being red, the rest being yellow.

Dark Spyro raised an eyebrow at the question. "It wasn't a mirror you came through, you came from one of those swirling portals that you see in video games." He replied, now getting confused about what was going on.

"You mean the ones that close up at the most inconvenient time? great, and I thought my day couldn't get any worse." She said to herself, she and Spyro then did double takes and looked at each other in surprise. "How do you know know about those?" They asked each other, the two were then silent for a while as they pondered what was going on.

"They are kinda common in the Skylands." Dark Spyro replied first, seeking to end the silence. "I played a bunch, you?" He asked, genuinely curious about what she would say.

The mare then checked the hall quickly and pulled her head back before before answering. "I played a couple, different dimension though, I had hands then." She replied carefully, which was not unnoticed by the dragon.

Dark Spyro nodded and visibly relaxed. "Well, what are you going to do?" He asked.

Sunset looked at the dragon with a now wary expression, she was silent for a while before speaking. "I'm going to find my way back, as much as I hate that world, it's better than this place." She stated with some venom at the end.

Dark Spyro thought on what he was going to do now, his main focus right now was finding Silver and Garnet, he looked at Sunset, and considered his options. 'I could leave her to her own devices, she's obviously not one for teamwork, but on the other hand she might know more than I do about this place.' He made up his mind and spoke. "Can you fight?" He asked.

Sunset looked at Spyro with a surprised expression, she nodded. "I know some fire spells, you thinking of working together to get out of here?" She asked.

Spyro nodded. "I am, I need to find that family and you want to find your portal, no sense in splitting up." He said with a calm tone, going with the rational plan seemed best right now, given the circumstances.

Sunset Shimmer thought on it for a moment before nodding. "Fine, it's as good an idea as any I guess." She accepted.

With that, Dark Spyro led the way down the dark hallway, they walked for a while before reaching another room. "I'll look in here, keep an eye out." Sunset said before quickly searching the room while Spyro kept watch.

The search didn't take long, and Sunset soon walked out. "Is Sombra back?" She asked curiously as they searched.

"What do you mean back?" Dark Spyro asked out of confusion. "From what I heard, he emerged from out of nowhere and usurped the kingdom from the royal family, he then forced the citizens to mine crystals and has ruled like a tyrant ever since." He explained.

Sunset rolled her eyes as though it weren't a shock. "I know that, what I am asking is has the empire returned from its banished state?" She asked.

"Banished state?" Dark Spyro asked with confusion.

Sunset looked at the dragon as though he were mad. "You know? the banishment?" Seeing the dragon shrug she continued. "Sombra's fight with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna?" She added, she didn't say anything else as the dragon seemed to think on this.

Dark Spyro thought on this as they searched the next room for five minutes, it took so long because it was cluttered and filled with tones of junk and dozens of stone pallets. "I don't remember anything about that." He replied.

Sunset sighed as they exited the room, she looked at Spyro. "You must have been one of the ones banished then." She said quietly.

"Impossible." The dragon replied. "I'm not even from here, I was teleported outside the village of Jade around a week ago and I have literally been awake ever since." He stated.

Sunset gained a look of deep thought as they walked until they reached another room. "I think I understand it now." Sunset stated with a firm tone, stopping them both outside the room.

"Understand what?" Dark Spyro asked, looking at the mare. "That your wrong?" He added mockingly, he then shook his head a little, unsure of why he said that.

"I am not wrong, thank you." Sunset replied with a growl, she then calmed herself quickly before looking at the dragon again. "Let's look at the facts as we understand them, one, you were awake almost the entire time you were here, two, you don't know about the banishment of the Crystal Empire, and three, Sombra's guard are around." She sighed and shook her head. "From your perspective, it only lasted a moment, incredible." She muttered.

"What are you talking about?" Dark Spyro asked with both aggravation and confusion on his mind.

Sunset looked right at Spyro and stared right into his eyes. "The Crystal Empire has been banished for over a thousand years by King Sombra, it was the final act of revenge by a mad King." She stated calmly as she searched the next room.

"I'm gonna call your bluff, his soldiers are still around, why would they be heading to the front if he was defeated?" He asked, following the mare.

Sunset shook her head. "Did it ever occur to you that it happened while you were down here?" She asked while she searched behind a large stack of crates, using her magic for light.

Dark Spyro grumbled and the two eventually finished searching the room, he looked at Sunset as they walked to the next room, he looked inside and saw that it was pitch black. "I can't see a thing." He stated.

"That's because it's not lit up, heh.....thankfully I have magic." Sunset said smugly as she lit her horn, illuminating the room and a torch on the other wall.

Spyro glared at the unicorn before breathing a small flame dart at the torch, lighting it instantly in a dark purple glow, it barely illuminated itself. "And I have fire breath, not exactly boasting about that now am I?" He snapped.

Sunset smirked and relit the torch with a small fire spell, dimly lighting the room. "Your right, you aren't boasting about fire that can't light up a room." She taunted.

Dark Spyro's eye twitched at the mares words, but he didn't act on them as they searched the room, they again found nothing and when they left the room, they noticed that there was no more hall to explore.

"How much of the Empire was banished?" He asked as they made their way back to the stairs.

"Everything except the ground itself, just about everything else was banished, it's possible that no one knows that they were banished, so for all you know, you could have been here when it happened." Sunset stated, her tone was cold and clearly uncaring.

Dark Spyro said nothing to reply and the two quietly walked, until Sunset spoke up. "Why isn't your name just Spyro?" She asked suddenly, the tone in her voice made it sound like a taunt.

"That's my brothers name." Dark Spyro said instantly, surprising himself with how he said it without a second thought, he then shook his head. "When I was named, they didn't even bother to think on it, they saw me and said Dark Spyro, that's all there is to it." He explained, not entirely lying.

The two reached the stairs and Sunset went up first, she spoke as they walked. "I was named because I have an incredible affinity for fire and solar magic, coincidentally I ended up as the Solar Princesses student." She stated proudly. "Of course.....those were happier times." She whispered quietly.

"What does the mark on your sides mean?" Spyro asked.

"It reflects my talent with pyromancy, that's all." Sunset replied calmly.

Neither of the two spoke until they reached the top of the stairs five minutes later, then Sunset sighed. "Now that I think about it, it's possible that when I got flung through the portal, something went awry and I ended up in the past just in time for the banishment.....or there was a second banishment that lasted a thousand years or something, or it just lasted a really long time and no one knows how long it's been." She told herself.

Dark Spyro thought on that for a moment and then his eyes widened at the possibilities, he was silent as he walked behind a crate and sat down, he stared at the floor, lost in his thoughts. 'A thousand years? if that's true, then everyone I know, Elf, Eruptor, Jet-Vac? they're all gone.' He took a shaky breath and looked up at Sunset, who now had a different expression in her eyes other than neutrality or hostility, she seemed......sympathetic.

"It probably doesn't mean much coming from me, but no one will care that I'm gone in the world beyond the mirror." Sunset stated as she sat down, realization dawning on her from her own words as she fell silent.

Spyro looked at Sunset, a mare he hardly knew and up until now had been hostile, rude and just plain arrogant, but now that he looked at her, he felt at least some familiarity to her. "I'm searching for Silver and Garnet." He started. "A young mare and old stallion respectively, she is a crystal unicorn and he is a crystal Pegasus and were arrested for helping me, I need to find them and reunite them with Cosmo, a young crystal Pegasus filly." He sighed as he rested his head on the crate. "I'm doing this because I hurt everyone I cared about, they were my friends, family, teammates, and I betrayed them." He took a shaky breath as he stared up at the ceiling. "God I am so tired." He complained.

Sunset looked at Dark Spyro and looked away a moment later. "I broke Celestia's heart." She said.

Spyro looked at the mare who continued talking. "Years ago I was her personal student, I learned everything I could about magic, politics, economics and strategy, I wanted to make her proud.......but she didn't seem happy with me, I guess now that I think about it, I understand it now." She paused and closed her eyes. "She wasn't happy, not because I failed her, but because I had no friends, I was obsessed with learning to the extreme, it got to the point where I wouldn't go outside really." She rested her head on the crate and opened her eyes. "We argued, I yelled at her, I told her that she didn't understand or even care about what I was doing for her sake, she cut me off then, she sent me to my room and left me in there." She held her head and a tear ran down her cheek.

"I ran away, I went through the mirror portal to another dimension and lived there, and I did horrible things myself, I tore five friends apart because I was so angry, they hate each other for the things I did and I can't even fix that." Sunset said, finishing her story, she chuckled quietly. "Look at me, if this is just after the banishment, most of the people I knew are still alive, so why am I crying?" She asked herself sadly.

Dark Spyro watched the mare sob quietly and he felt......pity, he reached a claw out and gently placed it on her shoulder. "I almost let my friends die to complete a mission, I could have told them at any time that the man I was working for had me as a spy, but I didn't, even when I started to care about them again I told them nothing, and when I finally stood up to him, he drove me into a frenzy with his magic, in my rage I almost killed my best friend, and then when I had no idea what else to do, I fought my brother.....and almost died when our fight ended." He admitted, he could not explain it, but he felt like he could place his trust in this mare, he eventually chalked it up to them both feeling guilty for their past.

The two did not move for a while, they simply sat in silence, saying nothing as they worked through their problems in their own way, Dark Spyro was silent, his strained eyes burned from overuse but he would not sleep, he simply sat next to Sunset as the mare cried, finally allowing herself to do so after so many years.

The adventure begins.

View Online

_____*Ponyville, Equestria, 1:13 PM*______

Twilight Sparkle, personal student of Princess Celestia and the Element of Magic, librarian of Ponyville and book lover was in the process of having a mental breakdown.

The unicorn had lavender fur with a dark purple mane with a magenta and a lighter purple streak in her mane, her tail matched her mane and she had a cutie mark of a six pointed purple star with little white stars around it, her eyes were purple and she was usually a logical mare.

Usually is the term here because Twilight Sparkle was freaking out about her current task, normally she faced problems with intelligence, planning, logic and magical knowledge, but now all of these were being cast aside as she boarded the train with her friends, she sat alone in train, not wishing to be around anypony as she continued to panic mentally.

Twilight Sparkle and her friends had been tasked with investigating the return of the Crystal Empire, and more specifically, the unicorn herself was to restore peace to the Empire, without the aid of her friends.

Now old Twilight, as In how she was before she came to Ponyville would have been alright with this, as she was used to being alone then, but now that she had friends and understood their importance, couldn't for the life of her understand why she was told to basically do this alone.

Add to the fact that there was a strange disturbance that occurred before the banishment of the Empire that wasn't due to King Sombra, and the mission seemed even more impossible than before, in fact Twilight had even considered going alone at first, but soon discarded the idea from her mind as she thought on what to do next.

With her mind scrambled from the looming threat of failing her test, Twilight quickly ran down a list of facts that she had in her mind, to try and make sense of her mind. 'Fact, King Sombra was defeated and then banished himself and the Crystal Empire, meaning that he probably won't be alive or at full power, Fact, King Sombra lost all his forces before his defeat, many were not banished but surrendered to the Equestrian Army, meaning that he won't have troops......hopefully, Fact, Shining Armor and Cadence are there, so we won't be entirely alone, Fact, The Crystal Empire had frequent blizzards, meaning that we can't be out in the wild for long, extreme caution needed.' She took a few calming breaths using Cadence's technique and found herself much more focused than before.

Twilight then ran through a list she made about the anomaly in her mind. 'Unknown, anomaly occurred before King Sombra's defeat, source or cause of the anomaly unknown, any creature involved in anomaly, unknown, use extreme caution.'

Twilight looked out of the window from her seat, watching as the lands go by. 'Who knows how dangerous the anomaly will be.' She thought to herself.

_______*The Crystal Castle, unknown time.*_______

"Hey! they have tortillas here!" The voice of Dark Spyro called out, from behind the open door of a magically powered refrigerator as a bolt of magic flew by.

After the break that Dark Spyro and Sunset Shimmer took, they had continued to explore starting with the closet door, which led them to a hallway that led to an elegant dining room with two more doors, they followed one of the doors which led them to the gigantic kitchen, but when they arrived they encountered a trio of angry chefs that were all unicorns......and they were apparently all former soldiers with one of them being an army cook, at least if the food he made was anything to go by.

Sunset was currently taking cover behind a nearby counter and she loosed a barrage of magic at the cooks before hiding again. "Are you seriously going through their fridge!? NOW of all times!?" She snapped as she noticed something. "PUT THAT GODDAMNED TORTILLA DOWN AND HELP ME YOU DOUCHE!" She shouted.

Spyro grumbled and peeked out from behind his cover, with a bag of tortilla shells in his mouth he channeled his magic to his horns, he then loosed a lightning bolt at a cook who peeked out at the wrong time while a magic blast missed him, the bolt hit him in the arm and the dragon took cover again, he then noticed that something was off and he looked down, his eyes widened when he saw that the bag had been obliterated and only shards of what was going to be his snack were on the floor, he dropped what was left of the bag and held his hands in the air angrily. "UNICORN COOOOOOOKS!" He called out loud enough to be heard from the other side of the room.

Sunset sighed to herself as she charged her horn and threw a fire spell at the chefs before taking cover. "And that's my partner." She said, dreading her decision to help the dragon suddenly.

_____*The train.*_____

Twilight rested her head on the back of her seat and closed her eyes. 'I just hope I'm not overreacting.'

The train moved at a steady pace for a few hours, the time passed too quickly for Twilight's liking as she wanted it to take more time so she could calm down properly, but when it finally came to a stop at the train stop she looked outside and saw that there was of course a blizzard outside, she sighed to herself before getting out of her seat and walking to the door to leave the train.

And she wouldn't admit it, but part of her hoped that the door jammed so that the train would go back and keep her from facing this danger, but the other part of her knew that it wouldn't happen, so when the door opened, Twilight stepped out of the train with reluctance, she heard her friends step outside with her and she steeled herself as best she could when the train departed. 'No turning back now.' She told herself.

"THIS, is the Crystal Empire?" Rarity asked, disappointment in her voice.

Twilight nodded. "It is, but we are close to the Capital City, we should get moving." She said, she took a step off the platform and shivered when she felt cold snow cover her hooves, she took a breath and saw it float in front of her. "This blizzard is going to make it difficult to go anywhere, Rainbow Dash, you might want to avoid trying to fly." She advised.

The rainbow maned Pegasus in question grumbled in annoyance and walked alongside her friends through the snow. "Do you know where you're going egghead?" She asked, slightly shivering.

"The Capital is straight ahead from the train stop, so as long as we keep moving, we should reach the city." Twilight replied, not bothering to say anything about the nickname.

The blizzard quickly picked up speed and Applejack walked quickly until she was next to Twilight where she then walked the same speed as her unicorn friend. "Twi, do ya know what we are dealing with?" She asked, loud enough for the others to hear.

"I don't know what exactly we are dealing with yet!" She replied, in the same level of volume as her friend. "There shouldn't be anything to deal with if we are lucky!" She added.

______*The Crystal Castle.*______

Dark Spyro walked through the corridors with Sunset, they had won their battle with the chefs who were unconscious in the now damaged kitchen, after Dark Spyro got angry, he abandoned cover all together and charged directly at them drawing all their fire, allowing Sunset to finish them off, and they were now exploring the other path from the dining room, there were no doors, no split off halls, and no windows along the dark passage, just an eerie feeling of being watched as the two walked.

"Creepy." Sunset remarked when they saw an ominous looking crystal carving on the wall, they couldn't make out the exact shape but it resembled an eye from what little they could see, as any light they produced was snuffed quickly.

Dark Spyro nodded in agreement, they walked for a couple minutes and soon reached a door, they opened it and they both groaned in aggravation, they were just at the door to the right of the giant one at top of the stairs, they quickly headed down the stairs and walked to one of the two remaining doors. "It didn't even feel like we were going up." The dragon remarked.

_____*The outskirts of the Crystal Capital.*______

Twilight screamed in fear as she ran with her brother Shining Armor and her friends, she found that his horn was blocked off with some kind of crystal they couldn't do anything about and they were quickly attacked by a massive of wall of shadows with a dark unicorn's face at the top of it.

They ran as fast as they could from the wall of shadow and they soon spotted a massive pink shield that was domed over a massive city, Twilight found herself relieved as she sped up to get under the shield, she looked over her shoulder and saw that the wall was a lot closer than it used to be and she screamed again, her running got faster and faster as she tried to get away from the wall of shadows, it was only then that she heard Spike who was screaming in fear, and Twilight found herself wondering just how long she failed to notice he was there.

The group of eight were lucky, as they ran past a pair of giant pink crystals they also ran into the shield, the wall of shadows rammed into the shield and roared in fury as it bashed away at the shield, intent on getting inside, Twilight's panicked breathing slowly steadied and she heard her brother talk. "It's okay, we're safe.......as safe as we can be anyway, we need to hurry, Cadence is waiting on us." He said, not bothering to wait as he headed for the capital.

Twilight slowly followed her friends and her brother to the city all the while she heard Spike talking. "What was that? that was scary!" He remarked, and Twilight found that she wholeheartedly agreed, and that she never had to face that thing again.

Twilight felt Spike hop down and walk next to her, he looked at her with concern and worry all over his expression. "Twilight? are you alright?" The baby dragon asked.

"I'll be alright......I hope." She replied shakily.

_____*The Crystal Castle.*______

Dark Spyro sighed to himself as he walked to one of the doors next to the stairs with Sunset, the two doors on the left side of the large room were connected to a large meeting room with nothing inside of it, he placed his claw on it and pushed, the door didn't open so he tried to pull, again nothing, he grumbled in annoyance.

Sunset rolled her eyes and her horn lit up, she cast an unlocking spell on the door but to her surprise it didn't work, she tried a few more different versions of the spell but to no avail. "I guess we need a key for this door, and probably the other one too." She pointed out.

Dark Spyro nodded in understanding, he decided against trying to break it down because if the door had spells on it to prevent getting around the lock, then there was probably a reason for it and it would stand to reason that there would be a few spells to prevent it from being broken.

Sunset Shimmer and Dark Spyro walked to the giant stair and headed up, they walked right up to the massive doors and pushed it open, the door opened with surprising ease and Dark Spyro went in first, he looked around and saw that it was the throne room they had entered, there was an elegant red and purple carpet leading up to the throne itself.

The throne was impressive, it was made of various crystals and gems, while it had two large black crystals imbedded into the back of it, there were rows of pillars on both sides of the room, helping to support the weight of the high ceiling and giving the room some extra flair, Dark Spyro walked towards the throne itself and felt that a dark presence was strong in that particular spot. "What are you doing? there's nothing here." Sunset stated.

The unicorn was right, there were no doors, no other paths and no obvious secrets, Dark Spyro did not care though as he walked up the steps to the throne and stared at the black crystals. "There's a lot of dark magic here, it's strong." He said.

"Yea I know, but it's not stronger than what I'm sensing from you." Sunset Shimmer said, making the dragon look at her, he nodded and walked down the steps from the throne. "If anything, it's incredible that you are still sane with all the dark magic you have." The unicorn said as they left the throne room a few moments later.

Dark Spyro looked to his left and saw another door, it was just as delicately carved as the others and had seven crystals embedded into it. "I wonder what's behind that door." He said before walking over to it.

"Well, if I'm not mistaken that leads to the royal gem cutters workshop, the books claim he was the best gem enchanter in the world, and that none could enter without his consent.......aside from the rulers of course." Sunset explained.

Dark Spyro nodded as he approached the door, he placed a claw on the door and he felt a strange presence on the other side. "Do you sense that?" He asked. "It feels like someone is on the other side." He said.

Sunset walked up and placed a hoof on the door, she soon shook her head. "I don't feel anything, it must be a dark magic thing." She replied before removing her hoof.

Dark Spyro sighed. "Alright, let's go." He said, he walked with Sunset to the other side of the upstairs, having already explored the other door on this side, the dragon opened his wings up and flew towards the door, with a smirk, Sunset's horn lit up and she teleported to the door and waited for Dark Spyro who flew up quickly.

They opened the door and saw that it went upstairs, they closed the door. "Search the rest of this floor first?" Sunset suggested, at Dark Spyro's nod, they walked to one of the other two doors on this side, the first one they walked up to had a carving of yet another species that Dark Spyro didn't recognize, but he decided not to ask as he opened the door......or so he thought, it didn't budge and when Sunset tried her unlocking spell, the door cracked in half and the two backed away, Sunset towards the stairs and Dark Spyro to the other door.

The door rumbled loudly and then just like before, cracked in half again, only this time the door was promptly crushed as a large pile of rubble flowed out and covered the walkway, effectively blocking them from that pathway. "So.....That was something." Sunset stated.

"Yea, it was." Dark Spyro said, Sunset promptly teleported across and the two walked to the next door, carved into this door was a creature that they were both very familiar with, a dragon was carved into this door and Dark Spyro took a deep breath, he placed a hand on the door and pushed, the door opened and he walked inside, Sunset followed him and lit her horn for light.

The room they entered was quiet large, and it seemed that it connected to the other door as they saw that the ceiling had collapsed, with a large stone beam that was jammed against the door somehow, the rest of the room was sparse of decoration or luxury, it held many bunk beds and footlockers, some were intact while the rest were broken, it was clear as to what this was, but Sunset made mention of it anyway. "The servants quarters, I imagine that behind the rubble is another room just like this one." She said with surety.

"It seems likely, alright, let's head up to the next level." Dark Spyro said, he headed to the door and he heard Sunset huff behind him, he looked back and saw her annoyed expression on her face.

"Who made you the leader here?" She asked with a raised eyebrow. "Also, if you aren't going to acknowledge anything I'm telling you, don't go telling me what to do." She added, clearly annoyed at him for how he was behaving.

Dark Spyro nodded and looked out of the room, checking for any guards that may have heard the collapse, thankfully there was none. "I'm sorry, look, I really do appreciate any information you give me, it does mean a lot and I'm sorry I never thanked you for it, and as for me acting like I'm the leader........your right, I'm not a leader, so what do you think we should do?" He asked, a little amusement in his voice at the end.

Sunset blinked, clearly not expecting the response, she soon sighed. "Let's go to the next level." She said, annoyed that Dark Spyro was amused by the fact that the only real option was to go up a level, as they made their way to the door to go up, Sunset found herself watching the dragon with interest. 'He didn't have to say any of that, he could have just said that there was no other option and that was it......so why did he say any of that?' She pondered as the dragon opened the door and headed up the stairs.

______*The Crystal Capital.*_____

Twilight walked with her friends, Shining Armor and Spike up to the castle and they saw Cadence standing in front of the castle, the Alicorns horn was lit and she looked exhausted, Twilight decided against their usual greeting for once as they walked up, Cadence smiled when she spotted her and walked over.

The two hugged for a short moment before Cadence stepped back to breathe. "It's good to see you all, I would greet you all properly but most of my energy is put into the shield." She explained, her ragged breathing made it difficult for her to speak properly.

Shining Armor spoke up next. "That thing has been after us and the city ever since we got here, we haven't been able to do much else aside from send our guards with a message to Princess Celestia for help." He explained checking the shields for signs of the shadows.

"When did that happen to your horn?" Rarity asked out of curiosity, while also worried about what it did.

Shining sighed and looked up at his horn. "After we first arrived, whatever that thing is did this to my horn and now I can't use magic, I haven't even considered getting it off, the risk is way too great to even try." He stated firmly, looking at the six mares and dragon again.

Twilight looked around and saw quite a few sullen looking ponies walking around or looking at them. "Those are the citizens right?" She asked, she had to admit it to herself, but they looked horrible, terrified beyond measure and seemingly unwilling to go near them.

"Yea, poor things are too scared to go far from their house, and that's just counting the ones that WILL leave their homes." Shining Armor stated. "But with the ponies here too scared to do anything, we have no way of mounting any form of defense aside from Cadence's shield." He explained.

Twilight tapped her chin. "Well, from what I read, hope and love were quite literally the strongest defense of the Crystal Empire, so if we can show the ponies here that there is hope and that they don't have to be afraid of King Sombra anymore, we might be able to defend ourselves." She explained.

Shining nodded. "Well, do what you can, if you need any ideas, there should be a library in the castle." He said, making Twilight's ears perk up at the mention of a library.

Twilight nodded quickly and looked at her friends. "Girls, can you see if you can convince the ponies here that everything will be alright? I'm going to see if I can find a way to defeat that wall of shadow." She asked, when her friends nodded and told her that they would try, she hurried inside, with Spike following close behind.

Twilight quickly entered the castle and pushed her way past the entry door, she entered the room with a giant staircase and looked around in awe, she was frozen momentarily as she stared at the architecture. "Twilight, the library?" Spike said, reminding the unicorn of why they were here while he climbed onto her back.

Twilight shook her head clear and chose a door at random, she walked to the door on the right closer to the stairs, she stepped through it and walked down the pathway, it took a little bit until they reached what appeared to be a dining room with a very large and long table in the center, with a black crystal chair at one end, there was a door behind the intimidating chair and one to the far off wall, hurrying, Twilight went for the far off hall, knowing from experience that old castles seldom made sense in their design.

Twilight walked through the door and entered a short hallway, she quickly reached the end of the hall and entered what appeared to be a kitchen, she immediately noticed something wrong with the kitchen, as in the numerous dents and holes in the walls, there were also many scorch marks on the other end of the room and a few of the counters have deep claw marks in them. "What.....happened here? this can't have been a cooking incident." Spike said in horror as he climbed down.

Twilight looked around and found a few loose red and yellow hairs on the ground, she bent down by the damaged refrigerator and noticed the many dents and blast marks on the door. "There was a battle here, a pyromancer for certain, maybe a couple of unicorns untrained in element magic, and if I'm not mistaken, a young dragon." She stated, going off the clues she saw.

"Twilight......can we go? this is disturbing." Spike asked worryingly as he climbed back onto her back.

The unicorn looked at the dragon and nodded. "Yea, we should find the library." She said as she walked to the hall to leave the kitchen.

______*The Crystal Capital, half an hour later.*______

"Twilight, this isn't going to fool them, they know what the real one looks like." Rarity stated, pointing out the obvious.

The six mares and baby dragon stood around a covered up object, said object was a very crude fake of the Crystal Heart, the artifact which protected the Capital with a powerful shield powered by the positive emotions of all within the city.

"It's necessary for the plan to work Rarity, if the ponies of the Crystal Empire are to be free, they need to believe that the heart has been found and returned, the Crystal Fair is just what they need to help spark that hope, if we are lucky, this will buy me enough time to find the real Crystal Heart and return it before they learn the truth." Twilight stated, she hated lying, but given the circumstances it was better to at least withhold the truth from these ponies until the time was right.

"Your wasting your time." A young sounding voice said from nearby.

Twilight and the five mares looked in the direction of the voice and saw a young looking Pegasus filly who had ruby eyes and shared the dull crystal coat of the rest of the ponies. "What do you mean we're wasting our time?" Rainbow questioned, flying over a little.

"You can't keep these ponies from learning the truth forever, they will want to see the heart and won't stop trying to see it until finally-" She didn't finish her sentence, as it was obvious what she meant.

Twilight walked over and knelt down. "I'm Twilight Sparkle, and this is Spike." She introduced, herself and the dragon on her back.

The filly's eyes widened and for a brief second her coat shined brightly, she then looked right at Twilght's eyes. "If your looking for the Crystal Heart and you happen to find Spyro.....please tell him hurry." She pleaded.

Twilight blinked at the mention of the name, but nodded anyway. "What's your name?" She asked quietly.

"Cosmo." The Pegasus stated with a small smile before walking away.

Twilight looked at the other girls and walked over. "She's right, but we can't give up, I'll start searching right away, here." She levitated a book over to Rarity. "This has the details on the crystal Fair, do what you can but don't let them lose hope." She stated before charging inside.

"Twilight! do you have any idea where your going?" Spike asked as he held on, unsure of what they were doing.

The unicorn shook her head as she entered the main room. "Nope, but I have a good hunch that what I'm looking for is at the top somewhere!" She stated as she ran as quickly as she could up the stairs.

"There has to be a better way to go about this Twilight!" Spike declared when they reached the top, just then a loud crash shook the castle and Spike held on tight. "Then again, speed is good!" He added quickly.

______*The Crystal Castle upper level.*______

Twilight Sparkle exited the stairs and found herself in a small curved room with four doors, three doors were in front of her, with one on a walkway that went from the far side of the room, all the way to the left and around a curved wall to the small stair next to the unicorn.

Spike hopped down and looked at the three bottom doors, one had a red glow to it, one had a gray glow to it, and the third had green and purple smoke flowing from it. "What's this all about?" He wondered as he reached for the red glowing door, only to be pulled away by Twilight's magic.

"Don't get close to the doors, I'll go through them, stay here and keep an eye out." Twilight ordered as she approached the door with the telltale smoke of dark magic, she reached out to touch and only for the door to throw itself open and screaming could be heard coming closer, she flinched away and soon enough something flew out and collided with Twilight, knocking her to the ground and making her groan in pain.

She heard a male voice speak and a female voice groan that wasn't her or Spike, she heard a voice speak. "Ugh......me no gusta those doors." The voice said. 'What in the world is gusta?' Twilight wondered as she felt whatever was on top of her get lighter.....and then get off, she slowly forced herself to get up and shook her head clear of its light headedness.

"Ok, that's those three doors, one to go." A female voice said, making Twilight finally look at what landed on her and her eyes widened upon seeing an orange unicorn mare with fiery red and yellow hair, teal eyes and a cutie mark of a red and yellow sun.

But what really began to freak Twilight out was there there was a dragon in the room in front of the mare, he stood at the same height as Twilight and the mare, his twin silver horns on his head that curved back and up made him overall taller if only a little, now, ever since the incident with the red dragon at the top of the mountain near Ponyville, Twilight had a newer fear of dragons other than Spike, and what scared her the most about this particular dragon was that he was a black dragon, which were rumored to not exist.

Twilight's panic quickly built up and her breathing was rapid for a second before she started to scream in terror, the black dragon swiftly flew up and clamped his hand over her mouth and stared at her with intense red eyes, he growled and spoke. "Shut up!" He snapped. "Now.....quietly, who are you and what are you doing here?" He questioned in a dangerous tone of voice as he removed his hand from her mouth.

Twilight thought she saw her life flash before her eyes when the dragon spoke, she was trembling in fear and she was almost at a loss for words. "I-I-I'm........T-Twilight Sparkle.......I'm...h-here t-to find the Crystal Heart and d-defeat King Sombra." She said shakily completely forgetting she could use magic.

The dragon stared at her questioningly for a moment before the mare spoke. "When was the Summer Sun Celebration held?" She asked.

Twilight blinked at the random question but fear of the dragon's anger made her answer. "The.......thousandth." She answered.

The dragon glanced back at the mare who sighed, seemingly in relief. "That's good........really good." She muttered, before the mare could say anything, the dragon looked right at Twilight, staring her in the eye. "Who sent you here?" He asked, in a more calm tone this time.

Twilight gulped and felt something rising in her throat, she decided that it was best to simply answer the dragon and hope for the best. "Princess Celestia.....she sent me." She replied.

At the mere mention of who sent her, the dragon released Twilight and backed up. "Sorry about that, but I couldn't take any chances." The dragon stated. "I'm Dark Spyro, this is Sunset Shimmer." He said, introducing the two of them and making Twilight look at the dragon with an idea in her mind. "I wonder." She whispered. "Do you happen to know a Pegasus filly named Cosmo?" She asked.

Dark Spyro looked at Twilight with a surprised expression. "Why?" He asked, now wary again, the unicorn quickly answered him, partially out of fear and mostly out of wanting to do the right thing. "She came to us and the rest of our group and asked us to tell you to hurry if we found you." She explained quickly.

The dragon paused for a moment and then sighed. "I told her not to leave the house until I got back." He muttered before looking at Spike who stared at him in awe. "And who's he?" He asked.

Spike quickly snapped out of it and spoke. "I'm Spike!" He answered proudly, and just how he answered the question seemed to bring a smile to Dark Spyro's face. "Well, we seem to have somewhat similar goals in mind, what do you say we go through the last door together?" The mare, Sunset Shimmer suggested.

"What about the other doors?" Twilight asked.

Dark Spyro sighed and shook his head. "Trust me, you don't want to go through those, the only thing that's behind those doors are memories, bad ones that seem designed to torture you." He replied with a slight shudder.

"The only door in this castle we haven't searched is this last one." Sunset said, pointing at the door a level up. "And to answer a question I'm going to guess you'll ask, no, we haven't seen any Crystal Heart." She stated.

With that said, Twilight waited as Spike climbed onto her back and she headed up the stairs, she watched as Sunset teleported up to the next level and waited as Dark Spyro flew up and landed.

When they were all up at the door, Dark Spyro opened the door and headed inside, followed by Sunset and then Twilight and Spike, the lavender unicorn was reluctant to trust these two, but she had little choice as they seemed eager to see what was behind the door, and judging by the hair she found in the kitchen, she had to assume that Sunset was a pyromancer, which would make it difficult if not impossible to defeat considering her skill set.

What they found in the last room was surprising, and exactly what Twilight was looking for, the Crystal Heart floated in the room on a pedestal, the room itself was circular and bare save for the very important artifact, Twilight was so eager however, to see the heart returned to the people that she rushed ahead regardless of the warnings she was given by the others and grabbed it in her magic, almost instantly the room shook violently and the ceiling collapsed.

While this was happening, Twilight quickly shielded Spike from the collapsing ceiling and waited for it to end, it did end a minute later, and when she opened her eyes, Twilight discovered that she was trapped behind a ring of black crystals and that her horn had been covered in the same strange crystal as her brother. "Is everypony alright?" She called out looking at the rubble for the two others.

Soon enough a pile of rubble was blasted off with teal magic and both Sunset and Spyro crawled out. "THAT, is precisely why we do NOT touch the obvious traps class." The dragon said, though what sounded to be mockery came off as anger.

Sunset walked up to the ring of crystals and tried to blast them away with her magic, but they wouldn't break or budge, she sighed. "The hole is big enough for Spike to get through, but you are stuck until we find a way to get you out short of breaking the floor under your feet." Sunset stated.

Twilight felt her heart sink at the mention of this, but she didn't have the strength to speak as Spike tested Sunset's theory and crawled out and in a few times. "I......I'm so sorry." Twilight said, realizing that her eagerness was the cause of all of this. "I just, I didn't want to fail." She stated quietly as she looked at the Crystal Heart.

Another loud crash shook the castle and they all looked in the direction it came from and Twilight's eyes widened at what she saw, she watched as the giant shield wavered and quickly fell, followed by the wall of shadow flowing into the city, rapidly approaching the Castle many black crystals shot up throughout the city and quiet a few seemed to hit the castle. "We need to get Twilight out quick! we have to get out of here!" Spike shouted in panic.

"Sombra." Dark Spyro growled when he saw a black unicorn with a matching mane and tail appeared in front of the shadow wall, riding a rapidly approaching crystal towards the castle, his eyes held the same black and green smoke and his eyes themselves were red, his horn was red and made of some kind of crystal. "You three figure something out, I have a bone to pick with the king." Dark Spyro said as he flew off to meet the dark King in battle.

Sunset groaned. "Damnit." She looked at Twilight who seemed to have come to the same conclusion. "We don't have time." She said, Twilight nodded and quickly heaved the Crystal Heart over her crystal cell. "Spike, take the heart." Twilight said.

"What? NO! I won't leave you here!" Spike said defiantly, he still grabbed the heart as Twilight gave it to him. "You need to do this! Celestia's test!" He protested.

Sunset looked at Twilight briefly with interest, before the mare spoke louder. "I don't care! get the heart to where the crystal ponies can see it! I NEED you to do this!" Twilight snapped.

Spike stared for a second or two before reluctantly running for the door to take the heart to the pedestal. "Sunset, can you please watch over him? he needs to get the heart to the ponies or we're all doomed." Twilight asked.

Sunset looked to Sombra and saw that the king and Dark Spyro had begun to fight. "Spyro will buy Spike all the time he needs, I'm going to get you out of there." She stated, before Twilight could object she continued. "Besides, as a former student of Celestia, I'm not exactly easy to convince." She stated, stunning Twilight before she channeled magic into her horn, she then released a precise fiery beam from her horn and aimed at the floor around one of the black crystals.

______*The Crystal Capital*_______

Dark Spyro landed on the roof of a tall building and spat a fireball at where Sombra's crystal wave would have been, the fireball missed when Sombra halted his advance and spotted the dragon, a twisted grin formed on the unicorns face. "After all these years, you finally show your face, well then." The crystal wave lowered itself to Dark Spyro's level and the unicorn grinned madly. "Can't have a dragon threatening my rule can I?" He said to himself as his horn lit up in black and green smoke, a fiery cone erupted from his horn and flew towards the dragon.

Dark Spyro dodged the attack and took to the air, he breathed a fireball at the unicorn King and then breathed deep, Sombra easily blocked the fireball with a crystal shield and only smirked when he saw what Spyro was doing, he lowered the shield and fired a magical blast of black and green smoke at the dragon only for Dark Spyro to channel some magic to his breath which immediately took the smirk off of Sombra's face which was replaced by actual concern, he quickly formed a shield that he began to reinforce as quickly as he could.

The fire breath that Dark Spyro unleashed was of purple color and was massive in scale, he let out a roar when he did so and it reverberated through the city, the flames crashed into Sombra's magical attack and pushed on with ease, the flames slammed the continually thickening shield and threatened to break the crystals no matter how many there were, Spyro soon lost his breath and ceased, he quickly flew in after the fire, using it as cover.

Sombra felt the flames cease and he lowered the shield so he could attack, only for him to meet a dragons claw turned fist to the face, he gagged and recoiled from the force of the strike, but before he could retaliate, he was attacked again, this time it felt like a body slam, he found himself falling to the ground and swiftly formed a large black crystal platform that he landed on, somewhat softening his fall, he quickly charged a spell and unleashed it, and almost instantly, several dozens of black crystals shot out of the ground from everywhere, threatening to impale anything.

Due to the innaccuracy of the spell, Sombra was forced to looked around for his opponent, he soon spotted the dragon flying towards him, he quickly thrust a large spike of black crystal out and it seemed to impale the dragon, he grinned. "No dragon can defeat me foolish youngling." He taunted, only for his eyes to widen as he watched Dark Spyro fly straight towards him again, not a single injury was seen. "Impossible!" King Sombra ignited his horn and unleashed a mighty torrent of dark magic at the dragon, but it seemed to have little effect, his eyes widened at this and before he could raise himself any higher or form a shield, the dragon collided with a mighty punch, he recoiled again and growled.

