Chapter 124: Heart of the Dragon Part 3: Spine and Fang
The group had just entered Spine territory and were on their way to the Capital city of Spine, which from what Raya said was like a fortress and would be difficult to enter without being noticed, so they might have to fight their way through. May had taken the time to get some sleep while everyone else was listening to what Applejack had to say, the sleeping Keyblade warrior twisting and turning in her sleep as she dreamed of her past, listening to the screams of pure terror and horror as she slept. In her dream, she saw herself fighting off many Beastmen, fighting to protect her village before becoming a Keyblade warrior, fighting the army of monsters until she realized that her village was already destroyed, the Beastmen shouting in victory as she heard the screams of her friends and family, asking her why she didn't;'t use her Dragonic magic to save them, forcing her to run away until she ran into her darker half, her eyes yellow with a dark smile on her face.
"You can't escape who you are... Maya." Her darker half said.
"No, that's not my name." May replied, calling her blade. "That's not my name!"
"Deny it all you want little Keyblade warrior, it's who you are." Dark May said. "You can't keep your past or what you are a secret forever, even from your new friends. And when they learn what you did, how you ran away from your village, abandoning your people, you'll be all alone, just like back then when you refused to save your precious village."
"I... I was scared." May said. "I... I didn't understand my powers back then. I... I got in over my head."
"Did it matter then, Maya?" Her dark half asked. "So eager to prove yourself. Prove you deserved your title as-"
"SHUT UP!" May shouted.
May rushed towards her darker half, Keyblade drawn and she swung as hard as she could, waking up just in time to stop herself from hitting Sisu, breathing heavily as she had just woken up, scared and shaking as she tried to calm herself down, Sisu holding her hands up in surrender.
"Hey, friendly, friendly!" Sisu exclaimed.
"Oh, sorry Sisu." May said, dismissing her Keyblade.
"No problem girl." Sisu replied. "But... are you ok? You were turning and talking a lot in your sleep."
"Yeah, I'll be fine." May replied, getting up. "Just a bad dream, that's all."
"Yeah, I get those from time to time." Sisu said. "So, who's Maya? Is she your-"
"Nobody!" May replied quickly, spooking Sisu. "It's nobody. Anyway, what do you need?"
"Well, Raya said to come and get you." Sisu replied. "She said we're almost there. She want's everyone there."
"Right, sure thing." May said, getting up.
When she was up, she walked over to the table that everyone was gathered at, though Sisu became curious about May, wondering what she was trying to hide as they both sat down.
"Thanks to what Applejack said, we now know that the Druun can be destroyed." Raya said.
"When Ah threw mah Keyblade at the Druun, it passed through and hurt the varmint." Applejack said. "Seems they don't like the Keyblade anymore than the Heartless do."
"This gives us a fighting chance." Raya continued. "If we run into any more of the Druun, we can fight back. May, think you can use your water magic to fight the Druun?" Everyone looked to May, who seemed distracted as she seemed to be playing with her breakfast, worrying everyone. "May, you in there? May?"
"Huh, wha?" May asked. "Oh, sorry, I was... thinking."
"More like distracted by something." Applejack said. "Come on Sugarcube, what's eatin' ya?"
"It's nothing AJ." May replied. "Just... nothing."
May then got up and walked over to the front of the ship where Sisu was sitting at, Raya sitting with them while the ponies stayed back, though Applejack was a bit concerned for May.
"Did May seem a little... scared?" Applejack asked.
"She's hiding something." Rosy said, sensing what May was feeling. "Something about herself. Something she doesn't want us to know."
"Hey, maybe I can cheer her up!" Pinkie said, putting on her Groucho glasses. "It'll be as easy as pie!"
She then bounced towards the three humans, leaving the ponies behind, but as she got there, she could hear their conversation.
"Being people is hard." Sisu said. "You have tiny heads, no tails, and you lie to get what you want. Like that Talon chieftain."
"Well, the world's a broken place." Raya replied. "You can't trust anyone these days."
"Well, maybe the world is broken because we don't trust anyone." Sisu said.
"You sound just like my father." Raya said.
"And just like Spyro." May said, putting her knees to her chest. "He always trusted everyone, no matter what."
"Well, they sounded like smart people." Sisu said.
"He was." Raya and May said at the same time.
"Spyro... he had a heart of pure gold." May said, using her magic to make an image of him appear in the water. "He always gives what little he had to those in need, gives a helping hand, and trusts people until they betray him."
"And my father believed we could be Kumandra again." Raya said. "I really wanted to believe him, that we could be Kumandra."
"And we still can." Sisu said.
"Yeah, well I doubt the thousands of people turned to stone would agree." Raya said.
"Doesn't mean we shouldn't try to make friends." Pinkie said, walking up and removing the glasses. "The one thing Spyro had going for him was his instincts. His instincts to trust people and ponies alike."
"See, Pinkie agrees with me." Sisu said.
"And I did." Raya replied. "And you know what happened? I got kicked in the back, betrayed by someone who gave me a gift! Loom around. We're a world of orphans because people couldn't stop fighting over a gem. Want to know why the dragons didn't come back? It's because people don't deserve them!"
"Raya, you don't mean that." Sisu said.
"Yeah Raya, that's not very super duper of you." Pinkie said. "We can change that."
"Well I'm done trying." Raya replied. "Kumandra is nothing more than a fairytale. The only thing important to me now is getting my father back."
They were all shocked by what Raya said, May looking back into the water as she felt that what Sisu said was true, that you need to trust people to get trust, but also knowing that not everyone can be trusted. Even she didn't want to loose her friends trust and kept her secret for so long, fearing she might loose their faith in her, even after being freed from her darkness.
"Um, guys, I think we arrived in Spine." Boun said.
They all looked to their right, finding it was a large forest and before anyone could do anything, Sisu took the opportunity to grab a dish of Kanji and leap from post to post all the way to the shore, leaving everyone shocked at her decision.
"Sisu, wait!" Twilight exclaimed.
"Where the heck is she going!?" Applejack asked.
"Don;t go anywhere." Raya said, getting her sword. "We'll be right back."
"Hold up, I'll come with you." May said, using her water powers to glide across the surface.
They got to the shore and ran after the dragon, hoping to catch up with her before she ended up getting herself killed or turned into stone. Back in Talon, the people were recovering from a Druun attack, some of the villagers having turned to stone while others recovered what they could, raising the bridge until they felt the ground shake beneath them, looking around to see what it was until a large shadow hung over them, turning to see the HA-AW, some people shrieking while the chieftain hid behind her guards, looking at the massive war machine.
"Talon, I require information from you about a group that may have come here last night." The HA-AW said.
"Oh yeah, what's it worth to you?" The chieftain asked, which she got her answer as two massive cannons shot out and pointed at the gate and the rope holding the bridge up, understanding what it would do. "Alright, it's on me."
"Speak." The HA-AW said.
"They left here not too long ago." The Chieftain replied. "They took our Dragon Gem and are heading to Spine. Continue following the river upstream and you should find them."
"Confirmed." The HA-AW said, putting the cannons away.
The massive machine the turned to it's right and continued to walk up the stream, leaving some of the villagers scared as it continued up the river. At Spine, May and Raya had just caught up with Sisu, hoping to put some common sense in her before she got herself killed.
"Sisu wait!" Raya said. "Where are you going!?"
"I'm going to show you that you're wrong!" Sisu replied.
"How?" Raya asked. "By getting crushed by a bunch of Spine ragers?"
"No, by proving to you that if you want to get someone's trust, you got to give a little trust." Sisu replied. She then raised the knocker to knock on the gate, which Raya and May tried to stop her, but ended up getting trapped by a hidden trap. "Heh, guess I was a little hasty."
"You think!?" Raya asked.
"Heh, well, who's hungry?" Sisu asked, seeing the angry looks on their faces. "No one? Alright, I'll leave you alone."
A few minutes later, the bag dropped and they found themselves tied up in another room, looking around to find it dull and kind of empty, seemingly a lonely atmosphere.
"Huh, kinda of homey." Sisu said.
