Chapter 11: Friendship is Magic Part 4: A Light within the Night
At Sweet Apple Acres, Big Mac was continuing to buck apples as, even though his sister was out adventuring with her friends, somepony needed to continue the work, even if it was dark. As he bucked another tree, he felt a pang in his heart, letting him know that something was wrong and Applejack might be hurt and everyone might be in danger. He looked to the night sky and to the moon, hoping that everything was ok until his thoughts were interrupted by Apple Bloom who was running up to him.
"Granny is in a fit." She said. "She thinks Applejack is seriously hurt, but Ah keep telling her she's ok. Big Mac, do ya'll think AJ's ok?"
"Yep." Big Mac said, lying to his little sister because he knew in his heart Applejack wasn't ok, but didn't want to worry his younger sister. "Ah know she's ok. She's with her friends and with Spyro. Ya saw him handle those things, she's in good hooves."
"If ya say so." Apple Bloom said, returning to the farm house.
Big Mac hated lying to her as he already knew that Applejack wasn't ok, but then remembered that Spyro was with her. He then turned his gaze to the Everfree Forest, seeing hundreds of pink lights fly into the air and disappear into the night sky, an obvious of a fight that was going on in that forsaken forest.
"Be safe." Big Mac said. "And come home safe... Applejack."
"APPLEJACK!" Spyro shouted, moving faster than he ever did and dispatching the Shadow. He looked down at his friend, not moving an inch and not making any sound. He knelt down and sat on his rear, scooping her into his forelegs and turning her, seeing the massive claw marks in the center of her chest and running down her barrel from underneath like she tried to hit it with her forelegs or to block.
"Applejack!" The girls shouted in unison, all rushing towards the two of them. They stopped a few feet from them, seeing tears roll down Spyro's muzzle, realizing that there might not be much they could do.
"AJ, wake up." Spyro said gently, stroking her mane out from his face. "Please, don't do this. Don't... Don't do this."
He held her against his chest, still feeling her heartbeat against his chest, as if trying to comfort an injured child. The others were all in shock at seeing their friend take a hit for Spyro, risking her life for his when he was able to dodge the attack before being hit. Pinkie's mane deflated, the bright, cheery color of her coat and mane darkening as she witnessed her friend being fatally injured. Tears rolling down their muzzles as they couldn't hold back the sadness and grief in their hearts while Spyro tried to hold his tears back, but they just rolled down anyway. They then heard her cough, letting them know she was still alive, but barely holding on as a spark of hope ignited in them.
"S-Sugarcube." Applejack said, struggling to talk. "Y-ya'll are ok."
"AJ, what were you thinking!?" Spyro shouted. "You shouldn't have done that!I would have survived the attack!"
"B-but it was... too close." She said. "Y-ya'll didn't... see it. Ah did w-what Ah had to."
She cough hard as she spoke, making everyone panic as they realized she was dying. Spyro looked to her chest and saw the pink glow of her heart emanating from inside, ready to come out, making her another victim of the Heartless.
"Spyro, use a potion!" Rainbow Dash said, panic in her voice. "They healed you, they can do the same for her!"
"It's not that simple Rainbow." Spyro said, fighting back the tears. "They heal minor injuries, scraps or cuts. This is too deep, they won't work."
"Then what about that spell you used on the Manticore?" Twilight suggested. "It healed him, maybe it-"
"It's the same as the potions." Spyro said. "It might be an advanced version of a healing spell, but the effect is still the same."
"T-then Chaos heal her." Fluttershy suggested. "It healed your wing, maybe it can do the same for her."
Spyro looked up to Fluttershy and knew that might work. He pulled her away and placed his left forelegs on her chest and his right on his, trying to call upon the emeralds power to heal her. But the more he tried, the less anything happened. Everyone watched and waited for the green glow to reappear like it did for Spyro when his wing was broken, but nothing came up.
"Why isn't this working!?" Spyro asked, sheer panic in his voice. "For the love of Kingdom Hearts, work!"
Everyone kept watching, waiting for Spyro to perform the same healing method to Applejack like he did to himself, but it did not happen like it did before. He eventually gave up and picked her up, holding her tight in a powerful embrace, thinking that doing so would prevent her heart from leaving and turning her into a Heartless. Everyone bowed their head and closed their eyes, not wanting to watch what is about to happen. Spyro fought back the tear, but even then, that was a battle he wouldn't win as they started rolling down his muzzle, waiting for his friends passing. A moment later however, he saw something in the distance, a light from within the forest moving towards him and the group. As it approached, it passed through Rarity and Fluttershy like a ghost, revealing to be a man in white, approaching Spyro and looking down at him and his fallen friend.
He looked down at the mare and then back at Spyro, sensing what he wanted most and smiling, seeing the selfless act of the mare from his perspective and his desire to save her. He knelt down to where they were at eye level, eyes of purple meeting those of green as if he was telling him to pay attention to what he was about to say as he probably wouldn't repeat it. But without making a sound, he mouthed something to him, something he somehow understood as if it was engraved into his brain the entire time and he forgot all about it. A second later, he disappeared, fading away slowly until he was out of sight.
"Spyro, please, do something." Twilight said, opening her eyes and letting the tears flow again.
He knew what he had to do and looked into the sky as if expecting to see something or someone there, waiting to hear what he had to say.
"I call upon the powers of old." Spyro said, getting everyone to open their eyes. "I call upon the princes of old. I call upon the power of light and shadow. I ask of thee to save my friend. For I enact the power of light to heal what has been done." He then looked back at Applejack, her eyes closing as he spoke. "I call upon thy strength to heal the wounds from darkness. Restore what's made undone. Reverse the flow of time."
He returned his gaze to the sky, feeling an ancient magic that not even he could understand, but knew it was needed in order to save her.
"Blessings of Light." Spyro said, closing his eyes and putting his head against Applejacks, letting go of all the tears he tried to hold back, bawling at the thought of loosing his friend.
Everyone watched, waited, and even prayed that whatever kind of magic he was using would work or else they would loose their friend to the Heartless. At first, nothing seemed to happen, making everyone loose hope as this spell he spoke had not worked, but all of a sudden, Fluttershy saw an orb appear behind Spyro, floating behind him as if waiting for something.
"L-look." She said, pointing at the orb.
Everyone looked at the orb, especially Spyro, and looked at the small white light as it flew farther into the air. A second later, another orb appeared just to the left of Spyro, followed by another and another until dozens of orbs flew high into the sky and stayed up there for a minute or two for all of them to gather until they flew back to the ground at a singular spot, gathering just to the right of Spyro as it got bigger and bigger until it was the size of a full grown dragon, shining as brightly as the sun. Seconds later, the orb exploded and revealed the same white dragon Twilight saw in her vision from when she entered Spyro's heart, making everyone's jaws drop when they saw the elegant dragoness standing there. She looked over to Spyro and saw the fallen Applejack, understanding what he wished, she took a couple of steps forward, leaning her head down to him.
"Please, save her." Spyro asked.
The dragon bowed her head and lifted it back up, taking in a deep breath before gently exhaling outward, releasing multiple streams of light into the air that traveled downward, towards Spyro and Applejack. He watched as the streams moved past him and down towards Applejack, the light entering the wounds on her chest and healing the wound as it closed on its own, making the hearts pink light dim until it was no longer showing and the wound was not even visible. Spyro looked back to the dragoness, looking into her blue eyes as if she wanted to say something, but bowed her head again, turning back into ball of light and disappearing into the night.
