Chapter 33: A Brothers Love Part 5: The Ancestors Gift
Everyone was watching as Spyro fell to the ground, the dagger in his side as he started to bleed on the deck of the ship, even Luxord was shocked to see the prince fall as he could take most hits before he considered himself to be critically injured, but he wasn't getting up and no one could see a green glow trying to heal the wound. Everyone was frozen to the ground, eyes wide in horror as their irises and pupils shrunk to pin needles as they observed their friend, barely moving as he gasped for air. Without thinking, Rainbow Dash swooped from the the helm of the ship and kicked May in the chest, sending her crashing into a group of Nobodies that had mopped up the last of the corrupt pirates, engaging her to do some damage while Rainbow Dash brought their fallen friend to the rest of the girls, all crowding around as she landed.
"Spyro, dude, you gotta get up." Rainbow Dash said, her voice cracking a bit. "This is nothing. You took way worse than this. You can heal yourself up and beat her."
"S-sorry... Lollipop." Spyro said, chuckling at the weak joke. "S-something's... messing with... m-my powers. C-can't... heal."
"The knife!" She said in a panic. "It's the knife!"
"W-wait!" Spyro said, struggling to talk.
Rainbow Dash reached down and yanked the knife out, making him yell out in agony ad she spat the dagger out, revealing it was made from black crystals, the same crystal was the same that was on the golem with black mist pouring out of it. But everyone's attention was on Spyro, who was gasping for air and was writhing in agony, trying to cover the wound with his left hand as blood poured out of it. Rainbow Dash felt her stomach crawl as she saw the red liquid pour out, looking for any sign of the green glow that would heal him, but it never came and the damage was only getting worse.
"W-why aren't you healing?" She asked, her face turning pale. "Y-you should be healing right now."
"D-dagger..." Spyro responded. "D-dark... magic..."
"The dagger?" Twilight asked, looking to the knife and seeing the dark mist coming from it. "The dagger did something to him."
"How observant of you." May said, the girls looking over to see her walking up, holding a Dusk by the neck before crushing it, turning it to light. "The dagger is made from the same crystals as that on the Golem." She picked up the dagger and spun it around, tossing it up until she grabbed it by the handle. "You see, the crystals are made of dark magic that drains the mana from whoever is nearby. In this case, I had this dagger specially made so, when I stabbed him, his powers would be drained and he wouldn't be able to heal himself. And I must thank you cyan pony, when you removed the dagger, you sealed his fate."
"What do you mean?" Rainbow Dash shouted, trying to be brave, but was shaking in fear.
"You see, you removed the single item that was keeping him from dying." She replied, shocking the cyan mare. "You see, the dagger made the wound and was the only thing keeping the blood in the body. In addition, the dagger was also long enough to pierce a lung, so if he doesn't die from blood loss, he'll probably die from a collapsed lung, suffocating on his own blood, a far more painful death than the first."
Rainbow Dash couldn't believe what she was hearing, that she had just ensured her friend would die and felt her heart break, looking back to see Twilight trying to use her own magic to heal him, but it was no use as the wound absorbed the magic, but was not healed.
"Forget about healing him you dumb equine." May said. "I also had it made to where outside magic is also absorbed by the dark magic of the crystal, preventing his healing."
"Oh, what do we do?" Rarity asked, backing away from the continuously increasing puddle of blood. "If we can't heal him with magic, then what?"
"It won't matter." She said, Rainbow Dash charging to keep her away, but got knocked away. "To make sure you can't do anything..." She then used her water magic to push the others away, knocking them away as she picked him up by the throat, squeezing as hard as she could. "I'm sending him to the bottom of the sea!"
Before she could throw him, he called his Keyblade and struck her in the chest, leaving behind a gash mark and making her drop the injured prince, making her stagger back as her dark energy healed her. She looked at the crumpled heap that is a prince, but was shocked when she saw he was getting up, shaking as he did, but standing on his own two feet, looking renewed and ready for another fight.
"How?" She asked. "You were near deaths door. You shouldn't have the strength to keep fighting. How are you standing!?"
He just smiled, looking up to the sky and seeing that it was a cloudy night, seeing that the clouds were moving away as the moon light started to shine through, looking back down to May and the rest of the girls, knowing they were going to have the biggest shock. When the moonlight washed over him, he became a skeleton, his pirate outfit shredded and massive holes in his bloodied jacket and shirt, everyone's eyes wide in surprise as their friend just changed in front of them, May included as she didn't understand how he became cursed. Everyone knew you only became cursed when you take a piece of the Aztec treasure from the chest and no one saw him take one from the chest throughout the whole fight.
"Spyro..." Twilight said, holding Scootaloo close.
"You're... a skeleton?" Rainbow Dash asked, eyes wide in surprise as he looked at his arm.
"So that's what it feels like?" Spyro asked, turning his arm and flexing his bony fingers. "That's interesting."
