The Saga of Spyro - The Quest For Harmony

Chapter 3: War of the Night - Part 2

CHAPTER 1: WAR OF THE NIGHT - PART 2: OF DRAGONS AND PONIES

Spyro had always taken great pride in his roar.

The roar of a dragon has been the source of many, many legends, dating as far back as the ancient times; a force as powerful and deadly a weapon as their breath, capable of warping the world itself when the right words were spoken. Spyro had gained and was using his roar at a young age, when most dragons were still trying to find theirs; his father contributed it to the power of his purple scales, though the training the guardians gave him to hone and perfect it certainly helped to give it the strength it had today.

And thus, when he spotted the group of colorful mammals facing down a Manticore and unleashed his voice at the top of his lungs, it filled him with pride to see not only the chimera-like monster cower in fear, but the very forest itself fall silent in dreadful respect.

The purple dragon slowly paced back and forth across the path, claws carving grooves in the earth and wings spread menacingly, the Manticore to his front and the group of what he assumed to be equines to his back. His face twisted into a truly murderous snarl as he growled long and deep, fire cracking in his throat and licking the sides of his jaws; his glaring eyes glowed with their own fiery light. In the darkness of night, the dragon looked like a demon straight from the bowels of Tartarus itself.

And yet, despite a clearly stronger threat growling it down, the Manticore refused to back down. Not for lack of fear; the beast looked ready to piss itself out of pure terror, cowering against the ground with its wings folded against its sides and its tail tucked between its legs, and the sheer aura of fear radiating from its body was almost as strong as one of the equines behind him...but it couldn't move...until-

The dragon gave a pause mid-step, his snarl softening slightly as he cocked an eye-ridge in confusion; something wasn't right. He watched as the Manticore began to twitch and seize in pace, snarling and gargling unintelligibly as its body shook and moved, almost against its will, and a strange 'feeling' filled the air around it...almost like...

Then its eyes turned blue.

Spyro's face immediately hardened again, and he instinctively jumped back; he recognized the smell and feel of magical influence anywhere, even with this peculiar kind.

All at once the Manticore stopped struggling, and all traces of fearful emotion disappeared instantly. Irises now glowing with a sparkling blue light, the beast's lion face twisted into an angry snarl of its own and, with a defiant roar, charged. Spyro quickly spat of roar of defiance himself before he charged as well, horns sharp and ready to gore. Like runaway locomotives the two massive creatures charged each other down in the world's deadliest game of chicken, neither giving ground or showing fear...until, at exactly the last moment, the Manticore suddenly dodged to the right, barely missing being speared in the guts by Spyro's horns, and swiped a paw across the dragon's neck as he rocketed past.

The claws barely scraped the surface of the dragon's armored hide; Spyro scoffed as he skidded to a halt some distance away and whipped himself back around, tail cracking the air like a whip with the motion. He pawed at the earth, snorting twin streams of smoke before leaping at his foe in a pounce, roaring loudly with jaws wide open and claws extended to full length.

Anticipating the charge, the Manticore braced its hind legs for the coming impact with his claws bared, only for Spyro to suddenly halt and spin his body mid-charge, swinging his tail in a wide arc and slamming the tail-blade into the beast's side; the sheer speed and force of the blow sent the Manticore sailing across the clearing before slamming into the rock face of the cliff with a painful, bone-breaking 'crash!'.

Spyro skidded to a halt, body tensed in preparation to pounce, waiting to see the result of his attack...and blanched in surprise when the Manticore stood back up and roared in defiance...despite one of its limbs hanging limp and bloodied, clearly broken. And eyes glowing brighter than ever.

That only confirmed it; this creature was a simple predator, of the kind motivated by instincts and hunger. A creature like it would not stay and fight against a larger, stronger threat, especially if it meant receiving life-threatening injuries like that; a fully mangled arm would ensure certain death for it, yet it was still fighting regardless! Something was forcing it to stay and fight against him...or someone, if the magic in its eyes were anything to judge by.

His eyes narrowed into dangerous silts, a dark growl escaping his throat. Looks like he found his newest arch-enemy.