They suddenly heard Applejack taking in a deep breath, letting them know she was ok, everyone crying again, but tears of joy that's their friend was going to be ok. Spyro was the happiest as he hugged her again, relieved that she will be ok and will survive after what she did.
"Quite the light show you put on there." Pete said, making Spyro turn to look at him and the girls look at the large dog in horror. "Seems like you got some trick up your sleeve little prince."
"You." Spyro said, releasing Applejack and getting up, turning to face him. "Why are you here? Why come to this world if there is so little darkness in it?"
"Well, it wasn't my idea to come here." Pete replied. "Maleficent wants this world for her own as it houses a huge amount of magic in it. Once it's her's, then she can harness that magic and summon the door to Kingdom Hearts."
When Pete announced the plan to summon Kingdom Hearts door, his coat paled because, if it was possible to do so without the Princess's of Heart, then that meant that Equestrian is a prime target for them and for the Organization.
"You see, this world is very close to the light and thus is close to Kingdom hearts." Pete continued. "By removing the main threat to her plan, Maleficent can then arrive and open the Door to Darkness, summoning forth a giant amount of Heartless to wash over this world so we can collect the hearts we need. And if we need to go through you to make it so, then so be it."
He snapped his fingers and more Soldiers appeared from the void, shaking and waiting for orders from Pete.
"At first, the only threat was the princess of this land, Celestia." Pete said, leering at Spyro. "But now we gotta deal with you. Makes me happy that you are here as now I get to destroy you and flood this world in darkness. Hehehehe! This is going to be so much fun." He then took a step forward and grinned, letting him know he was up to something and something possibly stupid. "I didn't want to ruin the surprise of the attack, but you had to come and draw the Heartless to you, alerting old sun butt to our presence here in this world, so I think I'll punish you by finishing off your friends first, teach you to meddle in our affairs."
That was the final straw for Spyro as he felt his heart drop into his stomach as he just threatened his new friends, looking back to them and seeing the horrified looks on their faces. Then he looked down to Applejack, who rushed her own life for his, and who wasn't able to run in her current state. He felt the darkness in him rise and felt the power it came with, filling him with the strength to completely tear everything apart with his bare hooves.
"You won't be touching them." Spyro said, his voice cold and dark as his eyes turn yellow and red again, turning to face Pete again. "You will rue the day that you even came here to this world." Walking forward as the circles around his eyes darkened to be charcoal black, his coat and scales turning a dark purple as black veils spread across his entire body, making Pete go from confident to worried and the girls watching in horror as their friend was changing. "You want darkness? You got it."
Purple flames erupted behind Pete, cutting him off from the castle and his escape route as the flames cut his friends off from him, protecting them from the fight ahead. The grass around him died and turned yellow and spread outward toward Pete, life around him seemingly dying within his presence and what ever was causing it was spreading. Everyone was petrified with fear, watching their friend change right in front of them and could feel the dark energy coming off of him, watching as it changed their friend for the worse of it, but Twilight was the most worried as she could see dark smoke coming off of him and seeping into the ground, causing the grass and other plants around to die around him.
"S-Spyro?" Twilight asked. "What's going on?"
"Keep AJ safe." Spyro replied. "Leave the obese mutt to me."
He turned to face Pete again, rage overtaking his sense of right and wrong as he approached the Heartless, who seemed to take an interest in him. He snapped his fingers and the Heartless disappeared, abandoning Pete and leaving him to face Spyro on his own. He turned to try and flee, but felt his throat tighten, making it hard to breath and tried to rip away what was choking him, only to be lifted up into the air by some invisible force and being turned to face Spyro, his forelegs turned into a dragons paw and the paw looking like it was choking him without even touching.
"What was that about being punished?" Spyro asked, taking joy in Pete's suffering. "Cause it seems the only one whose suffering is you right now."
"P-please... Mercy." Pete asked, struggling to breathe.
"Sorry, all out of mercy." Spyro replied, closing his paw and squeezing harder, choking the life out of Pete.
"S-sugarcube?" Applejack asked, freezing Spyro in his place. "Where are you? Is he ok?"
Spyro turned to see Applejack attempting to get up, shaking and wobbling to her hooves as she got up. When he saw her getting up and asking where he was, his heart felt joy as he lowered his paw, the rage disappearing and the dark veins vanishing from his body as the color returned to him. Subconsciously, he let go of Pete, letting him breathe as he coughed, trying to get some air into his lungs while backing away from the enraged hybrid. As the purple flames disappeared and died away, allowing anyone to enter or exit whenever they please.
"Leave." Spyro said, his eyes returning to normal. "And tell Maleficent that if she or yourself show up here again, you better be ready for a heck of a fight."
Pete, not wanting to risk his wrath further, nodded his head, understanding what he meant, turned tail and ran away, running into the dark night as far away as he could from Spyro. He turned to see Applejack on her hooves, exhausted, but ok while Rarity helped her to keep her balance. But the terrified looks on his friend's faces broke him as they just saw him nearly kill Pete and allow his anger to take control, allowing it to change him. He then looked to the ground and saw the dead grass and dark plants that's were growing from it, dying as his anger faded. He felt his heart break as he allowed darkness to take over, running in the other direction and flying off, away from the group.
"Spyro, wait!" Twilight said, trying to keep him from leaving.
"What was that?" Rainbow Dash asked, trying to find words for what she witnessed. "What just happened?"
"I-I think that's what happens when he gets angry." Fluttershy said, shaking at the scenario that had just occurred.
"Well, if that's angry, then I'd hate to see him when he's furious." Rarity said, helping to keep Applejack from falling. "But why did he run away?"
"A-Ah think Ah know." Applejack said, getting everyone's attention. "He probably thinks that we believe him to be a monster and is trying to distance himself. He's scared that if he gets angry again, he'd hurt us."
Everyone was silent as she said it, about him hurting them if he got angry again or possibly went out of control if he did fall into darkness again.
Spyro had flown to a cloud close by to keep an eye on his friends, but just far enough away to where they wouldn't follow him, even if they did see where he went. He had in front of him his Keyblade, contemplating about why he was chosen if he could loose his temper so easily and why he should even use it if he was willing to turn to darkness because of a few words from a pee-brained idiot who probably couldn't tie his shoes properly. He wanted to chuck the Keyblade far away and to never use it again, but knew it would just come back a moment later if he did. He wanted to just call a Gummi Ship and leave this world, not have to face his friends and their terrified looks, not wanting to ever land in another world again.
"Just because you fell into darkness once, doesn't make you bad." A female voice said behind him. He turned around to see the dragoness again, but was lying on top of a massive cloud, her forelegs crossed and giving him a warm smile to lighten the mood. "It's alright. I mean you no harm your highness. I am Dawn, the first of the Dragons of Light."
He turned away, not wanting to talk to her as he didn't feel like he was worthy enough to even talk to her. She could feel his sorrow and flapped her wings to move a little closer to him so that she could hold a conversation.
"You know your friends are worried about you." Dawn said. "You should go back to them. They're probably worried about you."
"Why me?" Spyro asked. "Why was I chosen? I lost my temper and almost fell nearly fell into darkness, I let my emotions control me, why am I even worthy to use this thing and to be a prince? Why!?"
"That is not something I know the answer to." Dawn said. "Nor my brother, Eclipse. The previous prince was strange, but his heart was always in the right place. My guess is that he chose you because you have a good heart."
