//------------------------------//
// Scroll 23- Pack Problems 
// Story: Beyond the Skies 
// by FrostTheWolf 
//------------------------------//


Beyond the Skies- Pack Problems




CloudCracker Prison

When it came to his job, there were two things that Snap Shot was not entirely a fan of, but still had to do regardless. The first thing was paperwork. Capturing villains out in the field was easy, but when it came to recording the information on villains that were captured and placed in CloudCracker prison, the paperwork was a bit of a headache. Putting most of the Doom Raiders back in their cells was an exception considering the fact that they already had a lot of their information on file. Though, for some of the newer villains that have been captured after CloudCracker Prison was rebuilt, they had to start their profiles completely from scratch.

The second thing was when Master Eon had him show rookie Skylanders around the facility. Sure, it provided a chance for him to make sure that the prisoners weren’t acting out or trying to pull any stunts, but showing the rookies around made him feel less like the warden of a maximum security prison and more like the tour guide at a museum. Though, he was not only checking on the prisoners, but also keeping an eye out on the rookies, too.

Of course, being the warden also had some things that he liked too. Considering the number of missions that he personally had to do to keep himself active and healthy in the field, he liked reading the reports of other adventures that Skylanders went on. Though, some of the most recent records that he had received contained events of a location that was ‘below the clouds’. There were very few reports to go off of, but some of the ones that he did find went into detail about how some of the residents from this place, most of them having an equine form that wasn’t much different than Trail Blazer, actually visited the academy and talked with Master Eon. The only other one that did not fall into this kind of category was one involving Hoot Loop in what was called the ‘traveling circus’ incident, which he thought as rather big slip up that could’ve been a whole lot worse.

Though, it was as he was halfway through reading a file on the senseis and how their teachings were coming along that two Trap Masters walked in through the front entrance. Both of them were the Trap Masters that represented the fire element, Wildfire and Ka-Boom. The golden lion himself looked to be going back towards his own quarters, while Ka-Boom was heading over to where Snap Shot was sitting at his desk, “Hey, Snap Shot, we’re back.”

At first, the crocogator looked up from the file that he was reading, shortly before saying the first thing that came to his mind. “There you are. Some of the others were asking where you and Wildfire went.”

“We got a call from Hugo about a pair of villains that were causing problems back at my hometown, Munitions Forge,” the Trap Master explained to him, placing a pair of traptanium crystals on the table. One was brown, which was the color that represents the earth element, while the other was gold to represent the tech element, “Got two new inmates to lock up. They’re knocked out right now, but when they wake up, they aren’t going to like their new living situation.”

Snap Shot looked at both of the crystals that were on the table for a second, before picking them up and looking back to Ka-Boom. “So, who exactly are we putting away this time?”

“Remember when I told you about that pirate guy who tried to take over my hometown to create an invincible pirate army?”

The crocogator was familiar with the story, especially since Ka-Boom did mention it a couple of times whenever the subject of pirates happened to come up somehow. “I am familiar with it, yes.”

“Well, turns out Ironbeard tried to go after the forge again. He must've been thinking that there was no one around to protect the place after I joined the Trap Masters,” the fire titan added on, “Those crystals contain him and his deckhand, Bronze Tooth… though, let’s put Bronze Tooth in a cell that he can't swim or chew through.”

That had Snap Shot blink for a moment as he looked back at Ka-Boom. “Chew through?”

“Bronze Tooth’s a Land Shark.”

In Snap Shot’s mind, that made sense. Depending on the kind of villain that they had to put away, specific protocols were put in place for certain prisoners to make sure that they could not be able to easily escape. One example was that when they had to put Rage Mage back in his cell, they had to reinforce the walls so that any spells that he might cast would end up bouncing back like a trampoline. “Well, I’m going to have to figure out what precautions we’ll need to take before we put Bronze Tooth in a cell. Otherwise, good work,” he responded, “Something tells me that you probably need some rest. I mean, going back to your hometown and defeating a villain that attacked it again must’ve tired you out.”

Though, it was in that moment that Ka-Boom provided a much different answer to the warden, one that caught him by surprise. “Well, yes and no.”

Snap Shot’s train of thought immediately slammed on the breaks as the crocogator paused, blinking for a moment as he looked back at the fire titan with a raised eyebrow. “… Come again?”

“Well, yes, I did happen to go back to my hometown. However, it wasn’t Wildfire and I that beat Ironbeard and Bronze Tooth,” the Trap Master explained to Snap Shot, “It was actually a new guy, a rookie that was paired up with two other Skylanders.”

That was something that Snap Shot had trouble believing at first. A rookie being able to defeat not just one villain, but two? That story seemed a bit far fetched. But if it was true, then this newcomer was definitely someone that shouldn’t be overlooked. “Ka-Boom, about this newcomer you mentioned… did you happen to get a name at all? Like who they are?”

“Well, he said that his name was Calvin. He was in the area with Hot Dog and Rubble Rouser on a mission from Master Eon,” Ka-Boom recalled as he scratched the back of his head, “I mean, I even saw Tessa with them, and a few others, too.”

When hearing the name Calvin, a couple of things began to click in Snap Shot’s head. In the file that he was reading before Ka-Boom and Wildfire came back, King Pen had taken on a student by the same name, but did not have a chance to finish the report on him. Though, the fact that he was able to overcome and beat a villain was intriguing, he had to admit. Yet, there was another part that puzzled him. “Who exactly were these ‘others’, Ka-Boom?”

“Well, there were five in total, but I never really got their names,” the fire titan admitted, “Three of them looked to be human girls while the other two… kind of looked like Trail Blazer, but seemed different. One of them had a cowboy had on but didn’t have a horn while the other had wings. Her hair and tail also looked like a rainbow.”

Out of each one of the ones he listed, Snap could only recognize one. The last one, the pegasus that was known as Rainbow Dash. She had been there before on two different occasions before this, the first with two ‘alicorn’ princesses named Twilight Sparkle and Celestia and the second with a mare named Pinkie Pie, who was known for chasing Pain-Yatta with his own lollipop axe. But, the other four were not something he had read about before in a previous report. So, what exactly were they doing here?

“Hey, Snap? You doing alright?”

The question had the crocogator look up for a moment as he looked back at the fire titan. “Y-yeah, sorry. Was just caught up in my own train of thought,” he told him, “How about you hold onto both of them for now. We’ll put them in their cells once we figure out Bronze Tooth’s accomodations and after I finish reading the last of these reports.”

“Sounds good. I’ll go talk with the others and see if they have any ideas,” Ka-Boom responded, picking up both of the traptanium crystals and putting them back in a leather pouch that was on his waist, “See you later, Snap Shot.”

As the fire titan left the room, Snap Shot found himself sitting back down at his desk and looking back towards the file that was in front of him. It might have been a file that was labeled as being one focused on the senseis, but there was only one entry that he wanted to see now: the one that was on the one that King Pen was training named Calvin.

Upon first glance, things didn’t quite seem so appealing with a few of the things at the beginning. This included name, age, species, gender and a few others. But as he continued to read, three things stood out to him.

“Role- Skyshifter, Element- Fire [Imaginator only] (See description below), World- Earth (formerly), Equestria (Currently).”

“The heck?” Snap Shot blinked, looking back at the paper. Normally when reading the profiles on rookies, the role part would automatically say ‘Skylander’. However, this was not the case. At first, the crocogator thought that this was some kind of spelling mistake, something wasn’t corrected before being sent over. Yet, as he continued to read, he began to realize that it was not just some mistake. There was more to it than even he realized.

“Calvin is considered as a Skyshifter, which is a special case. He wears a necklace at all times, and the special crystal on the necklace, called Elementanium, allows for him to transform into any Skylander that he knows the catchphrase of, regardless of the archetype. However, he can only use those forms for a certain duration and at the time this is written, has not obtained any particular upgrades for any of his forms. He has, however, expanded upon the base rules of his abilities. Not only can he call upon a Skylander that he’s turned into before for help, but according to reports from the SuperCharger Spitfire, can summon vehicles if he happens to transform into a Supercharger.

Aside from transformations, he also has another ability. Yet, we have not yet been able to narrow down what exactly triggers it. Calvin himself describes it as a form of mental communication that only he could hear between one Skylander and him, similar to the art of telepathy. However, this seems to only apply to Spitfire, since it only started happening after Calvin had transformed into the fire gargoyle more often than others.

Recent developments involving Calvin learning about Mind Magic and Creation Crystals have led to him being able to create his own Skylander with the help of Stealth Elf. This Imaginator, named Kai Chi, is a Brawler Class Imaginator that takes on the form of a drow elf, but he has a mouth guard over the bottom half of his face, a hood over his head and wears clothes that bear some resemblance to Stealth Elf, but aren’t an exact copy. Currently, he is being trained in the arts of the Brawler Class by King Pen and has been making remarkable progress. Though, there are still a few lessons that King Pen wishes to teach him.

