Chapter 16: A Jealous Heart Part 3: United we Stand
Spyro and the princesses were over Ponyville trying to see if there was anything they could do to help Rarity, but found nothing out of the ordinary as nothing seemed to have changed, which made them worry. Spyro then saw the Carousel Boutique and sensed a strong amount of darkness coming from within its walls, knowing that this might not be easy as he had his friends and the Elements of Harmony at his back, but this time it was two of his friends who were corrupted this time. The three of them landed at the front door, getting ready to enter as they looked to each other, motioning they were ready to enter. Spyro turned the door knob and pushed the door open, the bell ringing as it usually does to let her know a customer had arrived.
Spyro went in first, Keyblade at the ready with Princess Luna following behind him and then Princess Celestia taking the rear, all three of them moving cautiously as they moved into the front of the boutique. Spyro looked into the store and saw that the dresses seemed fine and everything seemed unchanged, but it did not make him feel any better as he could still feel a dark presence around them. They moved to the upstairs area to see what was there, only to see the halls were covered in black crystals all across the walls and on top of the ceiling, sending chills down his spine.
"Seems like she's up here." Spyro whispered. "Don't touch the crystals. We don't want to alert her that we're here. That is, if she doesn't already know."
They moved through the hall quietly and careful not to touch any of the crystals, not knowing if they are just an alarm or a trap of some sort. But as they walked through, Spyro looked to the wall and noticed something strange as the crystals seemed to piece through a majority of the photos on the wall, but there were photos that they went around. They were mostly of her and Sweetie Belle being happy and having a good time, playing around, messing with their parents, even making some clothing together, making him think that she really loved her sister and wouldn't want to hurt her.
"Spyro." Luna whispered, getting his attention as she motioned for him to head to them.
He walked carefully around the crystals and approached the royal sisters, looking into the room they were in front of as they saw Rarity in front of a mirror wearing a dark blue dress with black crystals covering some of it. He looked to the sisters, nodding that they were ready and he pushed the door open, going in alone as the sisters watched from a distance. As he approached, he could hear her giggling to herself as she marveled at her new dress, distracting her long enough to let Spyro get close enough to where he could strike if he needed to.
"Rarity?" Spyro asked. "Is that you?"
"Spyro darling." Rarity said, turning around to reveal her eyes were black with blue irises, giving a cold smile as she looked at him. "I'm so glad you're here. I wanted your advice on this dress I plan to wear for the gala."
She walked towards him, black crystals forming around her hooves as she walked, making him back up to make sure he didn't get touched by the dark crystals. As soon as she was close enough, she reached her hoof up and gently stroked his face, the crystals seemingly not having any effect on him while the floor beneath them was being covered.
"What do you think?" She asked, backing away and twirling around. "I call it the Dark Rose Chic. It's an elegant little dress don't you agree?"
"Well, it's something." Spyro replied, trying not to be too judgmental about her new look. "But Rarity, what happened here? What's with the crystals all around us."
"Oh, you can thank your friend, Marluxia." Rarity replied. "He's the one who inspired me to try something a little darker. Something that might catch your eye."
"Not exactly something I would pick for you Rare." Spyro said, watching as she walked around him.
"You're right." She replied. "A bit too blue. Maybe a little red will bring it out."
She walked back to the mirror and flicked her hoof, the dress changing from a dark blue to a scarlet red. He turned his head and with a swift wave of his hoof, he made the two sisters transparent, allowing them to walk through the room without being seen as Rarity turned to face him again.
"You're right Spyro." Rarity said. "Red seems more my color. And with those royal garments you're wearing, we'd be the talk of the town."
"We would." Spyro said, looking around the room as Rarity rubbed her head against his chest.
He found Princess Celestia near the windows of Rarity's room while Luna was near the mirror ready to ambush her if she decided to return to the mirror for another color change in her outfit. Both the sisters remained perfectly still as they waited for Spyro's signal, but Luna accidentally bumped into the nearby mirror, dropping a bottle of perfume that shattered, getting Rarity's attention. As she turned her head, Spyro leapt back and sent a gust of wind at her, blowing her into the mirror, shattering it upon impact.
"Sorry Rarity, but I like you the way you were." Spyro replied, blocking a black crystal shard from piecing him.
"So, you prefer that fashion less farm girl to me!?" Rarity asked, getting up and out of the pile of trash she was in, a dark aura surrounding her. "Seems like I'm going to need to run a little errand. Maybe pay her a little visit."
At that moment, Princess Luna charged forward with Celestia following her, ready to attack, but Rarity used her dark aura to conjure two dark crystals, blocking their attack and pushing them back, both the sisters correcting themselves and flying next to Spyro as Rarity summoned multiple dark crystal swords to fight.
"Well, looks like we got a fight on our hooves." Spyro said.
"Hold on, I got this." Luna said, sending a blue fireball at Rarity, which had no effect on her. "Huh? Why didn't that hurt her?"
"My guess is that based on the color of the dress is what elemental magic she'll be immune to." Spyro said, pointing his Keyblade at her. "She can change her dresses color to become resistant to certain magics, but she can still take physical damage."
As he said it, he charged forward as did the sisters, Rarity conjured another dark crystal to block him, but he slid around the crystal and shot a blizzard spell, distracting her long enough to allow the sisters to get pass the crystal and lunge at Rarity, who used her crystal swords to black the incoming attacks. Spyro then flew in and each side exchanged blow after blow, Rarity sometimes landing a solid hit on one of the royal sisters while not harming Spyro while each of them strike at the darkened mare, trying to slow her down and weaken her with each strike. Rarity changed her dress color from time to time to change her magic resistance type between three different colors: Red, Blue, and Yellow. As they were fighting, Luna landed a solid blow to her head with her sword, hitting her horn as the magical aura around it vanished, destroying the swords.
"Nice hit Luna!" Spyro said. "Now it's time to put this girl on ice!"
Spyro flew into the air and channeled a large amount of ice magic into his body, his chest glowing a bright cyan as he was preparing to unleash the power in him. Rarity tried to change her dress's current color from red to blue, but when the princess hit her horn, it caused her to loose the ability to use her magic, frightened as she watch Spyro shoot a torrent of ice at her, shielding her face with her forelegs as the wave of freezing ice hit her, freezing her on the spot. Spyro landed right in front of Rarity, looking over the frozen mare to make sure she was not a threat when the princesses came over, exhausted and breathing heavily.
"That... was difficult." Princess Celestia said. "Her movements were pretty swift."
"Either that or you put on a few pounds there sister." Princess Luna said, earning an angry glare from Celestia.
"Well, shes frozen solid so that's good." Spyro said, turning around. "Now to the business of purifying her heart of this weed."
