Chapter 42: Green Isn't Your Color

A few days went by after the whole Diamond Dog incident and Rarity had managed to finish the order for Sapphire Shores, who absolutely loved them as they kept the blue sapphires but used different colored gems to go with them. But during that time, Spyro was in his Gummi Garage doing some studying as he had the week off and was looking over the new tome, finding the spells to be interesting and some potions he'd need to try later, but for now worked on the magic in the book. After a while, an alarm went off, letting him know that his new project was finally complete, marking his place ion the book and walking over to have a look at the new ship he had just built, which at that time Applejack walked in to see what he was up to when she saw the holographic display show the new ship. The design was similar to the Fear Factor vessel she saw when Spyro was being corrupted, but instead of a red crystal it had a yellow one instead and the whole ship was redone, red and yellow paint, fewer weapons, medium engines, and a sleeker build to it to allow maneuverability in the air.

"Ah, AJ." Spyro said, walking out of the next room. "Is there something wrong?"

"Oh, no Spyro, nothing wrong." She replied. "Just wanted to see what you were doing, that's all." She then walked towards him a bit while starring at the ship, amazed by how much better it looked. "Ah see ya redesigned the Fear Factor ship."

"Yeah, wasn't too difficult." He replied. "Just removed some cannons and other weapons, relocated a few sections of the ship, replaced the Fear crystal with a Sunlight crystal for extra power and shield strength, repainted it and we have a new ship; The Phoenix."

As he said it, the floor to the hanger opened up and revealed the Phoenix was complete, revealing it to be as large as the Dragon's Crest, but with fewer weapons and a crystal exposed on the outside of it, radiating energy that coursed through the vessel. Applejack walked up to it and was amazed at how it looked, walking underneath as the loading ramp lowered down to allow anyone to board the ship.

"It's not as strong as the Dragon's Crest, but it'll do." Spyro said, walking up to it. "It's got powerful shields and a sturdy hull, almost impossible to break through. It's more of a blockade runner you could say, delivering supplies and busting through blockages."

"But why would ya need a blockage runner?" Applejack asked. "Surely there isn't a need for one, is there?"

"I wouldn't say that, exactly." Spyro replied. "Every now and then you run into a few pirates who like to block the route merchant vessels will take to plunder their goods. Always a good idea to have a tough ship to get through without taking too much damage." He walked over to the ships ramp and took his first step on the ramp before turning to face the farm mare. "I'm going to give this thing a test flight, make sure there aren't any kinks in it. Be back in a little bit."

"Sure thing sugarcube." She replied. "Ya'll be careful now."

"I always am." He replied turning around but hitting his head. "GAH! I did not see that!"

Applejack laughed at him, saying he was always careful, but ended up hitting his head anyway as he entered the ship, grumbling about fixing that later. As he got into the cockpit, the screens lit up, running diagnostics on the ships status from weapons to the shields and the engines, all showing them to be in good condition and ready to go. He initiated the start up sequence and the engines roared to life, slowly lifting up from the floor and flying out of the garage, zooming above the clouds and to the out edge of the world, turning back to human again as the ship orbited the world.

"AIVA, what's the status of the ship?" Spyro asked.

"Weapons are online." She replied. "Shields at full strength. Thrusters at full power. The Phoenix is ready to begin its tests."

"Very well, launch the drones." Spyro said. "Let's see what this baby's got."

A minute later, smaller versions of the Highwind flew out of the Phoenix and got into firing distance, letting out some laser fire while Spyro activated the shields to see how they would hold up under fire. When the drones firing upon him, the laser fire hitting his shield and making the vessel shake a bit before maneuvering the ship, flying over the drones before returning fire to test the weapons, locking onto the drones, but they proved to be slippery little drones as they avoided his cannon fire, rolling and spinning out of the direction of fire, but the lock he had could not be broken. Pressing a command on his console, two Meteor lasers shot out and destroyed both the drones, ending the fight instantly, satisfied with his work.

"AIVA, what were the results?" Spyro asked.

"Weapons test successful." AIVA replied. "Targeting matrix needs adjusting, but can be done on a later date. Shield strength at 92% and recharging. Engine speed is adequate."

"Well not everything needs to be perfect." Spyro said, setting a course back to the garage. "Use the data to rework the ship AIVA, make improvements where ever they are needed."

"Confirmed." AIVA replied. "Returning to the garage now."

The ship then set a direct course for the garage, flying through the clouds and past a few Pegasi who waved at him as he passed by, waving back at them before reaching the garage, landing safely inside of the main hanger. As he got off, he ducked his head to not hit it again before heading out into town to meet up with his friends for lunch like they planned a few days ago, meeting up at the boutique, but as he arrived at the Boutique, he saw the door was open and went in, finding Fluttershy wearing a black and pink cape wearing a hat made with pink feathers having her photo taken by a cyan earth pony with a white mane and wearing a black dress with black and purple glasses, snapping photos of the yellow Pegasus. However, every time Fluttershy took a pose, the mare would say no and Fluttershy would be discouraged, becoming timid, but when she did, the mare would take a photo of her being timid. Not wanting to be in the way, he walked over to Twilight and Pinkie Pie, who were watching, but a moment later, the lights came back on and the flash photography ended.

"Enough!" The mare said, the camera turning into a suit case as she left with two other ponies.

"What was that about?" Spyro asked. "And who was she?"

"That was Photo Finish." Twilight replied. "She's a famous fashion photographer here in Equastria."

"And she saw my latest hat, which I made myself." Rarity said, helping Fluttershy out of the dress. "She wanted to get some photos of some of my designs and clothing."

"I'm sorry Rarity." Fluttershy said. "I tried my best."