"How?" May asked. "You didn't take a piece of gold from the chest when I arrived. You sealed the chest to keep me from getting the gold. So how are you cursed? HOW!?"
He didn't answer, but instead reached into his pocket, pulling out a piece of the cursed Aztec gold that he did take from the case, moving it like Jack did across his fingers, showing he did take the gold piece in his left hand.
"Couldn't resist mate." Spyro said, smiling as a cloud passed over head, turning him back to normal. "Your little squid there knocked me into the chest, which surprised me when I saw it, so I decided to think a little like Jack and, give myself an advantage." The girls were in complete silence, not believing that he actually took a piece of cursed Aztec gold and kept quiet about it, not even hinting to them he had one. "True, it took a while for the curse to kick back in while that dagger was in my chest, but when Rainbow Dash pulled it out, I could feel the curse working again. Now, you can't hurt me."
He called his Keyblade back and raised it up, putting the gold coin back into his inner coat pocket and smiled at the horrified look on Mays face as she raised her Keyblade, pulling out the dagger to hit him again, but now that her trump card was known, he was going to be extra careful. Through the Force, he pulled the dagger out of her hand, reaching out to get it back, but Spyro just swiped the blade in an upward motion and destroyed the dagger, charging forward as the two reengaged in a second round of fighting, but this time every time May even so much as hit him with her Keyblade he didn't flinch as the weapon bounced off him, but when the moonlight came out and he turned into a skeleton, he went on the defensive, dodging the light until the light was gone, going back on the offensive. Luxord had finished up the enemy crew, very few of his Nobodies left and watched the fighting going down, smiling, but his fist was clenched, shaking in anger as he watched.
"He was three moves ahead." He whispered to himself. "Getting a gold piece from the chest, sealing it so May can't get one, and now he is using the curse to make himself unkillable! Clearly he has the better hand in this game, that I must respect."
The two of them kept fighting like that for a while, exchanging blows and spells as they locked blades again, their eyes meeting once more until May broke it off and jumped over the railing, some of her minions coming back as more Nobodies appeared to replace those who were destroyed in the fight, landing next to the chest as her injuries were healing. She tapped the top of the chest, breaking the seal on the chest as the lid opened, revealing the pieces of Aztec gold and looking into it, smiling.
"You know if you take a piece of cursed gold, then we'll both be cursed." Spyro shouted, Luxord standing next to him. "Two immortal undying beings locked in eternal conflict until one messes up."
"Like you." She replied, turning around to reveal a piece of cursed gold in her hand covered in blood. He wondered where she got it when a thought came to his mind, reaching into his jacket, but the gold piece was gone, realizing it was the one he took, but how it got covered in blood he didn't understand, but she tossed it in, feeling the curse being broken as he knew he lost his advantage. "Next time you hold a piece of cursed gold, don't do so when the blood on your hand is still fresh."
"D'oh!" Spyro exclaimed, face smacking himself at the dumbest thing he did. "Note to self: next time you are bloody and want to hold a piece of Aztec gold, do so in your unbloodied hand."
"There won't be a next time!" She shouted, leaping up and swinging her blade.
Their blades connected, which threw him back as he tried to keep his footing as she pelted him with a hail of savage attacks, deflecting each strike as he backed away, but she then smacked his blade out of his hand, uppercutting him before kicking him off the ship and into the water, popping his head out of the surface of the water and gasping for air. Before he could swim for the ladder, a massive tentacle shot out of the water, looming over the prince who looked at it, coming down on top of him and pulling him back down below the surface of the water. Everyone watched as the tentacle dragged him down into the water, further and further down until he was no longer in sight, the Golem releasing the ship and going beneath hr surface of the ocean to drag its victim to his watery grave.
His friends and allies watched the prince get dragged below the water, Sora and Jack surprised he got caught off guard as they sailed to position to fire the cannons, but it was the ponies who were horrified as they watched their friend get dragged away, not resurfacing as they heard May laugh maniacally.
"And that's that." She said. "Usually our magic lets us breath underwater, but due to the crystals effect and the black crystals on the Golem, his magic won't be able to come back and he will drown, not as peaceful of a death others believe it to be." Everyone looked to May, her weapon ready as Luxord got his cards ready to fight, moving in front of the ponies to put himself between them and the threat. "As for you Luxord, let's see how long you'll last."
Spyro was hacking at the Golems tentacle, breaking free for a moment before more tentacles grabbed him, dragging him deeper into the water where he won't have a chance to get away, the breath in his lungs beginning to run out as they started to hurt from lack of oxygen. He looked up to the surface of the water, seeing the light from the moon fading as they went deeper and as his lungs started to collapse, his eyes closing as the air ran out, a massive bubble coming out of his mouth as he tried to take a breath. The Golem could sense he was nearing the end and released him, heading back to the surface to let him sink deeper into the water.
