Beyond the Skies

by FrostTheWolf

Scroll 25- Pawful Chaos

It was the day after the rather exciting trip to the Skylands and Munitions Forge with his friends, and right now, Calvin was in his room, trying to enjoy the much deserved rest that he needed as he slept in his bed. After coming back to Ponyville yesterday, the rest of his day consisted of trying to show Dusty around the castle, having dinner and also getting an earful from Rarity after she noticed what happened to his clothes. Now though, he was asleep in his room and felt relaxed under the covers.

As the morning sun began to gleam through the windows, he slowly began to rise from his slumber. As he was waking up, he began to realize something. It felt rather warm under the sheets for some reason, and he was sure that he didn’t have the comforter for his bed over him, not to mention that he was feeling a sudden pressure on his chest. Slowly, he pulled back the sheet, only to find something he definitely did not expect this morning.

What he found was Dusty nuzzling her head against his chest with her front paws trying to grasp his sides to hold herself closer to him. It caught him by surprise, especially with how adorable she was being right now. So, gently, he extended his left hand and started to pet the top of her head.

At first, he thought Dusty would like that. However, he got a much different response than he expected. Immediately, she lifted her head, before suddenly backing away. “I-I’m so sorry, master!” she yipped, sounding afraid as she looked back to him and leapt off the bed, “I d-didn’t mean to-”

“Dusty, it’s okay,” he stopped her, before looking back at the lava dog with a smile, “You don’t have to apologize. I-I actually kind of liked it.”

Hearing that had Dusty blush, turning her head away in embarrassment. Many thoughts were going through her head right now, and she was having trouble processing everything. Yet, before her master could say anything, she immediately cut him off, “Y-you must be hungry! L-let me get you something to eat! Wait there, master!” Immediately afterwards, she bolted out of the room, leaving Calvin rather puzzled.

“Uh… w-what just happened?” he asked himself, before he began to realize something, “Wait, do you even know where the kitchen is?!”

The thought of Dusty desperately running around to try and satisfy her master without really knowing what she was getting into had Calvin immediately jump to his feet and leave his room, still in his pajamas as he was looking all over to find Dusty before she caused any trouble. The thought of a major mess happening on her first day here was not exactly a good first impression, especially if Twilight were to possibly have any guests come over today.

At first, he was having trouble trying to find the small pup in the giant labyrinth that was Twilight’s Castle. Though, the sound of several pans hitting the floor immediately pointed him in the right direction as he turned around and ran back towards the front of the castle. “Dusty? Dusty, where are you!?”

He didn’t hear Dusty respond to him, but he did see the mess that was spilled out all over the castle floor. Metal pans and trays scattered everywhere as he noticed Spike on the ground, claw over his head as he groaned to himself. “Ugh… w-what just hit me?”

“Spike, are you alright?” Calvin then asked him, offering a hand to help him back up on his feet, something that the dragon took hold of as the Skyshifter helped get Spike off of the floor.

“T-thanks,” the dragon told him, before looking around and realizing the mess that was made all over the ground as well as the fire dog that was not that far away from the two of them. Out of both of those things, it was the latter that caught his attention the most, “O-oh, hello… W-who’s this?”

Immediately, Dusty scurried over towards Calvin and hid behind him, only peeking out to look at Spike briefly, but hiding the moment that he tried to look at her. Prompting Calvin to get down to her level as he looked back at her. “There’s no need to be scared. Spike’s a friend of mine.”

Dusty looked towards Calvin, a little bit confused by what he was saying, before turning towards Spike. As she looked at him, along with the pans on the floor, she looked back at the dragon with a pair of puppy dog eyes and said the first thing she could think of, “I-I’m s-sorry.”

Spike blinked for a moment, trying to process what was happening inside of his head first before finally speaking. “I-It’s okay. Accidents happen,” he told the fire dog, “What’s your name?”

At first, Dusty looked back at her master with a look of uncertainty, but after seeing Calvin give her a nod of encouragement, the fire dog looked back at Spike before speaking, “D-Dusty.”

“Nice to meet you, Dusty. I’m Spike,” the dragon smiled, before looking back at Calvin, “Why are you downstairs in your PJ’s, Calvin?”

“Well, to answer that, Dusty came down here trying to find something for me to eat, and I was worried that she would get lost,” the Skyshifter explained, answering the first part of the question before getting to the second half, “As for the other part, since my clothes got torn up yesterday, the only clothes that I have until Rarity fixes mine are my pajamas.”

“Huh… Alright, I guess,” Spike replied, “Speaking of eating, would you like for me to make some breakfast? You did kind of sleep in a bit-”

“No!” Dusty immediately yipped out of nowhere, “I’m supposed to get breakfast for master!”

“Master?” Spike asked, looking to Calvin with a confused look on his face.

“It’s… complicated.”

That didn’t exactly help with Spike’s question, but it instead had him look back to the fire dog as he had a new question for her. “Umm, Dusty… do you even know what’s safe for him to eat?”

At first, Dusty looked like she was going to say something, but was left silent as Calvin let out a sigh. “Spike’s got a point, Dusty. Since I’ve arrived here, Spike’s been one of the best cooks I’ve had the chance to eat from,” he told her, before looking to the dragon, “Maybe after we have something to eat, Spike can teach you a couple of things.”

“I don’t mind,” he replied, “We already have most of the hard stuff for later out of the way, so I got some time now.”

That had a new question form in his head as Calvin walked over and took a seat on a stool that was nearby the kitchen. Bringing out a second stool for Dusty to sit on, he took a moment to ask the dragon his question as the fire dog began to climb up. “What exactly is going on later?”

“Twilight didn’t tell you?” Spike asked, sounding surprised by that, “She’s having Princess Celestia over for Dinner to discuss Starlight’s progress with her friendship lessons. Since Twilight’s helping make sure the castle’s all organized, it’s my job to help with the food.”

“What about Starlight? Shouldn’t she be helping with the preparations, too?” Calvin then asked, just as Spike began to get the pancake mix, before turning back around to get two more things.

“If I remember correctly, Twilight told her that she needs to bring a new friend that she made in Ponyville with her to dinner tonight as a guest as part of another lesson. So, she’s kind of out in Ponyville right now,” the dragon explained, grabbing the milk and eggs before setting them on the counter. Before he could start making anything though, he noticed Dusty looking at the dragon with an attentive stare. “Would you… like to come closer-?”

“Yes!” she yipped, which prompted Calvin to get off his stool for a moment so he could move Dusty closer to Spike. That way, the fire dog could have a better look and watch the dragon while he was cooking. Once the dragon had all the ingredients he needed, he soon got out a measuring cup, a stirring spoon and a bowl to put everything in before he could get started. 

As Spike was getting the necessary measurements for each ingredient and pouring each one into the bowl to be mixed, Dusty was doing her best to pay as much attention to how the dragon was able to do this. Yet, a lot of what Spike was doing was new to her, something that she had not seen at all during her and her sibling’s stay in Tribus’ cave. That didn’t stop Dusty from trying, as she was repeating the steps of the recipe that Spike was telling her out loud in order to memorize the recipe.

As they were mixing all the ingredients together, that was when Calvin heard a set of hooves walking along the floor of the castle and turned around to see Twilight. She was holding what looked like some kind of checklist in a levitation spell and seemed a bit relieved. “Alright, most of the preparations are done. How’s the food coming along, Spike-?” When the princess noticed what was going on, it was enough to have her stop and stare for a few seconds as she tried to take in what was happening. Yet, that just left her with one question. “What’s going on?”

Before either Spike or Calvin could say anything, Dusty was the first one to say something, “Master has convinced… ‘Spike’... to teach me how to cook suitably for Master’s species.”

That response had several different thoughts echo in Twilight’s mind, shortly before she turned towards the Skyshifter. “Calvin, can I talk to you for a moment? I know you said you’d explain what happened in Skylands later, but I think ‘later’ should be ‘now’.”

That had Calvin look back to Dusty, before looking back towards Twilight and getting up out of his seat. “I’ll be back in a moment Dusty. Keep listening to Spike, ok?” he reassured her, the tone of his voice sounding similar to if he was giving her an order, which was enough to convince Dusty as she returned her focus back to Spike while Calvin followed Twilight down to one of the halls on the first floor that was away from the kitchen.

“Now that we’re by ourselves, let me ask you,” the alicorn replied back, “Why does Dusty refer to you as her master? I know that you said that she’s only comfortable around you due to some complications. So, tell me, what exactly were they?”

That had the Skyshifter let out a small breath, thinking to himself about what to say before looking back at Twilight. “Remember when we mentioned Tribus and what he was doing to Sheer and her siblings?” the alicorn nodded, shortly before looking back at Calvin as he continued what he was saying, “Dusty was a different case. Back when she was still living in the volcano before we came, Dusty was so scared and afraid of getting punished by him that she decided she had to follow the orders that he gave her in order to remain safe. To her, safety is happiness to the point that she got obsessed with following orders, because she believes that following orders is happiness.”