"Oh, it's quite alright Fluttershy dear." Rarity said. "The head dress was too big and the cape had too much sparkle. I can;t believe I thought I could impress her."

Spyro looked over to the entrance, finding the mare was talking with her assistants about something and then saw she looked back to them before talking to them again.

"I don't think she's interested in the clothes." Spyro said, Twilight and Pinkie looking at him.

"It seems that I, Photo Finish, have found the next fashion star here in Ponyville." She said, making Spyro face hoof himself.

"Sometimes I hate it when I'm right." Spyro said to himself.

"Do not hate yourself my friend." She replied. "For you see I will help her to shine all over Equestria." Rarity looked like she was going to explode from excitement, making a squeaking noise that sounded like a dogs chew toy. "Tomorrow, a photo shoot in ze park... I go."

She then took off and her two companions followed after her, running to keep up with the photographer and a moment later, Rarity running to the door and looking out,watching as Photo Finish left and was looking very happy.

"Did you hear that?" She asked. "She say's I'm going to shine all across Equestria."

"Rare, I don't think she was-" Spyro tried to say, but got interrupted.

"Oh, Rarity, I was so worried I ruined everything." Fluttershy said.

"Oh, never Fluttershy." She replied. "I knew you were perfect for the role."

A second later, she started to jump up and down excitedly, squealing in pure joy as she jumped on Spikes tail, the little guy taking the abuse as he gazed lovingly at Rarity, not caring about the pain. Twilight and Spyro both rolled their eyes and the mare dragged Spike away so his tail wasn't getting smashed by Rarity in her fit of excitement, the little dragon still gazing at the fashion mare. After a while, they went out to celebrate the good news at a great restaurant and listened to Rarity spouting how excited she was to be shining across Equestria, even saying she knew the exact outfits she was going to use for the photo shoot tomorrow, but Spyro knew that the photo shoot wasn't for Rarity and he wanted to tell her, but before he could say anything she paid for the meals and ran off, leaving the group together to talk about the photo shoot.

Spyro however left them alone and returned to the farm to get to work on his ship, making the needed modifications and then worked on smaller versions of the ship to use for support in a fight if he needed it, which would supply the extra firepower the vessel was lacking for combat. The next day, he was hard at work making the Teeny ships, getting the first one constructed and making the needed modifications when Applejack came in, watching him work on the vessel and walked in, standing next to him as he swiped on the screen to diagnose the ship to make sure nothing bad happened before making the next one.

"What's this?" She asked.

"A Teeny ship." Spyro replied. "A smaller version of the main vessel. Added support for when the pilot gets overwhelmed. They're automated ships that target any and all enemy vessels without needing a pilot. I'm planning on adding four of them to this ship to provide extra support." As he was completing the diagnostic, a red tag popped up, tapping it to reveal there was an issue with the engines stabilizer. "Hmm, seems the stabilizer isn't responding. Need to get a new one and replace it. And it seems the targeting matrix is also on the fritz. Better get that taken care of before testing."

"Or what would happen?" Applejack asked, backing away.

"Well, it would be attacking anyone and anything its ocular lenses would observe." Spyro answered. "But since it's in safety mode, it shouldn't go off. Unless the safety mode disengages on its own." As he said it, an alarm went off, telling him that its thrusters had engaged and were charging up, making him groan. "Me and my big mouth."

He leapt up onto the Teeny ship to pull it's power core out before it could take off, but unfortunately for him, it's thrusters activated and flew out of the garage with him still on it, screaming as he held on for dear life. In the park, Rarity had just gotten Fluttershy into a new outfit, a white suit with blue crystals all over it and seemed to be a winter themed kind of outfit.

"Oh yes, Photo Finish will love that." Rarity said. "No, everypony is going to love it."

"Oh, I'm so excited for you Rarity." Fluttershy said. "Don't forget us little ponies when you become a famous fashion designer."

A moment later, Photo Finish arrived with her two assistants and saw the outfit Fluttershy was in, shaking her head in disapproval.

"No, no no no no!" She said. "The model should be in something simple. Something inspired by... The Nature."

As she said it, everyone heard someone screaming and engines running, looking up to see something flying out of control in the middle of the air, busting through clouds and flying in many different directions as someone was hanging onto the out of control machine and it took a nose dive and pulled up inches off the ground. The rocket got closer, Rarity and Fluttershy finding that it was Spyro holding onto something while also opening a panel to look for something else, looking up to see the fast approaching mares and his head shot up.

"Get out of the way!" He shouted. "Got no control!"

Without a second thought, everyone moved out of the way of the speeding ship as he tried pulling up to get it off the ground, just barely pulling up high enough to avoid the fountain before it started to spin around trying to throw him off, but he held on, hugging the body of the ship in fact and still holding on until it took a nose dive again to try and throw him off again. Using his hind legs to hold on, he reached back into the hull of the Teeny ship to find what he was looking for and found a glowing yellow orb, recognizing it at the power core and used his magic to disconnect the power core, smiling as he got it and pulled out to use his wings to safely glide it to a place without any ponies, but the Teeny ships engines were still active, surprising him as it should have deactivated.

"Ok, this is really bad." Spyro said, still holding onto the ship. "Ok, plan B."

He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a dual sided Amethyst colored handle with dragon heads on head side with a gold trim. He clocked the button on the side and a purple plasma blade shot out, turning around and cutting the engines off, letting the cone shaped thruster fly out of control until it exploded in mid air, smiling that it worked, but then remembered he was still on the ship, joy turning into shock and fear as he looked behind him and ended up crashing into the earth while also damaging a tree branch. Everyone ran to the crash site, finding the entire ship was in ruins as there were a few blocks scattered everywhere and the cannons destroyed and the miniature cockpit was smashed. Out of the rubble, Spyro dug himself out of the blocks, hanging himself out of the rubble and looking at the crowd of ponies, chuckling a bit and shaking from experience.

