Chapter 1- Acceptance

Ember sighed. The adult dragoness walked slowly through the field, swaying her tail topped with a razor sharp, heart-shaped blade. She shook her head, the chain around her neck holding her locket clinking loudly. Looking up at the bright, cloudless sky with aqua eyes, she sighed again.. Ember slumped down in the tall, itchy grass. She laid her head down comfortably, feeling the warmth of the sun on her pink scales. Her sad, gloomy-doomsday expression slid slowly off her face, being replaced with a slight smile. Oh, how she loved spring in the dragon realms. She rolled over on her back and flexed her wings out to their full span, a good twelve feet. A huge grin then stretched across her face as she reached for a flower. She carefully picked it, being careful not to rip the stem. She set it down on her chest and stared at it.

"Hey... hey... Ember!" A feminine voice sung. Ember scrambled to her feet, whipping her head around, searching for the source of the voice. Another voice, this one lower, but still female, called out for her.

"Ember! Where are you, sis?" Ember, though she didn't know where, knew who the voices were. She looked up, then, and saw Cynder and Flame* perched up in a tree, with Cheshire cat grins on their slender faces. Flame then slithered down the tree and sat beside her sister.

"So... what were you doin' down there in the grass?" She asked, eyebrows raised in curiosity. Ember shifted her feet and looked into her sister's piercing glare, and gladly stated her response.

"I was enjoying the spring, that's all" Flame, looking a bit disappointed, looked up at the sky for a moment, then quickly changed the subject.

"Well.." She said, eyes still on birds passing overhead, "Why don't we practice our fighting skills? Now that ole Malefor is back, we may have to fight any day.." Ember sighed. Malefor. The Dark Master. Spyro and Cynder's efforts hadn't paid off. When they were trying to keep the Destroyer from completing its fiery path around the world, Malefor escaped. She looked over at Cynder with a slight frown. Cynder was her friend, true, but Ember still, in her heart, couldn't forgive her for being Spyro's mate. But Ember let that go long ago… Cynder blinked and leaped down from her perch.

"Is something wrong, Ember? Do you want to practice?" She said soothingly. Ember looked her in the eye and loosened her expression.

"Of course, Cyn, of course…" She said with a sight sigh. Both her companions looked at her with a confused look, but Flame suddenly slammed the ground with her foot and said

"So, why don't we get started?"

Both Ember and Cynder nodded. As soon as Flame got the cue, she burst into the air, flapping her golden wings rapidly. She spun around and faced the two other females, hovering.

"You gonna strut your stuff or what?" Both Ember and Cynder looked at each other. Sighing, Cynder leaped up into the sky and spread her crimson wings, the bright morning sun reflecting off her black scales. Ember watched as her two friends warmed up, doing skydives and barrel rolls to get their blood pumping. She grinned and ran forwards with great speed. Spreading her wings, she quickly become airborne. Air rushing across her face, the dragoness flapped her pastel pink wings, soaring high in the sky, doing loop-de-loops, corkscrews, back-flips, and more. Finally Flame halted to a stop, carefully flapping to keep her hovering in a single spot. She coughed and said, heaving

"Okay… let's get some mana gems.." As if waiting, Cynder darted through the air, scanning for the bright green crystals that give dragons their magic. Both Ember and Flame followed in suit. Ember looked around, trying to locate one for herself. She could already see Flame soaring down towards a cluster at the edge of a stream. Cynder was circling in the sky as if she might have seen some, too. Peering down, Ember then saw a huge globule of lime-colored gems, slightly pulsating with light. Diving down faster than she could have imagined, she reached the grand rocks. Fluttering down carefully, she landed beside them. With sudden power, Ember violently attacked the crystals. Biting, clawing, bashing, anything it took to smash it up. With every strike, pieces flew off and were magnetized to her body, and disappeared into her on impact. Now feeling energized, Ember tested it out. She took a deep breath and opened her mouth, a lightning bolt leaping from her. It had been a while since she practiced her electricity powers. She grinned and took to the sky again, landing next to Cynder and Flame.

Without a word, Flame sent an impressive flame spewing from her mouth. Cynder nodded, then sat there silently. Both Ember and Flame glared at her.

"Well.." Ember began "Are you going to show us something?" Cynder, startled, said

"Oh! Right, it's my turn. I thought it was Embers, sorry.." She explained. She nodded at the other two, and sent a black flame slowly swirling into the air. Quickly she spun around and formed a tornado around herself, swirling about. It died down rather quickly, Cynder becoming more and more visible by the second. Finally it stopped, Cynder not the least bit dizzy at all. Ember, knowing it was not her turn, set to impress her sister and friend. She flapped her wings, raising her slightly into the air. She then sent huge bolts of lightning streaming over the dragoness' heads. Both Cynder and Flame ducked, even though they knew Ember was in full control. Ember floated back down, landing softly on the ground.

"Well, what are we gonna do now?" she laughed. They all looked around at each other and grinned. Three very different dragonesses. And they all accepted each other.

*You may be thinking "WHUT?? But… Flame is a boy!!" Yes, he is, BUT in this story, he's a female and Ember's sister, to eliminate people saying "Well, Ember could always have Flame be her mate!" It's vital to the plot for Ember to be in love with Spyro... you'll get it in the last chapter *wink*

Also, note that in this Universe, the end of DotD played out differently. Spyro and Cynder were about to defeat the DM when they dropped everything and destroyed the Destroyer, so the World didn't break apart. But as a result, the DM escaped, but went into hiding until recently.