//------------------------------//
// Chapter 19: Explanations and Christmas Cat Burglars 
// Story: A Dragon's New Home 
// by Mister E-Nonymous 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 19: Explanations and Christmas Cat Burglars






A couple days earlier, in Equestria, Ocellus returned to Ponyville. She headed back towards the School of Friendship. When she got there, she was surprised to see Silverstream standing in front of the entry doors there, about to knock.

"Silverstream?" Ocellus asked. Silverstream turned around to see Ocellus.

"Ocellus?!" Silverstream asked, surprised to see one of her former classmates. "Oh, my gosh! You're here!"

"I thought you were at Mount Aris celebrating the Three Days of Freedom Celebration," Ocellus said.

"Oh, that ended yesterday," Silverstream said. "I still can't believe you're here."

"I feel the same way about you," Ocellus said. "Anyway, I was wondering something. Aaron explained how he celebrated the holidays in his world, and I so want to learn about his holiday he celebrates."

Silverstream gasped and said, "You wanna go to his world to see how he celebrates the holidays?"

"You've read my mind!" Ocellus said. "In fact, I was coming here to pick up some notebooks to write down everything about human holidays."

"Oh, I wanna go, too!" Silverstream said. "In fact, I heard that Gallus was invited to spend the holidays with Aaron's family and Smolder."

"Ah, you wanna surprise Gallus, huh?" Ocellus asked. Silverstream nodded eagerly. "Okay, we'll go as soon as I get some note pads and pencils." She then tried opening the school doors to get into the School of Friendship, but the doors were locked. Then a holographic image of Starlight Glimmer appeared from the door.

"To those who try to come into the School of Friendship, I deeply apologize," the recording of Starlight said. "The School of Friendship is closed until the fifth of next month. Please come back then to enter the School of Friendship." Then the holographic image disappeared.

"Or, we can get some while we're in Aaron's world," Ocellus said. Then she and Silverstream started flying towards the Everfree Forest.





Eventually, the two of them went through the portal into Smolder's apartment. Ocellus and Silverstream looked around to find Smolder.

"Smolder!" Ocellus called out. "You here?!" The two of them looked around Smolder's apartment. Ocellus checked Smolder's bedroom as Silverstream checked the garage. "She's not in her room."

"She's not in the garage," Silverstream said. "I'm gonna check the rest of the house." She then flew towards the main part of the house. She flew into the kitchen and saw a note on the kitchen counter. She then read it. She then called out, "Ocellus! You gotta see this!"

Ocellus then flew into the main part of the house and saw the note that Silverstream had. She then asked, "What's that?" She then started reading it. "'To our Equestrian friends who may come here. We're celebrating Christmas in Hawaii thanks to us winning that trip on that game show we competed on. Sorry that we couldn't be there to tell you in person. But hey, we've all got holidays to spend, right? Signed, Aaron and Smolder.' Wow. I almost forgot they won a trip on that game show they competed on."

"Well, maybe we should go meet them there," Silverstream said.

"Are you crazy?" Ocellus asked. "Aaron said that where they're going is almost five thousand miles away from here. How are we gonna get there?"





Later, on an airplane, having gotten some help from the president, Silverstream and Ocellus were on a plane to Honolulu, which was on the same island where Aulani is located. The people were astonished to see two characters from the show, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, on the plane with them. Especially since they were flying First Class.

"Wow," Silverstream said. "This part of the plane is really comfortable. Wouldn't you say, Ocellus?" She then looked over at Ocellus and saw that she was asleep, with a sleeping mask over her eyes. "Oh, right." She then noticed what time it was. Just then, a man looked towards her.

"Hey, don't worry about it," the man said. "It'll be morning when the plane starts to land. You might as well get some sleep."

"Oh, thank you," Silverstream said. She then tried pushing the seat back, but it wasn't budging.

"Try pushing the back button," the man said.

"Oh, thank you again," Silverstream said. She then pushed the button and the chair started reclining. "Thanks for your help, Mister..."

"Kevin Bacon," the man said.

"The Kevin Bacon, the actor!" Silverstream asked, getting excited.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Wait a minute!" came Aaron's voice from the background.





It went back to that night when Aaron, Smolder and Gallus walked in to see Silverstream and Ocellus in the hotel room they were staying for their Christmas Vacation.

"You mean to tell me... you met... the famous actor, Kevin Bacon, on the plane here?" Aaron asked.

"Yeah, I and I heard he was just in a Marvel special that recently came out last month," Silverstream said.