"But I lost my temper." Spyro said. "I used darkness while I had Sith eyes. I controlled the Heartless and dismissed them, I called upon the Forbidden Flames, and I... I... I... What's to keep me from losing control and attacking my friends!? What is to happen if darkness fully takes over and I kill them!? How can I protect them from the Heartless if I can't protect them from myself if I loose myself to darkness!?"
He was on the verge of a total meltdown, covering his eyes as he tried to keep the tears in. Dawn could feel all the anxiety in him and used her wing to cover him, even though he was smaller than him, she knew he needed some support.
"It's ok." She said. "Even though darkness is frightening, you shouldn't fear it. Remember what Pinkie Pie said, just laugh." Spyro looked at Dawn, thinking she might be out of her mind for her to suggest he laugh at this. "Your friends are your strength, just as you are theirs. They care about you as their hearts worry for you right now. Four of them share feelings for you, you just don't see it yet. A herd is only as strong as their stallion."
"What, you suggesting I marry them and then kill them?" Spyro asked, anger and frustration in his voice.
Dawn shook her head, noting the frustration and fear in his heart while also noting the love and care he has for their safety. She smiled, knowing he would be a better prince than the rest could ever be.
"I'm saying that you are the anchor they rely on." She answered. "They rely on you to be their protector while you rely on them to be your support. Tell me, what does your heart tell you now?"
"To keep my distance and never show up in a populated town again." Spyro replied, shoving his head into his legs.
"Is that what your heart is telling you?" Dawn asked. "Or is that your fear talking?" Spyro looked up at Dawn, wondering why she would ask that question. "Fear will cloud your mind, keep you from hearing what your heart is telling you and to keep you from doing what you know is right. Is abandoning them protecting them from yourself? Or is it protecting you?"
He looked away from her for a moment, wondering if he was protecting them or was he just worried about his own name and reputation. He looked back up to give her an answer, but she was no longer there and the cloud she was on was gone, leaving him alone in the sky as he looked at the night sky. He then looked back down to his Keyblade, staring at the magical weapon, thinking about the question Dawn asked, making him think if he was just doing it to protect them, or himself.
At the ruined castle, Twilight and her friends approached the rotting door to the castle of the two royal sisters, seeing the ancient ruins crumble before them while also pleased that their pain and suffering would finally end.
"This is it girls." Twilight said. "This is where the Elements of Harmony rest. It's time to finish this."
Twilight used her aura to try and push the doors open, but the doors wouldn't budge, so she tried pulling, but again they wouldn't budge. Her friends then joined her to try and open the rotting door and, despite how old it was, it was holding strong and refused to open like it was stuck. They stopped to catch their breath while Applejack looked back to the sky, hoping Spyro would come back and hoping to thank him for saving her, again.
"These doors are strong." Rainbow Dash said, wiping sweat off her forehead. "How the heck are they still this strong despite them rotting?"
"I don't know." Twilight replied. "Maybe they're made from something sturdy that resisted the flow of time."
"Well, whatever they're made of, they are not budging." Rarity said, fixing her mane. "Maybe there's another way in."
"Hey guys, look up at the door!" Pinkie said, pointing to the center of the door. On it was a large lock and chains that seem to go through the frame of the door, preventing them from entering.
"Oh fantastic." Rainbow Dash said, crossing her forelegs. "Now how do we get in?"
"We use a key of course." Spyro replied.
Everyone turned around to look behind them and saw Spyro walking towards them, looking like his normal, smiling self that they knew before this entire thing happened. Before he could utter another word, Applejack ran up and hugged him, wrapping her forelegs around his neck and holding onto him. A moment later, the others ran up and all hugged him, glad to see their friend back with them, despite what happened.
"Glad to have ya back sugarcube." Applejack said, wrapping her forelegs tighter around his neck.
"We were so worried about you." Fluttershy said. "Why do you leave like that?"
"I just needed to clear my head." Spyro replied, breaking up the hugging session. "Just, needed some time to think."
"We're just glad you're back man." Rainbow Dash said, setting down on the ground. "So what's this about a key? Did you actually find one for the door?"
"In a way." Spyro replied, summoning his Keyblade.
"Ooh, ooh, he's going to slice the lock up!" Pinkie said, mimicking someone slashing a sword in the air. "Is he gonna do a kind of Samurai move and cut it in half? Ooh, or maybe he's going to use some of his magic to blow it up!"
"Well, you're right about the magic part." Spyro said. "But I'm not blowing it up."
Everyone wondered what he meant by that, but watched as he raised his Keyblade to be dead center to where the lock was, aiming straight at it. A moment later, several stars appeared and flew to the tip of the blade and fired a beam of light into the lock, hearing a click and the lock fell down, unlocking the door. Spyro dismissed the Keyblade while everyone else was amazed by what the Keyblade did, but a moment later raised a question that everyone probably had in their mindset at that moment.
"Spyro, did you just unlock that door with the Keyblade?" Twilight asked, curiosity hitting.
"That's right." Spyro replied. "What I didn't tell you girls is that the Keyblade is able to unlock anything, whether it's a magical lock or not."
After explaining that the Keyblade could unlock and lock, it sent up a mess of red flags as everyone backed away from him, disturbed about the fact that he could unlock anything. Sensing their discomfort, he shook his head and his hooves, trying to explain something.
"But don't get me wrong." Spyro said, nervously. "I'm not that kind of guy. I'm not going to use it for any reason other than unlocking chests and opening doors that keep us from our mission."
"If ya say so sugarcube." Applejack replied. "But when we get back, we're going to have some ground rules about you and that there key of yours, understand?"
"Sure thing AJ." Spyro said, walking over and wrapping his neck over her. "I'm just glad you're still with us."
Applejack could feel her heart racing when he said and did that, feeling like her chest was about to burst open. A second later, he ended the hug and walked towards the door, much to Applejack's disappointment. Everyone walked to the doors and Spyro pushed the doors open, entering the castle first to make sure the path was clear, reaching out with the Force to see if there was anything in the room. To his relief, he sensed nothing as the room was empty and couldn't sense any darkness in the room at all.
"It's clear!" Spyro shouted, letting the girls know it's safe. "No Heartless are is sight or can be sensed."
Everyone walked in and spread out, looking at the decaying castle as everything fell apart. At the center of the room, they found an artistic statue with multiple platforms on it and five spherical orbs sitting on the five platforms. Believing them to be the elements, everyone ran towards the statue and got the orbs off those stone platforms. Spyro, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy worked together to get elements off while the rest watched the three of them remove the elements and put them on the ground.
"Wait, that's only five elements." Rainbow Dash said. "Where's the sixth?"
"According to the book the sixth element will only appear when the other five are united by a spark." Twilight answered. "I have no idea how to make them spark, but I'll figure it out."
"Then we'll give you some room to work Twilight." Applejack said. "We'll be right outside if ya need us."
Everyone left the room, leaving Twilight alone in the room while she worked on figuring out how to make the elements spark. Outside, everyone waited to hear from Twilight that she figured out how they worked and how they could be used to defeat Nightmare Moon. Everyone was doing their own thing while Spyro was sitting on the step of the castle, waiting to hear from Twilight, but mostly to think about something that was bothering him. He was so engrossed in his own thoughts that he didn't notice that Applejack was sitting next to him, trying to get his attention to ask him something. She only got his attention when she blew in his ear, snapping him out of his train of thought.
"Ya'll in their sugarcube?" Applejack asked. "Ya'll seem to be thinking a lot there."
