"Okay, rolling!"
On every last TV screen across the realms, there sprang up an image of two massive dragons before a sprawling castle. One dragon's scales shone gold while the other's were a dull beige, and both of them stood on their hind legs (as all grown dragons do), a pair of microphones in their claws.
"Good morning, world," the gold dragon said into the camera. "This is DNN, Dragon News Network, bringing you the latest from across the Dragon Kingdom. And we're in for a real treat today, aren't we, Lindar?"
"Indeed we are, Bob," said the beige one. "Feels like the Year of the Dragon was just yesterday, and we're already throwing another huge party here in the Artisans homeworld."
"If anyone knows how to party, it's the Artisans," said Bob. "I mean, have you been to a Dream Weavers party? Their idea of a good time is to take a nap!" This earned a chuckle from his co-host. "Besides, this isn't any old bash. No, folks, we dragons have gathered people from across the realms to celebrate the signing of the Unity Treaty. That's right – With the remnants of the Rhynoc resistance driven off, we're finally free of the last few reminders of the Sorceress and her freakishly unsightly rear. And, well, not to editorialize, but this reporter thinks it's high time we dragons reclaimed our ancient homeland."
"But don't forget, this party's not only for our newfound partnership with Avalar and the Forgotten Worlds." A smile crossed Lindar's snout. "It's also in honor of the greatest hero the dragons have ever known. Without him, the Forgotten Worlds would still be under the Sorceress's thumb, we'd be calling Avalar 'Riptonia-'"
"-and I'd have the worst cramp in my wings from being frozen in crystal by that Guh-Nasty Guh-Norc character," added Bob.
Lindar chuckled to himself, then turned back to the camera. "That's right, ladies, gentlemen, and the genderless brainsucking blobs from the outskirts of Dream Weavers who watch all things-" An image of an eldrich horror flashed across the screen just long enough to make you question if you'd really seen it. "-I'm referring to the champion who saved the Dragon Realms from the Gnorcs, who protected Avalar from Ripto, who liberated the Forgotten Worlds from the Sorceress. I speak of Spyro the Dragon!" He threw his claws in the air dramatically.
"Hold up, aren't you forgetting one? Didn't Spyro go on another adventure with, like, dragonflies or-?"
"Please, Bob, I think I'd remember something like that. As I was saying, the Artisans are throwing this party in celebration of all three of Spyro's incredible adventures." He waved into the camera. "Happy Unity Day!"
Now, I know what you're thinking: How could dragons have a news network? That's just silly! What, did they all have working televisions hooked up in their caves? Well, it's true that the Dragon Realms weren't as technologically advanced as, say, Avalar. In fact, no dragon had ever built anything more advanced than a toaster. But they were, however, perfectly capable of flying down to the Dragon Junkyard and ordering some Machinists to build the TVs for them.
See, despite its name, dragons weren't the only inhabitants of the Dragon Realms. The place was also home to a handful of humans. There were the Machinists, who worked in the Dragon Junkyard, the Balloonists, who ferried the young, non-flying dragons between homeworlds too far apart for portals to reach, and, of course, the Agriculturists, who herded the dragon's sheep (Dragons were no good at sheep-herding. They got too hungry). The only other humans were those crazy old druids up in the Magic Crafters' mountains.
Well, there were also the Egg Thieves, but to be honest, nobody was really sure what species those guys actually were beneath their cloaks. Whenever anyone caught one, the Thief would vanish in a puff of smoke before they could get a good look. But if the Thieves were human, they must've been a small rebel group. Though a couple of them had sided with Gnasty during the Gnorc uprising, the vast majority of humans were on excellent terms with the dragons.
Though the younger dragons could test their patience.
"Get back here, you dirty little thief!"
A withered old human sprinted with surprising speed across the well-grazed grass of Stone Hill, his dull brown cloak flowing almost as majestically as his pure white beard. The target of his pursuit was an absolutely terrified-looking ball of wool – or rather, the owner of the tiny pair of jaws clamped around said ball's jugular.
