Chapter 38: Spirit of the Bear Part 1: A New World
The rest of the weekend was mostly peaceful after Spyro had locked away his darker half, helping out on the farm and following Applejack as she took Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle into the orchard, wondering what she wanted to show them, going through some foliage that as never been trimmed and some insects biting them, until they arrived at an old, rundown, broken clubhouse that seemed to have seen better days, broken windows, rotting boards, and a collapsing roof.
"Um, AJ, what's this?" Spyro asked.
"Yeah, what are we looking at?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"Cutie Mark Crusaders, welcome to your new clubhouse!" Applejack said, the fillies silent as she announced it. "Well, don't thank me all at once."
"AJ, this doesn't look very safe." Spyro said, looking over the whole thing. "This entire thing looks like it's about to collapse."
"Ah, who asked ya?" Applejack said, flicking her tail on his nose. "This use to be mah clubhouse when I was their age." She and the fillies walked up the ramp, the three crusaders looking nervously at each other until they came to the entrance. "Sure, it hasn't been used in a while, but it's empty and on a secluded private part of the farm. And it's all yours." As she said it, a section of the roof, the mare looking back and smiling nervously. "Just needs a little bit of TLC."
"TLC as in Tender Love and Care?" Scootaloo asked, annoyed and glaring at the clubhouse. " Or Totally Lost Cause?"
"Scoots, nothing is ever a lost cause." Spyro said, nudging her to the house. "Sure, it needs a lot of work, but if we work together, we'll make it better than it is now."
"That's the spirit Spyro!" Applejack said.
"But Applejack, how are we supposed to turn this into our clubhouse?" Apple Bloom said.
"Well, maybe ya'll get yer cutie mark in-" The wall she was leaning on collapsed, making her fall into the rotting tree house and buried under the boards, popping her head up, seeing stars fly around her head. "Housecleaning?"
He just shook his head, trying hard not to laugh as she got out from underneath the boards when his bracers went off, indicating a message from Master Yen Sid was coming through and he needed to take it.
"Sorry girls, Master Yen Sid is calling." Spyro said, helping Applejack out of the rubble. "I need to take this call, but I'll be back to help if I can."
"Sure thing Spyro. We got this." Apple Bloom said.
"Don't worry, we'll be just fine." Scootaloo said, the fillies running off to get the tools and supplies they needed.
Spyro didn't feel comfortable letting the fillies handle this on their own, but knew they would be ok, so he flew off back to the farm house and walked in, heading up the stairs and to his room. He then pulled out his tablet and punched in a few commands and immediately, Master Yen Sid's image appeared on the screen.
"Master Yen Sid, good to see you again." Spyro said. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"Greetings young prince." Master Yen Sid said. "I hear some congratulations are in order. I heard from the princess that you managed to best your darkness and seal it away."
"Well, I couldn't have done it without my friends." Spyro replied. "Like Sora, my friends are my strength."
"That is something you must remember well young prince." Master Yen Sid said. "Though you felt the need to protect them all the time, a good prince must know when to seek help from their friends and not to take everything on all by themselves."
"Yeah, now I know." Spyro replied. "I'm glad they were there for me. I really needed them. Anyway, you said there was something else you needed?"
"Yes, I have an urgent mission for you." Master Yen Sid replied, the image going to a new world that looked to be a forest with a mountain on top, northern lights shining from the top. "This is an uncharted world, close to Equestria and Sora was sent to explore it. However, there was a problem with entry and his ship malfunctioned."
"Oh no." Spyro said. "Are they ok?"
"Sora is fine." Master yen Sid said. "Donald and Goofy are at Disney castle carrying out their royal duties. Sora went on his own as it was meant to be a simple exploration. Now he is stranded and needs help." The image then went back to Master Yen Sid, a serious look on his face as he addressed him. "I need you to go and get him off world, bring him back to the Mysterious Tower."
"No problem sir." Spyro said. "Anything I should know about the world?"
"It's primitive, so magic is known in the world." Master Yen Sid said. "However, the world itself is very large and is filled with many animals, very few people. I recommend you take a couple of your friends with you to find Sora."
"You got it sir." Spyro replied. "And specifics on who I should bring with me?"