Given his gifts, what he’s capable of and also the pace at which he’s learning, only a handful of Skylanders and academy staff are aware of Calvin as well as what he could do. These include Spitfire, Spyro, Stealth Elf, Hot Dog, Funny Bone, Stormblade, Splat, Rattle Shake, Cobra Cadabra, Aurora, King Pen, Hoot Loop, Buzz, Tessa, Mags, Hugo, Flynn and most importantly, Master Eon. Many Skylanders might recognize him from the rule list that we already sent out regarding interactions with the Equestrians after the ‘traveling circus’ incident, but the names that are listed above are currently the only ones who know about what he’s capable of. But, that is subject to change.

Until his training with King Pen is complete, if he is to go anywhere in Skylands, always assign him with either one or two Skylanders, preferably Skylanders who have more than six months of field experience and also are able to help teach him important fundamentals when out in the field. It is also recommended to encourage Calvin to think outside the box and take on new transformations that help him solve problems that he might come across out in the field, since not all problems can be solved with brute force alone.

Master Eon wants to make sure that not only Calvin’s training is fully complete, but also makes sure that he works with various other Skylanders that have different approaches to solving problems. Future guidelines will be added to this document the longer his training progresses.”

Once Snap Shot had finished reading the document in its entirety, he had to take a few minutes to process what he just looked at. This kid… who looked to be just as young as Spyro… could turn into other Skylanders? That was something that he had not seen or heard about throughout his time as a Skylander, and there were many things that he had seen, including a sky eating machine and a monster made entirely out of guacamole.

“Hmm… perhaps I should keep a closer eye on him,” he said to himself, moving the document off to the right side of his desk, only to find another one that was underneath it. Though, the title on this one seemed a bit puzzling to him. “Equestria and the… Elements of Harmony? Just how important is such a subject?”



Meanwhile…

“Are you sure that you don’t need any help in there?” Calvin asked as he was waiting outside of Mayor Dapper’s office with Applejack, Rainbow, Rubble, Hot Dog and the Cutie Mark Crusaders. They were taking some time to rest after their encounter with Captain Ironbeard, and it was while this was going on that Dapper decided to help them out, telling them that they had a map of the mountain that he could let them borrow as they were on their expedition.

Of course, the only thing that it seemed like the mayor was having trouble with was finding where he kept it. Though, he didn’t really say anything that made them think that way. “No, no, I’m fine. I know I have it hidden around here somewhere!” he emphasized as it sounded like objects and items were being moved around inside the building. At one point, it even sounded like a bookshelf was being pushed across the floor. “Dang it. Just who has the bright idea of putting all of this stuff on my desk after I already put it away in the first place?”

“I think the cleaning lady does that, boss.”

“…Okay, well that’s an exception. I thought it was that one intern who always goes through things to find office supplies and never puts anything back afterwards,” the mayor grumbled, “Have we checked the filing cabinets by the windows yet?”

“I don’t believe we have yet, boss,” they heard Bang then speak up, “Do you want me to look through it or-?”

“No, I got it. Sheesh, how hard can it be to open just one filing cabinet anyways?” they heard Dapper ask along with the sound of the cabinet opening up, “See? Not so hard. Now, where is it? Hmm…” The sound of papers and files being tossed out and landing on the floor could be heard in the background now. Some landed softly and light on the ground, while others sounded like you dropped a full barrel of apples in the middle of the barn at Sweet Apple Acres. “I swear, it should be in here- Aha!! There we go!”

“Y-you found it?”

“Yeah, right here under a few templates for whenever someone comes to the office to ask for a restraining order,” the mayor commented, “Now, I just need to… I just need to… Uh oh.”

“Boss? What do you mean by ‘Uh oh’?”

“Isn’t that a bit obvious? Look, the hinges on this thing have probably seen better days, so unless you can pull me out of here, then I’m just stuck in here. But whatever you do, don’t pull my tail, got it?”

“Okay, here it goes,” Bang now told him, “Is it working?”

“Bang, are you even pulling? I can barely feel your fingers grabbing hold of the cabinet. Put your back into it!”

“I am putting my back into it, boss!”

“Well, try harder!!” the mayor snapped at him, “We don’t have all day!”

Oddly enough, the current situation reminded Calvin of some of the ‘Winnie the Pooh’ cartoons his mom back home played on TV when he was little, when Pooh Bear’s friends had to pull him out of the hole he was stuck in. However, this involved a cat and a filing cabinet instead of a bear and a hole under a tree.

“Hey, girls… have ya seen Hot Dog anywhere?”

That comment from Apple Bloom was enough to have a chill be sent down Calvin’s spine as he began to look around, only to find the lava puppy nowhere to be found. Even Rubble Rouser himself did not know where Hot Dog could have wandered off to.

To make matters worse. “Have no fear! I’m here to help!”

“W-what the?! Where did you come from?” Dapper asked, startled by the sudden appearance of the fire dog that was in his office.

“The front door, silly,” they heard the lava puppy respond back to the mayor, “Oh, hey. What’s this? Are you using rope to try to pull it open?”

“No, no no, wait! That’s my tail-!”

Chomp!

“REEEEEAAAAAAAAAAOOOWWWW!!!!” the next thing they knew, everyone could smell singed fur, and the sound of things being knocked over and crashing on the floor erupted from within. Just as they turned to face the door, they now saw Dapper… with the fur on the end of his tail burnt to a crisp and some bits falling off, while Hot Dog walked out a few seconds later.

“There we go. Problem solved,” the fire dog barked, shortly before looking at everyone else and noticing the expressions that were on their faces. “Why is everyone looking at me like that?”

That just had Rainbow immediately facehoof herself, followed by Scootaloo and Rubble Rouser doing the exact same thing as Bang looked to be trying to find a first aid kit inside the office. Dapper himself just looked at Hot Dog with a deadpan expression, before lightly hitting Hot Dog on the top of the head with the rolled up paper that was in his paw.

“Hey! What was that for?”

“That… was for my tail,” Dapper retorted, before redirecting his attention away from Hot Dog and back towards the rest of the group and then diverting his attention to Rubble. “Anyways, I found the map of the volcano that was in my office. Rubble, can I see the map that you have for a moment?”

“Uh, sure. Hang on,” Rubble turned around to lift up his hammer and twist the bottom knob of his hammer, pulling it off for a second as a rolled up piece of parchment slipped out. Once it was out, he grabbed a hold of the paper before twisting the knob of his hammer back in and locking it into place. “Geez, I need to talk to Mags about better ways to store what I’m carrying at some point.”

Calvin himself, seemed a bit surprised by Rubble doing that, mostly because he remembered that the only functions that his weapon had were as a hammer and a drill. But, it would make sense to come up with something for a storage compartment if you did not have pockets. Though, that was not the main thing to be focusing on. When he and Applejack went over to have a closer look at what the two of them were doing, they were surprised to find that the mayor and the golem were comparing and contrasting both of the maps that they were holding as Rubble explained his plan to the mayor.

Yet, as the mayor listened, there was a point that he had to unfortunately break the news to them about something. “Sorry to tell you this, but your plan is not going to work.”

“What? Why?” Rubble asked, sounding a bit surprised by that.

“On the pathway you were pointing out, we had an avalanche occur two months back that not only had rocks roll down the side of it, but also opened up a new lava river that goes right through here,” Dapper demonstrated, pointing at where the opening of the volcano was and tracing it down with its claw, going through the lines that Rubble Rouser put on his map to show the path they planned on taking. “We’ve been having to reduce the number of people going up on expeditions for the volcano because the ground and rocks are growing more unstable. It’s nowhere close to having to erupt anytime soon, but it’s becoming more dangerous to go up there now. Even I would not take the risk of going because a giant boulder could flatten me like a pancake.”

That imagery was enough to have Calvin immediately shake his head to try to get himself to not think about that. “Well, is there any other path that we could do? Any other options?”

That had the cat scratch his chin with his right paw, before an idea began to surface in his head. “Well, now that you pointed that out, because of what’s been happening up on the volcano, we have had a new cave entrance open up over here,” as Dapper explained this time, he was pointing out a spot that was on the opposite side of where Rubble was originally wanting them to go, “I have been meaning to have a crew go look at it, but it’s been on the backburner for a while. But if you guys want to go ahead and take a look at it for yourselves, then be my guest.”

As Calvin looked back to Rubble, he noticed that the golem seemed to be deep in thought as he tried to process what the mayor just told him. He even looked to Applejack, Rainbow and the Cutie Mark Crusaders while he was thinking this over. “Well, it doesn’t really seem like we have any other options. Let’s go for it.”