Dark Spyro quickly landed and lunged forward, his fist connected to King Sombra's face and the unicorn fell to the ground this time, the king tried to impale him again but it formed in the wrong direction, Dark Spyro used the newest black crystal spike to his advantage, he ran up the spike and when he reached the very top he lept off it, his horns crackled in power as he channeled almost all of his magic into his fist, a furiously crackling amount of energy coalesced and when he struck Sombra with this strike, he couldn't help but shout. "THUNDERSTRIKE!"

The name was fitting for what happened, for as soon as Dark Spyro's fist connected to Sombra, a massive pillar of lightning struck from the heavens, breaking straight through the dark crystals and striking the dark King with the force of multiple lightning bolts, as well as kicking up a massive cloud of crystal dust.

Dark Spyro quickly flew away and landed on the roof of an intact building, he breathed heavily and collapsed from exhaustion. "That.......was awesome." He chuckled and looked at his claw. "I am Dark Spyro after all, don't underestimate me." He said, resting his claw on his chest.

Just then, a massive wave of pink colored energy burst from the direction of the castle, and the black dragon smiled as he forced himself to stand up, he winced at the pain his now sore muscles felt, he watched as all the dark crystals seemed to disintegrate into thin air, he watched as the shadow wall vanished into nothingness and Sombra cried out in pain before his body became shadow, which soon dissipated just like the massive wall of shadow, he smiled and looked to the castle.

Dark Spyro spread his wings and took off, he flew towards the castle, thankful that his wings weren't very sore, all around him, everything seemed to rebuild itself, homes repaired in seconds, rubble became buildings and then another pulse was sent out from the heart which was shining brilliantly, and with this one came a city of cheering citizens, he watched as all the citizens gained crystal skin that shined brightly and even seven mares and a baby dragon gained shining crystal skin, he paused and looked at his claw, seeing that he too had gained this crystal overhaul.

Dark Spyro chuckled at the strangeness of this land, but decided that for now, he could somewhat relax, even though his body, eyes and magic were strained, he never felt more alive, he landed close to two mares that he easily identified as Sunset and Twilight, he didn't fail to notice the shock on the faces of the other five mares and the fear of one of them in particular, but he chose not to mention it as he watched Spike get hoisted into the air by the citizens and he heard the word savior a few times, he smiled. "Yea, that's totally going to go to his head." He commented.

"How are you holding up Dark Spyro?" Sunset asked after walking over, the dragon simply shrugged. "As good as can be expected considering I haven't slept for about week or two, or if you think about it, a thousand years." He joked. "I'm starting to see why dragons sleep so much." He added.

"Spyro!" A young voice very familiar to the dragon said, he looked over at the source and smiled as he watched Cosmo run over to him, she hugged him tightly and whispered. "I know where they are.......we can free them.....we can." The filly said happily.

Dark Spyro pulled away from the hug and nodded at the filly. "Good, we can go as soon as your ready." He replied, he said nothing as Cosmo quickly hopped onto his back.

"You know, sparkling like crystal and having a filly on your back, you are a lot less intimidating that way." Sunset teased.

Dark Spyro rolled his eyes. "Thanks for that, anyway, we have to be going......got a family to save after all." He replied before turning around to walk off.

"Wait a minute." Twilight's voice said, the dragon looked over his shoulder at her and saw that her horn no longer had the crystals in it. "I know I screwed up, but I want to help, let me come with you, I heard what you said and I think you might need some help." She said.

Dark Spyro thought about denying her instantly, but when he saw the look of determination in her eyes, he couldn't help but be reminded of his friend. "Alright, but this time we do things my way, no rushing ahead." He stated, also factoring in his exhaustion and now depleted magic.

Sunset walked over and gave Dark Spyro an annoyed stare. "Were you seriously going to leave me behind? shame on you."
She said, indicating that she was going, whether the dragon liked it or not.

Dark Spyro sighed and turned to face Sunset. "I wasn't planning on putting anyone else at risk, but since you insist you can come along." He stated, not sounding bothered at all, which he really wasn't even though the mare annoyed him more than Kaos......and that was saying something.

Twilight looked at the dragon. "I just need to tell my friends I'll be back later and to keep an eye on Spike, I'm sure they'll understand." She said, walking over to the five mares.

Dark Spyro looked at Sunset who had a smirk on her face. "What?" He asked, not liking where the smirk was coming from.

"Nothing." Sunset said with mirth. "I just realized that your little adventure here is coming to an end, with King Sombra gone, I doubt anything in this land can actually fight you." She stated.

While Dark Spyro knew that Sunset felt she was right, he wasn't concerned about anything from this land fighting him, he was far more concerned about what would happen if his former friends found him, assuming they were still alive.

When Twilight walked back over she spoke. "Alright, let's go." She stated. "But do you mind if I ask a few questions as we go?"

"No problem." Dark Spyro said as he turned around and began walking in the direction that Cosmo pointed in, he may feel completely exhausted, but he couldn't let his body rest until he saved Silver and Garnet, only then would he try to rest at all.

Fulfilling a promise.

View Online

______*The Crystal Empire.*_______

The city was in a state of celebration with the defeat of King Sombra, all over the citizens spoke of Spike the Savior, he who returned the Crystal Heart to the people and banished the Dark King forever, as the people celebrated, a small group of four made their way to where many slaves were being held to save them from their captivity.

Dark Spyro, a black dragon who was physically strained far beyond his limit, Twilight Sparkle, a lavender unicorn mare who vowed to make up for her mistake, Sunset Shimmer, an orange unicorn mare turned human turned unicorn that wants to help her friend fulfill his promise, and Cosmo, a young Crystal Pegasus filly that wants to save her family.

The four were an odd group to be certain, but the people of the Crystal Empire didn't seem to care as they celebrated their freedom, by way of song, dance, partying or just quietly enjoying the knowledge that the tyrant was finally defeated, but as they celebrated and cheered the name of Spike, Twilight looked at Dark Spyro, whose calm and determined expression made her wonder if he even cared that he wasn't getting any credit for defeating King Sombra, so she decided to ask him while they were still going in the direction Cosmo said to go. "Dark Spyro?.....aren't you a little annoyed that nopony is giving you any credit?" She asked, the tone of voice she used showed that she was just curious, not trying to start anything.

"Normally I would be, given the fact that I risked my life on it, but honestly I have a bad habit of letting fame and my own ego get the best of me." The dragon replied. "So no, I really couldn't care who the credit goes to." He added, and while he was sure that he would have surprised someone else with that reply, he found that he surprised himself the most, and he had to admit it was interesting at the very least.

Cosmo smiled while she rode on the dragons back, she looked at Twilight and then at Sunset, before focusing on where they were going, she pointed Dark Spyro and the mares in the right direction which was down an alley that entered onto another street and she pointed them in the right direction from there, it seemed that Dark Spyro understood where they were going but said nothing as they walked, soon enough the filly spoke up about something that interested her. "Hey miss Twilight." She said, looking at the lavender unicorn. "Why do you keep glancing at Dark Spyro?" She asked out of genuine curiosity.

Twilight blinked in surprise to the question. "Well I, I just......I mean, no I.....why....." She clearly struggled to find the right words and Sunset thankfully came to her rescue, speaking up at the best time to prevent any confusion.

"It's very simple Cosmo, Dark Spyro is a black dragon, which in Equestria are rumored to be a myth, Twilight here just doesn't know how to approach him about that." Sunset said, summing up what Twilight wanted to reply with very easily, and then smirking. "That or she's into dragons." She added, clearly amused while the unicorn in question stammered and blushed, unable to form words in her defense.

Cosmo peeked over Dark Spyro's neck and saw him barely containing his own laughter, she raised an eyebrow at this, wondering what the dragon found to be so funny, but she said nothing else on the matter, simply pointing them in the right direction, but she decided to ask later, after her family was safe.

It took a few minutes of silence for Twilight to finally calm down, and as they walked, she noticed that the crystal skin was fading on herself, Sunset and Dark Spyro, but she did notice that it faded especially fast from Dark Spyro, for as soon as it started to fade on him it practically went away all together, so as they walked, Twilight decided to ask the dragon a few questions, or even just one. "So, can I ask you something Dark Spyro?" She asked.

"Sure thing." The dragon replied, his tone revealed that he was fine with it, but he did seem a little passive.

Twilight took a breath and then spoke after letting her breath out. "What's your home like?" She asked curiously and with patience, figuring that she might as well learn some about dragons while she was at it, while at the same time not willing to anger the dragon.

"The Skylands are a good place, when they are at peace that is." The dragon began, Twilight raised an eyebrow at his statement, not recognizing the name of his home at all. "As the name implies, it's in the sky, the lands are mostly islands of varying sizes and importance, but it can be very difficult to find your way if you get lost, mostly because they are infinite." Dark Spyro sighed as he seemed to remember something. "Trust me, being lost in an infinite sky is not fun." He added.

"How can they be infinite? it's basically impossible considering how planets work." Twilight stated, trying to understand Dark Spyro's logic, but having a hard time with it.

The dragon chuckled as he followed Cosmo's directions. "That's what Redding the Explorer said, he flew straight in one direction for years, with breaks and stops of course, but he never found a familiar landmark, he eventually returned ten years later and declared his attempt a failure." He replied. "So yea, I think it's safe to say the Skylands are infinite." He added with an amused smile on his face that he refused to show Twilight.

Before Twilight could reply, Cosmo spoke up. "That way!" She declared, pointing out towards the frozen plains, Dark Spyro shrugged and walked to where the filly pointed, not even questioning her directions.

Sunset however did speak up as they walked, curious about something that she actually felt a little stupid for not asking sooner. "Hey Cosmo, where is your family at exactly?" She asked, the filly looked at her, her expression saddened and her crystal coat grew a little duller.

"The slave mines." She said sadly, the tone she used made both Twilight and Sunset look at each other with sympathy for the filly, their Crystal coats faded completely and Sunset looked at the filly who was clearly putting on a brave face despite the circumstances, Sunset found herself impressed with the filly for being able to do this, to go with them and help them rather than hide and hope that her friend saved her family, and as she observed the filly, for a moment Sunset saw part of herself in the Pegasus, the refusal to give up was something that Sunset was noticing.

Dark Spyro kept quiet as he walked, feeling that he really didn't have anything to say, not without sounding like a total sap of course, so instead he kept quiet and kept his focus on the destination, he was thankful that his magic was replenished, if only by a little, so he felt that if it came down to it, he should be able to fight back, but part of him knew that he would have too fight, even if he absolutely did not want to fight in his condition.

The rest of the walk to the Slave Mines was quiet with none in the group speaking up save for Cosmo occasionally pointing them in the right direction, while also stating that she had found it earlier when she snuck away from the city, and while the expression on Dark Spyro's face told her that he was disappointed with her for doing so, he was also grateful for finding them in general.

Eventually after a half hour of walking, the group of four reached the place where the entrance to the Slave mines was located, the place in question was an old wooden fort, the walls were in serious disrepair and the place seemed to be abandoned, there were holes in the walls showing that there was a rampart that someone could stand on, the walls were about twelve feet high with spikes going up an extra foot from the walkways, the gate itself were two large wooden doors that were just barely connected by rusted metal hinges and was missing the lower and center pieces on each door.

"This is the place." Cosmo said, gulping as she physically shivered on Dark Spyro's back, she took a few deep breaths as the group moved forward and she spoke up again when they entered the fort. "The entrance to the mines is in that mostly intact building, the one that's furthest away from the gate." The filly explained nervously.

Dark Spyro looked around the fort, searching for any signs of recent activity or life, there were four buildings in the fort, the first of them was missing half of its front wall and roof which revealed a couple long tables with bench seats, showing that this building was a mess hall, it was the first building on the left and stood eight feet high.

The first building on the right was mostly intact, the wood was rotten and warped, showing that the structure was ready to collapse at any moment, there was a more recent sign saying 'Keep Out' in front of it, the group agreed that it would have been a decent spot to hide the entrance to the Slave Mines but according to Cosmo, the only thing in there was a rotten desk, chair, and some old cabinets, before any of them could ask how she knew this, she claimed that she got a glimpse of it while searching for the Mines, it stood about seven feet high.

The second building on the right was nothing more than a pile of rubble, which collapsed when Cosmo arrived to search the place, according to the filly it looked like it used to be the sleeping quarters for the soldiers stationed here, it was also about the same height as the condemned building, as Cosmo talked Sunset Shimmer found herself doubting the odds of finding the family or anyone else alive down in the Mines, but she kept these thoughts to herself as to not hurt the filly or the dragon of the group.

The last building was the second on the left, it was in decent condition, the roof was missing but the walls still stood, it looked as though it were only six feet high when the roof was on, the door to the building was crushed, as though someone had blasted through it with a strong enough spell or charged straight through with their body, they couldn't find anything at first glance so they were unable to find anything, Cosmo said that building seemed to be an armory judging by the weapons and armor on the inside, she also said that the entrance to the Mines was just behind the building, out of plain sight but easily accessible.

Dark Spyro took a moment to blink a few times and stretch before heading towards the entrance that Cosmo mentioned, as he walked he heard Twilight and Sunset talking a little as they walked. "I wonder what this fort was protecting." Twilight pondered as she looked around the fort.

"Probably the Mines, back when the Crystal Empire was and wasn't ruled by Sombra." Sunset theorized. "But right now, it's probably better that we worry about the present instead of the past, we can theorize all we want when we leave." She stated, clearly showing that she didn't want to be caught off guard should any soldiers loyal to Sombra be down in the Mines.

Dark Spyro nodded his head in agreement. "Alright, we should all be quiet until we know for certain we can speak freely." He stated, looking over his shoulder and seeing that Twilight and Sunset nodded, while Cosmo gave a short smile, with them all in agreement they went silent as they made their way around the wooden building, finding that the back and side walls were slightly rotten.

Cosmo climbed down off Dark Spyro's back and walked over to a cellar door which was between the wall and the building, giving five feet of space in either direction, it was an odd thing for a fort to have, but when she pointed at it they knew exactly what it was, an entrance to the Slave Mines, it was in great condition with no rot or decay on its surface, there was a large magical seal on the door, preventing access to the Mines.

Twilight lit her horn up with magic and the cellar door lit up with the same purple aura, within seconds the magical lock broke, the symbol disappeared into nothingness and the door opened slowly and quietly, allowing the four to enter the Mines to search for Cosmo's family.

Looking down into the Mines they saw only blackness, the furthest they could see was a stone pathway right inside the door, Sunset lit her horn up and headed in first, dimly illuminating the dark path with her teal aura, Dark Spyro followed in next, followed by Cosmo and then Twilight, as they walked down the path deeper into the Mines, Sunset and Twilight were the only sources of light to be found anywhere, for not a single torch lay on the walls or the floor.

The walls were dusty and clearly made of stone, they were held up by sturdy looking wooden beams that were right up against the walls, because of the dim lights, none of them could make out any specific details on the walls, the walk was silent as they headed deeper and deeper.

Dark Spyro felt unease as he walked through these dark and empty halls, he felt an oppressive aura hanging in the air and he was about to speak up when he heard a clang further ahead, the group stopped and listened, another clang sounded through the halls and was followed by a quieter one, they walked forward with caution, Sunset and Twilight dimmed their magic until they could just barely see where they were going,

They rounded a dark corner and saw light up ahead, Sunset's horn stopped glowing and Twilight's soon followed, they moved as quietly as they could until they reached the end of their wall, Sunset looked at Dark Spyro and motioned for him to look ahead, the dragon nodded and switched places with Sunset, he peeked his head out to look around and examined every obvious detail.

The area ahead was massive, at least three houses in length and width from what he could tell, the path straight ahead led to a single balcony that overlooked the rest of the mines, the path heading to his left led to a stair that headed down, the entire edge of this level was covered by a strong iron fence, with a few spikes jutting out as well and all Dark Spyro could see of the level below this one was light, as this level only had four dim torches.

Thankfully the dragon didn't see any guards on this level, but he could hear commands being shouted from below, possibly from the enforcers and taskmasters of the Mines, he crept up to the corner fence post and looked down at the area below, what Dark Spyro saw made him take a minute to calm down, for what he saw was horrible.

There were two more levels to this place, going down about twenty feet or more, there were also several tunnels split off from the main area, on the level right below which wrapped around the entire place, there were many slaves of varying species including the three main pony tribes, a few griffons and a couple thin looking bears that stood on two feet, and that was just a first glance, standing behind them and walking along the pathways were unicorns, earth ponies and bull creatures, which Dark Spyro assumed to be Minotaurs, the entire place was lit up, not to bright levels of course but they were bright enough to see with decent clarity.

The enforcers and taskmasters both wore the same armor, which was a more lightweight armor that looked like leather, it covered the bulk of their bodies and what wasn't covered was simply the lower arms and legs, they wielded cruel whips and heavy looking hammers, one of the enforcers cracked the whip hard on a poor unicorn slave who dropped a valuable looking crystal, his pained cries echoed through the mines and the mining picked up the pace, with the rest of the slaves not wishing to share the same fate.

The bottom level had eight tunnel pathways and had just as many slave miners as the previous level, only this level had a few more guards on it, one taskmaster shouted at a slave who had slowed down to unacceptable levels and threatened him with the hammer, which seemed to revitalize the slave. "This is horrible." Dark Spyro whispered to himself, he looked at the others who were peeking around the corner at him, his expression seemed to tell them all they needed to know, and they all came to the same silent conclusion, that a rescue was needed immediately.

Dark Spyro motioned for them to follow him down the stairs to the next level, and they did so, with Cosmo staying a little further behind them, as to not get in their way as they did what they had to do, they were quiet as they walked down the steps, they soon reached the second level of the mines and hid behind a crate that was nearby, it offered little in the way of cover but it was necessary because of a unicorn guard that was very close, thankfully his back was turned.

The downside to the hiding spot was that if anyone came from behind or saw them from their left side, they were doomed, but in a sad coincidence a slave had done something to draw the ire of the guard, who promptly headed over to them and cracked the whip, this promptly caused Sunset to ignite her horn and look out at the guard, and before anyone in the group could stop her, she gripped the mining pick the poor slave had dropped and slammed it into the guards face, who was struck and knocked unconscious before he could react.

Dark Spyro gripped Sunset by the shoulder and pulled, she looked into his eyes and he showed his disapproval with what she did. "Stealth first." He mouthed.

Sunset reluctantly nodded and Dark Spyro released his grip on her shoulder, she moved to the side of the crate facing the wall and peeked around the corner, she watched as one of the enforcers walked over to where the one she knocked out was and her eyes widened, she was about to light her horn up when she heard a loud shout. "INTRUDERS! INTRUDERS IN THE MINES!" Shouted a deep echoing voice from behind her, she looked back and saw a unicorn guard wielding two swords in a crimson aura and wearing the heavy iron armor of Sombra's soldiers.

Twilight quickly took action, she used her magic and gripped two pick axes from two nearby slaves and flung one at the guard while using the other to strike him from above, the guard managed to use the swords to block the first pick, but the second impacted him directly on his horn, a deep echoing scream echoed throughout the mines and the unicorns horn exploded in a nova of Crimson magic.

Sunset swiftly levitated the sword that Twilight didn't take over to herself and used it to fend off a unicorn enforcer who charged towards her, he used his magic and his hammer swiftly darted around her blade and swung right towards her head, her eyes widened as her sword flew towards the enforcer, knowing that she couldn't stop the hammer in time, luckily for her however she was not alone, as a pick axe came from out of nowhere and repelled the weapon.

Dark Spyro watched all of this after bashing his head into an earth pony enforcer and throwing him into a wall, all around the mines, the once broken willed slaves used their pickaxes and numbers and began to fight the guards, a few of them even grabbed a few weapons from what few they took out, but it was clear they were losing even as brave as the sudden rebellion was.

Sunset watched as the slave who helped her, a brown feathered male griffon slave battled a Minotuar taskmaster, she ignited her horn with her magic and the Minotuars left arm, his whip arm to be precise, quickly pulled him forward into the furious swing of the griffon who looked back at Sunset and nodded in thanks.

Twilight however was simply holding her ground to the best of her ability, she was not a fighter by any means, and she was panicking the entire time meaning that her fighting was replaced by survival instinct, she used the sword she acquired to defend while using a hammer she took from an unconscious enforcer to attack, her focus in this was to survive and keep Cosmo safe, she managed to glance behind her and noticed that Dark Spyro was gone. 'He must be looking for Cosmo's family.....good luck Spyro, we'll hold them off.' She mentally promised as she used her magic to make the hammer spin rapidly between three pinned enforcers.

Sunset had not noticed Dark Spyro's absence however and was focusing on helping the slaves fight back, she had lost the sword when a unicorn enforcer's hammer bashed it, bending it irreparably and forcing her to rely on just her magic, which would have been just fine had it not been for the fact that she was a pyromancer, she lit her horn up once more and formed a shield around a bear slave who had been too slow to dodge an iron mace swung by a griffon taskmaster, who was surprised by the sudden magical shield, long enough for the bear to charge into him and finish the fight himself.

______*meanwhile*______

Dark Spyro flew swiftly through the mines, avoiding all the action as the enforcers and taskmasters ignored him, he had been darting in and out of tunnels which were also filled with fighting, and while he did assist by breathing a quick burst of fire at the slaves captors, he didn't stick around, he just flew out of the last tunnel on the second floor and headed down to the bottom, where the fighting was at its fiercest.

While the rebellion on the second floor raged on and it seemed like the slaves were going to win that fight, the battle at the bottom was an entirely different story, the forces of Sombra were clearly winning and it was brutally obvious, they had the last of the slaves pinned down in corners and a few were surrounded by enforcers, Dark Spyro grit his teeth and felt his anger rise, while one part of him wanted to continue his search for Silver and Garnet, the other part wouldn't forgive him if he abandoned these people, he groaned and looked at a large group of enforcers.

With his mind made up for him, Dark Spyro channeled as much magic into his horns as he could, they crackled loudly with electrical power and he let it build up for a few moments, he watched as a couple guards noticed his power buildup and quickly scattered, but he wouldn't be deterred, he braced himself and threw his magic forward at the cluster of guards who hadn't yet taken notice of what he was doing, a powerful bolt of purple lightning arced out from his horns and shot straight at the guards, the lightning bounced between the guards and they screamed in pain for a few moments before collapsing to the floor unconscious, giving a few slaves some breathing room and allowing them to continue the fight.

Dark Spyro panted due to the drain on his reserves and resumed what he had been doing before, he darted into a tunnel and found that it was larger than the rest, he also noticed that there wasn't much fighting going on here, the entrance was guarded by three slaves but the rest of them which were inside seemed to be resting and out of breath, he quickly concluded that they had overwhelmed the guards here and were now using this large tunnel to prepare to assist the rebellion, he fully expected that all the guards here were defeated.

What he wasn't expecting however was a sudden wing cramp, Dark Spyro cried out in pain and fell to the ground, he took a few pained breaths and he heard a voice talk. "Hey! whose side are you on!?" The voice, a young male the dragon noticed, asked.

Dark Spyro looked up and saw a young looking unicorn stallion, around Silver's age shakily pointing a spear at him, he sighed and stood up. "I'm on your side." He replied, his answer didnt seem to put the young unicorn at ease and he shook his head. "I'm Dark Spyro, I'm looking for Silver and Garnet, they came from the village of Jade." He said.

The stallion paused and then a moment later his eyes widened. "You're him!" He said happily before running deeper into the tunnel. "Hey! Boss! You were right!" He shouted, his voice filled with hope.

Dark Spyro blinked and tilted his head in confusion, he slowly walked deeper into the tunnel, hoping that the time this took would be worthwhile, soon enough the young stallion returned as he wasn't alone, next to him was none other than Silver, her once long hair was now cut short and ragged, her horn was covered in magic disabling crystals but her green eyes were unmistakeable, she had a stern expression which clearly didn't suit her but it instantly changed to an excited one as she ran right up to Dark Spyro and practically tacked him into a hug. "I knew you were alright!" She stated happily, which slightly confused the dragon as he was expecting her to say something a little different.

"Ow." Was all the dragon could say as Silver pulled away from the hug with a concerned look on her face. "Are you hurt?"
The young unicorn asked with worry in her voice, to which Dark Spyro simply chuckled.

"I am in eternal torment right now, my muscles and eyes burn, my magic is depleted and I'm exhausted." He replied, he tried to sound amusement but it came out as pained.

Silver then took one look into Dark Spyro's eyes and sighed in disappointment. "Have you seriously not slept yet?" She asked, making the dragon in question blink. "I know I asked you to keep Cosmo safe, but I wasn't expecting you to stay up the entire time." She said with an annoyed tone.

At this Dark Spyro sighed. "How about a thanks for saving you? helping everyone here to fight back?.....kicking Sombra's butt so he could be defeated?" He asked.

The moment that Dark Spyro finished talking, all the rebel slaves whispered and spoke to another, surprise and determination dominated their expressions as they took in the news that Sombra was gone, and then another voice spoke up. "Alright alright! break it up! we need to get out of here before we can celebrate!" The voice of Garnet loudly stated, louder than everyone in the tunnel.

Dark Spyro looked over Silver's shoulder and watched as Garnet walked over to him, the stallion was worse for wear, he had bandages covering both of his front hooves, his wings had feathers that were far too small to allow flight of any kind, his eyes were strained and he had a bandage wrapped around his back. "Dragon.......Dark Spyro, it's good to see you again, do you have a plan to get us out?" He asked, getting straight to the point.

Dark Spyro shrugged. "To be honest? no, I do not.....we sort of got spotted before we could really do much." He replied, making Garnet raise an eyebrow.

"We?" The stallion asked.

Dark Spyro nodded. "Yea, a lot has happened, but for now I'll just say that I'm working with two unicorn mares and they are out there fighting right now." He said, his tone showing some urgency.

Garnet nodded in understanding, he then looked around at the rebels in the tunnel. "Go ahead back to the fight Spyro, we're going to spread out into the tunnels and get help from the slaves there." He replied.

Dark Spyro looked at Silver who smiled at him. "Be careful." He said to the unicorn before taking flight again, his cramp now gone as he darted out of the tunnel, he returned to the main area of the mine and landed, he realized that the situation hadn't really changed, the guards were still winning on the bottom floor and the ones remaining on the second floor seemed to be holding their ground, he did see Sunset cast a few fireballs which impacted a few enforcers.

Dark Spyro was unsure of where to go first, but as he looked over the situation, he spotted something in a tunnel on the opposite side of the room, he watched as an unarmed young female griffon ran away deeper into a tunnel, while two large bear enforcers chased after her, easily smashing aside a couple slaves who got in their way, the dragon narrowed his eyes and took flight again, he flew quickly towards the tunnel and breathed fire as he flew over a few enforcers.

Once he was inside the tunnel, Dark Spyro noticed that it wasn't very long, he didn't see many guards but did see a lot of unconscious slaves who still had their weapons next to them, so he assumed that the Bears simply swatted them aside to chase after the young griffon, with a growl, Dark Spyro flew in swiftly, he reached the end and saw the two bears advancing on the griffon, who had a look of sheer terror on her face.

The two bears wore armor like Sombra's soldiers, one wielded a large halberd and the other a large warhammer, neither of them had helmets and seemed angry and pleased at the same time, and then without any hesitation Dark Spyro shouted. "Hey! over here you overgrown cowards!" He taunted.

This seemed to anger the one with the hammer greatly and he turned around to face Spyro, he roared furiously and charged with surpising speed for his size, Dark Spyro lunged forward as the bear swung sideways to try and hit him but thanks to his speed, the dragon was able to dodge and promptly electrocute the bear, who screamed in agony for a while before collapsing to the floor.

The other bear didn't seem to care as he pulled back his halberd and stared at the griffon, a large grin appeared on his face and he thrusted his weapon forward, the griffon screamed in fear and the bear laughed loudly looking at the ceiling with closed eyes, he would have continued but he noticed that something was off, he looked back and his eyes widened when he saw that Dark Spyro had taken the hit and dented the polearm a little.

Dark Spyro took a deep breath and promtly unleashed the fire he quickly built up, the bear cried out as he was engulfed in flames, he charged out of the tunnel screaming, the dragon then managed to get a closer look at the cowering female griffon, her feathers were reddish brown and her wings were lacking any means to fly since she had so few feathers, she also had a light brown beak, otherwise Dark Spyro noticed a few things that forced him to calm himself, the griffon had bruises all over her body, scars from what the dragon assumed to be lashings were along her back.

"Hey, it's alright, your safe now." Dark Spyro said in a reassuring tone, he kept his distance from the griffon and she slowly looked up from the ground, showing that her eyes were sky blue and showed signs of constant crying, if the damp circles under her eyes were anything to go by. "Can you walk?" Dark Spyro asked, as he checked the tunnel behind him, seeing nothing coming he turned his attention back to the griffon who shakily stood up and stared at him with confusion and desperation.

"A-are you......o-one of t-them?" She asked fearfully, to which Dark Spyro shook his head, which made the griffon gulp and slowly approach him, he didn't move as she placed a talon on his cheek, her expression softened and a single tear fell down her face. "Your real......you really are real." She said to herself, sounding a little more confident.

Dark Spyro nodded and motioned his head to the tunnel behind him. "I'm here to help everyone escape these mines, I need to get back there to help them fight back, stay hidden." He told the griffon, who nodded slowly and with that, he took flight and flew back to the main area of the mines.

When he reached the main area, he noticed three key factors, the first being that the second level was practically clear of enforcers or taskmasters, he watched as Twilight fired a barrage of arcane bolts at a trio of enforcers, they tried to block with their hammers or magic but the volley quickly overwhelmed them and they fell to the ground, one of them was a unicorn who was unlucky enough to fall over the railing, falling into the bottom of the mine and landing on top of a griffon enforcer who was about to lash his whip at an earth pony.

The second factor was that there were a lot more slaves fighting on the bottom floor, either coming down from the second floor or from the tunnels, the third factor was that the fight was still pretty much undecided, the slaves were more numerous but lacked the training or strength to fight properly, while the enforcers and taskmasters were strong and trained to handle many opponents.

Dark Spyro was so focused on observing the fight so he could decide where to start, that he failed to notice an enforcer sneaking up on him from his right side, and before he knew what was going on he heard a yell behind him, he didn't even have a chance to do anything when he heard a panicked cry coming from his right, he looked over and saw the young griffon get thrown off by a unicorn enforcer who was getting back up off the ground, having been tackled.

Dark Spyro growled and quickly loosed a fireball at the enforcer, it impacted him and caused him to get thrown back and collide with a wall, he then charged what was left of his depleted magic and flew a few feet into the air, he channeled the magic into his left claw and it glowed purple, he held his claw out towards the enforcers who still fought and a powerful ball of dark purple magic shot out towards them, the ball was the size of four soccer balls and when it got close to Sombra's men, it broke apart and then as five seperate orbs it collided with five enforcers, throwing them forward and skidding across the stone floor, knocking them out of the fight and injuring them.

Dark Spyro's breathing quickly became labored and he landed, he folded his wings and looked to his right at the young griffon who helped him, she had gotten back up and gave him a nod, he returned the gesture and focused on the fight. 'I can't keep this up, my magic is depleted and it hurts to breathe fire, I guess I need to rely on my physical abilities now.' He took a single step forward and his entire body froze as a sharp spike of pain coursed through his entire system, he fell to the ground and took a few shaky breaths. 'Ok......nevermind, I can't fight until I rest, but I can't do that here.' He looked up at the fight unfolding before him and he growled in frustration, feeling a surge of adrenaline suddenly fueling him, Dark Spyro forced himself to stand up.

While Dark Spyro was capable of standing up, his legs wobbled and he could barely move, he prepared himself to breathe some fire into the slowly dwindling crowd of enforcers but was stopped when he felt someone moving his right arm, he looked at who it was and saw that griffon he saved, she put his arm around her shoulder and started to walk with him, understanding her intent, the two entered the fight, with the griffon helping him move, and with him breathing fire at any enemy who came near, it hurt his lungs to do this but he kept it up, he managed to look up and saw Cosmo coming down to the bottom, he mentally sighed and wished that she had stayed hidden instead.

Sunset Shimmer soon teleported into the center of the mine and proceeded to cast a few firebolts at attacking enemies that came close to her, she was followed by Twilight who teleported next to Cosmo to keep her safe, thankfully none of the enforcers came anywhere near the two and they made it down safely.

The fighting went on for a short while longer and Dark Spyro smiled to himself, seeing that they were going to win this fight, but that's when he noticed a unicorn enforcer up at the top level of the mine, he was looking at the entrance they came from and he shot a spell from his horn, Dark Spyro's eyes widened as the cave entrance quickly collapsed, the mines shook violently and the unicorn walked up to the railing. "NO ONE LEAVES THE MINES!" The unicorn shouted before falling forward over the railing and falling to the bottom.

The battle ended shortly after that since the slaves went into a furious rage and overwhelmed the remaining enforcers, Dark Spyro couldn't help but shy away from the brutality, as he did so, so did the griffon and his friends, when he opened his eyes and looked at where the fighting had stopped, he saw that the slaves were clambering to get to the entrance that collapsed, while they all headed for the collapsed entrance, Dark Spyro noticed that Cosmo was tightly hugging Silver and then Garnet, who had tears in their eyes as they reunited with the filly.

Dark Spyro and the griffon walked over to the small group and Sunset was the first one to walk over to him, she looked tired but she wasn't hurt, he stopped walking and sat down with the young griffons help, as he did this, Sunset's magic washed over him and he felt his pain lessening. "Who's your new friend?" Sunset asked out of curiosity.

"I don't know her name, I saved her from a couple of Sombra's soldiers, she helped me out in return." Dark Spyro replied, he felt the magic fade and he looked, seeing that Sunset was doing the same for the griffon. "So uh......what's your name? I'm Dark Spyro." He said, holding his right claw out.

The griffon looked at his with uncertainty for a moment before reaching out and gripping his claw with her left talon. "I'm Tempest......" She replied quietly, wincing as a few of her bruises faded.

"I'm Sunset Shimmer." Said unicorn added to the conversation as she cancelled her spell. "It isn't safe to heal you here, I can finish when we are safe." She stated, she looked at Dark Spyro. "As for you, you need to rest which means no magic, no fire and no flying." She said firmly before walking over to the others.

Dark Spyro simply allowed his body to rest while he watched the reunion of the family who took him in, he let out a genuine smile and felt relief wash over him, that's when he felt a tug on his arm, he looked to his right and saw Tempest looking at him. "What do we do now?" She asked, her voice was raspy and strained.

"We get out of here, somehow." Dark Spyro replied, he looked at the group and saw Garnet and his family walking over to him, he looked angry and grateful all at once.

"Dragon, thank you for reuniting me with my daughter......but what in the name of Tartarus were you thinking? bringing a filly to a place like this?" He asked, demanding an answer.

Dark Spyro sighed as he answered the stallion. "She was the only one in our group who knew where this place was, and I wasn't going to leave her alone outside, the only option I could see was to bring her along while keeping her safe." He replied truthfully.

Garnet shook his head in disapproval but said no more, he walked over to Twilight and Sunset to talk to them and Silver walked over to the dragon with Cosmo behind her.

Silver knelt down to Dark Spyro's level and pulled him into a tight hug, he winced in pain but didn't shy away from it, he heard the teenage unicorn speak quietly. "Thank you Spyro........thank you." She said, the dragon felt tears land on his shoulder and he simply returned the hug, not saying a word.

After they finished the hug, Silver walked back to the others and Cosmo walked over to him and gave him a gentler hug, she said nothing but Dark Spyro knew what she would have said, so when she pulled out of the hug she simply smiled at him and sat down next to him, he then heard a voice. "Now how are we going to get out of here?" Garnet asked.

"Well, we could try to clear the collapsed entrance." Twilight suggested to the group. "That's what the others are doing." She added, referring to the freed slaves who were busy trying to tunnel their way out.

"Um." Cosmo said quietly, only to be ignored as Sunset spoke up next.

"It won't work, it'll take too long and some of these guys are badly hurt, we need to find another entrance.....maybe in another tunnel?" Sunset suggested, motioning to the many tunnels.

"Excuse me." Cosmo spoke up, a little louder but she was still ignored, Dark Spyro didn't have the energy to speak up, or he would have gotten the groups attention for her.

"There aren't any other entrances, the only one was collapsed up there when that unicorn cast his spell, we are stuck here until the others clear the rubble." Garnet stated, sounding annoyed.

As the group argued, Dark Spyro watched as Cosmo stood up and took a deep breath, he raised an eyebrow at her, curious as to what she was going to do.

"HEY!" Cosmo shouted, loud enough to get everyone's attention, at least those on the bottom floor, they all looked at her and she pointed at a bare wall. "Why are you all acting like there isn't another exit?" She asked out of curiosity, her voice was filled with confusion and aggravation.

"Because there isn't one Cosmo." Silver said as she walked over. "There's only one entrance to these mines and it collapsed in the fight." She stated gesturing to the collapsed entrance.

Cosmo tilted her head and walked over to a bare wall, everyone on the bottom floor watched as the filly approached the wall and placed her hoof on a spot that was seven feet away from the corner, she then pushed and to the absolute shock of them all, the wall was pushed back a little, revealing a secret door.

Dark Spyro stood up and so did Tempest, Twilight walked over to the door and used her magic to push the door open, it was heavy and tough to move, but when Sunset assisted with her magic and Dark Spyro helped push it open, the hidden door was soon fully open, revealing a lit passage that seemed to go up. "How did you know this was here Cosmo?" Sunset asked, and everyone seemed to agree with the question.

Cosmo blinked and looked at them all with confusion. "You.....didn't see it?" She asked, comepletely bewildered.

"Arcane Eyes." Twilight spoke up as if she came to a realization, they all looked at her with various degrees of confusion, only Sunset seemed to be hit with understanding a moment later, and then the lavender unicorn elaborated. "To those who don't know, Arcane Eyes is an exceedingly rare occurrence that takes place during birth, it allows the individual who has them to see through all magical illusions or trickery such as invisibility or concealment." She explained.

Dark Spyro looked down at Cosmo who seemed to be absorbing this knowledge eagerly. "How do you know all of this? do you have them or something?" Silver asked.

Twilight shook her head. "No, if I did I would have seen this door as well, I just happened to research it one night when I was younger, there is more to this ability but I would rather we get out of here first." She stated.

Garnet nodded and walked to the center of the mine, he then looked up towards the freed slaves who were trying to uncover the path. "HEY! WE FOUND A WAY OUT!" He shouted, the digging and sounds of rocks moving ceased a moment later and Garnet walked to the door.

Silver was the first one to head down the path, followed closely by Dark Spyro, Tempest and Cosmo, Twilight and Sunset followed them after Garnet told them he would lead the others out while they left, the path was long but with the torches lighting the way it was obvious they were indeed going up.