"Not now." He thought to himself. "The girls, my friends, they need me." He tried calling his magic while he could, but the ark crystals draining effects were still lingering, he could barely feel his Chaos emeralds power as his vision was fading. "I need... to... fight. I... need... to..."
He could feel himself slip into an unconscious state, darkness all around him again as he could feel it reaching out to him, not even having the strength to call on the dark energy in him to save the day, finally feeling darkness taking its prize. However, a purple spark appeared in the darkness, calling out to him as if it was waiting for him. He approached the purple light, finding it was a purple crystal with a kind of living liquid in it, feeling the power coming from it as it wasn't from the Chaos emeralds and not from the Force, but from something else, something far more familiar to him yet not familiar at all.
"What... is this?" He asked. "What's this feeling? This power?"
"Aether." A female voice called out, making him turn to see an Ice dragoness with glowing cyan eyes.
"Power of the purple dragon." A male voice said, turning to his right to see an earth dragon with glowing green eyes.
"Spiritual energy of all creatures." A second female voice said, looking to his left to see a thunder dragoness, her eyes glowing yellow.
"The true power of all elements." A fourth voice said, turning around again to find a fire dragon, glowing red eyes.
All four dragons stood in place, looking at Spyro as his back was against the purple crystal, his head swiveling between the four dragons, trying to sense if they were a threat or not, but felt nothing as they showed no emotion and blocked their minds off, making it impossible for him to read what they wanted or what they were.
"Who... are you?" Spyro asked, too shocked to say anything. "I mean, I've met my light and dark sides, teaching and fighting by my side, I met a previous Prince who told me what to do, and even the master emerald and the seven chaos emeralds teaching me how to activate my super form, but who are you!?"
"We are the ones who taught the first." The Ice dragoness replied. "The first guardians who taught the Dark Master the pillars of the elements. We are, what you call, the Ancestors."
"Wait' you're the Ancestors?" He asked. "But, I don't get it. Why am I here? And what is here?"
"This is the realm between realms." The earth dragon replied. "The realm between worlds."
"World's at risk from Malefor's wrath." The fire dragon said.
"I know." Spyro replied. "Which is why I need to get back to my friends. May is going to kill them."
The Thunder dragoness leaned her head forward, looking over him as she assessed his power, though he couldn't sense her emotions, he could tell she seemed less than impressed.
"You are too weak to face the darkness." She said, pulling her head back. "No strength. You are not like the other."
"Wait what?" Spyro asked.
"Sister, please." The earth dragon said. "I sense more power in him than the original."
"Yet he is too afraid to use it." The thunder dragoness replied.
"Enough." The fire dragon said. "He knows the dangers of his power. He is like the original, more powerful than him, but just as caring and humble."
"Ok, back up, who are you talking about?" Spyro asked.
"The dragon whose name you took, human." The thunder dragoness replied. "You took his name, yet you are too scared to use your full strength."
"Guardian, enough." The ice dragoness replied. "Tell us human, when you took the name of Spyro, why would you do so?"
He didn't know how he could answer as he did wish to honor the original Spyro by using his name, but couldn't get the words out, making himself look like an idiot in front of the Ancestors. The thunder guardian was taking great pleasure in his silence, believing he didn't have a good reason, but the earth guardian looked into Spyro's mind as did the ice and fire, looking through his memories and understanding.
"To honor a great dragon, understanding their fights and struggles is to hold their memory." The fire dragon said. "You use your power with great restraint, yet you are not afraid to use it."
"You and the original are more alike than we first believed." The earth dragon said. "And nothing like Malefor."
"Which is why you are here." The ice dragoness said. "To see if you are ready."
"Ready?" Spyro asked. "Ready for what?"
"You are going to be tested." The thunder dragoness replied. "You hold the four elemental pillars to use the power of the Aether: fire, electricity, ice, and earth. The true power of the purple dragon is the Aether as it is limitless power of our world. Should you be strong enough, Malefor and his armies will crumble as the only limit to your power is yourself and what you can do. If you are too weak, well..."
"Well what" Spyro asked, not liking where it was going.
"You will loose your power as the purple dragon." The ice dragoness replied. "That means you will no longer be the purple dragon and you will no longer have the power to call upon your dragonic blood."
"Wait, if the Aether finds me to be too weak or unworthy, I'll loose my dragon magic!?" Spyro asked in complete shock.
"It is a risk that one must take." The fire dragon said. "Will the Aether accept you and will your power grow beyond what it is now or will you be stripped of your power and of your title as the purple dragon?"
Spyro looked at the four dragons, three of which seemed to be hoping he'd succeed while the fourth looked like she wanted him to fail and wondering what he ever did to her. A moment later, he looked back at the crystal, seeing the liquid moving in it as feeling nervous as he raised his hand to the crystal, feeling the power in it as if was waiting for him to touch it. He wanted to run and see if he could keep his power, hoping he'd keep the purple dragons power, but then his thought went back to his friends. See them happy and the fun, adventures, and the journey they were on now, how they willingly came with him just to save Scootaloo and now were in danger because of him.