As soon as he said purify, Rarity's eyes shot open and the sisters no longer saw blue eyes, but instead saw red ones as they burned with rage and anger. before the sisters could warn him, the ice imprisoning her exploded, sending a shockwave through the whole room as shards of frozen water hit them, sending them flying, hitting the walls and sending Spyro out the window as she screamed in rage. The sisters regained their senses and watched as dark crystals grew from the floor and surrounded Rarity, encasing herself into a massive crystal until it shattered to reveal a crystallized pony five times the height of Princess Celestia with glowing yellow eyes, a black crystal mane, and the symbol of the in the center of its forehead as a horn grew out of it. It took one look at the sisters and blew a hole in Rarity's room large enough for it to leap out of and into the town itself. The sisters ran to the massive opening and looked down to watch the massive pony run out of town and towards the Everfree at rapid speed.
"And a giant Heartless has her." Spyro said, pressing his hoof to the temple of his head, feeling a migraine coming. "This is going to be a long night."
The royal trio flew out of the town, following the massive hoof prints and giant crystals left behind by the crystal pony. As they approached the edge of town, they found that the crystal Heartless was pacing back and forth, waiting for them to arrive before stopping and facing the prince and princesses. Spyro called his Keyblade as the sisters drew their weapons to fight, watching as the white crystals turn yellow as thunder was called from the sky to hit them. However, Spyro slammed his tail into the ground and a dome of earth appeared above the three of them, blocking the thunder and crumbling into dust as the spell was blocked.
"And now it can use spells." Spyro said, his migraine getting worse. "What's next? Green Requiems are going to appear and start healing the thing?" As he said it, Green Requiems appeared from the void and started shaking, releasing green power that healed the giant Heartless. "Of course they show up. They always come to heal the big guys. Somebody shoot me in the MOUTH!" As if tempting fate again, the giant Heartless pointed its horn at them and fired another bolt of lightning, causing the three of them to jump out of the way so they didn't get hit by the massive bolt of lightning. "Why is everything taking what I say literally?"
They flew around the heartless, avoiding its projectile attacks as they slashed and hit the Heartless, destroying its outer shell, but the Green Requiems were healing the damage they do, annoying the princesses. They then watched as Spyro attacked one of the requiems and destroy it, thinking to change their targets and go after the requiems, cutting off the Heartless's healing factor. After the annoying healers were removed, the three of them fired spells, slashed and sliced at the Heartless, bringing it down slowly, but barely doing any damage. Spyro was breathing heavily as he was running out of steam, raising his Keyblade to attack again, but felt a familiar humming coming from the blade and looked to find something that brightened his night, a laser blaster on the guard of the blade.
"Hey princesses, form up with me." Spyro said. "I've got something that should do some serious damage."
"Let's hope so!" Celestia exclaimed. "I'm running out of strength!"
The two sisters broke off their attack and flew next to him as he set down, raising his Keyblade and closing his eyes.
"Seems this one was something Sora forgot to tell me about." Spyro said, raising his Keyblade up the same way he did when he was in the Everfree. "Give me strength! Attraction activate. Blaster Run!"
He swiped his Keyblade down and a door of light opened to his right, a Laser Blaster ride appeared, surprising the sisters as they saw the ride. Spyro hopped in and drove it to the sisters, shouting for them to hop in and each got into a seat, each with a cannon, as Spyro put a pair of goggles on that helped him to target the heartless.
"Time for some target practice!" Spyro shouted, firing his cannon, followed by the sisters as they followed his example, enjoying the ride.
Spyro drove circles around the Heartless as it tried to get a beat on its enemy, failing to even stomp on the moving target as it proved to be too quick for it as they blew holes in the crystal monsters armor, exposing weak points. As the ride was about to end, Spyro had hit the massive black gem on its chest, seemingly hurting the Heartless, causing it to reel in pain and covered its chest. Spyro noticed this and shouted for the princesses to focus on the black jewel, firing everything that had at it, which seemed to hurt the Heartless the most as it fell to the ground, dazed and heavily injured. Spyro charged the cannons on their ride and launched a massive blast, hitting the weak spot as it fell, shattering the entire front half revealing rarity in a form of stasis, but woke up as the black crystal shattered, letting her see Spyro and the princesses.
"You will pay for this!" She shouted. "Everypony in Ponyville shall pay for what you did!"
"Even Sweetie Belle?" Spyro asked, shocking Rarity. "Will she share in that wrath you have?"
"No, I love my sister." She said, her eyes turning back to blue. "I'd never harm her. She's my family."
"Rarity?" Came a fillies voice, making everyone look over to see Sweetie Belle, eyes wide in fear and shock. "R-Rarity? Is that you?"
"Sweetie Belle!" Rarity shouted. "You're ok!"
That moment, Spyro saw a glimmer of light appear in Rarity's heart, showing he could save her, but before he could, the earth trembled as massive tree roots emerged from the ground, sending massive chunks of earth barreling towards them. Spyro managed to keep his footing, but was paralyzed when he watched a chunk of earth come down towards Sweetie Belle, hearing her scream as the earth was going to hit her, but out of no where, Rarity took control of the Heartless and used it to ram into the earth chunk, knocking the Heartless out while also sharing in its injury as they were connected. While dazed, Spyro took his chance and lunged forward, and positioned his Keyblade over rarity's heart, a keyhole appearing and pushing the Keyblade into it, turning it to the right as he felt a familiar feeling of falling, landing on a platform that had crystals everywhere, covering the entire area.
"I'd say it was beautiful here, if not for the darkness." Spyro said, looking at the black and purple crystals everywhere, looking for the door. "Come on Rarity, where's your door?"
As he asked, a crystal door appeared made from purple jewels with a white frame and opened, drowning the entire area in bright light as he found himself back in Rarity's room. It was modest room with lavender walls and a couple of open windows, mannequins to the left of those windows and a work station on the opposite side of the inanimate objects with a large bed. He walked around, looking everywhere when he found a picture of Sweetie Belle and herself having fun in the park, noticing the gold frame that it was in.
"Guess I don't need to look far to find your anchor." Spyro said to himself. "Your heart was strong enough to fight back against the rose."
"But not strong enough." Rarity replied, appearing behind a curtain.
He looked over and saw her, shattered like a porcelain doll, missing an eye, her mane cracked, cracks all over her body and large chunks of her entire being missing, looking old, decrepit, and used. She walked over to the mirror and signed to herself, feeling ashamed of what she did.
"He was pretty convincing Spyro." Rarity said, a tear going down her face. "He knew I had feelings for you. Knew I had a crush on you and used that to weaken me. Now look at me. I'm disgusting to look at. I don't deserve what I have."
"Don't say that Rarity." Spyro said, watching her as she walked over and sat on the bed. "Marluxia is good at manipulating everyone's feelings to get what he wants. It's not your fault."
"But it is." She said, turning her head away. "I wanted to hurt Applejack to make you mine. I wanted to seduce you and fought the princesses, nearly killing them. No matter what, I don't deserve redemption."
Spyro could feel how upset Rarity was and walked over, sitting next to her as he wrapped his wing around her gently.