“Bang and I can help lead you up the side of the mountain, but you’re all on your own once you head inside,” the mayor informed them, before rolling up his map and hopping up on the fire titan’s shoulder. Though, he wasn’t quite a fan of feeling a pulling sensation on his tail as Bang had to apply a couple of bandages to where he lost his fur. “We still need to make sure that everything around town is back to normal… Not to mention start the clean up process. Your friends, Tessa and Flynn, did volunteer to help, but I want to make sure that we happened to do our part, too.”

Bang himself looked a bit nervous when Dapper was speaking about them going up the mountain, but when the cat was back on his shoulder, it looked like he had regained a small bit of confidence in himself. Of course, as they set off and began their trek to the mountain, Bang was trying his best to keep it together… and Dapper was doing his best to make sure that the fire titan did not scurry off and hide behind a tree. Though, it did not help any that any sound that they happened to make on the way over, whether it was Hot Dog stepping on a twig or a rock being kicked into a bush, began to eat away at his self confidence.

Of course, once they arrived at the base of the mountain, every one seemed to notice that not only was he shivering a bit, but that the fire titan was sweating. Yet, his clothes looked less like the kind of clothes that you would find soaked after a day of farm work and more like if you were sitting in the splash zone at an amusement park show.

It wasn’t just Calvin that took notice of this. The Cutie Mark Crusaders also seemed to notice how Bang was acting, too. “Hey, you okay there, big guy?”

“Y-yeah! N-never better…” the fire titan stammered, before wiping his forehead, some of the sweat on his body and hair hitting his boss on accident, which just had the cat roll his eyes.

“So, where’s the entrance that we’re looking for, Mr. Dapper?” Sweetie Belle now asked out of curiosity.

“From this point, it should be up towards the left over there,” the cat pointed out to them as they can barely see the entrance. “You’re going to need to use your climbing gear to get up to that ledge, but we don’t know if you’ll need it when you’re inside. You know… with you guys being the first ones in there.”

“I think we get the picture,” Rainbow retorted, before opening up the bag she was carrying and getting out the climbing harnesses that she had inside, handing one to Applejack with an outstretched hoof while her friend pulled out the rope that was also stored in the bag along with some metal spikes that were inside. Just before looking over to everyone else once Applejack got her harness on. “Who wants to go first?”

“I’ll go ahead,” Rubble offered, setting his hammer aside to pick up the spikes on the ground and also take the rope, “You’re going to need someone to spike these into the walls and bring the rope up. Let me get it set up, and once it's ready, the rest of you can come up afterwards.”

Everyone in the group nodded in agreement with that. After all, Rubble was the mining and digging expert of the group, so it would make sense for him to go on ahead. As the golem began to climb up the side, he set spikes in the rock that was to the left of him as he made his way up, pushing himself upward a few feet in between each spike before setting another one in. It took about ten to fifteen minutes to have enough of the spikes in as Rubble got up to the top of the ledge, before looking back down. “Alright, spikes are set,” he informed them, before having the rope funnel through the rings at the end of each one and setting an additional spike along the entrance to the cave before tightening the rope. “Who’s next?”

“I’ll go,” Calvin volunteered.

“Uh, Calvin… not to sound rude, but where’s ya harness?” Applejack asked him as the Skyshifter looked to see that the Cutie Mark Crusaders had theirs on, but he didn’t.

“I won’t need one,” he said, just before grabbing onto his pendant as he began to glow and change forms again, this time to something new.

“It’s classified!”

In a matter of seconds, Calvin had changed into the Swap Force Skylander of the Tech Element named Spy Rise, a robot with a set of four robotic spider legs. Of course, Calvin knew that another climb Swap Force Skylander like Wash Buckler could do the trick. Though, he thought that with Spy Rise’s legs, he could make holes in the rock that would make it easier for the Cutie Mark Crusaders and everyone else to climb.

Like with all of his transformations the first time he turned into a new Skylander, it took a moment or so in order to get himself adjusted to this newfound form, mainly because he had two additional legs. All of them were mechanical and moved much differently than before. But once he felt ready, he dug the tips of his front metal legs into the rock and began to work his way up, starting slow, but then moving up a bit faster once he was higher up. By the time that he was finally up topside and changed back, a set of footholds in the stone wall were lined up with the spikes as he dropped down the rope for everyone else, much to everyone's surprise… and Rubble’s dismay.

“Show off…”

Of course, it took a couple of moments in order to make sure that everyone was up on the ledge that had the entrance to the cave and that Rubble was able to go back and grab his hammer, all the while Hot Dog hitched a ride on Rainbow’s back as she used her wings to help push both of them upwards while she was climbing. Once the whole group was all there, the golem took a moment to make sure that everyone was ready before they went inside.

“Good luck, everyone,” Dapper called out to them as he waved back to the group on Bang’s shoulders. “Come back safe, alright?”

“I thought you were coming with us,” Scootaloo pointed out as she looked at the two of them from the ledge.

“Well, I would… but I’m not sure if I want to put any more stress on Bang for right now,” the mayor told them, “We’re going to go help out the town for a bit, and then come back to check on you in an hour. How does that sound?”

“Sounds good to us,” Rubble replied as everyone waved to both of them, “We’ll see you later!”

Shortly after saying their goodbyes to Dapper and Bang, Rubble was the first to enter the cave, keeping his head low for the first few feet since the opening was rather small. For Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Hot Dog, walking underneath the low entrance was not that hard. Yet, for Calvin and the Cutie Mark Crusaders, the four of them had to bend forward to the point that they were almost crawling on their hands and knees. Waiting until the stone ceiling rose up as they had to walk in a crouch before slowly getting up.

As they first walked into the cave, Hot Dog walked alongside Rubble Rouser as the golem continued to add more spikes to the walls and bring rope along the wall of the tunnel. Calvin himself, seeing how dark it was, turned into his Imaginator form to conjure some fire to use as a light to help them see. Applejack, Rainbow and the Cutie Mark Crusaders followed behind him as Rainbow had Scootaloo hold onto a flashlight that she packed in the bag that the harnesses were in.

At first, things were going alright, and the group did not have that much trouble with traversing through the tunnel. Yet, at one point though, Rubble Rouser stopped, leading to Calvin accidentally walking into him as he fell backwards. “O-ow…” he groaned, changing back to his regular form, “Rubble, why did you stop?”

“That’s the thing,” the golem told him before everyone joined the Skylander at a single point in the tunnel. The ceiling was higher up, so no one had to worry about hitting their heads. The problem that Rubble was referring to was not where they were, but the obstacle that was in front of them, “The path splits here and goes in two different directions.”

“So? Can’t we just split up and search?” Rainbow asked.

“That would not be a good idea,” Rubble shook his head, “Even if you count the possibility that Apple Bloom and her friends can feel any Elementanium they might come across, only Hot Dog could actually smell it out. He’s our only tracker, and it would be better if we stay together.”

“Yeah, I mean, could you imagine getting lost in a place like this?” Hot Dog asked, before looking at one of the paths and staring into the darkness, “You can probably hear your own echo if you spoke loud enough.” At first, everyone thought of that as just a random scenario that someone would do. That was, until the lava puppy took it one step further. “Hello!? Anyone home?!”

They could hear the echoes of his words bounce off the walls of the tunnel as he let out a sigh and began to walk back. However, the one thing that he did not expect was to get a reply back. “W-who said that? Is someone there?”

Hot Dog himself was caught off guard when he heard that, along with everyone else that was with him. He was originally speaking earlier because he wanted to hear an echo around the caves… however, he did not expect to actually hear someone respond to him. “Y-yes?”

He did not hear a response to that question. But instead, he began to hear a noise, what sounded like a set of paws running along the ground, running forward and through the tunnel as the sound of paws on the ground began to move closer. Hot Dog could now see what looked to be a mix of orange and yellow glowing in the distance coming closer and closer with each step. 

At the last possible moment, he didn’t hear anything, but that was before feeling himself get knocked over and tackled to the ground as he tried to make sense of what was going on, until he found himself staring face to face at another fire dog, one that was orange-red in color compared to Hot Dog’s. The fire dog’s paws were lighter in shade and matched the color of its tail. The only thing that looked exactly the same as Hot Dog was that it still had the same colors for eyes.

But their first reaction to Hot Dog was not one of the playful side that Rubble or the others would come to expect if they saw Hot Dog coming to them. “W-wait… Y-you’re… from outside?” The fire dog backed up immediately as she looked back at the Fire Skylander, before looking to see everyone else. “W-who are all of you? W-why have you come here?”

“Whoa! Easy...” Calvin told her, getting on the ground so he did not appear as intimidating to her. “We didn’t mean to scare you. My name is Calvin, and this right here is Hot Dog,” the Skyshifter introduced both himself and the fire dog that was next to him, “What’s your name?”