"Spyro, are you alright?" Rarity asked.

"Yeah, I survived worse." Spyro replied, putting his lightsaber away. "I mean, honestly that could have been worse." A second later, he heard something cracking above him and looked up, seeing the damaged branch was creaking and then snapped off, falling towards him. "Oh son of a-"

The branch landed right on top of the ruined ship and on top of him, making everyone jump and grimacing from the impact, some even making sounds of surprise and pain as, even though they diode;t get hit by it, they could feel how painful that must have been. They wanted t go over and help, but the branch them moved on its own, Spyro lifting it up and tossing it away before hoping out and cracking his neck and back, loud enough to where everyone winced from the sound.

"Still not use to that." Rarity said. "Spyro dear, you ok?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine." Spyro replied. "As I said, I've survived worse."

"Oh Spyro, I'm glad you're ok." Fluttershy said.

"Well, now that the distraction is out of the way, let us get started." Photo Finish said.

"Oh yes, no problem Ms. Finish." Rarity said. "Give me a moment and I will have something whipped up for the shoot."

"That will not be necessary." Photo Finish said.

"What, but how will you help me shine across Equestria?" Rarity asked.

"I'm not going to help you shine!" Photo Finish said, shocking Rarity. "I'm going to help her." She pointed at Fluttershy, surprising both her and Rarity, but Spyro knew that was who she was referring to, walking over to Rarity. "She is my star. You, go!"

Photo Finish walked away from Rarity, her assistants pushing the timid mare away and left Rarity emotionally broken as he could feel the pain and sadness in her eyes as she was about to cry. Walking over to the depressed mare and was going to wrap his wing around her, but the mare just hugged him before he could do anything, hugging her back as she started to cry.

"She... she just..." Rarity started it say, but couldn't finish.

"It's ok Rare, I'm right here." Spyro said, using his gentle voice. "It's not the end of the world."

He wanted to do what he could to cheer her up, but Rarity left him be and went over to where Photo Finish had put the suit Rarity made, thrown away and discarded like garbage, adding insult to injury after being rejected. She walked over and picked up the suit, sighing in despair as she hung the clothing back up onto the rack while Fluttershy was being suited with a green see through cape with a flower pattern on it and a head band with many different flowers on it. When she was fitted and was ready to go, she looked back and approached the two of them with a timid look after Rarity had put the suit up, turning to see her friend.

"Rarity, I don't know if I can do this." Fluttershy said.

"Oh, but you must Fluttershy darling." Rarity said. "After all, Photo Finish is going to make you a star. It's the opportunity of a life time. We both wished it was my life time, but nonetheless, you cannot pass this opportunity up." She then looked up at her, a crazed look in her eye as she looked. "You must do this for me. You must. You must. You must!"

"Rarity." Spyro said, calling her down. "Fluttershy, I know this isn't what you wanted and I can tell. Remember, just follow your heart and you will know the right path when it comes to you."

Fluttershy looked down at the dirt ground, thinking about what he said and what to do, she didn't want to disappoint her friend as she worked hard to do what she could to be recognized in the fashion world and wanted to make her dream come true, but also though about what Spyro said, about following her heart down the correct path, but didn't understand what he meant by when it came to her. She then saw something come out of the Teeny ships wreckage, flying into the nearby bushes, gasping.

"What was that?" She asked.

"What was what?" Spyro asked, looking where she was.

"There was a ball of black smoke coming out of that thing." She replied, backing away nervously.

"Well of course there will be smoke coming from it." Rarity replied. "After all, it is destroyed."

"Fluttershy!" Photo Finish exclaimed, turning their attention to her. "It is time to make, the magics!"

She looked back to her friends, Spyro nodding his head while Rarity gave a sheepish smile, trying to be happy for Fluttershy, but he could tell the unicorn was still hurting deep inside, watching as the yellow Pegasus walked to Photo Finish and her assistants to start the shoot. Rarity turned back to her dresses and walked to them, sighing in disappointment as she walked away before he could say anything to her to cheer her up. He knew she needed time to herself and decided to just take the destroyed Teeny ship back to the garage to get it fixed and to figure out how it was still flying without it's power core, but what he didn't notice was that the ball of smoke Fluttershy saw floated out of the bushes and towards the yellow Pegasus mare, running into the see through cape she was wearing and a pair of yellow eyes appeared for a split second, a smile with jagged teeth showed up as the face disappeared.

Back at the garage, Spyro put the Teeny ship onto a table where a set of arms came around and scanners began looking over the ruined ship to see not only the extent of the damage, but to also retrieve data on why it went rogue and how it managed to activate all on it's own, but what he was most interested in was how the engines were still on even after he detached the power core to shut off it's power supply. As the scans were being done, Applejack came back in, still unsure of the ruined ship as she didn't want to get too close to it, still remembering when the cannon fell down and nearly crippled her big brother on day one of it working.

"Glad to see yer alright." Applejack said.

"Takes more than an out of control rocket to take me out." Spyro replied, swiping on the screen to see the charts.

"Yeah, kinda figure that." She said. "Ya'll seem to have more lives than a cat."

"Maybe I do." He replied, hugging the orange mare and smiling. "Anyway, Rarity is very upset."

"What happened?" Applejack asked.

"She thought Photo Finish, the famous fashion photographer, was going to help her shine across Equestria." Spyro answered. "But it is Fluttershy she was more interested in and took her, rejecting Rarity."

"Listen, Ah don't know much about fashion, but Ah know Rarity is the best there is." Applejack said. "And you know that as well."

"Yeah, I do." Spyro replied, pressing a few buttons to continue. "I think I'm going to go check on her. Let the scanners finish up while I'm away."