"That is up to you Spyro." He replied. "You know your friends better than I do. I know you will make the right choice."
With that, the screen went dark and left him in his room all alone, closing the tablet and putting it back into the draw as he got out of bed and out the door. A moment later, he saw the crusaders with a wagon full of tools and paint, heading back to the clubhouse to get to work while he watched, happy they were taking the initiative as they went by. He then saw Applejack coming up to the farm house, seeing the smile on his face and something in his eyes that told her he needed to go.
"What did he say?" Applejack asked.
"Master Yen Sid needs me to head to a new world." Spyro replied, surprising Applejack. "Sora's ship had a malfunction and crashed on it. Master Yen Sid needs me to pick him up and bring him back to his tower."
"How long will ya be gone?" She asked.
"I don't know." Spyro replied. "Could be a little while. But the good news is, he granted me permission to take a couple of you girls with me for the mission."
"Really, who?"Applejack asked.
"Anypony I want." He replied. "And the world is filled with animals, so I think I'll take Fluttershy with me as her knowledge of animals and her gift for befriending them will be most beneficial. And I think I'll take Rainbow Dash too. With her speed, we will be able to find him in no time."
"Ya'll already have this planned, don't ya?" She asked.
"Doesn't take a genius to know my friend's strengths and weaknesses." He replied. "Anyway, I need to go get them. Let them know what's going on. And tell Scootaloo I might be gone for a little while."
"Ah know where Rainbow Dash is." Applejack said. "She's helping some of the weather Pegasi with getting rid of some rogue clouds near Ponyville."
"Great." He said. "Tell her to meet me at the Gummi Garage when she can. We'll be leaving in the afternoon."
The two ponies left the farm to let their friends know what was going on, Applejack going to fetch Rainbow Dash while Spyro went to get Fluttershy at her cottage. When he got there, he knocked on the door and heard some hoof steps, Fluttershy opening her door and seeing Spyro standing there, smiling as she came out.
"Oh, hello Spyro." She said. "What are you doing here?"
"Hey Fluttershy, I need your help." Spyro replied. "Master Yen Sid has given me a mission to get help Sora off a new world his ship crashed on. I was hoping you'd tag along."
"Oh, that's ok Spyro, I'm good staying here." Fluttershy replied. "I need to take care of my animals."
"Aw, too bad." Spyro said, turning to leave. "The world we're heading to is filled with animals."
As soon as he said it, he heard her door close, looking back and smiling as he knew his friend too well. A moment later, she came out with her saddle bags full of supplies and ran to his side, already ready to go. He chuckled to himself at how fast she was when it came to animals, walking with her to Sweet Apple Acres, arriving just as Rainbow Dash came flying by, landing in front of the garage as they came up.
"Yo Spyro, AJ said you needed my help." Rainbow Dash said.
"Yeah, I do." Spyro replied. "Master Yen Sid gave me a mission to get Sora off a new world his ship crashed on. Unfortunately, it's a big world, so I need a pony who is fast enough to fly in the sky and look around."
"Well, I'm your mare!" She said confidently. "I'll find him in no time. But, where we going?"
"As I said, it's new, so we don't know its name." Spyro replied. "And the good news is, there aren't very many humans, so you can fly around freely."
"AW YEAH!" Rainbow Dash shouted, doing a loop. "Sign me up!"
"Glad to hear it." Spyro said. "The Dragons Crest will leave in thirty minutes. Get what you need and come back."
She saluted and flew off to her house to get what she needed when he saw Scootaloo standing there, her eyes wide and a poster in her mouth, the poster dropping to the ground, knowing he needed to talk to her.
"You go to the ship Flutters." Spyro said. "I need to talk with Scoots real quick."
She nodded her head and went into the garage as the ship came up, the boarding ramp lowering to let her on board while he walked over to his little sister, who looked unhappy about something.
"You're leaving?" Scootaloo asked. "Going to another world?"
"It's just a Search and Rescue mission Scoots, nothing more." Spyro replied, kneeling down to her. "My friend Sora is stranded on a new world and needs help. My master gave me the order to find him and bring him back to his tower." He could sense that she was upset about something, looking down to the poster and saw it was advertisement for a talent show being held at the school, now knowing why she was upset. "You going to participate?"