"It doesn't matter what you did." Spyro said, moving his hoof under her chin so he can get her to look at him. "You were not in control. It was the flower that was controlling you. And in the end, you regained control and saved your sister. It proved that the rose has nothing compared to the genuine love family has for each other. Nothing can sever that bond."
"But, look at me." Rarity said, tears rolling down her eyes. "I'm a monster. I'm disgusting. My heart, my own being, I'm horrific. I can never look at my friends again and I can't look at my sister again after she saw me like that." She then turned her body and head away from Spyro, facing the mirror, but looking down. "I'm better off not being sen by anypony."
Spyro shook his head, not wanting to leave her in this state of mind as she was very fragile at this point. He moved his body closer, letting her feel the warmth from his coat as he pulled her into a hug.
"That's not true." Spyro said, calm and quiet like a whisper. "You tell yourself you're disgusting, that you're a monster." He lifted his hoof to her chin, lifting her head to see that she was whole again, no cracks, no missing chunks, she was beautiful again. "But what I see is a beautiful mare, who has everything ahead of her, amazing friends who support her, and a sister who loves her so much, she willingly ran away from the safety of your friends to find you." He then turned her around, letting their eyes meet as she saw the warm smile and the soft look in his eyes, feeling herself fall for the stallion again. "In the end, what you did while under the influence of a dark spell doesn't matter. You are still you, no matter what someone does to change that. Your friends, and your family are always there to protect and support you, no matter what."
Rarity couldn't help but cry after what Spyro said, pressing herself against his chest as she let the tears roll down across her face and down his chest as he hugged her, patting her back as she allowed herself to break down. As Spyro allowed his friend to cry and let all herself become vulnerable to him, he looked over to the pictures and the one he was just looking at was lowing brightly, a door appearing in front of it.
"It's time to go Rare." Spyro said, breaking up the hug as he helped her onto her hooves and walked with her to the entryway.
"What will happen now?" Rarity asked. "Will the princesses punish me? What if Sweetie belle won't want to speak to me again?"
"None of that will happen." Spyro replied, pulling Rarity closer to him. "Your sister loves you. And the princesses won't punish you for something you couldn't control." As he spoke, the door opened, allowing light to floor into the room and Spyro wrapped his neck around Rarity, making her feel safer as she smiled, closing her eyes.
Outside with the princesses and with the Heartless, the giant mass of crystal was losing crystals as it fell apart, purple flames appearing on its entire body as chunks of it blew apart, exposing the dark mist in it, screeching in agony as it fell apart. Princess Luna had just gotten Sweetie Belle and ran back to her sister, looking back as the crystal beast collapsed to the ground, burying Spyro and Rarity underneath it.
"RARITY!" Sweetie Belle shouted, tears rolling down her cheeks as her sister got buried underneath the mass of gems.
The gems then burst into purple flames as a wave of light washed over the entire town, making the dark crystals disappear into dust as the light touched them. The sisters and Sweetie Belle ran to the burning pile of gems, watching as the dark flames burned the jewels when a large blue and pink heart shot out of the pile and flew into the air. Sweetie Belle cried as she thought her sister was gone, but all three of them saw something move towards them from the flames and out of it was Spyro, Rarity under his wing as a dome of light protected them from the dark flames.
"Rarity!" Sweetie Belle shouted, running to her sister as she looked up, being tackled by the happy filly.
Spyro couldn't help but smile as Sweetie Belle hugged her sister, happy to have her back as he walked over to the sisters, seeing how exhausted Princess Celestia was while Luna looked to be ok.
"Well, one down, one to go." Spyro said, pulling out a couple of potions. "We still need to find Fluttershy as she's still under the plants control."
"But where do we look?" Luna asked, wanting to take the potion, but Spyro pulled it away. "I mean, Rarity was easy as she remained in her home. What are the chances this Fluttershy will be at her home?"
"I don't know." Spyro replied. "But we'll find her. Let's get you two back into fighting shape. Luna! Celestia!"
Spyro tossed both potions into the air and exploded, green powder covering them as their wounds healed. Both of the royal sisters were amazed by the healing power his potions had and how quickly they worked, making the sister look at him is awe.
"You are so teaching us how to make those." Luna said, amazed at the relief she felt.
"Maybe later." Spyro said, walking up to them. "Right now, we need to find my friend." A moment later Rainbow Dash flew over head, landing next to Spyro. "Good timing. Did you find Fluttershy?"
"Sorry Spyro, I couldn't find her." Rainbow Dash replied, sad at failing to find her friend. "She wasn't home and there wasn't any clue as to where she went."
A moment later, Spike came running up and in front of him was Angel, who seemed to be in a serious hurry to get to Spyro. He hopped up onto his back as Spike arrived, out of breath and tired from running.
"Spike, what are you doing here?" Spyro asked. "Weren't you with Twilight?"
"I-I was." Spike said, struggling to catch his breath. "But Sweetie Belle... She ran after you when you left. I tried to catcher her, but lost her." He then looked over and saw her with Rarity, sighing in relief as he fell down, passing out.
"Poor thing." Spyro said, shaking his head, but then turning to look at the bunny. "And you, where have you been? I was worried something happened to you. You know Fluttershy would have a mental breakdown if something happened to you." The white bunny then started doing hand gestures, pointing to the Everfree and then used his paws to try and draw a butterfly on his back, trying to tell him something. "Huh? A butterfly flew into the Everfree?" The bunny shook his head and then hopped off his back going to a nearby flower stand before pointing at a pink flower. "Pink flowers? What, you hungry?" The bunny face smacked itself, annoyed he wasn't getting it and pulled the petal off then pointed at the petal, thumping its foot angrily as he did. "Angel, now's not the time for you to chase butterflies and to eat pink petals we need to-"
That's when a thought hit him after Angel pulled the petal off the flower. Angel first drew a butterfly on his back, feeling it more than seeing it then pointed to the flowers when he was actually pointing at the petals and what color they were, finally understanding what the bunny was trying to tell him.
"Wait, you found Fluttershy!?" Spyro exclaimed, the bunny rolling his eyes like 'Now he gets it!'. "And she's in the Everfree!? We need to get to her before something happens."
"I wish I could, but I cannot accompany you on this." Princess Celestia said, sitting down. "That fight drained me physically. I don't think I'll be able to continue."
"Well, I'm still able to fight." Luna said, twirling her sword. "I found that fight invigorating. I will accompany the young prince."
"Alright then." Spyro said, looking to the princess. "Princess Luna and I will go alone to the Everfree. Everyone else, meet up with Twilight and stay safe. We'll return with Fluttershy."
Everyone split up as Spyro and Princess Luna took off, heading towards the Everfree to save Fluttershy while everyone else remained in the village, watching as they left. When the two of them arrived at the mouth to the Everfree, they stared into the dark forest, finding black roots were growing up from the ground and spreading like weeds, an obvious trail for them to follow. Before they went in, they heard someone running up behind them, turning their heads to see Rarity following them, making Spyro panic.