He then left the garage and walked back into town, letting the scanners continue looking over the ruined hull to figure out why it went out of control and how it managed to activate it's engines without him lifting safety mode. As he walked through the town, he noticed Photo Finish was checking out other places where she could take some pictures of Fluttershy, seeing how unhappy the yellow Pegasus was, but before he could say anything to her, Photo Finish's assistants pushed her away, following the photographer to somewhere else she believes would be much better. He knew Fluttershy didn't want to be a model in the first place and was only doing this for Rarity, wishing he could tell her she didn't need to do it if she didn't want to. He then arrived at Rarity's place, about to enter the front door, but Twilight, Pinkie Pie, and Spike walked out, the mares looking back up the stairs, sensing they were worried for their friend while Spike was still having his fantasies about Rarity, literal hearts appearing around him as he looked up.

"I'm guessing she wants to be alone." Spyro said, looking up.

"Afraid so." Twilight replied. "She told us what happened in the park. About how Photo Finish sent her away and took Fluttershy to be a model."

"I've met a few mean ponies before, but she's the meanest!" Pinkie said. "I mean, I guess she isn't mean to everypony, but to just reject Rarity like that and only work with Fluttershy, not even giving her a chance is just down right rude! Maybe I could throw her a cheer you friend up party, invite all our friends and-"

"No Pinkie, she wants to be alone." Twilight said. "We need to respect her wishes."

"When someone says they want to be alone, you should never let them be alone." Spyro said. "They need a friend, even if they don't feel like they need them right now."

The girls and the baby dragon then left the boutique, leaving Spyro alone at the front door and looked up, sensing how unhappy Rarity was and knew she needed someone to talk to, but didn't want to unlock her door again with his Keyblade again as she would probably be furious with him, so he did the next best thing, took out a piece of paper and wrote something down on it, walking up to her room and slide the paper underneath the door. Rarity was looking in the mirror, looking at the black hood and cape she made and was thinking how lucky her friends was to become a model, her face being shown all across Equestria while she probably wouldn't be noticed, being seen as a reject. She then noticed a piece of paper slide underneath her bedroom door, turning around to see the paper laying on her floor, she approached it to see what was written, picking it up and recognizing the handwriting as Spyro's.

'I know you want to be alone, but know you don't need to go through this on your own. If you need someone to talk to or need a friend, just come to me and I'll listen. You know my door is always open to you guys if you need someone to talk to about your frustrations.'

The fashionista couldn't help but smile at the note, setting it down on the nightstand and thinking how kind Spyro was and how willing he is to help his friends, sacrificing his time to make sure they were ok and help out anyway he could. Over the next few days, everything has been different as there were magazines starring Fluttershy, newspaper articles with how the yellow Pegasus was a rising star, even the apples had been given a contract to advertise Fluttershy on their apple products from buckets full of apples to even raising a sign that starred Fluttershy, which he thought was a bit much, but a contract was a contract. But not everyone was as excited for Fluttershy's rise to fame as they were as Rarity was visibly unhappy, growing jealous of her as she saw her face everywhere, even seeing Rainbow Dash pulling a banner advertising Fluttershy. That afternoon, Spyro was just finishing up the last of the Teeny ships he was planning on installing into the Phoenix, adding the finishing touched to the paint when he heard someone enter the garage, looking over to see Rarity coming to him.

"Hey Rarity, what's up?" Spyro asked.

"Spyro, can I talk to you for a minute?" She asked.

"Sure thing, one moment." Spyro replied, adding the last touch of paint to the Teeny ship. "Done, now what is it you want to talk about?"

"It's about Fluttershy." She replied. "She was in my shop a little while ago, trying to hide from her fans and from the paparazzi and we talked a little bit, saying how happy she was for her new career and how she was having the best time ever, being chased by admiring fans and being known by every pony and-"

"Rare, calm down." Spyro said, sensing her anger growing. "Your frustration and anger are starting to get the best of you. Take a few deep breaths and relax." She did as he instructed, the young Pegasus breathing in and out a few times, calming herself down before sitting down. "Now tell me, did she look happy when you talked about her new career?"

"Well, no." She answered. "Now that you mention it, no she didn't."

"And when she left, did she look happy at any point?" Spyro asked, sitting down next to her.

"No, she didn't." She replied. "She's probably doing this for me because I pressured her into doing it."

"Then tell her she doesn't need to do it anymore." Spyro said. "The next time you see her, tell her how you feel and let her know she doesn't need to do it if she doesn't want to."

"Why don't you tell her then." She replied. "You might be the only one who could probably get to see her. You're royalty after all. You could manage an invite."

"Maybe, but I think it'll have a bigger impact if it's from you." Spyro responded. "She's doing this for you, so it's you who can let her know she doesn't need to do it anymore, telling her how you feel, and she will more than understand."

Rarity thought abut it for a moment, back to when she did pressure Fluttershy into doing it for her and knew he was right, she was doing this for her as it was her dream, not Fluttershy's, to be well known all across Equestria and to be adored by everyone. She hugged the young prince, smiling at him for listening to her and got up, walking to the garage door before turning around to talk to him.

"Thanks Spyro, I needed that." She said. "Fluttershy and I have our weekly spa get together today, maybe I can tell her then."

"That I think is great." Spyro said, walking to her. "I'm sure she would love to have some time with her friends and not be around makeup artists and flash photography. Honestly how models even handle those kinds of things is beyond me."