"Yeah, I am." She replied, looking unhappy. "The Crusaders are going to participate. I was bringing the poster to show you, but..."
"Oh Scoots." He said, pulling her in for a hug. "I wouldn't miss it for the world. When is it?"
"This Friday." She replied. "Friday night. Will you make it?"
"Sure, I should be able to make it." He replied. "That gives me five days to find my friend and come back for the show. More than enough time." He broke off the hug and looked his sister in the eye, seeing the sparkle in them again as she felt happy it wouldn't take long. "I promise, I'll be there to see your act and I promise to bring back a souvenir for you."
"Pinkie promise?" She asked.
"Pinkie Promise." Spyro replied, hugging her just as Rainbow Dash flew by and into the garage, breaking off the hug and ruffling up her hair. "Be good, ok? And make sure you practice. I want to see you at your best for the show."
The filly smiled, nodding her head before taking the poster and running back to the clubhouse, excited for the talent show. Spyro smiled, knowing his sister was going to give it her best and got up from the ground, walking to the Gummi Garage and into the ship. The engines roared to life and took off out of the garage and to the sky, entering the orbit of the world before locking in the coordinates for the new world, the map showing that it was close by, just as Master Yen Sid said. He pressed a few buttons on his screen and the ship took off, flying in the direction of the new world, steering the ship as they flew by.
"We got lucky girls." Spyro said, changing back to human. "The new world is close to Equestria and with the Holy-G engines, we should be there in less than an hour."
A second later, they heard something crash in the hall, everyone turning their heads to the door into the hall as they heard something else fall down, something shattering as it crashed down to the ground.
"What was that?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Don't know." Spyro replied, turning his seat and setting the ship to autopilot, getting up. "Something must have fallen out of its container. I'll check it out."
He walked out into the hall and headed in the direction of the cargo bay, thinking something there fell and shattered, he didn't expect much as he chalked it up to him not strapping things down properly. However, when he reached the cargo bay, he was about to enter when he looked down to the ground, finding blue powder on the ground and a set of blue hoof prints walking out of the cargo bay and into the hall. Realizing he has a stowaway, he followed the track, thinking it was Scootaloo at first, but the hoof prints were a bit larger, but not as large as a stallions, but the size of a fully grown mare. He followed it for a distance when he spotted a wrapper on the ground, picking it up and examining it to see what it was and what kind of candy it possibly belong to, finding a strand of pink hair on the wrapper, putting it all together, he knew exactly who the stowaway was and immediately ran after her.
A minute later, he found his stowaway in the kitchen, trying to hide by pretending she was a bag of flour, the white flour covering her coat and as she had the bag over her head, thinking he wouldn't see her. He leaned against the frame of the door, crossing his arms as he stared at the flour covered mare, Pinkie lifting the bag above her eyes to clearly see the disapproving look Spyro had on his face, smiling nervously.
"Really Pinkie?" He asked. "Really? Stowing away on my ship?"
"Sorry Spyro." She said, tossing the bag away and shaking the flour off. "But I wanted to come along. After all, when I heard somepony make a Pinkie Promise and found out it was you, I needed to come along!"
"Wait, what?" He asked, confused. "You heard that?"
"Well of course silly!" She replied. "I mean, when a pony makes a Pinkie Promise, I always know about it! And when a friend makes that promise, I do everything I can to help make sure you follow through with it! Like, this one time when Rainbow Dash made a Pinkie promise with a Pegasus friend to help them with clearing the weather, I-"
"Alright, I get it." Spyro said, turning around and walking back to the cockpit. "Well, might as well join the team. Too late to turn around now and with your Pinkie Sense, we might be able to find Sora before the talent show."
The two of the walked to the cockpit, Pinkie more like hoping to the cockpit more than walking and when they entered, the two Pegasi were surprised to see Pinkie was with them, but just didn't ask about it. After about an hour, they arrived at the world, the world was definitely the same as what Master Yen Sid showed him, but the bottom of the world had a couple of bears beneath it, something he didn't see before, but filed it in the back of his mind as something he didn't notice. He deactivated the engines and set the ship to remain in orbit of he world as he didn't know how the human population would react if they saw the Gummi ship, thinking they might get violent if they saw something so advanced like his ship.