"Rarity have you lost your mind!?" Spyro exclaimed, panic in his voice. "This is no place for you!"
"I know Spyro darling." She replied. "But I couldn't just sit back and let the two of you go in there on your own without somepony else there to help." She then pulled out a pair of scissors and waived them around like they were a sword. "I might not be a fighter, but I can at least help out with whatever you need."
"I agree with Spyro." Princess Luna said. "This is going to be too dangerous for you. Leave now as we don't want you to get hurt."
"I don't care." Rarity said, pushing forward. "That ruffian nearly made me hurt my friends and used me to get to Fluttershy. I won't let her remain under that flowers power any longer. I'm going with you!"
As she finished talking, the dragon head and Keyblade appeared on Rarity's chest, shocking to royal duo. Shaking his head, Spyro walked up to Rarity, turning his hoof into a paw again and tapped his finger on her forehead, making her eyes roll back as a cloud of dark smoke appeared around her, turning white as two diamond swords appeared next to her. When she could move again, she saw the blades and used her aura to grab them, giving them a few swings like she knew how to fight.
"These swords will help you to fight." Spyro said. "They are made from pure light, powerful enough for you to fight the heartless. I also allowed my knowledge on combat to be given to you so you can defend yourself. But I'm only going to say this once, the power I gave you is temporary, so when we rescue Fluttershy, that power will vanish. Do you understand?"
"Loud and clear darling." Rarity said, trotting into the forest.
Spyro groaned as he believed this was a mistake, the two royal members following Rarity into the forest to find Fluttershy. As they walked, Spyro kept feeling a dark presence was watching them, waiting to make a move when they least expected it. A second later, a dark corridor opened up and out of it wasn't Marluxia, but a blue earth pony with blonde hair and smiled like Sora does when he was having a good time.
"Hey there, what up?" He said, immediately getting everyone on guard. "Hey there, we don't need to fight. I come in peace."
"Is he also with the Organization?" Luna asked, glaring daggers at him.
"Yep." Spyro replied, raising his Keyblade. "What do you want here pal? We don't have time to mess with you."
"Wow, chill out." He said, pulling out a book and tossing it to Spyro, landing at his hooves. "Just wanted to deliver this to you. Too dangerous for me." Spyro looked at the book and then back to the organization member, using his aura to pick it up to see it was also from his library. "The power in those pages are too much for me to even begin to understand. It's a drag really."
"Wait, Demyx?" Spyro asked, lowering his blade.
"You know him?" Luna asked, getting in front of Rarity.
"Yes I do." Spyro said, dismissing his Keyblade. "This is Demyx. He's not much of a fighter, but when he does fight, he can be really annoying. His weapon is a sitar, a musical instrument and he commands water, hence the annoying part as, despite his looks, he can easily overpower you if you're not careful." He then turned to face the misfit and looked into the book, finding it was also full of spells from the princes before him. "First Marluxia, now you? Why are you guys giving me these books?"
"Beats me." Demyx replied, not seemingly caring. "All I know is, I'm just the delivery boy. They don't trust me to do anything other than delivering stuff."
After completing his task, Demyx turned and opened a new corridor, walking through as it closed, leaving the three of them wondering what all that was about. They didn't waste any more time and continued walking, the roots getting bigger and thicker as they walked until. They found a massive tree in the middle of an open field, black fruits growing from it as dark shadows danced on the surface of the vile fruits. At the base of the tree was a yellow Pegasus who was singing to the tree, a soft and beautiful melody that seemed to make the tree move. He extended his forelegs,telling them to stay back as he walked forward towards the singing mare.
"Fluttershy?" He asked. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm singing to the trees Spyro." She replied, turning around to reveal her eyes were also black with Aquamarine colored irises.
Along her body, her entire figure changed from a pony to more plant like as her legs were covered in purple leaves, her barrel was covered in a dark yellow bark and her wings were changing not leaves as well. Her mane and tail were growing purple and black flowers, blooming in the pink hair, gorgeous, but also possibly deadly.
"The trees here in the Everfree are angry." She continued. "They wish to grow beyond where they're currently bordered at. They wish to stretch their roots and expand across the land." She then walked towards Spyro, a warm, yet dark smile on her face as she eyed him, wanting to be next to him. "Marluxia said that you loved nature. And he told me the Everfree forest can be beautiful and can be tamed. No more will the animals care for themselves and the trees can be managed again. They only needed somepony who could listen to their needs."
"And you can hear what they want?" Spyro asked, watching as she walked around him and snuggled up to him. "What are they telling you?"
"They just want to grow." She replied, moving back to the big tree. "They are being limited by the magic the sisters placed near the ruined castle, preventing the forest from growing. Once this Mother Tree is at full strength, the castle will be destroyed and the magic within will cease, allowing the Everfree to grow."
Spyro looked back to his companions, motioning for them to approach cautiously as he returned his focus to Fluttershy, who was singing to the tree again as it grew larger and larger. He then looked to the direction the ruined castle, wondering if there was magic there, but was snapped out of his thoughts when Luna and Rarity walked next to him, drawing their weapons as he called his Keyblade. Fluttershy turned around and saw the princess and her friend standing next to him, weapons drawn and ready for a fight.
"Seems like you aren't here to help me, right Rarity?" She asked, her voice dark and cold.
"Fluttershy Darling, you need to listen." Rarity said, walking forward. "Marluxia isn't our friend. He changed us into something dark, something evil. Please darling, fight back. Fight the rose."
"Why?" She asked, smiling as her yellow bark turned black. "All I want is to restore the Everfree to what it was. A forest managed by ponies, weather managed by Pegasi, and the animals under my care."
"This forest was plagued by magic that even I know not of." Spyro said, walking forward. "The magic here is the dark power of all Equestria, trying to tame it will only hurt you. If there is some kind of magic keeping it from growing then the castle must be preserved. If you allow it to grow across the land, the monsters and beasts here will harm many innocent ponies. Is that what you want!?"
She said nothing as the plants around her made her grow until she was a massive pony made from the trees and plants around her, eyes glowing a pale yellow as the Heartless symbol appeared on its forehead. He didn't want to hurt the timid mare, but the rose had already planted its roots too deep into her and had no choice, raising his Keyblade and charging forward to attack, followed by the princess as the two of them flew up to distract the massive tree while Rarity struck at the hooves, dodging and striking with finesse worthy of a Jedi. Spyro sent spells of fire and lightning to do whatever kind of damage he could while the princess struck at possible weak points in the creatures armor to see if she could hurt it, but there was no luck as everything just bounced off or was extinguished.
"We aren't doing anything to it!" Luna shouted. "We might need another of those attractions you got!"