A blur of purple scales charged downhill, a struggling sheep in its mouth. And hovering over the purple blur's shoulder was a little ball of golden light. Sparx the Dragonfly gave a worried glance back at the human in hot pursuit. He made a kazoo-noise that, in dragonfly language, translates as, "I'm really, really sorry about this! We'll pay you back, honest!"
"Doggone it, you violet villain!" barked the shepherd, waggling his staff in the air as he ran. "That's the fifth one this month! I don't care how many lives you saved, when I get my hands on you, I'm gonna-"
"Good luck with that, gramps!" said Spyro through a mouthful of fluff. With a sudden swerve, he, Sparx, and the poor, poor sheep were flung through a nearby golden archway, and the next second they were miles above Stone Hill, sailing through the clouds.
Spyro laughed as he unfurled his wings to zoom through the air. He glanced back at the archway-shaped hole in the sky to see that the shepherd had hesitated at the portal entrance. Of course, the portal's magic would keep the guy from falling to his death, but he couldn't leave the rest of his flock unattended.
Spyro shook his head. Humans were so dumb. It was a wonder any race with no fangs, claws, or fire-breath had ever amounted to anything.
A minute later, Spyro did a loop-de-loop in the air (purely to show off) then landed in the grass back in the Artisans homeworld. He released the sheep from his maw so he could grin to himself. Spyro loved traveling by portal. Until his adult wings grew in, magic-induced flight was the closest he could get to the actual thing.
"Baa-!" The instant it was free, the sheep ran for all it was worth, but it didn't make it three feet before Spyro pounced on it again.
"Spyro." Sparx hovered before Spyro's face, glaring at him. "Y'know, pretty soon you're gonna start wearing a cloak and going 'nyaah nyaah nyaah-nyaah nyaah.'"
"Are you complaining?" With a smirk, Spyro spat a jet of fire downwards. The sheep instantly vanished in a puff of smoke, out of which a butterfly fluttered. Sparx couldn't resist gobbling it up in spite of himself. The sheep had also left behind a perfectly carved leg of mutton, which Spyro happily dug in to.
"Well, we shouldn't eat too much," said Sparx. "We don't wanna get full before the Unity Day Party."
Spyro noisily swallowed, then grinned again, showing off his meat-covered fangs. "I think you mean the Spyro Day Party."
Sparx rolled his eyes.
"Whattaya think? Pretty snazzy, huh?"
Hunter the Cheetah beamed with pride as he showed off his shiny new penguin suit.
"Meh." Spyro spared it maybe half a glance before losing interest. The group of Sparx, Hunter, Bianca, and himself was currently making its way towards Artisans Castle, the centerpiece of the homeworld where the brunt of the festivities was being held. "I'm gonna be honest, I've never seen the appeal of the whole 'clothes' thing."
"Well, I think he looks charming," said Bianca. Currently, she was decked out in an elegant, tight dress complete with a little hole in the back to let her fluffy rabbit tail poke out – which raised several eyebrows from the older, more prudish partygoers. Bianca shared a smile with her boyfriend, then pecked his cheek.
Behind their backs, Spyro made a face. The appeal of romance, he saw even less. Spyro swore he'd never let some crazy, love-obsessed chick within fifty feet of-
"Spyro!" The moment they reached the castle, Elora ran up and flung her arms around Spyro's neck.
"Wha-? Oh, uh, h-hi, Elora..."
He'd known her for a while now, yet Spyro still had no idea what to make of this girl. She was pretty, he guessed, for a mammal, though Spyro would've sworn she was a half-shaved goat if he hadn't learned what a faun was. Apparently, Elora was half-human, but she sure as heck didn't look like any human girl Spyro had ever seen. All the shepherd wives in the Artisans world were old and fat and lumpy, whereas Elora was... well, the opposite. In Spyro's eyes, she hardly even looked like a human. She was more like a fairy. A big, wingless fairy... that'd been sawed in two and glued to the bottom half of a goat.