The pathway was wide enough for four to stand side by side and walk forward at once, and it was carved skillfully enough so that it would not collapse, Twilight and Sunset also stated that there seemed to be an enchantment on the pathway, which allowed it to be moved with ease and that it was warded to be more durable.

The group walked for a while, but they eventually saw a faint glimpse of light up ahead, Silver eagerly ran ahead and they followed behind closely, Dark Spyro noticed snow was starting to fill the tunnel and he heard shoving, he looked ahead and saw Silver trying to force the exit to open. "Let me try." He stated.

Silver stepped aside and everyone got back, Dark Spyro took a deep breath and with all his might, he lowered his head, closed his eyes and charged forward, moving with great speed he smashed into the door and went right outside and landed in the snow, he heard the others cheering as they left the tunnel and stepped out into the bright outside world.

Dark Spyro heard the voices begin to speak and he immediately opened his eyes to found his nostrils covered in snow, he let out a powerful breath and blew the snow off, he then heard Sunset speak. "Are you going to just lay in the snow?" The unicorn asked.

"The snow is the most comfortable thing around here, I would happily fall asleep here if I didn't have these damn voices in my head." Dark Spyro remarked as he lay in the snow, he soon sighed and forced himself to stand up, he looked back at the other and turned to face them, he watched as Silver and Tempest stood in the sunlight, happily basking in the warm glow of the sun, Cosmo stood near Twilight and listened as she explained the ability she had.

And when the slaves left the mines from the secret exit a few minutes later, Dark Spyro looked to the city that stood in the distance and smiled sadly. 'My adventure is over.....Cosmo, Silver and Garnet are reunited and the Crystal Empire is free.' He sat down and closed his eyes, the voices almost instantly came to him and he opened his eyes, they burned in pain from overuse and he bit his lip. 'I'll face them when I'm ready, even if I need to face my old friends again.' He sighed and shook his head.

"I just hope they'll give me one last chance." He told himself quietly.

Beginning to recover.

View Online

______*Sunset Shimmer's POV.*_____

I felt incredibly happy and proud of myself, not to say that I didn't used to before everything happened, but now I felt justified for my happiness, we had freed the slaves from the Mines and Dark Spyro was able to reunite Cosmo with her father and sister.

The dragon in question was trudging along tiredly next to Twilight with Tempest on his other side, the poor unicorn was exhausted and most likely shaken at what had happened regardless of the outcome, I felt bad for her which was another thing I was not used to feeling, she was probably against violence and was probably going to vomit at some.....there we go, she just let it out, while Dark Spyro stopped to make sure she was fine I kept walking to the Capital.

You see, I'm not very good when it comes to dealing with my emotions, I grew up as Celestia's personal student and I didn't have friends growing up, I interacted with some of the castle staff from time to time but I never really tried to make a friend, this combined with many years of solitary study and I ended up emotionally distant, so when the day came that Celestia asked me to spend some time away from my studies I went off, anger being the one emotion that I could still feel easily, we argued for a while and I ran away.

In my state of anger I saw five friends who were perfectly happy with their lives and promptly tore that friendship to pieces, a day or two ago I would have been laughing about it but now? I find myself wondering why I did any of it, I look over my shoulder and I see Dark Spyro and Twilight walking with Cosmo and her family, I smile to myself and look forward at the Capital City.

My thoughts quickly drifted from what I could learn from talking to the people of the Crystal Empire to Dark Spyro, I drop my smile and go deep into thought about the dragon.

I don't know him very well, only that he says he made horrible mistakes back in the Skylands and obviously regrets it, I stop myself from chuckling when I realize that without knowing it, that dragon made me realize that I made terrible mistakes of my own, I felt particularly bad about one mistake and that was how I left things in the human world. 'I doubt I'll be going back there and even if I did I probably wouldn't stay.' I shake my head and focus on heading to the City.

But even as I walked, my mind wandered to Dark Spyro and I wondered what he would do now that he fulfilled his promise. 'He might try to find a way to go home now, he did say he wanted to try and make things right with his friends, but I just hope he gets some sleep first, staying awake for too long can do strange things to a mind.'

______*The Crystal Capital.*_______

The slaves entered the city and walked until they were outside the Castle, all of the Crystal Ponies coats shined bright once more and they cheered at being free, some were reunited with their families, some went to houses that they once owned, and many simply basked in the sun outside the castle, Garnet, Silver and Cosmo however had nowhere to go, since their village was burned down by Sombra's soldiers.

Dark Spyro simply laid back on the ground with his hands behind his head, he watched the clouds as they drifted peacefully through the sky, he watched a couple Pegasi fly up to them and land on them as though they were solid, Dark Spyro raised an eyebrow at this but made no attempt to get up even though the ground was hard and most likely bad for his back. "Are you Dark Spyro?" Asked a male voice behind him.

The dragon shifted his head toward the direction of the voice and saw a white furred unicorn stallion with a blue mane and blue eyes looking at him. "Yes and why?" He asked nonchalantly, even though he was curious as to who the stallion was.

If the stallion was annoyed by Dark Spyro's tone, he didnt show it much as he spoke, though his eyes seemed to say that he was a little bothered. "My name is Shining Armor, Twilight, my sister told me that you fought Sombra on your own, I wanted to thank you." He stated.

Dark Spyro sighed and rolled over before standing up. "No problem, it used to be my job to help out." He replied as he stretched his wings and arms, Shining Armor looked confused for a second and opened his mouth to speak before the dragon spoke up. "But I know that look on your face, what else did you have to say?" He asked out of curiosity.

Shining Armor didn't react to being interrupted and spoke with a level tone. "We're letting everypony stay in the castle while we get everything sorted out, you're more than welcome to do the same." He stated before walking away towards a group of former slaves.

Dark Spyro looked around for his new friends, he saw Cosmo and Silver talking with their father about something, he spotted Twilight and Sunset over by the five mares from before and Spike, the younger dragon held a scroll up in one hand and breathed green flame on it which confused Dark Spyro as he did so, he also spotted Tempest nervously walking around, as if she didn't know where to go.

Quickly making his decision, Dark Spyro walked over to where Sunset and Twilight were, as he approached the group, the two Pegasi in the group spotted him and the pink maned mare saw him and hid behind the rainbow maned mare, when he got close enough he spoke. "So, that's our little adventure over." He said, Sunset turned to face him while Spike climbed onto Twilight's back and they both looked at him. "What are you guys going to do?" He asked.

"Well.....I'm probably going to go back to Ponyville with my friends." Twilight replied, she looked over her shoulder at Spike who shrugged.

"So am I, as......exciting, as this all was I would love to just sit back and eat some ice cream or some gems, just relax you know?" Spike said, which Dark Spyro could agree with aside from the gem eating.

"Oh! by the way, these are my friends!" Twilight stated, in the tone that sounded like she remembered something important. "This is Rarity and Pinkie Pie, Applejack and Rainbow Dash, and that's Fluttershy." She introduced, as she talked, the ponies in question nodded, all save the last one who only shrunk back into her long mane. "Girls this is Dark Spyro, he's the one who fought Sombra to buy time for Spike to deliver the Crystal Heart." She introduced.

Dark Spyro said nothing as the mares looked at him in shock and some gratitude, Fluttershy seemed to calm down a little but returned to being timid when the dragon looked at her. "Nice to meet you, so what about you Sunset?" He asked the fiery maned mare. "What are you going to do?" He asked.

Sunset sighed. "I need to patch things up with Celestia, we didn't exactly part on good terms after all, then I need to settle things back in the other world before coming back." She shook her head. "After that? I have no idea what I'm going to do." She stated with tiredness, she then looked at Dark Spyro. "What about you? you going to stick around or head back home?" She asked.

Dark Spyro sighed and shrugged. "I'm stuck here unless someone from the Skylands finds a way to get here, so until then I'll probably try to get some sleep." He replied before walking towards the Castle.

"Where are you going?" Sunset asked.

Dark Spyro yawned and looked back at the group of mares. "I'm going to look for a bed, I overheard one of the new guards say that this castle changed after Sombra was defeated, so I'm crashing in the first bedroom I see." He stated before heading inside.

As Dark Spyro entered the castle, he noticed that many things hadn't changed, the only real difference was that a lot of guards and other ponies were running around and carrying things back and forth, he ignored them all as he tiredly walked towards the stairs and headed for where the sleeping quarters were.

He stopped and moved aside at the top of the stairs as a few guards lifted chunks of debris down the steps, he then continued on to the room and walked through the broken doorway, once inside Dark Spyro mentally groaned, for what was once the sleeping quarters was now void of beds as a long hallway took its place. "Guess the rumor was true." He complained.

Dark Spyro walked through the halls and saw that there were six doors nearby, he opened the first one on the left. "Bath." He said as he closed the door to the bathroom, he walked up to first door on the right and opened it. "Bed." He stated before closing the door, he didn't go inside because the room was occupied by a sleeping pink furred Pegasus mare with a tri colored mane and a horn, he paused and did a quick mental double take before shaking it off. "Whatever." He mumbled.

Dark Spyro opened the second door on the right and found that it was a bedroom that was unoccupied thankfully, he walked inside and closed the door before opening his wings and flying to the bed, he landed on the bed and let himself relax on the comfortable blanket, he paused as he thought on what he was about to attempt. 'I don't think I'm ready, but then again.....I probably will never be ready.' He shook his negative thoughts away and climbed under the covers, he sighed in contentment before closing his eyes in an attempt to get some sleep.

Much last like time, there were no voices or visions at first, and after a few minutes he felt like he was finally free of the visions and could actually sleep.

_____*?*_____

My body aches and burns, that is what I feel as I groan and open my eyes, it isn't very bright and I feel grateful for that fact as I blink and shift my body so that I'm resting on my chest, I then stand up comepletely and hold my head as a migraine assaults me, I wince at the pain and close my eyes In a futile attempt to dull the pain, I stretch my limbs and my muscles protest it with an intense burning sensation, I hear my bones pop and I feel a creak in my tailbone before I open my eyes again.

I felt my heart skip a beat as I look out at the world before me, it was a lifeless and gray forest, all around me i see dead trees barely standing and rotting, I see stone withering away and grass dull and colorless, I look to the sky and see that it is gray and lifeless as well, the sun which normally gave off a pleasant warmth was now little more than a light source.

I turn and look being me and I feel my blood freeze at the sight, before me stood a garden, the flowers and bushes which were most likely beautiful once stood lifeless and dead, I walk through the rotting arch and towards the most haunting items in the garden, statues stood in a circle around a lone pedestal which had a plaque facing the entrance, I look around at the statues and let out a shaky breath as my heart beat quickly.

There are nine statues in total, and they all face the center of the garden, the first starting from the left of the entrance was a statue of Eruptor, the lava monster was always a good friend to me, and while he had a tendency to let his anger get the better of him, he was invaluable as a friend.

The next statue was of Pop Fizz, the little and absolutely insane gremlin was a genius when it came to potions, so much so that he was the one who came up with a cure for me. "A cure to kill me." I say grimly to myself and with a sad sigh, I berate myself for that thought however, knowing that my friend only did what he believed to be right.

The next statue was of Jet-Vac, the wingless Sky Baron drove me mad with his old fashioned style and obsession with planning, but his knack for inventions and skill in battle were just two of the things that made me view him as a friend.

The next statue was of Master Eon, and this one made me let out a shaky breath, I remembered just how close I came to using his vast power to complete my mission and let my friends die, the man was a father to Spyro......to me, he raised me and trained me to be a Skylander and I threw it in his face. "I'm sorry Eon......I really am." I say to the statue before moving on to the next one.

The next statue was of Stealth Elf, the Elven ninja was my best friend for many years, she stuck by my side through so many dangers and I did the same for her, and instead of repaying her trust with the truth I betrayed and almost killed her, I feel tears fall down my face as the painful memory floods back to me and I force myself to look away.

I moved on to the next statue and saw Cynder, a dragon born of evil who wanted to be good, I remember teaching her how to be a Skylander......no, I remember SPYRO teaching her, I sigh in shame as I remember telling her that those who are evil will always be that way, I quickly decide not to dwell on her statue and I pause on sight of the next one.

The next statue was of Sunset, the unicorn mare who I barely know, her fiery personality brings a smile to my face, she may not know me and I don't know her, but the simple understanding we share fills me with some measure of strength in my broken state.

The next statue is one that confuses me and terrifies me all at the same time, as it is of Tempest, the young griffon that I saved in the Mines and who quickly saved me, I don't know what to make of this statue so I quickly move on to the last.

The last statue was one that I felt my blood go cold and my heart skip a beat upon seeing, it was of Spyro himself, the dragon whose body and name I stole and the dragon who almost killed me when I attacked in my rage induced state, I sigh and lower my head so I'm looking at the ground, I feel all my sins crawling on my back and I soon hear voices.

"You betrayed us." Said the voice of Stealth Elf, I cringe.

"You sold us out!" Cried Eruptor's voice, I shudder.

"We trusted you!" Jet-Vac's voice added, I close my eyes.

"You helped a nut job crazier than me!" Added Pop Fizz In his usual hyper tone, which only made me let out a shaky breath as a shiver ran down my spine.

"Did you hate me that much?" Said Eon's voice, I open my eyes and freeze at those words, I looked at the statues of the Skylanders and saw that they were pointing towards the center.

"We believed you could be better." Came Tempest and Sunset's voices, that made me tremble as I looked down at the ground, I put my hands on my head in a futile attempt to try any block out the voices.

"You left me alone, without any attempt for a rescue." Came Cynders voice, I feel my muscles grow weak and I shake in fear.

"You made me watch......I had to watch as you betrayed them and you didn't care!" Shouted Spyro's voice, I let out a pained sob as I look at the statues of my friends and Spyro, they too pointed to the center of the garden, the first thing I spot is that the plaque now had writing on it, mustering what strength I have left I walk to the plaque and read it.

'Dark Spyro, traitor or savior?' I look around the garden and see that all nine statues returned to how they were, they stood tall and proud, I feel tears fall down my face as I climb onto the pedestal, I let out a shaky breath and face the entrance to the garden, but when I did I sat down and began to cry, as i cried I feel my body going numb, I open my eyes and see that I was turning to stone.

Instead of freaking out like many others would do, I just return to crying, I find myself mentally begging for forgiveness, and soon enough, my crying ceased and I was fully encased in stone, I can somehow see the world around me begin to change, but I can't tell how it changes as I hear a voice. "Dark Spyro!" It sounds like Tempest, but it is faint.

Before I could mentally chuckle at the possibility of her being free because I became stone I feel a powerful shake and her voice shouted again. "Dark Spyro! Wake up!"

______*The Crystal Empire.*_______

"Dark Spyro! wake up!" Cried a female voice.

"Gaaaah!" Dark Spyro cried out as his eyes shot open, his breathing was erratic and he saw Tempest standing in front of him and looking at him with concern.

"Are you alright? you looked like you were having a nightmare." The griffon asked.

Dark Spyro waited a while so he could calm down a little before answering. "I'm alright." He lied. "What are you doing here?" He asked.

"The castle may be back to normal according to the Castle staff, but there isn't enough room for a bunch of us." Came Sunset's voice. "So Shining Armor came up with a sleeping arrangement, it was the best he could do given the circumstances.

Dark Spyro looked over and saw Sunset sitting on the other side of the bed, he also spotted Cosmo looking around the room with curiosity. "Where's Silver and Garnet?" He asked curiously as he examined the bedroom.

The room was spacious, twice the size of the guest room Dark Spyro stayed in back in Jade, the walls were of course made of various crystals, the bed itself was made of a few different kinds of crystals and stone, the pillows were spacious and made with feathers if he wasn't mistaken, they had blue cases over them and the blankets were made of some kind of cloth, either cotton or silk, they were dark purple in color and had lavender trim. "They are talking with Twilight about moving away from the Empire, Garnet isn't very big on raising his daughters here anymore." Sunset stated.

Dark Spyro sighed and rested his head on the pillow, he let out a long breath and looked at Tempest. "What happened?" He asked, wondering what led them to waking him up.

"Well it was fine when we first walked in, you were shifting uncomfortably in your sleep but then it turned into crying, and from there it became panicked and you started to hyperventilate." Tempest stated.

Dark Spyro nodded and got out from under the covers, he sighed and rubbed his eyes which were just barely better than they had been a while ago, they still burned from overuse and he got off the bed to look around the room.

The carpet on the floor was a pleasant gray, the furniture included a wardrobe, a cabinet, two end tables and a table and chairs, the furniture was made of an ashen gray wood and was carved with snow patterns on them, he looked at the door. "Is anyone else hungry? I'm starving." He stated as he forced his overworked body to move to the door.

Sunset sighed and followed the dragon who almost fell over, she used her body to support the dragon so he could stand. "Come on, I'll take you to the kitchens, they can make something for you to eat." She said as she helped the dragon walk.

Hearing a wing beat or two, Sunset noticed Tempest and Cosmo following them, she said nothing as she helped her friend. "I call dibs on the bacon." Dark Spyro said, his voice was shaky and his stomach growled. "And probably some beef." He added.

Sunset said nothing in reply, but behind her she heard a stomach growl. "Tempest, are you seriously still hungry?" She asked in a teasing tone.

Tempest felt her face heat up and she stammered, attempting to find a reply but it didn't seem like she would be able to do so, of course Dark Spyro decided to speak up in her place but what he said didn't help either. "Sunset.......leave the cute griffon alone would ya?" The dragon said with a tired voice.

Sunset paused and lowered her head to look at Dark Spyro's face, his eyes are now closed and they seemed to be twitching, she raised her head up and looked at Tempest who was frozen in place, her eyes were wide and her face was a brighter shade of red, Cosmo blinked and tilted her head. "Are you alright Tempest?" The filly asked.

Tempest blinked and she seemed to return to normal. "I'm.....ok, just hungry is all." The griffon said as she looked at Sunset, her eyes asking the mare not to say anything.

"Yea, it's just hunger....the big idiot here forgot to eat in all this time." Sunset said as she led the small group out of the hallway and towards the kitchen.

Thankfully it was quiet on the walk to the kitchen, they walked down the main stairs with Tempest helping to keep them from falling and walked through the first door on the right of the entrance door, they soon entered the dining room where Princess Cadence, Shining Armor, Twilight Sparkle and a very familiar Princess were sitting at the main table.

They stopped talking and looked at the newcomers, Twilight was annoyed at first but she lost that expression quickly when she saw who it was, Princess Celestia however, was wide eyed as she stared at her former student, and vice versa, but Sunset overcame that surprise quickly and spoke. "As much as I want to talk right now, we need to get some food into these two before it gets weird.......weirder." Sunset corrected herself as she and Tempest walked Dark Spyro over to the table and sat him down.

"Try to wake him him up, I'll go talk to the cooks." Sunset told Tempest, she was about to walk to the kitchens when she realized that Cosmo was no longer with them. "Where did that filly run off to now?" She asked herself.

Shining Armor stood up and spoke. "No it's fine, I'll go talk with the cooks, you obviously have things you have to talk about." He said before walking to the kitchens.

As Shining Armor walked off, Sunset walked to a chair and sat down, the room was quiet and this led to an awkward silence between the ruler and her former student, the only sound that came into the room was Tempest trying to wake Dark Spyro up.

Princess Celestia took a deep breath and let it out as a sigh. "This is awkward." She stated, breaking the deafening silence.

Sunset Shimmer nodded in agreement. "It is." She agreed, they were both silent for a while until.... "How have you been?" They both asked at the same time, they then stifled a laugh before Princess Celestia spoke again.

"I am good, ruling a nation is still tiresome work, especially when it comes to the nobles." Celestia said, some joy in her words.

Sunset nodded. "Yea, it's been kind of boring on my end, I do need to go back and settle a few things, after that I'm coming back." She replied, Celestia had a hard to notice sad expression for a split second when Sunset mentioned going back to the other world, but she didn't say anything against it.

"If that is what you think best, then so be it." Celestia looked at Dark Spyro who twitched slightly, she watched Tempest mutter under her breath. "And who is this?" She asked.

"Oh, that's Tempest." Sunset said, as soon as she did, Tempest rubbed the back of her head bash fully. "And this.....hold on." Before continuing what she was saying, Sunset lit her horn and a small puff of flame appeared in front of Dark Spyro and flew into his head, his head hit the table and his eyes jolted open in surprise.

"Three Fire Vipers!" The dragon called out before raising his head and looking around frantically for a moment before calming down.

Everyone in the room was confused but no one said anything as Dark Spyro yawned and Tempest sat down, the dragon looked at Sunset with a tired look in his eyes. "Did we eat yet?" He asked groggily.

"No you did not." Sunset stated. "Hey, I want to introduce you to someone, this is Princess Celestia, co-ruler of Equestria." She stated, pointing at said Princess.

Dark Spyro turned and looked at who Sunset was looking at, he found himself staring at a beautiful unicorn mare that stood twice his size, her fur was pure white and her mane was a myriad of colors that billowed in a non-existent wind, her cutie mark was that of a sun and her eyes were purple, her horn was long and he didn't fail to notice the large wings on her back. "Hello." She greeted, her voice was calm, almost motherly.

"Princess, this is Dark Spyro, he fought King Sombra on his own and bought time for Spike to return the Crystal Heart, he's also a friend of mine." Sunset stated.

Princess Celestia smiled and gave Dark Spyro a short bow and then looked at him. "Then on behalf of Equestria and myself, I commend you, facing the dark King was difficult enough a thousand years ago even with my sister." She said. "It must have been difficult with as much dark magic he could wield." She added.

Dark Spyro blinked as he looked at the Princess, he wondered if she was messing with him but he decided to not bother with thinking too much right now. "Uh.....thanks? but it wasn't too hard, I mean......I'm kind of used to fighting dark magic." He replied tiredly.

Princess Celestia nodded and used her magic to lift a cup from the table and drank from it before setting it down. "May I ask you something?" She asked, at the dragons tired nod she continued. "How does a young dragon like yourself battle dark magic without side effects? and you said you were used to fighting it?" She asked.

Dark Spyro took a moment to process the questions before groaning and placing his claws over his eyes. "The one conversation I didn't want to have and I go and blurt out something dumb." He complained to himself.

The dragon took a moment to breathe before talking. "The truth of the matter is? is that I use dark magic." He sighed and leaned back as Twilight and Cadence stopped their private conversation, Sunset didn't really react, Tempest looked at Dark Spyro in shock while Celestia was impassive.

"Please, continue." Celestia said, her tone was calm as was her gaze, her expression was unreadable.

Dark Spyro nodded. "Dark magic back home is very different from what I've seen here, but I can tell that they are essentially the same in their own right, dark magic basically exists in everyone who can use magic, whether or not you can use it is another matter." He stated before rubbing his right eye. "What I sensed from Sombra was dark magic, but it felt more corrupting, like its sole purpose was to infect and not so much empower." He said as he leaned on the table. "Simply put, dark magic is strong but weird." He added before yawning.

Before any of them could speak, the door to the kitchens opened and Shining Armor walked in. "Food will be here soon." The unicorn stated as he walked over to the table.

"Sunset, I would like to speak with you, if you want to that is?" Celestia asked, her former student nodded and stood up, the two then left the dining room from the door behind Dark Spyro.

The dragon in question struggled to stay awake, now that he was allowing himself to feel the fatigue he could barely keep his eyes open, he watched as Twilight got up from her seat and walked around the table towards him, Shining Armor had taken his seat next to Cadence, Tempest was quiet as usual.

Twilight walked over and sat down on the right side of Dark Spyro, and started a conversation with the black dragon who was grateful for the distraction, food soon arrived for the dragon who split some of it with Tempest, the cooks had made some turkey sandwiches and some bacon.

Dark Spyro tried to give Tempest some bacon when he saw her eying it but the griffon refused. "You said you called dibs.....whatever that means." She replied.

"I did?" Dark Spyro asked with confusion, which seemed to perplex the griffon a little. "I don't remember it." He added.

Tempest blinked but said nothing as Dark Spyro put some bacon on her plate anyway, she glanced at the dragon who ate a sandwich hungrily before eating her own food at a more relaxed pace, she kept sneaking looks over at Dark Spyro but said nothing.

Time passed quickly and soon enough the food was gone along with Shining Armor and Cadence who left the room to go and help get things settled down, Twilight excused herself which left Tempest and Dark Spyro alone in the room.

It was quiet for a time until Tempest spoke. "Um.....Dark Spyro? why um, why do you use dark magic?" She asked timidly, as though afraid she was overstepping her boundaries.

Dark Spyro sighed and leaned back on the chair, he knew the answer but part of him didn't want to tell the griffon, but his thoughts drifted to the garden of statues and how she was there, he closed his eyes. "I was......born with it." He stated, not entirely lying. "My dark magic is as much a part of me as my horns or wings, even if I wanted to be rid of it I couldn't do anything without hurting myself." He continued. "And while I know that there is a way to remove the darkness, it isn't pleasant by any means." He explained, he sighed at the recent memory.

"Is it.....painful?" Tempest asked, a little less nervously.

Dark Spyro shook his head and smiled, happy that the voices were gone now. "No, it can corrupt if you aren't ready for it, but otherwise it's awesome, I can do all sorts of cool things!" He replied with a little enthusiasm, but this faded as he remembered how well he fared after he said something very similar to Spyro in their fight.

Dark Spyro opened his eyes and got off the chair, he started walking to the door to leave the dining hall, Tempest followed close behind. 'I don't think trying to sleep is a good idea right now......then again, maybe if I count enough flying sheep I can go to sleep easier.' He then picked up the pace.

"Are you in a hurry?" Tempest asked out of both curiosity and confusion as she kept pace with the dragon.

'Oh yea, she's following me.' He noted mentally. "I'm going outside to count flying sheep, throw houses and rebuild people." He stated tiredly.

Tempest could only raise an eyebrow at the odd statement, she decided to follow Dark Spyro as he headed outside, if only to curb any crazy ideas he might come up with.

Tired and exhausted.

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______*The Crystal Empire's Capital, Dark Spyro's POV*______

A few minutes after I ate with Tempest and talked to the Princess, I place my clawed hands on the door to leave the castle and push it open, the door gives me little resistance for its size and I walk forward into the cold air of the Crystal Empire.

I take in my surroundings with my overworked eyes, the people of the city are still hard at work trying to fix things up so that they can return to a normal life, I look to my left and see that Tempest is looking around as well, I blink and look forward before taking a few steps in that direction and heading further into the city, I hear Tempest following behind me but say nothing to her.

As I walk I happen to spot Twilight's friends Rainbow Dash and Applejack checking something out, I raise an eyebrow but make no effort to converse with them as I continue walking, I know for a fact that I have no destination in mind but I need a distraction. "So Dark Spyro." I hear Tempest say behind me, her tone was level but I have a feeling that will change soon.

As we turn a random corner the griffon speaks again. "Would I be right to assume that whatever you saw when you were asleep is the reason you're walking around right now?" Tempest asks, her voice holds concern and worry and I swear I hear a hint of pity in there.

"Yes and no." I reply instantly, I turn to look at the griffon as I stop walking, the strained look on my face causes Tempest to recoil a little. "While it is true that I don't want to experience that vision again, I also noticed a few upsides to being awake!" I say with an amount of energy that catches me off guard, but I don't linger on it and continue talking without paying any attention to the concerned griffon. "My mind is clearer than it has ever been, a lot of things that I didn't use to see are clear as day!" I say with a grin that I am certain isn't maniacal. "So long as I stay awake I am certain that I'll be able to find a way home in no time! what's a few days to years of unbearable agony when I can figure out things that no one else can!?" I state energetically before resuming my walk.

As I walk I hear Tempest's claws walking on the road behind me, some part of me is trying to tell me something but I can't for the life of me understand it, so I decide to ignore it and keep walking, not paying any attention to where I'm going and simply enjoying a walk.

I breathe and take in the cold air of the Crystal Empire and I inwardly smile, I feel my expression change to a thoughtful frown as I contemplate why I suddenly feel at ease. 'Let me see, intense burning in muscles? check, eyes stinging in absolute pain? check, wings unresponsive at worst? check, migraine that I can't get rid of and feels like molten metal? check, magic depleted and constantly on the verge of collapse? check, sense of dread? nope.....oh.' I shrug and brush off my thoughts, for some reason I feel like I need the sense of dread but I can't figure out why, so I put that on the back shelf and go about my walk in silence.

As I walk in silence, I let my thoughts drift aimlessly again and fail to notice the lack of a certain griffon, I keep on walking for what feels like an hour before I stumble across the house that I had Cosmo hide in while Sombra was in power. "Huh, that's a bit weird." I mutter before moving on.

I look up at towards the sun and the first thing I notice is just how much time has actually passed, I turn to face the castle and start walking towards it in the hopes of finding something to do, as I walk I idly greet and reply to the few citizens who speak to me, saying hello or wishing them a good evening as it was now close to night.

As I make my way back to the castle I swear I spot a dark figure dart across the roof of a building, I stop and stare for a moment and see nothing before shrugging and continuing my walk.

"Weird." I say to myself.

______*Three days later, The Crystal Capital, 3:09 AM.*______

Sunset Shimmer could not sleep, not that she didn't want to sleep but she found herself incapable for some reason, she didn't know why but it was beginning to bother her greatly.

She was laying on the bed in the same room she had shared with Dark Spyro, Cosmo and Tempest their first night here, they were here once more but with the exception of Cosmo who was with her family working on moving to Equestria, they would be back either tommorow or in a few days to work on a few final details they needed to handle in the Crystal Empire before finalizing the move.

The sleeping arrangement for the three of them was incredibly awkward on the first day, Dark Spyro didn't really care either way because he said he was staying awake anyway even though he was currently under the covers, Tempest's face grew even redder at the idea of getting in bed with him but the dragon in question didn't seem to notice.

Sunset herself was unsure of how she felt about it, but she did come up with a compromise once the possibility of them all taking the floor came up, that was after Dark Spyro said he would take the floor while the mare and griffon took the bed, Tempest then stated that she would take the floor, saying that Dark Spyro needed to get some actual sleep and the bed would help with that, Sunset tried to say she would take the floor since the other two needed it more than her, and then Dark Spyro stated that they should all take the floor, to which Sunset finally came up with her idea.

And it worked, it alleviated both Tempest and Sunset's concerns and now Dark Spyro seemed to finally be able to sleep, the arrangement that was agreed upon was that Dark Spyro would take the main blanket on the left side of the bed, Tempest took a small spare blanket from the closet and laid on top of the main blanket with the spare covering her on the right side of the bed, Sunset herself laid on the far end of the bed under another small spare blanket and a spare pillow.

The arrangement was awkward at first but Sunset could not deny that it was comfortable, the only problem was that she couldn't sleep, it wasn't over a guilty conscience for one thing, as she had gone back to the human world two days ago and settled things, she told Principle Celestia that she wasn't going to be attending anymore and that she was going home, which was true, she confronted the five friends she split up and revealed what she did, and while she did get a bruise or two and yelled at, she felt a weight lifted off her shoulders, and while the students at Canterlot High were skeptical of her, she at least tried to apologize.

When she finally left the human world, she brought back her personal journal and left the rest, she spent the night at Canterlot Castle and talked to Princess Celestia most of the night, the following morning Celestia improved the enchantment on her book to also include one that Twilight carried, so now Sunset can send messages to Twilight if she wants, so long as she makes sure to include her name, the same for sending messages to Celestia, after the enchantment on the book was changed, Sunset returned to the Crystal Empire.

And now here she was, wide awake on a comfortable bed with a sleeping griffon and a dragon who was probably wide awake, unable to sleep for reasons she couldn't understand, she sighed and laid her head on the bed, she closed her eyes to try and sleep again.

This of course proved to be a fruitless endeavor because she lay still with her eyes closed for about ten minutes, she opened her eyes and inwardly groaned in frustration, she pushed the covers off and sat up, she looked over at Dark Spyro and Tempest and she had to hold back a laugh at the sight as she learned something new.

Apparently Tempest is a cuddler, as she was now right next to Dark Spyro on his side of the bed, she had her arms wrapped around him and had her beak resting on his neck, Sunset mentally thanked her sudden insomnia for helping her eyes to adjust so she could see this, she smiled and felt a little sad that she didn't have a camera, she shook her head and teleported off the bed, now standing at the foot of the bed the unicorn walked to the door, intending to do some reading in the library.

"Sunset?" Dark Spyro's voice spoke up.

The unicorn stopped and looked over her shoulder and saw the dragons red eyes staring at her, they seemed to glow in the dark, Sunset walked over to Dark Spyro and whispered. "Yeah?" She asked quietly as to not disturb Tempest.

The dragon sighed and his expression changed to a sad one. "I need to tell you something......it's something I haven't told anyone and I want you to promise not to tell anybody." He said, his voice was quiet but guilt was clear in his voice.

"I swear, I won't tell anybody." Sunset promised before motioning for the dragon to continue, curious as to what is on his mind.

Dark Spyro sighed and was silent for a few moments before speaking in a hushed tone. "I'm not who I said I am." He began with a guilt filled voice. "I lied to everyone so they wouldn't think any less of me." He went quiet for a moment and then continued. "I'm not Spyro's brother........I'm his evil half." He stated hesitantly, he then refused to look Sunset in the eye.

Sunset blinked and took a moment to process this information, it took a minute before she was capable of speaking without it coming out as gibberish. "Can you explain that?" She asked quietly, being rational instead of emotional right now while maintaining a bit of curiosity.

Dark Spyro was caught off guard of course, but he complied with the request. "An evil wizard named Strykore was freed from his prison and at the same time, Spyro was captured and later taken to him, Strykore drained Spyro of all of his good nature and in that moment I was born." He stated, Sunset did not fail to notice how he avoided the topic of Spyro's capture.

"I joined Strykore, swearing allegiance to him, after capturing a warrior named King Pen, I went undercover at the Skylanders Academy, my mission was to find the location of the Core of Light and I managed to throw off all suspicion whenever it came up." Dark Spyro explained, though his voice was filled with regret. "I'll just skip ahead and say that I started to care about the Skylanders and eventually I betrayed Strykore, but he intensified my evil nature and I was literally driven mad, I attacked my best friend to keep her from telling the others and I almost killed her." He took a shaky breath, the memory being a very painful one.

Sunset was stunned but kept silent as the dragon told his tale. "I managed to come to my senses before I could do so, which led to the map to the Core of Light being unlocked.....but that's not very relevant right now." He paused to breathe. "I was captured and taken back to the Academy, I remember being able to see what was going on, but I felt my madness taking over and I basically couldn't control myself, they gave me a potion that cured me of the darkness and Spyro was reborn." His expression became a mix of confusion and regret. "Somehow I gained my own body and I attacked the original Spyro, I lost to him and almost died in the fight." He concluded before looking away.

Sunset was silent for a few minutes and so was Dark Spyro, she could see the pain in his eyes from what he did and she eventually sighed. "What will you do if they show up? the Skylanders?" She asked out of curiosity.

"I'm going to accept their judgement, whatever it may be." Dark Spyro stated instantly.

Sunset took a deep breath and spoke quietly. "Then I'll support your decision." She said. "We might not have known each other long but you helped me to realize my mistakes so I could correct them, I owe you this much at least." She said before walking to the door to leave the room.

As Sunset reached the door and opened it, she heard Dark Spyro speak. "Sunset.......thank you." He said quietly, to which the unicorn nodded before leaving the room and closing the door.

Unbeknownst to the dragon, Tempest's eyes were open the entire time, she had heard every word.

______*The library, two hours later.*______

Sunset Shimmer sat in a corner of the library, she was reading up on local history and creatures, the library was large and filled with tall bookshelves, the carpet was dark red and the walls were enchanted with an illusion to appear as spruce wood walls.

There were barely any lights in the library aside from a few lit candles, Sunset had entered the library and found that some of the candles were already lit up, she found it strange and when she called out she got no answer, so she found herself a quiet corner and lit up a small lamp that was nearby.

Sunset was about halfway through her book when her ears perked up to the sound of books falling over, she lowered the book and stood up, she lit her horn up and walked towards the direction of the sounds, she turned a corner and saw a small walkway between two bookshelves, there was no one there and no fallen books, she raised an eyebrow and walked deeper in the library, searching for the fallen books and possibly the source.

Sunset walked out of the small walkway and looked around, she stood in a more open area with nothing in it except a desk at either end of the library, she started towards the entrance of the library and looked in the areas between the shelves, it took until the second to last shelf near the entrance but she spotted a stack of fallen books, she sighed and walked up to them.

When she neared the books, Sunset grabbed one with her magic and found that it was an atlas. "Hmm." She set the fallen books on the shelf counter and walked back to her corner to read, as she walked Sunset could not help but wonder what knocked the books over.

Sunset thought on this up until she returned to the corner and set about reading her book, she decided to ignore what had happened and just focused on what she was doing. "It was probably nothing anyway." She muttered.

_____*Three days later, The Crystal Empire, Tempest's POV, 2:17 PM*_____

I am currently walking around the city with a happy expression on my face, I had been very excited to discover that some of my feathers were growing back and that excitement carried over to breakfast.

Though one thing that constantly plagued my thoughts was a strange smile on Princess Cadence's face, I couldn't understand what that was about and an attempt at asking yielded no results whatsoever, instead the Princess just gained a look that said she knew something but was having fun keeping a secret.

I quickly put that thought aside though as I walk around the city, at first I was going to join Dark Spyro as he greeted Granite, Silver and Cosmo but I decided against it, mostly because I didn't want to intrude and though I won't admit it to anyone, curbing the dragons more recent......antics, was draining In of itself.

Two days ago, Dark Spyro was found hanging off the highest tower upside down, apparently he had been up there for an hour and was trying to 'brainstorm' a spell to make a portal to the Skylands, this was promptly cut short as he lost his grip and Sunset had to bring him inside much to his protest, and now the dragon is banned from that tower.

Yesterday Dark Spyro figured that if he could generate enough electricity through his lightning, he might be able to revitalize himself back to full strength, he called it 'shock therapy' but thankfully I was able to convince him not to do it by saying that he was more likely to kill himself with that method.

I may not know him very well, but I do care about Dark Spyro, hearing him tell his story that night made me realize just how much he regrets his past, it took some time to get used to the idea but I was able to push past what I learned, I focus on who he is now and not who he was, the one thing I am grateful to his seemingly increasing madness for is that he didn't notice how I avoiding talking to him for the last couple days.

So as I walk through the city I allow my thoughts to fade away as I simply enjoy a quiet walk, I greet a few of the citizens and even hold a conversation for a few minutes before continuing my walk, I walk past a sweet shop before I feel my ears perk up, I stop and listen as I hear Dark Spyro talking loudly.

Curiosity fills me and I walk in the direction of my friends voice, I find an alley and enter it, quickly ending up on the other side, I look to both my left and my right and spot Dark Spyro on my right side talking to.......the air?