"Working on it!" Spyro responded, deflecting a vine that was used to strike back. "The armor is too strong. She's drawing power from somewhere. But where?"
he was then hit in the back of the head, sending him flying down to the ground, knocked for a loop as he hit the ground. He stayed on the ground for a minute to get his sight back when he saw the guy who helped him save Applejack, walking over to him and knelt down to look at him. He then pointed to the inside of his jacket where both of the books were currently being kept for safe keeping until they got back. he then mouthed the book he needed to look in and the page number, fading into the air. As the battle raged on without him, he reached in and took both books out, one that had a picture of the two dragons with flowers in the background while the other had the same symbol, but it had a massive tree in the back ground. He took the one that had the trees and flipped through until he found the page, finding the answer.
The Mother Tree
I first discovered a tree that breathed life into beings made entirely out of plants, peaceful and harvesting the magic of the area they lived in through their Mother Tree, a focal point of near limitless power that grew into a massive tree. the fruits it bore were filled with magic as they could heal any injury and any ailment. Travelers would come to this tree and trade with the plant folk for at least one of the trees magical fruits to save their dying families and friends, but I found that if the tree is destroyed, the magic in it will die away and everything that drew their strength from the tree will become weaker and will eventually perish.
He looked up and looked to the tree and the dark fruits it bore, seeing that the heartless was drawing strength from the tree and the tree was drawing power from the dark magic in the Everfree. He closed the book and put them both into his coats inner pocket and flew up, past the heartless and his friends, making them question what he was doing, only to see him strike the tree as purple light came out of it, causing the Heartless to scream in agony from the blow.
"It's the tree!" Spyro shouted, pulling the Keyblade out and firing a ball of flame into it, igniting there Heartless. "The Heartless is drawing power from the tree!"
"Well that's a good bit of information." Luna said, trying her best to avoid being hit. "But how do we destroy it? I doubt the beast will let us just cut it down while we have tea with it."
As she mentioned it, the Heartless came running, roaring in rage as it summoned multiple soldiers and a few Large Bodies to come and defend it as the flames died down, being extinguished. He flew up and took the book out again to find something that will kill the tree quickly.
It was found that if the Mother tree is set aflame, the inhabitants will get violent and the tree will extinguish the flames, but there is one method that will work to kill it as when they realize what it has taken in, it was already too late and the tree shriveled and died, poisoned by the salt of man and by the venom of nature.
He didn't understand what was written and dodged an incoming from a Soldier that leapt into the air to kick him while still reading. Another one came up behind him, but he slammed it with his tail and made it hit the tree, disappearing, but where the soldier landed, the tree started to shrivel, catching his attention. He looked to his tail and saw a green substance he didn't see before, but it burned him, making him flick his tail and dropping the liquid on the nearby branch, making it shrivel and burn.
"Poison." Spyro said to himself. "To kill a Mother Tree, you need to poison it."
He looked back and saw his friends were getting tired and needed to work fast, but he unfortunately didn't know how to use or make poison as he didn't know how and only a single dragoness from a game could use that element. he then looked back to his tail and saw a bit of the green goo was still on it, still uncertain how it got on there, but he moved his tail up and sucked the poison on it off, tasting the acidic liquid, hoping that his dumb idea would work as the purple dragon could use all elements and thought poison was something he could use. He felt his body reject the poison, trying to expel it, but when he opened his mouth, green liquid shot out, burning the wood.
"Game on." Spyro said, smiling.
Luna and Rarity were cornered, both out of breath and wondering where Spyro was as the heartless closed in around them, the largest one looming over as it was getting ready to finish off the enemy, but looked up to the tree, making everyone else look. They watched as the trees purple leaves started to turn brown as the fruit started to rot, shriveling up until it was nothing more than a prune, branches breaking off as the tree rotted away. At the center was Spyro flying over at break neck speed, punching the tree heartless and knocking it away from his friends as he called his blade, dispatching the heartless with one slash.
"Well, it's about time you came." Rarity said, dusting herself off. "But why is the tree dying? And where have you been?"
"Killing a tree." Spyro said, convulsing violently as he turned his head, shooting out another puddle of poison onto the ground that killed the plants around it. "Sorry, not use to that."
"Spyro what is that?" Luna asked, getting close to it until Spyro used his tail to block her.
"Unless you want a nose full of poison, don't." Spyro said, getting their attention.
"Poison!?" Luna and Rarity asked in unison, shocked and horrified.
"You ok?" Luna asked, running over and check him over for any other injuries "You need an antidote? A doctor? Anything!?"
"It's fine princess, I'm good." Spyro replied, wiping the green ooze from his mouth. "Just figured out how to use and manipulate poison."
"You what!?" Both the mares said, looking to the massive Heartless as it collapsed, revealing the black crystal that Fluttershy was in.
"Explanations later." Spyro said, charging and smacking the crystal, looking for a light.
Fluttershy woke up, expecting to see black eyes, but saw they were normal, reaching out to him for help as he reached out to her as well. Tears were flowing down her face as there was pain in her eyes, the rose starting to bloom as she looked at him without being controlled. Finding a spark of light, Spyro called his Keyblade and pointed it at her heart, the keyhole reappearing as he put the blade in and turned it. He didn't fall again as he did the last time and found himself on another platform, but the glass itself was shattered, but most of the platform was covered in black vines and flowers. But what he could see was her in the middle of a field of flowers with animals all around her, her friend's images in the clouds above her.
"Don't worry Fluttershy." Spyro said. "I'll save you. But how? What's your anchor?"
As he asked, her door appeared as a pink door with butterflies on it, opening to allow the light in it to flood the room, taking him back to her cottage, simple, yet it was pretty and comfortable. He walked around, finding bags of animal treats and beds, pictures of her life and her family, nothing to indicate that they were her anchor. He then heard hoof steps and turned to see her in her tree form, looking at a picture she was holding and crying as if she lost someone close to her, but when she saw him, she dropped it and ran back upstairs, slamming a door as she entered a room.
"What were you looking at?" Spyro asked, using his aura to see what the picture was, which was of them the night of his 'Welcome to Ponyville' party and above the picture was a small heart. "Is this photo your anchor?" He looked closely and turned the back of the picture, finding a name, his name. "Me. I'm your anchor."
"I-I'm sorry." Fluttershy said, coming down the stairs. "I let that stallion poison me. He whispered promises, but I saw through my eyes he wanted to do something to the Everfree."
"What did he want?" Spyro asked, walking up to Fluttershy and wrapping his wing around her. "What was it he wanted?"
"He wanted the power in the Everfree." Fluttershy said, shaking and then breaking down, sobbing as she sat on the stairs. "He wanted to create a heart. The heart of the Everfree as he called it. Wanting to bring back a pony from the shadows. He thought using that tree to harness the magic in the Everfree would coax him out of hiding." Spyro sat down next to her, keeping his wing wrapped around his friend as he let her weep, letting all the emotions out. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"
"For what?" Spyro asked, pulling her closer to him. "Marluxia is to blame for all of this happening. He got you at your weakest. It's my fault for not realizing that there were others who liked me. I should be saying sorry for not acknowledging your and Rarity's feelings."