“S-sheer. Sheer Spot,” the dog answered back, while looking back at everyone and still seeming scared.

“Well, Sheer, we’re just looking for a special kind of crystal that would help some of my friends,” Calvin began to explain without going too technical into details, “Sorry if we startled you-” Of course, what Calvin did not expect was for the fire dog to jump on top of him and bury her head against his shirt. He thought that she was trying to smell his shirt as he felt the pull of the harness against his waist as he tried to get up, but it was only a few seconds afterwards that he realized something.

Sheer Spot wasn’t sniffing at all… She was crying. “P-please… help us.”

“Help… us?” Hot Dog asked, a bit confused by what Sheer was telling them.

“M-my siblings,” she sniffled, trying to wipe a few tears away with her paw, “We aren’t allowed to go outside at all. Tribus prohibits us from leaving and keeps us trapped in here. He tells us that the outside world is dangerous and full of scary creatures that want to harm and eat us, but…” Tears began to resurface in her eyes as she buried her face in Calvin’s shirt again. He felt the need to pet the top of her head to calm her down so she could finish her story. “I-if we try to say anything, he just b-bullies us and c-calls us weak.”

Rainbow and Applejack, along with the girls, were shocked by what they were hearing. To be forced to stay in your own home without ever being able to go outside at all? Everything that Sheer was telling them was just wrong on so many levels. Yet, now, there was a change in the fire dog’s voice. She was still crying, but she didn’t sound sad anymore. “B-but you… all of you came from outside… You’re not scary at all. You can help us be free of this place.”

To Calvin, even though Sheer was a lava puppy, she was acting way too adorable for him to refuse, even if it meant having to go against what they originally came here for. “S-sure… but, can I ask you something first?”

At first, Rubble seemed a bit confused by what he was doing. But to Sheer, all she did was back up and look back at the Skyshifter. “Of c-course. What is it?”

Before he could answer, the first thing that he did was unclip himself from the rope. That way, he felt a bit more comfortable first. Then, he took off his necklace and held it out in his hand to let Sheer have a closer look at the Elementanium Crystal itself. “I’m trying to help my friends by finding a crystal like this one. Have you seen anything that looks like this?”

Sheer first seemed a bit nervous, before taking a closer look, inspecting the crystal and even going as far as sniffing it first, before looking back at Calvin. “I don’t know… but I think one of my siblings might.”

“One of your siblings?” Rubble himself now asked.

“Yeah, Digger,” the fire dog told the golem, “He’s known for digging around and finding things under the rock, but Tribus always bullies him because he thinks that he’s trying to dig his way out of here.”

That had Calvin look back at Rubble, wondering if the Skylander was thinking the same thing that he was thinking in that moment. There was a possibility that this ‘Digger’ might’ve seen or uncovered Elementanium around here, but were they willing to take the risk? “Rubble, what’s the plan?”

The golem first looked at Calvin, Hot Dog and Sheer, before looking to Applejack, Rainbow and the Cutie Mark Crusaders, thinking things over before coming up with a proper answer. “Calvin, Hot Dog, go with Sheer and scout ahead. We’ll take a moment to gather a few things here.”

All Calvin did was nod, before fully taking his harness off and repeating the phrase ‘See Spot Burn!’ to himself into Hot Dog. It was a bit of a shock at first for Sheer to see two Hot Dogs at once, but the reason why the Skyshifter turned into him was so that he could keep up with the two of them when they went on ahead. As they scurried down the tunnel on the right, Applejack noticed that Rubble himself was picking up the equipment he left behind and putting it away.

“Ya sure this is a good idea, sugarcube?” Applejack then asked the golem. It took a moment for the Skylander to compose his thoughts and think through what would be the most ideal thing to say to the earth pony.

“I think so. Unlike us, Sheer seems to know her way around the mountain… I just hope that those two don’t get themselves into trouble.”



As Hot Dog and Calvin raced after Sheer, the two of them found that keeping up with Sheer was not as easy as they originally thought. Not just because of how she knew the tunnels like the back of her paw, but because she also knew what the passageway was like much farther in. Of course, Hot Dog himself was less focused on his surroundings while they were running and instead found himself focused on something else, trying to start a conversation with her. “So Sheer, you said you have siblings, right?”

“Yeah. If you include me, there’s six of us,” she responded back, before ducking out of the way of an uneven piece of rock that was sticking out of the wall. “Three of them are boys while the other two are girls. My brothers are Digger, Hot Block, and Smoky while my sisters are Skippy and Dusty.”

Hot Dog nodded, while also ducking underneath a rock before asking another question, “So, what are your siblings like?”

“Well, Digger… likes to dig since he gets bored really easily, Hot Block is rather defensive since he wants to keep us all safe, Smoky’s rather timid since he’s the runt of the litter, Skippy’s rather active to say the least, and Dusty…” upon saying the of the final sibling, Sheer began to slow down as Calvin and Hot Dog followed suit, noticing that the look on her face changed as well as her tone. “She’s the one that we all worry about the most.”

“Why’s that?” Calvin asked her.

“Remember when I said that Tribus bullies us?” she asked, leading to both Hot Dog and Calvin nodding their heads in response before Sheer continued to speak, “Well, Dusty is so scared and afraid of getting bullied and punished by Tribus that she just had to follow orders he gives in order to remain safe,” taking a second to breathe, the fire dog continued where she left off, “In her mind, since safety is happiness, she’s become obsessed with following orders because she thinks that following orders is happiness.”

“By the elements...” Hot Dog gasped.

“It gets worse. It’s gotten to the point where she can’t feel comfortable without having some sort of order given to her. She can’t fall asleep unless ordered to. She can’t eat unless ordered to,” Sheer stopped for a moment, taking a deep breath and wiping some moisture from her eyes with a paw before continuing, “We’re scared that one day, we’ll all end up the same way.”

“That’s just so wrong-”

“Sheer? Sheer, are you in here? ”

The voice immediately had Sheer’s ears perk up on end as she walked over along the left wall and peeked in the next cavern. “Oh, biscuits, not now! Please not now…” she spoke, realizing who it was.

“What’s the matter?” Calvin then asked, noticing how Sheer was acting and walking over past where she was peeking around the corner, looking down through the newfound tunnel to see if anything or if anyone was there. He could see what looked like another fire dog in the distance, yet they had a much different appearance that would match the color of dark molten rock, the only light areas being the magma glowing from under his skin, “Is that Tribus-?”

“No, that’s not him,” she shook her head, just as Calvin soon began to realize that this fire dog was quickly coming towards them. But it wasn’t until that it was mere feet away that he realized that the dog was coming straight at him. “That’s-”

SLAM!

“-Hot Block.”

“Just who are you and what do you think you’re doing with my sister, huh?!” the new fire dog snapped as it grit its teeth, before looking back at Sheer, “You think you can just take my sister away-?”

“N-no! It’s not like that!” Sheer told him, desperately trying to get him to calm down, “Hot Block, they want to help us!”

“Yeah, man, let Calvin go already!” Hot Dog himself barked. For a moment, Hot Block looked as if he was going to give off a nasty retort. But then he realized something. Something that really threw him off.

“Okay, why am I seeing two of the same pup?” he asked, looking back at both Calvin and Hot Dog, “You’re standing next to my sister, yet I have you pinned to a wall.”

“T-technically,” Calvin coughed, just as the effects of his pendant began to kick in and change him back to his regular form, now looming over the fire dog as he let out a small groan from the feeling of Hot Block’s paw being pushed into his chest, “You have me pinned to a wall.”

At first, Hot Block was caught off guard by the sudden change, but he did not remove his paws from Calvin’s chest. If anything, he kept his hold on the Skyshifter while turning towards the other two fire dogs. “Sheer, why did you bring two outsiders here? What is going on?”

“They aren’t here to harm us, Hot Block,” she told him, “Calvin and Hot Dog said that they can help free us.”

“Oh, really? And how are you so sure about that?” Hot Block questioned.

“Because Sheer asked us for our help,” Calvin told him, “She told us of what Tribus is doing to you and your siblings and how he keeps you in here.”

“We came here looking for something in the mountain that would help out our friends when Sheer found us,” Hot Dog added on, “She told us of how he bullies you and prevents you from ever going outside. We chose to help her, and after hearing from her about Digger, he may make it easier to find what we're looking for after we get the hard stuff out of the way first. After all, Tribus sounds like a complete pawful.”

Hot Block, after hearing the fellow fire dog say that, was speechless, speechless to the point that he removed his paws off of Calvin’s chest as the Skyshifter felt a huge weight being lifted off of his chest. As he looked back at Sheer and Hot Dog, Hot Block still felt as if there was something fishy about the newcomers. But, if they truly meant what they said, then they can finally leave this place behind.