The Manticore roared and ran at him again, stumbling on three legs, only for Spyro to leap over to the right at the last second; as he leapt, he flipped around and swung his tail at the passing beast, slashing the exposed flesh between the rings at it ran past. Roaring in pain and frustration, the creature swung its scorpion tail up and struck the dragon's exposed belly; the clubbed stinger smashed into his belly scales, knocking him off kilter and sent him rolling across the ground.

Tumbling several yards, Spyro stumbled to a stop and shook his head to clear it of the stars flickering across his vision, growling under his breath in frustration; normally he enjoyed nothing more than battle, but this was not that: this opponent was nothing more than a puppet hiding one too cowardly to face him themselves. It was neither honorable, nor fulfilling, nor even enjoyable!

He was not going to take part in this dance any longer; he had a world to save, and the enemy was making him waste time!

Time to end this pathetic little distraction.

He righted himself up and faced the almost zombie-like monster, which gave another roar and ran at him as fast as it could, mouth foaming and eyes blazing with blue magic...just as the dragon's chest began to glow between his chest scales with a deep orange light. Said light flowed up the underside of his neck, lighting the inner overlaps of his scales like beams of sunlight, while the light in the back of his throat and deep in his eyes grew steadily brighter.

And the Manticore was only half-way through its pounce when the dragon's jaws snapped open and unleashed a compressed blast of white-hot flames at point blank range. The area of the Everfree Forest lit up as if it was day, and the roar of flames erupted up over the nearby trees and into the open night sky; when the fire ended and his jaws closed, there wasn't even a skeleton left behind. Only a pile of ash that sprayed across the path, along with a few crumbling chunks.

Spyro glared at the scattered remains and gave a dragon's version of a 'tsk'; a soft, garbling snap of a bark.

Not even worth a victory roar.

Twilight found herself unable to speak.

Was it out of fear, or shock, or maybe even awe, she couldn't tell.

She doubted it mattered anyway. There were little ways to describe what she was seeing at the moment; 'Force of Nature' was one fitting example. The sheer level of pure, unadulterated power that went into that breath of fire was so strong its presence was overwhelming! Not even regarding the temperature the air spiked to when this dragon breathed (her coat was soaked to the skin with sweat), but the sheer level of elemental energy behind it was enough to make her horn vibrate with magical reverb, and she wasn't even casting any spells!

And part of her was thankful it was so powerful and quick: she doubted she would've been able to stomach watching an animal die in any other way than a quick 'poof!' into ash.

Well now they were out of the frying pan and into the fire...quite literally. The manticore was gone, but now they had this purple dragon to deal with; from what little she knew about dragons, this one was much smaller than an adult, but it was also considerably larger than ponies and most teenage dragons. A late-teen perhaps; one that was just started that massive growth spurt that would rocket it to the size of a mountain.

It wasn't the size that had Twilight so frightened and confused; it was the appearance. It was clearly not a species of dragon she was familiar with, nor did it match any from the royal archives either. It's body was slim and almost feline in nature, as opposed to most pot-bellied dragons of Equestria, and its appearance and features were far more 'fearsome'; the sharpness of its horns, the strength of its body, the edge of its scales, the deadly blade of the tail, the wicked teeth and talon-like claws, the fiery, snake-like eyes...everything about it just felt more dangerous and fiercer than their dragons. That, couple with it's overwhelming roar and sheer destructive power of its breath, all screamed 'unnatural'. At least by Equestrian standards.

What was this dragon? Where did it come from? And how did it get here from there? And why was it here?

"Are you all just going to stay in the bushes?" The dragon suddenly spoke in native equestrian, turning his head to look in their general direction. "Or does anyone want to tell me how to save this world?"

Twilight's ears perked up in surprise. Wait, what?

"Go away!" Rainbow Dash shouted from her hiding place. "You're not gonna eat us, you monster!"

The dragon, however, simply scoffed a puff of smoke from his nostrils. "Be honest: If I wanted you dead, I would've left you to the manticore." He stated; he then glanced at the bush the voice came from, sniffing the air slightly. "That's poison ivy you two are hiding in, by the way."