When Fluttershy looked up to him, she was back to normal, but was still shaking, pressing her head against his chest, weeping her eyes out. Spyro tried to look for a door, but there wasn't one. He started to fear that he might be too late when he looked down at the picture and saw it changed. Instead of the barn, it was a picture of him saving her from being tackled from Rainbow Dash your side of the Town Hall, wrapping her forelegs around him. In his heart, he knew that she liked him and didn't want to hurt her, so he kept her in his wing, letting her cry until the door appeared at the foot of the stairs, opening as soon as they both looked at it.
"Time to go." Spyro said, helping her up. "And don't worry, no one hates you. I don't hate you. Marluxia will pay for taking advantage of you and of Rarity."
She smiled, knowing he was telling her the truth and gave him a peck on the cheek, surprising him as the door opened, flooding the room with light. Outside with the Heartless, Luna had finished off the last of the Heartless, and looked back to the massive creature, watching as a light engulfed both Spyro and Fluttershy, only dying away when he helped her walk away from it as it turned into dust, releasing a massive heart as a wave of light passed through the forest and across the land, destroying the black roots caused by the rose.
"Fluttershy, Spyro." Rarity called out, running towards them, relieved that they were safe. "I'm relieved you both are ok." A moment later, the swords turned to dust, taking Rarity's new power from her, disappointing her. "And I was just enjoying having them too."
They all laughed, both a laugh of amusement and relief that it was finally over. The four of them walked out of the Everfree where Celestia and Twilight were waiting with Spike and Sweetie Belle, Angel on the fillies back, hoping off to climb up Spyro's back and get onto Fluttershy's head.
"Angel, you're ok." She said, feeling the bunny hug her. "I'm just glad it's over now."
"Do you really think that?" Came a familiar voice. Everyone turned around to see Marluxia, smiling and pleased with himself, making Spyro and Luna draw their weapons to protect themselves. "You may have saved your two friends from the rose, but I made a promise. And I'm going to keep it."
"What promise?" Spyro asked, venom in his words as rage over took him.
"Why the promise I made to the two mares you saved." He replied, pointing to Rarity and Fluttershy. "You shall soon be theirs. They just need the competition out of the way."
The corridor soon opened and he vanished as it surrounded him, fading into nothingness. Everyone was worried as if he made a promise like that, then it was obvious that he was planning on harming Applejack, but it was Twilight that put everything together, horrified, she pushed past the princess to get to Spyro.
"AJ said she got a bouquet from Marluxia thinking it was you." Twilight said, panicked. "She thinks there might be another one of those roses in it."
Everyone looked to Spyro, who was horrified and without thinking took off and flew to Sweet Apple Acres, followed by everyone else they either ran or flew to the orchard. When they arrived, everything seemed fine as Applejack came running out with the bouquet, tossing it into the field as her family watched the act in confusion, thinking she was hurt. They then saw him running up and were about to charge, but Marluxia appeared in front of him, blocking his path and forcing him to call his Keyblade.
"Seems like your plan failed." Spyro said. "AJ got rid of your bouquet and is now running from it."
"Oh really?" He said, his horn glowing as the rose in the bushel of roses glowed, erupting into a dark light.
Black thorny vines shot out and grabbed Applejack, pulling her into the light, the family horrified to watch her getting grabbed, only to be ensnared as the vines reached over and grabbed them as well. When the light faded, a large rose like Heartless appeared with four red jewels in it's chest as four dragon like head shot out of it's body, each a different color; red, pink, white, and yellow. Two massive wings grew from it as it roared out, letting everything know that it was ready to fight whoever it wanted to, making the prince back up and make everyone real black in fear.
"I know more ways to hurt the heart than what anyone else does." Marluxia said, pulling out another rose, but it was red. "I always have a back up plan in case something goes wrong. A whole family, fearful and scared for their well being. You can't save all of them before it dies if you strike it. How will you save them now, your majesty?"
A corridor appeared underneath him and he left, leaving the Heartless behind as it charged him, spewing fire, thunder, blizzard, and darkness at him, making him leap into the air with the two princesses jumped up with him. But he looked down as the projectile attacks were heading for him friends, dropping down and using his body and wings to block the attack, taking multiple critical hits as Rainbow Dash arrived.
"Spyro, you ok?" She asked, keeping a distance from the battle.
"Not really." Spyro said, straining to speak as he collapsed.
The two sisters engaged the giant Heartless, summing up what little strength they had to distract it while his friends tended to him. Rainbow Dash flew down and reached into his bag to get a potion, but Spyro raised his Keyblade and two bell shaped flowers appeared, sprinkling green dust on him, healing his injuries.
"Ok, so what's the plan?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Marluxia said if I strike it down, it will die, taking all four of them with it." Spyro said, dread and worry in his heart. "Even if I take my bracers off to get more speed, I'll be too strong and destroy it with one punch. And if I don't take them off, my speed will be limited and I'll have more time to save them, but all those roots and vines in the way, I'd be tearing it apart, destroying it just as fast. Probably only to save one, maybe two before too much damage is inflicted."
He fell to his knees, his heart breaking as one of his friends and her family were being used to power whatever that thing was and if he wasn't careful, it would die and it would take them with it. He closed his eyes and broke down, tears falling from his face as he looked on, seeing the sisters fight it to keep it occupied. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the same man walking to him and when everyone else looked, he wasn't visible, wondering what he was looking at. When the man approached, he knelt down and smiled, the same warm smile the last two times, but refused to say anything.
"Marluxia is right." Spyro said to him. "I'm too powerful and my strikes, even with the Force, won't be precise enough to get them out before it collapses. What do I do?"
"You always relied on your own power to win the day." He said, finally using his voice. "Your Drives always used your elements and your other abilities to overcome and defeat the enemy. But now you need help from your friends."
"What are you talking about?" Spyro said out loud, making his friends question if he's lost his mind. "They aren't fighters. I can;t ask them to put their lives in danger. They already did that with Nightmare Moon. I can't ask them to do that again."
"Alone you are strong." He said, getting up. "But together, you're invincible." He turned and walked away, slowly fading as he left. "The roses showed you the kind of power your friends could have. What can you do to protect them while also fight with them?"
As he faded, the mares, filly, and the baby dragon looked to each other, trying to figure out who he was talking to. But Spyro looked to his friends, trying to understand what the stranger was talking about the power the roses showed, remembering that the power was dark and corrupted, but then his mind went to that word; corrupted. The Dark Desire corrupted those infected or plagued by it, but what would that mean if they had the ability to use that kind of magic without the roses corruption. He got up and walked forward, calling his Keyblade, which lightened everyone spirit and their spirits skyrocketed when a dome of light surrounded him.