"I know," Gallus said. "Heck, I just watched it a couple days ago. It was hilarious and awesome!"

Silverstream squealed and said, "Let's watch it together!"

"I'm in," Ocellus said.

"So, when did you two come in?" Smolder asked.

"This morning," Ocellus said. "I might as well get my bed ready." She then used her magic and unfolded one chair, revealing a bed in it.

"That folds out into a bed?" Marissa asked. "I didn't know that."

"You shoulda checked the website," Ocellus said. "I did before we even left your house."

"Okay," Marissa said. "Well, I think we might need to make some new sleeping arrangements."

"Actually, I wouldn't mind if Silverstream and I share the same bed," Gallus said. "Since that one time she came to my room after having a nightmare about the Storm King."

"After he told me that, I knew I had to help him," Aaron said. "So, I helped arrange a picnic between the two. Although, I was caught off guard that out of the seven of us, Sandbar and I were the only ones who knew how to make s'mores."

"Thanks for explaining that, by the way," Gallus said.

"You're welcome," Aaron said. "So, what's cookin'?"





The next morning, Aaron, Smolder, Gallus, Silverstream and Ocellus, all in human form, walked into the lobby, seeing a bunch of people complaining to the manager.

"Listen, listen!" the manager said. "Let's take this one at a time." Then they all started giving different complaints.

"All of my valuables have been stolen!"

"My daughter's Christmas Presents are gone!"

"There are claw marks on our Christmas Stockings!"

"Something's going on," Ocellus said. "Do you think we should check this out?"

"If this is a crime scene, we're not allowed to go in," Aaron said. "Maybe we should let the police handle this."

"Isn't your aunt's boyfriend a cop?" Gallus asked.

"Did I hear that correctly?" came the manager's voice. The manager then started walking towards the five teens. "Is that true. Is your aunt's boyfriend a cop?"

"Yes," Aaron said. "I can call him down to see what's going on."

"No need, Aaron," came Liam's voice. They all looked towards the voice and saw Liam walking towards them. "Liam Daniels, Orlando Police Department. I already made some checks on the rooms." He then pulled out a plastic bag with some brown fur in it. "I found this in one of the rooms. Seems to be cat fur."

"Cat fur?" Gallus asked. "That doesn't make any sense." Ocellus then grabbed the bag, opened it, and sniffed it.

"When did this happen?" Ocellus asked.

"Apparently, last night when these few guests were gone," the manager said.

"Someone would have to have access to each of the rooms," Aaron said. "Meaning that it had to be an employee of this hotel. A housekeeper, a bellhop, an engineer, the manager, no offense, sir."

"I wouldn't do that," the manager said. "But those are good examples." Just then, there was a rush going through the crowd. Three figures that looked like humanoid cats, wearing outfits of a bellhop, an engineer and a housekeeper were rushing towards the exit, all carrying duffel bags.

"What the heck?" Smolder asked.

"I heard of cat burglars, but that's ridiculous," Gallus said.

"After them!" Liam said. Then he and the teenagers started running towards the "Cat" Burglars. When they were outside, they saw the Cat Burglars running out of the resort driveway. "You five chase them. I'll get a car." He then ran towards the car rental place. Then the five teens transformed into their other forms, and took off.

"There they are!" Gallus said, pointing towards the "Cat" Burglars. "Wow, these cats are fast." They continued following the nearest town. The "Cat" Burglars tried hiding from them. "Where'd they go?!"

Ocellus started sniffing around and said, "They're close. I can smell them." Just then, the sound of trash cans being pushed over came to their attention. They saw that the "Cat" Burglars were hiding in an alley. They chased them down the alley. They then came to a water park, which was closed for the winter. When they got in, they looked around for a way out. But then, they were pinned down by the five teens.

"Gotcha!" Aaron said. "Why are you five doing this?!"

Then all of them started laughing with the same female voice coming out of their mouths. The voice then said, "You are all Equestrians, huh? Finally, Equestrian Magic has come to me."

"Uh, okay, that's a little freaky," Gallus said.

"They're all talking together!" Silverstream said. "That's scary and cool!"

"Perhaps we should try that," Smolder said.

"Okay, everycreature," Gallus said. "We all must think of what to say before we say it, that way we can scare them back."

"What?! No!" the voice from all of the "Cat" Burglars said. "They're not talking, I'm talking through them! With what magic I have left!"

"What?!" Aaron asked. "Who are you?!"