It was then that he turned to Sheer and asked a question to his sister. “Do you have a plan?”

“I was wanting to try and find the others first,” Sheer told her brother, “Has Tribus… noticed anything?”

“He’s asleep right now,” Hot Block told her, which had Sheer let out a sigh of relief, “But he will notice if he wakes up and sees that we’re not there. Come on.”

“Guess we’re moving again,” Calvin sighed, before saying ‘See Spot Burn!’ again and turning himself back into Hot Dog, much to the surprise of Hot Block as he looked back to Calvin.

“Okay, seriously, how are you doing that?”

“I’ll explain later,” Calvin told him, “Right now, let’s go find the rest of your siblings.”

Both Hot Block and Sheer nodding, leading Hot Dog and Calvin down the passageway that Hot Block was originally going through. Following behind, the pair went through tight corridors with jagged pieces of rock and stone sticking through the walls. On top of that, the farther they got inside, the more humid it became. 

“We shouldn’t be too far now,” Hot Block told the two newcomers as they were approaching an opening in the sheet of rock in front of them, “Our den’s on the other side of this… though, please don’t cause too much of a ruckus.”

“Why’s that?”

“If any of us get too loud and wake Tribus up from his sleep, he gets furious and punishes us for it,” Sheer explained, letting her brother go through first, “Be careful though. Skippy’s usually… well, Skippy.”

“Why do I have the feeling that Skippy is a puppy Pinkie Pie?” Calvin thought to himself as he watched Sheer and Hot Dog go on through after Hot Block, before entering shortly afterwards. The den that they were in, despite what he originally was thinking, was actually quite spacious. There were six beds of rock that looked like coals at different areas in the room, with one of them next to what looked like a pile of minerals and shiny stones. Yet, it didn’t look like Digger was in the den… or really anyone-

“Hi there!!”

“Ah!” the sudden voice startled Calvin as he turned around and fell backwards. Standing behind him was another fire dog, though this one looked much different. If Sheer was red-orange and Hot Block looked like molten rock, then this one looked like a mix of brown and red, with the lighter shades of her body looking like there was a bit of pink mixed in. Not to mention that unlike Sheer, who was a bit nervous at times, and Hot Block, who was defensive, this one looked to be rather playful and energetic.

It was definitely enough to make him think of a puppy Pinkie Pie. “Skippy! What have I told you about startling us when we come back inside?” Sheer spoke up.

“Aw... but it’s so much fun, Sheery!” the fire dog that was now addressed as Skippy replied, before turning to both Calvin and Hot Dog. “Oooh? Now, who do we have here? New playmates, and a couple of cute ones at that!”

Personally, Calvin nervously looked back at Hot Dog after hearing her say that. “W-what does she mean by that-?” yet, just as he turned back around, he found that Skippy was walking behind him and that her tail grazed the side of his face. His brain was having trouble processing what was going on as the fire dog that was behind him smiled a bit. “Okay, that was weird. But at least everything’s okay now-”

Then, Skippy began to start sniffing behind them, something that made a shiver run down his back when she realized where she was sniffing. “D-did she just sniff my-?!”

“Wow!! You two smell so different! It’s much more different than anything else I’ve sniffed before!” Skippy cheerfully spoke, before walking around Hot Dog, having her tail graze his face before she turned to Sheer and Hot Block. “Where did you find these two cuties, Sheery?”

“That’s… hard to explain,” Sheer responded to her sister, sounding a bit nervous as she began to look around the den, “Where’s everyone else?”

“Dusty’s where she usually is, outside of meany Tri’s den, Little Smoky’s in his corner by the lava pools and Diggy’s doing what he does best!”

“Hold on… You don’t actually know where he is?” Hot Block quickly interjected, “Skippy, do you even remember what happens when Tribus wakes up and he’s not there?”

“Don’t be so overdramatic, Blocky,” she giggled in a way that made Calvin almost mistake her for Pinkie Pie as the fire dog kept on talking to Hot Block, “Diggy always knows when to come back before meany Tri wakes up. Besides, he’s only been late a couple of times, and that was a while ago.”

“A couple of times too many,” Hot Block retorted.

“In any case,” Sheer soon spoke up now, “Skippy, this is Calvin and Hot Dog. They’re wanting to help us leave this place-”

In that moment, Skippy gasped, the pitch in her voice rising up as she looked at her sister with wide eyes and a happy look on her face, “You mean we can-!?”

“Ssshhh...” Sheer was quick to put a paw on her mouth, looking towards where Tribus’ cave was to make sure that they did not disturb the one who was keeping them in here. “Not so loud! You might wake him...” after waiting a couple of moments for Skippy to calm herself, Sheer removed the paw from her mouth before she continued to speak. “I told Calvin and Hot Dog about how he was keeping us here, and they wanted to help us. But we need to have Digger and Smoky come back, so we can tell them, too.”

“W-what about Dusty though?”

“That’s the hard part… I don’t want for us to leave her behind, but I know that if we even mentioned the thought of leaving, she’ll end up telling Tribus,” Sheer told her sister, “We need a plan, but we need everyone here before we can talk about it.”

“How long has Digger been… well, digging anyways?” Hot Dog asked.

“Well, he kind of started a while ago. So, unless he found something interesting, he usually doesn’t stay gone for too long.”



“There we go. The pathway is cleared up. Let’s… what’s wrong girls?”

“Rubble, there’s a dog gnawing on your hammer.”

“Wha-?”

“Ow Ow OW!! H-hey! This isn’t a gold deposit!! W-what gives!?”



“So, yeah, I think we should be fine-” Unfortunately, only a couple of moments after Skippy said that, a series of loud yips could be heard as Skippy looked to where the sounds were coming from, her ears lowering in the process. “Uh oh.”

“What do you mean by ‘uh oh’?” Calvin then asked as he looked towards the opening at the back end of the den, “What’s wrong, Skippy?”

“T-that’s… Digger.”

Moments after she said that, all of them felt the ground rumble underneath their paws as Calvin stepped out of the cave to see what was going on. Immediately, he could see several things. First, the little grey and orange pup that was by a lava pool to his left. Second, another fire dog that was a mixture of black and brown, looking like the color of mud. But the most important thing he saw was the giant one that began to step out from his den. Fur was the color of ash and hot lava as they emerged.

The one thing that Calvin took notice of immediately was not its appearance, but it’s heads. This one, which he assumed was Tribus, had three heads, each one had burn markings on their heads, as he watched the lava hound walk.

Then, the head in the middle spoke. “Who dares disturb us?”

Followed by the second on the left. “I hear the voice, but don’t smell the scent.”

Which was followed by the third on the right. “One of them is missing. It’s time we teach the others a lesson.”

“No way… That’s Tribus?!” Calvin thought to himself, shocked by the appearance of the hound alone to the point that he did not even notice the other dogs coming out of the den behind him, “I know that Sheer made him seem scary, but I didn’t think he would look like this!”

The giant hound soon turned to the dog that stood by her, its paw the size of the fire dog’s body. “Dusty… I order you to bring the little one to me, right now.”

“Prepare the audience and let them watch.”

“It’s the only way they’ll learn.”

“As you wish, master,” the fire dog named Dusty complied, walking over to where Smoky was seen by the pool of lava. When the little pup noticed her, he tried to back away, only to feel his back hit the wall and prevent him from going anywhere. Dusty proceeded to push him down, before grabbing the back of Smoky with her teeth and carry him to Tribus.

“N-no! I-I didn’t do anything wrong!! P-please, let me go! I p-promise to be b-better,” Smoky pleaded, fear dripping from his words. But Dusty did not listen and continued to keep walking, “S-stop!!”

“Good, Dusty,” the first head told her, petting the top of her head with an outstretched paw in an almost dismissive gesture. Dusty herself just smiled in response, rubbing her head against the paw happily, “Now, leave him right there.”

“But don’t go anywhere just yet.”

“We might need you if he tries to run.”

Dusty dropped Smoky on the ground in front of the hound, before stepping out of the way. “Yes, Master,” was her only reply as she let the hound close in on the pup, Tribus holding him down with a paw as all three heads glared at him.

“Where is your brother, runt?”

“Don’t even try to fight it, weakling!”

“Tell us where he is… Now!”

“I-I don’t know…” Smoky pleaded, trying to move as the hounds paw began to glow brighter, something that made the pup begin to panic, “P-please, I-I don’t know where he is!! D-don’t do that!! A-anything b-but that!!”

“I don’t think you’re being truthful with me.”

“Perhaps all that heat from the pools is affecting his focus.”

“Let’s see if taking it away will wake up his memory.”

“O-oh no…” Sheer gasped, horrified by what she was seeing as Calvin and Hot Dog turned around to see the panicked look on her face. “N-not that! A-anything but that!!”