"There's my sword." Raya said, spotting her weapon. Now how are we going to-"
She was interrupted by the door opening, finding a massive Spine warrior wearing leather armor and furs, an eye patch over his left eye and carrying a massive ax, closing the door behind him.
"You two must be dung of brain to come here and think you can steal Spines Dragon Gem!" The warrior said, throwing the ax into the wall.
"Gems?" Raya asked. "Who said anything about gems? We have no interest in gems."
The warriors then lifted the bag and the three gems they got fell out, destroying Raya's story.
"Looks like your story fell apart." May said.
"Ok I can see that makes me look like a liar." Raya said.
"I think it was the lying that made you look like a liar." Sisu said. The Spine warrior then started laughing, finding the situation amusing and making Sisu laugh nervously. "Not sure what he finds funny."
"Your fear!" The Spine warrior replied, spooking Raya and Sisu, but May was unfazed. "It's like delectable tomtom that feeds my soul! It's good. Taste's like... mango." He then looked to May, finding her not even fazed by him and walked over. "You however, you have a certain look in your eyes."
"Oh yeah?" May asked.
"Yes, one that says you're... different.." The Spine Warrior replied. "One that says you're trying to hide something, running from your past."
"I'm not running from anything." May replied.
"You kid yourself kid." The Spine Warrior said. "You are scared."
Sisu could see how uncomfortable May looked, knowing she needed to do something.
"Speaking of Mango, I love Mango." Sisu said, trying to change the subject.
"Of course you love Mango!" The Spine warrior said. "Only a spineless Cretan doesn't love mango."
"Oh boy." Sisu said.
"It's been a long time since I've peaked into the eyes of a trembling enemy." The warriors said. "Where has the time gone? It's been so long."
"You know girls, I think he's lonely." Sisu said.
"NO!" The Spine warrior exclaimed. "I'm not lonely! I'm a Spine warrior! I was born and bred to do one thing! To invoke fear and to crush the skulls of my enemies."
"Uh, that's actually two things." May said.
The warriors then yelled at them, Sisu and Raya fearful, but May remained unfazed, impressing the Spine warrior.
"Now you I like." The Spine warrior said to May. "Not easily freightened."
"What are you going to do to us?" Raya asked.
"Oh, it's going to be bad." The Spine warriors replied. "It'll be horrifying. It'll take me two weeks to clean it up."
"You got nothing, do you?" May asked.
"Yes I do!" The Spine warrior replied. "I'm formulating a gruesome plan right now! It makes me sick just thinking about it! Until then, why don't you just... hang around."
He then started laughing at the lame joke he made, May rolling her eyes as it reminded her of some of the jokes Spyro would do, but then the door burst open, sending the Spine warrior flying backwards, slamming into a post right as Tuk Tuk rolled in and the monkeys hoped off, tying the Spine warrior to the post, but when the Spine warrior looked at Tuk Tuk, he then looked up and saw the Con Baby, growling at him as well and was speechless when he saw the baby as the ponies and the baby dragon came in to help, rushing to their friends.
"A little one." The Spine warrior said, getting Pinkie's attention.
"Alright!" Sisu said.
"Way to go Captain Boun." Raya said, the boy grabbing Raya's sword and cutting them down.
"Fangs here!" Boun said.
"What?" Raya asked.
"People of Spine!" Namaari shouted, getting their attention. "We are hunting for Raya, fugitive from heart! Send her out, or we're coming in!"
Raya looked out to see what was going on, but to her shock, she found all of Spine was ass turned to stone, turning to the warrior.
"You're the only one left?" Raya asked.
"It was a shock to us when we saw them like that as well." Midnight said. "They must have tried to fight the Druun."
"They did." The warriors replied. "They fought with much valor and courage. But they were no match for the Druun."
Raya looked around and saw that in the house, there was a crib with a toy in it, looking back to the warrior and feeling bad for him, her heart aching for the lonely man.
"Alright, they're after me, not you guys." Raya said, putting the gem pieces in her bag. "I'll distract them, you guys get out of here."
"You're going to fight an entire army alone!?" Sisu asked, shocked by what Raya was saying.
"No, I'm just gonna stall them." Raya replied. "I know how to push Namaari's buttons. Once you guys are clear, I'm out of here." She then looked to the Spine Warrior, walking over to him and kneeling before him. "What's your name?"
"My mother called me, Tong." The warrior replied.
"Alright Tong, I need to ask you for a favor." Raya said, cutting him free. "You don't know me and I don't know you. But I'm sure you know of a back way out. So I'm sincerely asking you, please, can you get my friends to safety?"
Tong looked to everyone and to the ponies, looking back at Raya like she was crazy, but respecting her for wanting to protect her friends, so he nodded his head and got up, walking to the group as Raya left, though not alone as May walked with her.
"You're not doing this alone." May said, calling her Keyblade. "I'm going with you and I'm not taking no for an answer."
"Heh, guess it wouldn't hurt to have a friend." Raya said. They walked to the gate, where they knew Fang was waiting for them as Raya put her hat back on with her sword out. "Try not to die, alright?"
"I was going to say the same to you." May said.
The gate then opened and before them was Namaari and Laxeaus, behind them was an army of Fang warriors and dozens if not hundreds of Nobodies, all ready for a fight.
"Hey there princess undercuts." Raya said, she and May walking out as Namaari walked to them.
"Fancy meeting you here." Namaari said. "You, your friend here, and the Dragon gem Pieces are coming with us."
"Hmm, my sword, and my friend here beg to differ." Raya said, Namaari raising her hand and the soldiers pointed the crossbows at them. "Yep, knew you couldn't go Solo. You're nothing without your band."
"Stand down." Namaari said, getting her weapon ready. "This shouldn't take long."
"If you don't mind, I'll take care of the other one." Lexeaus said, getting his weapon ready. "I got some unfinished business with her."
The four of them got ready for the fight, May checking back and seeing their friends were waiting for them to start the fight, which Raya and Namaari charged at one another, starting the fight while May circled Laxeaus while her opponent kept her in his sights.
"So, we meet again Maya." Laxeaus said. "How wonderful."
"Don't call me that." May said, raising her blade. "That's not my name."
"Oh but it is." Lexeaus said, chuckling. "I remember the first day we met. it was when you and Spyro were together at Radiant Garden, where I was ordered to find you. But when I did, your little boyfriend found you first."
"He's not my boyfriend." May said, charging and attacking the Nobody, which he blocked the attack.
"I remember that day all too well." Lexeaus said, the two exchanging attacks. "That day, when you were running away, it was the day the dragon fell."
"You mean Spyro?" May asked. "Yeah, news flash, he beat you."
"Not without your intervention." Lexeaus replied, hearing the two women during it out after disarming each other. "I heard from the people of a woman who can control the three forms of water, with wings of blue, eyes of emerald green, and the temper of a hurricane. A woman who nearly destroyed her world because she couldn't control her powers."
"Shut up!" May said, pushing Lexeaus back and slashing, but he side step[ped each of her attacks, letting her wear herself out.
"You know what the people called you that day May?" Lexeaus asked. "The fear, the pain, what the people think of you? The name they gave to you all those years ago?"
"No, stop it!" May said, swinging to silence him, but he grabbed her arms and her Keyblade disappeared, fear in her eyes.
"They called you, Maya Aquatica Springwell, the Water Dragon." Lexeaus said, May's fear causing her to freeze as she heard the people screams, being tossed to the ground right as Raya wads knocked into the snow.
"You ok May?" Raya asked.
"I'll live." May replied, looking to Lexeaus.
"You didn't happen to bring Fangs Gem piece did you?" Raya asked, turning to Namaari.
"Oh, I'm going to enjoy this." Namaari said, picking Raya up to punch her.
However, a moment later, they heard a dragon roaring, turning back and finding Sisu in dragon form, breathing fog onto the soldiers and causing them to scatter, their friends running to see the enemy run away right as May got up, Looking to Sisu to see her approaching Namaari, but the princess wasn't afraid, but looked happy, a tear rolling down her face as she saw Sisu.