"Equestria had banished me for trying to take all the magic for myself!" the voice said. "But I swore that I would return to take back what rightfully belongs to me! Power! No creature in this world, or Equestria, will be able to stop me! Catrina!"

"Who?!" the five teens asked.

"What?! How could you not have heard of me?!" the voice asked. "You know what?!" Then magic came from the three "Cat" Burglars and took to the sky and disappeared to a nearby mountain. The three "Cat" Burglars were sitting up, holding their heads.

"What happened?" the engineer asked.

"I don't know what's going on," the housekeeper said.

"Last thing I knew, I was putting a luggage cart away," the bellhop said.

"What the heck?" Gallus asked. "They don't... remember what happened?"

"I think we might have a new enemy here on Earth," Smolder said. "Aaron, you know something about this... Catrina?"

"Catrina... Catrina..." Aaron said, thinking about the mysterious figure. "No, not to my knowledge."





Later at the hotel room, Aaron was about to type on his laptop but was stopped by his Aunt Marissa.

"Aaron, c'mon," Marissa said. "All of the guests in the hotel have been called for the Lagoon Area for something special!"

"What is it?" Aaron asked.

"You'll see," Marissa said. "C'mon."

Aaron sighed, got up, and walked with his aunt to leave the hotel room. Eventually, they made it to the lagoon area where the rest of the Blazer Family, Smolder, Gallus, Silverstream, Ocellus and Liam were. In the area, there was a stage with musical instruments there.

"What's going on here?" Gallus asked.

"I don't know," Reggie said. "Hopefully it's about the room robberies."

"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen," the manager said as he walked up on stage. "I know you're all a little shaken up about the room robberies, but for some reason, the robbers were actually hypnotized to do them without any free will. So, whoever's behind it is still at large. But for now, we're gonna have a splendid Christmas. And who else to help out with that than our special guests, Kevin Bacon and the Old 97s?!" Then the crowd started applauding as Kevin Bacon and the Old 97s came up to the stage.

"Oh, that explains why Kevin Bacon was on the plane with you two," Aaron said.

"I guess so," Silverstream said. Then Kevin Bacon and the Old 97s started playing music.



As they were playing, a lot of grown ups were kissing their beloved partner. Smolder leaned her head on Aaron's shoulder. Gallus and Silverstream nuzzled each other's cheeks.

Eventually, the song ended, and everyone went back to their hotel rooms.





The next morning, the Blazer Family, Liam, Smolder, Gallus, Silverstream and Ocellus were all talking to each other after the Christmas Presents were opened.

"Wow," Smolder said. "Okay, that was an interesting holiday."

"Yeah, it was," Ocellus said. "If I'm understanding this correctly, Christmas is a lot like Hearth's Warming, but without the Windigos and all the people fighting."

"At least this holiday is more peaceful than any other holiday in Equestria," Gallus said.

"Especially Nightmare Night!" Silverstream said. "Wouldn't you say?"

"Yeah, I guess," Smolder said. "Anyway, Aaron. Did you happen to look up this Catrina character?"

"I did," Aaron said. "I had to go back to the previous generations of MLP. You guys are from the 4th Generation of the series. This one character, Catrina, goes back all the way to G1. In fact, she's not the only villain from that time that has been rebooted into this generation of My Little Pony."

"Really?" Ocellus asked. "Who else?"

"Tirek, the Smooze... and Grogar himself," Aaron said.

"Grogar?!" Gallus asked. "That old goat that Discord was pretending to be when he united Chrysalis, Tirek and Cozy Glow just to give Twilight the confidence to become high princess of Equestria?!"

"Along with Sombra, but he didn't want to be involved with that," Aaron said. "But... yeah."

"So, what is this Catrina up to?" Smolder asked. "And why is she interested in what we are?"





Somewhere else, in a dark cave, a mysterious figure was looking at a cauldron, looking at the hotel from an outside view, searching for something.

"Those Equestrians will lead me to the portal to Equestria," the figure, now known as Catrina, said. "And as soon as I get back, all the magic of Equestria shall be mine! Meow-hahahahahahaha!" She then pulled up a vile that was on a string wrapped around her throat. "If only I can get more Equestrian Magic from those creatures. Then, I'll get off this stinking rock, and finally find a way back to Equestria!" She then gave off a sneering look towards the hotel that was in a vision in the cauldron. "I'm coming for you, my pesky little creatures. Then you'll lead me home, where I'll finally take it back. Meow-hahahahahahahaha!"