"Oh, sorry AJ." Spyro replied. "It's just, something about the elements seemed familiar to me."
"Really?" Applejack asked, raising an eyebrow. "What seems familiar about them?"
"Well, it's their names and what they characterize." Spyro answered. "Honesty represents someone whose honest, Kindness represents one who is caring and loving, Laughter represents the fun someone has and the fun they have with others, Generosity represents someone giving something to another that has value, and Loyalty represents someone who is always there for their friends, even if it means giving up their dreams."
He then looked to in front, seeing his friends all waiting outside, having a conversation, or playing a game to pass the time.
"And our friends seem to represent each of the elements." Spyro continued. "Fluttershy is very kind to others and to the animals in her care, Rarity is ready to give something to her friends or her customers despite the value it has, Rainbow Dash refused a chance to become the best flier in Equestrian to help her friends, Pinkie Pie seems to make others laugh and make sure everything is happy and cheery." He then looked over to Applejack, smiling at her as they sat close to each other. "And then there's you AJ. You're the most honest pony that I have ever met. There doesn't seem to be a deceptive bone in your body whatsoever."
When he commented on how honest Applejack was, she looked away, blushing as he said that, trying to figure out what to say in return. But the more she tried, the more she got flustered as her heart wants her to say how she fells about him while her mind is telling her not to as there was a chance he wouldn't share the same feelings. She decided to work up the courage and tell him straight up as it was better to tell him the truth about how she felt than to just keep it bottled up, otherwise she would regret it.
"Spyro, Ah need to tell ya something." Applejack said, getting his attention. "Ya see, Ah-"
"Spyro! Applejack! Anypony! Help!" Twilight shouted, getting everyone's attention.
Spyro immediately bolted to the door and bashed through it, finding Nightmare Moon teleporting away with the elements and Twilight charging to stop her. Before he could do a thing, the two of them teleported away to an unknown location, which made Spyro's heart come up into his throat as they had failed in their mission. Everyone looked for Twilight, hoping to find a clue as to where they went, but nothing was out of the ordinary until Spyro spotted blue lights going off in the furthest tower away from them.
"There! That tower is where they're at!" Spyro exclaimed, drawing everyone to look where he was pointing.
"Then let's go!" Rainbow Dash said. "We need to save our friend!"
"Right." Spyro said, looking to the nearby corridor. "I think that's the shortest way to the tower. You girls take it. I'll fly ahead and take care of Nightmare Moon."
Without waiting for a response, Spyro took off towards the tower, leaving their mares behind to walk all the way to the tower, Rarity to which groaned as she knew it was going to be filthy in there. At the tower, Twilight was getting ready to charge at Nightmare Moon, readying herself for a fight, but also feeling scared as she knew she didn't stand a chance against her. A moment later, several Shadows appeared from the ground, making her back away in fright at the dark creatures.
"Oh no." She said, panicked. "Oh nononononononononono!"
"Oh yeah!" Spyro shouted, bashing through the wall and slicing a few Shadows in the process. The remaining Shadows charged him to take him out, but with one quick swipe, the remainder just evaporated into black clouds of smoke. "Always wanted to do that."
"Ah, you're the prince Pete has warned me about." Nightmare Moon said. "I must say, your strength is impressive as is your magic."
"Princes?" Twilight asked, looking at Spyro. "What is she talking about?"
"I'll explain later." Spyro replied. "Right now, you focus on getting to the elements, leave miss doom-and-gloom."
Spyro walked forward towards Nightmare Moon while she just stood on her pedestal, watching him as he approached, trying to gauge his strength by his posture and how he walked, but couldn't get a thing. She even tried to detect how much magic he has, but even then it seemed like he was masking it to keep her from seeing his power.
"Pete warned me you were powerful, but that trick back in that wretched village was more than enough for me to believe his warning." Nightmare Moon said. "Your power alone could conquer this entire world, so why fight for the loosing side? Why not join me and I'd make you my king."
She then walked forward, Spyro stopping in the middle of the room, allowing her to approach. While she was busy with him, he waved his tail and a fog surrounded Twilight, making her invisible to Nightmare Moon. Twilight didn't understand what was going on, but when she saw her own hoof was transparent, she knew what Spyro was up to and walked around the room, letting him distract the corrupted alicorn while she walked towards the elements.
"You could have everything your heart desires." Nightmare Moon continued. "Power, riches, whatever you want. All you would need to do is swear your loyalty to me and eradicate my sister for me, where ever she is."
"Hmph. A tempting offer." Spyro said, summoning his Keyblade to attack, only for Nightmare Moon to call a blade of darkness to her, blocking the attack. "One in which I will have to refuse."
The large pony growled in frustration and the two started to exchange strikes and blowing, blocking each others attacks, casting magic at each other to do any kind of harm all the while Twilight kept moving towards the elements while her friend kept her busy. A minute later, she had reached the elements and was using her own magic to try and summon the sixth while Spyro locked blades with Nightmare Moon, smiling as he could sense that Twilight had reached the elements, which Nightmare Moon noticed the smile and felt something was wrong. She looked back to the elements and saw the lavender unicorn using her magic on them
"You tricked me." Nightmare Moon said, looking back at Spyro. "You weren't meant to beat me, you were just a distraction."
"Took you this long to figure it out, huh?" Spyro asked. "No wonder Celestia banished you the first time around."
Nightmare Moon screamed in rage and broke the link, pushing him back a bit before using all her magic to launch him into a nearby wall, making it collapse on top of him, burying him alive.
"Spyro!" Twilight shouted, breaking concentration as Nightmare Moon pushed her away and stood in the middle of the elements. They then started glowing and levitated up, surprising both of the ponies. Twilight smiled, thinking that's it was working, but a moment later, they fell to the ground, remaining as stone and nothing else.
"No... they failed." Twilight said, horror washing over her.
"Of course they failed." Nightmare Moon said, chuckling. "You only have five elements with the sixth no where to be found. You shall never see your precious princess or your sun ever again. The night shall last forever!"
She charged up magic into her horn and stomped onto the ground, destroying the Elements of Harmony into thousands of pieces, shocking Twilight as she lost hope. Her ears then perked up when she heard her friends come up the tower, shouting her name trying to find her, which caused her to gasp and feel a spark inside of her heart, but failed to understand what it was.
Under the rubble, Spyro was knocked unconscious, falling into the darkness and floating in the air, feeling nothing all around him as he wanted to wake up, but couldn't. He then felt something, a slight burning sensation in his chest as he felt the emeralds power trying to heal him from the injuries he sustained from the wall falling on top of him after being hit by Nightmare Moon. He knew a bit about the emeralds full power, but couldn't master it as he only ever used them to heal himself from any fatal injuries he sustained in battle or in an accident. He wanted to wake up and help Twilight, but couldn't as his body didn't respond to his commands, completely helpless and unable to stand being helpless,
"The servers are the seven chaos." Came a female voice. "Chaos is power. Power enriched by the heart. The controller is the one who unifies the chaos within the heart."
Spyro felt that he knew that voice from somewhere, but couldn't place it as it was the first time he ever heard it. But what was this about unifying the chaos inside of the heart with it, that was the question he asked himself as he floated there. A bit later though, he felt light hit his face coming from in front of him, so he managed to open his eyes and see a golden light and in the center of that light was the seven chaos emeralds orbiting the master emerald, emitting power that he never even got to scratch the surface of.