He found the courage to do what he needed to do before, sharing everything with them and even going out with them from time to time, sometimes he took them out on his missions, other times between missions he'd take them on dates, knowing he'd protect them no matter what. Then he remembered his promise to Rainbow Dash, the promise he made to her weeks ago for their first official date together, was he really going to run? Was he really going to run and let her down, let them all down?
Without even thinking, he touched the crystal, making it glow a purple light, yelling out in agony as the power of the Aether flowed through him, making the three guardians who have hope for him look on in terror while the thunder guardian just looked pleased with herself, knowing he was going to fail when the light got brighter, shocking her. The light got brighter and brighter, surrounding him in the light as it grew, all the guardians reaction the same, shocked and surprised.
"What is this?" The ice dragoness asked. "This power... it's different. The Aether... it's..."
"Not possible." The fire dragon said. "The Aether... it came to the purple dragon in times of need, yes. But this... this is completely different. It's... not just pure. It's..."
He couldn't finish as the light shined brighter than ever before, blinding them as the entire room was engulfed in light. Back on the ship, Luxord was barely able to keep up with May after they started fighting, transformed into her corrupted Valor form as she hacked and slashed at him, severely injuring him as his troops came to his aid to try and stop her, but with her dark power infused into her Drive, she was untouchable, slashing through the Dusks and Assassins that attacked her head on while deflecting the laser fire from the Snipers. She approached the downed Organization member, smiling at her triumph, then looked over to the ponies, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Twilight in front of their friends to protect them and protect Spyro's sister, her smile growing darker as she approached the seven of them, her Keyblades engulfed in dark magic as she approached.
"Your precious prince was so weak." She said. "He relies on you to help him win his fights, he used the cursed treasure to get an advantage, and now he has died a painful death below the sea. If you ask me, the worlds are better off without him." She then raised her blade to attack, her yellow eyes turning red as she took pleasure in finishing them off. "But don't worry, you'll be joining him very soon!"
"May!" Sora shouted, blocking her attack as she swung.
"And you, the one who failed his Mark of Mastery." She continued. "You fell into darkness, you lost a large majority of your power, and you allowed Xehanort to trick you, almost becoming his minion. What kind of Keyblade bearer are you? You don't take anything seriously, you always joke around, you act like a child all the time, it's embarrassing."
"Is there any point you're going to say something bad about me?" Sora asked, knocking the blade away and locking his Keyblade to hers. "Spyro and I always know when to have a good time. Because that's how we are. We don't take things seriously, yes, but that's when we are at our best. If you take things too seriously, not enjoying what you're doing and not finding fulfillment in what you do, then you're in the wrong place and doing the wrong job. We always have fun, we make friends, we make lasting memories, and we enjoy doing what we do. Know why?" He then broke off the lock and swung, landing a solid blow to her chest and causing her to stagger, looking at the young warrior as he defended his friends and ally. "Because we can and we have no regrets about doing so."
She looked to the Golem, nodding her head to destroy the ship, so it raised two massive arms above the ship, ready to smash them against the deck to sink the vessel, but it then froze, looking up pass the rear of the vessel, something catching its attention. May then leapt up the mast, looking to where it was to see a small pool of purple and white light in the middle of the water, the corrupted pirates and the helmsmen looking to, feeling the power coming form it. The strange actions caused the ponies, Nobodies, and the Keyblade warrior to look where they were looking to see the pool of light, starting to grow bigger and bigger as it reached the surface, but when it did, the water around it evaporated as a pillar of purple and white light shot up, tendrils of purple mist coming off the light as the water around the beam of light evaporated and turned purple around it. It was then everyone, even the non magical ponies could feel the power coming from the pillar of light as it pierced the clouds and sent a ripple through the sky, sending a shock wave of power through it as that same power passed over other worlds, everyone from allies and friends to enemies looked to the sky, feeling the sudden wave of warmth pas over them.
In the center of the pillar, Spyro levitated in the pillar, rising high above the water as the tendrils of purple mist came off him and ignited into an aura of purple flames and light, his arms covered in a purple aura as his hair was waving around, filled with pure power, touching down onto the water and walking across it, the pillar disappearing. Everyone who was there was shocked to see that he was alive, even Jack who was piloting the Pearl away from the fight couldn't help but feel like continuing to fight. At the helm, everyone looked at him in total surprise, joy and happiness filling their very being to see their friend was alive and was coming towards them, but it was Twilight, Luxord, and May who were absolutely frozen as they could feel all the power coming off him, a power that they couldn't explain as it was nothing they saw before, but May was clenching her fist o the rope she was hanging on, gritting her teeth as she couldn't;t believe what was happening.