That had Twilight stare at him with a shocked expression. She couldn’t find any words to say in that moment, especially with what he was describing. But... it did not stop there. “During the fight against Tribus, I had to stop her from fulfilling any commands that he told her, while also saving her from one of his attacks. The only way I was able to get her out was by ordering her to come with Hot Dog and I,” the Skyshifter explained, recalling every moment during his encounter with her, “After Tribus was hauled out of the cave, she came to me and begged for me to be her new master, told me that she could not live without orders, and that since I protected her, it could only be me. There was no possible way that I could tell her no, not after everything she had been through.”

As Twilight was beginning to process what Calvin was saying, she had a few questions begin to form in the back of her head. “What do you plan to do with her now?”

For a moment, Calvin took in a deep breath, before looking over to where Dusty and Spike were at in the kitchen. As he watched them, the answer to the princess’ question began to form in his mind. “I wanted to show her that you can be happy without being told to do so,” he explained, “Before she saw me as her master, she couldn’t eat or fall asleep without being ordered to do so by Tribus. I wanted to show her that you don’t need orders in order to truly be happy,” at that point, he began to turn back around to face Twilight, “It may seem like something that’s very far away… but I do think that it’s possible.”

That had Twilight blink for a moment, staring at him in bewilderment as she tried to process what he just told her. “Wow, that’s rather mature of you. I think you’ve grown a bit.”

“Really? I don’t exactly feel taller.”

Now Twilight was letting out a sigh herself as she looked back at Calvin, “Not what I mean, but let’s not worry about that,” the princess replied back as she looked back at him, “Now that I think of it… who else might know about you and Dusty? Surely, it’s not just me who knows, right?”

That had Calvin take a moment in order to think it over, before looking back at Twilight. “The first few that come to mind are Applejack, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Hot Dog, and Dusty’s siblings. Most of them were in the cave when Dusty begged for me to be her master, so they would know that I told her yes.”

“What about Rainbow? Wasn’t she with you?”

“At the time this happened, she and Rubble Rouser were making sure that Tribus was getting picked up by the Trap Masters, so they probably wouldn’t have noticed, considering that they were busy with another task,” he added, “Of course, out of the ones who do know, Dusty’s siblings and Hot Dog might be the only ones who know why having me as her master would be important to her. If anything, I’m not sure what the girls would be thinking or what Applejack thinks of all this?”

“So… you’re saying that even though the Cutie Mark Crusaders and Applejack saw Dusty beg you to be her master, they probably don’t know why something like that is important to her?”

“Pretty much,” the Skyshifter told her, “Of course, the reason why Hot Dog would know is because Sheer told both of us about Dusty before we met the rest of her siblings.”

In Twilight’s mind, that made sense, especially since Hot Dog and Calvin were the ones who were doing a lot of recollection involving Tribus before Sheer and the Cutie Mark Crusaders started explaining about how they got the crystals they needed. Not to mention that it explained a bit as to why Dusty was acting so nervous when they were at the academy and always stayed close to him. Though, the fact that Dusty seems so attached to him could also be seen as a  potential problem.

“Uh, Twilight? Are you okay?”

The alicorn blinked for a moment, looking back at Calvin with a puzzled look on her face. “Yeah, why? Is something wrong?”

“No, you just looked like you were staring off into space,” he told her.

“My apologies, I was just thinking. That’s all,” she said, trying to think of something else to say as she looked back towards Calvin, “On a different note, why are you still in your PJ’s?”

“Because these are the only clothes that I have until Rarity patches up the ones that I had the other day,” he explained, “I hope that she will have them done soon. It would be a bit embarrassing to have Princess Celestia come over while I’m still wearing these.”

“Fair point,” Twilight nodded her head. Before she could say something else, Calvin soon spoke up.

“Can I ask you a question though? Very few people really know about how Dusty sees me as her master and why that’s important to her, so could you keep it a secret?” he asked her nervously, “I have a bad feeling that some people might get the wrong impression if they heard that I was her master without knowing what exactly that means.”

“Don’t worry, Calvin. I can keep it a secret,” the princess assured him as a familiar scent began to linger in the air, “Why don’t we go check on Spike and Dusty? I can smell the scent of pancakes from over here.” Shortly after hearing her ask that, Calvin nodded his head as they both began to make their way back over to the kitchen.

Of course, when they arrived at the kitchen, both of them arrived to a plate of pancakes waiting for them, Spike holding onto a letter and Dusty having some pancake batter stuck on her. “Spike? Why does Dusty have pancake batter on her?”

“Well, I was just finishing up with the pancakes when a new letter from Celestia came in. Which startled Dusty and resulted in some batter getting stuck on her,” the dragon explained, tossing the scroll for Twilight to catch with her magic as he brought the dishes to the sink, “Do you need some help getting that off, Dusty-?”

Of course, it didn’t help any that by the time that Spike looked back at Dusty, the batter that was stuck on her head was beginning to cook, and smoke was beginning to rise, “Uh oh. Hold still for a moment, Dusty,” the dragon told her, taking the spatula that he was using to flip the pancakes and carefully placed it along Dusty’s forehead, so he could pick up the piece of pancake batter and take it off of her before it started to burn. After a moment, he was able to take it off of her rather easily and throw out the piece of pancake that was stuck on her, “There we go. Nothing to worry about.”

Though, when Calvin looked back at Dusty, he saw something different. She was holding still, not even moving a muscle and holding her breath in as he let out a bit of a sigh, “Dusty, you don’t have to hold still anymore.”

The fire dog let out a deep breath, before turning herself around and redirecting her attention to him, “Yes, Master.”

Upon hearing that, Calvin smiled and pet Dusty on her head before sitting back at his stool, as Spike had the plate of pancakes ready along with some butter and syrup. As the Skyshifter was beginning to cut through the fluffy flapjacks, he then looked towards Dusty as an idea came to him. The fire dog was learning how to cook from Spike, yet she herself looked rather hungry. It would seem inhumane to not let her have anything.

“Hey, Dusty,” he said, catching her attention as he cut a couple pieces of pancake and placed them on a smaller plate, “Would you like to have some?”

“May I?!” she yipped, sounding rather interested as Calvin pushed the smaller plate closer to her, allowing for Dusty to try the dish for herself as she immediately began to start eating. As she began to devour what was on the plate that Calvin set aside for her, melted butter and syrup began to splatter all over her face as she took a moment to lick it off her face before starting to eat again.

All of this left Calvin with only one question for Spike as he turned towards the dragon. “What… exactly did you put in those pancakes?”

“Nothing outside what I normally use,” Spike told him as both of them watched Dusty eat everything that was on her plate, “She’s probably just really hungry.”

That had Calvin start to think for a moment, before cutting a few more pieces for her to the point that each of his pancakes were cut in half before placing those pieces on Dusty’s plate. The fire dog did not hesitate to start eating at the new pieces that were cut for her, diving in the moment that they were set on her plate. She had never tasted anything this delicious before and could not find it in herself to stop eating while Calvin himself was eating his meal.

Yet, as she was finishing the last few scraps of food and looked back towards her master, Dusty began to feel something that she never thought she would feel: that being the feeling of her stomach being full… along with a sudden burden of guilt, realizing that the more food that she ate, the less food that would be left for her master.

As for Calvin, he was close to finishing his meal when he turned to look at Dusty, noticing that she wasn’t exactly looking so happy and eager like earlier. He set the silverware that he was using down on the place and turned to face the fire dog. “Dusty, are you okay? Is something wrong?” he asked, the first concern that came to his mind being that the food she was eating wasn’t settling well with her stomach.

Yet, how Dusty reacted to his question was much different than he expected. Leaping off of her stool, she threw herself onto Calvin and buried her head into his chest. “I’m so sorry master! Please forgive me!!”

“Uh… for what?” he asked, honestly confused by why Dusty was acting this way. Especially since she was looking at him with the same puppy dog eyes as before, “Dusty, what’s wrong?”

“I-I… I ate the food that was supposed to be for you!” she cried, tears pouring down her face and soaking Calvin’s shirt. In his mind, part of him felt relieved that she wasn’t sick at all, but this was a misunderstanding that he had to clear up with her.

“Dusty, it’s okay. I don’t mind at all,” he told her, petting the top of her head and hoping that doing so would calm her down, “I cut those pieces for you because I didn’t want you to be hungry. There’s nothing for you to worry about.”

The fire dog looked up at him, a bit shocked by what he told her as she tried to figure out what to say. So instead, she just buried her face into his shirt again. But based on what Calvin could see, she seemed a lot happier this time. Her tail was wagging from side to side and, he did not feel any tears come down her face when she moved her head closer to him. “T-thank you, master-”

“Good morning, everypony!”