"Alright girls, the ship is remaining in the world's orbit for this mission." Spyro said, getting up from his seat. "I'll teleport us with my magic. Stay close and be ready. Who knows what this world has in store for us."
The girls walked up to him as he chanted the spell to teleport them to the worlds surface, surrounding them in light and a moment later, they appeared in the peak of a mountain, high above the ground and clouds covering the top of the mountain.
"Wait, I thought this world was a forest?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Did you get the spell wrong?"
"Well, it is a bit random where we teleport in." Spyro responded. "Still, it's a good place to start our search. Rainbow Dash, you-"
They then heard someone yell out in frustration, drawing their attention to the nearby mountain that had a flat surface where he could sense anger and what felt like joy, and death. Without a moment too hesitate, Spyro picked Pinkie up, the pink mare yelping and then giggling a bit from his touch as he used the Force to leap to the nearby mountain top, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy flying behind him to see what was going on, but when they got there, Fluttershy gasped, covering her mouth as they saw a dead bear, a human on his knees as he yelled out in victory for what he did. Spyro set Pinkie down, only for Fluttershy to fly into his chest, crying at the sight of the dead bear, to which he hugged her, patting her back as she sobbed at the sight, but then looked up and saw some blue lights come down from the sky, hearing some kind of singing following it, Fluttershy looking back to the bear, but then saw the lights and got off his chest, all four of them watching.
"What are they?" Fluttershy asked.
"Ooh, ooh, maybe they're some kind of fancy party lights?" Pinkie said, everyone looking at her.
"No Pinkie, they aren't party lights." Spyro said, looking back to the lights. "There's some kind of magic in them. I don't know what it is, but it's ancient, I can tell you that."
A moment later, a massive pillar of blue glowing water fell from the sky, forcing the human being to run for a nearby stone slope to take cover on, the water then gushing over the side of the mountain, the water glowing with he same power as what those lights had, his curiosity soaring as he wondered what was going on. The light was enough for them to see the human that killed the bear was a boy, roughly in his teens, with dark hair and wearing a tan fur with brown pants and leather fur boots, holding onto a spear with a stone head on it. He tested the water with his foot to make sure nothing bad would come form it, finding it was regular water and dipped his whole foot into the water, walking through it towards the down pouring pillar of magical water to get a better look at it, Spyro and the three ponies watching as he approached it with caution.
"What's happening?" Rainbow Dash asked, looking to Spyro, but he just shrugged his shoulders.
The boy got close enough to the water, circling the pillar of blue liquid before stabbing it with his spear, which exploded into northern lights, the singing continued, but then it sounded like there were more people and like it was a kind of Native American song from a long time ago, like it was a singing out to the spirits of the past. In the lights came a massive herd of mammoths, stopping towards them, so Spyro instinctively knelt down and called his dragon wings, protecting the girls as they huddled underneath him, but felt nothing, looking back to the lights and standing up, the ponies watching as a large number of different animals came from the lights, some dancing around the boy while others just ran, flew, or swam past him. Everyone was captivated by the light show, the girls smiling as they watched, but Spyro could sense something else within the lights, disappointment, disapproval, sorrow, even anger towards the boy, watching as a large eagle spirit flew down in front of the kid and turn into a human, older with dark hair like the boys, but he looked sad.
"Oooh. Pretty." Pinkie said. "Hey, that human turned into an eagle! Does he do tricks? What else can he do!? Does he do parties? Why's he glowing?"
"He's a spirit." Spyro replied, the girls looking up to him. "He's not alive."
"Wait, you're saying he's... A GHOSt!?" Rainbow Dash asked, visibly shaking at the thought.
"GHOST!?" Fluttershy exclaimed, jumping into Spyro's arms.
Before he could answer, he saw the older man looking to the body of the dead bear, watching as it turned into a stream of light that flew past the group and into the lights, everyone watching the phenomenon and wondering what was going on. They then turned their attention back to the boy, who was looking around for the man, but the eagle then picked him up, the singing still going on and getting louder as the eagle used its wings to cover the boy before an ethereal head of the bear surrounded him, hearing the bear roar out and the energy used to make the head of the bear went into the boy, physically changing him into a bear. Everyone was speechless at what they saw, even Spyro who can change into a dragon, but didn't understand what was going on, watching the bear float down to the ground unconscious as a gold aura surrounded it before the singing reached its end, the lights suddenly flying into the air and the dark night returning.