"Spyro!" She hissed. "He's like a cat. He has nine lives." She looked back to the Golem, anger filling her being as she glared murderous daggers at the giant pile of earth and darkness. "Get in there and kill him! And this time, make sure it's done properly or I'll destroy you myself!"
The Golem nodded its head, diving below the water and rising back up, sending multiple tentacles with dark magic crystals covering them at the approaching prince, but instead of making contact, he just moved to his left, dodging the first one, moving to the right to dodge the second attack, but grabbed the third tentacle, the dark mist traveling from the crystals to Spyro to weaken them, but the mist was evaporated and the black crystals cracking. As he held onto the tentacle, cracks started to appear across the tentacle he was holding, purple light shining out of the cracks until the tentacle exploded, a shock wave of force shooting out that knocked everyone off their feet, getting up to see the Golem screeching out in pain as it retreated from Spyro, fear taking over as May looked on, horror in her eyes at what she saw.
"How?" She asked. "What kind of power is this? What has he awoken?"
"Captain." The helmsmen said. "His power is beyond what we can handle. We must retreat."
"Not without the chest!" She shouted, leaping off the mast to dive towards the stone chest.
However, Spyro reached out with the Force, grabbing her before she got even a foot down the mast, squeezing his hand as she was being crushed, feeling all the pressure around her body breaking everything before being thrown into her ship, leaving a massive hole in the hull as she crashed into the nearby mountain, landing on a ledge as she looked down, her vessel trying to get away. But that was not meant to be as he lifted off the waters surface, levitating up into the air as he took in a deep breath, releasing a beam of purple and white light, burning like fire as it struck the ship, destroying it and vaporizing the corrupted crew as they shrieked in agony from the light burning then.
"What power." Luxord said. "The power of the cosmos. Power of the purple dragon in its purest form. Power to purify and create, bringing life to any world that the prince is unable to achieve." He smiled to himself, watching as Spyro was floating towards the Golem as it was preparing to defend itself. "The power of the Aether."
The Golem had just pressed itself against the Nobody vessel, backed into a corner as it stared at the prince with the power of the Aether surrounded him, the power fused with his body and coming off him as he raised his arms to where they were fully extended and even with his shoulders, both his regular Keyblade in his right hand, the power of the Aether infused in it as the blade glowed with a purple aura and his Ultima weapon in his left hand where it also glowed with the power of the Aether. He rested the Ultima weapon over his shoulders while he lowered his Keyblade, resting at his side as he glared at the Golem, who lunged towards him with all tentacles, but he dodged many of them, flying into the air with both arms by his side until multiple tentacles surrounded him, but he just spun around as the massive rock and water arms tried to grab him, being sliced to bits and evaporating into dust as it pulled its arms back.
The Golem shrieked in pain as retracted its arms, but Spyro just grabbed one of the retreating arms and pulled it, pulling the Golem out of the water and spinning it in the air before throwing it into a nearby rock formation, the formation collapsing on top to the massive dark creature as he just flew at it, the Golem swinging it's tentacles wildly to hit him, but he just dodged mid-air, grind railing the massive rocky arm towards the corrupted island come to life. It then massive columns of water at him to knock him off, but he just spun his Keyblades in his hand, blocking the incoming water before leaping over a crystal barrier and firing a column of purple fire at the cluster of dark crystals, setting it ablaze and making the massive rock creature recoil and retreat to the water as the damage was being done, the black crystals shattering as the flames continued to burn. Once it did retreat into the water, it swam as deep as it could before sending more columns of water at him, fused with dark magic for extra damage, but Spyro just moved to his right and through the Force, redirected the water away from him and back to where it came from, purifying the dark energy from it and putting his own magic, the water turning purple as it flew back into the sea.
A minute later, the Golem was forced out of the sea, flying into the air as the purple water pushed it out, breaking off chunks of rock and darkness of it as it howled in pain as the purple light busted through its body. When it was out of the water, he conjured multiple black clouds as electricity arced actions them and then shot out, hitting the golem as thousands of volts of lightning coursed through the water in its body and breaking off a few more arms, the crystal cluster on its head shattering as thousands of crystals flew off it and turned to dust, the massive rock beast falling back to the water as a tidal wave went sailing to the Nobody vessel, everyone bracing for impact, but Spyro appeared in front of the vessel and the tidal wave being split in two as the two halves went around the vessel. Everyone on the ship looked at their friend, surprised to see the aura around him and the purple aura around his arms, floating above their vessel, but not having his wings or using his super form.
"Spyro..." Rainbow Dash said, getting his attention. "What...?"
"It alright girls." Spyro replied, turning his attention back to the golem. "I'm right here. I'm ok."
"But, that power..." Twilight asked, feeling all the energy coming off him.
"A gift." Spyro replied. "From the ancestors."