I raise an eyebrow and watch as he passes me, he walks to the castle and continues talking to whatever he sees in the air. "And I told you, I'm not doing that! so stop trying!" He shouts, ignoring the looks of concern and worry from the nearby ponies.

I stare for a few moments before going after him, I keep my distance but watch him closely just in case, deep down I know that he wouldn't hurt anyone who doesn't deserve it, and I know that this may be betraying his trust but I have a feeling that I should do this, I don't know why but I decide to go with it and keep an eye on my friend.

I watch him the entire time he walks to the castle and his argument with whatever he sees only seems to worsen, at least until he reaches the last of the buildings leading to the castle, Dark Spyro pauses his walk and looks to his right when he gets about seven feet away from a building, his eyes widen and he gains a shocked expression before he shakes his head, thankfully I'm close enough to hear him. "Great now I'm hallucinating, that's all I need." He grumbles before walking to the door.

That statement makes me worry as I walk out and look in the direction that Dark Spyro looked in, the only thing I manage to see is Cosmo running around a corner, she seems to be talking to someone but I shrug. "Must be her family." I say before returning to my walk around the city, hoping that Dark Spyro doesn't try to do anything while he's alone.

Deep down, some part of me groans in disappointment, knowing perfectly well that in his state, the dragon is liable to do anything without any supervision, I just hope that he doesn't try to hurt himself.

Accepting fate.

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______*The Crystal Capital, A few minutes ago.*______

Dark Spyro walked through the beautiful streets of the city with a feeling of anger, normally walking around the city calmed his tired mind and brought him a sense of peace, but that was when he was alone and right now he was being pestered by an annoyance that wouldn't leave him be.

Said annoyance took the form of a large brown eagle with yellow eyes and a temper that matched that of Eruptor, for a while now the eagle continually attempted to coerce Dark Spyro to do something outrageous.

"Why are you so insistent that I do something stupid like that?" The dragon asked as he glanced at the eagle, not paying attention as a crystal Pegasus walked past and looked at him like he was crazy.

The eagle huffed and gave him a mocking glare. "Because it will get you home!" It stated with aggravation as it flew next to the dragon.

Dark Spyro turned a corner and began walking back to the Castle, his mind briefly wandered to a conversation he had with Princess Cadence and Shining Armor, they were talking to him about possibly joining the city guard if he decided to stay in the Crystal Empire, he was unable to continue thinking back to this as the annoying eagle spoke again.

"Come on! It's just one small dark magic distortion, it won't be that bad I swear!" The eagle stated with confidence and energy, seeming to forget it's anger for a moment.

"And I told you, I'm not doing that! So stop trying!" Dark Spyro snapped angrily at the eagle, causing it to recoil and after a second it glared at the dragon, who ignored the looks he was getting and continued walking.

"At least I am trying to get us home! you seem to be content with running around in pony land forever and never making things right back home!" The eagle shouted, it's anger returned at full force.

Dark Spyro felt his anger bubble up instantly and he looked at the eagle with furious eyes. "Don't you dare, I want to go home more than you ever will, I want to make amends but I'm not going to destroy anything to make it happen!" He shouted.

The eagle said nothing as they entered the main courtyard outside the Castle, in fact Dark Spyro didn't even hear the eagle flying next to him anymore, he paused and turned to his right to look for the annoyance avian but he froze at what he saw instead.

Standing in place as though hiding but just as wide eyed as he was, stood five people he was all too familiar with, the lava monster Eruptor, the blue haired, green skinned and ghostly eyed Stealth Elf, the bluish gremlin Pop Fizz, the wingless sky baron Jet-Vac and none other than his purple and orange half, Spyro, standing next to them was Cosmo and she waved at him.

Dark Spyro stared for a few seconds before continuing his walk to the castle and chuckling half-heartedly. "Great now I'm hallucinating, that's all I need." He grumbled as he approached the door to the castle and pushing it open.

_______*Inside the Castle, Dark Spyro's POV.*_______

I sigh as I enter the first room of the castle, there were a few ponies walking about, some guards and some servants to name a few, I walk to the stairs with the intention to go to my room before I hear a voice. "Dark Spyro?" I turn to face the owner of the voice and see Princess Cadence looking at me with a concerned expression.

I give the Princess a small smile and speak. "Yes? how can I help?" I ask as I step off the stairs, curious as to what she wanted.

"Could we talk?" The Princess asks, she gestures to the meeting room that was behind the doors to the left of the entrance when entering the castle, I shrug and then nod, not seeing a reason not to.

Cadence smiles and we both walk to the meeting room, as we near the door her horn lights up and the door opens, we step inside and see three guards standing around the table, they look over at us and salute at the sight of their ruler. "At ease." The mare says. "Could you give us some privacy?" She asks calmly.

The guards nod and walk out of the room, the door closes behind us and I walk to one of the chairs around the large table and sit down, Princess Cadence does the same and sits near me, it is silent for a few moments and the mare has a thoughtful expression on her face, as though she is thinking of what to say.

I say nothing as I wait patiently for Cadence to speak, my curiosity about why she wanted to talk to me overriding my desire to go to my room and possibly sleep, it took about a minute but the Alicorn eventually spoke. "I am concerned about you." She eventually said.

I say nothing in reply as Cadence continues. "I know you've heard this from both Sunset and Tempest, but I truly think you should sleep, your friends told me that you seem afraid to do so." She says, I detect no subtly, only concern in her voice.

"What all have you heard?" I ask carefully, I mentally slap myself for doing so, I knew that Cadence cared but for some reason my paranoia got the better of me.

Cadence didn't seem bothered by my question as she doesn't react to it but still replies. "Other than your bizarre actions lately, I heard about you actually flinching at the mere mention of sleep, I heard about you talking to an unseen figure in a hallway one day, having a heated argument with yourself." She stops herself and sighs. "You get the idea." She adds, knowing she didn't have to say any more.

I bite my tongue to keep myself from replying right away, I wanted to tell her who I was talking to, but if no one else could see the eagle... that meant that I've been hallucinating for a while now, I just never registered it. "If it helps, I was going to go to my room and try to sleep today, I doubt I will be able to, but if I am hallucinating I need to try." I say before getting off the chair.

Cadence nods and smiles at me. "Thank you...do you want anything to help you sleep by any chance?" She offers me. "I happen to know a sleep spell and we received some sleep aids with the last few shipments." She adds.

I shake my head. "No thanks, if I change my mind I'll let you know." I reply before walking to the door to leave and push it open, I walk out of the room and leave the door open for Cadence, I walk to the stairs and make my way up the stairs.

The walk to my room is quiet, I don't see anyone on my way which I feel is a little eerie but I decide not to question it, I walk into the hallway and continue on my way, I keep on walking until I reach the second room on the right, I open the door and step inside, I close the door behind me and sigh in relief.

I walk to my bed and go to climb up as I hear a painfully familiar voice. "Hey, can we talk?" I turn to look at the owner of the voice and I see Stealth Elf looking at me with an unsure yet wary expression, I say nothing as I stare at the elf, the staring went on for what felt like forever but in reality was only half a minute until she spoke. "Um...so...this is awkward." She says with a voice that sounds like she regretted being here.

"No it isn't." I say flatly, surprising Stealth Elf, I roll my eyes and turn my body to face the elf. "It isn't awkward because you aren't here, you are still in the Skylands and I'm hallucinating." I state as I take a step closer to the hallucination.

Stealth Elf's expression soon becomes annoyed. "I am NOT a hallucination, I want to talk to you." She says as she crosses her arms.

I let out a short laugh and look at the hallucination. "Ha! yea right." My expression turns serious as I stare. "I got transported to this land and at some point the whole place was banished for one thousand years, so unless you either have time travel or are a thousand years old, you are a hallucination." I reason as I take another step closer.

Stealth Elf raises an eyebrow at me. "Look, we came here using the same device that you did, we managed to stop Strykore from destroying the Core of Light." She says, she did not move.

"That is exactly what a hallucination would say!" I declare as I turn around. "Telling me what I want to hear so that I will listen, and where does all of this lead? nowhere!" I say with a manic voice before looked back at the hallucination. "If you are not a hallucination, prove it to me! hit me!" I challenge.

Stealth Elf blinks in surprise but makes no attempt to move. "We didn't come here to fight you, we were going to try and talk to you tomorrow but I personally couldn't wait." She says in an attempt to dodge the challenge I gave her.

"Aha!" I state with a feeling of victory, I knew now that this was in fact a hallucination. "Next you'll tell me something crazy like Cynder is back or Glumshanks fought Kaos!" I laugh at the mere thought of the troll actually fighting anything and I give the hallucination a maniacal look which causes her to slightly tense up.

Stealth Elf shook her head with a sigh and looked at me. "Well-" She didn't get to finish as I interrupted her.

"Don't even say it." I say flatly and with a serious expression before I feel my mind trail off. "While I could easily throw a fireball and get rid of you hallucinations, I'm not even going to expend the energy, so if you don't mind I am going to bed!" I state as I climb onto the bed and look over at the now annoyed hallucination. "Good night and good-" I am interrupted this time when I feel a hand deliver a strong slap to my face, my head is thrown to the side a little.

I look up in surprise at Stealth Elf who is staring down at me with her hands at her sides, she has an annoyed and yet somewhat relieved expression on her face, I find myself doubting the situation as I speak. "Again!" I demand, I watch as the elf promptly slaps my face just as hard and my mind takes a minute to process this.

'Hallucination=not real, not real=cannot use physical contact, not insane=Didn't slap myself, conclusion, Stealth Elf=Real.'

I look up at Stealth Elf with wide eyes and I speak in a very quiet voice. "Elf?" I receive a nod and her expression softens a little, I slowly reach out with my right claw and gently touch her left hand, I feel myself shake as I pull away and my breathing speeds up as I feel panic. "That means that...the team is here." I mutter and force myself to sit up normally, my eyes wide and my expression panicked, I lower my head and keep my eyes trained on the floor.

"So, can we talk now?" Stealth Elf asks as she crosses her arms, she moved over to the other end of the bed to give me some space.

I nod wordlessly and listen as my former teammate speaks. "Like I said before, we came to this land using the same device that you overloaded, Jet-Vac was confused when we ended up near a ruined village and Spyro thought you were to blame at first." She explains which makes me raise an eyebrow.

"At first?" I ask the elf, not looking her in the eye.

"Master Eon taught Spyro a spell that allows him to show us any of his memories of a location, and since the two of you are the same dragon..." She said no more as I nodded in understanding. "Anyway, as we watched the memories of you in the village of Jade, we were unsure of what to make of them, Spyro insisted that it was all an act." The elf said.

"I don't blame him." I mutter to myself quietly, I take a deep breath and look at Stealth Elf for a second before looking away. "Why are you here? I would have thought you all wouldn't care what happened to me." I ask with confusion and uncertainty in my voice. "Especially you." I whisper.

"We're here to bring you back to the Skylands." Elf replied with a calm voice. "Most of us, me included, want to avoid a fight, Spyro is probably the only one who wants you to fight." She explained.

I nod wordlessly and look at Stealth Elf again. "You said tomorrow right?" I ask, to which my former friend nods, I let out a sigh. "There's a meeting room downstairs, it's behind the doors on the left when entering the castle, I'll let the guards know to let you in, might as well get this over with now." I say as I get off the bed.

I walk to the door and look over my shoulder at Elf. "For what little it's worth, I'm sorry for everything." I say before opening the door and leaving the room.

______*Two hours later, The Crystal Castle.*______

I sigh to myself as I sit in the meeting room, I stare at the doors to the room with growing dread as I await what I am certain is my doom, I steel myself as much as I can by silently reminding myself that I was going to do this if I ever met my former teammates again.

I hear voices and I tense up, I hear them approaching the room and I brace myself for who was coming, the door opened and I hear Cadence talking. "Take as long as you need, he's requested that you aren't to be disturbed." The Alicorn spoke.

Soon enough, Stealth Elf walked into the room followed by the rest of the team, I tense up a little as they each enter the room and I feel my blood freeze as Spyro enters the room, the second the other dragon spotted me his eyes hardened as he glared with barely contained hatred.

When the door closed an awkward and tense silence filled the room, I suddenly feel a need to say something to break the silence and I say the first thing that comes to mind. "How do you like the Empire?" I say simply and nervously, I try to hide my anxiety behind a neutral expression.

"It's nice." Jet-Vac replies simply, no one else speaks and I feel the tense air return.

I let out a shaky breath and try to think of something to say, but I was unable to do so as Pop Fizz climbs onto the table and stares at me with his crazed yet absent eyes. "You look worse than Jet-Vac does when he's up all night and running on coffee." The gremlin states with as straight a face as he can manage.

I couldn't hold back a laugh but manage to contain it to amused snickering, this seemed to break the ice and I spoke a moment later. "Yea I do, that's what happens when you stay awake for a long time." I reply with a tired expression and voice.

Next it was Spyro who spoke a short while later and he wasn't happy as he glared at me. "Where do you get off telling people we're brothers?" He asked flatly.

I shrug. "Honestly? I needed help and I figured that it was a better explanation at the time instead of 'I am the evil half of a dragon that helped a psychopath in his quest for world domination." I say truthfully, Spyro still looks angry but he doesn't say anything in reply.

"So you guys beat Strykore huh?" I ask, I get a nod from Elf and I speak. "That's good, glad we don't have to worry about him anymore." I say before blinking. "So...if you don't mind me asking, what did I miss?" I ask carefully.

Spyro gained a look like he wanted to say something but Stealth Elf stopped him. "After you and Spyro fought, we needed a way to find the Core of Light, so we got onto Flynn's ship and went to the underworld to rescue Cynder from Malefor." The elf stopped talking when she saw my eyes widened and became pinpricks.

All my muscles locked up and I felt weak, I felt my heart skip a beat and my breathing became unsteady at the mere mention of the dragons name, a few seconds later I found my voice. "I'm just going to assume you succeeded and rescued Cynder from he-who-must-not-be-named." I said shakily.

The Skylanders looked amongst themselves and huddled, they talked for a little bit and I used that time to calm down, they soon broke it up and Jet-Vac continued. "Back to the subject at hand, with Cynder's help we were able to get to the lost island of Arkus and uh, long story short we managed to save the Core of Light, Master Eon was almost killed saving it but we were able to tilt the robot that Kaos was controlling just enough to keep that from happening." The sky baron said as he rubbed his arm. "My arm is still sore from that." He mumbled.

The room was silent again, and even though it was quiet the silence was unbearable, I prevented myself for speaking for a long time and no one spoke, for a few minutes, at this point I spoke up with a question that was on my mind. "So, Elf told me that you want to bring me back to the Skylands?" I say, upon seeing the confirming nods I sigh and get off the chair. "Well, in my state I wouldn't be able to fight off a Chompy, so I'll go quietly." I say.

I can see the dissappointment in Spyro's eyes but he said nothing, instead it was Eruptor who spoke. "Great! so Jet-Vac, what do you say we get going?" The lava monster said his first words out loud since entering the room.

Jet-Vac sighed. "Be patient Eruptor, Dark Spyro, we'll give you a day to say goodbye, but there is something that you should know." He said, this makes me curious and I look at the Sky Baron. "Officially, you are not a criminal back in the Skylands, because there is no evidence that says you are and the fact is, everything you did, you did as Spyro and not as Dark Spyro, in short you will not be going to prison, rather we are taking you to talk to Master Eon at the academy." He explained.

At this moment, my mind had to reboot at the new information, because ever since I ended up in the Crystal Empire I was certain and had come to terms with the thought of going to prison, but the thought of confronting Eon after everything I did? it terrified me. "What?" Was all I could say as I stood still with shock and disbelief.

"You lucked out, that's what's what." Spyro said with an aggravated tone as he started to hover in the air, anxious about something I couldn't figure out.

I could only blink and after a few moments I took a deep breath. "Alright, where do you want to meet up tomorrow?" I ask quietly.

"Either here or somewhere quiet will do, we could use your room even." Stealth Elf replied, she put her right hand on her hip and let the other one hang to her side, she was more relaxed yet still slightly guarded around me, not that I blame her.

"That's fine, by the way there's plenty of rooms here in the castle if you want to spend the night...Cadence did tell you this stuff right?" I ask with uncertainty.

"The nice pony lady? yep! I think she might have said something about breakfast, no idea though!" Pop added to the conversation in his unique way.

I nod and walk to the door to leave, I walk past Spyro as I do and we exchange looks, mine was tired and his was filled with suspicion, I open the door and walk out of the room, leaving the Skylanders to talk or do whatever.

'I need to sleep.' Was the first thought that entered my mind, and with that I headed upstairs to finally get some much needed rest.

I was able to get to my room quickly with no distractions along the way, I open the door and walk into the room, I see Cosmo sitting on the bed talking with Tempest and Sunset Shimmer. "Hey Dark Spyro!" Cosmo said happily and with a wave.

Her cheery attitude made me smile, but it feels forced and sad as I walk up to the bed and open my wings, I fly up on the bed and land, I close my wings and wince a little at how sore they feel. "Hey Cosmo." I reply as the filly hugs me, my voice is still strained but I hold it back.

"Are you alright?" Sunset asks me and I look at her while I return the hug to the filly, she sounds concerned as she looks at me intently.

I nod to her and release the hug with Cosmo. "I'm going home Sunset." I say, which seems to be enough to silence the others. "Tomorrow I'm going home, and I wanted to say goodbye." I add.

Cosmo sits down and tilts her head. "You're going to talk to that Master Eon guy right?" She asked.

I blink and look at the filly, wondering if she eavesdropped before I remember seeing her with the Skylanders. "Right, and I thought you should know." I say before looking at Tempest. "I'm sorry for driving you nuts with everything I've done, if at all possible, I'll try to visit sometime." I say to the griffon.

Tempest smiled and pulled me into a hug. "And maybe someday I'll tell you what happened the first day here." She whispered in a teasing manner.

I roll my eyes and return the hug, I patted the griffons back and a moment later I pulled away. "Thanks I guess, now uh...I don't want to be rude but I need to get some sleep." I say as I look at Cosmo. "If you and your family are still around tomorrow, I want to say goodbye to Silver too, can you let them know?" I ask.

The filly nods and hops off the bed, Sunset climbs off the bed as well and looks at me. "Get some sleep already you stubborn dragon, I'll see you later." She said as she led Cosmo out of the room.

I look over at Tempest and see that the griffon was under the covers to get some sleep, I roll my eyes and do the same, a few moments later I'm fully under the covers with just my head sticking out and I stare at the door which is closed, I sigh and close my eyes, allowing sleep to finally claim me.

_______*a few minutes later.*_______

My eyes open to the world around me, well...open was not the right word for it, I find myself once again in the center of the now life filled garden, I don't know how but somehow I am able to see everything around me as though I were looking around like normal.

In this garden I am alone and even though I cannot move my head or my body I feel at peace, the statue that I turned into was frozen in the sitting and defeated position, stone tears were frozen on my face and I watch as a squirrel climbs up onto my pedestal and curls up next to my front right leg.

I then hear someone approaching and I watch in that direction, to my surprise I see Tempest walk up to my statue and look up at me with sadness. "I don't know if you can hear me Dark Spyro, but I want you to know that everyone forgives you, Spyro naturally still doesn't like talking about you but that's just him being himself." The griffon let out a strained chuckle and continued. "It isn't fair that you have to spend your days here alone, you have done wrong but I don't think that you deserve to be trapped while we are free." Tempest's eyes watered and she placed a Talon on my statue. "You are a hero, you just need to forgive yourself." She said quietly.

Even in my stone prison, I could feel my heart ache at the sight of the crying griffon. "Don't cry Tempest, not over me." I say, though with my body in stone, there was no sound.

Tempest looks at my stone face and speaks. "Thank you...for everything." She said sadly before walking away.

I sighed mentally and watch as the sad griffon leaves the garden, as I watch I feel a strange sense of determination and I find myself struggling to break free of my prison, for some reason I cannot understand, the image of Tempest walking alone triggered something in me. "You listen to me whatever you are, I don't care what I did to be turned to stone, but you imprisoned my friends, so you let me out, or I'll make your life a living hell!" I shouted in my mind.

The reaction I received was instant, as if on command all of the stone that kept me a prisoner crumbled and faded away, the squirrel next to me was startled and ran away as I feel my body come under my control again, my eyes blink and in a couple more seconds I am free of my statue form, I immediately jump off the pedestal and I call out as loud as I can. "TEMPEST!" As I call out I ran away from the garden, I find myself on a now life filled pathway with a cobblestone road, I soon see a familiar griffon on the road who stopped running and froze at the sight of me.

I slow down and stop when I'm about ten feet away, I panted a little and looked at Tempest. "Thought you were leaving without me seeing you off huh?" I ask with a slightly teasing tone.

Tempest promptly ran up and tackle hugged me, I fall to the ground and as the griffon hugs me, I feel the world around me fading, it was peaceful and without trouble, deep down I feel relief wash over me as I wake up.

_______*Dark Spyro's temporary room.*_______

My eyes open and I blink, I still feel incredibly sore and my eyes still burned but it was slightly lessened, I look at the small clock on the end table and see that it was now eleven, I breathe quietly and shifted a little, I pause as I feel something warm wrapped around me, I blink and raise an eyebrow.

I manage to turn my head until I can see behind me and I see Tempest resting her head on my shoulder, she had her arms wrapped around my chest and I feel her tail wrapped around mine, I decide not to wake the sleeping griffon to tell her that she was under the wrong cover, I then returned my head to the pillow and resign myself to the surprisingly comfortable position. 'Sunset was right, Tempest is a cuddler.' I note with a little humor.

Curiosity strikes me and I move my head to look for the fiery unicorn, I spot her asleep at her chosen spot on the bed and I roll my eyes at the strange smile on her face, I pondered something for a little before mentally shrugging to myself, I flip my body over gently as to not wake the griffon and I wrap my arms around her, being careful around her wings, Tempest's head moved and I stopped, she repositioned her head to rest on my neck and I hear her steady breathing.

I close my eyes and allow myself to drift off to sleep again, knowing that I desperately need it and not caring in the slightest if Sunset or anyone else saw.

_____*the next day.*______

I open my eyes slowly, my body feels loads better but it still hurt as did my eyes and head, I feel happy that I didn't dream last night and I smile at the sight before me.

Tempest was still asleep and we were in the same position that we were in when I fell asleep, I don't move a muscle and I simply lay completely still in the bed, I hear a quiet giggle nearby and I manage to just barely move my head, I see Sunset looking at us with a smile. "Comfy?" She mouthed the question, but there was great amusement in her eyes.

I simply stared at the mare for a while before mouthing my reply. "Yes." I then lay my head back down and simply allow my body to rest, feeling greatly fatigued and tired now, I was about to close my eyes when I hear Tempest yawn and I watch as she pulls her head back a little.

The griffon's eyes slowly drifted open and she sleepily looked into my eyes, she blinked a few times before she realized what was going on, her eyes widened and her face reddened out of embarrassment. "Um...m-m-morning." She stammered incoherently.

I simply smiled and released my grip on the griffon, though she didn't do the same, I raise an eyebrow at her. "So, are you going to release me or do you want to cuddle some more?" I ask with a teasing tone, though I wouldn't say it, I kind of hoped she wouldn't move.

"Eep!" Tempest gasped and released her hold, she looked away from me and whispered. "Sorry."

I rolled over and look at the clock, I see that it's around seven and I yawn, I slowly get out of bed and land on the floor, I rub my eyes carefully and blink a few times before stretching. "Alright, who's hungry?" I ask out of fake curiosity, knowing the answer already.

The reply I get comes in the form of three seperate growling stomachs, I chuckle and walk to the door, I open it and look back at the others who were slowly following me. "Come on, let's see what breakfast is today." I say before walking out of the room, the hallway for once is not empty, behind me Tempest and Sunset is a very tired Garnet and Silver with Cosmo who was somehow energetic.

Ahead of me was Jet-Vac and Eruptor who opened the door to leave the hall and walked out, so the three of us walk until we reach the door and I pause. "You two go on without me, I have something I need to say." I receive a nod from Sunset and Tempest and look back at Garnet and his daughters.

I wait patiently for them to approach and I smile at them. "So, how's the move going?" I ask when they get close.

Garnet grunted. "Annoying as ever, but thankfully your friend Twilight set us up to live in a town called Ponyville, we should be able to move in tomorrow." He answered with both annoyance and relief in his voice and expression.

"What about you Dark Spyro?" Silver asked curiously.

I smiled and opened the door to leave the hallway. "I'm alright now...I hope, I'm going back to the Skylands today so I can't complain about that." I reply as I walk.

The large room we are in has a few people in it but I don't pay much attention to it as I hear Silver talk. "Will you be able to visit us at all?" She asks with a little sadness, but then she must have had an idea. "Ooh, what if WE visit you?" She wondered with a little more energy.

I chuckle. "Well, I'll have to see about finding a way to go back and forth between the Skylands and Equestria." I pause and look at Garnet. "And if I do find a way, you'll have to ask your dad about visiting my home." I add before heading to the dining hall.

"You'll do great in the Skylands! you know that right?" Cosmo asked in her energetic way as she walked alongside me.

I smile at the filly and ruffle her mane a little as I walk, not saying a word about the growing dread in my heart.

_____*a little bit later.*_____

I sat in the dining hall with Tempest sitting to my left as usual, Princess Cadence sat to the right of me as head of the table, Shining Armor sat next to her, next to Tempest was Cosmo and then Silver, followed by Garnet and then Pop Fizz.

Next to Shining Armor was Sunset, followed by Stealth Elf, then Spyro, and next to the dragon was Jet-Vac and then Eruptor, breakfast was wide and varied today because of the varying guests.

I didn't mind though and I just ate my bacon and French toast, happy to just listen to the conversations at the table, every once in a while I would notice Cadence and Tempest looking at each other and I raised an eyebrow and pondered this silently, I never said anything though but I did notice the knowing grin on the Princess's face occasionally. 'What am I missing here?' I wondered as I ate.

I drank my grape juice idly and looked around the table, Garnet and his daughters seemed to be enjoying the breakfast, Shining Armor was trying and failing to hold a decent conversation with Sunset, and the Skylanders were talking amongst themselves for the most part, one thing I was relieved about was that Spyro wasn't glaring at me, he lost any happy expression when he looked at me but he didn't glare at me for the most part.

After a while, most of us finished breakfast and I watched Tempest hurry to catch the Skylanders, or more specifically Jet-Vac for some reason, I chuckled a little and worked on eating the last of my food, which was just a few pieces of bacon and a couple pieces of French toast.

I finished off the last of my breakfast quickly and stood up as Garnet and Spyro finished eating, I quickly round up the scattered dishes and set them on a nearby trolley and then I walk to the dining hall entrance to leave, I find myself wanting to be away from Spyro suddenly, even though I wasn't afraid of him personally, I didn't want to be alone with him in my current state.

I pull the door open and I yawn as I do so, I feel a wave of tiredness wash over me and I shake it off as I walk into the main area, I feel the urge to climb back into bed but I ignore it as I walk to the door to go outside. "Hold on a minute." I stop at the voice of the one person I did not want to talk to, I turn around and see Spyro looking at me, he marched right up to me with a glare of suspicion. "We are all taking a big chance, bringing you back to the Skylands, but don't think you are forgiven, so if you even think about betraying us I won't hesitate to take you down." He warned with a threatening tone before walking away.

I watch as my counterpart walked up the stairs and away from me, I take a deep breath and let it out slowly. 'Noted.' I tell myself, I look back to the castle entrance and I then see Tempest walk out of the meeting room with Jet-Vac and Stealth Elf, she looked neutral as she ran up the stairs.

"Hey Dark Spyro, are you ready?" Elf asked when she spotted me a second later.

I mentally prepare myself before nodding, I take a final look at my surroundings before going upstairs, I take flight and fly up to the second floor, my wings protest the action but I don't mind as I land on the floor, I then approach the hall door and open it, on the other side I see Eruptor entering my room with Spyro, followed by Tempest.

I start walking to the room, but with every step I take I feel my heart growing heavy, I bite my tongue and force myself to keep walking. 'This is what I've been waiting for ever since I ended up here, it might not have been long but it feels like forever.' When I reach the door I place my clawed hand on it, I hear someone coming closer and I see Stealth Elf and Jet-Vac walking up to me. "Now or never I suppose." I mutter as I push the door open, inside the room are the Skylanders, Sunset Shimmer and Tempest.

"Good, we're all here." Jet-Vac said as he walked up to everyone, I notice that everyone is standing in a circle and that Jet-Vac stood in the center, Stealth Elf took her place in the circle and I hesitantly did so as well, the Sky Baron then pulled out a very familiar black remote looking device with two silver prongs and spoke. "Now, the device only has a limited pickup range so once I activate it, do not move at all unless it's closer, though I recommend not moving at all because of how painful it is when you move." He explained.

I watched with curiosity as Jet-Vac turned what I'm guessing was a dial and pushed a few buttons, blue electric lights soon jolted on the prongs rapidly and soon enough the area around us started to crackle loudly, it soon picked up and then in a moment a blinding light shined and I had to cover my eyes.

_____*a moment later.*_____

I lowered my arm and heard Jet-Vac speaking. "Is everyone here?" He asked.

I reply yes as did the others and I saw Tempest shaking her head as though she was dizzy or something. "You alright?" I ask out of concern for my friend.

The griffon looks at me and nods with a smile. "Yea, I'm alright." She said.

I nod in understanding before I do a double take, I notice both Sunset and Tempest looking around the area we were in. "Wait, you guys came along?" I ask, finally realizing what was going on and staring with both surprise and confusion clear as day on my face.

Sunset nodded. "You didn't think I was going to let you go alone did you?" The unicorn huffed and later chuckled. "I knew you were stubborn but I didn't realize that also translated into being thick headed." She added with a teasing look.

"Same here...well, except the thick headed bit." Tempest replied quietly.

I force myself to push past the shock of the two following me to the Skylands, mostly so I can focus on other things, I take a look around and see the all too familiar floating islands of the Skylanders Academy, the large open courtyard like area in front of the Academy building which was insanely tall, I saw a bunch of Skylanders trainees and cadets walking about, I take a deep breath and look around some more, I see the many floating islands and I smile. "Welcome to the Skylands, and more importantly, the Skylanders Academy." I say to the griffon and unicorn.

I look to my left and see Jet-Vac waving me over, I nod to him and walk over. "Let's go talk to Eon." I say and follow the Sky Baron, I notice that Pop Fizz and Eruptor headed off elsewhere and the others were following me and Jet-Vac.

We walk for a while and while none of the trainees or cadets stop us, most of them glared at me, word most likely having spread about what I did, I avoided looking anyone in the eyes, we walk in silence for a while and eventually reached the main building, Jet-Vac stood next to the door and looked at me. "Go on In, Master Eon wanted to talk to you alone if you ever came back." He said, informing me that I was going to be alone in there.

I took a deep breath and opened the door, I stepped inside and gulped, the inside of the main building was the same as ever, it was open and spacious while having a large collection of books, I look around but I don't see any sight of Master Eon, I take a few steps forward and look around nervously.

My anxiety soon gets the better of me and I call out. "Hello!" I wait for a while before calling out a second time, and this time I seem to get a response, I hear someone moving and I pause, I wait for a while before I see the door to the vault open up, and leaving the vault is none other than Master Eon.

"Yes I'm here! What can I do for....you?" The old man's question slowed as he caught sight of me standing in the building, from first glance I can see that he moves like a great burden has been lifted from his shoulders, but upon seeing me he sighed, he slowly walked to the stairs and walked down them, he had a thoughtful look on his face as he stepped down onto the same floor that I am on. "...It would seem that your friends found you." The old man said, stroking his now long again beard.

I nod and sit down, I suddenly cannot look him In the eye. "They did." I say simply.

"Is your mind still affected by Strykore's magic?" The man asked calmly, his voice was level and I couldn't make heads or tails of it.

"No." I reply.

"Can you look at me then?" The Portal Master requested, I sigh and looked up at Eon, I look at his eyes and I see how he appeared to be conflicted, he was silent for a minute before he walked over to a desk and grabbed a pitcher of water, he poured two glasses and set the pitcher down, he then walked over and handed me one, which I took silently and drank, knowing that it was probably a truth serum, Eon did the same before speaking. "Do you...regret what you've done?" He asked carefully, making sure not to let any emotion into his voice.

"Everything bad?... yes." I say instantly, I take another sip from the water.

Master Eon was silent for a while and took a sip from his glass, he waited for a while before speaking. "Do you have a name you like to go by, by any chance?" He asked with a curious tone.

"I um...I just go by Dark Spyro, it's easier than thinking up a new name and all." I reply honestly, silently thanking Jet-Vac for what he said the day I was seperated from my good half.

Master Eon nodded and took another sip from his glass, his eyes moved around for a few seconds as he looked me over, he then finally spoke after half a minute of unbearable silence. "Dark Spyro, what is it you want to do? now that you are free that is." He asked with a flash of concern in his eyes that quickly turned apathetic.

The question made take a moment to think before speaking. "To make amends, I want to do the right thing...I don't expect it to be easy." I say truthfully before finishing the drink.

Master Eon was quiet as he hummed and then finished his drink and then took my glass, he walked back to the desk where the pitcher sat and filled both glasses again, he brought them back and handed me mine again. "So, what you want is a second chance? is that correct?" He asked with a flat tone.

I nod as I drink a little from the glass. "Exactly." I say, I look at Master Eon who stroked his beard thoughtfully for a short while before drinking a little.

Soon enough the Portal Master spoke. "Dark Spyro." He started in a serious tone, I feel body tense up as he stared into my eyes, I nervously take a drink. "How would you like to be a Skylander again?" The question made me spit out my drink in shock, I feel my body freeze for a second and I blink.

"What?" I say mindlessly, not sure if I heard correctly before continuing. "I...would love that but...why?" I manage to add before I feel my mind reel back from disbelief as I drank from the glass.

Master Eon took a sip from his glass and then spoke. "You are looking for forgiveness and regret what you have done, you are also struggling to find a place to belong, that much is obvious." He finished his drink and spoke. "I will warn you however, if you choose to become a Skylander once again, I will have to place you with the cadets." He stated with a tone that said to consider it carefully.

I feel my excitement fade a little upon hearing that I would be put through training again, but as far as punishments go, that was enough of one, I thought on it a little more as I drink deeply from the glass, effectively finishing it off, I look at Eon who walked over, I handed him the glass and manage a nervous smile. "I wouldn't have it any other way." I say to him, I was being honest but I was still greatly confused.

Eon smiled back at me and walked over to the desk, he set the glasses down and walked back over to me, he knelt down and placed a hand on my shoulder. "Then allow me to be the first to say...welcome home Dark Spyro." He said with a kind tone of voice, it sounded a little strained but I didn't notice it as my mind fully recovered from the shock...which was a lie but I felt coherent enough to put it off until later.

I nodded and Eon stood up, he motioned for me to wait a moment as he walked away and out of sight, I feel relief wash over me and I look up at the ceiling, I close my tired eyes and I hear Eon walking back, I open my eyes and see him holding a small stack of paper, only about seven pieces. "Here you go, we have added new things to the training courses, these papers are test papers, finishing these will place you in the same grade as Cynder and the other cadets." He then took the top paper and held it. "This one is different, it is a admittance form." He sighed. "Though I'm sure you remember that much...just don't burn this one." He said.

I roll my eyes. "Come on, it was only three papers and I...well, Spyro, was a hatchling." I argue in my defense, smirking a little at the memory.

Eon shook his head as I take the papers. "Thirty three actually, and while it was funny and understandable at first, it got annoying quickly." He stated before looking at me. "I don't know if anyone has said it yet, but it is good to see you with a clear mind." He said.

"No they haven't...and I'm sorry if you feel like you need truth serum to get me to tell the truth." I reply, feeling a little bad about that particular detail, reminding me that almost no one will trust me around here.

Master Eon then raised an eyebrow at me. "Truth serum? that was simply water." He then smiled. "But thank you for telling me the truth anyway, now get some sleep, you look like you need it." He said before walking off.

I blinked at the statement that I wasn't drinking truth serum and I feel some of my negative emotions dissipate, I then shrug as I know that there was no point dwelling on it, I take the papers in my front right arm and fly up to the door even though my wings protested still, I open it and step outside, the first thing that I notice is that other than the cadets and trainees walking about, the only one around was Jet-Vac, I blink and look at the Sky Baron. "Hey Jet-Vac, where's everyone else?" I ask with a little confusion.

"Spyro and Elf are showing your friends the academy." Jet-Vac said before noticing the papers in my arm. "I see you're staying." He commented, he sounded a little surprised.

I nod. "Yea, I'm gonna end up being a cadet again." I yawn and stretch as I land. "I should probably get some sleep first." I add tiredly, feeling fatigue once again calling me.

Jet-Vac nodded in understanding. "Well, don't let me stop you, our house should still be unlocked." He said before walking off to do something else.

I feel a little happy knowing that Jet-Vac trusted me enough to let me go into the house again, but as tired as I am I decide not to question it too much and fly off in the direction of the house that my former team uses, It took about five to ten minutes before I reach the house at the speed I was flying, I land at the new door and open it easily, I thank whoever left it unlocked and step inside, I close the door and walk through the house, as I look around I feel nostalgia strike me as I remember all the good times we had here, from joking around in the living room to being the victims to Pop Fizz's failed experiments in the kitchen, I smile as the memories come back to me one by one, I eventually made it upstairs and enter an all too familiar room, my...Spyro's room, I look around and spot the computer that was off, I see the phone next to the mouse and I see the tablet on the bed, still online.

I sigh and walk to the bed, I turn off the tablet and set it on the bedside table while grabbing a small flat writing board and a pen, I start working on the papers, having changed my mind and deciding to work on those before getting some extra shut eye. 'Better than what I was expecting at least.' I find myself thinking.

Academy days: Answers and frustrations.

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_____*Skylanders Academy, 24 minutes later, Dark Spyro's POV*_____

I find myself yawning deeply as I look over the test papers that Master Eon gave me, the papers were easy at first as I knew most of the answers already, but then came the new additions that I heard about from Eon, whereas I was able to finish four papers in a few minutes, these questions made me think really hard for the answer and at one point I found myself wondering if Eon gave me these papers and questions just to mess with me, but I thought against it knowing that the old man wouldn't do that if he wanted me back, and after a while I was certain that I have everything right, or at least most of it.

I stretch a little and then look at the last paper, the admittance form, I sigh and set all the papers, the pen and writing board on the small bedside table, I then laid down on the soft bed, I shifted myself a little so that I was on my side and closed my eyes, seeking to catch up some more on sleep and not really caring about the form right now.