"What... just... happened?" Rainbow Dash asked, completely speechless.
"Wow." Pinkie said, looking at the bear. "That was AMAZING! I mean, the eagle flying down and picking the boy up was pretty cool, the eagle turning into a human was wicked, but turning the big mean human into a bear for killing a bear was OUT OF THIS WORLD! WOOH!"
"Pinkie!" Spyro whispered, lowering his body and letting Fluttershy down.
A moment later, the bear got up and walked to the edge of the mountain, wobbling from the whole event and possibly disoriented from the entire thing as he reached the edge. A moment later, Spyro saw another human climb up the mountains edge, getting onto his knees and saw the shredded clothing and the fallen spear, feeling his despair and grief as he saw the clothing, figuring out the boy was his brother and wanted to go down and tell him what had happened, but fate had another plan. The new bear looked over tot he boy and got onto it's hind legs, as if to warn him not to approach or get a better look at him, but a bolt of lightning flashed between them, spooking the bear to fall off the ledge of the mountain. Without thinking, Spyro ran over to the edge of the platform they were on and leapt off, Rainbow Dash following him as he glided down to the bear and reaching out to grab him, to save him from death, but the massive animal hit the side of the mountain, sliding down until he hit the river, trying to keep his head above the waters surface as the river dragged him away.
When he flew above him, the bear looked up to see a shadowy figure reached his hand to help him, but got dragged beneath he waters surface, Spyro missing to grab him until they reached calmer waters, the bear washing up onto a nearby shore, unconscious but still alive as Spyro landed onto the edge of the water, running to the bear and helping him onto land. Fluttershy arrived shortly after he pulled the bear from the water just as Pinkie appeared out of no where, running up to them as Spyro looked the bear over for any injuries and any kind of open wound, finding nothing wrong and nothing badly injured, which was a surprise to him.
"Is he ok?" Fluttershy asked.
"He's alive if that's what you mean." Spyro replied, his wings disappearing. "And I don't see any kind of wounds on him. I think he'll be ok."
"Oh my, what do we have here?" A female voice asked. The four of them looked to Spyro's right, finding an elderly woman wearing a heavy fur coat and had a walking sticks with her as she walked up. Spyro immediately motioned for the girls to move behind him, keeping himself between them and the elderly woman as she walked to them, the four of them moving back to put distance between them and her, which she noticed and smiled. "Oh don;t be shy, I'm not that scary. My name is Tanana. I am the shaman of the local tribe nearby. You don;t need to be afraid of me, I don't bite."
He was still unsure of the lady, reaching out with her Force to sense if she had any ill intent, but found that she was a kind hearted person, no malice in her heart and nothing but love and care. Spyro smiled and straightened himself up, standing up and taking a few steps forward.
"I am Spyro." He replied. "It's nice to meet you Tanana."
She smiled at the new comer and then saw the ponies behind him, the three of them poking their heads out to look at her, but Rainbow Dash walked out form behind him, her chest puffed out to make herself look bigger and more intimidating, but Tanana just giggled as she walked forward, kneeling down to get a better look at the cyan Pegasus.
"Oh, aren't you the cutest thing I have ever seen." Tanana said.
"Who you calling cute!?" Rainbow Dash said, surprising the elder lady and making Spyro press his fingers between his eyes. "No pony calls me cute!"
"She can talk!?" Tanana asked, surprised by the revelation.
"Nice one there Rainbow." Spyro said sarcastically. "Ya went and spoke in front of another human ."
Rainbow Dahs looked at Spyro, wondering what he meant, but then remembered that outside of her world, talking ponies were not very common and knew she had messed up, giving a nervous smile as she knew she was in big trouble.
"OH, never have I thought I'd live to see and hear a talking animal." Tanana said. "Let alone being a horse."