"I need to help my friends." He said, reaching out towards the emeralds. "Please, teach me." When the emeralds were within reach, he reached his hoof out and touched the master emerald, feeling the limitless power inside of it and feeling something wash over him as he saw what he could do. "I see. Now I understand."
Twilights friends had just got up the stairs and were glad Twilight was ok, but saw the disappointed look on her face and knew something was wrong.
"Twilight, ya'll ok?" Applejack said. "Where are the elements? And where's Spyro?"
"Nightmare destroyed the elements." Twilight replied. "And Spyro is buried underneath the rubble over there." Pointing to the pile of rock and stone where their friend was buried under. "It's over. We've lost."
A second later, the room was filled with a kind of music they never heard of as it started off with horns and violins, filling the room with something light yet had power behind it. As it went, a bell rang out as the music continued, everyone, including Nightmare Moon, were looking around to see where it was coming from. But all they saw was ruins and each other, until small pebbles started levitating into the air, followed by larger ones and orbs of light. Everyone was confused at first, but a red light shined into Twilight's eyes, directing her to look to the rubble where Spyro was laying in, followed by green, then light blue, purple, white, dark blue, and finally yellow before another green light shone through.
"Spyro?" Twilight asked, making everyone look to the rubble.
As the horns reached the climax of its song, a golden light shot out, blowing the rubble everywhere, just missing the girls, and flew all the way up to the roof, blasting a large hole in it. Everyone had to cover their eyes to avoid being blinded, but when their eyes adjusted, they saw a pony/dragon figure covered in golden light, walking away from the pillar of light with everyone watching. As he kept walking, the light flaked away in small to large pieces, shocking everyone as it was Spyro, but instead of his regular purple coat and scaled, they were golden yellow with his horns a dark blue, his eyes red and his mane a royal purple, staring at Nightmare Moon, smiling at the shock expression she had.
"Hmph. You thought that little push was enough to keep me down Nightmare Moon?" Spyro asked, unstrapping his bracers. "You thought wrong. In fact, I want to thank you." He walked forward, heartless that came up backing away, shaking in fear as they saw the golden hybrid, summoning a new Keyblade with the seven emeralds as the stem of it, four pointing one was while the other three the other way, fitting into each other with the Master emerald as the teeth of the blade and dragon wings as the guard and an emerald for the keychain. "You helped me to finally figure out how to unleash the full power of the seven Chaos Emeralds."
In an instant, he moved from where he was to the steps of the thrones where the alicorn was at, shocked at his speed, but horrified to watch the Shadows turn into black smoke an instant later, marveling at his speed. She wanted to attack him, but he moved so fast that he was behind her, blade still at the ready by his side. She didn't understand why he moved behind her and smiled, turning to face him, but felt something hit her in the side and was then bombarded by slashes and strikes that overwhelmed her and sent her flying into the nearby wall.
"Wow." Rainbow Dash said, admiring his new form. "Yo Spyro, when did you restore your Drive gauge?"
"I didn't." Spyro replied, turning to his friends. "This is not a Drive. This is when the seven Chaos Emeralds come together and when a pure heart uses their power, they unleash the Chaos form. Power of positive energy of the emeralds coming together to perform the most powerful of miracles."
He walked to the edge of the platform, but levitated over to them without using his wings, giving everyone a shock at how powerful he was and how he can fly without his wings. He set down in front of his friends and put his hoof on Twilights shoulder.
"Twilight, I can tell that Nightmare Moon destroy the elements." Spyro said, making her loose hope again. "But only their physical form." This made hr head shoot up, looking at him, surprised and confused, waiting for an answer. "Twilight, let me ask you this, if the Elements of Harmony represent a different trait of a pony, is it possible that those traits are a part of the livelihood of certain ponies?"
Twilight looked at him for a moment, but then the idea hit her, looking back at her friends and remembering that each of them did have a trait similar to the elements, her eyes sparkling as her despair vanished, replaced by hope.
"He's right." Twilight said, turning to face a baffled Nightmare Moon, who was struggling to get back up and back at the edge of the steps. "The Elements of Harmony, the spirits of the Elements of Harmony are right here." The shards of the elements floated, turning to the colors orange, pink, blue, purple, and red, away from the place where Nightmare Moon was standing, surprising her. "Applejack, who reassured me that I would be alright, despite the dangers below and above us, represents the spirit of Honesty!" The orange shards floating down to Applejack, circling around the awe struck mare. "Fluttershy, who tamed an enraged manticore with compassion, not violence, represents the of Kindness!" The pink shards floated down and circled the timid Pegasus, wincing at the sight of them. "Pinkie Pie, who laughed in the face of fear and danger, represents the spirit of Laughter!" The blue shards flew down to Pinkie and circled her as she bounced and smiled. "Rarity, who gives something she deems of value to somepony as a meaningful gift, represents the spirit of Generosity!" The purple shards flew down and circled her, her eyes sparkling at the glowing crystal shards. "And Rainbow Dash, who would choose her friends over her own desires, represents the spirit of Loyalty!" The red shards then hovered around Rainbow Dash, floating over the rainbow maned mare.
"B-but that's only five of the elements!" Nightmare Moon exclaimed, "You still need the sixth element! Your spark failed to produce the sixth!"
"But it did work." Twilight said, walking past Spyro. "It was a different spark as it was something I only realized just now." She turned to her friends, smiling at them as she finally understood the lesson Princess Celestia wanted her to learn and what Spyro meant about it being more valuable than all the knowledge in the books. "It appeared when I felt happy when you all came. My friends, all of you are my friends." In a flash, the sixth element appeared, floating down towards Twilight. "With those elements united by that spark, Nightmare Moon, a spark that resides in all of us, in our hearts, it brings forth the sixth element, the Element of Magic!"
The final element turned into a ball of light, resting on Twilights head, turning into a crown with the jewel in the shape of her cutie mark while the rest centered around their necks, turning into necklaces, the jewels on them in the shape of their individual cutie marks. Spyro smiled as he felt the light in the elements emanate so strongly and any Heartless that came to replace the ones that were destroyed retreated as the light proved to be too drone to them to resist.
"No! Not again!" Nightmare Moon said. "I shall not be defeated by those accursed elements again!"
She shot a bolt of dark magic to the girls as they flew into the air, forming a circle between the six of them, but Spyro appeared in front of them, blocking the bolt with his hoof, ending the attack before it could hit. Nightmare Moon backed away in horror as Spyro levitated towards her, sending bolt after bolt at him to see if she could do anything. Every time she did, he just blocked every attack, smiling as he did so while getting closer. he then called his Keyblade, pointing it at Nightmare Moon, who was just staring at the magical weapon, awaiting her fate.
"End it then!" Nightmare Moon shouted. "Do it!"
"The darkness I shall vanquish." Spyro said. "But the princess, I shall save."
The power of the elements shot forward, passing over Spyro and Nightmare Moon as she tried to escape, screaming in pain as the darkness was being ripped away from her, but he worried as he couldn't find any light in her heart, but had a Hail Mary of an idea, hoping it would work.
"Luna!" Spyro shouted. "Princess Luna, if you're still in there, give me a sign! Your sister, Celestia sent me! She wants you to come home."
As he said it, he felt a spark of light appear in the center of her heart, finding his mark. His Keyblade started to glow as he knew what he needed to do, holding his blade over her heart and a keyhole appeared, plunging the blade into the hole, making Nightmare Moon gasp as, even though it didn't go into her chest, she felt it going through her chest, turning it to the right. In an instant, Spyro felt a familiar feeling of falling as he fell through the darkness, coming upon another stained glass platform, blue in color with princess Luna in it, raising the moon that had her sisters face on it. When he set down, he looked around at the platform, finding that the platform was crumbling and breaking apart as if the heart itself was breaking.