Rarity started to walk back to town and left Spyro alone to finish up with the paint, letting it dry as he went out to take in some fresh air, getting away from the fumes the paint gave off. After a little while, the fumes were gone and the paint had fully dried, walking into install the Teeny ship modules into the Phoenix when an alarm went off, immediately putting the garage on lockdown as he didn't want another episode of what happened a few days ago, but the screen show it wasn't the new ships the alarm was for, but the ruined one, the information from the ship's black box revealed there was an unknown entity in the ships control module. A moment later, an image of what took control of it popped up and he was beyond shocked as he recognized it from what Sora had told him and from the few instances he had encountered it; a Possessor. Without a moment to spare, he deactivated lockdown and ran out of the garage and into town to find the thing, but then remembered what Fluttershy had said to him, seeing a ball of smoke go into the bushes in the park, realizing she was talking about seeing the Possessor.

But what he remembered was that they only possess inanimate objects, meaning anything that was stationary no matter what it was, but depending on its size was how large the object it could possess would be. And for one to possess his Teeny ship, it would be the normal sized one that he was dealing with, but also knew they don't possess anything that was alive, so it couldn't possess the plants or animals, but the statue in the park was a good one for it to possess, but if it did possess the statue, it would start reeking havoc in the town some time ago, so he knew it wasn't there. Then he remembered the photo shoot, Fluttershy's cape, though it was a piece of clothing, was stationary when she was talking to them and didn't even move when she walked back to Photo Finish. He immediately ran to the Spa, hoping to catch Fluttershy there and ran her about the possible danger she was in and arrived a few minutes later, walking in just as Lotus walked out from the next room and saw him.

"My prince." She said, bowing to him. "How may we help you today?"

"I need to find Rarity and Fluttershy urgently." Spyro replied. "Are they here?"

"You just missed Rarity sir." She replied. "She left not too long ago. But Fluttershy is here right now. She should be with Twilight right now."

"I need to talk to her, now." He said. "She might be in danger."

"Danger from her fans you mean." Lotus replied. "But, I'll take you to her anyway."

Shen the walked him though the salon portion of the spa and took him to the massive tub where Twilight was soaking in the tub, talking with Fluttershy as she flew just above her. The two mares heard someone enter and saw Lotus walking in with Spyro, seeing a serious look on his face and knew something was wrong.

"Spyro, what are you doing here?" She asked. "Came to relax?"

"No, I came to warn Fluttershy about something." Spyro replied, peaking the mares curiosity. "Fluttershy, do you remember the ball of smoke you saw the other day when you were in the park doing a photo shoot?"

"I think so." She replied.

"And have there been any kind of strange events you couldn't fully explain or understand happen around you?" Spyro asked.

"Well, there was a time when a mannequin moved on its own." She responded. "It freaked me out. And there was that time one of the hair driers turned on by itself and blew powdered everywhere."

"Shoot, I was afraid of that." Spyro said, concerning the mares. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it sounds like you're being haunted by a Possessor."

"Haunted!?" Fluttershy said, her wings freezing and retracting, which made her fall into the water.

"What's a Possessor?" Twilight asked, Fluttershy's head popping out of the water and coughing.

"It's a pure blood Heartless that possesses inanimate objects." Spyro responded. "And because Fluttershy is having these things happen to her, it's more than likely it's targeting her."

"But why?" Twilight asked.

"I don't know." He replied. "But what I do know is they are mischievous and dangerous. So until this thing is taken care of, if it really is targeting you, I'm keeping you safe."

"Well, I guess it's ok." Fluttershy said. "I might need to get it by Photo Finish first. But I don't think she'll believe it. But, I'll see what I can do."

Spyro nodded his head and left the space, walking out of the building and heading back to the garage when he felt something following him, turning to see that it was Fluttershy wearing a large hat and sunglasses to not be recognized by the public. He stopped to let them catch up and walked with them, wondering why they were already following him.

"Spyro, can I talk to you for a minute?" Fluttershy asked. "And, promise not to tell anypony else?"

"Sure thing." He responded. "What do you want to talk about?"

"It's about my new career." She responded. "I hate being a model."

"But Fluttershy, Rarity-" Twilight started to say but was interrupted.

Pinkie Pie had popped out of a pile of apples, startling the three of them as he made a gesture for her to stay quiet, taking a bite out of an apple slowly, it then enjoying it, saying it was juicy before disappearing back into the pile of apples.

"What is she doing in there?" Spyro asked.

"Don't ask." Twilight replied.

"Oh, if only these ponies wouldn't like me so much." Fluttershy said. "Then maybe Photo Finish would find somepony else with, the magic."

"I suppose you're right." Twilight replied, but then got an idea. "You're right, you're right. You're right! You're right! you're right!"

As she pranced around shouting she was right, Twilight accidentally knocked Fluttershy's hat and glasses off, revealing her identity to everypony as they came running, shouting her name and wanting an autograph.

"Oh no you don't!" Spyro exclaimed, grabbing Fluttershy by the barrel, making her yelp in surprise and blush, putting her on his back. "Dark Fog!"

A moment later, a dark mist surrounded the two of them, blocking everyone's view of them before it disappeared, revealing that they had just disappeared and no where to be seen, even Twilight looked around wondering where they went, surprised he pulled a vanishing act like that. Back at the Gummi garage, a dark mist appeared inside of the main hanger bay and out of it, Spyro and Fluttershy appeared out of it, the yellow Pegasus mare stunned and blushing wildly as she got off his back and took a few steps back away from Spyro.

"Sorry for doing that Fluttershy." Spyro said. "But I was not going to let those ponies turn this into another chase sequence just like when Twilight had the gala tickets."

"I-it's ok Spyro." She replied, still blushing. "Thanks for the escape."

"No problem little butterfly." Spyro replied. "Been looking for an excuse to try that spell out anyway."

He walked to the main console and did a final check up for the Teeny ships, making sure there wasn't anything wrong with them before giving the ok, sending them down below to add them to the ship.