"Alright!" Rainbow Dash said, pumped and hovering in the air. "He's using a drive! That'll help AJ."
"Indeed it will." Rarity said, brushing her mane. "If he uses a drive like the one he used during the Summer Sun Celebration, he might have the power needed to win.
"Um, Rarity, your chest is glowing." Fluttershy said, pointing at her chest, making everyone look.
"So is yours!" Rarity exclaimed, catching both off guard.
Both the mares wondered why their chests had the same symbol and was glowing, making everyone wonder what was going on until the dome expanded, making everyone back up, but Rarity and Fluttershy and the dome passed over them. At the battle, MArluxia was watching everything unfold and watched as the sisters tried to save the Apple Family, but kept on getting knocked back or blown away before they could do anything. He then saw the massive dome, knowing he was going to try a Drive and waved his hoof, ordering the Hydra like Heartless to unleash all four of its breath attacks, covering the dome and causing a powerful explosion that threw everyone off.
"A Hail Mary tactic." He said. "Use whatever you can, it won't matter. Unless you are precise and can make it survive long enough to get them out. You can't save everyone no matter how hard you try. Death is the debt that everyone will pay."
As he turned to leave, a light shined through the cloud of smoke, making him turn to see what it was and heard something shatter, smiling that he had activated his drive, which was a fruitless endeavor until three light shot into the air, one shaped like a white unicorn, the second a yellow Pegasus, and the third was a purple dragon, the dragon going straight into the air as the two equines circled around it as it ascended. He couldn't help but watch as the three of them collided, exploding into the three colors.
"What are you up to?" Marluxia asked, sitting to see what happens.
Before the attack, everyone, even the princesses watched as the dome had absorbed the two ponies, wondering what was going on until the hydra fired all four of his breath attacks at the dome of glass and light, causing a massive explosion that pushed everyone away, making the princesses hit the trees. Everyone got their bearings and looked to the smoke, hoping their friends were alright when they heard shattering glass and watched the three lights shoot into the air. They watched as they flew up and collided, creating the massive explosion and revealing a figure that looked like Spyro, but there was some differences.
He was surrounded by light, but then the figure of the dragon hybrid grew a horn on the forehead as the short mane and tail grew longer, curling the same way Rarity's mane and tail was, the wings remained the same. As the light started to shatter and flake off, it revealed his legs were armored with white and gold pieces of armor while his coat was yellow on the left side, white on the right, and purple in between, each with the ponies cutie marks for each individual all across the coat with pieces armor on his shoulders and on his head, looking like a helmet from the Legend of Spyro: a New Dawn. On the head, he had a horn like a unicorn while his coat and scales remained the same with his mane being pink, dark purple and royal gold. Everyone looked at Spyro, awe struck and surprised to see their friend looking completely different, changed to look completely different as three new Keyblades appeared. The first was an Ultima weapon that looked like a sword with a golden lining that formed a wing with a heart at the tip for the teeth while the second had a blade that looked like Rarity's mane with three diamond, one pointing forward, one back, and the third downward with a mane as the guard and diamond in it with a red ruby heart keychain and the element of Generosity necklace connecting the chain with the guard, and the third was a long thin yellow blade with a green spear-like top with a butterfly as the teeth, a pink handle with a green oval guard with the Element of Kindness necklace connecting the guard with the keychain with Angel's face.
Everyone watched as he flew down towards the Heartless, spinning to where he was kicking the Heartless, going through the first jewel and getting Apple Bloom out of the Heartless, taking her back to the group and setting her down with Twilight and took off again to continue. As he turned to face the Heartless, the pink head shriveled up and turned into dust, disintegrating in seconds as it sent a blast of fire to the Keyblade bearer, but he raised his left foreleg, his right side of the coat glowing white, and six diamond like shields appeared, blocking the attack and sending the diamonds at the Heartless, pinning its feet and stabbing its chest, screeching in pain as he flew down and slashing the beast while dodging the vines on it as they were covered in thorns. One strike ended up slicing the red jewel on its chest, freeing Big Mac, letting Spyro grab him and fly back to the group, dropping the red stallion off, but Apple Bloom woke up to see Spyro coming down, amazed at his new look before he looked at her with tri-colored eyes; purple, dark blue, and aquamarine.
"Spyro, is that you?" She asked, trying to get up, but fell back down, still staring at the prince.
He didn't reply as all he did was smile and nod his head, letting her know it was him, but turn his focus to the Heartless as it roared in frustration, the red head rotting away as it extended its wing to fly away, but Spyro didn't;t let that happen as the yellow side of his jacket glowed and vines shot out from the ground, ensnaring the behemoth. he leapt into the air, the yellow part of his coat still glowing as he was encased in an blue aura shaped like a bear, running towards the Heartless and swiping its claws across its chest, shattering the third gem to free Granny Smith while cracking the last one. Spyro got Granny Smith and jumped away as the Heartless took a swing at him, proving to be too fast as he laid the old mare on the ground, who was sleeping peacefully. However, as the white rose head rotted away, the Heartless broke free and flew into the air, gaining altitude as it charged up its electrical attack to finish him off.
Spyro looked up to the overgrown weed and waited as storm clouds gathered above head, charging up its attack and releasing multiple bolts of lightning to strike down the prince. However, both white and yellow sides of hit coat glowed as dozens of large diamond shaped diamonds appeared over head, blocking the attack while hawk shaped projections were shot out of the diamonds, flying at breakneck speed towards the creature of darkness to clip its wings, sending it hurtling through the air to the ground. Spyro however, launched himself into the air again and flew towards the falling rose bud, bringing his Keyblades together, crossing them to make a six pointed star as he flew at it, blocking its incoming thunder breath as he flew through it's chest one last time, shattering the crystal and grabbing Applejack as he busted through the back, releasing the heart as the Heartless crumbled into dust.
"Interesting." Marluxia said. "My mission may have failed, but I might have something better to bring back." He turned around to leave, but looked back, smiling at Spyro as he glided down to his friends. "You may have won this round young prince, but next time, you won't be so fortunate." A corridor of darkness opened up and walked through it, leaving the colorful world as he got what his masters might like.
Back on the ground, Spyro had just landed on the ground, Applejack on his back and smiled, everyone in silent shock as they looked upon their friend, seeing the changes he went through in this new drive. No one spoke as they waited for someone to break the silence until. Applejack groaned and woke up, looking down to see a white coat, hugging Spyro as she knew it was him.
"Ah'm glad ya'll came." She said, blushing as she did. "Ah was worried ya forgot about me."
"Why would I forget about you AJ?" Spyro asked, kneeling down to let Applejack off.
"Oh Spyro darling, you are such a gentlecolt." Rarity said, speaking through Spyro, which made him look around to see where she was talking from while everyone stared at him, eyes wide in shock.
"Rarity?" Spyro asked, looking around. "Where are you?"
"I'm right here Spyro." Rarity replied, freaking everyone out.