"Who you calling a horse!?" Rainbow Dash snapped, flapping her wings and hovering in the air. "I'm a pony. A Pegasus in fact and don't you-"
"Rainbow!" Spyro snapped, making the Pegasus flinch. "Well, cats out of the bag anyway. Might as well introduce you to them." He stepped aside so Tanana can see the other two ponies, Fluttershy was still nervous and hid behind Pinkie, who was just bouncing in excitement. "The cyan pony with the big mouth is Rainbow Dash, fastest flier of our land."
"Hey!" She shouted, crossing her forelegs.
"The pink pony who's bouncing a lot is Pinkie Pie." Spyro continued. "She's an earth pony and loves to throw parties. She's also the most chaotic pony I know, so if you see her do something crazy or can't be explained, don't ask. And if she says something random, just go with it. Trust me, you'll sleep better at night." Pinkie just kept bouncing, reaching into her mane and pulled out a cupcake, offering it to Fluttershy, who refused it and ate the cupcake herself. "And the yellow Pegasus with her pink mane is Fluttershy. She's very timid around new ponies and new people, so don't be discouraged if she whimpers and moves away from you."
Tanana walked up to everyone and wanted to greet them, but then saw the bear on the ground, her happy demeanor turning to one of sorrow as she walked over and sat down, rubbing the bears head as she looked at him.
"Oh Kenai." She said. "What have you done?"
"Wait, you know this kid?" Spyro asked, sitting on the opposite side.
"This is a member of my tribe, Kenai." Tanana replied. "He's irrational and headstrong."
"Reminds me of a couple ponies I know." Spyro replied, looking at Rainbow Dash, who was blushing.
"When he got his totem, a bear came and took a basket of fish he was supposed to tie into a tree." Tanana continued. "But the bear got the fish because he didn't tie it properly. His brother, Denahi, made the basket and wanted him to go and get it back. However, when he left, Denahi and his other brother, Sitka went after him. But when they returned, Sitka was gone."
Spyro felt his heart drop, knowing what she meant and looked back to the girls, who were also shocked to hear this and turned back to the elder, who was taking out a rag and put water on it.
"Kenai had attacked the bear, frustrated that she ate the fish." Tanana continued. "And when his brothers came to help, the bear was enraged by Kenai's actions, threatening to kill him, but Sitka sacrificed himself to collapse an ice ridge, saving his brothers, but lost his own life. He is now with the spirits." He could hear one of the girls crying, looking back to see Pinkie had a tissue out and handed it to Fluttershy, whose eyes were tearing up as she listened. "Kenai blamed the bear for the loss of his brother and sought revenge. Obviously, he got it, but in turn angered the spirits, punishing him for his transgressions. Now he must walk in the foot steps of the bear, follow his totem and find Sitka to become human again."
"But how can he find Sitka?" She asked. "If he's gone, how can he find him?"
"Fluttershy, remember the glowing man we saw?" Spyro asked, the mare nodding. "I think that was Sitka."
"So you saw him?" Tanana asked, the four of them nodding their heads. "That's wonderful. Then you will accompany Kenai?"
"I'm sorry Tanana, we can't." Spyro replied. "We came here looking for our friend. He's stranded in this land and possibly lost. We need to find him."
"Oh, what does your friend look like?" Tanana asked. "Maybe we can help each other."
"Well, he's young." Spyro replied. "About as young as Kenai, spiky brown hair, and is wearing all black clothing with a silver necklace."
Tanana put her hand under her chin, finding the description to be very familiar when it hit her, her eyes lighting up as she cheered.
"I know exactly where he is." Tanana said, getting their attention. "He is at the mountain where the lights touch the earth." She then made a drawing in the ground with lights coming down upon it. "I saw a strange vessel fall from the sky and a boy coming out of it. I went to see if he needed help, but he was alright and trying to make these strange glowing things talk. I think his name was... Sara, no... Sorto-"
"Sora!?" Spyro asked.
"Yes, that's it, Sora." Tanana replied. "I invited him to come back with me to my tribe to get some food and rest, but he remained with the vessel at the base of the mountain. I didn't want to leave him without any food or clean water, so I gave him some provisions and told him he'd find me at my tribes camp in the edge of the cliff side if he changed his mind. It's also where Kenai needs to go, so you can escort him there and get your friend at the same time!"