"So what do you think of my new dress?" Elora gestured to the emerald silk she'd draped over herself. The dress was so long, her goat-half was totally covered.
Spyro blinked. "Oh, uh, it looks-"
"He does-n't liiiiike it," said Hunter in a singsong voice. "Spyro doesn't see the appeal in wearing clothes."
Spyro shot him a glare. "You look great, Elora. Really. It's just that me and Sparx are perfectly happy being naked, that's all."
Elora laughed. "Yeah, well, I don't think this is that kind of party, so I'll keep my dress on, if it's all the same to you."
And with that, Spyro and company ventured into the heart of the festival. Now, I don't know if you've ever been to an Artisans party before, but suffice to say that when the Artisans throw a party, they throw a party. We're not talking a dinky little "I bring the soda, you bring the cups" party. This thing was lavish. We're talking the greatest musicians in the Dragon Realms performing live on stage as the Idol Springs Hula Girls jiggled to the music. We're talking a dessert table that wrapped from one end of the castle to the other – When you're feeding hundreds of dragons, you'd better bring extra.
The Artisan Castle ballroom was humongous, yet there was barely an inch of free space. Spyro found himself having to push his way through the crowd so he could breathe – and escape the horde of dragon hatchling fangirls that formed every time he showed his face in public. That pink-scaled one was ready to have Spyro's babies then and there...
"I can't believe those kids!" Spyro groaned. Naturally, Hunter and Bianca had gone off alone, leaving Spyro and Sparx behind with Elora. "Don't they get how creepy it is? I watched most of them hatch from their eggs!"
"Do you really blame them for liking you, though? You're kind and strong and brave and cute." Elora brushed a strand of hair from her eyes. "I mean, really, who wouldn't like-?"
"Ugh, romance is lame," snorted Spyro. "Having a girlfriend would cramp my style. I'm way happier with girls who are just friends. Y'know, like you."
Out of nowhere, Elora's face stiffened. "Gee, thanks," she said flatly.
After that, Elora didn't seem quite as interested in talking to Spyro. Man, this was just like the time they'd gone to Dragon Shores, and then Elora had gone all quiet after they went on the heart-tunnel ride. Honestly, Spyro wasn't sure if she was being so weird because she was a mammal or because she was a girl.
"Hey, buddy?" Spyro leaned in towards Sparx. "You ever wish we could hang out with girls without it always having to be about rom-?"
"Sparx!" All of a sudden, Zoe fluttered up towards the dragonfly. She, too, was in an elegant dress, albeit a fairy-sized one. "I've been looking everywhere for you."
"Hey, Zoe," Sparx smiled. "What's up?"
"Well, I... I've been thinking about this for a long time, and, um..." Zoe glanced away, her cheeks flushing. "...I just wanted to tell you, when you faced down the Sorceress's bugbot army, well..." Slowly, cautiously, she met his eyes. "...it was the bravest thing I'd ever seen."
"R-Really?" A tinge of crimson entered Sparx's golden glow.
"Sparx, would..." Zoe glanced towards the nearby dance floor, where couples of all sizes, sexes, and species were twirling around. "...would you like to-?"
"Sparx, darling!" The space between Zoe and Sparx was promptly filled by yet another fairy. This one was a bit larger than Zoe, and her dress was so long that it dangled inches beneath her feet. Any non-flyer wearing it would surely have tripped. "You've gotten even dreamier than the last time I saw you."
"P-Princess Ami?" buzzed a dazed Sparx.
"What do you say, handsome?" Ami gave a wicked smile as she hovered in closer. "How about you and me hit the dance floor?"
"I- I thought you eloped with Prince Azrael?"