"GAH!/YIPE!" And with that yelp of alarm, the rainbow-maned pegasus and pink earth pony jumped out of the same bush, shaking their bodies desperately.

Spyro cocked his head to the side as he took in the sight of the natives of this land for the first time; he had never seen their kind before. The small, almost plushy-looking beings resembled small, brilliant colored horses with large eyes and faun-like faces. One of the two dancing about in front of him was bright pink with a really poofy mane, while the other was cyan blue with a rainbow mane and a pair of small feathered wings on her back. Judging from the scents, all six were female and young adults.

But the bizarre new species did at least confirm his suspicions: he wasn't in Avalar anymore.

He glanced over at a large tree just behind the bush of ivy. "You want to come out now too, orange pony?" He called.

"What the-?!" Came the surprised voice of Applejack, who looked out behind said tree in surprise. "How'd ya know I was hidin' here?"

"Multiple ways." Spyro stated as he laid down saurian style of the ground, legs tucked under his body, just as the two ponies in front of him stopped dancing and tensely faced him. He raised a paw, counting off with his fingers. "I can smell you, detect your body heat, perceive your electrical stimuli, sense your life-force, hear both your breathing and your heartbeat, and taste your magical aura..." He then lifted the tip of his tail and pointed the tailblade to another tree. "White unicorn..." To a rock. "Yellow bird-pony..." And finally to Twilight's hiding place in another bush, which had also been enchanted with a ward spell. "...purple unicorn."

Twilight's jaw all but hit the floor as she, Rarity, and a trembling Fluttershy poked their heads out of the predicted spots. How...but she...she used cloaking magic!

Pinkie looked equally impressed. "Wow. I'm never playing Hide and Seek with you." She stated in awe.

"Pinkie, get away from that beast!" Rarity cried, using her magic to pull the party pony away by the tail. "It's dangerous!"

"But he just saved us from the mean manny-core!" Pinkie objected as she was dragged away. "What kind of person saves somebody only to hurt them right after?"

"That's not a person, Pinkie; that's a monster!" Rainbow Dash growled, her glare never leaving the dragon.

It took a serious amount of Spyro's willpower not to prove the winged pony's point and crush her right then and there. Akatosh above, what the hell was these creature's problems?! The way the ponies were looking at and speaking about him, you'd think he murdered a beloved relative or something!

...Oh, crap, were these one of those dragon-hating races? Those that viewed dragons are evil monsters based on appearance and behavior alone? Gods, he certainly hoped not; first adventure he had in almost a year and THESE were the people he was going to being saving? Those who would rather see him slain and mounted on a wall than accept his help? He'd rather take another shot at Tree Tops again! At least the pink one had the right idea, but one voice did not speak for every mouth.

"But he saved us!" Pinkie objected.

"Oh yeah? How do we know it's not trying to trick us?" Rainbow Dash challenged.

"Really, now?" Applejack spoke up. "We'd be Manticore food if it wasn't for him. If it wants to help, I say let 'em."

"You can't be serious, Applejack!" Rarity piped up herself, standing bravely in front of a trembling Fluttershy. "It's a dragon! We'd be stupid to trust the likes of it! The moment we let our guard down it'll steal out valuables and burn us to ash like he did that poor creature!"

"That 'poor creature' that was just trying to kill us?!" Pinkie squealed. "You're loco in the coco, Rarity! And that's me talking!"

And with that the ponies fell into a heated argument, each yelling over each other in an attempt to make their point known. Spyro found his patience quickly draining, ears twitching against the squealing of these petty creatures; half were determined to damn him for being his kind, while the other half gave him the benefit of the doubt, yet weren't bothering to refer to him as anything but 'it'.

Well, if they wanted him gone so bad, he was seriously considering doing just that and leave: he chose the path of being a hero...and he could just as easily choose leaving the ungrateful to their fate...

"Wait!"

The arguing immediately fell silent, and all heads in the clearing turned to she who had called out. The purple unicorn stared at Spyro with a cautious look on her face, her eyes hesitant yet hopeful as she slowly approached him. She passed her friends and stood before the dragon, whose sheer size made him loom over them like a great monster, even when laying down on his stomach. Then, quietly and with a soft glimmer of hope, she spoke.