"There that should do it." Spyro said. "Once the Teeny ships are added, the Phoenix will be complete."

"Oh, you made a new ship?" Fluttershy asked.

"Yeah, just tested it on the day Photo Finish got your pictures." Spyro replied. "Added these Teeny ships for extra support."

A moment later, they noticed a carriage had arrived in Ponyville and Fluttershy panicked, looking back at Spyro in sheer panic.

"Oh no, the show." She said. "Photo Finish has another show for me today! I'm going to be late! And if I'm late or try not to show up, she'll come looking for me!"

"Relax Fluttershy." Spyro said. "I can get you there no problem. Just give me a few minutes and we will be off."

Photo Finish was in front of a building pacing back and forth waiting for her model to arrive when her driver finally arrived, expecting to find her in the carriage ready to go, but when the door opened, she wasn't in there. She was about to go off on her driver, angry that she wasn't there when they heard what sounded like engines above them, looking up to see the Phoenix with four smaller versions of itself surrounding it, the massive ship setting down in an open area next to the place where the show would be and the Teeny ships flying into compartments along the wings of the ship as it landed. Photo Finish was amazed by the ships appearance and noticed that Fluttershy was getting off the ramp, walking towards them along with Spyro right next to her.

"Fluttershy, where have you been?" She asked. "The show is about to begin."

"Sorry, kinda needed to get away from everypony." She replied, looking down.

"And you, what are you doing with my model!?" She asked Spyro. "She does not need any distractions!"

"He helped me get away from the crowd of ponies." Fluttershy replied. "He's also my friend and a prince, so you do not speak to him that way."

"A p-p-p-p-p-prince!?"?" She asked, looking at him in surprise. "Why, any friend of Fluttershy's is a friend of mine. Please, come on in."

Photo Finish and her assistants lead the two of them to the back stage area, leading Fluttershy to her dressing room while SPyor remained outside, looking around just as Photo Finish was approaching him.

"I never realized she had a prince as a friend." She said. "Oh, if I had known, I would have added you to the shoot."

"Maybe next time." Spyro said, looking around. "Right now, we got a problem."

"What problem?" Photo Finish asked.

"From what I heard from Fluttershy there was some strange things happening around this place, correct?" Spyro asked.

"Ja." She replied. "Many of the mannequins started moving on their own, some of the staff quit because of this. You know what it is?"

"Yes, a Heartless." Spyro replied. "And from what I heard so far, it's a Possessor. Makes inanimate objects come to life."

As he said it, something crashed in one of the nearby rooms, spooking the four of them as they looked to the storage room, walking towards it and looking in the window to see dozens of mannequins and a few crates. Reaching out with the Force, he could sense darkness coming from the room, but it wasn't just the Possessor he could feel in there, but something else, something stronger, but more delicate.

"It's in there." Spyro said, turning to the mares. "Stay here and lock this door behind me. Have one of your assistants stay to let me out when they see me."

"Ja." She replied, turning to the one wearing green and purple. "You, remain here and listen to, who are you again?"

"Spyro." He replied. "Spyro VanVickle."

"Wait, as in the Prince of Light and Darkness Spyro, that Spyro" She asked, completely lost.

"Yeah, that Spyro." He replied, turning to the assistant. "Don;t open this door until you hear a knocking sound and see me in the window. Got it?"

She nodded her head, letting him know she understood and allowed him to enter the room, locking it behind him as he entered the storage area. When he was inside, the entire area was dark, no light whatsoever, so he called his Keyblade, sensing through the Force where the Possessor was and which item he was hiding in, following the dark energy, but then felt something different nearby, something dark, yet empty. When he rounded the next corner, he saw a familiar red stallion with a pink mane and the black trench coat standing in the middle of an empty aisle of boxes, his weapon drawn and smiling as he saw Spyro rounded the corner.

"Marluxia." Spyro said. "Didn't think you'd be here. Come to enjoy the show?"

"Actually, I'm here to retrieve something." He replied. A moment later, the Possessor floated out from behind Marluxia, about to take possession of the nearby mannequin, but the Nobody called his scythe and destroyed the Possessor, surprising Spyro, but he didn't show it. "You have outlived your usefulness."

"So the Possessor was a way for you to get my attention." Spyro said. "Taking over my Teeny ship and then leaving behind enough evidence to make me look for my friends. Still the manipulator as always. What do you want?"

"That book Luxord gave you." He replied. "I'm here to take it back."

Marluxia then charged forward, catching Spyro off guard, but he managed to dodge his attack and swipe down, the Nobody disappearing in a cloud of petals, appearing just behind Spyro to land a hit, but he proved to be too swift and ducked the attack and took out his legs, swinging his blade down to land an attack, but he rolled out of the way and got back up. Suddenly, three Nobodies looking like Grim Reapers with petals shaped shirt appeared with Scythes in its hands came out of the void and attacked as well, Marluxia standing back to let the Nobodies do their job and attack the prince, trying to weaken him while he figured out how to best approach him, studying his moves and his attacks as the four of them fought. As he struck down the first Reaper, Spyro leapt backward to avoid another strike, landing on the wall before releasing a torrent of water, knocking another one down before leaping at the third, taking it out. The second one got up and wanted to get payback, but Spyro just lifted it with the Force and crushed him, the Nobody turning into energy and blocking the attack from Marluxia, locking their weapons in place.

"Seems I have underestimated you, little Prince." He said. "Guess I can have a little fun while I get that book from you."

"Too bad you aren't going to get it Flower Boy." Spyro replied, punching him in the muzzle and slashing him across the chest.