"So, you found the last dragon here, did you?" Lexeaus said, getting his weapon out. "Good. I was in the mood to kill a dragon."
"What?" May asked.
"Namaari's mother wanted you live, but didn't say anything about your friend." He rushed towards Sisu, his weapon raised and yelling, Sisu looking to Lexeaus and too slow to do anything, bracing for a hit, but heard rushing water and something metalic hit something, looking up and seeing a blue dragon with with emerald green membrane in the wing, looking to her left and seeing May, the wing coming from her as a second one was also present. "Ah, there she is. There's the Water Dragon."
My then pushed Lexeaus back, rising her hand as a tidal wave of water flowed out from the woods and hit Lexeaus, surrounding him in an orb of water and raising him into the air an d threatening to drown him, but he just smiled, looking at her as he tossed his blade through the orb, nearly hitting May, but she dodged the attack, breaking her concentration as he rushed her, but she moved the water between them and froze it, making him slide right past her and into a tree, knocking him out cold and turning to Sisu, seeing the confused look on the dragons face as she leapt through the fog, May turning back to Lexeaus before running into the fog herself, disappearing as Lexeaus got up and walked next to Namaari.
"Sisu..." Namaari said.
"That was unexpected." Lexeaus said. "Didn't expect their companion to be your Sisu. Now we know. Come, they're heading to Fang next. We must be ready."
Lexeaus turned to walk away, the Royal army following him while Namaari hesitated, still in shock of finally seeing Sisu before turning and leaving with her allies, heading back to Fang. On the river, Sisu was pushing the boat away as everyone was looking back to Spine, Raya and May silent the whole ride as a shrimp was thrown and hit Raya, May catching the one meant for her and turning to see a bunch of angry faces.
"Did you really throw a shrimp tail at us?" May asked.
"When were you going to tell us she was Sisu!?" Boun asked.
"And when were ya'll gonna tell us you were a dragon this whole time May?!" Applejack asked.
"Well, technically you always knew she was Sisu." Raya said, getting hit with another shrimp. "Seriously?"
"And I was hoping not to reveal my bloodline, at all." May replied, turning away. "It's something I'm not proud of."
"Why are you here, divine water dragon?" Tong asked.
"Isn't it obvious big guy?" Sisu asked. "My girl Raya and I are going to fix the world. Bring everyone back."
"You're going to bring everyone back?" Boun asked. "I wanna help."
"That's kind of you to offer Boun, but I can't let you." Raya said. "It's too dangerous."
"You're not the only one who lost family to the Druun." Boun replied, kneeling before them. "Please, let me help you."
Raya smiled, touched by the gesture before looking to the baby, who hopped down from the table and knelt before them as well, Tong getting up and presenting Spines Dragon gem.
"I also wish to join this company of Druun butt kickery." Tong said, presenting the gem to Sisu, who took it and its magic flowed through her, the rain pouring down on them.
"My brother Pengu's magic." Sisu said.
She lifted her paw and some of the water droplets started to float in her paw before turning her paw, pressing down on it and making a platform, running along the rain drops and amazing everyone there, watching as she ran about in the sky, having fun and laughing, everyone else laughing with her as she ran up into the air, falling down and splashing in the water, drenching Tong as everyone else hid behind him to avoid being drenched, laughing as they enjoyed the moment and let go of the stress of the last six years. Meanwhile in Spine, the HA-AW had reached the battle site, looking around the village to see if there was anyone around, but found nothing except for the stone statues of the people of Spine.
"End of the line." The HA-AW said. "Unable to track group any further. Beginning scan of area." As he was about to start scanning, it detected the presence of the Druun, turning to the forest and seeing the balls of purple and black smoke heading its way, activating its cannons. "Hostile detected! Engaging!" It fired its cannons and it's missile launchers, which the armaments just passed through the smoke-like monsters, it's sensors over loading as it kept firing the weapons, not hitting a single one until the Druun started to enter the machines body, alerts sounding all throughout it. "Error! Error! Error! Malicious force detected! Systems compromised! Attempting to purge! Error... purge... failed."
The lights in the war machines eyes went out as the mass of metal and weaponry shut down and the Druun entered it freely, the eyes on the machine turning purple as it roared back to life, the same smoke coming off it as it looked around, finding a trail of the Dragon Gems magic.
"Trail identified." The HA-Aw said, it's voice now more feminine. "Multiple dragons detected. Eliminate."
The machine then started to make it's way towards Fang, being careful to avoid the water as it made it's way to it's new destination where the gem pieces were going. On the boat, everyone was gathered around the table after a days journey, ready to hear the plan Raya had to get the gem piece from Fang.
"Alright everyone, here's the plan." Raya said. "The last gem piece is in Fang, which is a heavily guarded fortress protected by an artificial cannel, separating them from the rest of the world. The only way in or out is by water and luckily for us, we have a magical water dragon."
"Make that two water dragons." Pinkie said. "May's one."
"I can control water, but I'm no dragon." May replied, still not wanting to admit her secret.
"Anyway, Sisu can create a fog and interrupt the soldiers view, giving us a chance to knock the guards out." Raya continued. "Now, the palace will be swarming with Fang Soldiers, so to get past them, we-"
"I got this." Boun said, hopping up on the table. "I'll take care of the first wave, followed by Tong and his massive ax, knocking down the rest of them! Then comes the Onkies and the crazy Con baby, who'll distract the Fang Chieftain, get the gem and toss it to the mighty Sisu and boom, bye-bye Benturi's. Solid plan, right?"
"Not even close." Raya said.
"Yeah, I got a better idea." Sisu said. "We infiltrate Fang, confront Namaari, and give her something nice. She gives us the gem, and we're best buds."
Everyone was silent, unable to think of what to say, which Sisu thought that their surprised looks meant they agreed with her.
"Yeah, I'd rather go with Bouns plan." Raya said.
"Ah second that." Applejack said.
"What... why?" Sisu asked.
"Because, it's Fang." Raya replied.
"Their blades are especially designed for the stabbing of backs!" Tong said.
"None of this would have happened if Fang didn't try to steal the gem in the first place." Boun added. "They're the worse."
Even the baby agreed with them, making a gagging gesture, showing she didn't like them either.
"Well, if we're honest with her, deep down, she'll want to fix the world too." Sisu said.
"Sorry Sisu, you weren't there when Namaari betray me." Raya replied. "We're sticking with my plan."
Raya got up and was walking over to the side, which Sisu summoned a light rain, catching her off guard.
"Ok, why did you summon a downpour?" Midnight asked.
"Yeah Sisu, why the sudden downpour?" Raya asked.
"Come on, I wanna show you something." Sisu replied, taking Raya with her, along with Pinkie Pie and Midnight, everyone watching as they flew away.
"Sisu, wait!" Twilight shouted, the dragon already gone. "We have to go after her."
"No, we don't." Rosy replied, getting everyone's attention. "This part of the journey is theirs and theirs alone. We continue onto Fang."
They looked at Rosy, who seemed extremely calm before looking to the sky, wondering what Sisu was going to show them. With Sisu, she was running on the raindrops, holding Raya in her foreleg while Pinkie and Midnight were eon her back, Pinkie with her forelegs up squeezing like they were on a rollercoaster while Midnight was holding on for dear life, her eyes shut tight as she tried to not look down. Sisu took them all the way to Heart, where Raya was born and raised and the water dragon took her all the way back to her home, back into the room where the gem was smashed.
"Wee, let's do that again!" Pinkie exclaimed.
"Don't look down, don't look down, don't look down." Midnight said.
"Um, you can get off now." Sisu said. "We're on land now."
"Sisu, why are we here?" Raya asked, Midnight and Pinkie getting off the dragons back.
"This is where it all happened." Sisu said.
"I know Sisu, I was there." Raya replied.
"Not five hundred years ago." Sisu replied, confusing them. Sisu then moved some of the brush away, revealing a petrified water dragon with its paws cupped. "Girls, meet my brothers and sisters, the real great ones. I miss them."