I shifted again until I was comfortable and let out a tired sigh and let the silence of the room help me to go to sleep, I was just about to fall asleep when I heard the door open followed by a familiar voice filled with aggravation. "Oh no you don't!" Said the voice of Spyro.

I open eyes and look tiredly at Spyro who was glaring at me harshly but made no effort to remove me from the bed. "You are not sleeping in my room! so get out." The purple dragon demanded as he points at the door.

I blink and sigh tiredly. "I am too tired to care." I begin, I was going to leave at that but pause, I find myself smirking as a thought came to me, I look at the clearly annoyed Spyro with a little mischief on my mind. "You know...by all rights, we are in essence the same dragon, and until I turn in my papers I am technically and legally Spyro as well." I chuckle a little as the purple dragon caught on to what I was saying, scowling at the thought of it all. "In short, it's OUR room." I state in triumph before lowering my head and closing my eyes.

After what I said I half expected to hear yelling or even get hit, but instead I hear an evil chuckle from the doorway, I open my eyes and look at Spyro who now had a mischievous grin and was chuckling. "What's so funny?" I ask, slightly worried about what my good half was going to do.

Spyro walked over to the computer and turned it on. "Nothing, you're right, we are the same dragon and until you turn in the papers this is OUR room, so you won't mind if hop on the computer right?" He asked calmly, I nod in confusion and wonder what was going on.

I watch with curiosity as Spyro entered the password into the computer and pulled up the net, I have no idea what the purple dragon was doing and I simply lay my head down and close my eyes, deciding that it wasn't my problem...that was of course until absurdly loud death metal started blaring in the room, I cry out in surprise and my eyes shot open from the sudden burst of noise.

I look over to my left and see Spyro sitting in front of the computer looking at me with a large smirk as a song played on the computer. "What are you doing!?" I shout, just loud enough to hear over the music.

Spyro rolls his eyes. "I'm enjoying some time in MY room, isn't it obvious?" He replied loudly over the music, he was clearly enjoying this as I glare daggers at him.

I groan loudly and grab two pillows that were on the bed, I pull them over my head and use them to help block out the sound, much to my dismay it did not work at all and after the song ended I had enough and just stood right up "Alright already! you win!" I shout as I look at my counterpart.

Spyro smirked in victory, he closed the net and lowered the volume on the computer, I knew he was watching as I took the writing board, pen and papers and walk to the door, I open it and walk out, I close the door and head downstairs.

I hear someone doing something in the direction of the kitchen but I pay it no mind, I walk until I'm in the living room and see that the couch was empty, I walk over and set the items down on the nearby table and lay down on the couch, I rest my head on the arm cushion and close my eyes, trying to fall asleep before working on the admittance form.

Once again I feel the pull of sleep and just like before, I was disturbed by a voice. "Hey, can I get you to try something?" Asked a familiar half crazed voice.

I sigh. "Sure, whatever." I mumble as I open my eyes and see Pop Fizz holding a very unstable looking blue colored potion in his right hand. "On second thought, no, not really no." I say to the alchemist quickly and with sudden vigor.

Pop doesn't seem to notice my hesitation and holds up the vial, it was tall and thin and had a rather flat bottom. "It won't even explode!" He insists while absently jerking his hand hard to the right, causing the potion to violently bubble up, we both freeze and watch as the potion proceeds to explode, causing smoke to fill the room.

I cough violently and climb off the couch while smoke fills my nostrils, I drop to the floor and slowly flap my wings in the opposite direction, causing the smoke to rise. "What...*cough*...was that?" I ask the gremlin who was lying on the floor as well.

"Well, it's was supposed to supposed to prevent dehydration!...or did I mix it up with the exploding belch potion?" Pop Fizz asks himself as he scratches his head.

I groan and face plant the floor, the two of us end up waiting on the floor for five minutes before Jet-Vac walked in and cleared it with his gun, once the smoke was clear I get up and walk to the table, I grab my paperwork, the pen and writing board and walk to the door, I walk outside and take in some fresh air.

I walk over to the large tree that was outside the house and sit under it, I then decide to just get the last bit of paperwork over with seeing as I apparently have bad luck going to sleep, I say nothing as I write on the paper in silence, filling in all the basic details such as age, species, gender...then I came up to my name and I pause, I stare at it for a while as I think. 'This is it, once I write this down, no going back.' And without any further hesitation I write down my name on the paper.

I look up from the paper and see Jet-Vac walking off with a bluish gray potion in his hand, I blink and raise an eyebrow at this but make no effort to ask him, I then return to working on the paper, I tune out the rest of the world and continue filling in the form. 'I'm starting to remember why Spyro burned so many of these.' I find myself smirking at the thought as I filled in the especially boring parts.

By the time I was finished I could feel my eyelids struggling to stay open, I shake my head and gather everything, I walk back into the house and make my way to Spyro's room, I make it to the door with little issue and open it, I immediately see Spyro in the room, but now he was actually playing something on the computer instead of blaring music, he looks over his shoulder at me and I just walk to the bedside table and set the pen and writing board back in the drawer before walking out of the room, not saying a word.

I didn't run into any of the others as I left the house and closed the door, I grip my papers tighter and take flight back to the main building of the Academy, my flight there took around thirteen minutes but that was only because I was tired and didn't want to go fast.

I soon land in front of the building and open the door, I step inside and look around for anyone who was inside, at first I saw no one but then I hear voices, I keep walking and soon I can see the rest of the Grand Library. "I'm just saying that you might have let him off too easy! you don't need to bite my head off about it." Said the agitated voice of Kaossandra.

"I am not biting your head off! I am just saying that I am giving him a second chance." Master Eon said with a tired tone.

I clear my throat loudly which seems to be enough to get their attention, Eon's face turns from a stressed frown to a smile while Kaossandra keeps a wary stare. "I'll uh, just leave the papers over there." I say, pointing at a desk.

I quickly set the papers on the desk and look at Eon and Kaossandra. "I'll just uh...leave you to your arguement." I say before hurrying to the door, thankfully neither of the two stopped me and I was able to leave without an issue, when I was outside I quickly close the door and sigh in relief. "That was weird." I say before walking away, seeking to find somewhere quiet to get some sleep. 'I wonder where Tempest and Sunset are at right now?' I wonder as I walk.

______*Twenty minutes later.*______

Sunset walked around the Skylanders Academy with faded curiosity, she was grateful that Stealth Elf and Spyro showed her and Tempest around, the two had been pleasant to talk to, even though Spyro seemed to be distracted by something, and although she was curious, Sunset didn't really want to know what was bothering the dragon at the time.

Stealth Elf wasn't much help in that regard either, because either she didn't notice, or she did notice but didn't say anything, either way after they showed the two newcomers Campus Town and how to get back to the Academy, Spyro left followed by Stealth Elf, Tempest walked around with Sunset for a while but when she was approached by Jet-Vac who wanted to talk, the griffon left Sunset on her own.

Sunset was currently sitting on a bench in a small park, it wasn't much, just a fountain, some benches and a nice stone path going through it, she sat quietly for a while and simply enjoyed the pleasantly warm air of the Skylands, she sat on the bench for another few minutes before getting up and stretching her legs.

Sunset then walked back to the teleportation pads, the walk was long as she walked slowly, she was greeted by a few passing Mabu, common residents of the Skylands, she eventually reached the teleportation pads after ten minutes and stepped on the one to go the Academy, with a flare of magic the unicorn was back at the Academy and looked around.

It was now a lot quieter around the Academy, with no cadet or trainee to be seen, Sunset assumed that classes started or something and started to walk, she stopped herself quickly though as she came to realize that she had no destination in mind, this bothered the unicorn as she made a habit of always having a plan of some kind, shaking her head clear of these thoughts, Sunset thought that she would just explore or wander around for a while until something came up.

To her relief, Sunset spotted none other than Spyro land nearby, he looked conflicted about something judging from the way his eyes looked and his glancing at the Grand Library, he also didn't seem to notice her at all, figuring that now would be a good time to talk to the dragon, Sunset walked over to talk to him, she even cantered a little bit to get closer. "Hey, how's it going?" She greeted the absentminded dragon.

The dragon in question blinked and then looked at Sunset with surprise before relaxing a little and folding his wings. "Hey, Sunset right?" He asked, he got a nod in reply. "Well, I'm Spyro, sorry I didn't really introduce myself earlier." He replied calmly as he looked around, clearly distracted by something.

Sunset noticed this instantly and decided to find out what was going on. "Is something on your mind? you seem distracted." She asked calmly, though her tone also indicated that she insisted on getting an answer.

Spyro sighed and shook his head, he looked at Sunset and stared for a little before speaking. "Yea, something is on my mind...and I think you know what it might be." From the tone of voice he used, it was easy to determine what or more specifically WHO Spyro was talking about.

Sunset nodded in understanding. "Do you want to talk about it?" She offered with a calm tone of voice, showing that she was willing to listen.

Spyro looked over at the Grand Library for a moment in thought, it wasn't difficult to see who he was hoping to talk to, he then sighed and motioned for Sunset to follow him as he walked away from the large building. "The easiest way to explain all of this would be to say I'm conflicted." He started with hesitation.

"About Dark Spyro? I thought you made your opinions clear on that matter back in Equestria." Sunset asked as she followed the dragon, she noticed that they were going to the teleportation pads.

Spyro let out a half hearted chuckle at Sunset's choice of words. "He told you about that huh?" He asked curiously, not even taking his attention away from where he was walking.

"No actually, it was easy to see earlier during breakfast, you were putting on a face for your friends but whenever you looked at Dark Spyro you lost the mask." Sunset replied easily.

Spyro paused and looked at Sunset, his eyes seemed to be...regretful? "Can I trust you not to tell him what I'm about to tell you?" He asked, his tone was completely serious as he stared into Sunset's eyes.

Sunset raised an eyebrow at the strange request, she thought on it for a while weighing the pros and cons, on one hand she learn what was going on, but on the other hand she would end up keeping a secret from her friend...to her the choice was obvious. "You have my word, I won't say anything to Dark Spyro about this." She swore...she didn't want to keep this a secret but she had a feeling that the purple dragon needed to get this off his chest.

The promise seemed to calm Spyro a little and he continued walking to the teleportation pads with Sunset behind him, they walked up to them and he told the unicorn to go to the Academy Arena, once they were there the dragon started talking. "The truth of the matter is that I don't want him to come back at all." He began. "When we first arrived in Equestria and found the ruined village, all of us were shocked and we all immediately blamed my evil half." He sighed and shook his head.

"...Then Jet-Vac suggested that I at least use the spell to learn if he was responsible for destroying the village, I cast it and we found ourselves in a room, where Dark Spyro was waking up, we watched everything happen, from him meeting that unicorn Silver and her family, to him confiding in her about everything he did." He paused and took a deep breath. "In what was actually a few moments we watched two days go by and as we watched him hide in the cellar with Cosmo, most of us calmed down and started to look at things objectively." He explained.

"Most?" Sunset asked, though she had an idea who Spyro meant.

Spyro nodded and walked up some nearby stairs to the stands. "When I learned that Dark Spyro wasn't responsible for Jade's destruction I didn't take it very well, I found myself hoping to find any evidence that he had done something wrong, just to justify a fight." He sighed In shame as he walked.

Sunset felt a little angry that the good half of Dark Spyro would be hoping that they would fight again, she managed to stop her anger then and there, deciding to hear the full story, the two of them soon ended up among the stands overlooking the arena. "Why?" She asked.

"..." Spyro did not reply, this told the unicorn behind him much.

"Spyro? do you hate your other half?" Sunset asked softly, genuinely curious and feeling a little pity for the dragon for some reason.

"I...I really want to hate him." Spyro said hesitantly, he sounded unsure and nervous, which Sunset thought didn't really fit him very well. "I want to loathe him, despise him, I want to feel anger just thinking about him but...I can't, not from a lack of trying but I just...CAN'T hate him, I've been feeling this way ever since we stopped Strykore a week ago." He sighed and took a seat at a random spot in the stands, he looked at Sunset and his eyes showed the immense conflict within. "As much as I want to hate him, I don't want him to be hurt anymore than he already is, so I had an idea that came to me, if I acted like I loathed him and wanted him gone, he would be less willing to come back to the Skylands, it was my hope that he would stay in Equestria if he felt that everyone would be fine if he stayed away." He explained.

Sunset sat down next to the dragon who continued. "But I never took into account his desire to atone, I think If anything all I did was hurt him even more." Spyro's voice was hurt and regret was clear in his voice, he went silent and stared up at the sky, watching the clouds go by.

All the while Sunset thought about the two dragons while staring at Spyro, she stared for around half a minute before coming to a conclusion in her mind, she smilled and looked at the sky. "You know what I think?" She asked, getting a curious look from the dragon next to her. "I think Dark Spyro came back because of you." She said with confidence.

Spyro blinked in surprise. "What?" He asked with a perplexed tone of voice, not understanding Sunset at all.

Sunset looked at the purple dragon. "In case it wasn't already obvious, Dark Spyro WANTS to be punished for what he's done, he wants to earn forgiveness and work towards redeeming himself, if anything I think that show of anger back in Equestria gave him the necessary push to come back here." She explained with a knowing smile, she then looked back up at the clouds. "You two are more alike than you care to admit...and I'm not talking about the obvious here, you both have doubts and you both regret your mistakes, but you also care and if what I heard about your pasts are true, you are both pretty darn brave when you have to be." She stated, not really caring if it was sappy, as she felt that it was the truth.

Spyro was silent at first as he thought on it, he soon sighed and spoke up. "That's not all we share...remember, I saw some of his memories, I've seen his visions where none of the others could." He said, getting a little quieter as he spoke.

"You saw the statues then?" Sunset asked carefully, remembering when the black dragon told her about them, he was very shaky and filled with anxiety when he told her about it all, nearly traumatized or at least disturbed permanently.

Spyro sighed deeply and looked at Sunset, and for a moment the unicorn recognized a familiar tiredness. "I didn't just see them, I could FEEL them, I didn't see the vision through the memory spell Sunset, I had that same dream as Dark Spyro, I watched as he was tormented by the statues voices, including mine, I could do nothing the entire time except watch as he suffered and then became a statue himself." He shook his head sadly. "The dream faded right after but I don't think I'll ever forget the pain I saw that night." He said before looking at the sky again.

Sunset didn't know what to say about that and decided to stay silent and watched the clouds with Spyro, as she sat there in silence she pondered what she was going to do now, she simply tuned out the world as she went into deep thought on what to do now.

Spyro and Sunset sat in silence for around twenty minutes before Spyro sighed. "Sunset...thanks for listening to me, guess the idea of my not so evil, evil half rejoining the Skylanders really got to me." He said, to which Sunset looked at him and nodded in understanding.

"Can I ask you something though?" Sunset asked, making Spyro tilt his head a little. "Why do you want to hate him so much?" She asked, she continued even when she saw the purple dragon wince. "Is it that important?" She proded.

"N-no." Spyro replied, he started to rub his arm nervously. "It isn't fair to him really, not when I know that near the end he was being forced to betray everyone, I uh...I just..." He sighed and hung his head in shame. "I figured that if I hated him enough, I could ignore the fact that he was born from MY darkness, I wouldn't have to face that truth." He shook his head and looked at Sunset. "You have no idea what it's like to be a silent observer watching as someone pretending to be you schemes to tear your home apart and hurt your friends." He stated before looking up at the sky.

"Yea...I don't." Sunset admitted before quietly looking up at the sky again for a few moments. 'I suppose he has a point, there is no way I can imagine what he went through during Dark Spyro's evil days, if I were in his position I guess I would want to avoid the truth that I had that darkness in me all along, using hatred of that evil half to mask that fear all the while.' She thought to herself, she then smiled as she looked at the purple dragon.

Spyro soon stood up and opened his wings, he hovered in the air and flew a little bit, he looked back at Sunset who had a strange smirk on her face. "Hey Spyro...you never know, you and Dark Spyro just might start to see each other as brothers one day." She said with a slightly teasing tone.

"Ha ha." Spyro sarcastically laughed in reply, rolling his eyes before flying away, leaving Sunset behind and with a smile on her face, as well as an idea in her mind.

Sunset watched Spyro fly away and teleported to the arena floor, she started walking back to the teleportation pads so she could go back to the Grand Library or just explore the Academy, she kept mulling over her new idea in her mind and as she did so she couldn't help but like it more and more.

Soon enough, Sunset reached the teleportation pads and stood on it, she made it go to the Grand Library and she looked around, she spotted Jet-Vac and Tempest talking about something close by, Sunset started to walk over so she could talk to the Sky Baron.

Interestingly enough, Jet-Vac was holding an empty potion vial in his right hand, one that Sunset didn't remember seeing before, she decided not to question it as she walked up to Jet-Vac and Tempest. "Hey Tempest, hey Jet-Vac." She greeted.

Tempest smiled and nodded at Sunset while Jet-Vac looked at Sunset. "Hello, how do you like the Academy so far?" The Sky Baron asked, his voice was one of genuine curiosity and he seemed to be in a good mood, if the smile on his face was anything to go by.

"It's very impressive." Sunset replied. "But I had a question I wanted to ask you." She added.

Jet-Vac nodded in understanding, knowing that the unicorn would obviously have questions. "What would you like to know?" He asked.

"That device you used to bring us here, is that the same one that Dark Spyro used to go to Equestria?" Sunset asked, having been curious about this for a while now.

Jet-Vac nodded. "I spotted him flying away after his fight with Spyro, we all split up to try and catch him but I saw him break into our house, I followed inside after alerting the others and I found him trying to get it to work in my room, when I called everyone to come up to the room Dark Spyro looked defeated, he dropped the device which he had been funneling magic into, the device overloaded and I had to look away, when I looked back he was gone but the device remained for some reason." He paused and scratched his head in confusion. "I still don't understand that by the way, but back to what I was saying." He added.

"I looked at the device and the first thing I noticed were the strange coordinates, I wrote them down immediately before joining the others, knowing that we still had to stop Strykore, after we were victorious I set to work fixing the device, which is intended as a portable teleportation device, I managed to get it working for a minute but I got some strange feedback from the teleport, I did end up in a snow covered plain, but I was flung back a moment later and I saw some strange coordinates that vanished before I could write them down...is something wrong?" Jet Vac asked, stopping his explanation.

Sunset sighed in relief and nodded. "I'm fine, I just got the answer to a question I've been asking myself for a while now." She replied before noticing a perplexed look on Tempest's face, which just a moment ago was one of utter confusion.

"What question?" Tempest asked with a oddly calm tone.

Sunset looked at the griffon. "How I got sent to Equestria from the mirror world, you see on the other end, I was walking away from the school and I happened to walk near the statue where the portal was, the portal opens when there's a full moon in Equestria and there is a time difference between worlds, anyway as I was walking some kid shouted 'surprise!' and firecrackers exploded just behind me, I tripped and fell towards the portal and saw the perpetrator run away without looking back, when I fell through I ended up in the basement of the Crystal Castle instead of in front of the portal in Canterlot, and now I know why." She stated with visible relief.

Jet-Vac nodded in realization of what Sunset was saying. "You think the feedback I experienced was a result of you crossing dimensions as the result of the portal? and that as a consequence flung you off course to the Crystal Empire?" He asked, a nod from Sunset confirmed his theory.

"I thought you said you ended up there a thousand years ago?" Tempest asked with a raised eyebrow. "I don't think that device is able to go through time after all." She pointed out.

Sunset put a hoof on her chin and thought on it for a moment before sighing as she thought of something. "That answer is obvious now that I think about it, it's very possible that the banishment ended at the exact moment Jet-Vac teleported to Equestria on his test run, and the reason Twilight and everyone else were able to get to the Crystal Empire while me and Dark Spyro searched the castle is simple." She shrugged at the perplexed look on Tempest and Jet-Vac's faces. "We entered a few doors that were covered in dark magic, they were designed to torture and delay their victims, we must have been inside a lot longer than it felt." She explained simply.

"So...a very strange set of circumstances happened in a string and that led to you being in Equestria post banishment which then led to us being here right now?" Tempest asked, not fully understanding the technical or magical aspects of the conversation.

Sunset sighed and hung her head. "Simply put? yes." She replied, a little annoyed that her explanation went over the griffon's head, thankfully Jet-Vac seemed to understand what she said if his nod was anything to go by.

"Regardless of whether or not that's what happened, we should just be happy that things turned out the way they have, Dark Spyro is here and if I'm comepletely honest? I am glad to have him back." Jet-Vac stated, he then looked at Tempest. "I have to go, let me know if there are any side effects." He said with a slightly commanding tone before walking to the teleportation pads.

Sunset blinked and raised an eyebrow in confusion, she looked at Tempest. "What was that all about?" She asked out of curiosity, not understanding what the Sky Baron was talking about.

Tempest smirked and had a teasing look in her eye. "Nothing to worry about." She teased with a wink. "I'm going to go explore a little more, don't let me keep you." She said with a smile before walking away.

Sunset watched as Tempest walked away, she had a confused expression but decided not to worry about it right now, she put that thought on the back burner for now and turned to face the Grand Library, just as she did so she watched as a tall and slender woman emerged from the doorway, she wore black robes with red trim on the lower part of the robe and gold trim on the upper section, there were purple gem looking fixtures on her chest along with long white gloves and a large purple gem ring on her right hand.

The human woman took notice of her and gave an awkward wave, which didn't fit the frustration in her piercing red eyes and generally didn't fit with her appearance, Sunset returned the wave, unsure of what to make of the woman who then walked to the teleportation pads.

Sunset said nothing and made no attempt to approach the woman, instead she headed to the Grand Library and when she reached the door she opened it with her magic, she stepped inside and took a breath, steeling herself for what was to come. 'Here we go.'

Author's Notes:

I know the explanations in this chapter don't really mean much or answer to many questions, but at the very least the story is moving forward and I am at least trying to answer some questions.

Anyway, the reason for Spyro's attitude has been answered and now we have an explanation as to Sunset's sudden appearance.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter, feedback is also welcome, and uh... I did do some work on the previous chapter to those who were curious, some ideas came to me though as I worked on it and looked it over, among those were how I can actually USE the nonsense I wrote before, because some of it actually works better than some of my older ideas.

I know this seems like laziness and I won't deny I am hesitant to gut and rework a chapter, and I am aware that it feels like I'm going back on my promise, but I have a good feeling about this.

Ps: At least I improved on using the dots! so I'm not doing this! ......... Instead I am doing this! ... Small things matter you know?...I am going to stop rambling now.

Academy Days: Anger and Hope.

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*The Skylands, Skylanders Academy, ten minutes later, Dark Spyro's POV*

The weather of the Skylands is very pleasant today, I don't know why I never noticed it before but the weather is very nice and is perfect for an outdoor nap, I lay down from my sitting position on the grassy island under the shade of a tree, I yawn and look around, I see that there are cadets and trainees out and about already. 'Something must have caused a short day.'

Not really caring about that right now I rest my head on the grass and close my eyes to try and get some much needed sleep and try to catch up with it, I inwardly smile at the fact that I don't hear any voices or see any visions anymore, I yawn again and I feel sleep beginning to grasp me.

But of course, in following with the pattern of events that today seems to be throwing my way, I am interrupted from my attempt at sleep once more by a voice. "Hey you!" A young male voice, a young teen from the sound of it called out, he seemed angry.

I open my eyes and look at the owner of the voice, he is a brown and red salamander that stands upright on two legs, he is wearing a pair of black pants and a black jacket, his eyes are a fierce yellow and he looks kind of like a punk or a bully of some kind, he has two people behind him that don't seem to share the angered look that the salamander has.

The first of the two others is a pale yellow skinned creature with short and spiked brownish blonde hair that stands on two legs and has four arms as well as a tail that was long enough to wrap around its waist, it's eyes are brown and it is wearing a pair of silver glasses, it also has a pair of blue jeans with a brown belt and a pair of brown boots on, it's wearing a simple light blue tee shirt with white diagonal stripes, the last details of this creature were that it has a pair of brown lab goggles on its head and is holding a small electronic device in one of its arms as it looks at me with curiosity. "Are you sure this is him?" It asked in an unsure feminine voice before readjusting her glasses.

The other creature is another elf, but unlike Stealth Elf this one has pale blue skin and is a male, he has the same ghostly eyes that my former friend has, he has dark green hair on his head that is tied into a top knot on the back of his head, he is wearing a white undershirt and a brown zip up hoodie, he has wooden flats on his feet and simple brown pants, the most notable thing about him was that he has a wooden bow slung over his shoulder and that his eyes seem wary as he looks at me. "This is definitely him, matches up perfectly." He said with a calm and quiet voice, arms crossed.

Seeing the three of them, I quickly put it together that they were a team and that the Salamander was the leader. 'I just hope they don't want to start anything, but from the tone of the Salamander I doubt that.' I note before standing up, after I am fully standing I speak. "Yes? what is it?" I ask in a calm voice, trying to be diplomatic to avoid a conflict.

"You have a lot of nerve coming back here after what you did Dragon." He said the last part with so much venom I almost flinched, almost. "And I personally don't think you should be getting off so easily, so I'm gonna teach you a lesson myself!" He declares as he snorts a puff of smoke through his nose in an attempt to intimidate me.

Normally I wouldn't be intimidated by this, after all he was a cadet and I have combat experience, but wth my current condition I doubted I would be able to do much right now, especially if the others joined in...unless they were newcomers of course. "I don't think I should be getting off easy either." I tell the trio which seemed to give them pause. "But I also don't think 'teaching me a lesson' is a good idea." I admit, which was the truth because the last I wanted to do was cause problems even if I didn't start them.

Unfortunately my words only served to anger the Salamander and he growled before gaining a knowing grin. "Why's that huh? you gonna beat up some cadets?" He questioned before taking a step forward.

I immediately realize where he was going and I inwardly groan, knowing that the Salamander had all the cards right now, I quickly try once more to convince him not to attack, knowing that was what was going to happen. "No, I'm not going to beat up some cadets, I am just trying to turn over a new leaf." I say, though this didn't seem to help my current predicament.

"And what better way to do that?" The Salamander began before charging straight at me, I readied myself to fly away but then the Salamander did something I wasn't expecting, he suddenly skid to a stop six feet away from me and spat a fireball straight at me, it flew too fast for me to do anything and it impacted hard, sending me sliding a few feet back from the surprising force. "Then a good old fashioned fight!" He said with a large smirk that I recognized as pride.

I look at the Salamander. "Impressive, I honestly wasn't expecting that." I say, feeling genuinely impressed by the attack, it looked obvious but it was still surprising enough to work.

The Salamander charged again, though as he charged me I was ready as he did the same trick again, I quickly jumped into the air, dodging the fireball but not the object that knocked me out of the air, I landed hard and looked at what hit me, I surprised to see an arrow with an odd rounded arrowhead on it, I look over and see that the Elf had his bow drawn. 'So that's their strategy, the Salamander attacks head on and the Elf supports from a distance.' I get up and look at the Salamander, I realize that I am caught between both of them.

"Come on guys, this is a really bad idea, what if you get caught?" The female of the trio asked with worry on her voice as she watched from the side.

The Salamander laughed heartily, clearly he was enjoying this. "No way! all the teachers are away right now, no one here but us trainees and cadets!" He said before charging at me again, but in a different manner than before that I couldn't place.

Seeing no way around it, I do the smartest thing I can possibly do in this situation, I wait and make no movement as the Salamander charged head on at me, I keep waiting in anticipation of the incoming fireball or tackle, I am broken out of my concentration however as the Salamander suddenly shifts direction to my right, I raise an eyebrow but before I can act I feel another hard impact from the archer throw me to my side right into the charge of the Salamander, I tumble a little bit and groan quietly as I force myself to stand up, but just as I did I am hit hard by another fireball, I am thrown back again and I quickly get up, feeling the pain from the attacks I groan and look at the Salamander and Elf, the former of the two looks over at their four armed friend.

"Come on Tinker! Get over here!" The Salamander said with an eagerness in his voice.

Tinker shook her head and looked at the crowd that had formed, many of them were watching with varying expressions, ranging from curiosity to disappointment. "I'm not getting into this Marx." She said before walking to the crowd.

Marx, the Salamander groaned and looked at the Elf. "What about you Chen?" He asked.

Chen grunted in reply and readied another arrow, he took aim at me and held it, his eyes unblinking.

I prepare to try to dodge the two, and just as Marx went to charge at me we all stopped when we heard a familiar voice call out. "Alright break it up!" Soon enough the voice was followed by the Lava Monster by the name of Eruptor, the Skylander took a look around the scene and then looked at the two who had been fighting me. "What's going on here?" He asked firmly.

Marx seemed to pale while Chen returned his bow and arrow to their rightful place over his shoulder and quiver respectively. "N-nothing captain! just a sparring match that got out of hand." He stated shakily.

"Just a sparring match?" Eruptor then looked at Chen who nodded wordlessly, the Lava Monster then turned his gaze to me, it was obvious that he saw my pained state. "What happened?" He asked flatly, clearly not in a good mood.

I glance at the trainees and they seemed to be worried I would talk, after a moment I sighed and looked at my former friend. "It's the truth, it was just a sparring match that got out of hand, we're alright." I say, and for once I was surprised that I didn't feel that bad about the lie, though I didn't let my surprise show.

Thankfully, Eruptor didn't seem to press the issue further. "Fine, but save the sparring for the ring from now on." He ordered before walking off, the crowd dispersed and Tinker walked over to her friends.

Marx looked like he wanted to say something but I spoke up first. "Are we done now? I need to get some sleep." I say before walking away, heading to somewhere that I feel that I don't have to worry about being interrupted.

"Thanks for not telling the captain." Marx said, I look back at him and I nod before continuing to walk off.

*Skylander's Academy, fifty minutes later.*

I look around the secluded island I chose to try and get some sleep, it was a nice quiet island, with roughly a hundred feet in each direction, I was laying next to a large rock that was split in two closer to one end, there were a few trees around the small clearing and I could hear some flowing water nearby somewhere, I take in a breath of fresh air before laying down, I curl up a little and close my eyes, eager to finally get some sleep.

"Wow, it's true, you're back." A familiar female voice said with disbelief, I mentally did a check on who the voice belonged to but I drew a blank.

"You here to beat me up? That seems to be a running theme." I ask with annoyance, having been confronted by quite a few trainees looking to vent or punish me for my crimes.

"Why would I beat you up?" The voice asked, sounding offended at my question.

'Alright, this is beginning to bug me that can't name the voice.' I open my eyes to see just who was bothering me and I feel my blood go cold and I freeze up like a deer caught in the headlights.

Standing before me, looking at me with curiosity was Cynder, the violet scaled dragon that I had been too afraid to even try to save from her father, I slowly get up and blink my eyes, I open my mouth to try and speak but nothing comes out, we both stood in an awkward silence for a while before Cynder spoke. "So...uh...awkward." She said.

I nod slowly and close my mouth, I quickly forced the whirlwind of emotions down and I finally speak up. "Y-yea...awkward, how um...how are you?" I ask, trying to force some sense of calm in the conversation.

Cynder picked up on my awkwardness and spoke up a moment later. "I'm doing better now, it's good to be back and away from my dad." She replied, surely feeling a little awkward herself, she sounded a little unsure on what to say. "What about you? how are you doing?" She asked with curiosity and concern.

I freeze for a second when she mentioned her father but I don't freak out this time, her concern does make me feel a little better. "I'm...as well as could be expected for someone who almost died." I say, Cynder flinched at my words but she still looks concerned and curious. "I'm being made a cadet again, though I don't think I necessarily deserve it, not when I've done the things I've done." I say sincerely. "I'm gonna make sure they don't regret giving me a chance though." I add, no deception was in my voice as I meant every single word.

Cynder smiled for a reason I couldn't understand or recognize in her eyes. "That's good to hear." She said before her expression became a serious yet comforting one, it was weird to see her this way I have to admit. "I will say though, you shouldn't have so much to worry about when it comes to making things right with everyone, after all you want to make amends, and if anyone knows what it's like to come from a dark place, it's me." The dragoness replied with a small smile.

I nod in appreciation. "Thanks Cynder, that's means a lot...and I'm sorry I didn't try to save you, I just couldn't...can't, face your father." I say, shuddering at the mere thought or memory of the underworlds ruler.

"Yea...Spyro had that problem too." Cynder replied as though she could understand, I decided to give her the benefit of the doubt though and kept quiet as she continued to talk. "I can forgive you for that though, my father is...terrifying, but I was wondering if we could just...talk?" She asked as she awkwardly rubbed her right claw.

I blink in confusion, I feel my mind do a double take for a second. 'She wants to talk to the guy who literally left her alone with her father and was indirectly the reason she was trapped in the underworld?' But as I watch Cynder wait for my reply I know what I have to say. "Sure...we can talk." I say before sitting down, Cynder sat down near me and I wasn't sure where to begin.

Thankfully Cynder seemed to have an idea as to where to begin. "So uh...can you maybe tell me about what happened to you? If that's alright?" She asked with uncertainty, as though she didn't know what to say or how to approach me.

"Do you want to hear everything?" I ask the dragoness who nods to my question, I mentally prepare myself and I lay down, I sigh and look at Cynder who had a curious expression on her face. "Has anyone told you how I came to be?" I ask.

Cynder shook her head. "No, everyone seems reluctant to really talk about the time that Strykore was around, or at least they don't want to tell me for some reason." She replied, she sounded a little sad that she was left out of it, but now it was clear she wanted answers.

I nod in understanding. "Alright, this will take a while then." I say before starting at the beginning, from Spyro's reckless confrontation with Malefor, it took everything I had just to tell that part without freezing up, though Cynder did notice my hesitation when it came to her father, she didn't stop me and let me work through it.

I told her everything, confessing to the kidnapping of King Pen, Spying on the Skylanders for Strykore, my struggles to open the Wumpan Puzzle Box, my doubts and my brief and sudden betrayal of Strykore followed by my magically enraged assault against Stealth Elf during the race, I also displayed my confused as to the attitude that everyone had that day, as though some weird emotional roller coaster had sprung up out of nowhere, I then described the battle I had with Spyro in my mindless rage, followed by my escape and ending up outside the village of Jade during a blizzard.

Time flew by for the two of us as I told my story, I went into detail about my journey in the Crystal Empire, from when I woke up in Garnet's house, to going to the Capital city with Cosmo to save her father and sister, I described going to the castle and searching it from the bottom up, I described meeting Sunset and later Twilight, I described my fight with King Sombra and Cynder laughed when I told her about my little battle cry followed by my new attack, I then told her about when I went to the slave mines to save Silver and Garnet, I described the rundown fort and the mines as well as the following battle and meeting Tempest.

Then I told Cynder about the following days, how I slowly descended into madness from sleep depravation and my dreams, she was interested to hear about my dreams and the statues, I had some difficulty telling her about the dreams and visions I had been seeing before I finally confronted them, we shared a laugh when I told her about my hallucinations and my crazy attempts to return to the Skylands.

I then told her about yesterday, my reaction to seeing the Skylanders thinking they weren't real, seeing Stealth Elf and my insane rambling which led up to getting a slap to the face, I told her about the conversation I had with everyone and then today, about the events leading up to now.

Once I had finished my story the dragoness had asked about my new friends and obliged, I told her about Sunset and Twilight, Tempest and Silver as well as Cosmo, I also told her a little bit about Shining Armor and Princess Cadence who seemed to like me, for some reason Cynder seemed to be especially interested in Tempest, I don't know why and I didn't bother asking.

I soon notice the orange sky that follows a sunset and I chuckled. "I spent most of my time here trying to catch up on sleep, and now I've gone and talked the day away." I joke before stretching, I feel my bones pop as I get up and stand. "You should go, I don't want to even think about the rumors that would spread if you didn't get back." I say as I work on my stiff muscles.

Cynder nodded and stood up, she had been the smart one, she remembered to actually move around a little unlike me, she looked at me. "So, you really went with Dark Spyro huh? makes you sound like Spyro's twin brother." She joked with an amused tone, yet it was good natured.

I laugh quietly at the joke. "Yea, I guess I'm just used to the name by now, and Spyro really doesn't like it when anyone says that we are brothers, I think it bothers him more than anything." I say with mirth in my voice. "It was great to talk with you though, it's nice to still have friends here in the Skylands." I add truthfully.

Cynder raised an eyebrow. "What about your old team? Master Eon, Sunset and Tempest?" She asked, now confused from my words.

I sigh and start walking in a direction, followed by Cynder. "Spyro hates me, Elf treats me like I'm going to snap so she doesn't act like herself at all around me, Jet-Vac and Eruptor watch me like Hawks, they don't trust me but they're giving me a chance to prove that I'm not an enemy, and I don't even know where Pop stands in all of this." I shake my head and look up a the sky as I walk. "Eon...I can see it in his eyes, he doesn't know what to do right now, I know he has things he wants to say to me but he's afraid that I'll slip back into madness or that I will leave and never come back, so he refuses to confront me and say everything he wants to say, like he's dealing with very fragile glass or something." I explain and focus my attention on walking.

"As great as Tempest and Sunset are, it still hurts that my old friends see me as they do, honestly the best thing they could do would be to confront me and just get it over with." I sigh and as we near the edge of the island I look off and see the Academy in the distance. "The worst part of all of this is knowing that they are lying to me" I say solemnly.

"What do you mean?" Cynder asked with curiosity and confusion. "What lie?" She added, clearly having no idea what I am talking about.

I look Cynder in the eye, I didn't even have a mental debate on telling her what I knew to be true. "That they couldn't arrest me." I reply. "The truth is that everyone who is able to make the accusation refused to do so, I am happy that they would do that for me, but the fact that they are lying about it is what hurts, and I don't understand WHY they are lying." I shake my head and lift myself off into a hover with a few wing beats. "I'm going to see where I can sleep for the night, I'll see you around Cynder." I say before turning to fly towards the Academy.

"Wait." Cynder said, I pause and look at the dragoness who seemed a little nervous, I raise an eyebrow at her but she speaks before I can even think about replying. "If you want...you could come to live at my place." She offered with a nervous tone.

I pause and I immediately see an issue which I decide to bring up. "What about your team? I doubt they would thrilled with the idea of having a traitor living under the same roof." I point out, knowing that Team B had moved in with the dragoness a while back, I then see Cynder rubbing her arm nervously. "What's wrong?" I ask, my voice turning serious.

Cynder didn't reply immediately and after a minute she spoke. "They uh, sort of moved out, Roller Brawl, Hex and Skull went off with Bad Breath and Food Fight to find the Doom Raiders, I'm uh...kind of on my own in that house." The dragoness stated, she seemed on edge now which I didn't think suited her very well.

I said nothing as I mulled the offer over in my mind, I knew that I needed a place to stay and Cynder was offering, but I also didn't want to leave Sunset and Tempest without a place, so I decided to check on that. "Do you think it would be possible for Sunset and Tempest to spend at least a few nights, I don't want to leave them hanging." I ask, showing concern for my friends.