He then flew off towards the downed golem, the massive pile of rock barely able to stand as it tried to pull itself back into the water, but was lifted into the air again when Spyro reached out with the force, throwing it high up as four ethereal purple dragons flew out of the water, heading straight for the golem as they breathed fire, electricity, ice, and earth on the golem, the giant slab of earth screeching out in agony, the last of the massive cluster of crystals breaking apart to reveal the core that was keeping it alive and wiggling as it tried to defend itself, but Spyro just threw both his Keyblades at the golem, the two blades encasing themselves in the power that Spyro was wielding as it sliced through the last of it's tentacles, exposing the core as he the Keyblades appeared back in his hands. When he was close, he raised his blades above his head as he poured all the Aether o]power into them, plunging the Keyblades deep into the core as it cracked, the purple light flooding out as the Golem exploded into thousands of pieces. As he flew down, he looked over to a chunk of earth and saw a chest buried in it, reaching over and grabbing the chest, the rest of the corrupted earth turning to dust as the Golem faded from existence.
Back on the Nobody vessel, the girls saw the massive explosion in the air, holding their breath as they waited for any sign of their friend as they saw the golem turn to dust, the dirt and ash covering the sky as it fell to the ground. They about lost hope that their friend had survived, but then saw a pair of glowing wings through the ash, Spyro flying down to them with a gold and red chest in his hands, cheering as they saw he was alive and well, landing on the deck next to the cursed Aztec gold, setting his chest down as the power he was wielding had finally worn off, feeling the draining effects immediately, not feeling his powers. Everyone ran up to the young prince, watching as he sat down to catch his breath, but were just glad he was ok, even Rainbow Dash as she just flew past everyone and tackled him, holding him in a bear hug as tears went down her cheeks, happy he's ok.
"Heh, what happened to the 'I'm not the sappy type' kind of attitude?" He asked.
"Shut up lizard boy!" She exclaimed, still hugging him as the other joined in.
"We really thought we lost ya sugarcube." Applejack said. "But ya'll are more elusive than Winnona trying to avoid taking a bath."
"We're just glad you're ok." Fluttershy said.
Everyone kept hugging him, enjoying the moment with his friends when Scootaloo came running up, jumping up and joining in the hug, eveyrone happy that it was finally over. The Nobody vessel sailed with the Pearl back to Port Royale, docking at the port as they unloaded the chest of cursed treasure off the ship and onto the pier where everyone was at the edge, keeping an eye on the Dusks as they carried it to the forest.
"You sure you can keep it safe Spyro?" Jack asked. "I mean, that treasure is nothing to laugh about. And it is very tempting to use its curse."
"If we leave it here, May will just find it again." Spyro relied. "Though the Isle De La Muerta is no more, that won't stop her from finding you and taking your compass to find it."
"He makes a solid point." Luxord replied. "The World order was founded so those with dark hearts wouldn't know the existence of other worlds. But that rule was broken a long time ago."
"And removing the Aztec Gold from this world is really ok?" Twilight asked. "Won't there be repercussions because we removed it?"
"Usually removing items and things people won't miss is not a problem." Spyro replied. "Removing key items and people, that will have repercussions. But I can sense, though my powers are limited, that the treasures role in this world is done. Everyone knows the Isle De La Muerta has been reclaimed by the sea, so they won't be looking for it."
"And as far as young William is concerned, the treasure was buried at sea when Sora, Spyro and I dropped it in the ocean." Jack added. "As far as anyone's concerned, that treasure is lost at sea."
Everyone walked to the chest where the Dusks had set it down, lifting the lid to find that the gold was still there, all of it, except for the piece the monkey took, which he didn't mind as it was already being used.
"So, how are we going to get it back to the ship?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Well, I am still weak from using the Aether's power, but I still have enough magic to get us back to the ship." Spyro responded. "All we need is a save point." He then turned to Luxord, who he and his Nobodies opened a dark corridor and walked through, the Organization member turning to face him before leaving. "Luxord, thanks for the help."
"Don't mention it." He replied. "This player has played his cards, and you had the better hand, winning the entire pot. We will meet again, maybe as friends, maybe as enemies. It all depends on the next hand that is dealt."
He walked through the dark corridor, the dark portal closing behind him as Jack walked back to his ship, taking the helm as the sails were unfurled, catching the wind in the sails.
"Jack, sorry about not getting your treasure." Spyro said. "Wish I could have gotten a chest or two full on non-cursed gold before destroying the island."
"Don't worry about it mate." Jack replied. "There will always be other opportunities. But right now, I have another matter to attend to. Ye best take care of yer mates. We'll meet again and next time, we're going to be celebrating with some rum, savy?"
"Heh, aye-aye, Captain Sparrow." Spyro replied, saluting to the pirate captain as he sailed off back to the sea.
Back in the Dragons Crest, Spyro used a hover pad to transfer the stone chest to a secured containment room were he strapped it down and made sure it wouldn't move before returning to the cockpit, sitting down in his chair as Sora came up on his screen with Goofy and Donald next to him.