Spyro was thrilled his friend was ok and relieved they had a clue as to where he was, but finding this mountain would probably be the difficult part as he didn't know the lay out of the land all that well. As the night was upon them, a storm soon came and it started to pour, making the girls run for cover under a tree, which Spyro disapproved of and used his magic to make a shelter out of some vines and other plants, amazing Tanana as it formed above the three of them and the girls came running underneath to stay dry.
"By the ancestors, you have power over nature?" She asked.
"I hold a lot of magic in me." Spyro replied, putting some rocks in a circle and digging out the dirt in the circle before conjuring a smokeless flame. "I can do many things others would fail to understand. We come from a land filled with magic, so it's not that uncommon for me. But what I saw up in the mountain, that magic, it was far more ancient than what I have seen so far."
"It is the magic of the land." Tanana replied. "The power of our ancestors who walked the earth before us. They bring the winters as they bring the spring, providing us. They bring change to the land and to us. When he time comes for a member of the tribe to become a man, or a woman, the spirits give onto us a totem that will guide us. When we follow our totem, then we can put our hands upon the wall, marking our passing into adulthood."
"What was Kenai's totem?" Spyro asked.
"Love." Tanana replied. "The Bear of Love."
"Love?" Spyro asked, looking at Kenai.
"He didn't seem very loving when he killed that bear." Rainbow Dash said, earning an angry leer, warning her to be quiet.
"It's true, Kenai went against his totem and now must learn the hard way." Tanana replied. "But that doesn't mean he won't find love. It comes in all shapes and forms, we just need to open our hearts and expel the negative emotions." As she said it, a bolt of lightning cracked across the sky, spooking the girls as they huddled around Spyro as the flames kept burning. "It is getting late. Tonight, we rest. And tomorrow, you shall go and find your friend and help Kenai to find love."
She then rolled out some kind of rolled up blanket she had brought with her, laying down on it as Spyro dimmed the light, just enough to let everyone sleep while still burning to keep everyone warm.
"Do you think Kenai will ever return back to normal?" Fluttershy asked.
"Don't know." He replied. "That's up to him. For now, we need to get some sleep."
He reached into his pouch and pulled out an orb with what looked like a cottage in it, the girls looking at it for a moment before he tosssed it out from underneath the shelter and a second later, a flash of light appeared and revealed a cottage with the lights on and smoke coming from the chimney, all three of them in absolute awe at what they just witnessed. Spyro got up from the ground and walked over to the cottage, opening the door and motioning for the girls to come in, the three of them rushing over into the dry building, where a large table was in the middle of the room, a kitchen, and stairs that lead up into the next floor, where the bed rooms are.
"Make yourselves comfortable." Spyro said. "I'll whip us up some dinner."
The three ponies looked around the room, finding some comfy chairs and a couch with what looked liked like a big screen TV above the fire place, Rainbow Dash immediately rushing over to get something on. Pinkie ran up stairs to see if there was a bathroom as she looked like she needed to go while Fluttershy looked over the shelves to see what she could read, but found a lot of books in different languages, some she has never seen before. A while later, they smelled something that they have never smelled before, looking over to see her was carrying a circular metal tray, which they smelled something delectable and went to the table, finding it was a circular kind of food made with some kind of dough and with cheese and on top of it was some Daisy's and carnations, their mouths watering when they smelled it.
"Dig in girls." Spyro said. "I got another one in the oven for myself."
"What is it?" Pinkie asked, grabbing a slice of the strange food.
"It's called Pizza." He replied. "Simple, yet delicious."
As soon as Pinkie took a bite out of the slice of Pizza, her eyes lit up and she downed the whole thing, regretting it as she burned her mouth. The other two were a bit more cautious, taking one bite at a time, but savoring the taste of the food.
"You're not going to eat this pizza with us?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Nah, that's one's all yours girls." He responded. "The human body isn't adapted to eating flowers unless they're ground up for medical purposes."
"Is that why you are cooking another one?" Fluttershy asked, taking another bite.
"Yep." Spyro responded. "We humans are able to eat fruits, vegetables, and meat." As he said meat, the girls froze, looking back to Spyro with a disturbed look as he came back with a miniature pizza, finding it has nothing but cheese on it, sighing in relief as he cut it up. "Don't worry girls. I knew you'd be grossed out if I came back with a side of meat, so I made myself a cheese pizza so you didn't feel uncomfortable around me."