"Who?" Ami looked blank for a second. "Oh, right, him. It didn't work out. Turns out he was really boring. Nowadays, I'm much more attracted to..." She leaned in even closer. "...invertebrates."
Zoe muttered something under her breath, but she apparently wasn't brave enough to speak up.
Sparx shot Spyro a pleading look.
"Uh... Hey what's that over there?" Spyro quickly found a very interesting chunk of wallpaper on the far side of the ballroom.
"Remind me not to take the hit for you next time you get hurt!" Sparx called after him.
Somehow, Spyro and Elora ended up at the far back of the room together, where all the nerds, geeks, and dorks had gathered. Bentley the Yeti was currently engaged in a lively discussion with a Dragon Elder over the etymology of the word "antidisestablishmentarianism."
Spyro let out a sigh. "Looks like the plague of love's turned into a full-blown pandemic."
"Come on, Spyro. A little flirting never hurt anyone." Elora giggled, then accepted a glass from a passing Gnorc-waiter.
Spyro frowned at the crimson liquid within. "You sure you wanna drink that? Not everyone can handle Beast Makers-brewed wrymwine." He gave a worrying glance to one of the wrymwine's other victims, a goat being chastised by a certain mountain kangaroo.
"I'm gonna do it... I'm gonna go tease that ram!"
"Billy, NO!"
Elora shot Spyro a smirk. "Trust me, I can handle it. Remind me to take you to the Fracture Hills Pan Festival next year." She took a swig.
"Whatever you say, Elora." Spyro shook his head, smiling to himself. But then his face grew pensive. "So, uh, why does Fracture Hills celebrate a cooking utensil, anyways?"
"He's a satyr deity, you dork."
And with that, their conversation lulled a bit as Elora grew preoccupied with her drink. Spyro's eyes wandered towards the dance floor, where Hunter was busy showing Bianca the time of her life. For one crazed second, Spyro pictured himself doing that with Elora, but, well... he had a feeling quadrupeds didn't make the best dance partners. And besides, Spyro's head barely even reached Elora's torso. The two of them dancing was a pretty funny mental image, actually.
"Well, well," said a voice, "if it isn't the legendary hero himself."
"Huh?" Both dragon and faun turned to find yet another fairy flying towards them. This one, however, was different from Zoe and Ami. Her hair was bright red, her dress was a dazzling gold, and her eyes had an almost imperceptible orange glow to them.
Spyro gave a start. "Your Majesty?"
Elora turned to him. "You- You know this girl?"
"Know her?" scoffed Spyro. "She's the queen of the fire fairies!"
"So you do remember me." The queen fluttered closer to Spyro, her wings radiating heat with every flap. "I know I've never forgotten you, Spyro. That day you rescued me back in Haunted Towers... Why, I'd never seen so much excitement."
"Ah, it was no big deal," said Spyro in a tone of voice that insinuated it was a very, very big deal. "I do that kinda hero stuff all the time."
"Really? Do tell." The queen hovered closer to the floor, nonchalantly wrapping her arms around one of Spyro's front legs, and then led him away. "My, my. You've grown since I last saw you."
"Oh, you noticed?" Spyro puffed out his chest. The two inches he'd gained in the time following Gnasty's defeat were a matter of great personal pride for him.
"You're welcome to drop by my palace whenever you'd like," the queen said silkily as the two of them wandered off. "I'd be happy to improve the strength of your fire breath..."
It was a good thing Spyro hadn't turned around. The look on Elora's face would've made his reptilian blood run even colder.
Hunter had been planning on spending all night wowing Bianca with his expertly choreographed dance moves, but the two of them had quickly dropped everything once Hunter spotted a friend of his sitting alone at a bar stool.
"Elora? You okay?" Hunter reached her side just in time to watch her down another gulp of wine. Apparently, Elora had abandoned her glass in favor of the whole bottle.
"Hunter..." She buried her face in the countertop. "Ish... Ish it wrong fer a faun to love a dragon?"