"Well, looks like it's mission accomplished." Sora said, leaning back with his arms behind his head. "A lot more excitement than I thought it'd be."
"Says you." Donald said. "You jumped over to the ship, leaving me and Goofy to steer the ship."
"Hey, someone had to keep them safe." Sora replied. "I didn't trust Luxord to do it. Anyway, you going to be ok there Spyro? You used a lot of power there when fighting the Golem."
"Still feeling weak, my connection to the elements of the purple dragon is faint." Spyro replied. "When using the power of the Aether, the more energy you use, the higher the toll it is on the purple dragon. Though I have used a lot of power before, so I should have my dragon magic back soon. But now that I can use it, I might need to practice with it, learn how much of it I can use and how I can use more of it without exhausting myself. But what about you?"
"We're heading back to the Mysterious Tower." Sora replied. "And we aren't going alone." The screen then but back to May, unconscious and surrounded by three crystals that seemed to be expelling the dark magic in her to keep her from fighting. "We're taking May back to Master Yen Sid. Maybe he can help her."
"I doubt it." Spyro replied. "When we fought the last couple of times, I couldn't feel any light in her. I don't think she can be helped."
"Don't say that." Sora said. "You saved a princess from loosing herself to darkness, and you freed your friends from a dark spell. If you can save them from darkness, and if I can help my friend forgive himself and find his light, then we can do the same for her." As he said it, the screen on his ship blinked blue, indicating that the engines were ready to go. "Well, looks like we're ready to warp. Catch you next time."
"Yeah, see you around." Spyro replied, the transmission ending as the Highwind warped away.
Everyone watched as the red and yellow ship entered warp space, remaining silent while Spyro typed in the coordinates for Equestria, letting the engines charge up as he turned his seat, looking at the chest in the middle of the room. The gold chest had a small area section in it with what looked like a miniature brazier with a flammable substance in it, however his dragon magic was still too weak for him to use it, so he tapped a couple of buttons and a small lighter came out of the arm rest, walking over to the chest and lighting it.
"Really?" Rainbow Dash asked. "A lighter?"
"I don't smoke." Spyro replied. "But that doesn't mean it won't light other things too."
A moment later, the chest lite up, sections of the chest shining, imaged appearing and runes lighting up across the edging of the chest until multiple circles appeared, looking like a maze where you need to direct the current to the center of all the circles with four different lights.
"Oh great, a puzzle." Rainbow Dash said. "That's for eggheads."
"Rainbow Dash, puzzles are good for you." Spyro replied, working on the puzzle in front of him. "They keep your mind sharp."
"Yeah right." Rainbow Dash said, walking up to him. "Besides, what's in this thing anyway?"
"Is it jewels?" Rarity asked, lights in her eyes.
"Ooh, ooh, maybe it's full of candy!" Pinkie said.
"Why would it be full of candy?" Twilight asked. "It would have melted a long time ago."
"You never know!" Pinkie replied, hopping up and down.
Ignoring the random pink pony, Spyro managed to move the first circle to where the four lights reached the second circle, moving the second circle around to open the chest. As he got the second circle taken care of, the computers lights lit up, letting him know the ship was ready to enter warp space, so he got up and went over to the computer, giving the command to warp as the ship entered warp space. When he turned around to finish the puzzle, Twilight was already on it, turning two of the remaining three circles until she reached the last one, turning it and about to finish the puzzle, but Spyro just grabbed her hoof, much to her shock, and pulled it away from the circle, annoying her.
"Spyro, I was almost done." She exclaimed, annoyed at him. "I wanted to help you finish it."
"And I appreciate it, but you girls might want to clear out of the cockpit." Spyro said, confusing them.
"And why should we?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Unless you want your lungs full of Dioxis, I'd clear out if I were you." Spyro said.
"Dioxis?" Fluttershy said, backing away as she didn't like the sound of it. "What's that?"
"It's a toxic gas, lethal to most carbon based life forms." Spyro replied. "These runes aren't just for decoration. It's Dragonic script, written as a warning to anyone who opens it that if they do, they'll be inhaling a whole lot of Dioxis."
As he read it, everyone ran out of the room, looking in as they peaked around the corner, waiting for him. He was glad they didn't stick around and turned the circle, everyone shocked as the chest opened up and released a green and white gas, containment protocols activating as the doors slammed shut, cutting the ponies from him as they gasped in horror.
"Are you kidding me!?" Rainbow Dash shouted. "He knew the gas was toxic and he opened it anyway!? What's wrong with him!?"
"Spyro! Spyro!" Twilight shouted, pounding on the door. "Are you ok!? Say something!?"
A moment later, the blinking red lights that indicated the room was filled with toxic gas stopped blinking, the alarms deactivated and the door opened, the girls running in to find that he was ok and had the chest fully open.
"Spyro, you're ok!" Scootaloo shouted, running up to him.