"Oh, how considerate of you." Fluttershy said, blushing at the stallion.
"Yeah, thanks pal." Rainbow Dash said. "If you would have came back with something that had meat in it, I'd have lost my appetite."
"I wouldn't have." Pinkie announced, swiping three pieces of pizza from the tray and downing them instantly, much to the groups displeasure.
"Anyway, what's the plan for tomorrow?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Glad you asked." Spyro replied. "Rainbow, you have the sky. Locate that mountain with the twin peaks and let Sora know we're on our way. I'll make sure you are given a transmitter so you can find your way back to us."
"Gotcha." She said, eating the rest of her pizza.
"Fluttershy, Kenai is going to freak out tomorrow when he learns he's a bear, so we might need you to help calm him down." Spyro said. "Plus, you're probably the only one of us who can speak to animals." She nodded her head, finishing her slice before reaching for another. "I didn't;t exactly count on Pinkie being here, but I think her Pinkie Sense will help us out a lot, avoid some of the dangers along the way to the mountain."
"You can count on me!" She said, pulling out a cake from under the table and gulping it in one bite.
The three of them starred at the mare, confused about where she pulled that from, but decided not to ask for the asked of their sanity. When the girls were done eating, they started to go up the stairs, Spyro letting them know there were only three bedrooms, so Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie decided to bunk together for the night, letting himself and Fluttershy have their own rooms for the night. After Spyro finished eating his meal, he took the cooking trays to the sink and cleaned them off, putting them into the drying rack before shutting off the TV Rainbow Dash had turned on to watch something and heading up to bed. As he walked through the hall, he could hear someone snoring loudly, like something out from a horror movie, but just ignored it as, tapping the door where the snoring was with his Keyblade to dampen the noise. He saw Fluttershy had taken the room across from the empty one, so he took it and shut the door, blowing out the candle light to sleep peacefully.
At the top of the mountain where Kenai fell from, his brother, Denahi, was kneeling over the shredded clothing his brother was wearing, picking up his brother's spear and his totem, grief filling his heart as anger rose up inside him, remembering his brothers words as he tied the totem around the head of the spear. In his mind, he was going to kill the bear that killed his siblings, swearing to himself that he wouldn't;t rest until he had his revenge, letting his brother's spirit rest in peace.
"Well now, what do we have here?" Came a woman's voice, Denahi turning around to see Maleficent standing just behind him. "You lost someone you care about?"
"Who are you?" Denahi asked. "What are you?"
"I'm the answer to your prayers." She responded, her voice gentle, but her eyes telling him something else. "I want to help you get revenge on the beast that killed your friend. I can give you the means to make it so."
"Yeah, and what do you get in return?" Denahi asked, still cautious of the woman.
"Why, nothing much." She responded. "There are two boys in this land that have caused me some grief. Help me to rid my existence of them, and I will help you to get revenge on the bear."
Denahi looked down at the spear, seeing the bear totem he tied to the end of the spear and remembering all the good times he had with his brother, despite their squabbles and the pestering, he loved his brother and failed to stop him from getting himself killed. He looked up to the witch, fury in his eyes and in his heart as he nodded his head, agreeing to the terms of the bargain.
"Excellent." Maleficent said. "Now hold still, and embrace the power I give to you. The power to control the Heartless!"
She extended her arm and allowed a green aura to surround Denahi, feeling the dark energy flow through him as he felt something awaken in him, a kind of savage energy that he has never felt before in his life. When the aura disappeared, he looked down at his hand and saw a dark aura surround it, looking up and seeing multiple voids appear in front of him were deer like Heartless with ice antlers, blue and black all over their body. Denahi backed away, raising his spear to the Heartless, but Maleficent waved her hand, the Heartless backing away.
"Relax my friend, they're on your side." Maleficent said. "They're known as the Heartless. They will help you track down the bear. Just be careful not to plunge yourself too far into darkness. If you do, the Heartless will devour your heart."
Not caring for the warning she gave him, he ran past the witch and climbed down the mountain's side, the Heartless following just behind him as he went. But Maleficent, she walked over to the edge and smiled to herself, starting to laugh maniacally as the laughter echoed through out the whole mountain range for everyone to hear.