Hunter pondered this for a moment. "Well, I won't judge-" Bianca nudged his chest. "I mean, yes, totally fine!"
"Here, let's get you cleaned up." Bianca gently helped Elora to her feet.
"It'sh jusht that dragonsh are... they're sho hot!"
"Sure, Elora, sure," Hunter said as he stealthily removed the bottle from her hands.
Spyro hated to ditch Elora, so he'd decided to make his chat with the fairy queen quick... two hours ago.
"...and he went down in two hits," Spyro was saying. "They tried to build Gnasty up like he was gonna be some super tough final boss, but it turns out he was total pushover."
"Really?" The queen fluttered her eyelashes, sprinkling little sparks of flame through the air. "You're sooo interesting, Spyro."
Spyro grinned, showing off his fangs (which still had flecks of mutton in them). "I know."
The queen glanced at some of the other fairies in attendance, who all seemed to be shooting her jealous glares. "You know, my people owe you a lot, Spyro. Tell me about the time you saved all the fairies in the Fairy World from freezing."
"Oh, that? Well, it was one of my smaller adventures. Not one of the main three, but still worth mentioning..."
But just then, a voice rang out across the party: "Ahem. Attention, everyone. If you'll all kindly make your way to the front gates, we have a special announcement."
Hey, Spyro recognized that voice! It was the Professor. But what was he doing here? He didn't really seem like the partygoer type. But Spyro didn't give it any more thought until he, alongside the rest of the party, had moved outside.
Now every last dragon, fairy, gnome, electroll, and countless other species were gathered beneath the castle balcony. And there was a pretty diverse collection of people atop the balcony, too. Virtually every important figure in the Dragon Realms, Avalar, and the Forgotten Worlds had gathered up there. The little old, bespectacled, labcoat-wearing mole known only as "the Professor" was standing at the front, and around him were the five Dragon Elder heads of the homeworlds, the three kings of Avalar (the owners of those castles Ripto had taken over), the newly-elected leaders of the Forgotten Worlds, and even the heads of each of the three realms' respective fairy populations. The fire fairy queen left Spyro's side to be by her fellow queens – the queen of the Fairy World (Zoe's homeworld, a sub-division of Avalar) and the queen of Charmed Ridge (Princess Ami's mom).
But what was especially odd was the balcony's increased military presence. The Professor's faithful space monkey, Agent 9, was bouncing around his heels, keeping "Mr. Laser-Blaster" on high alert for signs of any rhinoceros-like intruders. And behind them, there seemed to be an awful lot of guards around a giant tarp of some sort – There were a few dozen Peace Keepers dragons, Sgt. Byrd and his hummingbird militia, and even a couple Breezebuilders and Land Blubbers who seemed to have come to a begrudged ceasefire for the day.
After a minute, the head of Artisans, Elder Nestor, cleared his throat. The crowd grew quiet and, thanks to a spell from Elder Cosmos, Nestor's voice was magically amplified.
"Thank you all for coming today to celebrate this momentous occasion. Today, the leaders of our three realms have gathered together to sign a treaty. A treaty that will ensure the peace and prosperity of..."
Down in the crowd, Spyro yawned. Man, these grown-up speeches were always so boring. When were they gonna get to the part where they started praising him?
"...but that is not the only reason we're here today. We also have something to show you. Something that will change all of our lives forever." He turned to the mole standing at his heels. "I'll let the Professor take it from here."
"Thank you. I- Err, well, I-" The Professor only stammered for a moment before managing to say, "Ever since Spyro saved Avalar, I've been hard at work on a way to travel to the Dragon Realms. See, Avalar's never had much of what you'd call a military presence, and I figured a friendship with the dragons was the best way to protect us from usurpers like Ripto, and, well, I would've had this ready sooner, but, err, my coordinates were a bit out of date, and, well, the point is..." He gestured for a pair of dragons to remove the tarp. "...I've completed work on an even more advanced model of the Superportal."