"Have you really come to help us save Equestria?"

It took all of Spyro's willpower to keep a straight face, and even then his eyes widened slightly in shock as her words reached his ears. That voice...

Long, flowing hair as black as ebony...glimmering fish scales that shimmered a peach-flesh pink...warm sea-blue eyes that could stare into his blazing draconian eyes, and show only trust, respect, and love...

He shuddered as he was pulled back into reality, his body shivering as if exposed to great gold, and he shook his head in an animalistic manner to clear the images that the small unicorn's voice pulled up from his memories. He looked down at her, his draconian eyes meeting her almost-human ones. Did he see fear in them? Yes, but not of the same kind as the others: No malice, no judgement, no discrimination. Just respectful caution.

And hope.

"Yes. I will save Equestria." All was he needed to say.

Twilight's eye widened in surprise and awe as those words, short and simple, burned through her mind like fire. While the words might have held little weight on their own, it was the sheer strength, determination, and resolve in his eyes, driven and unbreakable, that drove the point home, filling her heart with a truly wonderful hope.

'I will save Equestria'...that was not a claim, or a promise.

It was fact.

This dragon was going to save Equestria.

And with that fact firmly planted in her mind, she couldn't help but smile.

"Okay then." She managed to say. Spyro gave a grumbling purr of satisfaction as he stood back up on all fours, wings shifting to his sides and tail swishing through the air. The other five ponies stared in awed silence, having experienced the same overwhelming force of resolve and blooming warmth of hope their friend had.

Finally, after what felt like full minutes, Rainbow Dash managed to speak. "...what are you?" She asked, still reeling from the thoughts and feelings coursing through her body.

The dragon cocked his head in an animalistic manner. "I'm Spyro."

"...and then he went all 'RAAAAAR'! And the monster lion was all 'GRRR'! And then he took a deep breath and 'VOOM!', and the monster lion went *poof* into ash, and he was all like 'you ain't worth my time, buster'! It was sooooo cool!" A certain pink earth pony rambled on, bouncing around excited as the six ponies continued their trek through the forest. "Didja see how cool he was! Didja? Didja? Huh huh HUH?"

Twilight merely closed her eyes and took a deep breath, mentally reminding herself that using Level 4 Petrification Spells on sapient life outside of self-defense was forbidden and punishable by ten years in the royal Canterlot Dungeons. "Yes, Pinkie, I saw it." She told her. "Every bit of it..."

"Can you believe this?" Rarity asked, eyeing the skies in wonder. "I certainly wouldn't have if I didn't see it with my own eyes."

"I know!" Pinkie exclaimed. "Who would've thought? A friendly dragon? It's super duper awesome!"

"Ya say that as if he's an ordinary drag'n." Applejack stated flatly, pausing as a large shadow whooshed over the path. "Which I'm pretty sure we all know he ain't."

Twilight looked up as Applejack did; just in time to see a large draconian silhouette fly across the star-filled sky high above their heads, wing membrane gleaming like giant rubies in front of the moonlight. He had been doing that ever since they continued after the encounter with the manticore, soaring overhead like a great guardian angel, calm and silent in the dark, yet ready to reign down the fires of wrath upon all who challenge him.

She honestly wondered if she was always this poetic, or did this amazing creature awaken some glory-praising side of her with his presence.

"He's impressive, alright." She said aloud. "Even with what little ponykind knows about dragons, we at least have records of the different breeds and types out there, and yet he's of a kind nopony has ever seen before. A completely new species; one with incredible power and a wide variety of abilities, no less."

"And super friendly!" Pinkie Pie chirped up. "He's really nice helping us take on that meanie nightmare pants!"

"I still can't believe we're all okay with this." Rainbow Dash spoke up, watching the dragon circle overhead, not in glaring distrust, but confused awe. "He's a dragon; we shouldn't trust him like this..." She looked ahead, shifting her wings. "...and yet, when I heard him say he was going to save us...I just...believed it. I still do now."