The joyful and unexpected morning greeting from one of Twilight’s friends was enough to startle Dusty while she was with her master, which led to both of them falling onto the floor, all while Spike let out a small groan and facepalmed himself. This was the second time that Dusty had been startled this morning, but instead of being startled by something, she was startled by someone. “Good morning, Rarity.”

“Well, good morning to you, too, Spikey-” the seamstress paused, noticing both Calvin and Dusty on the floor as she let out a gasp at the sight, “Oh my! What happened here?”

Spike wanted to reply to that, but part of him decided not to as Calvin began to slowly rise up from his position on the floor. “O-oh... hi, Rarity.”

“Hello there, darling,” the unicorn replied back to him, before taking a look around, “I came by with the shirt that you needed to have patched up, along with a few other things.”

Around the time she said that, a rather exhausted Sweetie Belle could now be seen carrying what looked like a week’s worth of clothing in her arms, setting them down on one of the chairs by the Cutie Map before feeling the urge to fall on the ground. “Why did you have me carry all of them?”

“Well, you did ask if there was anything you could do to help,” Rarity replied back, before looking back to Calvin, “I took the liberty of making a few more shirts for you based on the size of the one that you gave me. That way, you don’t have to wear the same one everyday-” Before she could finish her sentence, her eyes drifted a bit as she now noticed Dusty. Yet, her first response to that was not exactly the most ideal. “Oh... why, hello there. Calvin, you never told me that you got yourself a pet.”

Immediately, the Skyshifter shook his head and tried to clear up the misunderstanding, “Rarity, it’s not quite like that-”

“What’s going on here?” Everyone heard the voice of Twilight now speak up as she was trotting back into the room, before noticing Rarity and Sweetie Belle. She had to step away for a moment in order to read the new letter that had just come in from Princess Celestia. Though, she honestly did not think she would come back to find a mountain of clothes spread out across the floor of the castle.

“Good morning, dear,” the unicorn now spoke up as she looked towards her friend, “I was dropping off Calvin’s clothes this morning and-”

“Clothes?” Twilight raised an eyebrow, “I thought you were only fixing one shirt.”

“Rarity got carried away again,” Sweetie Belle groaned, slowly lifting her head up and looking at the alicorn.

“Well, as the saying goes, variety is the spice of life,” the seamstress chimed, before looking back at her sister, “Now, why don’t you help bring these clothes up to Calvin’s room? Twilight and I need to catch up a bit.”

Sweetie herself let out an exaggerated sigh, before she began to start picking up some of the clothes that were on the floor. Yet, after picking up a couple of the clothes, she looked up to notice that Calvin had gotten up off the floor and was proceeding to pick up the rest of the clothes himself. She also happened to notice the fire dog that was nearby looking towards Calvin, the look in her eyes implying that she wanted to help, too.

“Hey, Dusty, there’s a couple of shirts that are out of my reach over here,” Calvin told her, pointing to a pair of shirts that were farther away from him and Sweetie, “Could you bring them over here, please?” Immediately, Dusty nodded her head as she scurried over to where the clothes were and picked them up with her mouth, a smile on her face as she brought the clothes over to Calvin before dropping them by his feet for him to pick up and add to the shirts that he was already carrying.

Once they had collected all of the clothes that were scattered throughout the floor, Calvin led both of them back up to his room. Before he could set them down though, he had to straighten out the sheets and comforter that was on his bed. “Now, let’s see,” he said to himself, looking at each one of the shirts that were spread out on the bed. Each one had a different color and style to it, and in his mind, he was having a bit of difficulty choosing which one he should put on for today. Calvin was half tempted to choose the one he always wore, but given that it recently had just been fixed, he didn’t want to do anything that would have it tear open again.

After giving it some thought, he made his choice and picked out a cyan colored t-shirt, setting it to the side as Calvin put the other ones in the space that was deemed as his closet before grabbing a few additional clothes. “Alright, I’ll be right back. Need to take a moment to change clothes,” he assured Dusty and Sweetie, before walking into the restroom and closing the door behind him, leaving both of them by themselves as the room went silent.

It was while they were waiting that Dusty heard Sweetie ask a question, one that was directed to her, “So… um, how is your… stay with Calvin?”

Awkwardly, Dusty looked back at Sweetie, trying to think of something to say to her. “U-Uh… I-I feel… happy?”

Sweetie Belle, even though the response was not quite what she thought Dusty would say, just smiled, “Happy’s good,” she replied, before thinking of another question to ask her, “Do you… uh… like to keep him company?”

Immediately, Dusty flinched. The memories of what happened earlier in the morning returning to her as she looked away from Sweetie Belle. The fire dog had no idea why those thoughts were returning to her, or for that matter, why was this happening to her? 

“Uh, Dusty?” she now heard Sweetie speak up, her voice causing a small shiver to flow down her spine, “Are you okay? Is something wrong?”

The fire dog looked back at the girl, but still could not find it in herself to say anything as she just stared at Sweetie. Yet, after a few moments, Dusty was able to say something, “N-Nothing’s wrong. I just… l-like how he m-makes me feel happy. Master’s really kind and gentle, y-yet brave and c-commanding-”

Of course, when she was saying that, Dusty did not anticipate a reply from her master to follow suite. “Why, thank you, Dusty. Hearing that means a lot to me-”

“Eep!!” the fire dog jumped, turning to see that Calvin was now out of the restroom and not that far away from her, wearing the new shirt along with a pair of shorts, “H-How long were you there!?!”

“Not long actually,” Calvin admitted, dropping the pajamas he was holding in a laundry hamper that was not far from his bed, before noticing that Dusty was trying to hide her face, “Hey, it’s not a bad thing. Hearing you say that tells me that I’m doing a good job at being your master. It makes me happy when I hear that you’re happy,” he told her, sitting on the floor so he could be right next to the fire dog.

“Th-thank you, mast-”

“Aw, that’s so heartwarming.”

Immediately, both Calvin and Dusty turned towards the open door of his room to find Rarity standing there, with Twilight immediately behind her. Naturally, both the fire dog and the Skyshifter had one response, “How long have you been standing there!?!”

“Not long actually,” the seamstress chimed in, “After finishing my conversation with Twilight, we were wondering why you had not come downstairs yet. After we came up, we found the door to your room open, and… Well, let’s just say that curiosity got the better of us…”

“Us?” the alicorn asked in response, which her friend shrugged off as she looked back to the two of them as well as Sweetie Belle.

“I must say though, I have been quite curious for a while, especially with the amount of times that I’ve heard Sweetie Belle talk about you any day after she sees her friends,” Rarity added, which resulted in a blush forming on Sweetie Belle’s face as she looked at her sister. 

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then the image of Sweetie Belle’s face right now was the word ‘ABORT!’ repeating itself a thousand times.

“Hey, Twilight,” they heard Spike call out from downstairs, “I’m finished with preparing the food. Is there anything that needs to be done before our guests arrive?”

Immediately after hearing Spike say that, Rarity immediately turned to Twilight, caught off guard by what the dragon just said, “My word! I apologize. I didn’t know that you would be expecting company later,” the unicorn gasped, before redirecting her gaze to Sweetie Belle, “Let’s go home, Sweetie. It would be rude of us to stay around for too long.”

Sweetie Belle immediately nodded, letting out a sigh of relief as she looked back at her sister and walked over, “Good to see you again, Calvin. You, too, Dusty.”

“Good to see you as well, Sweetie Belle,” Calvin told her, before looking back to Rarity now, “Thank you for fixing my shirt… and also all the other clothes you gave me as well.”

“The pleasure was mine, Calvin. Have a lovely day, you two!” Rarity replied, before she and her sister proceeded to leave the castle as the Skyshifter let out a sigh. Part of him was relieved that Rarity was no longer making things uncomfortable for both him and Dusty, but another part of him was confused as to why Sweetie Belle was so embarrassed when her sister mentioned about Sweetie talking about him.

“Well, I’m going to go downstairs to see if Spike needs any help,” Twilight said to both Calvin and Dusty, “Let me know if you need anything.” As soon as she finished her sentence, the alicorn teleported back downstairs, leaving the fire dog and the Skyshifter by themselves as they looked back at one another, trying to figure out what exactly to do as Calvin took a moment to put his pendant on.

“So, um…” he tried to think of something to say in order to break the silence that was drifting over the room, “How are you… liking the castle so far? I know it’s… different, but are you enjoying yourself?”

“I… don’t know,” she replied back, “I-I haven’t felt anything like this before… but w-whatever it is, I wish to f-feel more.”

That had Calvin scratch his chin for a moment, before looking back at Dusty. “Let me try something for a moment,” he said, shortly before picking up Dusty, carefully holding onto her with his hands and petting her head and belly, “Are you feeling those same feelings now?”