"I never knew they were here." Raya said, bowing to the dragon statue.
"Yeah, they were here alright." Sisu said. "The classy one over there is Ampa. I get my glow from her. Over there is Pranii, she's a shapeshifter. Jigan, fog. And Pengu, our big brother who brings the rain." Sisu remembered the day her siblings were turned to stone, turning to them. "We were the last of the dragons, drowning in a sea of Druun. My oldest brother refused to accept defeat, making our last stand here. One by one, they combined all their magic to create the dragon gem. I don't know why they chose me, they could have chosen any one of us. But they did, all I know is I trusted them as they trusted me. So, I used the gems power and banished the Druun." Sisu looked back to her eldest brother, the three of them speechless after hearing the story. "Their faith in me brought me great power beyond what I could ever imagine. And the same can happen with Namaari."
"I really, really wish I can believe that." Raya replied. "I once thought we can be friends."
"And you still can be friends." Pinkie said, walking up. "No matter the past, you can look past it and find friendship if you just give her a chance."
"Even if she wanted to, how can I trust her?" Raya asked.
"Well, Pinkie said it, even if it was worded differently." Sisu answered. "You need to let go of the past and look to the future. if you dwell in the past, you rob yourself and others of your future. If you did trust Namaari, you wouldn't bring just your father back, but his dream too."
"Raya looked outside, looking to the statues on the bridge and finally understood what they needed to do, smiling to Sisu.
"You know, you kind of remind me of my father." Raya said.
"Oh yeah?" Sisu asked. "Strong, good looking, with impeccable hair?"
"He was hopeful." Raya replied, walking to the hole in the wall, jumping down and climbing down to the bridge, taking a flower and putting it in her fathers hands, putting her hands in an O and paying her respects to him, turning back to them. "How would I even approach Namaari after all that's happened?"
"Sometimes, you just need to take the first step, even before you're ready." Sisu said
Raya took in a deep breath, looking to her friends and knowing that this was going to be the only way to fix everything.
"Alright, we'll go with your plan." Raya said, looking to Sisu.
"Wait, my plan!?" Sisu asked in surprise. "Oh, thank you Raya! You won't regret it! Now, we need to get her a really good gift, What do you think she's into?"
"Well, I have something right here she might like." Raya said, pulling out a dragon shaped brooch for them to see.
Back in Fang, Namaari was walking into the castle, excited to share what she saw with her mother, finding her speaking with Lexeaus and looking worried, but ignored it as she approach.
"Mother, you won't believe what I saw!" Namaari said.
"You saw a dragon." Virana said, surprising her daughter. "Lexeaus informed me of the appearance of Sisu... and of this Maya Springwell. She's also a water dragon from what he told me."
"But, this is amazing news!" Namaari said, walking with her other. "With her help, we can bring everyone back!"
"And that's what I'm afraid of." Virana said. "Who do you think they'll come for when they come back? You forget, the other lands blame us for what's happened."
"But... we didn't mean for this to happen." Namaari said.
"I know." Virana said. "But... if we had the dragons and the gem pieces, we would be forgiven. We could save the world, but more importantly, our people would be safe."
But Raya won't give Sisu to us willingly." Namaari said.
"Then we take her out of the equation." Lexeaus said, plunging his sword into the ground.
"What are you going to do?" Namaari asked, already not liking where it was going.
"That's nit for your o worry about my little morning mist." Virana said. "Leave everything to me."
Virana walked away from her daughter, Lexeaus walking behind her with a dark smile as she left, leaving Namaari alone to worry about what her mother was going to do. Outside of Fang, the entire group was on the boat outside of fang, in the trees for cover, waiting for something to happen, Raya being anxious more than anyone else.
"If she refuses to help, we have just flushed away our tactical advantage into the dung pot." Tong said.
"I know." Raya said.
"She really has no reason to help us." Boun pointed out.
"I know!" Raya said.
"This jerky tastes awful!" Sisu said, eating the jerky.
"I know!" Raya exclaimed loudly, shocking everyone before she took a deep breath.
"You sure those four miniature menaces will be successful?" Tong asked.
"I... don't know." Raya answered.
"They will be successful, don't worry." Midnight said, walking up next to Raya. "We just need to have faith."
In Fang, the Con baby and her monkey friends were peering over the edge, seeing a guard there, so the monkeys did their thing, one of them tied the guards legs together, the other nicked the key, and the third knocked the guard out, the Con baby taking the key and standing on the monkeys shoulders, unlocking the door. They then suck around the entire city heading towards Namaari's room, climbing on roofs, swinging over guards, pretending to be statues, even going through a hall and stealing some food, making their way to Namaari's tower, reaching it. Inside of her tower, Namaari was sitting on her bed, thinking about what her mother said and worrying about it, having a bad feeling about it.
"You know they're going to kill Raya, don't you?" A voice said, freaking Namaari out.
"Who's there!?" Namaari exclaimed. "Show yourself!"
"Over here." The voice said, Namaari looking to the small fountain in her room and seeing Spyro sitting on the bed. "There you got much better."
"Who...?" Namaari asked.
"The names Spyro and I'm here to warn you not to trust Lexeaus." Spyro said.
"And why should I listen to you?" Namaari asked.
"Because you know deep in your hearts that what your mother is doing is wrong." Spyro said, getting up and standing next to her. "She doesn't care about anyone else. Not even about her people. All she wants is power, no matter the cost."
"She does care!" Namaari exclaimed. "She cares about Fang and has done everything to save us."
"How she went about it is wrong." Spyro replied, confusing her. "The Druun act like a parasite, draining the world of all life. The Dragons sacrifice was to save this world, the dragon gem was meant to unite the people, but all you did was fight and squabble over who should get it. Taking it from its sacred resting place and destroying it."
"That wasn't our fault!" Namaari exclaimed.
"Wasn't it?" Spyro asked, walking closer to the fountain. "Raya trusted you, for she believed her father, believing in restoring Kumandra and you stabbed her in the back, ruining the only chance to bring the dragons back."
"Wait, what?" Namaari asked. "There's... a way to bring the dragons back?"
"Only when the five are one, restored by trust, can the Druun be made undone." Spyro replied. "It means that in order for this world to be saved, each member of the five tribes must trust one another and restore the gem together."
As he said it, they heard one of the Onkies make a sound, looking to the window and seeing a cloth with a note, Namaari walking over and opening the cloth, seeing it was the dragon brooch she gave Raya and opened the note.
"It's from Raya." Namaari said. "She... wants to meet with me, put the past behind us and restore Kumandra."
"See, she's deciding to trust you." Spyro said.
"And she wants me to come alone with the dragon gem piece." Namaari said, crumpling the note. "It's obviously a trap."
"Is it?" Spyro asked. "You see, it's this kind of thinking that destroys trust. Raya is wanting to become friends again, restore Kumandra and all she needs is your help. Is it so difficult to just... open your heart and let her in? To do the right thing?"
"But... they'll come after Fang." Namaari said.
"Maybe, but is it better to live in fear of the Druun, on a small island with a growing population, which resources will run out and the people will starve to death?" Spyro asked. "Or is it better to trust Raya and work together, restore Kumandra, and be forgiven for the mistake so long ago?"
Namaari looked back to Spyro, thinking about what he said before walking over to her nightstand and pulling out a small rocket, usually for celebrations, but in this case, she would use it for the signal mentioned in Raya's note, placing it on the window sill and lighting it, the rocket flying out the window and exploding in the night sky, confirming the meet up.
"I hope I don't regret this." Namaari said.
"Sometimes, the best outcome comes from risk." Spyro replied, disappearing. "Remember, trust them."
In the morning, Namaari was in the designate meeting area, the gem piece in her bag as she waited for Raya to arrive, seeing her former friend coming out of the woods and stopping a little ways away, smiling at her.
"I see you got my gift." Raya said.
"I never thought I would see this again." Namaari said.
"Well, I tried to take good care of it for you." Raya said, smiling and trying to be friendly. "You aren't the only dragon nerd here."