Twilight nodded in agreement, a shiver traveling up her spine as she recalled that moment. That one claim, simple, calm, and straight-forward...yet never before in her life had she ever felt such truth. If was though he was forging a pact of blood and steel, one that secured the future itself. He said he was going to save Equestria, and she realized she believed it to the core, unable to doubt it even if she wanted to. Nightmare Moon had already lost, and victory was as good as his.

Was this some sort of magic? A mentally-warping ability this dragon breed had to make one believe?

Or were they simple words spoken by a true hero, with such conviction and determination that it could be shared physically and emotionally, giving hope and strength to any who heard them?

"It's really odd, al'ight. But honestly, I'm just glad we got somethin' as big an' strong as a bonafide dragon watchin' our backs." Applejack told them, kicking a rock to the side as she walked. "Considerin' this Nightmare Moon gal's suppose to be a alicorn princess like Celestia, I was kinda worried we were gettin' over our heads here."

"Agreed." Rarity said. "At the very least, we'll have something to chase off any other monsters that might cross our paths." She then paused and looked back at Fluttershy, who had been quietly staring at the ground since the fight. "What do you think, dear? You've always been terrified of dragons, and yet here you are; did his words make you feel any different?"

Fluttershy suddenly and deliberately stopped. The others stumbled to a stop as well, looking at her in confusion.

"Fluttershy, are you okay?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"...he killed him."

The voice was barely a whisper, and one that the others weren't entirely sure they had heard correctly. "Pardon?" Applejack asked.

Teal orbs hardened like stones as they glared up at the circling dragon accusingly. "The manticore! He killed that poor manticore! He never meant to hurt anypony, and now he's gone! Oh, the poor little kitty..."

"Little?"

Dash's sentiment echoed Twilight's precisely, though she choose to remain silent and let the pegasus vent her grief.

"No offense sugar cube, but that there manticore was fixin' to hurt us something fierce, whether he meant to or not." Applejack stated, playing the voice of reason. "And these everfree critters ain't like those little ones ya take care of. If Spyro there hadn't turned up, who knows what could've happened."

"Don't accuse me of taking pleasure in killing a defenseless puppet." Spyro's voice boomed across the forest, just as the dragon swooped down and landed before the six, his wings kicking up a powerful gust as he flapped them quickly to slow his landing. He looked down upon Fluttershy with a soft glare, who lowered her gaze in a mix of discomfort and bitterness. "If you want to blame someone, blame the Nightmare princess; she's the one who forced that creature to fight against its will."

Twilight's eyes widened in surprise. "You mean she used an Astral Possession Spell to control the manticore?"

Spyro looked at her and nodded. "If that some sort of mind control spell, then yes. I originally intended to scare it off when I first arrived, but then she forced her will upon it to fight a battle it knew it couldn't win." He told them, turning back to Fluttershy. "If you are a real Beast Master who knows the ways of animals, then you know this is true."

"But don't you feel anything for that poor creature? He was being forced to do bad things!" Fluttershy insisted. "There could've been another way! A way to save him, without spilling his blood!"

Spyro's glare turned hot with fire, the flames licking his eyelids. "What do I look like to you, a wizard? I don't know how to unravel spells or break curses, so don't act l had the option to break the spell and instead chose death out of pleasure." He snapped, his voice taking on the dangerous crackle of fire, cowing the timid pegasus in place. "I am a dragon! When I or those I seek to protect are threatened, I fight to defend them, as that is what I do! And I am not going to stand idly by and be accused of heartless cruelty when we both know I had no choice!"

He gave her credit; at least she had the sense to look guilty for her rebuttal. "I...I know. But it...it just hurts, ending a life."

"To save yours and those of your friends." Spyro said, unfazed in the slightest. "Beast Master or no, not even a hundred animal lives are worth one sapient life. So, do I feel shame or guilt to knowing I did what I had to do to upload that? No. I don't." He turned away, his body and tail curling in a serpentine manner as he did so. "All life is precious, true, but all life is not equal; I'd kill a million beasts if it meant saving one innocent Soul Bearer..." He glared at the pegasus over his shoulder. "...and if you call yourself a Soul Bearer as well, you'd do exactly the same if the time called for it."