All that could be heard from Dusty was a couple of squeaks from the fire dog and a blush on her face, which had Calvin smile as he looked back at her. But, before he could say anything in order to compliment her, he could hear the sound of somepony’s voice echoed throughout the entire castle.

“TRIXIE!?”

The loud shout from downstairs by Twilight was enough to startle Calvin and almost drop Dusty. By now, he knew that Twilight would raise her voice if there was something that startled her. Yet, the only thing that he didn’t take into account was how quickly her voice echoed all around the castle, “What in the world was that all about?” he thought to himself, before looking back at the fire dog as he set her down on the floor, “Are you okay, Dusty?”

The fire dog herself could only nod her head at first, taking a couple of moments to get herself adjusted as she looked back at her master. “Y-Yeah. W-What was that, M-Master?”

“I’m… not sure,” the Skyshifter honestly told her before looking towards the open door to his room,  “Though, something must’ve startled Twilight if we could hear her from up here.” Even though things have begun to simmer down, Calvin was a bit unsure as to what exactly was going on downstairs that prompted that reaction from Twilight. The only detail that seemed to be missing from his thought process was what exactly was this ‘Trixie’ that Twilight had said?

Of course, after thinking all of this through, there only seemed to be one reasonable thing to do as Calvin looked back towards Dusty, “Want to come downstairs with me and see what’s going on?”

Dusty was quick to nod her head, eager to help her master as he got back up on his feet. Stepping out of the room and closing the door behind them, Calvin and her began to immediately make their way to the stairs and walk on back down to the first floor of the castle, looking through every possible place that Twilight could be while also sticking together. If Dusty ran off like she did this morning, all that would do was just lead to the Skyshifter to have to search for two people instead.

The first place that they checked was the library, but the room was completely empty. Afterwards, the two of them knocked on the door to Twilight’s personal study, but nopony answered. Another door they did open only led to them finding the castle’s pantry, and no one was in the kitchen when Calvin thought that they could just ask Spike where Twilight was at. 

After a bit of looking around, the two of them soon realized that there was one place that they had not had the chance to look at yet. The room where the Cutie Map was. Of course, as they were walking over, Calvin heard an unfamiliar voice speak, “The grrrrreat and powerful Trrrrixie has come to perform a new stage show of grand illusion! I’m calling it ‘The Humble and Penitent Trixie’s Equestrian Apology Tour’!”

“That’s… a new one,” the Skyshifter thought to himself. Though, upon hearing this new voice say ‘stage show’, all that did was give Calvin flashbacks of when Discord turned the Cutie Mark Crusaders into humans, not to mention reminding him of how Hoot Loop didn’t quite help make things any better.

When they finally made it to the map room, the first thing that both of them saw was an azure unicorn with a pale cerulean mane and tail as well as purple eyes. She also had a lavender colored cape and a wizard’s hat, too, that had stars all over it. Of course, back home, anytime that he saw someone dressed up with a special cape and hat like that, he would think of those ‘magicians’ that would be hired for birthday parties and do balloon animals. The only thing that she seemed to be missing though was a wand… aside from the one that was on her cutie mark.

Which only left one question in his mind as he looked towards the mare, “Um… who are you, and why are you dressed like a silly wizard?”

“Well now, I’m no mere ‘silly wizard’. For you see-” the unicorn turned around, looking as if she was going to say something, but stopped the moment that she laid eyes on Calvin, “What the hay? Where did you come from?!”

“Upstairs,” he said simply.

“W-what?”

“You asked me where I came from, so I told you: My room upstairs,” Calvin explained again as he looked back at her, folding his arms now, “Though, you still haven’t exactly told me who you are.”

That had the unicorn blink for a moment, staring at the Skyshifter as she tried to process what he said. “Y-you don’t know who I am!?”

“Well, I kind of thought that you were one of those magicians that shows up at birthday celebrations and does party tricks for those who are attending,” Calvin shrugged, looking back at the unicorn before trying to add a bit to what he was saying, “You know, given your cape and hat-”

“Let me make it clear that I am not a conjurer of cheap tricks,” the unicorn quickly interjected before the Skyshifter could be able to continue with what he’s saying, standing on her hind legs and posing dramatically, “I am the majestic mystic! The travelling illusionist! The grrreat and powerful-!”

“Trixie, what are you doing?”

Immediately upon hearing that voice, the unicorn found herself back on all four of her hooves as she turned around to look at another unicorn, this one being Starlight Glimmer, somepony that Calvin had already met before. She was just walking back into the room with Twilight right behind her as they saw Trixie trying to ‘introduce’ herself to Calvin, something that made the azure mare a little bit embarrassed as she looked back at the unicorn.

“Oh… Well, I was just giving a simple introduction to… this child here,” Trixie explained.

Of course, given what had just happened, all the unicorn’s answer did was prompt for Calvin and Starlight to briefly look at one another, before simultaneously saying the same exact thing, “Simple?”

“Well, how else would Trix-. I mean… how else would I be able to have those who attend my shows, especially young children, remember me?” Trixie then asked, correcting herself partway through before looking back at Calvin, who took the chance to interject before the mare could continue.

“It is possible, if you think about it. If she’s having as much fun cheering others up as the people she’s entertaining,” he explained, before letting out a sigh as he looked back at the mare, “Though, since I’m not exactly a ‘child’, I’m not sure how I would exactly fit into all of this. I mean, you took so much time to introduce yourself just now that you didn’t take the chance to ask for my name.”

That had Trixie blink for a moment, before looking back at him and following up on what he just pointed out to her. “Well, my apologies. What is your name then?”

“I’m Calvin,” he simply told her as Starlight was now standing next to Trixie. The Skyshifter also noticed Twilight being closer to the Cutie Map now.

“It’s nice to meet you, Calvin,” the mare responded, before looking back to Starlight, “Unfortunately, we must leave. My show tonight is not going to prepare itself.”

As both unicorns began to leave, that prompted Twilight to try and say one last thing to her student as she was trotting away, “Starlight, remember what we talked about! Please make sure that you’re back in time before-”

SLAM!

“-dinner…” the princess finished, seconds after the doors to her castle closed before looking around and noticing Calvin and Dusty not that far from where she was standing, “I really hope that Starlight heard that.”

“Would you happen to know that Trixie pony that she was with?” he asked her, taking a seat in one of the chairs at the Cutie Map and allowing for Dusty to sit on his lap.

“Trixie… has been around Ponyville before, but the last two times she’s been here, all she did was cause mass panic. One of her first shows here led to an Ursa Minor being brought into town, while her second time here was because she was possessed by an artifact called the alicorn amulet and-”

“Isn’t that all in the past though?” Calvin interjected before the princess could finish speaking, “I mean, I might have only met her just now, but she seemed like somepony who was trying to move on from that. I mean, why else would she have an ‘apology tour’?”

“Trixie’s been known to stretch the truth. Remember when I mentioned that one of her shows led to a Ursa Minor being brought into Ponyville?” the Skyshifter nodded in response to the princesses’ statement before she continued, “Well, that was because earlier that day, she claimed that she vanquished an Ursa Major in Hoofington, but when two ponies brought one into town to see it in action, she admitted that her statement was fabricated and made up.”

“When exactly did this happen?” Calvin now asked her.

“A couple of years or so. Why?”

That answer from Twilight only caused the Skyshifter to let out a deep sigh as he looked down for a moment, before saying something that definitely caught the alicorn’s attention. “…Not again.”

Twilight blinked, caught off guard by his statement before asking a new question that formed in her head. “Wha-? Again? What do you mean ‘again’?”

“Don’t you remember that a few weeks ago, before you took on Starlight as your student, that you assumed that Discord was up to no good because your friends were able to have fun with him without you being there? Not to mention telling me that there’s no way you can be jealous because you’re the Princess of Friendship,” he reminded her, noticing her nod her head and taking that as a sign to continue talking, “The reason why I say ‘again’ is because, like with Discord, you’re making assumptions about Trixie based on the last two times that you’ve seen her. Heck, if you give her the chance, you might find out that she’s not the same pony that you remember from before.”

“He makes a very valid point, dear Twilight.”

Immediately, all three of them, including Dusty, turned towards the sound of the newfound voice that had just entered the room. Much to their surprise, Princess Celestia herself was in the Castle of Friendship, much earlier than what Twilight planned for.

“P-Princess Celestia!? W-What are you doing here so e-early?” Twilight asked, having a bit of trouble trying to remain composed because of the sudden arrival of her teacher and mentor.

“Well, after hearing about the wonderful time that Luna had while she was over in the Skylands the other day, I thought I would ask Calvin about his trip with his friends,” Celestia explained to her former student. Yet, before she had the chance to ask Calvin any questions, the first thing that she noticed was the fire dog that was sitting in his lap. “Oh, my… who’s this adorable little one?”