Namaari just smiled at Raya and took the gem piece out, placing it on the rock and backing away, which Raya looked back and nodded, Sisu coming out from the woods, which surprised Namaari as she bowed her head and put her hands into a circle, the dragon walking towards them.
"The final piece." Sisu said.
"We can now bring everyone back." Raya said, opening her bag to show the other four pieces.
However, before they could put the pieces onto the one on the rock, they heard something click and looked to see Namaari with a crossbow, realizing they have been betrayed again.
"Sisu and the Dragon Gem pieces are coming with me." Namaari said.
"Sisu!" Boun shouted, everyone else coming out from the woods.
"Stay back!" Namaari shouted.
"It was foolish to trust someone from Fang!" Tong exclaimed.
"Don't come any closer!" Namaari exclaimed, pointing the crossbow at Raya.
"Namaari, it doesn't have to be this way." Raya said.
"I... I don't have any other choice." Namaari replied.
"We all have a choice silly." Pinkie said, walking up to Raya. "Our friend Spyro always says we all have a choice. Sometimes, we make bad choices, but we shouldn't feel like there only one choice we can make or have to make, for there's always another way to go."
"When did you start talking like Spyro Pinkie?" Twilight asked.
"I don't know, gotta ask the author that question!" Pinkie replied, bouncing around.
Twilight and Applejack just shook their heads at Pinkie while Raya reached for her blade, but Sisu stopped her, looking down at her.
"I got this Raya." Sisu said, reassuring Raya, so she took her hand off her blade as Sisu walked up, glowing. "I know you don't want to hurt anybody."
"What are you doing?" Namaari asked.
"You just want a better world Namaari, like we all do." Sis said, seeing the fear and hope in Namaari's eyes.
"Sisu..." Namaari said.
"I trust you Namaari." Sisu said.
Raya was looking between Sisu and Namaari, not liking how Namaari was looking at SIsu until she saw the Fang Princess's finger twitching on the trigger, acting on that as she got her sword out and used it's whip form, Namaari pointing the bow at Raya, but the sword ended up hitting the bow and discharging the bolt, time slowing down as the arrow flew in the air, everyone watching as it hit Sisu, who fell from the ledge and straight into the water.
"NO!" Raya shouted, running to the edge.
Namaari couldn't believe she shot Sisu, dropping the crossbow and grabbing the gem piece, running for the boat while everyone ran tot he ledge, looking down and seeing the wave that Sisu made, horrified that their friend was lost, but Raya was angered, feeling her rage rise inside of her as the water was disappearing.
"What's happening?" Boun asked.
"I... I don't know." Tong replied. "It seems when the last water dragon goes, so does the water. Now nothing can stop the Druun."
"Nothing but us." Midnight said.
"Midnight..." Twilight said.
"We can stop the Druun." Midnight said. "There's still time to save this world! Raya, we-"
They turned to their friend to come up with a plan, but saw she was gone, leaving her scabbard and took a piece of the Dragon Gem with her.
"Oh no." Pinkie said. "She's-"
"She is blinded by rage." Spyro said, appearing on the ledge, surprising them.
"Spyro!" Twilight exclaimed.
"This... this is the result of mistrust and hatred towards one another." Spyro said, watching the Druun enter Fang. "Innocent lives... lost. Anger and hatred will destroy everything in its path, not caring who gets hurt. In the aftermath, the innocent always pay the price. In war, people loose their homes, their belongings, even their lives because of hate. The only way now... for this world to be saved... is trust."
"But Namaari-" Boun said, wanting to say something.
"Was going to lower her bow." Spyro said, interrupting the boy. "There was conflict in her heart, which she was ready to help you, but it was Raya who acted first, not trusting Namaari, causing this. In other words, both are responsible for this world's disappearance. Namaari for trying to steal the gem, causing it to shatter, and Raya, for causing Sisu's death."
"Well, we can't give up now!" Midnight exclaimed. "There has to be a way to fix this!"
"There is." Spyro replied. "Only when the clans learn to trust one another, in their final moments, members from five clans must put their faith in one another, trust them." He then turned to the group before standing, levitating in the air. "Each member of each clan, Fang, Heart, Spine, Talon, and Tail, must put their piece of the Dragon Gem together, trusting one another, for this world to be saved! Find Raya and Namaari, try to talk sense into them, and only when they trust one another, will they bring back Kumandra! Otherwise girls, get out of here before this world blinks out! Remember, trust is the key!"
Spyro faded before them, understanding what they needed to do as Boun, Tong, and the Con Baby took a piece of the Dragon gem to protect themselves from the Druun while May and the ponies got their Keyblades out, Spike hopping onto Twilights back.
"Whatever you do Spike, stay with Twilight." May said.
Spike nodded his head, everyone running towards Fang to find their friend and stop her and Namaari from doing something they'd regret. Raya was walking into Fang, the people all running in fear as the Druun were having a field day in the city, passing through people and making more Druun, Raya not caring about the people as she walked up the steps of the palace, using her gem piece to chase the Druun away until she reached the throne room, Namaari standing before the statue of her mother, who was turned into stone.
"Namaari!" Raya shouted.
"Let's finish this Benturi!" Namaari shouted, drawing her swords
Namaari and Raya approached one another, walking at first before they ran at one another, starting the fight as they allowed their anger and rage to blind them as they fought. In the city, the people were all running for their lives as the group ran in, seeing Raya and Namaari fighting each other while everything was going on.
"Raya!" Boun shouted.
"She cannot hear us." Tong said. "She is blinded by her rage."
"Look, the gem!" Midnight said.
They all looked out the gem pieces they had and saw they were flickering, showing they were loosing strength.
"The gems power is fading!" Boun said.
"And the people are in trouble!" Applejack said, watching as a Druun passed through a couple.
"They're Druun food if we don't help them!" Boun said. "We need to get them out."
"Tong, Boun, Noy..." May said, everyone looking at her. "Noy is the babies name. It's on her collar. Did none of you check?"
"I did." Tong said.
"Well at least one of you is smart enough to check for identification." May said. "Tong, Boun, Noy, get the people out of here. Girls, use your blades and cut through the Druun! Since they're weapons of light, they should be strong enough to destroy the Druun and buy the people time to escape."
They all then split up in separate directions to help the people, Twilight going with Midnight as they cut their way through the Druun, releasing the life force they had previously had and restoring some of the people, which Boun, Tong, and Noy lead to safety as they went around to help whoever they could. Rosy was using her powers over nature to create walls and to creature dew or anything that could produce water, blocking the Druun as the people ran away. Applejack and Pinkie were running from building to building trying to find whoever was hiding there, getting them to the gate and to safety as they ran down the steps to what remained of the river, hoping to find safety, but Pinkie then stopped, turning to look at Raya and Namaari as they were fighting one another, not wanting to watch as two friends fought, so she broke away from Applejack and ran for the palace, hoping to stop the fighting and put some common sense into Raya.
May was working her way through the Druun, though her water powers were weak, she was able to use her new found ability to turn the air into water, sending it into the Druun and obliterating however many she could, cutting through them as she fought to save as many people as she could from their fate.
"It's no use, little dragon." Lexeaus said, making May freeze. "You can't save them. It's as Xemnas said, this world will fade, their hearts will belong to us, and their Nobodies will belong to us."
"Not if we save them from their fate." May said, facing Lexeaus.
"You can't save them Maya, no one can." Lexeaus said. "This world was destined to fade into darkness, its people lost to their hatred and their distrust. You can't save them. Just like you couldn't save those people back in Radiant Garden."
Angered by this, May ran towards Lexeaus, swinging her blade, but Lexeaus blocked the attack and pushed her back, the two of them fighting and using their separate abilities to try and one up the other, May conjuring the water from the air and sending the watery missiles towards at Lexeaus, but he just slammed his foot into the ground, creating a barrier and blocking the attack, kicking the barrier and sending a massive chunk into May, slamming her into the wall and pinning her as the massive brick pushed against her, making it difficult for her to breath.