"Of course I'm ok." He replied, scratching her behind the ear. "Why wouldn't I be?"
"Because you opened the chest!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "Usually I take a lot of risks, but you, you take the cake."
"Spyro, what possessed you to open it when it warned you there was toxic gas?" Twilight asked, leering at him.
"Three reasons." He replied, holding up three fingers. "One: The ship as containment protocols to which, if there is a toxic or hazardous material, whether its solid, liquid, or gas, it takes said item to a containment unit to be disposed of later. Two: My elemental powers might be weak, but I can still use poison and it made me immune to most toxic and poisonous materials, so Dioxis is nothing more than a sniff of the tulips. And three: it's expired."
"Huh?" Twilight said, confused as a screen popped up to reveal the Dioxis chemical compound.
"Though I barely managed to pass chemistry, I know enough to know this stuff has expired." Spyro answered. "Most chemicals have a life expectancy outside of containment and storage. If not stored properly, they loose their potency and become obsolete. Dioxis is no exception. It is a gas, so when stored in a humid location, like the caves in the Isle De La Muerta, they loose their potency and lethality, making it harmless. However, that doesn't mean all gas will become harmless in humid areas, so don't assume that will happen."
"Dude, too much geek." Rainbow Dash said, hovering in the air.
"So, what's in the chest!?" Pinkie asked, running up to see what was in it.
He walked over and reached in, the girls expecting some kind of treasure, but instead he pulled out a tome, all but Twilight groaning when they saw the book.
"A book?" Rainbow Dash said. "Toxic gas to protect a book?"
"More than one Rainbow." Spyro replied. "And these aren't ordinary books. They're from my personal library. Spells, information, hexes, curses, instructions to brew some potions, and more. Trust me, knowledge is both powerful and dangerous if used incorrectly."
"Books!?" Twilight exclaimed, rushing to get the first one she can before using his hand to hold her back.
"Easy Twilight, my eyes only." Spyro replied, hearing her grumble. "Don't worry, I'll make it up to you."
"Promise?" She asked.
"Promise." Spyro replied, the lavender unicorn walking over and hugging him.
"Yeah, yeah, mushy stuff aside, how long until we get home?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Same amount of time it took us to get here." Spyro replied. "Until then, you're free to do what you like. Just don't play anything violent in the theater room if Scootaloo joins you. Comedy and cartoons are ok."
As he said it, the girls ran out of the cockpit to do what they wanted to do, AJ and Rainbow probably going back to finish their shows, Rarity and Fluttershy probably heading back to the simulation room. However, Twilight and Pinkie stayed with him and Scootaloo, the filly hoping onto his lap and the two started laughing, but a moment later, the filly yawned and her eyes started to close, trying her hardest to stay awake, but Spyro knew what happened after being in a traumatic event can do to you after the adrenaline wears off.
"Seems like somepony needs a nap." Spyro said, getting up and carrying the filly while she was on her back.
"But..." She said, yawning as she tried to talk. "I'm not... sleepy."
The filly then fell asleep, snoring quietly as she slept in her big brother's arms. He smiled at the little filly and couldn't help but chuckle a bit, the two ponies with him also smiling with him. The three of them walked out of the cockpit and went down the hall, passing the theater room and the simulator room as they went by, but found that all four of the ponies were watching old AFV videos, laughing at some of the fails from people who recorded them trying to do something awesome or down right stupid. Walking past, they arrived in the sleeping quarters, the door opening for them as he set the filly down on one of the beds, turning a dial to turn the lights off and another to release some lavender aroma into the air to help her sleep, covering her up as the filly took his hand and held it like a stuffed toy. He couldn't help but smile, slowly taking his hand away and putting a stuffed Pegasus next to her, backing away slowly and out the room as the doors closed.
"After what happened to her today, she needs to rest." Spyro said, turning to the two mares. "But, I'm just glad she's safe."
"We all are." Twilight replied. "You're a good brother. Dropping everything to come save your sister."
"That's what family is for." Spyro replied. "Some people, and ponies, forget that. Family will always drop what they are doing to help and be there when you need it. Sure tempers will flare and hurtful things will be exchanged, but in the end, your family is your family, they will do whatever it takes to help and love you."
The two ponies walked up and hugged him, whether it is by the waist or on his leg, he knelt down and hugged them too, glad that they were there to support him. He then told them to join the others if they wanted to while he went back to the cockpit to make sure they don't get ambushed on their way to Equestria, walking to his seat and sitting down while he reached into the chest and pulled out a book at random, letting autopilot take command as he looked at the book, but found that it was completely different from his other tomes. The insignia on the cover wasn't the black and white dragons, but was instead a phoenix with a gold right eye and a silver left eye, so he opened the book to see what it was about but was shocked by what he saw as the first thing on it was about the Prince's light and how it can be used and what it does, turning each page until he found something interesting, reading what was written and going back to the first page after reading it.