Upon hearing Celestia say that, and seeing the princess lower her head to get a closer look, Dusty squeaked as she anxiously looked back at Celestia. Of course, that was until she felt Calvin placed a gentle hand on her back. “It’s okay. She’s a friend of mine. Go ahead and say hello.”

“H-Hi,” the fire dog squeaked, “I-I’m D-Dusty… H-How do you know master?”

At first, Celestia was going to introduce herself, but when the fire dog asked her question, it had Celestia look back at Calvin with a stare that was not one you would expect from a warm and friendly princess, but one from a parent who found out their child had gotten into trouble at school. “Calvin… please explain.”

“Uh…” Calvin found himself at a bit of a loss for words, trying to find the right thing to say to her. Yet, in the back of his mind, he was also a bit worried about how Dusty would react if she had to hear him explain everything with Tribus, especially since both of them could agree that they wanted to move on from that. “D-do you want the short version or the long one? Because I… kind of already told Twilight.”

Twilight herself even nodded when she heard her name mentioned, before trying to come up with something that would make explaining things to Celestia simpler. Of course, when she did not think of any, all she could do was let out a sigh and try to summarize everything Calvin mentioned earlier in the easiest way possible, “Princess, Dusty is a fire dog that Calvin saved. The living circumstances that she escaped from were harsh, even from Equestrian standards.”

“She lived under the rule of a creature that was beyond cruel and would harm her if she or her siblings stepped out of line,” Calvin then explained as he looked at Celestia, “So, to her, since Dusty found happiness in safety, and the only time that she felt safe was whenever she would follow orders…”

Upon hearing that, the solar princess’ eyes widened, “You don’t mean…”

That just had Calvin nod as he felt Dusty brush against his shirt, “To her, following through on orders is happiness. After I put myself in harm's way to save her and after the Skylanders that were with us defeated the creature Twilight mentioned, Dusty pleaded… no, begged me to be her new master. She saw me as the only one who was capable after what I did to protect her, and I could not find it in myself to refuse, especially after everything that she’s been through. So now, I’m looking out for her.”

Dusty herself was now smiling happily as she rested by Calvin, even enjoying some pets that he gave her before looking back at Celestia with a pair of puppy dog eyes, something that even the princess herself was caught off guard by, especially with how the fire dog was acting. “I see,” Celestia responded, smiling for a moment as she looked at both of them, “I’m glad to see that you’re taking on some more responsibility, Calvin. Dusty seems like the perfect fit for you.”

“T-Thank you, Princess,” Calvin blinked, surprised by the sudden shift in Celestia’s tone, especially since Celestia’s tone came off rather serious at the beginning of the conversation. Now though, Celestia just looked back towards Dusty as the fire dog just tilted her head.

“B-But… H-How do you know M-Master?” she asked.

“Oh, my apologies,” the solar diarch told the fire dog, realizing that the question that Dusty asked earlier remained unanswered, “To answer your question, I’ve met Calvin a few times before, but have not always had the opportunity to speak with him, given my duties as a Princess of Equestria. Luckily, I arrived early so we could have the chance to converse.”

“W-What’s a Princess?”

That had Celestia look back at Twilight and both of them look back at Calvin, who just shrugged in response. He wasn’t quite sure how to explain something that was this complex to Dusty, so he thought it would be better for somepony who was a princess to explain it. Besides, it couldn’t be too hard for them to explain their occupation.

“W-Well, you see… A princess is somepony who helps watch over everypony who lives in their kingdom. A-Almost like how Calvin watches out for you,” Twilight tried her best to explain to the fire dog in the simplest way possible, “Celestia cares for everypony who lives here, along with her sister Luna, and would do anything to-”

“S-So, she’s…  m-more important than M-Master?” the fire dog’s question was followed by a look of shock and disbelief, pulling herself closer to Calvin’s chest as she stared at Twilight. Right now, Dusty looked like a filly who was told that Santa Hooves did not exist… which was definitely not exactly what the Princess of Friendship was trying to go for.

“I… don’t think she meant it like that, Dusty,” Calvin tried to tell her, “C-Celestia’s a very good friend, and one who looks out for everybody. L-Like Master Eon at the Academy-” Of course, all that did was have the fire dog hold onto him tighter to the point that it felt like her paws were grabbing hold of the sides of his chest.

“Well, it’s a matter of perspective, really,” Celestia admitted, looking down at the fire dog, “I might be seen as important in the eyes of many because I’m the ruler of my kingdom, but what I believe is the most important thing differs depending on who it is. I, myself, value the friendship and bonds that we all share with one another, while you value the bond that you share with your master.”

That had Dusty look back at Calvin for a moment as he smiled and returned the hug. Around this time, Spike had decided to join Twilight as Celestia began to bring up another point. “Of course, the bonds of family are also another example of a strong bond-”

Before she could finish though, something unexpected happened.

“Watch out, Watch out, watch OUT, WATCH OUT, WATCH OUT!!!!”

Out of nowhere, a pink blur the size of Dusty barreled their way through the room and knocked over Spike like a bowling pin, sending the dragon sliding across the floor as everyone was trying to make sense of what had just happened.

“W-what was that?” Twilight asked, looking back to Celestia and then looking to where Spike ended up after rolling on the floor, “It looked like Pinkie, but was too small to be Pinkie.”

As he heard Twilight say that, the Skyshifter looked back in the direction where the pink blur was going, though only one possibility came to his mind as he looked back down at where Dusty was resting. “Skippy, was that you?”

“Who-?”

“Hiya, Calvie!!” the pink fire dog jumped up out of nowhere next to Twilight, startling the alicorn to the point that she fell out of her seat at the table as Skippy jumped up and sat in it, inhaling some air through her nose as her tail started to wag from side to side, “Woah!! Is this where you live!? With all these smells, it’s a doggy paradise here!!!”

Calvin blinked, looking at Twilight for a moment as well as the other alicorn in the room as Celestia now spoke. “Calvin, who’s this?”

“That’s Skippy. She’s a friend… and one of Dusty’s siblings,” he added on, while Dusty looked a bit embarrassed by the sudden arrival of her energetic sister, “Skippy, how did you find this place?”

Not missing a beat, Skippy immediately got to answering his question, “Well, I was bored and waiting for Hot Dog, so I took a stroll, found a door, walked through it, got to exploring and such the moment I walked in, and knocked over some tall thingy with a lot of those things that Hugo guy keeps holding by accident,” the last part of Skippy’s sentence had Twilight immediately teleport out of the room, just before Skippy smiled and looked at who was holding onto Calvin, “Oh, hi, Dusty!!”

“Hang on,” Calvin now asked, looking at Skippy, who seemed like she wanted to pounce over to where he was at to give Dusty a hug, “By ‘things’, do you mean books?”

“I think that’s what he called them-”

“MY LIBRARY!!!”

The scream from Twilight began to echo all around the castle now, and it was enough to get Spike to get up off the floor and groan for a moment. “W-what just hit me?”

“That would be Skippy,” Calvin pointed to the fire dog, who happily just waved at the dragon, smiling almost like she was Pinkie Pie. “Dusty’s sister and the puppy version of Pinkie Pie, based on sheer energy alone. That, and she’s pink.”

“I can tell,” the dragon sighed.

“Spike, Dear, Could you go check on Twilight? She rushed off to her library in a hurry,” Celestia now spoke up as she looked back at the dragon, whose only response was a salute with his right claw before leaving the room and heading towards the direction of the library.

Personally, all Calvin could do was watch as he looked back at Celestia and asked the first question that came to his mind, “Do you think Twilight’s going to be alright?”

“I’m sure that it’s not too bad. Twilight does tend to over exaggerate sometimes-”

“HOLY SCALES, DID A HURRICANE GO THROUGH HERE!?!” they now heard Spike’s shocked response echo throughout the castle.

Of course, all of this just led to Skippy letting out a small sigh as she looked back at Calvin and Celestia, “I guess I should go fix this,” the fire dog said, before yanking out a heart shaped ‘I’m sorry’ card from underneath her as she got off the chair and ran off after Spike, leaving both the princess and the Skyshifter stunned by that.

“D-Did she have that prepared ahead of time?” Calvin now asked.

Of course, Dusty was the only one who could actually respond to that kind of question. “…You’d be surprised how much she needs to use it.”

“Your sister reminds me of one of Twilight’s friends, Pinkie Pie,” Celestia commented as she looked back at the little dog, “Energetic, happy, always trying to make her friends laugh and smile,” the princess let out a small breath as a smile could be seen on her face, “She also has a habit of just popping in from out of nowhere-”

“PINKIE!! WHEN DID YOU GET HERE!?!”