"The darkness is strong here." Spyro said, sensing the dark energy around him. "Her heart is barely hanging on. I need to move quickly."
He looked to his right and found a door, similar to his, but with the different moon phases going across the door itself. He approached and opened it, finding there to be light behind it, entering to see what he could find. Inside of the room in the heart, he found it in ruin with wall paper of the night sky rotting away and the furniture in it completely destroyed, pictures shattered and ripped apart, all of which of Luna with her sister Celestia. He looked at one torn up photo and saw the princess with her sister, a very young blue alicorn with a wavy blue mane with stars in it, blue eyes, and her cutie mark a black blotch with a moon in it.
"She's quite lovely." Spyro said to himself. "Hopefully I can save her before it's too late."
He let go of the photo and watched as it went down, noticing a trail of black ink flowing underneath him, following where it went until he saw a writing desk and on top of it were letters. he walked over to see the contents of them, finding some to have tear stains on them while others were blotched out due to the spilled ink. But one letter seemed to catch his attention, making him pick it up to read.
My dear, sweet sister,
I am sorry for all the pain I have caused you. I allowed my jealousy to take over, making me lash out at you because of our subjects, threatening to bring forth the eternal night. I just wish I could see you again, be with you and apologize for my crimes. I wish to come home, I want to make amends and rule by your side again. I truly miss you, and I am so, so sorry.
The letter was an official apology and he could feel how much of her heart went into it as it seemed to glow with despair and hope, feeling power come from it.
"Your love to your sister is powerful." Spyro said, taking the letter. "Seems like what the previous prince said was right. There is something in the heart that is an anchor. And this letter, it seems to be that anchor as she hopes to be with her sister again."
He heard something fall behind him, turning around to see who it was and found Princess Luna huddled up in the corner of the room, but looked to be more of a filly than a mare, whimpering and crying to herself. She looked up to Spyro, but hid her head again, not wanting to be seen by him and wanting to be left alone.
"Princess Luna?" Spyro asked.
"Go away." She said, her voice cracking. "Leave me be. I deserve this."
"No, you don't." Spyro replied, walking over and sitting down next to her. "Besides, your sister wants you to come home. She really misses you."
Luna then looked up at him, seeing a gentle smile and warm eyes as he looked down, using his hoof to pet her head, calming her down. She looked down at the letter he had, recognizing it and looked up, wondering why he had it.
"I read your letter." Spyro said, getting her to uncurl and sit up, facing him. "You put your heart into it. You must really miss her."
"I-I do." She replied, bursting into tears, laying her head on the ground as she sobbed. "I wish I could turn the clock back. I want to go back and reverse everything I did, take back what I said, even to smile and hug my sister again! I wanna go home!"
She kept crying, her tears flowing from her muzzle to the floor, flowing towards the writing desk. He noticed the flow and knew that something was happening, but returned his gaze to the crying alicorn, seeing her as a fully grown mare who was crying her eyes out. He stroked her back like a parent would do for their child when they were very upset, being the calming presence that she needed.
"And she wants you to come home." He replied, helping her to sit back up as she kept crying. "Deep in your heart, you held on for a thousand years so you could apologize to her, never letting your light be extinguished." He then presented the letter to her, letting her look down at it and then back to him. "Your heart is very strong to hold on for this long. And now, your suffering has come to an end." At that moment, the princess lunged and hugged him, feeling safe around him as she bawled her eyes out. he returned her hug, holding her in his embrace along with her letter next to her, glowing as a beam of light shot forth from the letter and to the writing desk, creating a door in front of it. "Your sister is waiting for you. The door behind you will lead you out of the darkness. Go."
They broke off the hug and Luna turned to the door, hope and happiness reignited in her heart as the gloomy room deteriorated and a new one was being made in its place. She took a few steps forward, ready to walk through, but stopped, turning to face Spyro, worry on her face.
"What if my sister's subjects don't accept me?" She asked, terror returning to her heart. "What if they won't forgive me for what I did a thousand years ago? What if they want my sister to banish me again for what I just did now!? What if-?"
Spyro put his hoof over her muzzle, standing up to look her in the eye, still smiling to her before removing his hoof.
"The past is the past, there is no changing it." Spyro replied. "But ponies in this time and era are more forgiving and more accepting than they were in the past. They will not turn away from you."
"Will you be there?" She asked, tears still rolling down her eyes. "Will I see you again?"
"Anytime you want." Spyro replied, hugging her. "If you have any fears or concerns about anything, no matter how small, you can go to your sister, or come to me. Because, even though we just met, I consider you my friend. And I will not abandon you in your time of need. If you need a friend's shoulder to lean on, just come to me. I won't turn you away."
She hugged him back, holding him tightly as the light enveloped her, her heart finally finding peace within itself as the door solidified, opening to her. They broke off the hug and both looked into the door way, light shining in as the darkness retreated. When the light faded, Spyro found himself hugging the princess, back to his regular colors and the darkness that corrupted her no longer affecting her as she opened her eyes, finding herself still hugging him. They broke off the hug, smiling at each other as the sun rose again, the night finally ending as the day returned.
A second later, they both heard groaning coming from behind Spyro, finding his friends on the ground and wearing the elements of harmony and Rarity with her luxurious tail back. When everyone woke up, they stood back up and noticed the tail had returned, much to Rarity's joy, and the Elements of Harmony they were wearing. But the happiness ended when they saw Spyro standing in front of Luna, immediately getting aggressive.
"Spyro, get away from her!" Twilight shouted, making Luna hide behind him.
"Twilight, it's ok, she's no longer corrupted." Spyro said, using his wing to shield Luna. "The Elements worked. they helped me to cleanse the darkness from her heart."
"I am pleased to hear this." Came a female voice from. Everyone looked up to see Princess Celestia floating down to them, everyone but Spyro bowing as he brought his wing back in. "Spyro, I had hoped that your power combined with the Elements of Harmony could save her. I am pleased that it did."
"It was no big deal princess." Spyro replied, bowing to her. "I just did what I had to."
"And I am pleased that my little sister is safe and home." Princess Celestia said.
"Sister!?" The girls said, shocked at what they have learned.
"Yeah. Nightmare Moon was Princess Luna, remember?" Spyro asked. "They're sisters. Didn't I tell you guys before we entered the Everfree?"
"We may have forgot." Twilight answered, everyone laughing nervously as they remembered Spyro told them Princess Luna was her sister, but never thought Nightmare Moon was her sister. "But, how did you save her? I thought the elements purified her."
"Well, they did help." Spyro replied. "But it was Princess Luna's connection to Celestia that helped out the most. The Hearts Final Connection." He pulled out the book Applejack found the information in and pulled it out, finding that there were also a lot of pages were blank, so he could fill in the rest of the missing information, updating it later. "You see, the heart will always have a flicker of light left in it because it will hold onto something that will keep their light burning bright. For Luna, it was an apology letter that she wrote while trapped in her heart, telling her how she missed her sister and wishing to make amends."
When hearing this, Celestia couldn't help but smile, crying as she shed tears of joy, looking to her sister, who hid behind Spyro, still fearful of her sister's wrath. She walked up to the both of them, Spyro walking away to let her speak with her sister while Luna still coward.