"I don't see you." Spyro said, spinning around to find her.
"Y-yeah, even I can't see you." Fluttershy said, speaking through Spyro.
"What the hay is going on!?" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, clutching her head. "Rarity and Fluttershy just spoke through Spyro!"
"What!?" All three of them said in unison, spooking them.
Everyone looked in shock at Spyro watching as his eyes changed color everytime someone else was speaking, even controlling his body when they spoke. Spyro looked for something reflective to see himself and found a nearby pond, looking in to see himself in the drive form, but his eyes turned dark blue as he admired himself.
"Spyro darling, you look smashing." Rarity said, freaking out as she spoke through him, backing away. "WAHAHA! What is this!?"
"You're asking me!?" Spyro exclaimed, his eyes turning purple, but turning Dark Blue again.
"Well, you are the one who used the Drive." Rarity said, flicking his head into the air. "I hope you have an explanation."
"I don't!" Spyro replied, his eyes returning to purple. "I don't even know what's going on!"
"Ok, this is really hurting my brain right now." Rainbow Dash said, setting down on the ground. "Rarity is speaking out of Spyro's mouth as did Fluttershy and Spyro. And everytime they talk, his body moves based on who is talking!?"
"Um, seems right." Fluttershy said, the eyes changing to aquamarine and then to purple.
"There might be someone who might know what's going on." Spyro said, looking at everyone. "My mentor, Master Yen Sid."
Everyone was in Spyro's room at Sweet Apple Acres as he set up his tablet, contacting his mentor when his image appeared, spooking everyone looking into the screen.
"Spyro, good to see you." Yen Sid said. "And it seems you have a new look."
"Honestly not my idea." Spyro said.
"I must agree, but disagree." Rarity said, peaking Yen Sids curiosity.
"Rarity will you let me talk to him?" Spyro asked. "I do apologize about that master. I got a bit of a situation."
"I can see that." Yen Sid said. "You seem to have another beings heart in you."
"Um, make that two others sir." Fluttershy said, hiding behind his mane.
Master Yen Sid stroked his beard, curious about the situation in front of him as Spyro explained everything that happened from his return from a date at Twilight town all the way to what happened with him activating a new drive, even explaining everything that happened to his friends while he was away. After hearing everything from his student, he chuckled and returned his attention to him.
"I am afraid I have no clue as to what this is." Yen Sid said. "It seems when you needed help, two of your friend's hearts reached out to you to lend their power. Whatever this new power is, it seems that those you call upon to use your drives will fuse with you, letting them speak through you as two beings in one body."
"Great, now we got some Yugioh logic here." Spyro said, clearly getting annoyed. "I swear, this is some Yami Yugi type of shenanigans we got going here. I swear to god, I am going to get an aneurysm from this."
"Well, do it when we aren't here Spyro darling." Rarity said, stroking his mane. "I'd like to not end up with any kind of pain I can't handle."
"Not helping Rarity." Spyro said, arguing with her. "Master, does this mean that if I use a drive that involves my friends, does that mean they possess my body?"
"Correct." Yen Sid replied. "But if it works like a drive, it should be wearing off any moment now."
As he said it, Spyro started glowing the three colors on the jacket as the three of them separated, all three of them back to the way they were.
"Oh thank goodness!" Rarity exclaimed, hoping off the bed. "I feared I'd be stuck like that forever!"
"I agree." Spyro said, shivering as he did. "Having two mares share my body at once? No thank you! That's enough internet for one day!"
Spyro was going to close the tablet to end the call, but Yen Sid cleared his throat, letting him know he had more to say.
"Spyro, all power has a price and its conditions." Yen Sid said. "These new drives are no exception. Some have their ups, and others have their downs. Think of this not as a problem, but a blessing as you might get a second opinion on tactics while in these new drives. All you need to do is try as it can prove beneficial."
"Yeah, maybe." Spyro said, walking away, but turning around. "I mean, these new drives could prove useful, but I don't think I like the idea of having them speak through me and seeing what I see and hear. Ain't going to get any privacy if that happens."
"I know you are frustrated Spyro, but find the good in what you have now." Yen Sid said. "You have a strong bond with your friends and they can help you if you ask for it. You might be surprised with what they may offer."
The call ended, turning the screen black as he left Spyro alone with his friends in his room. Everyone was silent as they were processing what was spoken, no body saying a thing until Spyro took in a deep breath to relax, feeling his frustration rising with his anger.
"Great Spyro great." He said to himself. "You discover a new drive where you share your body with others if you use them in a drive, borrowing their power while they get to see and hear everything you do while also speaking through you. Master Yen Sid saying their hearts formed a strong bond with mine and saying you might be surprised at what they can offer. Why not just say 'Hey Spyro, start a herd with your friends in Equestria. You can all be a big happy group, fight bad guys together, go on adventures, learn everything about friendship. Maybe start a big happy family while you're at it while studying to be a prince?'"
After he ended his tangent, everyone was silent, but when looked over at Princess Celestia, his heart dropped as he saw a mischievous smile form on her face, knowing he spoke too much.
"No Princess Celestia, don't you dare!" Spyro exclaimed, feeling he just dug himself a grave. "Don't you dare take what I said seriously!"
"Why I would never." She said, leaving the room still smiling.
"Princess I swear by Kingdom Hearts, don't even think about it!" He said, chasing after her. "That was a tangent. Don't you know what that is? That's stuff I don't even mean!"
Everyone else was left in the room, trying to process what they had heard and how freaked out Spyro was until they heard the Princesses carriage leave, everyone coming out to see the princess of, even her own sister when they found Spyro hitting his head on a support beam on the front porch, looking miserable.
"Ya'll ok there sugarcube?" Applejack asked, concerned for her friend. "Ya'll seem upset about something."
"She did it." Spyro said, still hitting hiss head, but getting faster. "She just did it. Saying to take care of those who bear the Elements of Harmony as they seem happy with me. Telling me I have the blessing of the Herd. Telling me that whoever bears the Princes light can be a part of the herd. Even so far as telling me to be happy. This is not how I imagined my life in this world was going to be like as it's one thing after the other!" His head banging was getting faster as he was getting more frustrated, everyone getting worried for him. "A simple dinner date turns into a night you get a flipping harem! You let others come in contact with your light, you hear their story, you help them to learn to forgive themselves, you get yourself a flipping harem! Go on a tangent, say a bunch of stupid things, spit out a bunch of stupid ideas and the princess will follow through with them! Somebody shoot me IN THE MOUTH!"
"Okie Dokie Lokie." Pinkie said, pulling a cannon up to his muzzle and pulled the string, firing her party cannon in his face.
Eveyrone looked at the random pink earth pony, wondering where she came from as she hopped up and down after firing her cannon, looking at everyone around her.
"What? He asked someone to do it." She said, everyone face smacking themselves as it was something he didn't mean to happen.