“Case in point,” Celestia sighed, looking up to Calvin now, “Would it be right to assume that both Dusty and Skippy happen to be from Skylands?”

“Y-Yeah, actually. What gave it away?” the Skyshifter replied back, a little bit curious as to what Celestia’s response would be as both him and Dusty looked towards the princess now.

“Well, there is no mention of anything like their species at all in the Canterlot Archives, so I just took a guess,” the princess said, just before they could hear the sound of hyperactive squeals of joy from the nearby hallway, “I am quite interested to learn more about them, but… we got company.”

No sooner after Celestia said that did Calvin and Dusty witness Pinkie Pie sliding across the floor like it was a water slide. Skippy herself did the exact same thing, but instead left behind a trail of burnt spots on the crystalline floor as she bumped into the party pony. “WHEE!! That was SO MUCH FUN!!”

“Told you it would be, Skippa-roo!!” Pinkie Pie let out a giggle snort as she poked at Skippy’s muzzle with a hoof before looking around a bit as she noticed Calvin, “Oh, hey Calvy!!”

“Hello, Pinkie,” he greeted the party pony, “You seem quite energetic today.”

“Yepperoni!! Spikey asked if I could help him make dessert for a special meal that Twilight was having, so I-!” At that point, Pinkie stopped, looking directly at the fire dog that was on Calvin’s lap as she immediately bounced over. “Oh, hello there! Who’s this little cutie?”

The party pony’s sudden focus on her, as well as her trying to get a closer look at Dusty just made her squeak and curl up in Calvin’s arms, trying her best to hide from Pinkie Pie, even though the party pony took this as something else entirely. “Oh my goodness, she’s so adorable!! She’s like if Marble was a puppy!! Can I hug her, Calvy!? Can I!?!”

“I would suggest against doing that, Pinkie,” Celestia now spoke up, catching the party pony’s attention, “She’s a bit timid and scared around those she’s not met before. I know that you’re eager to say hello, but frightening her would not be a good first impression. Wouldn’t you agree?”

Hearing the princess’ words was enough for Pinkie Pie to back up as she looked down at the floor. “I guess y-you’re right,” she said, before looking back at Dusty as she slowly was beginning to poke her head up, “S-Sorry. I was just so eager to meet new friends. I didn’t mean to spook you… uh…” following that, Pinkie then turned to Calvin, “What’s her name?”

“Dusty.”

“I didn’t mean to spook you, Dusty,” Pinkie said, letting out a sigh of relief after finishing that sentence, “I reaaaaaaaaaaaaally hope that you can forgive me.”

“I’m sure that she will. You just need to give her some time,” Celestia assured Pinkie, placing a hoof on the earth pony’s shoulder before thinking of something off the top of her head, “How about you go find Spike? You did say that you were going to be assisting him, right?”

That had Pinkie’s ears immediately stand up on end, before she started bouncing in place, realizing that she got sidetracked before immediately taking off to try and find the dragon that was in the castle as Celestia let out a smile. She then blinked and shook her head upon noticing Skippy run off after the party pony. Afterwards, Celestia took a seat at the table and looked back towards Calvin and Dusty. “So, where were we?”

Calvin had to take a moment to think on that question first, before looking back at the princess and saying the first thing that he could think of, “I think we were talking about family and such before Skippy arrived,” he honestly told her, “Which, now that I say that out loud, seems rather ironic, since Skippy is one of Dusty’s siblings.”

“Really now?” the princess asked, sounding a bit intrigued, “How many does she have?”

“F-Five,” Dusty herself answered that question, “T-Two sisters, t-three b-brothers.”

“I see,” Celestia replied back, before thinking of a new question to ask. This time, it was one for Calvin, “Out of curiosity, how did you happen to come across them, Calvin?”

“Well, they happened to be in the volcano that the girls and I were going to,” he began to explain, “They wanted us to help them, and afterwards, they helped the girls with finding the crystals they needed.” When he was explaining, Calvin intentionally tried to keep the details as short as possible, mainly because he was concerned about how Dusty would act if Tribus was brought up again. “Thanks again for casting that spell on us, by the way. It was a major help.”

“You’re welcome, Calvin. Anything to help a friend of Twilight.”

Ironically, around the same time that Celestia said that, Twilight herself soon entered the room as she started looking around, not noticing the spots that were on the floor as she looked at Calvin and Celestia. “S-Sorry for interrupting you two, b-but have you seen-?”

“Pinkie?” Calvin assumed, “She and Skippy just left to look for Spike.”

“Well, even though that bit of news is rather helpful, I was asking if anypony had seen Starlight,” Twilight finished her sentence, “I’m just a bit concerned that she would not be back in time for when we’re supposed to have dinner.”

“I’m sure that everything will be fine, Twilight. There’s no need to be concerned,” Celestia assured her, “It’s never wrong to be a little bit fashionably late. Besides, we still have a while before the time that dinner’s supposed to start.”

“I… guess you’re right. I’m probably just worrying over nothing. Silly me,” Twilight sighed, “So, what were you talking about?”

“Well, I was mentioning to Celestia about how we found Dusty and her siblings and thanking her for casting the spell on us that we needed the other day,” the Skyshifter replied back, “Other than that, you didn’t miss out on too much. Would you like to join us?”

“Why, sure. Thank you,” Twilight replied back, taking up a seat next to Princess Celestia at the Cutie Map. Once she was seated, Calvin took the time in order to explain to Celestia what exactly happened on their trip in vivid detail, everything from the flight over in Flynn’s ship and having to fight against the pirate armada of Captain Ironbeard, to their trip to the volcano and meeting Dusty and her siblings. Calvin took the time to try to explain every detail to Celestia, with some assistance from Twilight if there was some information that he forgot so that the solar diarch could try to picture it as if she had been there with him.

Of course, one subject that Calvin made sure to try and avoid as much as possible was that of Tribus. He was concerned that just mentioning him would not settle well with Dusty, especially now that she and her siblings no longer had to deal with him anymore. It was something that he had to be careful with and choose his words carefully. Thankfully though, there weren’t many instances where that subject might have come up, and when it did, Twilight and Calvin just referred to Tribus as a ‘giant monster’ that kept them inside the volcano and left it at that. 

Of course, one of the things that Celestia seemed to be interested in was when the topic of discussion was about Dusty and her siblings, mainly because, as she put it, some of them happened to remind her of Twilight’s friends. Skippy reminded her of Pinkie, Dusty reminded her of Fluttershy and Hot Block reminded her of Applejack since she’s protective when it came to the subject of family. Though, she unfortunately could not think of any similar comparisons for the other three pups as she took a sip of some tea that Spike brought out for her and Twilight to have. “So, it seems like your trip over to the Skylands was rather successful, I imagine.”

Calvin, who was drinking some water, took a sip of his drink before setting it down as he looked back at Celestia, “Mostly successful, yeah.”

That had Celestia pause and stop sipping her tea, before setting it down on the saucer that was by her on the table, “Mostly? How so?”

“Well, as we found out from the Crusaders themselves, they found the crystals and were able to transform. However, they weren’t able to fully transform into the Skylanders they were trying to change into.”

“Like if you stopped casting a spell halfway,” Twilight added for clarification.

“Right,” Calvin continued, “One of the Academy staff members, Mags, took a look at the crystals and figured out what the problem was. Unlike my crystal, the crystals that the Cutie Mark Crusaders found are disjointed, which cause sparks of magic that weaken the power of the magic inside the crystals, meaning we would need to come back at a later date in order to get that fixed.”

“They know somepony who could help, but they’re right now on assignment,” Twilight recalled from their meeting with the Skylander Academy Staff the other day. “So, the staff at the academy are going to let us know when they’re back, so that they can help fix the crystals the girls have.”

“Interesting,” Celestia nodded as she looked back to Twilight first and then Calvin before asking another question, “And how are your friends after your trip yesterday? Did they enjoy it?”

“So booooooored!!”

“Come on, Scootaloo. It can’t be too bad.”

“Says you, Bloom! It’s the day after our trip yesterday, and Sweetie said that Rarity had her carry a cartload of clothes in her arms to Calvin’s place. Yesterday was fun, but today feels like we’re back to doing the same old thing we always do.”

“But at least we got our crystals right? That’s a plus.”

“Yeah, but they aren’t working. They’re more of a souvenir than something we can actually use to help Calvin. Plus, I really wanted to fly in one of those forms! You girls know how long I’ve been wanting Rainbow to give me flying lessons.”

“You… aren’t wrong. But hey, as soon as that Prism Break guy returns to the academy, he’ll help us get them fixed. We just got to be patient.”

“If you say so, Sweetie.”

“I think they’re alright,” Calvin answered Celestia’s question before drinking another sip of water, “They definitely enjoyed the trip yesterday.”