"Luna, I am so, so sorry." She said, surprising Luna, still shedding tears. "I wish I was a better sister to you back then as I allowed my ego to blind me to how you felt, your pain, your suffering, everything. And when word came of these dark creatures, and Spyro calling them Heartless, and the threat they were to the world, and to whoever they followed, I feared for your safety." Her simple cry turned into one that she'd more tears than should be, hugging her sister. "I feared what they would have done to you."
"I'm sorry sister." Luna replied, also crying. "It's my fault. I-I got jealous of you! I should be asking for your forgiveness. I deserve to be banished again."
"Don't say that Luna." Celestia replied. "You're home now and that's what matters. I would like for us to start over, to be sisters again."
"I would love that." Luna replied, hugging her sister harder.
Spyro couldn't help but shed a few tears of his own at this heartfelt moment, his heart exploding with joy as he saw the sisters reunited after a thousand years. Even the girls couldn't help but shed tears, with Pinkie crying waterfalls at the reunion.
"Hey, you know what this calls for?" Pinkie said excitedly, instantly transporting them back to Ponyville. "A PARTY!"
Spyro looked around, questioning how they went from being in an old, decaying and crumbling castle to Ponyville where balloons were flying everywhere and banners were hung up between the buildings and the Town Hall.
"And..." Pinkie said, bringing out a cake with candles on it. "Happy Birthday Spyro!"
Everyone crowded around him, wishing him a happy birthday as they brought presents to him, stacking them up near the stage where Celestia and Luna were sitting at, smiling to see him having so many new friends. She then looked over to Rarity, who looked in her direction and nodded, giving her the go ahead to do something. Rarity then took a blue and yellow box out from behind the bush and brought it to Spyro presenting it to him.
"Here's a gift from the princess Spyro." Rarity said, presenting the box. "She said you should open it as soon as you got it. Said it's important and a rush order, so I had to put my other projects on hold to finish it."
Spyro opened it and saw the coat that Xemnas wore at the end of Kingdom Hearts 2 at the final boss level, but instead of it being fully closed, the chest was the only place where it had a zipper, but the color scheme was reversed, the coats primary color was all black while the pattern was white. He loved it yes, but didn't understand why the princess would have this made. He walked up to the stage, where the princess was waving and greeting everyone that passed her until she saw Spyro walking up, getting up and walking to him.
"Princess, I wanted to thank you for the new attire." Spyro said. "But why? This is something a villain wore, making him appear as a leader, but why did you have it made for me?"
"Because it's part of my big announcement." The princess replied, Luna walking up to them. "Can you guess what the announcement will be?"
He looked at the coat and then to the princess, having an idea of what the announcement was, but then looked over to Luna, seeing her smile and smiled back.
"Oh, princess, I don't think Luna and I know each other that well." Spyro said smiling.
Luna's face immediately turned red, blushing at what he just said and then to her sister, beginning to think that she was going to marry them with her smile she saw on her sister.
"No Spyro, that's not it." Celestia replied, relieving Luna of her worries. "Though, it's not a bad idea actually."
"TIA!" Luna shouted, making the two of them laugh, making her realize they're messing with her. "I hate you both."
"Love you too Luna." Celestia said. "But in all seriousness Spyro, I am going to announce to everyone who you are, regally."
Spyro felt his heart drop into his stomach when Celestia said she was going to announce his regal title, but Luna was confused, probably not listening when Pete said warned Nightmare Moon that he was a prince. he wanted to object, but a couple of ponies walked up and greeted the princess, interrupting him and when they were gone, he wanted to object, but the princess beat him to the punch.
"Spyro, your master did say that you didn't like using your royal title." Celestia said. "But he told me this world is closer to Kingdom Hearts than any other. Plus, I'm sure every pony here would be happy to have a prince here in Equestrian that really cares.'
"Wait, he's a prince?" Luna asked, shocked. "Since when?"
"Since he was chosen." Celestia replied. "The point is, the ponies in this land have all heard about my sister's return by now and the pony who slew the dark monsters. I'm sure they'd love to have a prince who isn't the kind that, as you say, sits on their rear all day giving orders."
"Princess, we're almost ready." A guard said, coming to them.
"Thank you soldier." She replied, receiving a salute from him before leaving. "Please Spyro, this will make everypony very happy. It will make them feel a little safer."
He knew she had a point, that it would make everyone feel safer than they were previously, but to be called highness or royal majesty or any other kind of regal title like that wasn't what he wanted. But looking at the princess's and then to the ponies who were having a great time, he couldn't help but smile, nodding his head, agreeing to it.
"Excellent. I'm honored to have your assistance with all that's going on." Princess Celestia said. "I'm sure they are going to be very surprised to know who you really are. See you out up on the stage in an hour."
"Knowing AJ, she's going to have a heart attack." Spyro replied, taking the box and walking to the Town Hall.
It was getting close to time for the princess to make her announcement, which everyone who was attending the celebration was excited for what was to come. Twilight and her friends were at the front of the stage, eagerly awaiting to hear what the princess had to say when they noticed that Spyro wasn't anywhere around them, thinking he was lost in the crowd. Before Rainbow Dash could go and see where he was, the horns sounded, announcing the princess had arrived and was ready to make her announcement. Everyone's eyes were on the stage as the princess walked up, smiling to the crowd as they cheered, only stopping when she raised her hoof to silence them.
"Mares and Gentlecolts." She said. "Fillies and colts of all ages, I pleased to see everyone gathered here today for this momentous occasion as not only is it the day that marks the one thousandth year of my duty to raise and lower the sun." Everyone cheered and shouted, stomping their hooves until she raised her hoof to silence them again. "Now, this is a special day as it is the day that I am reunited with my long lost sister, who fell to darkness and was brought back thanks to seven brave ponies who went and braved the Everfree. I would like my star pupil and her friends to come up on the stage with me."
A moment later, Twilight and all her friends all walked up onto the stage, waving and bowing, happy to be recognized for their courage. A minute later, the cheering stopped and the princess looked back to her guards, one of them bringing a small black and white box, which the girls were curious about while the other nodded his head, letting them know to draw the curtain back.
"Thank you Twilight and all her friends." The princess said. "But I have something to announce." Everyone's eyes were on the princess, awaiting for what she had to say next, eager to hear her announcement. "Nearly three years ago, I contacted a new friend of mine as I felt that there was going to be danger coming to our fair land. Finding an old text, it foretold of a prince who held equal parts light and darkness in his heart, a protector of all things, champion of the light. I called upon him for aid, telling him that we needed the prince and he sent him. Not more than five days ago he arrived and has helped us in bringing back the day and to help save my sister."
Twilight and her friends were confused by this revelation as this prince did not arrive and help them as they and Spyro were the only ones who worked to save their home, but it was Applejack who actually understood who the princess was talking about, freezing and her color draining as she realized who it was. A moment later, they heard hoof steps behind them, turning to see Spyro wearing the coat that Rarity made, the entire thing going across his back and hanging front he sides to reach half way down his legs.
"Yo, Spyro, there you are." Rainbow Dash said. "Where you been?"
"Changing." Spyro replied. "Besides, want to look my best for today."
"Why?" Twilight asked. "You looked better in your other coat."
"You'll see." Spyro said, walking forward a bit and stopping next to Applejack. "Guess you put two and two together after what princess said."