They kept exchanging blows back and forth, Spyro using his magic and lifting the crates with the Force to hit him with, dodging and rolling out of the way of heavy attacks while also taking care of more Nobodies that come to help Marluxia, dispatching them before continuing his assault. After some time, both Spyro and Marluxia were out of breath, each expending more of their energy than they wished to, but a few more Nobodies appeared out of the void, outnumbering him and catching him at a very bad time. He reached into his pouch and pulled out an elixir, tossing it into the air and replenishing himself, but knew he couldn't win as long as Marluxia kept bringing in more Nobodies.

"You know you can't win." Marluxia said. "Give up. Hand over the tome and I will leave you in peace."

"Yeah, you got a funny way of peace don't you." Spyro replied. "No way am I going to let you take this tome from me."

"Then your friends will just have to suffer." Marluxia replied, a window opening in Fluttershy's dressing room. "Her show ended a little while ago. The white and purple unicorns are with her, and my Reapers are already in position to take them out." Spyro could feel his heart plunge into his stomach, feeling his blood turn to ice as he saw one of the Reapers in the ceiling. "Now, give me the book or they die."

Spyro looked between the room where his friends were and the pony who was threatening them, knowing that giving him the tome would only bring destruction to every world there was, but didn't want his friends to get hurt, so he had to make the tough call, reaching into his jacket with his left hoof and pulled out the tome he was carrying, tossing it over and the stallion, catching it with his magic, smiling in victory.

"I knew you'd do the right thing." He said, looking at the tome.

"You got your prize anime reject." Spyro said. "Now leave them alone."

He looked into the window and nodded his head, the Reapers disappearing into the void and turning around, opening a dark corridor and walking through the passage, but left the Reapers in the storage room with Spyro, letting them continue to fight him as he dodged their attacks and unleashed a fury, which he hadn't done in a while, but did't have time to fight them. He could feel the power of electricity flow through his blood, feeling the static shock deep inside as it charged up, storm clouds appearing as a shell of electrical energy surrounded him, unleashing a wave of lightning into the Reapers and vaporizing them in a single blast, setting down gently as electricity surrounded him. Without thinking, he went over to the door and knocked, hearing a lock click and the door opened up, the assistant looking in to see him.

"Is it safe?" She asked.

"Yes, danger is gone." He replied, walking out. "Is the show over?"

"Yes, it ended not too long ago." The assistant replied. "Fluttershy is in her dressing room right now with her friends."

He walked over to the room and saw that the door was open, looking in to see they were ok and there were no signs of Nobodies in the room what so ever, grateful Marluxia kept his word.

"Fluttershy, are you ok?" Rarity asked.

"I'm great Rarity." Fluttershy said, forcing a smile and trying to not crack. "I'm a famous fashion model. Why wouldn't I be ok?"

"Because you have-" Twilight said, but stopped, using her hooves to not say anything while looking like she was going to explode.

"When I saw you on the runway, everypony in the audience was turning on you." Rarity said. "Oh Fluttershy, it was so aweful, yet I wanted them too."

"What, why?" Fluttershy asked.

Twilight wanted to answer, but used the food on the nearby table to keep herself from talking, making the three of them stare at her, wondering what was wrong with her. Rarity then looked up to Spyro after finally noticing him, wondering if she should tell her, which he nodded his head to let her know to go ahead and tell her.

"I'm jealous." Rarity replied, looking at Fluttershy. "I wanted all the attention, but it went all to you. I then hoped that you would do something silly and your career as a model would be over. But when I saw how they hated you for doing something ridiculous and silly, I thought to myself 'how could I want you to fail at something you love so much?'"

"But Fluttershy doesn't-" Twilight began to say, but stopped, running to the nearby potted plant and put her head in it.

"Oh for Pete sake." Spyro said, shaking his head. "Fluttershy, I think you also have something to say."

She looked to him, wondering if she should tell her, but nodded his head, taking in a deep breath to calm herself down.

"Rarity, I also have something to tell you." Fluttershy said. "I hate being a model. In fact, I despise it."

"You do?" Rarity asked, surprised at what she said. "Then why did you keep doing it if you hated it?"

"I was afraid that if I quit, you'd be mad at me for not wanting to shine all across Equestria." Fluttershy replied.

"And I was afraid that if you knew how jealous I was of your success as a model, you would think I was a terrible friend." Rarity said.

"Oh Rarity, I'd never think that." Fluttershy said.

"All this time..." Rarity said.

"The truth will always set you free." Spyro said, walking into the room. "Keeping a secret is fine when it's something that makes you happy, but if you are keeping your feelings a secret, it will only make you feel unhappy or insecure. When you are honest about your feelings and tell someone else how you feel, a huge weight will be lifted from your shoulders, despite the outcome. Never assume the worst as it will always cause you to think the worst. And who knows, you might be surprised by the outcome."

"Truer words were never spoken." Rarity said. "And I promise, from now on, I will never keep my feelings secret from you ever again Fluttershy."

"Me too." Fluttershy replied, the two hugging it out.

A moment later, Photo Finish walked in, looking very pleased with herself and very excited with Fluttershy.

"You were brilliant Fluttershy!" She said excitedly. "Simply brilliant! I already have more photo shoots lined up tomorrow alone. Even the prince can be apart of the photo shoot."

"I'm sorry Photo Finish, but I don't;t think I'll be making any one of them at all tomorrow." Fluttershy said with a smile. "Spyro, would you like to join us for our spa treatment?"

"Why not?" Spyro replied. "I worked up a sweat not too long ago, might as well enjoy it."

The three of them walked out of the room, leaving a stunned Photo Finish in the room, Twilight shouting something about Spike having a crush on Rarity, which wasn't much of a secret, but when they got to the Spa, Spyro told them everything that had happened during the show, Marluxia returning, how the two had fought each other, even the part where he threatened their lives just to get the book that held all of Malefor's research and information, shocking them.