“Well, that’s good to hear,” the solar diarch smiled back, lifting her tea cup with her magic and drinking another sip before setting it back down, “Out of curiosity, who were the Skylanders that assisted you with your trip? I do recall that you said there were two of them that helped you.”

“That’s right. The first one is Rubble Rouser, whose an Earth Skylander stone golem that's an expert when it comes to mining and exploring caves, while the other is-” At that point, Calvin immediately stopped speaking, his gaze shifted away from both Princess Celestia and Twilight as his eyes widened, “Hot Dog!?!”

“Wha-?”

“No, I mean… Hot Dog, what are you doing here!?” His question, led to both Twilight and Celestia look in the direction that Calvin was looking at as they both noticed who exactly he was talking about. In the hallway behind them stood the Fire Skylander named Hot Dog, who immediately noticed the Skyshifter calling out to him as he hurried over.

“Calvin? What are you doing here?”

“Uh… Hot Dog, I live here,” Calvin told him, getting up from his chair and having Dusty sit there as he looked back at him.

“Oh… well, I guess you learn something new everyday,” he said, before shaking his head, “Though, now that I found you, have you seen Skippy anywhere? She wandered off, and I’ve been looking for her with her siblings for the last… seven hours I think-?”

“Is that Hot Dog I hear!? Wowee Zowee!! Pinkie, my best friend is here!!”

Hearing that did not exactly go down so well with Hot Dog, who’s eyes just widened as he looked behind him. “Uh… guys, I found her-”

In a matter of seconds, Hot Block, Sheer, Digger and Smoky charged into the room, knocking over Hot Dog like he was a traffic cone as they stormed into the room. Looking all over the place to try and find Skippy, right around the same time that she was casually walking out of the kitchen and noticed them coming towards her.

“Oh hey, guys! When did you get here?” Skippy casually asked them.

“When did we-? Skippy, do you have any idea how long that we were looking for you?!” her brother, Hot Block, asked, “We were worried sick about you-!”

DING!

The sound of a kitchen timer going off, followed by Hot Block sniffing the air prompted him to ask an entirely new question now, “What was that-?”

“Perfect timing! Treats are done!!” Skippy cheered, before scurrying over to the over and pulling out a tray that had freshly baked dog treats on it.

“Isn’t that tray supposed to be hot? Matter of fact, when were you even-?” Calvin said, before shaking his head as he looked back at the fire dog pack before looking to Dusty, “You know what, I’m not questioning it.”

“Oh my gosh!! So many adorable pups in one place!!” they now heard Pinkie squeal in joy as she stood next to Skippy, right around the same time that Hot Dog was coming to his senses as he was trying to get back up on his paws after being knocked over.

Unfortunately for him though, the first thing that he happened to see after getting up was both Pinkie and Skippy standing beside one another. “By the elements, I-I think I’m seeing double.”

“That’s just me, silly,” he heard from behind him, turning around to find Pinkie Pie standing there. The Fire Skylander jumped at that, looking back at Skippy to find that Pinkie herself was no longer standing there right next to the fire dog, despite literally being there a couple of seconds ago.

“W-W-Wha-!? How-!?!”

“Hot Dog… just go with it,” Calvin told him, “It’s just Pinkie being Pinkie.”

“That doesn’t make it better!” Hot Dog yipped.

“Okay, that’s enough,” Hot Block soon declared, “We’re going back to the Academy right now. No exceptions.” That had some of the fire dogs let out a low groan, before they all started to make their way out of the castle through the basement door with Digger dragging Skippy behind him as the fire dog was waving goodbye. Which, coincidentally, prompted Pinkie Pie to wave goodbye to her in response as the door closed behind them. 

At first, Calvin thought that they had all left, which was a bit of a sigh of relief. That was, until he saw Skippy out of nowhere appear in the middle of the room again the moment he sat back down. “Oopsie. Nearly forgot these,” she giggled, swiping the treats off of the tray before scampering back over to where her siblings were.

Though, not everything was peaceful just yet, because as they heard the basement door slowly begin to close again, they heard Hot Block shout one last thing, “How could you lose her when you had a hold of her!?!

As the exit to the room closed on itself, all was quiet, even Pinkie Pie didn’t say anything as everyone looked back at one another. Yet, it did not remain silent forever as Spike was the first to speak. “… Do the rules of world just ignore her or something?”

“I’d… rather not even think about it,” Calvin added.

“I’m so proud of her,” Pinkie Pie smiled, “Go forth, my young padawan.”

“What?”

“Nothing! I said nothing!” Pinkie said before zipping back into the kitchen, leaving Calvin, Spike and Dusty with Princess Celestia and Twilight.

“Well, that was… eye opening,” the dragon said to himself, before turning to look towards Twilight, “By the way, Twilight, is Starlight going to make it? The food’s almost ready, and I don’t think I’ve seen her come back yet.”

At first, Twilight just blinked, before looking off to the side anxiously, “Oh, right, uh… let me go check on that. Be back in a jiffy,” With that, Twilight got out of her chair and immediately used her teleportation spell, leaving only four creatures present in her castle as the Skyshifter took another drink of water.

As he finished the drink that he was holding though, a question began to surface in his head, something that didn’t really come to mind until a while ago after explaining the entire trip to the Skylands again. It was something that had been chewing away at some of his attention, but as he let out a sigh and looked back at Princess Celestia, he finally had a bit of courage to ask someone about it. “Celestia, can I ask you something?”

“Oh? Why, of course, Calvin. What’s on your mind?” the princess asked as Calvin set down the empty cup he had.

“Well, I have this friend… she has a job that’s rather dangerous, but is always rather careful. I… haven’t heard from her in a while, and I’m worried that she might be in trouble,” the Skyshifter explained, “Do you have any advice on what I should do?”

Meanwhile…

“Come on, why can’t we pick code names for this?”

“When I said that we need to take this mission from Master Eon seriously, I did not imply that we needed code names,” Jet Vac told his fellow Skylanders that were picked for this mission, “Besides, if we did have code names, then all of you would either complain about the name you were assigned or keep on asking me to change it for you. We got more important things to focus on than temporary titles.”

“He is right,” the Life Skylander Sensei named Ambush, who was assigned as the leader of the group, now spoke up. A mystical spikey ‘haired’ tree-knight who wore a black combat gi with a gold colored sash tied around his wooden waist, “We have a mission from Master Eon that is of dire importance. He fears that two of our comrades have been captured by Kaos after he lost contact with them while they were on a reconnaissance mission. We need to find any information that we can regarding what happened to them and report back to Master Eon immediately.”

“Really? Who exactly are we looking for?” Aurora, Swashbuckler Sensei of the light element, and the same Skylander that was trying to suggest code names, asked. She wore a white helmet that had the same appearance as that of Master Eon’s along with her choice of black and white garbs while also carrying her two blades.

“Master Eon originally sent Trap Shadow to investigate, but afterwards, had Stealth Elf come out here to support him,” Ambush explained further, “However, he’s not heard from either of them since. He’s also tried using his powers to communicate with them directly, but they’re somehow being disrupted.”

“So, we look around, find out what happened, where they are and report back? Seems simple enough,” Prism Break, a hunchbacked Earth Skylander that was a stone golem with glowing crystals replacing part of his back and his hands.

“We’re doing all of this in enemy territory,” the fifth skylander that was with them, the dark dragon named Blackout, pointed out to the Crystal Golem.

“...I take it back, this is going to be a bit rocky,” Prism corrected himself, “So, what’s the plan, Sensei?”

“I say that once we touch down, we look out for any kind of clues that could possibly lead us on a trail,” Jet Vac suggested as he looked towards Ambush, “Stealth Elf and Trap Shadow aren’t the kind of Skylanders to leave something lying around without a particular reason.”

“Agreed. They probably set up an area as a base camp, too, someplace where they can blend in and not be detected by enemy patrols,” Ambush pointed out as well, “We need to find it as well as find anything there that could possibly serve as a clue to where they are now.”

“While also not getting detected by any of Kaos’ forces?” Aurora asked as she continued to take in their surroundings, trying to be careful in case there was someone following them.

“Preferably, yes,” Ambush acknowledged the fellow sensei, “Now then, let’s-”

As the tree-knight turned his head, he noticed that Blackout was not with the rest of them, but instead looking at something that seemed to be farther away. “Master Ambush, I think there’s something over here that you should see.”

“What is it, Blackout?” the Life Sensei asked as the dragon pointed in the distance. It looked like some kind of deserted building, but upon looking a bit closer, he could see a few zombies and monsters around the outside of the building.

“I noticed this as we were walking through here,” the Dark Skylander explained as everyone else on the team began to come over, “There doesn’t seem to be any sign of Kaos troops nearby, yet those creeps are attracted to that building over there. Do you think that we should investigate?”

“Now, why exactly would that seem like a place to look into?” Aurora now asked, “I mean, don’t get me wrong, but aside from the baddies, it looks to have been abandoned for a while.”