“What’s happening? What’s going on, Sheer?” Hot Dog then asked, immediately becoming concerned when he saw her change in expression.

“H-He’s draining him,” she told them, fear beginning to set in, “Stealing the warmth and heat in order to get him to cooperate and tell him what he wants. The pain you feel from something like that is unbearable!” As she spoke, Calvin could see fear and helplessness begin to set in on the faces of Skippy and Hot Block. They could only stare and watch as Tribus did this to their own brother.

He could not stand it anymore. He had to do something. “Hot Dog, stay with them.”

“Wha-?” Without warning, Calvin took off and began to run over towards where Tribus was holding the fire dog. As he ran, his transformation began to run out as he was forced back to his regular form. But seconds later, he took on another transformation as well as a new plan of attack.

“Let’s Roll!”

Now, Calvin might have turned into Roller Brawl before, but this transformation was different. This was her Supercharger counterpart: Bone Bash Roller Brawl, which had her equipped with a new set of skeletal armor and a fangerang blade for long range attacks. Yet, the only thing that didn’t feel quite comfortable to him was the fact that this Roller Brawl was wearing a skirt, but in all honesty, looks were not the most important thing to be worried about right now. He needed to save that pup.

Gaining momentum and speed on his skates, Calvin began to use his transformation to roll along the walls of the volcano, throwing his fangerang with a swing of his right arm. All three of Tribus’ heads and Dusty were too focused on Smoky to notice what Calvin just threw as the fangerang struck the side of the hound’s paw. Yelping in pain, he pulled it back and let go of Smoky, who fell in the Skyshifter’s arms as he quickly skated back around to get the pup back to his siblings.

“ARGH!! Who dares to strike me!?” the first head demanded as Calvin changed back upon returning to Hot Dog and the others.

“That one changed his appearance and doesn’t smell like the others! That can only mean one thing,” the second head then followed up after the first.

“It’s an outsider!! An outsider has broken into our domain!!” the voice of the third head boomed.

“T-that was amazing!” Skippy cheered, before trying to pull on Calvin’s leg to get him to look at her, “Do it again! Do it again!!”

“Skippy!!”

“What? I was just asking,” the fire dog told Sheer, before all of the dogs and the Skyshifter looked back towards Tribus, who was now incredibly angry. “Uh oh.”

“An outsider trying to take you all away? Are they that foolish?”

“The outside world is dangerous. Full of monsters and thieves. We keep you safe.”

“You know what’s best for you. Come back to me and-”

“No,” the single response from the Skyshifter stopped the three heads as their attention was focused on Calvin now. He stood defiantly in front of the beast, looking straight at the eyes of the first head, “They were never safe with you. All you did was hurt them and make them live with you in fear. The outside world is not what you tell them it is. You’re not their protector at all. You just torment them. They deserve to be free from someone like you.”

“You dare speak out against me, outsider?!”

“Do you think you can do any better, little freak!?!”

“How about we see if his bite matches his bark!!!” the third head’s statement was followed by a lunging swipe came right at him. Calvin wasn’t able to transform in time because of how quick the attack was, so the only thing he could do was to backpedal out of the way to dodge it before somersaulting to his left as Tribus’ claw grind along the wall and had pieces of rock falling down. One rock blocked off the entryway to the den that they came through.

“Hot Dog, get them out of here!!” Calvin told the Fire Skylander.

“B-but what about you-?”

“Get them out of here first-” he tried to tell Hot Dog, before he saw the hound going after him again. He didn’t have enough time to change forms, so he had to jump and roll out of the way of the hound’s next attack first. “Man, I’m going to have thank King Pen for teaching me that if I get out of this.”

“What’s the matter? I thought this was a fight!”

“Did you lose all your bravado just now? How pathetic!”

“Are you going to actually fight or are you just going to flee?!”

That had Calvin immediately grab onto his necklace and say the first phrase that came to his head. “Keeping it cool!” Within seconds, the Skyshifter turned into the Water Skylander named Freeze Blade and used his newfound skates to move out of the way of the next attack. Noticing that one of the other heads looked to be preparing something with its mouth, Calvin threw the Ice Chakram that he had at the head, the weapon striking his face before it returned back to him.

Even with the solid hit though, he still needed to move. One of those attacks was simply not enough in order to bring down a beast of this size, but he had to do his best to try. Yet the thing was, when he turned into Freeze Blade before, that was just for a race. Even if he knew how Freeze Blade was supposed to be in combat, he had not fought before in this form. He would be lucky if he actually was able to get some decent hits in.

As he skated around and did his best to attack and avoid getting attacked, he could see that Hot Dog was leading the other fire dogs through a different hole that was in the wall before following them himself. But... it was something that did not go unnoticed by Tribus. “Who gave you permission to leave!?”

“No, no, NO!!” Calvin panicked, racing over and throwing the chakram at the claw again, bouncing off and hitting him in the head as the Skyshifter dashed over the exit Hot Dog left through to cover it in ice. “Phew… that was too close.”

“Grr… You pest!! Do you think you’re going to get away with this?!” The second head demanded, before slamming both of his paws into the ground. For a moment, Calvin thought that his opponent was doing this out of pure anger. However, he began to realize that the pools of lava that were by his paws were beginning to dissipate and recede, flowing through the cracks as the molten liquid was being absorbed by his paws.

“Oh no… That can’t be good-” he tried to move, but mere seconds after the Skyshifter tried to dash in a different direction, all three heads let out an ear piercing howl before leaping and grabbing hold of him with a paw. “How the-!?!”

“You are nothing compared to us, outsider!!”

“Let us teach you a lesson now.”

“A lesson… in failure!!”

Calvin was helpless as he was thrown across the room like a ragdoll, hitting the ground first before being smacked into the wall with a swipe of the hounds tail. To top it all off, when Calvin fell back to the ground, all three heads let out a combined fire blast that exploded the moment that he tried to get up, the blast forcing him out of his transformation as the flames burned his clothes.

The Skyshifter felt pain shoot all over his body, just from those attacks alone. He didn’t think it was possible to win against an opponent of this caliber. He might’ve had more experience with combat if he turned into his Imaginator or Spitfire, but his attacks would do nothing if Tribus could just as easily absorb them, not to mention that none of his other forms had upgrades that could help him win.

“Absolutely pathetic!! You call that a fight?! You’re nothing against me!!”

“Whoever taught you to fight must be just as worthless as you are!!!”

“Dusty, I order you to take away that trinket on his neck. Whatever power that is, a worm like him does not deserve it!”

When he heard that, something in Calvin snapped. He had come this far already, and he was not going to let that end here. Matter of fact, there was no way he was going to let anyone take this gift of his away from him.

Even with feeling pain in every ounce of him, he forced himself up onto his feet. The move of defiance stunned the hound and the pup. “What is this? You’re broken, and yet, you still fight?”

“This fool has a death wish!”

“Let’s-”

“Shut up,” the bold statement from Calvin silenced all three heads as he glared at them, clenching his right fist as he firmly stood on two feet, “I’ve had enough with you and the talking heads. You may hurt me as many times as you like, and you may hurt my friends… But I will not stand by and let you insult my sensei like that!!”

Immediately, a rigid chill could be felt in the air as the crystal on his neck began to glow like a sapphire, a cold aura forming around him as he moved forward. The act of defiance startled Tribus. “B-but, how?! You were broken and weak! Where did you-?!”

“Stay Frosty!”

Tribus, in a desperate attempt, tried to attack Calvin before the transformation could finish, but instead found his right claw blocked by a metal flipper blade as he looked down to see Calvin’s transformation. He was now in the form of the Water Skylander and Brawler Sensei named King Pen, who at first, looked at the hound with a daring glare… before sniffing the air and coughing for a moment.

“Woah… did anyone tell you that you have a very severe case of bad breath?”

“Grr… How dare you-!!” Tribus’ first head snapped back, attempting to overpower him, but only getting pushed back and smacked in the chin by an uppercut, throwing the hound to the other side of the room.

“Well, looks like it’s time to teach this dog a few tricks,” the Skyshifter replied, just as he saw the hound get back to his feet and leap at him. Jumping at the right time, Calvin soon found himself above where the hounds tail swung and hit it with an aerial strike. “Sit boy!!”

The hound yelped as he felt his body being forced down. “Grr… You dare give me orders!?” As Tribus attempted to get up, he stretched out his paw towards the lava in the room and attempted to absorb the heat, but before he could even get anything, a breath of frost blocked off his attempt to absorb it.

“Who told you that you could have a treat? Only good dogs get treats!!”

“I AM NOT A PET!!!” Tribus’ third head lashed out this time and attempted to swipe at him with his claws. This time, Calvin deflected the attack with his new flipper blades, a move that chipped the hound’s claws and left him open for another attack. “Argh! Why aren’t you taking this seriously?!”