The moment the tarp was off, the whole crowd let out an impressed whistle. Standing at the head of the balcony was a golden arch larger than any Spyro had ever seen before – even bigger than the original Superportal. But that wasn't the only impressive thing about it. See, the old Superportal had been powered by a bunch of orbs in the slots on the sides and a Power Crystal on the top. Well, this new portal was powered by a bunch of Power Crystals in the slots on the sides and an even bigger Power Crystal on the top (the red hexagonal kind, not the purple Crash Bandicoot kind).
"You see, I've been hard at work synthesizing an additional ninety-nine Power Crystals," the Professor explained, fiddling with his glasses. "In theory, this new Superportal should be over a hundred times as powerful as the old one, allowing for near-instantaneous travel to and from any other portal in the Dragon Realms, Avalar, or the Forgotten Worlds." Despite his less than confident tone, the Professor's words were met with deafening applause.
"Thank you, Professor." Elder Nestor nodded to him, then stepped forward again. "With this new portal, the dragons can protect Avalar from future threats as well as help the Forgotten Worlds rebuild their government. In exchange, dragons will be allowed to immigrate to these realms, becoming citizens. This expands our opportunities – especially seeing as overcrowding has become a serious problem for the dragons. Now when our hatchlings grow up, they'll have entire new worlds to explore. Someday soon, I believe the old magic caused by our presence will return to the Forgotten Worlds, and it will spread to Avalar as well." He smiled at the crowd. "This is a prosperous time for not only the dragons, but for all of us."
There was more applause, louder this time. Even Spyro found himself clapping – though it required him to balance precariously on his hind legs. So now he could visit Avalar as easily as Stone Hill or Town Square? Awesome.
But then, as if to rain on their parade, the courtyard suddenly grew overcast. For a second, Spyro thought those storm clouds that'd driven him to Avalar so long ago were back, but then he turned his head skyward. Those weren't clouds at all.
They were ships.
Cries rang out from the crowd as adult dragons ushered their hatchlings to safety. Back on the balcony, Peace Keepers were already flying towards the ships, lungs burning with readied fire, while a hummingbird fluttered around Sgt. Byrd's shoulders, proclaiming in a thick accent, "Sir! We 'ave unknown aircraft approaching! 'Ow should we proceed?"
"Form a perimeter around the party guests!" the old penguin bellowed (Somehow, despite being raised by the hummingbirds, his accent was totally different).
Back on the ground, Spyro's eyes narrowed as he stared down the ships. They all seemed to be metal-plated contraptions full of spinning gears powering the faux dragon wings that kept them aloft. It reminded Spyro of Gnorc handiwork, except... except for those pillars of steam erupting from the machines. Gnorcs didn't use steam power, they burned fossil fuels.
The militaries waited in anxious silence, daring the intruders to make a move. But instead of attacking, the largest ship in the fleet simply hovered in the air as its captain stepped out. The guy had to be at least twenty feet tall – maybe even bigger than Gnasty Gnorc. He looked kinda like a sky pirate, only every inch of him was covered in steam-spewing machinery. He carried a massive scythe in his hands, and a metal mask had been welded over his head that looked vaguely like a scary face, complete with a pair of goggles that looked like angry eyes.
The metal man pointed his scythe at Elder Nestor, then proclaimed in a deep, reverberating voice:
"People of Avalar and the Forgotten Worlds, listen well. You are steering yourselves towards your own destruction. I have come here to save you. Only I can liberate you from these monsters you've allowed to control you. These creatures decimated my people, but I will not allow the citizens of your worlds to share the fate of mine."
He raised a steel fist into the air.
"I will save you from the monsters. I, Lord Steampunk, will end the reign of the dragons!"
Oh, right, Spyro had almost forgotten – Dragon parties tended to get crashed by bad guys.