Cynder nodded immediately. "No problem! there's more than enough room." She stated quickly, she didn't seem nervous about that at all and even seemed eager at the idea of having more people over, which made me curious, she then seemed to notice her eagerness however and reigned it in. "Y-yea, it's fine, I'd like to meet them anyway." She said calmly, even though her voice was normal, I could still see the anxiety in her eyes.

I sign and land next to Cynder before I fold my wings to my sides. "Alright, what's the problem Cynder?" I ask softly, catching her off guard with the question.

"Problem? what problem? I didn't say anything about a problem! why would I have a problem?!" The dragoness replied quickly, she laughed nervously and took a step back, she then unfurled her wings and flapped them, sending her into a hover, she then flew to where I had been hovering a few moments ago, clearly intending to fly off in a panic.

I sigh and shake my head, I look at Cynder with worry in my eyes and I speak before she flies off. "You're having nightmares aren't you?" I say, my words make the dragoness stop and look over her shoulder at me with surprise. "I just told you about mine, I like to think that I can see the signs." I say quietly. "Can I ask what they are about?" I ask with a curious yet gentle tone, not wanting to make my friend more uncomfortable than I already have.

Cynder lowered her head and looked away from me, she said nothing in reply but made no attempt to fly away, the silence continued for a while and it felt like an eternity before she landed next to me and spoke. "Malefor, my father." She finally said, the name causes me to instantly freeze up and I feel the familiar panic setting in, thankfully I manage to find the willpower to force myself to calm down for Cynder's sake. "The nightmares are always different but they always end in the same way, with him defeating everyone and taking me back to the underworld, and I'm powerless to stop him." She looks at me with fear in her eyes. "I'm afraid to sleep lately and I feel that if I have someone else in the house, it might help me sleep." She admitted.

I say nothing as I walk up to Cynder and wordlessly hug her, she tenses up for a second but she doesn't try to break away, we were like that for a few moments before I spoke. "It'll be alright, I don't know if it will work, but you should try to confront your nightmares head on, if it's M-m-Malefor that you are afraid of...I don't know, use his weaknesses against him?" My words went from comforting to nervous as I said the name of Cynder's father.

Cynder let out a humorless laugh and lightly returns the hug. "If only it were that easy...thanks for trying to help though." She whispered.

We both broke off the hug a moment later and I look to the rest of the Academy. "We should get going, I really don't want to have to deal with rumors that I kidnapped you or anything." I say before unfurling my wings and flapping them, I soon end up in a hover and Cynder followed suit. "I gotta find Sunset and Tempest, let them know what's going on." I say.

Cynder nodded. "Ok, I'll see you later." She said before turning to fly in slightly different direction to the Academy, she paused and looked over her shoulder at me. "Do you remember where my place is?" She asked, curious if I remembered that detail.

I opened my mouth to say yes but I stopped myself as my mind drew a blank on that detail, I rub my chin and then a free a few moments I shake my head, not recalling any memory of the dragoness' place. "Nope." I finally say.

Cynder didn't seem annoyed as she looked to the Academy. "I guess I could go with you, it would be easier for me to show you anyway." She replied, her voice betrayed no hint of it being a problem or inconvenience.

I nod in agreement and start flying to the Academy, I make sure to fly right to the Grand Library and nowhere else, figuring that the large building would be a good place to look for Sunset and Tempest, I glance over my shoulder and see Cynder following behind me. "So while we fly...what have you been doing lately?" I ask curiously, seeking to end the uncomfortable silence.

Either Cynder managed to understand why I asked that, or she was grateful for the chance of a distraction and started to tell me what she had been doing ever since the defeat of Strykore, it was mostly uneventful but I was glad to hear that there was still some normality in the Skylands.

And in my mind, I felt a weight lift off my shoulders, just knowing that I still had some friends in the Skylands was a great comfort to my tired mind, and I felt better knowing that if nothing else, I could at the very least try to make things right, one day at a time.

Academy Days: Details and Arrangements.

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*The Skylands, Skylanders Academy, Dark Spyro's POV.*

I can not help but feel a wave of nervousness wash over me as I fly with Cynder to the Grand Library, I'm not entirely positive where it's coming from, but when I spot Spyro pacing around outside with an annoyed expression on his face, one that I am getting used to seeing actually, I feel my anxiety flare up but I push past it as I fly down slowly as to not appear threatening or in a hurry.

Spyro turned around to continue pacing but he must have spotted us coming as he turned his head and looked at us, I can see a smile form as he glances at Cynder who is flying next to me but it is soon suppressed into a flat expression when he looks at me.

I soon land and look at my Purple half. "What brings you here Spyro?" I ask in a polite manner, hoping to avoid a conflict.

Spyro grunts in reply, he gives Cynder a friendly smile before returning to acting aloof. "Master Eon called me here, he wants me to bring you along and I had a good feeling this is where you would turn up...looks like I was right." He replies before nodding his head to the library. "Let's go, I'm not sure what this is about, but I would rather get it over with." He said in a tone that said he would rather be doing literally anything else but willing to do what Eon asked.

I say nothing in reply and follow Spyro into the library, he pushed open the right side of the door and I open the left side, Cynder walked inside with a nod to my counterpart and then to me, I roll my eyes and enter the building, I let the door close behind me and I walk beside Spyro as we walk further inside.

I soon spot a few familiar faces in the room, among them were Sunset, Tempest and Master Eon , the Headmaster saw us come in and he gave us a small nod before speaking as we entered the room and walked closer to my friends. "I am glad you are here, it would be best to get these matters out of the way tonight rather than tomorrow anyway." Eon said before walking a few feet away from us.

"Why are we here Eon?" Spyro asked the question that I am sure we are all wondering. "You told me that it was important." He added, making me wonder what was going on.

"It is important, and we shall get to that point of business immediately." Eon replies as he turns to face us. "First, I will make it clear that I am aware of the fights earlier today Dark Spyro." He said calmly, but for some reason I feel like I just got caught red handed doing something illegal. "I am also aware that you have confirmed the hastily made lies of every cadet who assaulted you today, by the rules of the Academy I cannot punish them unless you step forward so I shall ask...what do you want done about these cadets?" Eon asked, his tone was firm and demanded a straight answer.

I suddenly feel all eyes on me and I take a breath, I then look at Eon with surety. "Nothing...Their anger should be out of their system by now and the last thing the Skylanders need is less cadets because of a crowd frenzy." I answer, I feel my nervousness fade away slowly as I speak, even though I know the cadets should be punished for their actions, I can't find any desire to have them punished when in the end, it is my crimes that led up to this situation.

Master Eon did not show much emotion but nodded in understanding, as though he knew what I was thinking. "Very well." He said before walking along the row we had all found ourselves making, he turned around and walked back to me and Spyro. "I will admit to my reluctance to have you face punishment even though we said you would not face any." Eon began before looking at my good half. "But with recent events and some advice." He glanced at Sunset for a brief second. "I have decided to put you on parole for both your safety and the comfort of everyone else." Eon looked between Spyro and myself. "I believe that Spyro is more than capable of supervising you." He states, his voice is filled with confidence in his choice.

I blink in surprise and look at Spyro, only to discover that he is just as surprised as I am with this turn of events, the purple dragon looks at me and we share a stare for a second. "Are you sure about this Eon? it's kind of like lighting a match next to a powder keg." I ask.

"Not to agree with him or anything." Spyro interjects. "But he does make a good point." He adds, I don't feel much surprise at his words because they are only confirming what I said a second ago.

Master Eon nodded as though he understood what we are saying. "I know, but I am certain this is the correct choice, it won't be easy, but for now, let us move on to why we are all here." He said before walking a few feet away and facing us all. "There is only one step remaining for you to become a Cadet, and it is a matter of your Element." He stated.

I inwardly groan, I had comepletely forgotten this step, I hear Tempest speak up and I listen carefully. "Why is that so important?" The griffon asks.

"The Element is linked to the inner magic of each individual, personality can also affect Element but not by much, for instance if a fire element was surrounded by nothing but water, they would be drastically weaker, even if they do not directly use fire." Eon explained.

"So, I need to have my Element revealed so we know what it is." I say, cutting off any further attempts to derail the conversation.

Eon folds his hands behind his back and nods as he looks to me. "Correct." He says as he walks to the center of the room, he holds his hands out and channeled his magic to cast a spell and soon enough, a magical image of all the Elements appeared in a circle around us on the floor in the form of circular icons, they all shined just bright enough for everyone to see them.

I look over and see that Tempest is in awe at the sight of the Elements before her. "What are they all?" The griffon asked as she looks at the symbols on the floor, fascinated by it all.

"Fire and Water, Life and Undead, Air and Earth, Magic and Tech, Light and Dark." I say before Eon can reply, I then blink and look away as Spyro and Cynder look at me with amused expressions, not willing to admit that I actually studied this topic.

"As Dark Spyro has said, those are indeed the Elements that exist in the Skylands, knowing your Element is vital if you are to be a Skylander, as your Element will provide you with advantages and disadvantages, I suppose as an example, I would be classified as a Light Element." Eon explained.

I huff, getting the attention of Eon and the others again. "More like Magic and Light." I correct before falling silent again as Spyro sighs in annoyance.

"Dark Spyro does remind me of something I should mention." Eon spoke up, not letting my interruption bother him at all. "It is incredibly rare, but it is possible for one to have two Elements instead of one." He explains. "Now, who would like to go first?" He asks curiously.

I roll my eyes and go to take a step when I hear Tempest speak up again. "I'll go first." The griffon says, surprising me and Sunset.

Eon motioned for Tempest to stand in the circle and waited for her to take her place, once Tempest was in the circle, he channeled some magic into his left hand as he held it out to Tempest. "Now stay still, it will be a little startling but it will not hurt." He advises as a small beam of magic shoots from his hand and connects to the griffon's head, splitting off to where her heart is.

Eon canceled the beam after a second and looked around the images of the Elements, he waited for around ten seconds before the Element of Air lit up. "Tempest, Air Element." He declared.

Tempest didn't look surprised and walked out of the circle once Eon told her it was safe to do so, she stretched her wings and...wait, when did she get so many feathers? I rub my eyes to make sure they aren't playing tricks on me, but they weren't.

Indeed, Tempest's wings were now half filled with feathers, I find myself wanting to ask her how but I am silent as Sunset speaks up. "I'll go next." The unicorn says as she approaches the circle.

I turn my attention to Sunset and watch as Eon does the same thing for her, the main difference this time was the wait was around half a minute, soon though the images for the Elements of Magic and Fire lit up, Fire being the brighter of the two. "Sunset Shimmer, Fire Element with Magic Influence." Eon declared as the unicorn in question stepped out of the circle.

I feel my muscles tense up as Eon looks to me and motions for me to approach, I steel myself and approach as calmly as I can manage, once I am in the center of the circle, Eon gives me a comforting gaze as he casts his spell, the beam stings but it is not very painful as it connects to my head and heart, I remember this sensation from when Eon did this for Spyro years ago and it was far more uncomfortable at the time.

Eon soon stopped his spell and we all waited as the rest of the magic worked on determining my Element, I am honestly surprised that it didn't immediately choose Dark.

I watch with slight impatience as the image for the Dark Element lit up briefly before returning to normal, something it didn't usually do, normally the images don't dim until the recipient leaves the circle, but for some reason the spell was acting as though it were...confused.

By the time a minute passes of waiting, Spyro spoke up with an impatient tone. "Is this spell ever going to decide on an Element or what?" He asked before sitting down. "It never takes this long." He mutters under his breath but I ignore it.

I sigh and look at Eon, about to ask him to try the spell again just in case, but just as I go to ask I see a light behind Eon, I look around the Headmaster and see that the image for Undead was lit up much to my surprise, I feel my jaw drop and I take a look at the other Elements, I see that Dark is glowing brighter than the Undead Element and that Magic and Fire are very dimly lit. "What in the world?" I ask as I look around, checking to see if any others were lit up, to my shock and confusion I saw that Light was barely lit up.

"Dark Spyro, Dark Element with Undead influence and traces of the Magic, Fire and Light Elements." Eon declared before sighing. "Incredible, I did not think it was possible for Dark and Light to mix, but it would seem I was wrong." He said as he looked at me, stroking his beard in thought.

I am unable to speak as Eon motions for me to leave the circle, I do so wordlessly and sit down next to Spyro, my counterpart says nothing but I can feel his eyes staring at me for a moment before looking to Eon.

Eon waves his hand and the circle disappears before our eyes, he glances at me before nodding. "I believe we all have had enough excitement for the night, I suggest that you all get some rest tonight, orientation starts at nine tommorow and classes start at nine thirty...goodnight." He said before walking away, and from his posture, I knew he was going to be thinking about this for a while but I decided to just look at the others.

"So Sunset, Tempest...have either of you worked out where you'll be staying?" I ask, and judging the sudden surprise and look of realization on my friends faces, I knew the answer without a reply, so I quickly spoke to inform them of Cynder's offer, I glance at Cynder who nodded at me in confirmation, I figure that she doesn't know how to approach my Equestrian friends, so I speak in her stead. "Cynder was kind enough to offer us a place to stay, though I won't hold it against you if you decide to find somewhere else." I say, hoping that it was good enough to help Sunset and Tempest understand they were not being pressured.

Tempest let out a breath of relief. "Thank you so much Cynder." She said gratefully to the dragoness who nodded in reply, showing that it was no problem at all.

"We'll try not to overstay our welcome, and thank you." Sunset added a little too politely, I raise an eyebrow and look at the unicorn with a confused expression as does Cynder.

"What do you mean? it's no trouble." Cynder asked, trying to understand the unicorn, I silently agreed with the question, not understanding either, and clearly neither did Tempest.

Sunset looks at me. "Didn't you tell me that Cynder lives with a team of Skylanders?" She asks with a raised eyebrow, now confused as to our behaviors.

Spyro meanwhile sighed and walked to the door. "I'll let you four sort this out, I'm going home, goodnight!" He said as he left the Library and took flight.

"They moved out." I tell Sunset. "They went off to find the Doom Raiders a while back and they couldn't stay." I add, leaving out the part where Cynder was having terrible nightmares.

"Well, more like they moved out and back to their own places and the next day they went off to find the Doom Raiders, but if you don't want to stay at my house, that's your decision." Cynder stated, finally finding her voice.

Sunset looked a little pensive about it for some reason and Tempest didn't seem bothered by the offer, she instead seemed grateful. "Maybe we should just spend the night and then work it out tomorrow?" The griffon suggested, this seemed to appease Sunset who nodded in agreement. "So, let's go then." Tempest said before walking to the door to leave.

I follow the others and we quickly make our way outside, I close the door to the library and look at Cynder who stood in front of us three. "Ok, my house isn't far from here, we can use the teleport pads to get closer." The dragoness said before motioning for us to follow her to the teleport pads as she walked to them.

I follow Cynder quietly yet my focus was on Tempest's wings, I definitely remember them not having many feathers, and the ones that were there weren't anywhere near the length they are now, which is to say almost full length if I'm guessing correctly, as we walk I can't help but wonder how her wings were so close to being healed now, I quickly return my focus to Cynder who turned to face us again when we reached the teleport pads. "Alright, the place you want to teleport to is called Aerie Town, just remember to go to the third plaza." She explained before walking to the teleport pad and teleporting away a moment later.

I walk up to the teleport pad and mentally say my destination, I am not sure if that is how these teleport pads work, but it usually helps, a moment later I step off the teleport pad and look around a large town plaza.

The plaza of Aerie Town is wide and open, an elevated crossroad sat in the center, four merchant carts surrounded the center of the white stone plaza and street lamps lit up the place, there are buildings surrounding the plaza but there were three exits, one was by a stone fence behind me going off to the left if facing the fence from the teleport pads.

The teleport pads themselves were pretty close to the stone fence overlooking a river and a stone walkway built around the edge of the natural walls, there was another exit straight ahead from the teleport pads which led under a stone bridge connecting two buildings, the last exit was closer to the second exit, only it was off to the left when facing away from the teleport pads.

The town was dark even though it had the lamps to light it up, and the plaza felt empty, even with the few stone benches spread around it, it was too dark by now to see what color the buildings were and it was difficult enough to see what I have been able to make out already.

Soon enough Tempest and Sunset appeared and after a few moments to make sure we are fine, Cynder motioned for us to follow her as she headed for the exit by the water. "This place is much nicer in the day time, maybe some time I could show you around town." Cynder said with well contained excitement in her voice, her tone tells me that there is something in this town that especially excites her but I don't have the energy to even try and guess.

The four of us walked for a good long while, though we eventually came to Cynder's house, it was a two story building with an attic and a small fenced in area off to the side, it was quiet and secluded in a small grove in the woods just outside the town. "This is nice." I say with approval. "It's peaceful." I add before following Cynder to the front door.

"Thanks, but it was Bad Breath who did most of the lawn work, said it relaxed him." Cynder said as we neared the front door.

I look at Sunset who nudged me and she mouthed the cadets name to me, I nodded and looked at Tempest who seemed a little confused about the name but didn't make any mention it, I turn my attention to Cynder who walked up to the door and opened it without a fuss, Tempest and Sunset seemed to be worried about this for reasons I didn't understand.

"That's not good." Tempest said, lowering her voice.

Cynder looked at Tempest with a raised eyebrow. "What's not good?" She asked with confusion.

"Someone's inside? The door is unlocked?" Sunset offered as though it were obvious.

Cynder rolled her eyes. "No one is inside, I have this place warded against intruders, it's not perfect of course but with how villains and bad guys prefer to work in the Skylands, my house is pretty safe." She explained before walking into the house.

I sigh. "Yea, they do love their theatrics." I mutter before walking inside, followed by Sunset and then Tempest, both of them were tense and obviously uncomfortable about the door thing but I didn't say anything to either of them as the lights came on.

Cynder's house was pretty cozy, the living room that we entered the house into was decently sized and slightly rounded, there was a large peach colored couch resting along the far wall with two gray wooden end tables and a matching coffee table in front of the couch, there was a small light brown sofa on the wall to the right, which had a door next to it.

The carpet was dark brown in color and the walls were a light red there are a few portraits on the wall but I don't bother paying too much attention to those right now, there were two windows in the room, one close to the front door and one behind the couch and off to the opposite side of the other window, they had blinds and gray curtains, on the ceiling was a single ceiling light with a fan that wasn't spinning, most of the room was empty save for the couch, the sofa and the tables, there was a television stand in the corner opposite the sofa but it has nothing on it but a few books, on the same wall there is an open arch that leads to a room with matching carpet and nothing else that I can see from my point of view.

There was also a stairway on the same wall as the open arch but off to the left of it, it went upstairs from what I could see, I soon hear Cynder speak up. "Alright uh...welcome to my house, uh, on your right is a small hall with a bathroom and a small room, to your left and through the arch is the dining room and kitchen...there's also a basement but I don't really use it." She explained. "I guess you can look around if you want, or we could go upstairs and I can show you that?" She said with sudden nervousness.

"Well, maybe we should just go upstairs, I think we are all just tired." I say, I look at Sunset and Tempest who were on my right and left respectively, the latter was a little bit closer to me for some reason, they both nodded in agreement and Cynder began heading upstairs with us following.

As we near the top of the stairs Cynder flipped the light switch, I notice that the walls split in color from a light red to a yellow that was not bright yet not pale, there is little upstairs aside from a single window on the other side of the room with a table holding a potted plant, there are five doors in the room, three on the right, two on the left, there was an open arch that was at the end of the room on the left which I assume is the way to the attic, the floor has the same carpet that the living room and stairs has and the ceiling simply has a ceiling light.

"Ok, the first door on the right is another bathroom, the other two are empty rooms, the first door on the left is also an empty room with the other being my room, now uh, the bedrooms on the right have a connecting door to them, then the stairs at the end of the hall lead to the attic." Cynder explained to us.

I nod and look at Sunset and Tempest, the latter seemed to be a little pensive due to her expression, open to mouth to speak but the griffon beats me to it. "Mind if I sleep in the attic?" She asked, making all of us look at her in confusion, I look at Cynder who seemed more surprised than confused.

"Uh..." The dragoness trailed off before gaining a thoughtful expression, she was quiet for about a minute before raising her head and looking at Tempest. "I don't have any bedrolls or cots, we can probably move a bed up there tommorow if you really want too, but not tonight." She said before yawning.

Tempest nodded and looked at me. "Well, I'll just take whatever room then." She said, her tone indicating that she made up her mind.

Sunset spoke up after yawning. "I'll take the far room on the right then, I'll see you all in the morning." She said tiredly before heading for the room in question.

"I guess I'll just use this room. "I say while pointing at the first door on the left. "We can always work things out later after all." I add before walking over to the door, I hear Tempest heading to the other room and I pause as I reach the door, I turn my head and see Cynder at her rooms door. "Hey Cynder." I say in a quiet voice.

Cynder looks at me and a give her a smile. "Thank you." I tell the dragoness before opening the door which opens inwards and walking into the room, I quickly find and flip the light switch to my left and the light turns on.

The room is very bare, there isn't much on the right side of the room aside from the wall and an outlet, there are two windows in the room, one on the wall ahead of me with plain gray curtains and blinds, I look to my left and see that the room is slightly circular, it is certainly bigger than I imagined, it is slightly bigger than Spyro's room but not by much, there is a large window at the center of the wall to my left with matching curtains and blinds and there is a plain single bed with brown sheets and a light green blanket along with two basic white pillows, aside from that, the room might as well be empty.

The first thing I do is walk to the windows and make sure they are closed, then I lower the blinds and close them since I raised them and they happened to be open a little bit, I then close the curtains and walk to the light switch, once I am there I turn the lights off and walk to the bed, I climb on to it and lay down without getting under the covers, I then rest my head carefully on the pillows and close my eyes, eager to finally fall asleep again and get some much needed rest.

That night, I slept peacefully without interruption, my mind was quiet and free of worries or doubts, yes, no interruption whatsoever...not even the sudden fuzzy feeling on my back and...wait.

My eyes snap open as I feel a strangely familiar embrace, I look over my shoulder and see Tempest fast asleep with her eyes closed, her arms wrapped around my chest and her head resting against my shoulder. "Hey...Tempest!" I whisper so that I don't wake anyone else, sadly my efforts have no effect. "Tempest, get up." I say a little louder, almost at my normal sound level, again, no reply.

I try to move around to wake the sleeping griffon but it is to no avail, I then sigh to myself. "Tempest, please get up and back to your room." I say in my usual sound level of voice, but it doesn't work.

I narrow my eyes and as I ponder if the griffon is doing this to annoy me, so I come up with a way to find out, I channel some magic and use the absolute bare minimum of power to send a small electric jolt into Tempest, the electricity sparked and caused a twitch, a barely noticable one of course, and I promptly gave up. "Whatever." I say before closing my eyes to actually sleep.

Interlude: A few different perspectives.

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*Spyro.*

If anybody was to tell me that I don't face consequences for my random bursts of anger or occasional ego boost, they would mostly be wrong, I say mostly because there actually have been a few times where my anger helped out rather than hurt.

But that was then, this is now, and right now I have a dilemma in the form of my dark half being around again, and while I really would have prefered it if he stayed in Equestria, I won't try to get rid of him... no matter how much he disturbs me when I look at him.

The dilemma itself is a simple one with a deceptively simple answer, do I try and help my dark half to make amends? or do I remain cold and untrusting? Eruptor argues that we can't trust him, and that we should keep our eyes open, the latter of which is something I have no problem doing.

Stealth Elf argues that we need to give him a chance, seeing as he is willing to change and regrets his actions... I have to admit that it was very strange and unnerving, watching the memories of my dark half through a spell, and while Elf may be trying to forgive him, I can tell she's having problems considering what he almost did to her.

Jet Vac seems to be taking a wait and see approach, his plan is to act more like a strict teacher to Dark Spyro while keeping it fair, in other words he's not giving him special treatment or consideration, it actually might help if I know my dark half at all.

Eon... *sigh* I don't even know what he's going to do, after Strykore was defeated, he seemed to blame himself for some reason, I guess he thinks that he could have prevented all of this, and while he could have noticed that Dark Spyro was evil at the time, the blame falls on everyone for not noticing it... though I'm probably the one to blame for it all, if I hadn't left to confront Malefor to learn the location of my own kind, I wouldn't have been made evil.

Eon is most likely going to drive himself and Dark Spyro crazy, dancing around the obvious solution since he doesn't want to mention anything about his time as Strykore's agent, I can't do anything about that though, those two need to work things out for themselves, if it isn't handled after enough time though, I'll intervene.

Cynder is... accepting of Dark Spyro, and personally? I'm glad for it, with almost all the cadets and trainees in the academy up against him, my dark half is going to need all the help he can get, I think that Cynder is accepting of him because they have something in common, they both come from a place of darkness and they are trying to do good.

The only one who seems to be mostly unaffected by all of this is Pop Fizz, I think he's just going to go with whatever happens, and if I'm honest? I would rather he do that instead of picking a side, I just can't see him keeping an eye on Dark Spyro from the shadows if he did, and I would hate to see what he would do to anyone who tries to start something otherwise.

As for me, I am not sure, I'm not sure I can ever forgive him for the things he did while pretending to be me, but I also don't think I'll be able to bring him down again if he does turn against us in the end, not for a lack of strength, but because this time he won't be insane and I'm not sure I can handle him at full strength with a clear head.

*sigh* What am I supposed to do? from what Sunset told me, Dark Spyro is actually glad that I'm being 'honest' with him, if only he knew what I'm really thinking, I'm a mess, I can't concentrate lately, my focus is all over the place and I can't even decide where I stand!

... Maybe I should just go with it? keep the cold appearance up until I'm certain of what I want to do, the only issue is going to be his new friends, specifically Tempest, she seems to be fiercely protective of Dark Spyro...man that name feels weird for me to say, and how am I supposed to keep an eye on him exactly?... It's not like I can just take him on missions if I get called.

Alright... I need to sleep, my mind is scattered again and I really don't want to see where that leads.

*Eon*

This is going to be harder than I thought.

When I was teaching Spyro how to cast that spell and preparing them to go and find Dark Spyro and possibly bring him here, I didn't think for even a moment that he would be... docile, for lack of a better word right now.

It was wrong of me to assume and even worse of me to hope that he would be hostile and try to fight, I suppose at the time I believed that if he was, I wouldn't have to look at him and see my failure... my actions and inability to see what happened to him may or may not have caused Strykore to return and almost claim victory over us, and yet while I debated whether or not he is truly to blame and whether or not to punish him, Dark Spyro was busy saving innocents and defeating a tyrant.

Some part of me is proud of him for doing so, while the other part of me is filled with regret knowing that I could have stopped all of this of I hadn't been so blind to the obvious truth.

Perhaps I was too hasty in placing Spyro in charge of keeping his dark half out of trouble, I know that Spyro will do his best but I may be asking too much this time... Maybe if I assign someone else who will be impartial?

No... I have made my decision already and it would be better not to change it for now, if they both cannot cope after a month, I will find someone else.

I am hesitant to take any true action against Dark Spyro, I suppose that much I made obvious today through my behavior earlier, and if what I sense is true, some part of him wanted us to throw him in prison... but how do you throw someone you view as a son in prison? even when that someone is the dark half of that person?

*Sigh*

Nevertheless, I have hope that the path forward will be clear tommorow, and if what Dark Spyro claims is true, then I am concerned over nothing, and if that is the case, then I must simply find the strength to confront him and have a long talk.

For now however, I think some sleep will do me wonders, Kaossandra's visit and our talk about Kaos was... draining.

*Marx*

That dragon really is something, first he betrays us, then he supposedly tried to betray Strykore only to be forced to attack a Skylander, then he fought with his practical twin, he survived and now he's back trying to be good? I don't buy it, Tink says that we should give him a chance to prove himself to us but me? no way, he may have my respect for not selling us out to the captain, but he'll need to do a lot more than to undo the damage he did.

Chen is of course silent on the matter, I swear he pisses me off sometimes, he's a great teammate and all, but he is the worst conversationalist in the Academy, I'm lucky if he actually says more than ten words at once, otherwise it's just a series of grunts or other quiet responses that I've gotten used to.

Hmm... Maybe Tink has a point, maybe I SHOULD give the dragon a chance, and I think I've got an idea on how to do that.

*Cynder*

Crap crap crap crap crap! Oh no, what did I do!? What do I do!?

Ugh! I was in such a hurry to do the right thing I forgot that I barely stocked up on food! or bedding, or...anything! CRAP!

Wait, no...calm down Cynder, bad mind, focus on what's actually important, okay...I have three new housemates, that's fine, two of them are strangers, that's odd, they are trustworthy according to Spyro and Eon, that's good...my other housemate is essentially a criminal who may or may not be in a very unstable place...BAD!

Ok, that's a lie, it's potentially bad at worst and he's actually kind of nice when he stops freaking out at best, that's not so bad and potentially good...bad mind! stop rationalizing this!

Maybe what I need to do is just stop panicking and think clearly...no, yes? no, DARN IT!

Ok ok ok! checklist time, one problem at a time and then I might just be able to handle this, ok.

In the morning, have breakfast using whatever food I have left? doable if I pick up a few donuts for us all to eat before classes.

After classes, store and buy supplies? I can visit old man Gibs place, haven't seen him since...anyway, assuming he didn't change anything, I can get everything except for the medicine for the cabinets.

Note to self, check medicine cabinets.

After buying supplies, help Tempest move to the attic? Easy assuming that Sunset and Dark Spyro help, which they probably will.

Get dinner for the night because I won't be in the mood to cook and won't let any of them cook for the first day here? Easy, takeout...I wonder if any of them like pasta?

Ok...that helped, now that I'm cal-crap! I forgot about my training session with Spyro! Gaaaaah!

I'm never going to get any sleep! Then I'll be tired all day which means my plan just went out the window! DARN IT ALL!

Academy Days: First? day of lessons.

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*The Skylands, Cynder's house, Dark Spyro's POV.*

I open my eyes and yawn, I blink and use my right claw the rub my eyes, once my vision is clear I become aware of a fuzzy presence on my bed, I tilt my head and see Tempest still asleep with her arms wrapped around my chest, I sigh and carefully try to move.

Unfortunately the griffon seemed to notice and refused to release her grip on me, in fact she tightened it, I say nothing and gingerly grab her left claw, I then slowly and carefully move it away from my chest, I then manage to break free and leave the bed, without any further complications.

With a yawn, I look at Tempest and lean over, I put a claw on her shoulder and gently shake her. "Tempest, come on we have to get ready." I say.

Tempest winced and she spoke. "N-no... st-stop." She said shakily, making me freeze and let go, I watch as Tempest rolls over and shakes.

"Tempest, wake up." I say a little louder, not daring to touch her again.

The griffon soon started to breathe weirdly as she continued to talk in her sleep. "P-p-please, let me go... I-I-I can't do it, don't make me..." At this point her breathing started to get worrying and I quickly climb back onto the bed.

I muster my courage and take a deep breath, I gently grip the griffon's shoulders and shake her. "Wake up!" I say firmly but not loudly.

As if on cue, Tempest's eyes shot open and the look on her face was of fear, but this only lasted a second before she realized where she was. "Spyro?" She said quietly before looking around in confusion, the griffon seemed to figure out she was in my room and her face reddened. "I-I-I'm sorry! I don't know why I'm in here!" She said in a weird and panicked way, making me raise an eyebrow at her.

Tempest soon noticed that I was still holding her shoulders and her eyes widened. "Um... not that I want to sound like I'm complaining, but how long have you been holding me?" She asked, the red on her face deepened a little and I swiftly let go.

I let out a breath of relief as I climb off the bed. "You were talking in your sleep, sounded like you were having a nightmare, are you alright Tempest?" I ask, having seen the terrified look on the griffon's face.

Tempest blinked and chuckled awkwardly. "Me? yea, I'm fine... don't mind the silly griffon, I'm doing great... hey my wings are almost back to normal!" She said with a strange amount of focus on her admittedly fully feathered wings.

While her behavior may be definitely suspicious, I decide against pressing the issue and speak up. "Well, at any rate we need to get ready for today... and hopefully neither Sunset or Cynder will have noticed your... relocation." I say before heading to the door.

I open the door as Tempest climbs off the bed and I walk out into the hall, i don't see anyone around so I head for the bathroom, I reach the door and knock lightly. "Anyone in here?" I ask tiredly, my lack of sleep once again catching up to me.

"Yea, I'll be out soon." Replied the tired voice of Sunset.

"Kay." I reply before walking to the stairs, I walk down them and yawn again, my limbs burn less than before as I go downstairs and I feel a twinge of happiness knowing that I'm getting closer to being rid of the pain that had been nagging me for most of a month.

I walk to the kitchen and enter it, the kitchen walls are a soft gray and white checkerboard patterned tile, the floor is the same but with larger and less patterned tile, in the center of the kitchen is a small center island with white wood walls and a peach colored countertop as well as four stools around it, there is a small four legged table with four chairs up against the wall on the left with a door in the far corner, leading to more of the house, there is one person in kitchen who is by the stove.

I see Cynder mixing up something in a mixing bowl and I also notice a box of donuts on the counter, the dragoness is lightly bobbing back and forth to a song that is quietly playing on her phone, I say nothing and sort of just watch with mild but growing amusement, waiting to see how long it will be before she notices.

After a minute though, she turned around to set the bowl on the island and she freezes in place like a deer, her eyes wide. "Uh... how much did you see?" She asked stiffly, seeking to contain her embarrassment at being caught, though she did remember to put the mixing bowl down.

I smile. "Oh you know, enough to know that you like Hakuna Matada." I reply teasingly.

Cynder's jaw drops and she stutters for a moment before she gains a serious expression. "If you tell anyone about this, I will never buy you donuts or anything you like ever again." She threatened before turning her music off.

I nod with my smile still on my face. "Your secret is safe with me." I say before walking up the island. "What are you making?" I ask.

Cynder's mode suddenly shifts from embarrassed and cross to neutral and slightly happy. "Pancakes, it's the only thing I have right now." She replies. "They are basic and I only have butter and classic syrup, so that's why I picked up donuts, figured we could eat and then have the donuts to help us get through the day." She said.

I nod in understanding before taking a seat on one of the stools, I wait in silence as I work on waking up more, though I hear hoofsteps coming down the stairs and I stand up. "I'll be back down in a bit." I say before leaving the kitchen, passing Sunset along the way.

The unicorn looks tired and clearly didn't get much sleep last night. "Morning." I say with a small smile, which is tiredly returned.

"Morning." Sunset grumbles before heading to the kitchen and towards the now present scent of food.

I make my way up the stairs and once I'm up top I immediately head for the bathroom, thankfully it's open and empty and I can step right inside, I turn on the light and close the door so I can do my business in private.

The first thing I see is an oddity in the form of the sink, it was a simple one bowl sink with a faucet, but for some reason there were THREE knobs to use, one behind the faucet, and one on each side. "Wha... why, I don't understand." I mutter before putting the strange sink out of my mind.

*Later, Skylander Academy.*

"Ok so uh... just remember, if you need help understanding the Academy, Dark Spyro and I know this place so we can help out." Cynder said, clearly worrying.

The four of us are standing in a hallway that leads to three different classrooms, the one closest to us has Jet-Vac teaching in it right now.

Meanwhile I sigh. "Cynder, relax, we'll be in the same class after orientation after all." I point out, only to hear Tempest chuckle nervously.

"About that... I may or may not be a quarter of a year behind you guys in classes... so I won't be in the same class with you three for a while, if ever." The griffon admitted out of embarrassment while nervously running a nervous claw along her arm. "I forgot to mention it with everything that was happening." She added.

I smile. "Don't worry about it too much Tempest, I'm sure you'll do just fine, and like Cynder said, we can help you if you ask." I say before taking a deep breath and heading down the hall toward a different classroom while Cynder stays behind to join the class.

To me personally, walking to the indoor classroom that is serving as orientation today feels like walking down a corridor that is showing me my terrible past, memories of my crimes fill my head in the silence, showing me once again how I tried to curse Stealth Elf, how I hid my allegiance to Strykore, how I tried to mind control Eon and the other Skylanders, how I helped to kidnap King Pen.

My walk slowed as I remembered the time I actually considered allowing the Golden Queen to kill my friends in order to allow me to open the Wumpan Puzzle Box, I remembered the time I sent Elf away with Flynn just to avoid her suspicion of me, I remember almost killing her and my attempt to kill Spyro, as well as my maddened ramblings after Strykore drove me to madness, effectively stripping me of my free will, I remembered the thing that led to all of this, or more accurately, the DRAGON that caused this... Malefor.

My movement freezes and my breathing quickens and becomes unsteady, I can't even hear Sunset and Tempest as they try to get my attention, my mind filled only with images of Malefor crushing me, smashing me, taunting me with his laughter as he tortured me for daring to face him alone.

I am so lost in my thoughts, that I don't even realize that a third voice joined the conversation, I barely register the outside world until something familiar happens.

I feel a hard slap go across my face, I blink instantly and I shake my head a little, suddenly able to clearly think and see, I look at who slapped me and see none other than Stealth Elf with a raised eyebrow and a hand ready to slap again. "You good now?" She asked simply.

"I... yea... ow." I say, holding a claw up to rub where I was slapped.

"Are you ok?" Elf asked with concern showing in her blank eyes.

I take a deep breath and steady myself. "I think I'll be fine, nerves and... memories." I say before shuddering, I quickly nod to my old friend. "Thanks, I can handle it now." I say unconvincingly.

It is clear that none of the three believe me, but neither of them speaks up about it. "Alright, but don't go having another panic attack alright? next week I won't be around to slap you out of it." Elf says calmly.

I raise an eyebrow at that. "Eh? why's that?" I ask out of genuine curiosity, not understanding the remark.

Elf merely smirked. "You should ask your 'brother' that question... although, I wouldn't try to instigate him, there's a rumor that the two of you really are siblings, he isn't happy about it so... try not to piss him off." She said before walking away. "See you around Dark." She added before darting away in an instant.

I look at Sunset and Tempest, both of them still look concerned and I nod to them with a brief smile. "Come on, let's get this over with." I say before continuing to walk.

Even though we are silent, I can tell that my friends are keeping an eye on me and I mentally thank them for it, for the rest of the walk I find my mind turning to memories of what I've encountered in Equestria.

I remembered meeting Silver, Garnet and Cosmo, living with them for a while and enjoying my brief time in Jade, I remember going on a mission to find Silver and Garnet, I remember when I met Sunset and our adventure in the castle together.

I remember meeting Twilight and Spike, I remember fighting Sombra and then later saving the slaves from the mines, I smile at the memory of meeting Tempest, the shy and awkward griffon with the occasional witty remark which made me laugh, I remember the first few days in the Crystal Castle, including when I confessed the truth to Sunset about who I was, and finally I focus on the fresh memory of being told I was being given a chance to atone, and that is what I will do.