Applejack didn't respond, completely paralyzed with the realization of her friend being of royal blood. A moment later, the princess looked back and motioned for him to come forward so he may be seen by the ponies of Ponyville.
"You may already know him as he lived here in Ponyville." The princess said. "He lived here for less than a week, but he has already had a major impact on many of you. Mares and Gentlecolts, may I present Equestria's newest prince. The Prince of Light and Darkness himself, Spyro VanVickle!"
Upon his name being announced, everyone gasped, surprised to hear Spyro's name, but none were more surprised than his friends and those he lived with for a few days. As he reached the edge of the stage where everyone could see him, the entire town erupted into applause, some even shouting his name as he stood there, taking in the attention and wondering to himself if this was a good idea at all. Before he could say a thing, the princess opened the box, revealing a golden circlet with a white diamond on the right side, a black diamond on the left, and an amethyst in the center.
"As is the ancient tradition of the previous Princes of Light and Darkness, a member of royal blood or a representative of the light." The princess continued. "I hereby place this crown upon the head of the new prince, signifying the transfer of power from old to new. May his rule be forever blessed, bringing light to world far and wide."
Spyro knelt down, awaiting for the princess to place the circlet on his head and to accept his new role. When she levitated the circlet onto Spyro's head, he felt a rush of power surge through him as power from princes before him filled his veins, filling him with power and confidence. When he rose back up, he turned to face the ponies of Ponyville, hearing their applause and cheers as he looked into the crowd.
"Thank you for those words of confidence Princess Celestia." Spyro said. "And I have a few words to say myself." He waited for everyone's attention to be undirected before continuing, taking in a deep breath to calm his heart. "I was given this title nearly three years ago. Not knowing that I was given it for a reason, which to me is unknown. But make no mistake, no matter what challenge may come my way, what danger may come from the darkness, or any kind of enemy native to this world, I shall face it for you. I shall protect this land as it was my own and promise you that, no matter what, no one shall suffer the horrors that come from the darkness while I'm here!"
Everyone erupted into an applause, shouting and cheering for him, even shouting long live the prince as they did. He turned to face his friends, seeing the shocked expressions on their faces, knowing he had a lot of explaining to do. Before he could walk over, a small wave of air passed over them as it came above, looking up and seeing a black and red Gummi ship with a large orange container on its underbelly, which he did not recognize the container, but he knew the ship and smiled, pleased to see an old friend drop by. The bracers started to ring and he raised his left bracer, the metal plate sliding back to show a guy in a black trench coat with spiky, flaming red hair pop up with tear tattoos under his eyes.
"Lea!" Spyro said. "You old Nobody, how you doing?"
"Doing pretty well." He replied. "And call me Axel, your highness."
"So, what are you doing here anyway?" Spyro asked. "Dropping off a new ship?"
"Nah, this vessel is all mine." Axel replied. "I'm here to drop off a birthday gift from Chip and Dale."
Right as he said it, two chipmunks popped up on his screen, both wearing brown utility aprons, one with a red nose the other with a black nose.
"Spyro, you're ok!" Chip said. "We were so worried!"
"Sorry to scare you Chip." Spyro said. "So, Axel said you have a present for me?"
"Yeah, it's our new prototype." Dale replied. "It's a portable Gummi garage! It will allow you to build your own ship and store them, shrinking into a small cube when you need to travel."
"Well, that's great." Spyro said. "But I don't have any blocks to build any ships."
"That's the beauty of it." Chip said. "It can produce it's own Gummi blocks when you need them, but weapon blocks and other kinds like that will be a problem as we haven't figured out how to make those. You're gonna need to get them from enemy ships until we figure out how to make them."
"Well, thanks guys. this is one heck of a gift." Spyro said, turning it back to Axel. "So Axel, where do you plan on placing it?"
"That's up to you man." Axel replied. "But I'll need you to pick a place soon. My ship is running low on fuel and I need to top it off at the next world I stop at."
He didn't know where he could place it as he didn't own anything or any land to where he can put the garage. A moment later, Applejack stepped forward and looked into the screen, hoping to speak with whoever he was speaking with.
"Uh, excuse me sir, but Mah farm has a section of land that doesn't have anything in it." Applejack said. "Ya'll can put it there if ya like."
"AJ you are a god send." Spyro said. "I could kiss you for this!"
"Oh, it's nothing." Applejack said. "Ah still owe ya for-"
She didn't get to finish her sentence as Spyro put his lips to hers, surprising her and everyone else as they whooped and hollered for him, much to Twilight, Fluttershy, and Rarity's dismay as they grew jealous of their friend. As for Applejack, she could feel her chest pounding as her heart was racing, her face turning bright red and her eyes rolling back, not fighting back as they kissed. It was however interrupted when Axel cleared his throat, getting their attention.
"If you two are done lip wrestling, can we get this thing set down?" Axel asked. "I need to get back before I end up stranded here."
"Of course, sending the coordinates now." Spyro said, using his magic to push a few buttons and sending Axel the information he needed before heading out.
After he left, everyone started to party until the sun set where everyone went home after having such a fun day. Pinkie however was having a mental breakdown as she was trying to come up with a party for him after being announced as a new prince of Equestria, while Twilight was trying to wrap her head around what she heard and wanting to know everything about him, his journey's, his magic, everything, which he had to agree to in order to make sure she didn't go loony toony. Fluttershy returned to her cottage to care for her animals while Rainbow Dash went back to practicing for the Wonderbolts, but still wanting to take him to see their performances. Rarity however was hit the worst as she was trying to design some attire for him that would be fit for royalty as it wasn't everyday you would be friend with a prince.
Spyro and Applejack on the other hand were walking back to Sweet Apple Acres side by side, both of them silent after the exchange they had as Applejack was not expecting him to actually kiss him, blushing the whole way while Spyro, he just smiled, pleased to have had a great day. He looked over to APPlejack, still blushing from what he did, wanting to break the ice.
"Sorry about kissing you like that." Spyro said. "Was just so happy to actually have a place to build my new Gummi ships. And when you said we could place it in your land, I was very excited."
"I-I-It's no problem, yer highness." Applejack said.
"AJ, you don't have to call me that." Spyro said, getting in front and stopping her. "You're my friend. My friends don't need to refer to me by any royal title or anything like that."
"B-but yer a-" Applejack said, but was interrupted when Spyro raised his hoof.
"Please, just Spyro is fine." Spyro said. "Plus, I never told anyone this, but when you sacrificed yourself to save me, I felt something." Applejack looked at him, trying to figure out what he meant by that. "I felt genuine fear for your safety. When you nearly died, I felt my heart shatter when you fell to the ground."
He walked around her and stood next to her, wrapping his wing around the orange farm mare as she looked into his eyes.
"It was then that I found something. Something I never thought I'd find." Spyro said, smiling at the blushing mare. "Love. It was then that I felt genuine love for a girl who saved me by giving up her life for mine."
"W-why are ya telling me this?" Applejack asked, already knowing the answer.
"AJ, would you like to go out to dinner with me sometime next week?" Spyro asked. "I know a great Bistro we could go to and I'm sure you'll love it."
"O-o-of course sugarcube!" Applejack replied. "Ah'd like that!"
"Great." Spyro said. "It's a date then."
Spyro removed his wing and walked forward, leaving the orange farm mare alone, smiling the happiest smile she could ever have made, feeling her heart doing a flip as she realized that she had a date with a prince and a friend. But her happiness turned to shock as she realized, she had a date with a prince, groaning as she didn't know what she was going to wear for it.