Fluttershy looked torn, glancing between the dragon's eyes and the ground, unable to meet his eyes...until a splash of red and hiss of smoke caught her undivided attention, as if someone flipped a switch.

"You're hurt." She said worryingly.

Spyro paused, he and the others around them following her eyes: where the manticore's tail had struck him in battle, on one of the large belly-scales covering his chest; said scale was cracked in the center from a heavy impact, tiny trails of hot blood seeping through the cracks, hissing against the grass as they peppered the ground. "It'll heal in time." He stated, looking away. "I've received much worse before."

But the pegasus wouldn't hear it; taking to the air she zipped back and forth through the undergrowth, searching for and gathering armsful of various herbs and leaves in her forelimbs. She put them in a small pile next to the dragon's feet, and went to work; Spyro at first looked ready to object and step away, as he most likely didn't need healing for what he viewed as a minor wound, but with a stare that was half-pleading half-demanding, she managed to coax the dragon to lay on his side and let her tend his wound: using a old turtle shell she found as a makeshift bowl, she grind the leaves and herbs together with pink berries to create a smooth fruit-like paste before gently applying it to the impact area.

"T-The herbs will help stop the bleeding, and the berry mush will keep the cracks sealed until they heal." She told them. "Try not to get anything stuck or smeared on it until it dries..." She then remembered who she was talking to, and a timid 'meep!' escaped her lips. "I-If you w-want to, t-that is."

Spyro, meanwhile, didn't know what to make of this. "And here I thought you despised my very existence." He stated, voice sharp as a blade.

Fluttershy looked horrified at the thought. "W-What? No! I d-don't hate you!" She stammered, before looking downcast. "I just...I-I don't like seeing anyone get hurt, and I'm still really sad about the manticore..." She swallowed. "B-But I understand why you do it. I don't like it, but it was to save our lives, and I know you have no choice..." She turned to look at him with pleading eyes. "...b-b-but when you do, please let us try to help both of you first?"

The dragon merely cocked his head slightly to the side, and then gave a grumbling grunt of acknowledgement.

"Come." He stated, rolling back over on his stomach and standing up. "With every second we waste, the closer the Nightmare Princess comes to damning this world." And with that, he spread his wings and took off into the night sky once more.

After his shallow victory over the chimera beast, the unicorn called Twilight Sparkle had filled him in on what was going on: after ten centuries of banishment, a corrupted Princess called 'Nightmare Moon' had returned to this land of Equestria, magically stole away the ponies rightful ruler and casting a dark spell on the sun itself, preventing it from rising, in a mad quest to bring forth eternal night.

Spyro was familiar with lands that were suspended in a certain time of day: the Forgotten Worlds four main kingdoms were each enchanted to exist in a continuous state of eternal Morning, Midday, Evening, and Midnight respectively. Those kingdoms, however, had powerful magical forces that kept them at life-sustaining light and temperature...but even then, there was an underlying sensation that things were not right: the plants in the midnight realm always look weak and sickly, even when growing in moonlight, and the air was always borderline uncomfortably warm in the midday realm.

Then he defeated the Sorceress, the one who had cast the enchantment to begin with, and with her death said enchants broke, and all hell burst loose as all those centuries of suppressed effects came rushing back all at once; the midday realms outright erupted with a kingdom-wide column of fire that blazed high into the sky, the midnight mountain was split in half by the enormous iceberg that burst from the earth beneath it, and the two borderline kingdoms barely made it out alive of being warped beyond natural recognition.

The experience made it quite clear in the dragon's mind; using magic to alter the natural changes of the world, no matter how powerful and careful you think the spells you cast are, never worked in the end. And now this new, apparently insane magic-wielding royal had decided to give in to true darkness; surely as one of the two who maintained this world's solar cycle, the Nightmare Princess would know the consequences of removing the sun, dying crops and freezing nights being only two of them. Was she truly so arrogant that she didn't know the cycle she herself controlled...or was the suffering and death her intention all along?

Another magic-wielder who sought to damn the entire world to a long suffering death for their own desires...this song and dance was sounding very familiar.