“Oh, I am… I just like to have a little fun sometimes,” the Skyshifter grinned.

“THAT’S IT!!” the hound snapped, before looking to see the fire dog that was still in the room. “Dusty, I order you to come to me, NOW!!”

Dusty, upon immediately hearing that, began to run towards the hound. But before she could get really far, she was blocked off by a wall of ice as she looked to see that Calvin stopped her. “Don’t listen-!”

“You STAY out of this!! Dusty, come here now! That’s-” Before Tribus could finish his sentence, Calvin landed another hit, stopping him from finishing what he was saying as he sent the hound crashing into a wall.

“You are not going to be giving orders anymore!!” Calvin shot back, readying himself for another attempt from the lava hound. As the battle between both of them continued to draw out and Calvin used his ice breath to freeze any source of heat for him to drain, Tribus began to act more wildly. Instead of ordering for Dusty to come to him, he attempted to bring himself to her instead, leaping directly at her, only for the Skyshifter to intercept and deny him the chance at every turn.

However, this could only go on for so long before Tribus had enough as all three of his heads began to prepare a fire blast again, “Grr… If you aren’t going to be useful to me, then GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!!”

In a split second, that had Calvin realize that Tribus wasn’t targeting him; he was targeting Dusty. However, he could not prepare an ice wall in time as his transformation faded. So, the only thing that he was able to do was run to the fire dog and push her out of the way of the incoming blast as it closed in on him. “Aw, heck-”

For a brief second, Calvin closed his eyes. Thinking that he was going to get hit by the oncoming blast. Yet, after a few seconds, he did not feel anything. No burning sensations, no searing pain, nothing. It was only when he opened his eyes that he realized that someone else had intercepted the attack. Someone who came back for him. “Hot Dog! W-what are you doing here?!”

“W-what does it look like I’m doing?” Hot Dog asked, slowly getting up as he looked back at Calvin and Dusty, “I don’t leave friends behind. In fact, I brought help.”

“Hot Dog, slow down!!” Both of them heard Rubble Rouser yell in the distance as he caught up with them, “Stop taking off like that when I’m trying to ask you what’s going on.”

“And I told you that there’s no time!” Hot Dog told him, before motioning his head to where Tribus was standing. Growling as he glared at them.

“You Fool!! Do you think increasing your numbers can stop us?!” the first head snapped.

“We will defeat every last one of you!!” the second one taunted.

“There’s nowhere left for you to run!!” the third one added on to what the first and second heads were saying.

That was enough of a reason for Rubble to look back at the lava hound and grit his teeth. The golem’s rocky skin began to change, turning obsidian as he turned to his fellow Skylander. “Hot Dog, get them out of here. I’ll take it from here.”

“Alright, let’s go!!” Hot Dog said, racing over to the tunnel’s entryway with the Skyshifter not far behind. However, at one point, Calvin stopped, much to the fire dog’s surprise as he had no idea what he was doing. “Calvin, don’t just stand there, come on!”

Yet, in that moment, Calvin was not focused on Hot Dog. Instead, he was focused more on the one that was not moving at all. “Dusty!!” Immediately upon hearing her name, the fire dog’s ears shot up as she looked towards him. Thinking a moment, he thought of the first thing to say as he looked to her. “Dusty, follow me so we can get out of here!!”

Even with that though, the fire dog still showed some hesitation. Even with Tribus busy fighting Rubble, Calvin personally thought that it did not feel right that he would have to use something that the lava hound would use to make her obey his every command. But… it was the only real way that they could get her out of here. “Dusty, follow me so we can get out of here. That’s an order!”

Hesitantly, she followed what Calvin told her, running over as the three of them returned back to the tunnel Hot Dog was at earlier and began to go through it, all while constantly looking back and forth between those she’s following and the master she is leaving behind. As they made their way to the other side of the tunnel, the Skyshifter could see the spikes and the rope that was on the wall, and they immediately began to follow it all the way back towards the front entrance.

By the time the three of them got out, they found the rest of the fire dogs with Applejack, Rainbow and the Cutie Mark Crusaders not far from the entryway to the cave. “Calvin? Oh, thank goodness you’re alright!” Applejack let out a sigh of relief, before looking behind him to see that someone from their group wasn’t there, “Where’s Rubble?”

“He’s fighting Tribus,” Calvin coughed, almost falling over because of how exhausted he was as Applejack had to catch him. Once the Earth Pony leaned him against the side of the mountain, he let out a deep breath. “He’s fighting Tribus right now, gave us the chance to get out of there… Where’s Sheer? Did she and her siblings make it out?”

“Uh… Sugarcube? They’re right over there,” Applejack pointed her hoof to where the other five were at with Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle as Hot Dog went over to go join them. “Ya feeling alright?”

“Y-yeah, just tired… and sore,” he groaned, before looking down and realizing how much of a mess his shirt was, “Rarity’s going to kill me when she sees this.”

“Hey! At least you made it out of there. That’s all that matters,” Rainbow added, “Though, gotta ask, how did you get so beat up anyways?”

All Calvin really did was just let out a painful groan as he looked to the pegasus. “Is that really the first thing you choose to ask?”

“What? Can’t I be worried for you?” Rainbow retorted, crossing her front hooves, “I mean, any other fight you’ve been in, like with that pirate guy, you look like nothing happened. What’s so different?”

“Any other time I’ve fought, I’ve only suffered damage while in my forms,” the Skyshifter coughed, “T-this guy’s the first opponent I’ve had where he’s landed a hit on me in my regular form. Heck, if it wasn’t for King Pen’s training and teaching me how to avoid incoming attacks, I would’ve suffered a whole lot worse.”

“Oh, hay,” Rainbow said, eyes widening when she realized the severity of what he meant, “W-we don’t need to get you a doctor or anything now, do we?”

“N-no, I-I just think I need some rest right now,” he shook his head, “I-if I do feel anything though, I-I’ll let you know.”

Yet, even though he wanted to rest… that did not quite happen the way he wanted it to go. “Wait… waitwaitwaitwait!!! Calvy… is… HURT?!” he heard Skippy gasp in shock, “I WILL NOT LET THIS STAND!! OUT OF MY WAY!!! HEALING HUG, COMING THROUGH!!!”

“H-healing wha-?” Before he knew it, he found himself on the receiving end of an incoming hug from Skippy that felt like a cannonball struck him in the chest, feeling pain surge through his chest on impact. At first, he wasn’t sure if Skippy actually was helping because of the pain that he was feeling from her colliding with him. Yet, it was as he was going to say something that he felt a different sensation run its course, one that felt soothing and eased the pain he suffered from battle.

For a moment, Calvin was confused by what was happening. All Skippy did was just throw herself at him. There was no way that she could actually heal these injuries with just a hug. Though, it was as he was thinking this that he actually looked down towards Skippy, seeing that she was glowing a warm energy that was a light shade of pink as he felt his pain slowly disappear. It left him at a loss for words, even though he really wanted to say something to her.

By the time that Skippy pulled away and that he finally was able to feel a bit of strength return to him, he was able to finally come up with something to say. “T-thank you.”

“Any time,” she smiled back, “Any chance to get a bit closer to such a cutie.” Calvin honestly did not know what to think of that as the fire dog skipped back to her siblings with Hot Dog following her. He took a moment to look around a bit, seeing that the Cutie Mark Crusaders were with Sheer, Skippy and the other fire dogs that made it out while Applejack and Rainbow were nearby. 

Though, it was the farm pony that soon had a question for him. “So, Calvin, who’s the little fella right there?” she asked, pointing a hoof towards where Dusty was standing.

“Well, that’s Dusty…” he said, noticing the fire dog’s ears twitch when he said her name for a moment before looking back at both Applejack and Rainbow, “Did Sheer happen to tell you about her siblings at all?”

“Kind of,” Rainbow shrugged her shoulders, “I mean, we were a bit focused on trying to get out, and she only told us their names. Though, she did say that one of them was not with them. Why do you ask?”

Before Calvin could say anything else, he noticed that one of the fire dogs that was with Apple Bloom and the others soon approached them, her gaze redirected to the fire dog that was by Calvin as she spoke. “D-dusty? Y-you… left? H-how?”

“I… had to do something that I did not like,” Calvin told her, “I had to give her an order to come with us. I really don’t like it when I would have to do something that a bad guy like Tribus would do, but it was the only way that I can get her out and get her to safety.”

Sheer was at a loss for words, but sometimes, words were one way to express what someone was feeling. In the case of Sheer, she felt tears go down her face before jumping up and hugging Calvin, the second time that a fire dog had done so in the last few minutes. “T-thank you… T-thank you so much!!”