"So, Marluxia wanted the book you got from Luxord?" Rarity asked, being in the sauna. "Why?"

"My guess is the organization wants to make their own Golems." Spyro replied, getting a massage.

"And he said that he'd harm us if you didn't give it to him?" Twilight asked, being in a hot tub. "Why? Why give it to you and then want it back?"

"My guess is they wanted to see the process." Spyro replied. "Though they had all the information, they wanted to see how a purple dragon can do it."

"And now they know." Fluttershy said, lying in the mud bath. "They must have watched you do it when we were at Kenai's world."

"But, we should be ok, right?" Twilight asked. "I mean, as long as none of them is a purple dragon or finds something in the tome about making the power they need, we should be ok, correct?"

"Maybe." Spyro replied, smiling. "That's why I didn't take any chances."

The three of them looked at Spyro in confusion, wondering what he meant he didn't take any chances as he took a chance saving them, letting the most dangerous book in existence fall into his enemies hands when he got up, walked over to his jacket and pulled out another tome, which happened to be the one holding Malefor's research.

"Wait, what!?" Twilight exclaimed. "You... what... how?"

"The one Marluxia got is a fake." Spyro said, putting it back into his jacket. "The real one is safe and sound."

"Wait, if you still have the real one, and Marluxia has a fake, won't he come back for us?" Fluttershy asked, visibly shaken.

"Not exactly." Spyro replied with a smile. "To keep dangerous information from falling into the wrong hands, there's only one thing you can do; burn it."

At Organization XIII, Marluxia had just brought the tome he had acquired from Spyro to Vixen's lab, given the tome to Xemnas, pleased with himself just as Luxord and Vixen walked in, the gamblers looking pleased with himself.

"I must admit, I had my doubts." Xemnas said. "But it seems your gamble paid off Luxord."

"When one needs to get something done, you need to take a risk." Luxord replied, flipping a card. "Now we know how to power up the Golems. All we need now is the steps to making them and the way to use the Aether."

"And if I am right, Malefor's research will have all the answers we need and more." Vixen said, taking the book from Xemnas. "And with the power of the Golems, not even the Prince of Light and Darkness can stop us."

Vixen opened the book up, a hissing sound coming from the book, making everyone look at it and, a moment later, the book exploded, destroying the whole lab and sending everyone in it flying through the walls, the four Nobodies injured from the blast and disoriented. Luxord was the first one to get up, rubbing his head, followed by Vixen and then Marluxia, all three getting up just as Xemnas got out of the wall, looking annoyed by what had happened and looked to Vixen for some answers, but he shrugged his shoulders, not even knowing what had happened when they saw a piece of paper that survived the blast. He reached down and picked it up, reading what was on it before handing it to Xemnas to show him what was on it.

'I'd rather see this information destroyed and in your hands, so I put down this banger of a spell as a precaution incase it's ever take. Happy reading. ;)'

"Clever." Xemnas said, handing it to Luxord. "It seems our friend took some precautions."

"Seems so." Luxord said. "Even when he has the loosing hand, he seems to always pull a winner from the deck."

Back at the Spa, Spyro was getting a facial as he was explaining to his friends about the spell he put on the fake book and what would happen if someone opened it without knowing the safe word to dispel it, making the girls laugh.

"Spyro, you have got to be one of the smartest ponies I know." Twilight said, getting a massage.

"More like one of the most cautious ones you know." Spyro replied, enjoying the hot tub. "And if I played my cards right, they might take the book to Vixen in his lab, letting him try and read it and destroying his whole lab, ruining his own research in the process."

"Hopefully it took care of that dreadful Marluxia." Rarity said, enjoying a mud mask. "But what made you want to make a fake tome anyway?"

"It was how Luxord acted back in the Caribbean." Spyro replied. "How friendly he was and how willing he was to give me the most dangerous book ever made. He's known as the gambler, so he must have seen the section on Golems and wanted to know how to make them, knowing that Malefor being a purple dragon could make them, so he thought I could do the same."

"And he did." Fluttershy said, taking a dip in the herbal bath. "Spyro made a Golem back in Kenai's world."

"Now they know only the power of the Aether, whether pure or dark, can make one." Spyro said. "But without the process to make one without a purple dragon, they got squat. Now enough talk about the Organization. Let's just enjoy ourselves."

A while later, after the spa treatment, Spyro was in the kitchen making some food for tonight, though it was Granny Smiths turn to cook, he told them he had other plans for tonight, packing a picnic basket full of food from his world and flying off into the air and back to town. A while later, he landed at the door step of Rainbow Dash's house, knocking on the door and waiting as the rainbow maned Pegasus came to the door and opened it, seeing it was Spyro she smiled.

"So, finally coming around for our 'session'?" She asked.

"Why are you calling it that?" Spyro asked with a chuckle. "It's just the two of us, you can call it a date."

He could see how she didn't want to call it a date, trying to stay cool, but knew she was wanting to call it a date, so the two of them left and found a nice cloud to set their blanket on, laying down on it as they ate their food and enjoyed the night sky, the two of them reminiscing about what had happened today and telling her about the little spell he put on the fake book and giving it to Marluxia, wishing he could see their faces when they opened it. After telling her what had happened, Rainbow Dash started to laugh the laughter soon took over Spyro, the two having a great time with the tales they were talking about when they noticed a shooting star fly by, the two feeling happy in the moment when he felt something touch his hoof, looking down to see Rainbow Dash was wrapping her hoof around his, making the prince look at her with confusion until he was caught off guard. Rainbow Dash then kissed him, surprising the hybrid as he knew she wasn't the sentimental type, but just let it happen, closing his eyes as the two of them shared a long and passionate kiss under the stars, letting themselves enjoy the moment of peace and serenity.