Thankfully, there was tell of a way to stop this crazed princess before she could go too far: the studious Twilight Sparkle told him of six ancient artifacts called the Elements of Harmony which, combined, had been used to bound the evil maleficar to her otherworldly prison before, and was believed to reside in the ruins of an ancient castle deep within this forest. It was these six artifacts these ponies sought, and the Nightmare Princess was trying to prevent them from getting.

He stared up at the moon high above him, the symbol and source of this new sorceress's power, and grinned in a draconian manner. The adventure had truly begun: The stakes had been set and set high, and the task laid out before him. He had comrades to protect, an unrelenting foe, and a clear objective before him.

And the next challenge presented itself, as the screams of his comrades rang through the night sky from the canopy below.

The comfort and hope of their unexpected guardian's presence quickly faded from Twilight's heart as the stars disappeared behind a blanket of leaves, and the watchful eyes along with them; the path to the ruins took them through a deeper swamp, where the canopy grew thick and closed off the view above completely, and with it the light level dropped quickly, to the point where she could barely see in front of her face.

Just in time to jinx Rarity's complaint. "Ugh, my eyes need a rest from all this icky muck!" She whined, just in time for what little light to fade, leaving the six in almost complete darkness. "Well, I didn't mean that literally..."

Twilight groaned in frustration as she struggled to put one hoof in front of the other without running into something. "That ancient ruin could be right in front of our faces and we wouldn't even know it!"

Had she been able to see, or at least looked down at her hooves at the last moment, she might've seen a sparkling mass of dark-blue mist slither ahead of them, slipping its presence into the roots of the trees surrounding them...

"Hang on." Applejack suddenly spoke up. "I think I stepped in something."

That statement barely even registered in Twilight's mind when Fluttershy suddenly let out a terrified scream.

"It's just mud..." Applejack stated, frowning in confusion, until she turned to come face-to-face with a row of outright demonic teeth and a snarl straight from Tartarus.

With a yelp of fright, the orange earth pony jumped back to the others, just in time for the entire grove to erupt into an army of monsters; all around them, the trunks of the numerous trees transformed into twisted effigies of faces, with demonic glowing eyes and gaping maws filled with sharp thorn-like teeth. They seem to burst out of the shadows, growling with an unnatural savagery, cutting off all escapes and leaving the panicking herd of six crowding together, screaming in fear.

Well, herd of five that is.

The five terrified mares were snapped out of their screaming panic when they realized the poofy-maned Pinkie stood several yards away, pulling faces and making goofy noises at the possessed tree in front of her, giggling all the while like a little filly.

"Pinkie, what are you doing?! Run!"

Twilight's cry only elicited a soft giggle from said earth pony, who simply shot back a...smug smile over her withers. "Really, Twily? Have you really forgotten who's out there with us?"

Seemingly from the ether around them, music began to play; Twilight could only watch in disbelief as the pink pony suddenly appeared before them, completely dressed in a tavern bard's dress of all things, styled with candy, bubbles, and pink, strumming across a party-themed lute as she began to sing what could only be described as a shanty.

~Gather all ye Gentlecolts, and Fillies you as well~
~It might just save your flanks, this story I will now tell~
~For at this very moment, soaring high above the trees~
~He's out there~
~A true monstare~
~The Beast of Ever-Free!~

As if on cue to the music, the darkness of the forest vanished into oblivion as the blinding light of white-hot fire blazed through the night. The trees right behind the singing pony were completely vaporized off the map by a column of flame so thick it was compressed into a solid beam that tore the very earth itself, leaving a long tear in the dirt. Twilight and the others were nearly blown off their feet from the blow, yet the squinting unicorn could see just enough to spot the tail of a purple dragon whoosh past, an angry roar tearing through the night sky, his flames leaving behind a brilliant orange light that Pinkie used to make shadow puppets for her song.