All the Skyshifter could really do was just smile and return the hug back, thankful that Sheer and her siblings no longer had to live in fear of that bully Tribus. Part of his mind wondered where they could possibly go now that they were not going to live in the mountain anymore, but it was something that he didn’t have to stress over. After all, Master Eon could help them find a place to stay.

Though, while he was thinking of these things and hugging Sheer, he felt something begin to tickle his nose. Sniffing the air, he realized something. “Something’s burning-”

“Hot! HOT! HOT!!!” Everyone now turned towards Rainbow Dash, who was moving away from where the fire dogs were with her tail caught on fire. Racing over to the clouds that were in the distance, she jumped on a few of them to get them to start pouring rain before quickly flying underneath, letting the raindrops soak her and put out the blaze that had burned the tip of her tail. Even with the spell Celestia put on them, it did not protect her from the inevitability of having it be accidentally lit on fire, especially if it’s nearby six lava puppies.

“That flying pony is weird,” Hot Block murmured as they watched Rainbow trying to shake the water out of her fur and dry off.

“That’s only a part of it,” Hot Dog commented as he pointed a paw over to where Applejack was standing, all while Sheer was seen wiping the tears out of her eyes again and slowly getting off of Calvin. “Just wait until you see the rest of them.”

“You mean there’s more?”

“Oh, trust me… with the Skylands as big as they are, there’s always something to see,” Hot Dog chuckled, just as Rainbow was finally coming back to the group. Her mane was still a bit wet and part of her tail looked to be burnt, but other than that, she still seemed somewhat okay.

“Ugh… that was not something I wanted to happen,” the pegasus groaned.

“Ah don’t know, Rainbow. That’s kinda a good look for you,” Applejack chuckled, something that even got Calvin to chuckle as both of them looked back at Rainbow Dash.

“Oh, ha, ha. Laugh it off,” she groaned, rolling her eyes at both of them before deciding to say something else, “Hey, uh… I don’t want to sound like ‘that guy’, but shouldn’t we go check that other guy that was with us? He might need some help-”

“Who needs help now?”

The question, followed by the sight of Rubble walking out of the cave entrance with barely a scratch on him had Calvin let out a sigh of relief. When Rainbow was asking her question, Calvin immediately thought that they needed to go help him out, so seeing him come out of the cave helped put his mind at ease.

“How did it go?”

“Well, he’s alive… but he won’t be moving around anytime soon. Gonna have to call a trap master to make sure to pick him up so he won’t bother you guys again,” Rubble replied, before looking back at Calvin, “How are you holding up?”

“Fine… Skippy gave me a helping paw, and I feel a bit better.”

“Helping paw?” the golem asked him.

“Yeah, she just hugged me, and… well, after doing that, the pain I felt earlier just disappeared. I mean, I’m still tired, but I’m not sore anymore.”

“Huh… Well, I would consider yourself lucky then. Did not think she could do anything like that,” Rubble replied back, smiling a bit, “You should go and get some rest. You definitely deserve it.”

“Thanks for the concern, but…” he then looked to Dusty for a second, before looking back at Rubble, “What happened against Tribus? How did you beat him by yourself?”

“That was actually kind of simple,” Rubble told him, “While fighting Tribus, I was using my hammer to break any piece of rock that I could find. Whenever my hammer hits it, the impact will send pieces of stone flying everywhere, including at him. It also helped that I outnumbered him.”

“Hold on,” Rainbow now spoke up, “You… outnumbered him? But there’s only one of you.”

Rubble only just grinned as he looked at the pegasus, before slamming his hammer on the ground. Doing so caught everyone’s attention, but it was after he slammed his hammer that several stones began to rise up, turning into a series of rocky miners, each one with their own hard hat as the golem looked back at her. “You were saying?”

Even Calvin himself was a bit surprised at first, before facepalming himself a few seconds later, “Oh. Right. Forgot you had that power.”

“Point is, Tribus is not going to be around to bother Sheer and the other pups anytime soon,” Rubble finished his statement, before slamming his hammer again as a few more miners soon surfaced from the ground. As he turned to face all of them, the golem tilted his head towards the entrance as the miners started to head inside with him. Not a few moments later did Rubble and his miner battalion re-emerge from the volcano, carrying the unconscious lava hound out of the cave, stone cuffs holding front and back paws together while a rocky muzzle covered all three of Tribus’ heads. 

“Alright, so how are we gonna get him down?” Applejack asked… before looking back at Rainbow Dash, who didn’t take that kindly.

“Oh, no… I’ve already had enough trouble carrying one of them. I’m definitely not going to try and do it with this guy.”

It was as Rainbow was talking though that Calvin noticed something move towards them. At first, he thought it was one of the girls or Hot Dog, but then, he began to realize that it was much smaller in size and different in color. It was Smoky, the little fire dog that he rescued from Tribus’ clutches inside the cave. He wasn’t sure what the little pup was doing, but after a moment, Smoky took in some air and let out black smoke and ash from around his body, which began to form rather quickly.

At first, the smoke didn’t look like it was doing anything. But soon, Rubble’s miners began to back away, even though the golem didn’t tell them to. The smoke began to float towards and enshroud the giant dog, soon positioning itself in the air till all but his head and lower legs were covered in smoke. Inside the smoke, rocks began to take form, growing from within the smoke as the smoke shrunk closer to his body. Soon, the rocks turned and pressed inwards, stopping briefly, and afterwards, the cloud with its rocks gently lifted into the air, while Smoky sweated in concentration. As he focused, the smoke cloud slowly began to float towards the exit of the cave while the others watched in awe.

It was as the pup had reached the exit that Rubble looked to Rainbow. “You think you can move that?”

“Is that a challenge?” she smirked, before flying over and beginning to push the cloud herself. While she was doing that, Rubble took it a step further and picked Smoky up, having the little fire dog sit in his arms before the golem turned to the others.

“We’ll be right back. Sit tight,” he assured them as Rainbow pushed Tribus out through the cave entrance, with Rubble and Smoky following after her, which had Calvin let out a sigh of relief. Knowing that Tribus was contained and that the trap masters will pick him up put his mind at ease.

Though, there was one thing that Calvin did not seem to notice as Tribus was being brought out of the cave, that being how Dusty was reacting to all of this. She had witnessed the one who tormented her all these years being carried away, right in front of her. But Tribus has also been her source of comfort as well. Many conflicted thoughts were bouncing off the walls of her mind as she looked around the room, her eyes wandering over to where the Skyshifter was sitting against the wall.

As she looked at him, the fire dog realized something. Tribus was not the only one who gave her orders. He did so, too… and this savior actually protected her from pain. In her mind, there was only one thing that she could do now. 

Beg.

To Calvin, he did not expect this coming. One moment, he was just resting on the ground; the next, he felt Dusty get up and jump on top of him, looking back at him with a pair of desperate eyes as the fire dog said the first thing that came to her mind. “Please be my new master!!”

Calvin blinked at that, caught off guard by the sudden outcry as he just stared at her. “W-wha-?”

“Please!! I need a new master!! I can’t live without orders, and you protected me from harm!!” Dusty, who had mostly been silent this whole time, pleaded with him desperately, which caught the attention of her siblings as well as Applejack and the Cutie Mark Crusaders, “I beg of you, please be my new master!! It can only be you! Please!!”

When Calvin looked at her, all he saw on her face was her puppy dog eyes. But those eyes represented more. They represented sincerity, but they also portrayed her fear, her fear of if he told her no. It was something that, after seeing how desperately she wanted to be with him, was enough for him to make a decision. He did not like having to do what Tribus did… but he could not just leave her.

“Alright...” he told her, his response lighting up the look on the fire dog’s face, “...I’ll be your new master, Dusty.”

Dusty was at a loss for words, so the only real thing that she could do was throw herself onto Calvin. Tears of joy streamed down her face as he placed a hand on her head and held her close, feeling happy that she no longer had to worry about being without a master as she closed his eyes and fell asleep.

Though, that was also when one of the Cutie Mark Crusaders turned their attention from the adorable scene and decided to ask a question, this time to one particular fire dog. “So… Digger right?” Sweetie Belle then said, catching the fire dog’s attention, “Sheer told us earlier that you could help us with something.”

“Yeah. We’re trying to find the same kind of crystal that Calvin has on his pendant right there,” Scootaloo told him, pointing out the gem to him, “And your sister said that you might have come across it before.”

The fire dog, at first, seemed curious before carefully going over to Calvin and taking a quick sniff of the area by his neck before pausing a moment. He was silent for a bit, stuck in thought as he was trying to come up with the right words to say to the girls. “Yeah, I remember smelling this… b-before,” he spoke, before whining a bit as he looked at the trio, “B-but… it’s not a p-place you’d want to go to.”




End Scroll 23