"It's over for you, little dragon." Lexeaus said. "Your friends will die, this world will disappear, and you were too powerless to do anything to stop it." He kept on pushing the block, crushing her as he taunted her. "You failed to save your village, you failed your friends, you failed as a Keyblade warrior, you are a failure."
May tried to fight back, push against the stone to free herself, but the stone block prevented him from being able to free herself, feeling the pressure from the block as she felt her life fade from her, closing her eyes.
"Tell me something May." Spyro said, May opening her eyes and looking around, finding herself in Twilight Town, up on the clock tower with some Sea Salt ice cream, Spyro sitting next to her.
"Tell you what?" May asked, reliving the moment.
"That you were actually a dragon." Spyro replied, looking to her, though she was surprised he found out. "You know I can sense your emotions and your thoughts right? It wasn't difficult to figure it out."
"It's not something I'm proud of." May replied, looking at her ice cream. "I was young when I first learned of my powers, my bloodline. At first, I was proud to have Dragonic blood, but... I went looking for trouble and found it, bringing a whole tribe of Beastmen to my village. I... I tried to fight... but..."
"But you froze." Spyro said, finishing her sentence. "It's ok, it's natural."
"But I should have fought back!" May exclaimed. "I have the powers of a dragon, but I'm too afraid to use them! I... I'm just..."
"A failure?" Spyro asked, which May nodded her head. Spyro just sighed, lifting her head up so they were eye to eye. "May, you're not a failure. It takes a lot of time and training to understand your powers, especially when we first discover them. Just because you were scared and didn't use your powers doesn't mean you shouldn't use them."
"But what if I freeze again?" May asked. "What if I fail to save someone when I know how to use my powers?"
"You won't." Spyro replied, hugging her. "Because I have faith in you." May opened her eyes again, this time feeling determined to not let the past repeat as she pushed against the block again, this time feeling strength she never did before, surprising Lexeaus as he tried to push harder. "Now, what's your name again? Your real name."
May then used all her strength and her power to push the massive stone block back, shooting past Lexeaus and almost taking him down, the Nobody looking to May and feeling fear well up as streams of water surrounded her, her hair glowing a bright blue as water shot out of her back, forming into a set of wings and disappearing, revealing the wings were there as an outline of a dragon appeared above her, roaring out as Lexeaus raised his weapon to defend himself.
"My name is Maya Aquatica Springwell!" May said, calling her Keyblade to her. "And I... AM... THE WATER DRAGON!"
She then shot forward, propelled by a stream of water towards the Nobody and clashing her blade to his, slamming into the wall to continue their fight. In the crumbling palace, Raya and Namaari were continuing to fight, blinded by their grief and their rage as they continued to slash and strike one another, Raya using her swords ability to pull down some stone and create a cloud thick enough for her to distract Namaari before striking, striking at Namaari with her full rage, knocking her swords out of her hand and her onto the ground, the brooch sliding away. Namaari looked to the Brooch and crawled to it, grabbing it as she felt guilty for what happened six years ago and today, regretting everything.
"I never wanted any of this to happen." Namaari said.
"LIAR!" Raya shouted, raising her sword.
"STOP IT!" Pinkie shouted, knocking Raya to the ground. "Stop it right now, both of you!"
"But she killed Sisu!" Raya exclaimed.
"I don't care if you believe me Raya, but Sisu did." Namaari replied. "But you didn't trust her! We're here because of you! Do whatever you want, it doesn't matter. But you're as much to blame for Sisu's death as I am."
Raya looked at Namaari, then to Pinkie, who closed her eyes and looked away, showing that Namaari was right, which Raya looked out and saw how everyone was helping the people of Fang, guiding them to safety while watching May fight Lexeaus while also destroying some of the Druun, giving the people a fighting chance to escape.
"Everyone's to blame for what happened today." Pinkie said, her mane deflated and color drained. "Fang for trying to steal the gem, the clans for breaking it, even you for not trusting Sisu and causing her death. Because you didn't trust anybody, nobody trusting anybody, it caused a lot of ponies, people, everyone to get hurt. From what Spyro said, it's the innocent who suffer the most because of distrust and hate."
Raya was in total shock, looking into her blade and seeing her reflection, seeing what she has become and realizing that they were both right, that because of her, Sisu was gone and now everyone was going to suffer. Lowering her blade, she looked to Pinkie and knew what she needed to do.
"Pinkie... Namaari... I'm sorry." Raya said, surprising them. "You're right. Because of my distrust for Namaari... I... We need to protect the people and get them to safety."
"You... mean it?" Namaari asked.
"I do." Raya said, extending her hand and helping Namaari up. "They shouldn't be made to suffer for our actions today."
"Heh, guess we can agree on that." Namaari said, Pinkie getting her color back and her mane was puffy again.
"YIPPEE, looks like we're all friends now!" Pinkie said. "Come on, let's go and save some people and kick some Druun butt!"
Raya and Namaari ran with Pinkie outside to help the people, putting some of the kids on Tuk Tuk and rolling away, but the Druun blocked the way and threatened to consume them, but Namaari rushed in and used her Dragon Gem and frighten them away, clearing the way for Tuk Tuk, but a second later, the ground beneath them, causing Raya and Namaari to fall to the ground as the other ponies came to Raya's aid, but all glared at Namaari.
"It's the one who slayed Sisu!" Tong said.
"No, wait!" Raya said, trying to defend Namaari. "She's not to blame! I-"
She didn't finish as the ground beneath them collapsed, pulling everyone in and sealing them in, knocking Raya out for a moment before she came to, finding everyone was holding the Druun at bay with the gem pieces while the ponies slashed through the Druun, keeping them back, but they were running out of steam as the Druun kept coming.
"The gems magic is fading!" Boun shouted.
"They're not letting up!" Tong shouted.
The Druun kept coming, Raya getting up and using her gem piece to hold them back as she backed away, getting to everyone else as they tried to keep the Druun away, the magic in the gem pieces fading as she backed away until she kicked the Brooch, reaching down and picking it up, remembering what Sisu said.
"I don't know why they chose me, they could have chosen any one of us." Sisu said. "But they did, all I know is I trusted them as they trusted me."
"Only when the five are one, restored by trust, will the Druun be made undone." Spyro said, Raya remembering what he said and finally understanding what he meant.
"Everyone, give me your gems!" Raya said, making everyone look at her. "We can still fix this, we can make it work!"
"Sisu's gone Raya!" Boun said. "We don't have her magic!"
"It's not about the magic, it's about trust." Raya said.
"What?" Namaari asked.
"That's why it worked before, because of trust!" Raya replied. "That's why we can do it now! By doing the one thing Sisu wanted us to do, what my father wanted us to do! To finally trust each other and fix this. But we have to come together. Please."
"After what's she's done!?" Tong asked, looking to Namaari.
"We'll never trust her!" Boun shouted.
Raya knew that they wouldn't trust Namaari after what happened to Sisu, knowing what she needed to do.
"Then let's me take the first step." Raya said.
Raya walked over to Namaari, which she didn't understand what she was going to do until Raya gave her her piece of the Dragon gem, everyone surprised she did that as they watched a Druun pass over her, turning her to stone. They were all in shock by what she did, but didn't have time to mourn for her as the ponies did everything they could to slash through the Druun, keeping them back while trying to find a way out. However, Boun walked over to Namaari, passing her the gem and walking to Raya and hugging her, the Druun passing through him and taking his life force as well, turning him to stone. Namaari didn't;t know how to react, hearing Noy say something and looking down, seeing she wanted to give her the piece of the gem she had, Tong picking her up and giving his piece to her as well, walking over to Raya and putting his hand on her, the Onkies walking over and hugging him as the Druun passed over them. Namaari was speechless, unable to think of what to do or say, but then watched as the ponies walked over to the statues as well, putting their hooves on them as Pinkie walked over.
"They're trusting you to do that right thing Namaari." Pinkie said. "Please don't disappoint them."