~Some say he's a monster from an age long ago~
~Who ate up all the dinosaurs, and mammoths of the snow~
~His teeth are sharp as daggers, and his claws they are like knives...~
~And if you think he's spooky, wait 'til you see his insides!~

~Oh, hide your treasure, hide your mares, and keep yourselves inside!~
~For if he sees you out here, you'll surely not survive~
~He'll swallow you in one big bite, so best you better flee...~
~heed this song, and all beware The Beast of Everfree!~

~Some say he's a demon that escaped from Tartarus~
~Who seeks to eat the evil souls of all of known Eqqus~
~Some say they don't believe it, but for me I gotta hunch...~
~Cause there use to be some bad guys here...but he ate them all for lunch!~

Another explosion tore through the forest as another groove of demonic trees were obliterated from existence; those watching could've sworn the evil snarling faces twisted in absolute terror milliseconds before they were consumed by Dragon Fire. This time Twilight saw Spyro fly overhead, face twisted into an angry snarl, teeth bared and glinting in the light; perhaps it was a trick of all the fire around them, but she could've sworn she saw actual flames blazing from his eye sockets, licking the edges of his eye-ridges.

~Lord of Chaos, you know Discord, he came to Everfree~
~To spread his wicked magic with a dark sadistic glee~
~He flew into the forest, to taint its very heart...~
There was a ROAR, and a SCREEEAM!
And that is why Discord is made of replacement creature parts!~

~Oh, Starswirl the Wizard, you know why he's revered~
~It's mostly for the big majestic grandeur of his beard~
~He saw the beast and now nopony's in awe of him because...~
~His beard fell out and all agree he looks like Chrysalis!~

Another pass and another section of trees were destroyed, but this time not without retaliation; one of the trees shimmered in blue briefly before one of its branches twisted into a gruesome clawed arm. With a bark of defiance, the tree swiped its new limb at the dragon as it flew past, managing to slash open a tear in his left wing membrane before it was incinerated. Spyro gave an animalistic yelp of pain as he stumbled mid-air, left wing flapping erratically as he struggling to stay airborne. In the end, though, he was forced to land, forcefully flapping his wings to reach the top of a large rock, landing roughly as he grabbed onto the peak with all four limbs. As he stretched out his torn wing to inspect the damage, Pinkie's song took on a somber tone.

~And when the sun set from the sky, over our little town~
~The little ponies gathered there all began to frown~
~For their beloved princess vanished, and descending from on high~
~adorned in armor of the stars, was the Mare of Nightmare Night~

~Her fur as black as ebony, and her eyes as cold as ice~
~She told them all she was now the one who held the dice~
~And from his home within the trees the Beast heard them all cry~
~'Save us all, and find the sun, or we're all doomed to die...'~

~So with a growl, and a leap, he flew into the air~
~To find the missing sun and end the ponies' great despair~
~And in his woods he found six mares, who all sought harmony...~
~And they will sing his song to all, the Beast of Everfree!~

With a flash of gold, the tear in his wings healed, and he took to the skies once more, flying higher and higher until his body was silhouetted against the moon: time to end this. His chest and jaws glowed with fire before a blast of fire exploded from his jaws; This time, the flame burst into separate fireballs and rained upon the forest in explosive fury, destroying every tree within a hundred meters of the mares. All of Nightmare Moon's scare puppets were erased from the land, never to scare anyone again.

~Oh, hide your treasure, hide your mares, and keep yourselves inside!~

As he hovered in the air, Spyro spotted a blue mist slither away from one of the trees, as if trying to escape...

~For if he sees you out here, you'll surely not survive~

With an angry bark, his claws formed the very essence of wind around his right paw...

~He'll swallow you in one big bite, so best you better flee...~

He slashed his arm through the air, flinging a blade of wind at the distant fleeing mist.

~heed this song, and all beware-~

The wind-blade tore through the ground and caught the mist, slashing through its side like a blade through butter; the mist howled a ghostly scream of rage and agony, and continued screaming as it disappeared into the forest.

~-I should know; I wrote it here!~

Spyro landed on all fours on the edge of the clearing facing the fleeing mist, reared back on his hind legs, spread his wings, and he lifted his head back before letting loose a powerful draconian roar. A roar of victory that echoed across the land, forever sealing his mark upon it, as well as sending a message that all would come to learn and heed with utmost caution.

~heed this song, and all beware The Beast of Everfreeeeee!~

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