“Do you think that Kaos’ minions would come by here if there was nothing suspicious within?” Blackout then asked. It was a question that was met by silence at first, before they began to realize what he was referring to, “Regardless of Stealth Elf and Trap Shadow’s best attempts, the chances of intruders leaving a trail is still possible, not to mention that this unusual grouping of undead may be a clue.”

“So, you think that they were using the building as a potential base of operations?” Jet Vac now asked, which was followed by a nod from Blackout as the air Skylander began to think, “It is possible, but how are we supposed to get in? Not all of us are as capable when it comes to stealth like you.”

“I could lure them away from the building long enough to let you go in first, then join you,” Blackout suggested, before looking to Ambush, “But I believe that is Master Ambush’s decision to make, not mine.”

The Life Sensei nodded in acknowledgement, before looking back at the building, “We should get a closer look first, see if there’s a particular entry point that they used before we make a plan to get inside. Any objections?”

All four of them shook their heads, which Ambush took as a good sign. Shortly afterwards, he had the other Skylanders follow him as they made their way towards the abandoned building while also trying their best to not be spotted by the monsters around the building. Once they got closer though, they began to pick up on something that might have been what was attracting the zombies here in the first place: the smell of raw meat that lingered in the air and was coming out from a few broken windows along the front and left side of the building.

Fortunately, once Jet Vac did some aerial recon of the building itself, he was able to find a possible entryway inside from the back of the facility. Provided that they had one of their team distract the monsters that were outside, Jet Vac could go in and open it from inside for everyone else. It was a plan that Blackout himself could agree with, since he was the one who originally suggested the distraction idea.

While the dark dragon was getting the attention of the monsters at the front of the building, Ambush and the rest of the team used the opportunity to sneak around to the back side of the building as Jet Vac was getting the door open for them. Once most of the team was in, Prism stepped out to fire an energy beam from his crystals to send a signal for Blackout to get him to regroup.

Upon seeing the beam, Blackout used his wings and channeled two black holes, one that was right in front of him with another one being along the right side wall of the building. Diving in, he immediately popped out of the second one, while the portal that was left behind immediately pulled each of the monsters together into the small vortex. As the black hole disappeared and each one of the zombies were back on the ground, they all looked around to see that the Skylander that was there only just a few moments ago was no longer there.

For Blackout himself, he was the last one to come through the door as Jet Vac closed it behind him. “Nicely done.”

“Thank you,” the dark dragon accepted the compliment as he tried to not be overwhelmed by the strong smell of raw meat inside the building, “Have you guys found anything so far?”

“Other than leftover bones and fliers, I’m not really sure what else we could find in here,” Aurora said, trying her best not to breathe in the scent, “Guh, I feel like we’re all going to need a shower to get the scent out of our clothes after this.”

The last part of what Aurora said earlier had Ambush become a little bit curious as he looked back towards the Light Sensei, “What kind of fliers specifically?”

“I don’t know, something about some arena or something. There’s even a giant poster sized one on the wall behind you,” she pointed out, prompting the Life Sensei to turn around. The poster on the wall was for what looked to be a gladiatorial arena called the MaguDome with a giant drow elf with blue skin, gold and black helmet, green and black clothes with a matching cape and a form of energy gauntlets flexing on the front. 

Much to his surprise, it even had its own caption on the poster, ‘Calling All Gladiators!! Are you tired of getting yourselves kicked to the curb because you have to ‘follow the rules’ in every other battle you faced? Are you looking for a place that has barely any rules and a lot more carnage? Well, come on down to the MaguDome!! Where we hold multiple different combat tournaments, without the need for petty things such as rules or safety regulations! You can even win big prizes just for participating in our various competitions, such as Drow Devastation, Chompy Conquest and Machine MAYHEM!! If you enroll soon, you can even get the chance to take place in Battalia, our annual charity tournament where all proceeds will go directly to the one who made all of this possible! Glory to Lord Kaos!!!’.

As well as its own fine print disclaimer, ‘WARNING! Any participation in any of these events will lead to the loss of limbs, dignity, life or a combination of all three. Please ask a doctor if MaguDome is right for you before participating in any events. All proceeds from the Battalia tournament go directly to Lord Kaos’ personal piggy bank. Therefore, they are non-refundable and will not count towards your tax returns’.

“Well… that is something,” he said, placing his hand along the poster. As he was guiding his hand across it, something felt off. Around the back left corner of the page, he did not feel any walls or hard surface behind the poster as he looked back towards his comrades, “Everyone, I think I found something.”

“What, a poster?” Prism Break then asked, “How does that help?”

“It’s not exactly the poster itself, but what’s behind it,” the Sensei explained, pulling the bottom corner back and revealing a hole that was in the wall, “Prism, can you shine some light over here?” The crystal golem just nodded, illuminating one of the crystals on his arms over the hole. In doing so, the light revealed what looked like a journal that was inside, one that had the seal of the Element of Life on it.

“Did you find something?” Jet Vac then asked.

“Possibly,” the tree knight replied, taking the journal out and pulling the corner of the poster back over the hole in the wall, “I found something that looks like a journal, something that Stealth Elf might’ve used to record her findings out in the field. Though, I didn’t see anything that would’ve belonged to Trap Shadow in there.”

“Meaning that it might be hidden somewhere else. Brilliant,” Blackout sighed as he turned around and began to walk around the room to look for something that could lead to where Trap Shadow kept his notes.

Jet Vac himself was also looking around for any possible clues, and at one point, he thought he had found something. There was a desk in the back corner of the room with drawers underneath, possibly used by the owners of the building to keep documents on hand for if any inspectors came by. Of course, when he pulled the chair away and opened the drawers, all he could really find was a bunch of old shipment receipts, business transactions, and bank records, nothing that even related to what it was that they were searching for.

“Find anything, Jet Vac?” Aurora asked him, noticing what he was searching through.

“I thought I did, but unfortunately, no,” the sky baron replied back, putting all the documents back in the drawers and closing them before facing the Sensei, “I noticed that the desk here had drawers and thought that he might’ve hid it in there, but all I’m finding is transactions and old tax documents from whoever was the owner of this place.”

“That honestly doesn’t sound like Trap,” Prism Break then added, “It sounds too simple. He would’ve put some thought into it and make it rather difficult for anyone to find.”

That was soon followed by Blackout speaking up a few moments later, “Knowing him, he'd choose to place it in a spot one would be least likely to look. Maybe nearby a place one would expect to find it, yet in a different place that's near it instead?”

“So, you mean that even though it’s not in the drawers here, it could be in the general vicinity?” Jet Vac asked, which led to Blackout giving his answer in the form of a single nod of the head.

“Okay, but the only closest thing that’s nearby is the chair, and there doesn’t seem to be anything off about that,” Aurora then added.

“Maybe that’s what Trap wants for us to think,” the dark dragon replied back, circling around the chair and trying to get a closer look at it. After inspecting it from all possible angles, Blackout lifted up one of his wings and hit the chair, knocking it down to the floor.

“Was that entirely necessary?” Ambush now asked, walking over to where the other Skylanders were after seeing Blackout attack the chair.

“I would think so,” he replied, pointing at the chair that was at the ground. More specifically, the underside of the arm rest and pointing out a latch that was not seen previously. After seeing it, Aurora took the chance to pull on the latch, which revealed a hidden compartment as a roll of papers fell onto the floor that were held together by a ribbon that had the magic symbol on the front. “Bingo.”

“Alright, I call that a success,” Ambush said, looking towards the entryway that all of them came in through, before turning back to see that Aurora was undoing the ribbon that was on the papers they just found, “Aurora, what exactly are you doing?”

“Well, we came out all this way. Should we at least look and see what their notes contained first before reporting anything, right?”

“She does have a point,” Jet Vac then added, “If both of them went through the trouble of hiding them like this to begin with, then we should at least see what these notes contain.”

Ambush said nothing, but instead nodded his head as he watched Aurora finish untying the ribbon as she looked at the paper that was in her hands, trying to make sense of what was on there before handing the paper to Jet Vac to see if the Sky Baron could determine what it is. At first, he was deeply analyzing it to see what it was. Though, after a few moments, the pupils in his eyes shrank as he looked at the page. “By t-the elements, i-is this what I t-think it is?”

“Jet Vac, are you okay?” Prism then asked him.

“I-I’m fine,” he assured his fellow Skylander, “But I think what we found here is rather big.”

“How big are we talking about here?” Blackout then asked, just as Jet Vac cleared off everything that was on the desk and spread out the papers that he was holding. The paper themselves were four pieces of what looked to be a map with a fifth that had a series of written steps, with different points in the map containing red dots that matched the steps.

“This is a map of Kaos’ Fortress… as well as instructions for how to get inside.”