Pinkie then went to her friends, all hugging one another as they sat next to the statues, hugging them as the Druun passed over them, leaving Namaari speechless as she held up a gem to keep the Druun back as light cracked through, a wall collapsing and giving her a chance to escape, so she ran to it, but then stopped, looking back to the group of friends and feeling something in her heart weigh her down, not wanting their sacrifice to be in vain. She then ran back and put the gem pieces on a stone slab, putting all the pieces together and restoring the orb and watched as it's magic was fading, backing away and placing her hand on Raya's shoulder, a Druun passing through her and turning her to stone and started to leave, the gems magic fading as the Druun left them. However, from the darkness, Spyro walked through the dust and to the statues, smiling at the group as he turned to the gem, seeing its magic return.
"Through trust, comes hope." Spyro said, walking to the gem. "From stone you went, to flesh you will return, come back to us human and dragon alike, away with the Druun and let the light burn."
A second later, the symbol appeared from the gem and the gemstone glowed, releasing waves of light through the land and destroying the Druun, the dark creatures screeching as they were destroyed and passed through the statues, magical storm clouds appearing in the sky as they converged onto Fang. In Fang, May was still fighting Lexeaus, the magical wave passing through them and catching them off guard as May slashed through Lexeaus and causing him great pain as she raised her hand, conjuring a storm of water and sending it through Lexeaus, magical water causing great damage to the Nobody as he was pushed against the wall, falling to the ground. She walked over to him as he started to fade, Lexeaus laughing as he faded.
"Even through I die... this world will still fade." Lexeaus said. "You... lost."
May was about to reply when she looked up, seeing the storm clouds gather overhead as it started raining, using her power over water to catch a few droplets and see the magic in them, smiling.
"No, I didn't fail." May replied, Lexueas confused about what was going on. "This world has been saved. The darkness is gone, the Druun vanquished, Kumandra... has returned."
Lexeaus looked to the statues, watching as the rain droplets fell onto the statues and they came to life, the stone returning to humans as the stone turned to dust, floating away from the people as they cheered, glad to be back while Lexeaus groaned, yelling in rage as he disappeared, failing to get the Heart Piece and to make the world fade. May then ran to the sinkhole in the ground and saw that everyone in there was ok, reaching down and helping them out one by one and bringing them back to the surface, seeing that everyone was coming back as the Heart Piece appeared in the sky, the triangle spinning as it hovered in the air.
"We did it." Twilight said, looking to Midnight and smiled. "It seems trust is just as powerful as friendship. I... I'm sorry I doubted you Midnight. You proved to be a good friend."
"Apology accepted, Twilight." Midnight said, hugging her.
They all watched as the Symbol started to slow down, getting ready to claim it when a mechanical arm shot out and took her Heart Piece, shocking everyone as it was pulled away, making them look to see the HA-AW had finally arrived at Fang, the Druun still inside of the machine, protected from the blast and from the water.
"Retrieval, complete." The HA-AW said, looking down and seeing the group. "Targets... identified. Eliminate and retrieve."
It's cannons then shot out of it's shoulders and it's back, firing on the group to destroy the Keyblade warriors, throwing them everywhere and throwing Pinkie back into the sinkhole, the hole collapsing and making Pinkie curl into a ball as it collapsed on top of her, Pinkie trying to protect her vital organs as she braced for her fate.
"Oh come on Pinkie, the parties not over yet." Spyro said. Pinkie opened her eyes and looked around, finding herself on a glass platform that had her bouncing around in a party, an image of her friends in balloons as Spyro was in a star shaped balloon, wondering how she got there until she saw Spyro, filling up balloons and trying them onto strings. "Who else is going to plan our parties if you're not around?"
"Spyro." Pinkie said.
Without waiting, she ran over and hugged him, a bone breaking hug that caused a cracking sound, but he just chuckled, hugging her back.
"How you doing Party animal?" Spyro asked.
"Spyro... where am I?" Pinkie asked.
"You're in your heart." Spyro replied. "I called you here because I saw you needed help."
"Well, thanks for the save Spyro!" Pinkie said, ending the hug. "Now... how do I get back?"
"I'll bring you back to them, but you're going to need help." Spyro replied, walking to the edge. "The war machine has the Heart Piece and it will destroy everyone and everything. And with the Druun inside of it, it's more than likely that this would will still fade if it can turn people back to stone again."
"Then we have to go back and bash this mean old tin can!" Pinkie said, pulling out a massive hammer. "I'm going to mash that thing into a can of Sardines!"
"Heh, I have no doubt you can do that Pinkie." Spyro said, turning to face her. "But you're going to need more power than what you have currently. Which, is another reason why I called you here."
"Really?" Pinkie asked.
"Pinkie, to defeat this machine, you're going to need my power." Spyro said. "I am willing to share your power with you to defeat this machine, but..."
"But?" Pinkie asked.
"When I share my power with you, it will change you forever." Spyro answered. "For when you share my power, you share my burdens, and my curse. You will be immortal, time not having any affect on you, watching as your friends will grow old without you, fade away as you continue to celebrate birthday parties and celebrate any and all events without them. Hence, it must be your choice if you wish to share my curse Pinkie. I will not force you to anything you do now want to do."
"Spyro... I can celebrate parties with anypony anytime." Pinkie said, walking to him. "But none of it would matter if the most important pony of all isn't there. I already have a party set up and ready for you when we bring you back and I want you to be there. You're my friend, more than my friend, you're the pony I love most of all." She hugged him again, putting her head in his lap as she smiled, closing her eyes as a tear rolled down her cheek. "No matter what, I'm going to bring you home. I'll do anything to make it so, even living forever if it means bringing you back."
Spyro smiled at the pink party pony, letting go of the balloons as he stroked her head, petting her as the balloons flew into the air and from them, they started to glow as the platform glowed, releasing blue and yellow lights as the darkness faded around them. In the real world, everyone was recovering from the blast, looking around and finding the sinkhole had collapsed, not worrying about it as May got up.
"Is everyone alright?" May asked. "Twilight, Midnight, Rosy?"
"We're ok." Twilight replied, helping Rosy and Midnight up.
"Ah'm good." Applejack said, helping Raya up. "Pinkie, how ya holdin' up? Pinkie?"
They looked around to see where their friend was, finding nothing until they saw a few strands of pink hair near the sinkhole, everyone paling as they saw the strands of hair.
"No." May said.
"Pinkie..." Twilight said.
"Target: Terminated!" The HA-AW announced, preparing its cannons. "Scanning... Heart Pieces detected. Retrieving."
It's chest opened up again and multiple arms shot out, moving to capture the Heart Pieces, knocking any and all who tried to get in the way as one of the arms took Twilight, wrapping around her barrel and lifting her up, capturing Applejack as well as it lifted them both into the air, pulling therm in as one of the arms reached for the sinkhole, reaching in to get something when the rocks started to shake, the arm retracting a bit as a pink pillar shot into the air, a pink Earth Pony running around it as a purple dragon flew around the massive pillar of light, circling the pillar as they made their way up, the dragon roaring as the two of them collided, releasing purple and pink light into the sky, blinding everyone as a shadow lowered from the sky, remaining inside of the pillar as the HA-AW took aim at whoever was in the pillar, ready for a fight when a twister appeared underneath the persons in the pillar, purple and pink in the twisting winds as it shot forward, moving erratically and randomly, the war machine firing at the twister, but it kept on dodging and avoiding the balls of plasma, slamming into the war machine and knocking it down while it absorbed Twilight and Applejack, it's tentacles sliced off and sparking as it looked to the twister, watching as it stopped spinning and reveal it to be Spyro, his armor purple and pink with party balloons on it as a pattern, two combined Keyblades, the regular purple one and a pink and blue one, the teeth with a pattern of yellow and blue, each one changing as it went down from tooth to tooth, Twilight and Applejack dizzy from their little ride, but shook it off, looking to the new fusion in surprise.
"It's party time!" Spyro said, his voice combined with Pinkies. "P-A-R-T... Y? Because I gotta!"
"Target acquired!" The corrupted HA-AW said.