When we reach the doors to the classroom, I mentally prepare myself and look at my friends, they both nod to me and I push the doors open, full of confidence and determination.

All of my preparation is ruined however, once I see that Spyro himself is the one handling orientation this time, instead of Eruptor like I had been led to believe.

Tempest waved a claw in front of my eyes and got no reaction from my frozen body. "Damnit Dark." The griffon whispered.

Academy Days: Getting through the day.

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*Skylanders Academy, Dark Spyro's POV.*

So... this is not nearly as bad as I was expecting, Spyro easily went through the orientation process over the course of half an hour and only glanced at me once so far to make sure I am paying attention.

... It totally wasn't because I almost fainted and froze like a statue when I came in, no, it must be something else right?

A bunch of the others In orientation are actually younger than me, Sunset and if you don't count the thousand year difference, Tempest.

Speaking of the Griffon, I glance at her and see that she is practically absorbing the words my other half is saying, she doesn't look away from Spyro and I admit silently that it's a little disturbing, I focus on the purple dragon addressing us all as he speaks. "... And so, as future Skylanders you will have the responsibilities of not only protecting the Skylands from threats large and small, you will also be keeping the peace and setting an example for future generations to learn from, now, the path to becoming a Skylander is a long one and is no easy feat to achieve, but in the end it is worth the hard work." Spyro explained, his voice was natural which told me that either he was speaking from the heart or he rehearsed the crap out of this speech.

"That's all for the orientation, the first class of the day for you all is about to begin." Spyro announced, almost instantly most of the students went to leave, as did I along with Sunset and Tempest.

"Dark Spyro, I need to talk to you." The purple dragon said formally in front of the class.

I nod to Sunset and Tempest that I'm alright and that I'll see them soon, they both nod and leave the room albeit with some reluctance and worry on their faces, I close the door and look at Spyro, I walk towards him and speak. "So, what do you want to talk about?" I ask.

"First and foremost, I feel we need to clear the air a little, for instance, I don't like you, and i don't think I'll be able to get past that, just because of what you made me do... and I know you don't like me." Spyro stated bluntly.

I feel sudden awkwardness in the air and I open my mouth to speak but quickly close it as I think on his words for a moment before answering him. "Well, I don't hate you?" I offer quietly.

Spyro grunted. "You're right." I breathe a sigh of relief. "It's worse than that, you fear me." He states and I feel my muscles tense up, I look into his eyes and I can't help but replay the memory of my defeat at his hands and the possibility that I could have died then and there.

I must have been obvious as to my discomfort because Spyro continued talking which broke me out of my trance. "So instead, I want us to be on at the very least neutral grounds, if you agree to not antagonize me I'll do the same... agreed?" He asked, holding his claw out.

I blink and raise an eyebrow at the choice of words, they felt forced and I had a good idea who was behind this. "Elf?" I ask curiously.

Spyro chuckles and lowers his claw. "Elf." He replied with an eye roll. "She's afraid we'll get into another fight like last time." He said with a slightly mocking tone hidden deep. "If we did end up fighting again, I would totally win again though." He said confidently.

I sigh at his words, and while I had similar feelings to Elf, I felt my dragons pride surfacing. "I don't know about that, I've been training hard ever since Jade." I counter.

Spyro and I share an intense glare for several seconds before we both grin. "Looks like we share more than just a handsome face." He states.

"What do you say? when we are both full strength, rematch?" I challenge him even though I'm scared to all hell.

Spyro's grin widens. "You're on Dark, but if you think that I haven't been training hard you are wrong, and to make it fair, I won't even use that memory spell to spy on you." He states.

I shiver a little at the though of my other half being able to spy on me whenever he wishes. "That's unnerving that you can do that." I mutter to myself in a level of voice that only my other half can hear.

Spyro nods in agreement. "Not to mention potentially awkward, I'd hate to see something... private." He shudders and I quickly walk to the door to leave. "Dark." Spyro said, making me stop and face him.

Spyro's eyes had changed from neutral to serious as we looked at each other. "Dont betray Cynder's trust, she's putting a lot of faith in you as are your friends, even Elf and Eon are giving you a chance, I'm not saying that you won't crack or break down along the way, but if you hurt any of them by betraying us, I won't hesitate to take you down... am I clear?" He stated with seriousness.

I knew instantly that he meant every single word, and even though he said something similar before, I felt even more pressure this time, I nod slowly out of understanding. "I wouldn't have it any other way." I say. "If I do go nuts again, I don't trust anyone else to do that... but I won't hurt anyone, if that means anything." I state before leaving the room.

Once outside the Orientation room I let out a shaky breath I didn't realize I was holding, I hold a claw up and see that it is shaking, I took a few deep breaths to try and calm down and I get moving towards where my first class is.

The trip to the first class wasn't a long one, but as I entered the class I see that the teacher is Jet-Vac, I see Sunset and Cynder sitting on one end of the room but there are no open seats near them, I spot an open seat near the entrance but I recognize Marx, Chen and Tinker and they have an open seat near them, I walk over to them and sit down wordlessly. "Glad you could join us Dark Spyro." Jet-Vac noted before continuing the lesson as though nothing changed.

Jet-Vac is teaching us about Chompy's, and while I already know about the topic, I decide to pay closer attention than I once did years ago, about five more minutes into the lesson, I hear Marx speak up. "What's the point of knowing all of this?" He questioned. "Chompy's are just pests, I can handle them easily so why do I need to know all of this?" He pressed.

A quiet murmur spread among the students I don't know and I hear Tinker sigh. "Not this again." She whispered.

Jet-Vac also looked at Marx with an unimpressed look in his eyes. "Chompy's are more dangerous than you give them credit for Marx, they may be small and not much of a threat alone, but they can easily pillage a town or defeat any Skylander in numbers, their teeth eats through almost anything without a problem and should you be unlucky enough to run into the Green Chompy's cousin the Purple Chompy... you had best beware, they are resistant to magic and fly into a rage when you try to use magic on them." He explained in a scolding tone that seemed to shut Marx up.

With that, Jet-Vac returned to the lesson and this time no one dared to interrupt him, he shifted the lesson away from Chompy's to the methods of taking care of Chompy's, detailing the effectiveness of both intimidation tactics and attacks that hit multiple enemies very clearly, and it was this way of teaching that made me realize that Jet-Vac was actually a good teacher, he might assign a lot of homework but I know for a fact it's only because he wants us to succeed.

The class goes on for another five minutes before Jet-Vac ended it, he assigned us our homework which was to detail at least five different ways to deal with a Chompy or a Chompy swarm, after that we all left the classroom and I felt loads better by the end of it.

'Alright, all I have to do is get through today and then it should get easier... hopefully.'

*Later that day.*

I groan from the pain my limbs are putting me in as I maneuver myself through Cynder's house and plop down on the couch, In this exact moment I regretted ever coming back to the Skylands and almost wished that they would throw me in prison just so I could sleep all day and no one would care.

I hear a grunt followed by tired breathing. "Why did they decide on a death trap of an obstacle course today?" Sunset asked.

I hear a rather offending chuckle coming from Cynder and I raise my head, I look at the dragoness and see her with a smug grin on her face. "You'll have to get use to it, it's an important part of training that you need to pass." She said with a tone I think Spyro once used on her.

"I am aware, but my aching limbs make it easy to not care right now." I state with a flat tone of voice before resting my head again.

The door opens and closes and Tempest walks in. "Hey everyone... what's up?" The Griffon asks as she takes in the sight of an unmoving Sunset, an almost cackling Cynder and me trying to sleep.

"Cynder is mocking our performance on the obstacle course." Sunset answered tiredly.

I watch as Tempest raises an eyebrow. "Why? how did you do?" She asked with a curious and innocent tone.

"Let's just say that Sunset REALLY needs to get in shape and Dark here needs to sleep so that he doesn't fall asleep in the middle of class again." Cynder said as she headed off to the kitchen, her voice filled with mirth as she restrained herself from laughing again.

Tempest walks over to me and kneels down. "Do you need anything?" She asks softly.

I smile at her offer, feeling a sense of warmth at the thought. "No, maybe Sunset does though, thanks Tempest." I reply with an honest tone of voice.

Tempest nods slowly and stands up, she walked over to Sunset and talks to the unicorn for a few seconds before walking to the kitchen.

I do nothing more than close my eyes, desiring absolutely nothing more than to sleep, I could feel the alluring effect about to take effect when I heard the most offending sound I ever heard.

*Growl*

"And we have a hungry dragon to feed, great." Sunset groaned.

I sigh loudly and sit up, I push sleep away again for what I felt must be the millionth time already and make my way to the kitchen where. I heard voices, once I enter the kitchen I enter just in time to see Cynder set her phone down on the counter. "What's going on?" I ask tiredly.

"Ordered pizza for dinner, I don't know what Sunset or Tempest like to eat so I just got a regular cheese and a pepperoni pizza, you good with that?" Cynder asked.

I nod. "That's fine by me, is it being delivered or are we picking it up?" I ask.

"Delivered, I was thinking that we could move Tempest's bed up to the attic before our food gets here, then we can eat?" The dragoness suggests with a wondering tone.

I nod in agreement. "Sure, I'll go get started." I say before leaving the kitchen and heading upstairs to get started.

I am quickly joined by Sunset, Tempest and Cynder, and together the three of us easily move the entire bed upstairs and make a lot of progress setting it up for Tempest to live in by moving an old table and a small crate into a corner, thankfully Cynder didn't have much in the attic aside from a box or two and some old furniture that she didn't use.

I find myself idly pondering ways to improve the attic a little bit for my friend when we heard a knock on the front door, Cynder immediately headed downstairs to pay for the food, I follow soon after and I hear Sunset and Tempest talking quietly behind me, clearly the Unicorn was using a spell to make their conversation even quieter so I couldn't hear and I mentally debate on what they could possibly be talking about that I wasn't supposed to know.

I eventually settle on the idea of the two of them planning a way to repay Cynder's generosity and leave It alone. 'This is their business, not mine, I'll just leave them be.' I tell myself.

The rest of the day passed by pleasantly, the pizza was delicious and filling, and we had a nice night just catching Tempest up to modern times and as to what a phone was and why it was so popular, that night however I didn't sleep very much, I awoke the next morning with a sore wing yet I felt better than I did yesterday.

I also woke up without Tempest in the same bed as me which I took as a good sign that she was getting more confident, though I felt a little sad at the though of it never happening again.

'She's a grown Griffon though, if she can handle it so can I.' I tell myself, though it makes little difference in my mind.

Academy Days: Evil or Misunderstood?

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*Cynder's House, The Skylands, a month later, Dark Spyro's POV.*

I yawn as I walk to the desk in my dimly lit room, I don't even need a light to tell that it's four in the morning, I rummage through the drawer and eventually find what I'm looking for.

I grab a small square device with a plug in slot and a strap, I grab a headset from my desk and plug it in, I smirk as I sling the strap over my neck, the strap shrinks down and rests comfortably around my neck with the device being completely still, I put on the headset and leave my room quietly, I soon reach the front door as well and leave the house.

Getting used to life in the Skylands has by no means been easy for me, Sunset or Tempest, while it was merely an adjustment period for my friends, I had to deal with the brunt of the repressed anger from locals and other Cadets and even some Trainees, all because of my servitude to Strykore when he was around.

Lately though, Stealth Elf, Jet-Vac, Pop-Fizz, Eruptor and Spyro had been on vacation, and they earned it, I mean, they did go nonstop on peacekeeping for a long time and even saved the Skylands, and while there are still bad guys like the Doom Raiders out there, it has been quiet enough to allow a vacation.

The problem though, is that with Team Spyro gone, a lot of hostilities rose up among the Cadets, Eon and the other teachers often had trouble trying to calm them down or break up the fights, so Eon came up with a solution, a tournament that would take place three days out of a week, I had signed up along with Sunset and Cynder while Tempest stayed out of it.

I fly silently to the teleport pads and enjoy the cool air in the dark town, I smile at the painless flight and land easily, I step into the teleport pad and soon teleport to my destination, a place I have been visiting for two weeks now every morning in secret.

This place was obviously the obstacle course, I smirk and turn the course on, I then turn on the device and soon enough I hear music playing.

I grin and charge towards the obstacle course, I duck and weave out of the way of the swinging axes and spinning blades, I dodge with practiced grace as I make my way all around the course.

I roll when a jet of flames shoot out and I move out of the way as one of the axes swings towards me, I soon finish a full cycle of the course and with the same level of skill I reach the other side, I then do the same but in reverse, I run the opposite way towards the start which has far more resistance as I'm moving against the course, but I don't let it stop me as I dodge the traps and blades, and before long I manage to complete the first reverse cycle of the obstacle course.

I move again towards the beginning of the course and jump over a spinning blade, I land easily but am quickly forced to dodge a swinging axe when I feel my back leg cramp up, but just as I do so a jet of fire shoots out from one of the holes, I roll out of the way instantly and quickly finish the course before another close call could happen, I shut down the course and move on to the next part of my routine.

And that was a flight exercise, I fly off at high speed towards the Academy itself, I circle any trees I pass and I loop around a few smaller islands as I race down my own mental race course, I rapidly approach the Grand Library and I circle it three times before finally landing at the teleport pads, I take a deep breath and fold my wings as I step onto the teleport pad.

I walk back to Cynder's house and enter the house quietly, I silence my music and make my way upstairs, to my relief I hear nothing so I enter my room and carefully put my things away before climbing back into bed, leaving no trace of my absence, I mentally congratulate myself on my sneaking skills before closing my eyes to get some extra sleep.

*Two days later, Skylanders Academy, Dark Spyro's POV.*

"Alright everyone gather around!" Shouted Spyro as all of the Cadets approached the designated arena, a huge island with gray stone ground in the shape of a circle in center of the island, the stone circle was almost as large as the island, which in itself was about the size of a mansion. "Today is the first day of the tournament, every match will take place here and nowhere else!" He warned.

Spyro let his words sink in for a moment before continuing. "If there are ANY fights outside the arena, the participating Cadet or Cadets will be immediately disqualified, this includes sparring, training outside of class and straight up brawls, so be mindful and keep to yourself outside the ring." He stated with a clear tone, indicating that he would not tolerate a fight outside the ring no matter what. "As for the rules, the only rules are no fatal blows or attacks that cause permanent damage, the fight ends when you concede or can not continue." He added.

I am standing with Sunset, Cynder and Tempest, nearby is Tinker, Marx and Chen, I keep a mental note to keep my eyes open just in case.

Nearby and watching with interest is Stealth Elf, Eon, Eruptor and Jet-Vac, Pop Fizz being nowhere in sight, I turn my attention back to my other half and listen.

"Now then, let's get the first round underway!" He said enthusiastically, causing a huge portion of the crowd to cheer, he then looked up at something, we all do the same and look at what Spyro sees, and we all notice a large screen with a huge tournament ladder set up. "The first match of the day is Chen versus Ugmal." He states before stepping out of the stone ring.

Chen the Elf steps out onto the ring, wielding his bow and arrows, he wore a brown tunic over a plain brown shirt and he wore brown trousers along with black boots.

Ugmal is a large bipedal creature with pale green carapace covering his body and large yellow eyes, his face was angular and he had a large fang protruding from the right side of his mouth, he wore no clothing and had two arm blades, one on each of his forearms.

"Begin!" Spyro called out.

Ugmal immediately charged rapidly, moving with speed that had to be enhanced magically, Chen recoiled at the speed and grabbed an arrow, he quickly prepared it and aimed.

Chen fired off his arrow just a little to the right of Ugmal, trying to lead him but the insectoid simply dodged and closed the distance within a second, he swung his arm blade and Chen just barely dodged, his tunic recieving a large tear in the process.

Chen grabbed another arrow and charged it with magic, I watch as the arrowhead changes to a familiar one, a small head of stone that packs a surprising punch, the Elf aims and fires the arrow but Ugmal simply swung his arm blade, deflecting it easily before charging at high speed again.

I watch as Chen's eyes narrow in thought. 'What is he thinking?' I ask myself.

Chen quickly prepared another arrow and let loose immediately, though this time he also grabbed another arrow and fired off another and another in quick succession, Ugmal dodged one and deflected another that was coming his way that he otherwise couldn't have dodged, he once again closed the distance and swung, Chen dodged a little earlier and fired off another few arrows.

Ugmal once again dodged and deflected the arrows and charged at Chen once more, the Elf reached for an arrow and he tensed up as he grabbed the last arrow, he grunted and prepared the arrowhead, I watch with interest as it starts to glow a faint yellow.

Ugmal did not have to dodge a single arrow as Chen waited, the Elf took a deep breath and closed his eyes, I look at Marx to see his reaction and see both confidence and concern on the Salamander's face.

A few seconds later and I find out why, Chen opened his eyes just as Ugmal neared, the Elf readied his now bright yellow arrow in an instant and fired it point blank at Ugmal, the arrowhead impacted the insectoid and launched him straight up into the air screaming for several seconds.

We all watch in a tense silence as we waited for Ugmal to return, Spyro declared that since Ugmal technically did not leave the ring, he was still in the match, though he did say that if the insectoid did not return within the minute, he would end the fight.

I look at Marx and see that he has a look of relief on his face, I hum in thought and look back up, and within a few seconds we all watch as Ugmal plummets from the sky and crashes down on the stone ring, I wince at the sight and glance at Chen.

Chen watches with a tense silence which changes to horror as Ugmal gets back up. "Next time you do that, don't add an enchantment to soften the fall." The insectoid speaks in a flat tone, his voice even and calm,

"That fall would have knocked anyone out." I hear Marx say quietly in disbelief. "Enchantment or no." He added.

'It must have been his carapace, it must be really tough to let him get back up after that.'

Ugmal took the opportunity and charged at his enhanced speed, Chen hesitated and glanced around, to his dismay there was only one arrow still in the arena and it was too far away to reach, the Elf holds his hand up into the air. "I concede." He says.

Ugmal halts his charge and nods out of respect or understanding for Chen's decision, both the Elf and the insectoid leave the arena and Spyro returns to the center. "Ugmal is the victor of the first match, now let's move on to the second match!" He states before looking up at the screen,

"The second match is between Tempest and Tinker!" He declares, I visibly tense up at the matchup and look at Tempest in shock.

"You said you didn't enter." Sunset says.

Tempest laughs sheepishly. "Surprise?" She says before moving into the ring along with the four armed Tinker.

Tinker looks the exact same as the day Marx and Chen teamed up against me, though this time she is fighting and has a series of boxes on her back, I glance at Tempest out of worry but see a look of determination in her eyes.

"Begin!" Spyro ordered, and in that moment, Tempest took to the air and dive bombed towards Tinker who grabbed a small handheld device in two of her arms and rapidly pushed buttons with her other two, as a result, her body was covered in a kind of gray shimmer and three small robots floated out of the boxes before putting distance between themselves and Tinker.

The robots were gray in color and were spherical in shape with four small prongs jutting out and a single blue light on each.

I ponder what the four armed girl is doing before Tempest delivers her attack, it hits but Tempest is the one recoiling and she stares with clear confusion, and it is now that I realize something concerning.

Tempest cannot beat Tinker, no matter what she tries for one reason alone... she doesn't understand technology and has no magic that I know of, the griffon takes flight once more, going for another dive bomb which is apparently her kinds preferred method of attack.

Tinker pushes some more buttons and the small robots open fire, shooting small green bolts of magic that Tempest manages to dodge with surprising agility, I watch as Tempest nears the end of her dive but instead of going straight for Tinker, I watch as Tempest aimed for the robots.

Tinker watches with clear surprise and pushed more buttons, two of the robots break away from the third and continue firing from different angles, Tempest takes a few hits but does manage to hit one of the robots to the ground before being hit by a large beam of magical energy from behind and being thrown out of the ring, I look at Tinker who had called out a single large robot that was quadruple the size of the others, it shrunk down and fit itself inside one of her boxes as did the others.

I watch as Tinker gains a look of concern and ignores the declaration of her victory as she walks towards Tempest, the four armed girl reached a hand out and Tempest when she reached her and the griffon begrudgingly took it, I smile at the knowledge that Tinker wasn't faking being nice, the four armed girl walked to her downed robot and picks it up, she immediately started working on it and barely acknowledged Marx who congratulated her on her victory.

'Damn, she really focuses on her machines.' I note.

"Hey, you alright Tempest?" I hear Sunset ask.

Tempest grumbles, I look at her in surprise, I didn't take her for a sore loser. "Hey, you aren't upset for losing are you?" I ask.

"It's a griffon pride thing, still working on it." Tempest mumbles.

I nod slowly out of slight understanding and turn my attention back to the ring where Spyro was once again standing. "Let's move on to the Third match!" He looked up and I do too, I see a magical screen of some kind and all I can see is images, the images enlarge and I visibly tense up once more.

"The third match is between Sunset Shimmer and Marx!" Spyro declares.

I look at Sunset who takes a deep breath and steps into the ring with Marx, the Salamander gets into the familiar crouch that I believe is his fighting stance, both of the two combatants look determined to win.

Marx is wearing the exact same thing he was when he picked a fight with me.

"Begin!" Spyro orders.

Marx begins by spitting out a high speed fireball and charges, and I watch with curiosity, mostly to see how he fights without Chen to back him up.

Sunset fires a few magic bolts towards Marx, two of the bolts dissipated the fireball and the last two hit Marx who didn't seem to care, he continued his charge and just like with me, he skid to a sudden stop and used the momentum to propel a fireball at ridiculous speed towards Sunset, who was unable to dodge it in time, she was thrown back and hit the ground hard but was quick to get up.

Marx didn't bother with gloating and charged immediately, I raise an eyebrow, remembering that Marx seems to enjoy taunting and messing with his opponents, and while I don't know him very well, this does seem out of character for him, I glance at Chen and Tinker and notice the concern on their faces.

'So this relentless assault really isn't Marx' style, what is he up to?'

Sunset quickly teleports away and Marx looks around the arena, he spots Sunset and stands still for some reason, but he doesn't remain this way for long as he charges once more.

I watch as Sunset prepares a powerful spell and quickly releases it the next few seconds, revealing a huge sphere of flames that moves towards Marx who skids to a stop and backs away slowly.

"Marx wins." I hear Chen say the moment the fire spell is used.

I look at Chen with curiosity. "What's that supposed to mean?" Tempest asked with irritation.

"It's obvious that Sunset is skilled, but she is a Fire Element isn't she?" Chen asks, more like a statement, I ponder the meaning of his words and it hits me like a sack of bricks.

"So what? she's also Magic Element." Tempest says defensively.

"Every single spell that Sunset uses will be partially Fire Element even if they have nothing to do with fire." I say with clear understanding.

"And Marx is a Salamander." Cynder noted as the flame sphere nears Marx, who now appears to be grinning.

Chen nodded. "Correct." The Elf looks at Tempest. "Salamanders are nearly immune to fire and flame spells, and Marx is an Alpha Salamander, which means that he has the power to absorb direct flames and fire spells, not very useful against water or other spells with Fire Element influence, but right now?" He trailed off, knowing that he didn't have to continue.

Marx was soon engulfed in flames, a few moments later and the flames faded, revealing Marx who was glowing a brilliant orange and was literally on fire, Sunset however had a look of pure horror on her face. "But... how?" She asked with fear in her voice.

Marx chuckled. "You really should have known that fire can't defeat a Salamander." He taunted before he raised both his fists into the air and slamming them into the ground, unleashing a massive torrent of flames that rushed towards Sunset and diminished his own flames, the Unicorn quickly conjured a magical shield that she clearly struggled to maintain.

The flames faded quickly and Marx started to charge at Sunset who was clearly getting worn out by her use of magic, her horn quickly flared up and Marx was soon caught in a turquoise light, his movement halted and he growled as he forced himself to move, it was clearly difficult and exhausting but he kept on moving towards Sunset who struggled to hold him back.

I ponder what Sunset's plan here is, I watch the struggle take place as Marx moves closer and closer, moving faster every second, it is then then I noticed that he is sagging.

"Is she trying to pin him to the ground?" Cynder asks, voicing exactly what I was thinking.

"Yea, I don't think it'll work though." I say.

Marx roared and promptly spat a fireball at Sunset who was forced to dodge, the effort allowed Marx to break free and she began to fire a near unending barrage of magical missiles at Marx who took them all head on as he continued his charge.

Sunset continued to back up and before she knew it she had stepped out of the ring. "Marx wins by ring out!" Spyro declared, both Sunset and Marx returned, the former completely dumbfounded and the latter with a smirk.

Tinker glanced at Marx before returning to fixing her damaged robot. "Nice one Marx." She said absently.

"Don't say that, it'll go straight to his head." Chen scolded though I can sense amusement in his voice.

I roll my eyes, remembering a time where a very similar interaction happened with Stealth Elf and Eruptor.

The next few matches that took place were kind of interesting but I didn't know anyone who fought in them, so I may have tuned them out, finally though I heard Spyro call out. "Dark Spyro versus Trigger Happy!" He declares.

I step into the ring and face down my opponent, Trigger Happy is a peculiar individual, he has brown and white fur and carries twin guns, I also remember that he has a bad habit of-

*bang!* I jump out of the way as a bullet flies past me and past the crowd watching and into a tree, I look at Trigger Happy who blinked. "Sorry!" He called out.

Spyro looked at me and I shrug. "Alright...begin!" He called out.

Trigger Happy immediately aims at me and starts shooting rapidly while moving around, I form a dense magical shield that takes the hits and I take a deep breath.

I lower my shield and spit out a pair of purple fireballs that spin as they fly, Trigger Happy dodges it and continues his barrage, I take flight and charge up some lightning, my horns crackle with electricity and I release it, Trigger Happy gets electrocuted but to my surprise and confusion, he begins to shoot even faster than before, effectively doubling the amount of bullets, I groan as I form a shield to take the damage.

I ponder my next move and after a second I come up with an idea, I fly back down to the ground and charge up some more lightning, I then expand the shield and turn it into more of a dark mist, I then release the lightning as a nova and the mist becomes electrified.

The mist obscures my vision but it also blocks Trigger Happy's vision, but what it doesn't conceal is sound, so I take advantage of my opponents electrified hysterical shooting and fly, I prepare to shoot a fireball and I take aim, I pause as I hear no gunshots and I wait.

I hum in thought and I quickly throw a single bolt of lightning down to the ground, it impacts and immediately I see bullets flying to where I hit, I look in the direction of the bullets and spit out the twin fireballs, moments later I hear the shots stop.

I land quietly and use my magic to disperse the electrified mist, I look in the direction I shot the fireball in and see Trigger Happy getting up but to my relief he was outside the ring. "Dark Spyro wins by ring out!" Spyro declares, I look to my friends and see them smiling at me, I walk over to them and I notice that Tempest is no longer sulking.

"That was cool!" Tempest says eagerly.

"It was alright." Marx mutters, I look at him in surprise. "I did better though." He added and I calm down, knowing he's back to normal.

"Why did you electrify the mist?" Cynder and Sunset both ask, I stifle a laugh as they roll their eyes.

"It prolonged Trigger Happy's electrocution, I used his guns to find him which let me win." I explain, Cynder nods and Sunset looks thoughtful.

"The final match of the day is Cynder versus Coreba!" Spyro declared, Cynder stepped up but was not joined by another, Spyro looked around the crowd. "Coreba?" He asked.

Soon enough one of the Cadets who already fought walked up to Spyro and whispered to him, my other half sighed and spoke up a moment later. "Coreba is unable to fight so Cynder wins by default!" He declared.

I look at Cynder who has a look of disappointment on her face as she walks up to us. "You alright Cynder?" I ask the dragoness.

"I was just looking forward to my fight is all." She says simply and with a sigh.

"Don't worry, you'll fight tommorow, I know it." I say encouragingly, Cynder smiles and nods, clearly in a better mood already.

*Skylands, The next day, Dark Spyro's POV.*

The excitement was building today as everyone waited for the second round of the tournament to begin, I am once again standing with Cynder, Sunset and Tempest, Marx and his friends were on the opposite side of the ring today but everyone was here to watch.

Soon enough, Spyro stepped out to the center of the arena again and started to speak. "Alright everyone, welcome to the second round of the tournament!" He greeted, everyone cheered and Spyro waited a little for the excitement to drop so he could speak. "Same rules as yesterday, now let's begin!" He said before looking up to the magical screen, a moment later and he declared the combatants.

"The first match is Cynder versus Tinker!" He declared.

Cynder steps into the rings eagerly and Tinker enters as well. "You got this Cynder!" Tempest cheers, I look at her and I can tell she is eager for Tinker to lose, I nudge her and she looks at me. "What?" She questions.

"It's just a game Tempest, you and Tinker might end up working together one day, believe me when I say that you don't want animosity in a team." I advise truthfully, remembering some of the times that having any form of grudge in a team made more problems than necessary, the griffon opens her mouth to speak but resorts to grumbling under her breath as she watches.

"Begin!" Spyro orders.

Tinker immediately formed the shield that she used against Tempest and called up her robots, Cynder reacted by letting out a breath of lightning that arced past Tinker and electrocuted the robots, shutting them down and making them fall to the ground instantly.

Tinker looked over her shoulder in surprise and quickly called out the large robot that blasted Tempest yesterday, it grew to its huge size and loomed menacingly behind Tinker.

Cynder dodged frantically as the large robot opened fire, it fired numerous smaller magical bolts at Cynder, the dragoness was hard pressed but she managed to let out another breath of lighting, it hit the robot hard and it momentarily faltered before firing its massive beam at Cynder who flew up to avoid it.

Tinker pushed a few more buttons and the final two boxes on her back opened up, they revealed two objects that floated down to the ground, one next to each of Tinker's legs, the four armed girl stepped on the one on the left and four small disks flew out of it and attached themselves to the robot.

Tinker's robot then aimed directly at Cynder and started firing once more but at a greater speed, Cynder dodged in the air and let out a few lightning breaths that gave the robot pause for the first breath but seemed to actually damage it with the second.

Tinker looked visibly hurt and I ponder why when Cynder breathes more lightning but it simply bounces off her shield and to the robot.

Tinker moves her right leg over the object on her right but misses, her shield fades and the robot shuts down, I watch with curiosity as Tinker drops the device in her hand and falls to her knees, her breathing labored, Cynder hesitates but doesn't drop her guard.

"I give up." Tinker says through ragged breaths, much to Marx surprise.

"What!? Tinker come on you had that!" The Salamander snaps.

The four armed girl looks at Marx and then away from him as Spyro declares. "Cynder wins by forfeit!"

Tinker retrieved her device and recalled the large robot, she then picked up the three smaller ones and walked back to Marx and Chen.

"Why did she collapse like that?" Sunset asks.

I stare at Tinker who was now sitting and working on her robots. "I... don't know." I admit quietly before grinning at Cynder who was walking over to us. "Nice match Cynder." I congratulate.

"Good one." Tempest says.

"You did great." Sunset adds.

Cynder grins at our words. "Thanks guys." Her face then turned contemplative. "I wonder why Tinker gave up though? Marx seemed sure that she would win." She said and I nod in agreement, not understanding the reason as well.

"Speaking of." Sunset says, we look up and see that Marx is fighting someone named Yuza, a tall Gecko creature with green scales and eyes.

Yuza attacked with some kind of slimy projectile and avoided direct conflict by turning invisible for as few second and appearing elsewhere, Marx seemed to be getting annoyed by the gecko but did eventually land the winning punch when Yuza slipped up. "Marx is the winner by knockout!" Spyro declared.

I look to the magical screen and watch as fight after fight goes by... and to my shock, all of them ended in a draw. "Dark Spyro versus Wicket!" Spyro declares finally and I enter the ring.

Wicket is a pale red creature with barkskin and stoic yellow eyes, he stares at me for a few seconds before shaking his head. "I cannot win this fight, I forfeit." He declares and I immediately understand Cynder's disappointment from the previous day.

"Dark Spyro wins by forfeit!" Spyro states before looking at the screen. "Our final fight for the day is Ugmal versus Ordan!"

Ugmal enters the ring and stares down Ordan, who was of the same species as him but gray in color instead of pale green.

Both of them glare at each other fiercely. "Begin!" Spyro declared, though the exact moment he did so both insectoids charged and clashed blades within seconds.

Ugmal threw a punch that was blocked, Ordan swung his blade but it was parried and countered by another punch.

The two insectoids were evenly matched in skill and this seemed to greatly anger Ordan far more than Ugmal.

Ordan broke away and charged at high speed, though instead of going straight for Ugmal, the gray insectoid circled him, building up speed at an alarming rate, I watch wide eyed as Ordan somehow manage to run straight through his circle and punch Ugmal in the jaw, all the while returning to the speed circle without it ever stopping.

Ugmal looked back and forth and then he did something odd, he closed his eyes much like Chen did in his fight, he waited several moments before throwing a lightning fast punch in the air, though just as he did so Ordan was hit and was sent flying, his own momentum caused him to be knocked out of the ring.

"Ugmal wins by ring out!" Spyro called out, and several spectators cheered.

Spyro soon stepped out into the ring and spoke loud enough to be heard. "That's all for today everyone! come back here same time tomorrow for the last of the tournament." He stated, much to the dismay of the crowd.

I look at Cynder who looks determined. "Best of luck to you tomorrow." I say encouragingly.

Cynder nods silently and with that we head off to her house to get some sleep, that night I was up for a few extra hours, unable to sleep as my nerves got to me, I felt dread form as I realized something terrifying.

There are only four contestants left, myself, Cynder, Marx and Ugmal, above all I dreaded fighting Cynder first, not because I'm scared of her or scared I'll really hurt her, it's more like my nerves and my mind don't want to fight her at all.

I eventually close my eyes, praying that if I had to fight Cynder, it would be as the final match.

*The next day.*

I take in a deep breath as I stand with my friends at the ring, everyone was here again to watch the fights, I glance towards Eon and Team Spyro, they were all talking amongst themselves and I feel a pang of hurt, I push that away, knowing it's just guilt resurfacing.

I look around and see that everyone is talking amongst themselves, even my friends next to me were talking.

"So guys, I was actually hoping that one of you could... help me out a little bit?" Tempest asks and I look at the griffon in shock along with Cynder and Sunset, we all figured out quickly that Tempest hates being helped if it can be avoided, but for her to actually ask was a surprise.

"Uh, sure... what do you need help with?" I ask out of curiosity.

Tempest sighs and forces the words out. "I need help with my essay on Elemental Magics." She said quickly.

"No problem." I say calmly before glancing to the ring, I see Spyro look at me for a second before returning to his conversation. "How long do you have?" I ask.

"Till the end of the week." Tempest says.

"We've got plenty of time then." Cynder says. "We can work on it when this is over." She added.

The crowd suddenly fell silent and I look to see Spyro walking to the center of the ring. "Welcome to the final day of the tournament!" He greeted. "The same rules will apply today as the other days, no fatal blows and no permanent damage, the match ends upon a ring out, a knockout or a forfeit." He explained.

"With that out of the way, let's begin!" He declared before looking to the magical screen, I look as well and watch with worry.

'Please not Cynder, please not Cynder.' I close my eyes and wait for the inevitable.

"The first match of the semifinals is Cynder versus Dark Spyro!" Spyro called out, and I curse mentally as I enter the arena with Cynder.

As I stand opposite Cynder, I see hesitance in her eyes for a second before they gain a calm determination that I've seen in her only a few times. "Don't hold back you hear me?" She said and I nod slowly.

"Alright." I mutter.

"Begin!" Spyro ordered.

Immediately I took to the air as did Cynder, we both readied breath attacks and released them at once, her lightning and my fire clashed and merely exploded, I fly towards Cynder and she does the same, we collide and we both land a few punches and swipes before breaking away.

Cynder lets out another lightning breath immediately and I can't react in time, I grunt in pain as the lightning courses through my system and electrocutes me.

I feel intense anger burning in me but I force it down as Cynder continues her attack, I silently praise my friend for her ability to keep the lightning going but I don't appreciate the fact that I'm the target.

I channel my magic into a spell and hold my right claw out, it glows with an intense dark purple magic and Cynder pauses her attack, I then hold out my left claw and slam my claws together, a loud boom rang through the air and a massive shockwave of magic flew towards Cynder.

The dragoness dodges at the last second and lands, I fly down and land as well, I watch as she prepares a lightning breath and I charge my lightning spell, as I do so I feel that same anger rise up again for some reason, I force it down once more as I feel the electricity start to get to me.

I fire off the spell just as Cynder unleashed her lightning breath and the result was a light show of lightning arcing out violently, it damaged the ring and even threatened to harm the bystanders, I grit my teeth, I feel a strong pull to the spell and find it hard to stop, I pull back and the lightning clash ends with a deafening crack, I pant as I stare at Cynder who was also out of breath.

I look around and my eyes widen out of shock at the damage to the arena, I look at Cynder who also just realized this, I take a deep breath and get back into a fighting stance.

Cynder drops low and we start to circle each other, she kept her eyes trained on mine and I do the same, we circled for a short time before I take off, once in the air I take in a deep breath.

Cynder immediately blasts me with lightning and I struggle to deal with the pain but I do not cease, a moment later I release my breath which ended up being a large wave of fire, seeking to end this quickly, I also fired a rapid barrage of twin fireballs to the ground.

Cynder dodged the wave and the first two twin fireballs but was hit hard by the third, then the fourth and fifth, and then finally the sixth and seventh, I stop my barrage out of fear of hurting my friend and I fly by down to the ground.

I silently pray that Cynder stops the fight by giving up, but if I know her correctly, she isn't one to give up like this, and to both my dismay and my joy, the dragoness gets back up, albeit shakily, she soon calms herself and stares at me before dropping to a fighting stance.

I drop low as well and we both charge at the other, we keep on going until we finally ram heads and I recoil slightly, Cynder does as well but she quickly lunged forward, I block and dodge to the best of my ability but I can feel my anger bubbling again. 'Why am I getting so angry?' I contemplate while dodging. 'Is this a dragon thing?' I wonder before deciding to end the fight before I do something I'll regret later.

I retaliate and throw a quick swipe at Cynder, it hits her hard, and promising to apologize for it later, I quickly ram her in the chest as hard as I could and she tumbles to the ground, sliding and rolling away, I spit out a twin fireball which propels Cynder out of the ring, and as she landed outside the stone circle I breathe a sigh of relief.

"Dark Spyro wins by ring out!" Spyro declares, his voice filled with disbelief and shock.

I hurry over to Cynder as she gets up, she looks up at me and I hesitantly hold a claw out. "Uh... no hard feelings?" I ask.

Cynder chuckles and let's me help her up to my relief, though she does give me a playful shove which promptly knocks me on my butt. "I deserve that." I say.