It aimed its cannons and open fired on Spyro, which he bent and dodged like he was made out of rubber, avoiding each attack as he stretched out, avoiding the attacks. As the it aimed again, Spyro spun around and took on the outfit of a Spanish Bull fighter, using a red cape and redirecting the attack to the ground, spinning again and turning into a Russian dancer, kicking his legs up as the bolts hit the ground to hit him before spinning again and appearing as a cowboy, pointing his gun at the machine, but it blasted it away, acting surprised before looking in a random direction, looking at the reader.
"Ok, enough with the gags from the movie, The Mask." Spyro said. "Time to get serious." He then turned his head, putting on a serious face before the cannons fired again, but instead of dodging, he pulled out an Uno Reverse card, sending them blasts back at the HA-AW, damaging it, looking back at the reader. "Then again, it's more fun not being serious."
"Target is classified as, unpredictable." The HA-AW announced. "Deploying countermeasures!"
It's shoulders popped out and unleashed a barrage of missiles, heading straight for Spyro, whose entire skull, tongue, and eyes shot out, screaming as he ran away, everything flying back into his head as he ran, running so fast his legs were a blur before putting on an officer hat, blowing a whistle and stopping the missiles, motioning for a few animals to walk by before turning, blowing the whistle again and allowing the missiles to continue, which he ditched the hat and whistle, running back to the HA-AW. A moment later, the missiles realized they got tricked and stopped, flying back towards Spyro, who saw them and sliced those that got too close, continuing towards the Ha-AW and running up the machine, which the missiles hit the massive war machine, damaging it's joints and some of the weapons, floating away on a bunch of balloons he pulled out from his pocket, blowing them up quickly as the explosions threw the warrior into the air, floating down on the balloons.
"WOOH!" Spyro exclaimed, feeling invigorated. "I'm Mary Poppins ya'll!"
"Error: Critical damage detected!" The HA-AW announced. "FARBUS offline! Unable to commence repairs!"
"Well, you break it, you buy it." Spyro said, letting go of the balloons and calling both blades. "But in this case, I'm going to break it completely!"
He combined both Keyblades together, light filling in the empty spaces as a massive cannon appeared below him, straightening himself up as he entered the massive party cannon, pointing it straight at the HA-AW, which was limping around to face the cannon when it fired, releasing a barrage of cakes, pies, and confetti towards the massive war machine, which it tried to point it's rapid fire cannons at him to do some damage, but when it tried to fire, the cannons were switched for gag cannons, a flag popping out of each of the with the word bang on it, causing it's systems to set off the alarm.
"ERROR 404!" The HA-AW said, looking to Spyro as he spun around and raised the blade, smiling as he flew towards it. "Page not found!"
Spyro raised the blade and threw it, landing right in the HA-AW's chest and light escaping it, causing many alarms to blare from the machine as Spyro spun around and extended his leg, kicking the blade and going straight through the war machine, bursting through it's back and skidding to a halt. A moment later, the machine started sparking and electricity arched across it as it exploded into hundreds of balloons and millions of pieces of confetti, Spyro turning to where the machine was and saw the Druun in it get vaporized along with the machine.
"Happy birthday to whoever's out there." Spyro said. "Hope you enjoy the favors."
"Spyro!" Twilight shouted. He turned to see Twilight run up to him, jumping and hugging him as the others arrived. "You never cease to amaze me."
"Well I always dress to impress." Spyro said, setting her down. "And I must admit girls, you saved this world from fading."
He then looked up and saw the water was returning, seeing hundreds if not thousands of dragons coming from atop the water, the rain still pouring as they ran over them, everyone amazed to see them as Raya and Namaari both looked stunned and awe struck, not believing they had returned. They ran over to the water, close to where Sisu was killed and circled around the river, confusing everyone, but Spyro just smiled, already knowing what they were doing as some of the water flew into the air, swirling around until it revealed Sisu, Raya smiling to see her again right as Sisu woke up and saw that all the dragons were back, seeing her siblings and running with them, more than happy to see them again. Raya ran after them, following Sisu until she reached a small field where Raya laughed and Sisu splashed her with some water, both laughing.
"Raya." Sisu said, happy to see her again.
"Sisu." Raya said.
"I am so hungry." Sisu said.
"I got some jerky." Raya replied.
"Hard pass." Sisu said.
Both of them laughed as they hugged one another, happy to see each other again as the rest of their friends came up to her, Spyro following them as he defused with Pinkie.
"Sisu!" Noy said, hugging SIsu.
"It's good to breathe in your dragon stench again." Tong said.
"I... guess I'll take that as a compliment." Sisu said.
"Sisu..." Twilight said, the dragon bringing them into a group hug.
"Twilight, everybody." Sisu said, hugging them before looking to Spyro. "And you must be Spyro. Twilight and everyone else told me all about you."
"I hope it was all good." Spyro said.
"More than good." SIsu said, trying to bring him into a hug, but her tail passed right through him, surprising her. "What?"
"I'm... not exactly here." Spyro said.
"Right... she told me about that." Sisu said.
They all looked up into the sky, seeing the Heart Piece again as the triangle was spinning, stopping on the Earth Pony head as the keyhole appeared again. Pinkie's Keyblade suddenly appeared in her mouth and she bounced around, making up a random dance before pointing the blade towards the Symbol, firing a pink and blue light into the Keyhole and making a clicking sound as the dragons eyes glowed pink, roaring as it opened it's mouth, releasing a golden light, flying straight towards the group and into the book that Twilight got out, the eyes on it glowing pink as the dragon symbol turned blue, indicating they got the eighth Heart Piece.
"We got it." Twilight said.
"What was that?" Sisu asked.
"The Heart Piece!" Pinkie replied. "It was Spyro's Heart Piece!"
"And now we have eight of them." Applejack said. "We only have four more to go."
They all then looked to Namaari, who looked both happy and surprised to see Sisu again, feeling guilty for what she did to her before bowing her head and making the same gesture she did before with her hands, being pulled into a hug and everyone laughing.
"So, guess this is it." Midnight said, getting their attention.
"What do you mean?" Sisu asked.
"We have to go now." May replied, walking to them. "We have the Heart Piece, so we need to move on to get the rest."
"Do you have to go?" Boun asked, Noy reaching out and trying to say don't go.
"I wish we could stay, but we can't." Twilight said. "We need t keep moving to get the rest. But it doesn't mean it's truly goodbye. We'll comeback and visit someday. And hopefully we'll have Spyro here, in the flesh."
"Ya promise?" Sisu asked.
"I promise." Twilight said.
"It's only going to get harder from here girls." Spyro said, walking backwards. "The next world you'll visit will have one of my strongest friends on it, but he does have a bit of a temper, so don't take it personally. You're almost there girls. You're almost there."
He then started to glow, changing into his dragon form before them as he roared out, catching everyone, but the ponies and baby dragon off guard as he flew into the air, roaring out as he flew into the sky and turning into a light, disappearing.
"Why didn't;t you tell me he was a dragon!?" Sisu asked. "And why didn't you tell me how hot he was!? Holy smack!"
Everyone laughed at Sisu's comment, all enjoying the moment as May got her Keyblade out, raising it into the sky and surrounding them in light, flying into the air and back into the ships cockpit.
"Well, it's good to be back." Applejack said.
"Applejack!" Applebloom shouted, the crusaders and the rest of their friends coming in.
"Welcome back Twiley." Shining Armor said. "Did you get the Heart Piece?"
"We did." Twilight replied. "Hold on, let me check where the next one's at." Twilight opened the book and flipped through the pages, finding the blank page as it glowed gold and the Roman numeral for nine appeared along with the title and the coordinates. "Chapter Nine: Heart of the Beast."
"Beast?" May asked, smiling as she already knew where to go. "I know who you're talking about and where to go."
"Well let's get gong May!" Rainbow Dash said, May walking to the pilot seat.
"Maya." May replied.
"Beg pardon?" Applejack asked.
"My real name... it's Maya." She replied.
Everyone looked at one another, wondering why she changed her name before shrugging their shoulders, Maya putting in the coordinates as the ship jumped through Warp Space, heading towards the next world to get the next Heart Piece.