Cynder and I share a quiet laugh before we head off to our friends, once we are with them I look around, and to my surprise quite a few Cadets were passing around money. "Did they really bet on these fights?" I ask with a raised eyebrow.

"Of course." Sunset replied. "Only us losers can bet." She added with a smirk.

I look at the unicorn. "And for our fight?" I ask out of curiosity.

Sunset smirked and recieved her money as Wicket passed it around, Tempest did as well. "Thanks for the confidence guys." Cynder remarks.

Tempest and Sunset both passed half of their winnings to Cynder who seemed surprised. "Um?" The dragoness trailed off, unsure of what to do.

"Dark Spyro has more combat experience, I merely made an educated guess as to who would win." Sunset said with clear logic as Cynder took the money.

"Actually, she flipped a coin about seven times." Tempest corrected and Sunset grumbled.

Spyro stepped out into the middle of the ring and spoke up. "Alright everyone, the last semifinal match is between Marx and Ugmal!" He declared, the crowd cheered as the two Cadets stepped into the ring and stared each other down.

I watch as Marx and Ugmal stare each other down, and I find myself wondering along with everyone else as to why neither of them charged yet, though I hear Cynder sigh. "Great, two charge focused fighters, this should be boring." She said quietly.

"Any of you betting? except for you Dark Spyro, losers only." Wicket asked.

"Yea." Cynder said. "Twenty coins on Marx to win." She replied.

"Ten on Ugmal to win." Tempest added.

"Ten on Ugmal to win." Sunset agreed.

Wicket wrote it all down and then nodded before continuing through the crowd.

I look back at the ring just in time to see Ugmal start it off with his head on charge, Marx retaliated by spitting a large fireball but it was dodged, the Salamander then tried a new tactic and charged right towards the insectoid.

Ugmal swung his blade as he neared and Marx narrowly dodged, but he did skid to the side and spat out a fireball that hit the insectoid Cadet hard in his side, I watch with slight confusion as Marx quickly spaces himself away from Ugmal but does not attack.

'Ugmal easily beat Chen and deflected every attack, so why didn't he try to defend himself from Marx' attack just now?' I question.

Ugmal shakes off the attack and looks at Marx who has a knowing smirk on his face like he just figured something out that no one else did, the insectoid shook his head clear and charged again.

This time Marx let Ugmal get close before he struck, just before the insectoid could swing his blades or throw a punch, the Salamander spat a fireball which exploded point blank, Ugmal was thrown back a few feet but that was enough, Marx leapt in and punched Ugmal three times, in the face, then in the left shoulder, and finally he punched Ugmal in the gut before spin kicking the insectoid.

Ugmal was powerless to defend and when we landed he was slow to get up before Marx rammed him and knocked him out of the arena, everyone in the crowd was speechless save one. "How did he lose so easily!? he must have thrown the fight!" An angry Ordan accused.

Marx huffed. "He lost because of his speed magic." He explained calmly, he stuffed his claws into his jackets pockets. "Ugmal is legitimately tough and he did fight for real, but he relied too heavily on his speed magic, what I learned is that there is a brief cooldown period between the first charge and the next, during that brief time he cannot move his legs, which is why he always faced his opponent head on, so they would not have time to move to his side or back to attack." He explained rationally.

I look at Ugmal who stood up, he had a slight glare aimed at Marx but he did not deny anything, instead he returned to the crowd.

"So guys." Cynder says with a smirk in her voice. "It would seem you have to pay up." She teased.

"Have mercy." Tempest begged but to no avail as Wicket came by and divvied out the bet money, handing Cynder her original twenty and another twenty on top of it.

I chuckle at their antics and watch as Spyro steps up into the ring, followed by Master Eon? "Before we begin the final match between Dark Spyro and Marx, Master Eon has something to say." He stated and everyone grew silent.

Eon looks at me and motions for me to come forward, I do so and stand next to Marx. "First, I would like to congratulate the both of you for being our finalists." He began and I inwardly grin, Eon looks at the Salamander next to me. "Marx, you have proven to be not only a skilled fighter, but also a keen observer, not many here noticed that Ugmal was using a speed spell or even that it had a weakness." He praised and Marx grinned widely in response.

Eon then looked at me and I tense up a little. "Dark Spyro, you have also proven your skill in battle, but you have also shown a great deal of resilience in your fight with Cynder, and that mist tactic in your fight with Trigger Happy was most impressive." He stated, and I nod slowly.

Eon then raised his voice. "As for everyone here, I hope you have learned from this tournament, I hope you have learned more about not only yourself, but also more about your future teammates, it is my hope that this first tournament will not be the last, and that we can continue this as a new tradition here at the Skylanders Academy." He stated, and excited murmurs broke out amongst the crowd.

"Now, no more words, it is time for the moment you have all been waiting for, let the final match between Marx and Dark
Spyro begin!" Eon declared and the crowd cheered once more.

I step a good distance away from Marx who does the same as we wait for Spyro and Master Eon to exit the ring, moments later the Salamander smirks. "Ready for this dragon?" He taunted.

I grin out of pure excitement. "You know it." I reply before charging at the Salamander.

Marx for once stays still and once I am half the distance he spits a few fireballs which I dodge, I retaliate by spitting my own twin fireball that Marx absorbs at once.

Marx spits another fireball at me and it zooms by me as I leap into the air, I then dive straight for the Salamander and he rolls out of the way as I land with a crash, I feel a strange anger rise up again and I shake it off.

Marx spits another fireball and I spit out my own, the two fireballs explode on contact and I charge back in, this time Marx does as well.

When we get close, I half expect Marx to move to the side and tackle or skid to a stop and throw a fireball my way, but to my shock he skids to a stop and throws something at me, it looks like a potion filled with red smoke and it explodes in my face.

I recoil and cough as the smoke enters my lungs, despite my efforts I do inhale some of the smoke, and in mere moments I feel... different.

I open my eyes and look around, Marx is standing, ready to attack and everyone looks curious as to the potions effect, I look at Marx and feel my anger rising instantly. "Come on dragon, where's the lightning? you afraid of it now?" The Salamander taunted.

I felt my anger bubbling but while I feel the desire to push it aside, I don't do it, instead I just act on it as a maniacal grin forms on my mouth. "You want lightning?" I ask with a dark chuckle. "I'll show you lightning!" I snap as I take to the air and charge up some lightning, my horns quickly crackle with intense electricity and it starts to course through me, I don't even acknowledge the pain as I release the lightning at full force to the Salamander.

Marx dodged to the side and the lightning impacted the ground, obliterating the stone and revealing scorched grass, the Salamander either didn't notice it or didn't care as he spat a series of fireballs at me.

I easily dodge and all the while I funnel magic to my hand, it glows dark purple and I reach out to the skies, almost instantly storm clouds formed and blanketed the arena in a gray light, I hear murmurs and panicked whispers below but I pay it no mind, I then throw my hand downwards and lightning began to strike down on the ring, I fly at high speed towards a now very panicked Marx. "Having fun yet!?" I cry out mockingly as I impact the Salamander with ramming speed, the force and speed I hit him with would have knocked him out of the ring if not for what I did next.

'Whats going on?'

I hold my hand out and Marx is enveloped by a dark purple light, I drag him back into the arena and I let him get to his feet, the Salamander growled and charged, he spat fireballs as he ran and I dodge most of them but a few do hit me to little effect, Marx spat one last fireball before he skid to a stop and jumped to the side, he then tacked me and I throw my wings open.

I grin madly as I clutch Marx and fly into the air, I fly up for about thirty feet before dropping him, I then fly back down at high speed after him and charge my magic.

'What am I doing?' I ask myself.

Marx lands harshly but he ignores the pain, he grabs a nearby chunk of the stone circle and hurls it at me, I laugh maniacally as I release my spell, which was a huge nova of dark magic that hit Marx full force, I land and wait as Marx gets back up shakily, I charge in and punch the Salamander, I then hit him with a flip kick that I use to launch into the air, once I land I use magic to boost my jump, I leap towards Marx and cackle as I charge intense magic into my hand, forming a crackling sphere.

Marx' eyes widen as he scrambles to get away, I use my wings to propel myself forward and as I get close I drive my claw into the ground, the Salamander manages to jump forwards which made me miss, I frown as a huge pillar of lightning strikes where I punch with a deafening crack, the force of the lightning was so great it created a hole in the ground clean through to the other side.

'This isn't right.'

I grin widely at the power and I look at Marx, I march over menacingly, taking great pleasure in his fear, I charge my hand with lightning once more, intent on hitting this time, though to my surprise the Salamander spoke. "I forfeit!" He cries out.

I hesitate before continuing my slow march, the Salamander backs away but is not able to get away as I grow close enough to attack, but before I can finish him off I am knocked to the ground and pinned down. "Get off me!" I cry out, I catch a glimpse of Spyro, revealing that he's the one holding me down, I grin madly. "If it isn't my other half! come on you goodie two shoes! let's have that rematch right now!" I laugh as he glares at me. "Come on then! didn't you say you would take me down? then get off me and fight me you coward!" I demand with both anger and excitement in my voice.

'No.' I tell myself.

I feel intense anger flowing through me as Spyro continues to pin me down with someone else, I manage to look over at who the other one is and I see Tempest, I glare at her. "You traitor!" I shout with nothing but pure anger in my voice. "Get off me!" I order with clear hate.

"You need to calm down, please Dark, please." The griffon pleads shakily.

I roar and a fireball shoots out. "I should have let you die in those mines!" I shout out, Tempest freezes up out of shock, I see tears forming in her eyes but I use the opportunity to break free, I manage to shake off Spyro and I lunge at my other half. "You won't kill me! I won't die!" I shout before I feel something in my head which makes me pass out.

Academy Days: Regret and Fear.

View Online

*Skylands, Skylanders Academy, days later, Sunset's POV.*

I sigh and rest my head against the wall, I am sitting outside the infirmary where Dark Spyro was taken just a few days ago, the medics were not allowing anyone inside while they worked and it has been nerve wracking just sitting and waiting for news.

After Dark Spyro was knocked out by Master Eon's magic, there was an uproar in the crowd that the headmaster had immense difficulty calming down, and while he was largely unsuccessful, he was able to send everyone home for the night, then the medics took Dark Spyro to the infirmary and Marx was in shock from the fight.

And at the moment I didn't know whether to be mad at Dark Spyro or Marx, on one hand my friend basically said he wished that Tempest had died, but on the other hand the Salamander was the one responsible for what happened.

Marx had explained everything in his shocked state, he didn't even seem to care at the time or wasn't able to process anything, he told us all about his plan to reveal Dark Spyro's evil side in some weird sense of justice, he had gone to Pop Fizz when he heard about the tournament, and he convinced the alchemist to brew a potion to reveal the true darkness of an individual.

And then Marx explained that he kept the potion hidden on his person at all times in a fireproof potion vial, though when questioned for his motive, the Salamander clammed up, stating that he would only tell one person and one person alone, and that person was none other than Dark Spyro himself.

Master Eon and Team Spyro were beyond angry, none more so than Pop Fizz who felt completely betrayed, but regardless, Eon did not expel the Salamander, instead he suspended him and placed him on house arrest until he explained his actions.

In my personal opinion, I think Marx should have been expelled on the spot, but my anger at Dark Spyro's words to Tempest kept me quiet enough to not voice my opinion on the matter.

On the matter of Tempest however I'm not so sure, she flew back to Cynder's house without a word though she had tears in her eyes, Cynder on the other hand was acting very peculiar, instead of anger or frustration, she was perhaps the most calm out of everyone, at least as far as I can tell, she also sat in the waiting room with me but hasn't said a word.

Chen and Tinker took Marx home though they looked very disturbed by the turn of events.

I look at Cynder and see the dragoness idling by tapping to an invisible tune that mildly annoys me, I let out a deep breath and return to silently waiting. 'I should be at Cynder's comforting Tempest, not waiting around here for hours on end.'

Just as I finish my thought, the doors to the infirmary open and Master Eon walks out with Spyro. "What's the verdict?" Cynder asked immediately, going comepletely silent as she waited for an answer.

Spyro and Eon share a look and the former speaks up. "He's awake, you can go in." The dragon stated, his voice flat.

That was all the incentive I needed as I stand up and enter the infirmary, there is no one in here aside from a single Elven medic and one familiar dragon facing away from the door and laying down, I hear Cynder step up behind me and sigh.

The medic walked up to me and Cynder and spoke up. "Be careful with him, he's rather upset." He warned before stepping out.

'He better be upset.' I tell myself as I walk up to Dark Spyro's bed. "Hey, I know you're awake." I say coldly and with barely contained anger.

*Not long ago, Dark Spyro's POV.

I groan in pain as a terrible ringing goes through my head, my limbs ache and my head is throbbing, I force my eyes open and immediately regret it as a bright light shines right into my eyes. "Gah!" I cry out as I hold my right claw over my eyes to block the light.

"What do you know, he woke up after all." I hear my other half say sarcastically.

I grunt at his tone which is much too loud for my liking. "Shut it, come back in the morning." I demand.

"No can do, now look at me." Spyro orders, I reluctantly do so and see his annoyed or angered face, I'm not sure, I'm too tired and sore to care. "Do you remember what you did?" He asked immediately.

I blink and looked around the room that I recognize as the infirmary, I see Eon sitting on the bed next to me watching like a hawk and I see an Elven medic standing by the door, to answer Spyro's question I wrack my brain. "Well... I got into the ring with Marx, we fought for a bit and then he threw a potion... it must have been a sleeping potion cause I blacked out... what's with that look?" I ask out of confusion, referring to the frown on Eon's face.

"You blacked out alright, after Eon cast a spell on you that knocked you out for three days." Spyro stated and I feel my confusion grow.

I feel a powerful throb in my head and I clutch it. "I guess there's a reason I hurt all over?" I ask, ignoring the fact I've been asleep for three days.

"Oh there's a reason alright, you almost killed Marx." Spyro stated flatly.

I feel my heart skip a beat and I look at Spyro in horror, but I don't have the chance to speak in my defense when the memories come back to me in full force.

I remember my desire to kill, how I almost obliterated the Salamander with a pillar of lightning and how I tried to kill him after he gave up, I feel something rising up in my throat and I rush out of bed and to the closest bedpan where I empty my stomach.

"I guess you just remembered that huh?" Spyro asked coldly, to which I just look at him.

"I... I don't, I would never..." I mutter before more bile rises in my throat.

As I throw up I hear Eon speak up. "Marx used a potion to reveal your inner darkness, that is why you did the things you did." The headmaster states.

I look at Eon and shake violently, my mind is a little fuzzy so I can't remember everything clearly and I don't know if that's good or not. "What happened? is Marx alright?" I ask hesitantly, afraid of the answer.

My question catches Eon and Spyro off guard but my other half is quick to answer. "He's been suspended until further notice, but he's not hurt, the one you should be worried about though is Tempest." Spyro states.

"Tempest?" I ask, confused, worry quickly builds up. "Is she hurt? what happened?" I ask frantically.

Spyro tenses up but Eon answers. "She is not physically hurt, but you said something to her that had her flying home in tears." He answered.

I grit my teeth and stand up, no longer feeling any bile rising up, I return to my bed and sit dejectedly, I am about to speak when I hear my voice, the words stabbing like a knife to the heart.

"I should have let you die in those mines!" I lower my head in shame. "Why did I say that?" I mutter.

"I don't know why you said it, but that wasn't really you, that was just-" Spyro is cut off as I raise my head and glare at him.

"I AM the evil half you halfwit!" I snap. "I might not be directly evil but if I said or did anything because of that potion, that means it came from ME!" I say angrily as the events of my fight with Marx become crystal clear in my mind. "So don't go telling me that it wasn't me, I know what I did and I can't take that back!" I all but shout.

"Dark Spyro calm down!" Master Eon ordered, I look at him and take a few deep breaths before resorting to quiet sulking. "What is done is done, what matters now is making things right, you have two visitors outside right now, and then you need to talk to both Tempest and Marx, are you capable of that?" He asked though it was more of an order.

I grumble and nod before laying down on the bed and facing away from the door. "Alright." I say quietly.

After a few seconds I feel a hand on my shoulder, I look to see who it is and see Eon. "When you are feeling up to it, come and see me, there's a few things we need to discuss." He stated before letting go, I rest my head again without saying a word.

I hear Master Eon and Spyro walk away and I hear the medic approach me, I keep still as the medic turns on a device and checks me out with it before walking away.

'What have I done? I thought I was free of those kind of thoughts, why did I try to kill Marx?... and why did I want it so badly?' I ponder.

I hear quiet voices nearby followed by approaching hooves and claws. "Hey, I know you're awake." Sunset's voice is cold and hides a barely contained fury, I sigh and sit up, I prepare myself for a painful scolding from the unicorn who has a look of fury on her face, and just behind her is a strangely passive Cynder.

'This can't be good.'

"Before you start shouting, maybe you could not shout in my face? I already feel like shit." I mumble quietly.

Sunset growled. "Shut up." She orders and I do so without protest. "I don't really care what's going on inside your head right now, but you need to understand something, Tempest bloody adores you, or used too at the least." She states harshly but not loudly to my relief.

Sunset continued speaking. "Her people have a custom called a Life Debt, do you understand what that means for her?" She questioned, I shake my head in response and the unicorn explains. "It means that she is honor bound to fulfill that debt, you saved her life in those mines and she feels like she can't repay that, she joined this Academy so that she could one day repay the favor if she had too." She states and I feel guilt rising up again as a deep pit in my gut and a stab to the heart.

"She's your friend Dark, and yesterday you practically shattered it with what you said to her, potion induced insanity or no, those words came from you directly." Sunset finished.

I look up from the floor and I stare into Sunset's turquoise eyes, I let out a shaky breath as I return to gazing at the floor. "I really am a horrible friend aren't i?" I say with a sad chuckle. "Even when I try to be good I screw up." I mutter before turning my gaze to Cynder.

"What about you? anything you want to scold me for?" I question blankly, fully prepared to accept whatever words she had for me.

Cynder shakes her head. "No point, I'm not great with this kind of thing, so I guess I'll be the empathetic one and ask you how you feel?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

I chuckle half-heartedly and answer truthfully. "I feel like I'm dying all over again, everything hurts, I have the urge to vomit and I may have just destroyed one of my few friendships." I state before getting off the bed and standing.

"Where are you going?" Sunset asked.

I look at the unicorn. "I need some fresh air." I say as I walk to the door, I hear Sunset and Cynder following for a moment before I hear them stop, but In my state of mind I pay it no mind as I leave the infirmary.

To my surprise I run into no one on my way outside, I look around once I'm outside the infirmary and see no one around, I open my wings and fly up to the roof, I land as quietly as I can just in case and I fold my wings to my sides as I stare off into the distance.

'Come on, why the long face eh? you were finally able to let loose you little coward!' My own voice mocks and I narrow my eyes.

'Shut up, you made me break Tempest's heart and possibly undo everything I worked so hard to fix.' I snap back at the voice.

The other voice of me cackled madly at my words. 'Anything I do can be linked back to you! those were the words you told the old man after all, it. all. comes. from. you.' It taunted in a sing song tone of voice.

I growl as I continue my debate with myself. 'Fine then, if you are part of me, what do I want then? if you are just a part of my imagination you should know the answer.' I question the voice.

The voice fell silent and I smirk in triumph. 'That's what I thought.' I state before I pause and rub my head.

"Did I just argue with myself?" I ask quietly before flying down from the roof.

It doesn't take long before I land, and once I do so I walk to one of the nearby benches and sit down, I let out a deep breath I didn't know I was holding and I fiddle with one of my claws absentmindedly for a short time. 'How am I supposed to talk to or even look at Tempest? what do I say? where do I start?' I run my right hand down my face and let out a shaky breath.

"Maybe I should talk to Eon first... yea, that'll be best." I say quietly before standing and taking flight once more with a destination in mind.

*Sunset's POV.*

I walk slowly out of the infirmary building with Cynder and I look around for Dark Spyro but I don't see him anywhere, I groan and look at Cynder. "Great job Cynder... 'he won't run away' well what exactly do you call this!?" I snap.

Cynder looked around as well and even flew up to the roof, she returned moments later. "Maybe he just needed some space?" She suggested and I glare at her.

"Space? Have you lost your mind? he could have just left us forever and you think he just wants space?" I snap.

Cynder sighed and walked to the teleport pads calmly which only served to anger me more. "Come on, let's go check on Tempest, at the very least we can do that." She reasons and I feel my anger fade instantly, I grumble but follow the dragoness.

*Dark Spyro's POV.*

I soon land in front of the Grand Library, I see Cadets going about their business and quite a few stop when they see me, I steel myself before walking to the doors to go inside, I can see hate in some of them and fear in others and I hear hushed whispers as I walk uninterrupted towards the doors of the Grand Library.

Once I am close to the doors I hear a voice speak up. "Hey Dark Spyro." I turn around and see that the owner of the voice is Chen, I see Tinker standing just behind him.

For once though I don't see Marx with them which I found to be strange. "Um, hey Chen, Tinker, uh... where's Marx? he's usually with you two?" I ask.

Chen raised an eyebrow. "He's under house arrest until further notice for his actions, he won't tell anyone but you his motive and Master Eon is afraid he'll have to expel him." He explained in a blank tone and I blink with wide eyes at the news.

I take a moment and contemplate Chen's words, but I don't need to as I know what I'm going to do. "I'll talk to Eon about it, if I can I'll keep him from expelling Marx." I promise, though I don't know if I'll be able.

Chen does something that surprises me by placing a hand on my shoulder and nodding. "Why would you do that? you don't owe Marx anything." Tinker asks out of confusion.

I look at the four armed girl. "I know that, but he doesn't deserve to be expelled." I say that will full confidence in my words.

Tinker and Chen say nothing as they walk off, I let out a breath and open the door to the Grand Library and enter it.

I walk through the doors and step further into the Grand Library, once I'm inside I see Eon looking at something on a desk. "Hey Eon." I say, the old man jumps a little in surprise but quickly composes himself.

Master Eon approached and talked as he did so. "That was quick, I assume you wish to get this over with as quickly as possible?" He guessed correctly.

I nod. "What did you want to talk about?" I ask.

Eon motioned for me to follow him and I do so, he leads me over to a set of chairs and sits down, I sit across from him and listen intently. "While you were unconscious the medics and myself found something concerning." He began and I tense up. "The medics learned that you have an unnatural magical leak, what this means is that you are continually losing your magical reserves, they were able to fix it but you'll need to take it easy for a few weeks, which means you can't participate in the obstacle course or get into a fight." He warns.

I feel a little better with that knowledge but I feel concern as I contemplate just how I got the leak. "Where was it?" I ask hesitantly.

Eon raised an eyebrow. "It was not a physical wound on your body Dark Spyro, the leak on your magic was old, so I can only theorize as to its origin, but if I am not mistaken, it was created either when Strykore created you or when you fought Spyro." He stated.

I ponder the implications of this and after a moment I look up at the ceiling. "What about Spyro? did he have this leak as well?" I ask out of concern, I look to Eon and watch as he opens his mouth to speak but he quickly silenced himself.

"I do not know, I will have him examined just to be safe, but back to my previous topic." He dismissed the current topic for now with a wave of his hand and he continues.

"What I learned when I examined you personally is that you have an imprint of foreign magic within you, and when I say foreign I mean something that is not directly from you, and I believe that it is Strykore's influence, as it seems to be particularly linked to your emotions." Master Eon stated.

My mind immediately turns to my strange anger spikes during the tournament and my earlier mental debate. "It... makes sense, throughout the tournament I felt anger constantly spiking as the fights went on, and just a little bit ago I think I had a second mind taunting me." I say truthfully, to this Eon stroked his beard thoughtfully.

After a few moments he spoke up. "Has this ever happened before?" Eon questioned.

"Has Spyro told you about the nightmares?" I ask, to which Eon shakes his head. "After my fight with Spyro, I started to have visions, nightmares and I heard voices, they all came to me whenever I closed my eyes and they were so bad I refused to close my eyes for too long or even sleep, I eventually started to see hallucinations, and when I finally fell asleep I dreamt that I was in this garden, there was a circle of statues of you, Spyro, Elf, Eruptor, Jet-Vac, Pop, Cynder, Sunset and Tempest, and in the center of them all was a pedestal where I was supposed to be." I explain, I then begin to explain everything, from my dreams to my hallucinations.

Master Eon kept himself quiet as he listened, he did eventually speak after I finished. "You said you had visions?" He stated, and I feel a deep pit as he says this. "What kind of visions?" He asked, his voice level and concealing emotion.

I shiver unconsciously. "I would like to forget it honestly." I say as I start to fiddle with my claws. "The first one is the only one I really remember, it took place here, only the Academy was under siege by shadows." I say. "I just... watched, I did absolutely nothing to help as the shadows dragged everyone away, I could only watch it all happen and I even laughed when I watched Strykore strike you down... like it was all a fun game to me." I explain with vivid detail and I still hear that laughter ringing in my mind.

Eon let out a long sigh and spoke up. "I think I understand now... you are afraid of Strykore returning, you fear losing everything you care about, but most of all you fear becoming what Strykore made you to be once again, am i correct?" He asked curiously.

I can only sit stunned at Eon's deduction, and after a few moments of silence I manage a slow nod. "Correct on all accounts except you forgot one." I say quietly.

Eon raised an eyebrow. "And what is that?" He asked.

I rub my forearm nervously. "There's someone else I'm scared of." I whisper.

Master Eon must have heard me, because he nodded slowly, he then stood up. "If you do not mind, I would like to check your Element again." He stated.

I raise an eyebrow but I follow Eon regardless, he summons the magic circle just like he did a month ago, he conjured up the Elemental images, he then looked at me, I stand still as he casts the spell, sending a small magical beam into my head that also connected to my heart, after a moment, Eon released the spell and hummed.

I look around and see that Fire and Magic were not lit anymore, though Dark and Undead still glowed brightly, i looked to Light and saw that it was still as dim as it used to be. "Dark with Undead influence." Eon stated. "It would seem that Fire and Magic were lingering traces of Spyro, as for Light, I believe it either may be residual magic from Equestria or perhaps your personality." He explained.

I sigh and look at Eon as the spell ends. "Eon, before I go I want to ask you something." I say.

Master Eon nods and motions for me to continue. "Can you please not expel Marx? I need to talk to him and in the end, all he did was reveal MY darkness." I plead much to Eon's surprise. "His issue is with me, no one else, so at least give him a chance." I ask.

Eon sighs deeply but nods. "Very well, he will not be expelled, but he must be punished for his actions." He states clearly.

I nod out of gratitude. "Thank you, you won't regret this." I say before leaving, as I near the door I hear Eon speak.

"Remember Dark Spyro, you can always come to me if you need help, and should you have any more visions or nightmares like before, or anything you feel may not be natural, let me know." Eon said reassuringly, I give him a small but genuine smile and leave the Grand Library, with one destination in mind.

Home.

Interlude: The Griffon and the Dragons.

View Online

*The Skylands, Dark Spyro's POV.*

It isn't long before I reach Cynder's house, even though I could have used the teleport pads to get there faster I had decided that flying would give me and Tempest a chance to think, and possibly give Sunset a chance to calm down a little bit.

I soon land outside the house and I walk up to the front door, I take a deep breath and open the door, I step inside cautiously and I close the door before walking to the living room, both Sunset and Cynder were both in the room and they looked rather tired. "How is she?" I ask hesitantly.

Sunset looked up at me and sighed before shaking her head. "She's... not doing well, we had to help calm her down, I don't think she's ready to talk just yet." She answered, no longer sounding angered, just very tired.

I don't say anything as I stand in an awkward silence. 'That makes sense I suppose, still, I think I should say something, but what if I hurt her more? maybe it would be best to ask for help?' I sigh and look at Sunset and Cynder.

"If you think that I shouldn't talk to Tempest right now, that's fine, but could one of you give her a message for me?" I ask nervously.

Cynder and Sunset share a look and while the latter shook her head, the former looked at me. "What is it?" She asked.

I feel slight relief but I decide to not get my hopes up as I speak up again. "Can you just let her know that when she's ready, we can talk?" I ask.

"I can do that, just keep your distance until then alright?" Cynder replied before standing up with a yawn. "I'm going to bed, Goodnight." She states while heading towards her room.

I find myself standing alone with Sunset, and It doesn't take long for the uncomfortable silence to set between the two of us, after a grand total of ten seconds I sigh. "I'm going to bed, goodnight Sunset." I say before walking away.

I manage to reach the stairs before I hear Sunset speak. "Spyro." She says firmly, I look back at her and she has a very conflicted expression on her face. "You need to apologize in person, tomorrow regardless of whether or not you or her are ready, get it over with and do not beat around the bush, got it?" She practically ordered me.

With a slow nod I head upstairs and enter my room, I make straight for the bed and lie down, I don't even bother closing my door as I fall asleep quickly, I do make sure to drill it into my mind to talk to Marx after I talk to Tempest.

My sleep was not nice or silent however, nightmares plagued my mind all night and I tossed and turned endlessly yet silently.

*Cynder's house the next morning, Tempest POV.*

I woke up this morning with a heavy heart and a pit in my stomach, I know why and I hate that, it is because of what Dark Spyro said to me with such hatred in his voice. "I should have let you die in those mines!" The words stab at me like a dagger but I feel resolve as I walk down from the attic and onto the second floor, I walk past Dark Spyro's room and see the door open, I take a deep breath and peek inside out of curiosity.

I spot the dragon in question sleeping restlessly and I enter the room, approaching the bed I hear my mind screaming at me to leave and take my time, while my heart tells me that now is the best time to have this conversation, with a deep breath and nervous determination, I reach out to Dark Spyro and shake him awake, his eyes open and he stares at me sleepily for a few moments before his stare turns to one of shock.

"We need to talk." I say, trying to sound brave and resolute but coming off as nervous and uneasy.

Dark Spyro nods and sits up, I walk to his door and close it, the lights from the outside world illuminating the room in a pleasant light, I then approach the bed and sit down facing the dragon.

Dark Spyro turns to face me and I feel my nerves getting the better of me, but with a heavy heart I speak up.

"I haven't been truthful with any of you Dark Spyro, about who I am or rather was and why I followed you here." I state as calmly as I can.

Dark Spyro thankfully says nothing and allows me to speak without interruption. "My name is Tempest Crescent, I am the youngest child of King Auric Crescent of the Griffon Kingdoms and potential heir to the throne, or at least I was before Sombra's Empire kidnapped and enslaved me." I state, painful memories flooding to mind.

I take a breath and continue, knowing that if I stop I'll never get the courage to do this myself again. "I ran away from home which is how I was captured, and I had been working in that mine for years before you showed up, I had lost all hope and then you gave me hope, but you did more than that whether or not you realize that." I state before taking another breath and speaking, ignoring the memories of torture and pain.

"When you saved my life, you unknowingly forged a life debt with me, and I will do everything I can to repay that debt, but there is something else, when you saved me, I unknowingly imprinted on you, someone who was a stranger is now someone I see as a brother... and then with the tournament and the words you said to me... I have no idea what to do now, because I do not know how you feel, my instincts are going to drive me crazy unless I learn the truth." I state.

Dark Spyro nods in understanding. "I can't forgive that easily, but I do believe in second chances, I need time to process things and figure out what I want to do with my life, so at least for now, I need to move on and not allow myself to need you, I'm sorry." I say before standing up and getting ready to leave.

I feel Dark Spyro grab my arm and I look at him, he lets go and looks me in the eyes which show his guilt. "Thank you Tempest." He said quietly before I left the room.

I take a few calming breaths after leaving the room, I feel my heart aching because of my choice but I feel that if I don't do things this way, I'll never manage to grow as an individual.

With that in mind I make my way downstairs to get some breakfast before heading for classes today, I can hear Cynder and Sunset in the kitchen and I can hear Dark Spyro leaving his room behind me.

I enter the kitchen and see Sunset and Cynder making breakfast, I smell a type of meat and I can see pancakes, Cynder notices me out of the corner of her eyes and she nods. "Morning Tempest, hungry?" She asked.

I nod and approach the center island which has several pancakes sitting on a plate. "Dark Spyro and I talked, don't give him a hard time on my account, we just need some time to think things over, should be easy with classes and everything." I state idly while grabbing some food.

"Are you going to be alright to go to classes?" Sunset asked out of concern.

"Of course I will, its just going to be a little... tough." I say with an uneasy smile before focusing on my food, knowing I was lying.

*two days later, Spyro's POV*

I am sitting across from Eon in an uncomfortable silence, when he asked me here I was uneasy to say the least, but ever since we got here we barely spoke aside from him saying we need to talk and me initially replying to him, since then we've been silent and I'm getting anxious considering we've been like this for three minutes, neither of us seeming to know where to begin.

"What do you want to talk about?" I ask finally, growing impatient.

Master Eon opens his mouth to speak and thankfully he actually talks. "How have you been lately? ever since we defeated Strykore we haven't truly had a chance to talk." He begins.

That can't be it. "I'm fine but we both know that's not why you asked to talk." I reply, wanting him to get to the point.

Eon clearly was anxious, that much was obvious by his mannerisms and the way his expression was. "I suppose I should start with the good news, the Doom Raiders have been located and are being apprehended as we speak, I also have learned thanks to Jet-vac that a lot of the tension from the tournament has subsided aside from the cadets being around Dark Spyro." He began.

"And Marx? I haven't heard anything about him in a while." I ask, curious as to the fate of the Salamander.

Eon sighed and took a sip from his cup, clearly this is why he is anxious. "You see, Dark Spyro has yet to tell me the details of their conversation two days ago, I asked him if he had spoken to Marx and all he told me was that he did, and that he understands his anger, unfortunately I cannot in good conscience allow Marx to return to the Academy without knowing his reasons." He stated, and I quickly see where he is going with this.

"You want me to figure out what they talked about?" I ask, to which Eon nods, and I lean back rubbing my temples due to exhaustion. "I can try but if he didn't tell you about it then I doubt he'll tell me anything." I say before getting up.

Eon stands up and walks with me to the door. "I wouldn't be so sure of that, you know him better than anyone Spyro, I believe he will he tell you if you ask." He states with a calm confidence as he opens the door.

"Alright, I'll ask him, just don't get your hopes up Eon." I say before leaving, once outside I am about to go and find Dark Spyro when I spot Tinker working on one of her machines while walking.

The four armed girl doesn't seem to be paying attention to her surroundings and yet she effortlessly moves around everyone walking around, I don't know why I'm observing this, but seeing her makes my mind wander to the Tournament, mostly about trying to stop Dark Spyro from attacking Marx in that blind fury.

I look at my own claw, a vague memory of my time in the mind of Dark Spyro flashed before me, I shook my head clear, not wanting to relive that time, but it did remind me of the deep seated anger he held inside.

'Is that anger constant? Is it sudden? Is it even his own?' I ponder as I start my search, deciding to start with the class he was supposed to be in, which was a class on creature studies? I think.

It didn't take me too long to find the class, spotting Jet-Vac alone I approach him. "Hey Jet-Vac." I greet.

"Ah Spyro." Jet-Vac replied as he began to clear off the blackboard. "What brings you here?... not a lesson I assume." He joked.

I chuckle a little at that. "No... I'm looking for Dark... do you know were he went?" I ask, not getting my hopes up, and yet I had to ask.

To my surprise, the avian nodded. "He told me he was going to the arena to blow off some steam, I think Chen was going with him." He answered.

"He told you that?" I ask, bewildered.

Jet-Vac faced me after setting down the eraser. "Yes, the two of us have been talking lately, he's been coming to me for advice about... well, it's not my place to say." He explained.

"Got it... thanks Jet-Vac." I say before flying off to the arena.

I have to admit, Dark going to Jet-Vac for advice was... kind of a relief on my mind, knowing that he's trying not to be who he once was and getting help to keep him on track was a good sign.

'Now if only i could get him to stop punishing himself.' I find myself thinking.

It only took me a couple minutes to reach the arena, once there I spot my other half with Chen and Ugmal, they seem to be sparring or at least at the end of a spar, I decide to wait and watch as Chen and Ugmal leave and Dark started a simulation, he seemed to be focused on dodging more than attacking, once all of the projections of enemies were formed, Dark destroyed them all at once using a dark magic nova.

I decide that now is a good time to approach. "Dark." I greet.

My other half seems surprised to see me, but he doesn't look scared or nervous this time, which is probably a good thing. "Hey... whats up?" He asks me, a little tired out.

"We need to talk about Marx." I state, he seems hesitant, but nods slowly.

"Alright, come on, this isn't a conversation I want anyone to overhear." Dark states as he leads me away.

The two of us fly away from the arena and we fly for a couple minutes until we are on a small island with nobody around. "So, what did Marx say? Eon can't let him come back until he understands the reason behind that potion." I say seriously.

Dark took a deep breath and sat down, he seemed to be struggling to start, but he spoke up before I could say anything.

"Strykore killed Marx's family." Dark states flatly, and my eyes widen in shock. "The Salamanders would not serve, Strykore tried to recruit them for his army but they refused to follow the man who corrupted the dragons, so he killed them, Marx survived along with the youngest and oldest members of his people who hid." He explained.

"And he's out for vengeance... but what does that have to do with you?" I ask.

Dark sighed. "Isn't it obvious? Marx knows that he can't get to Strykore, so he focused on a known servant, one he could get to, he wanted to expose me as trying to free Strykore." He replied.

I sit down and listen as Dark talks, not sure what to think. "There's more to the story, but that isn't my story to tell, Marx made a mistake, but it's one I can't hold against him, Chen and Tinker assure me that he won't try anything that stupid again, and I'm inclined to believe them." He adds.

I look at my other half. "You've really changed since we fought, not just in strength, but mentally... heh, you had a lot faster growth than I did." I state as I think to how I once was.

"We did most of that growth together... if anything, I'm still trying to figure out who I am, I'm you and I'm not, it's maddening to be honest." He replies.

I nod silently, a minute of silence later, I stand up and unfurl my wings. "I'll go talk to Eon, see you around Dark." I say before flying off towards the academy.

As i fly, I come to realize that I've only gotten more questions than answers, but at the top of those questions was one in particular.

'Is Dark truly free of Strykore?'

Righting wrongs.

by Sylif Daring Doo

A reason to keep going.

Doing what's right.

The adventure begins.

Fulfilling a promise.

Beginning to recover.

Tired and exhausted.

Accepting fate.

Academy days: Answers and frustrations.

Academy Days: Anger and Hope.

Academy Days: Details and Arrangements.

Interlude: A few different perspectives.

Academy Days: First? day of lessons.

Academy Days: Getting through the day.

Academy Days: Evil or Misunderstood?

Academy Days: Regret and Fear.

Interlude: The Griffon and the Dragons.